Penguin-Launch
- T.D. Dracken
- Jan 6, 2020
- 5 min read
It's a little late in the sense that it's past Christmas, but it's still winter! This is another humorous look into the Magic Realms ... though with some serious overtones mixed in. It also features a character from a previous short story entitled "Colors of Summer." You can find it in my free "The Magic Realms: Short Story Compendium" under the books tab.
A gray Foxkin with light and dark brown dappled fur looked out from his hiding place atop a lonely rock spire sticking up out of the ice of the barren Southern Great Ice. Despite the warmth contained within the dimensional bubble he created, he shivered as he watched the goings on in the arctic waste and fought the urge to pull is nine tails around himself to make himself warmer.
"Donut" he mumbled, "What possessed you to accept this job? I hate this assignment.” His eyes drifted up to a strange creature who had a large wolf-like head, the body of a maneless lion, and large eagle-like brown wings. The creature had long since forgone the illusion that he needed his wings for flight and simply hovered in the air while watching things play out on the ground below. “It’s all because of him and the trouble he’d cause if he slipped off without getting noticed. Why couldn’t someone else have gotten this assignment?”
Donut turned his attention back to what the creature was so fascinated by. Down on the ice, another Foxkin with nine tails weaved a mixture of ice, wind, and arcane magic around a number of penguins that he and his merry band of loonies had gathered together. Donut tried to pull his attention away from what he believed to be thoughtless and bizarre activity, but he was unable to do so. “What are they doing now?” he mumbled.
“Yeehaaaawww!” came a loud yell as it rolled across the ice and through the wind in a way that shouldn’t be possible unless aided my magic.
Donut looked in the direction of the yell and his jaw dropped at seeing an old gray-bearded man tear across the icy landscape on the back of a an old brown donkey. “What the-?” he uttered. He forced himself to study what was going on more closely and his right eyebrow raised at seeing what had to be an entire tribe of fel Ice Trolls charging after the old man. “I can’t believe that I have to stay and watch this.”
“Really?” came a voice behind him.
“Augh!” yelled Donut as he looked back at the vibrant red-orange-furred Foxkin that he had just been watching sow the seeds of chaos down on the plains. “Raytheon! Don’t draw attention to me!”
“What?” asked Raytheon with a shrug.
“Don’t you think he’ll notice if you’re suddenly not …” he glanced back down towards the others and his mouth hung open for a few moments. “You’re … there … and here.”
“Of course, Donut! And what kind of name is that? Do you just like to eat them?” Raytheon paused for a moments and studied Donut’s build and expression. “It doesn’t look like it.”
Donut grumbled. “I hate dealing with you founts …”
“And why’s that?”
Donut gritted his teeth for a moment. “Because you all are insane!”
“Me? … No … I’m just erratic and playful in a fun sort of way. The only one who’s truly insane would be that one up there,” remarked Raytheon while pointing up at the creature.
“Why do you think we’re working so hard to keep him busy so he doesn’t discover that you-know-who is back on Terebethia? That would just make an already bad situation so-so-so much worse.”
Donut bobbed his head from side to side in grudging acceptance of the argument. “I suppose you’re right. He’s the only one that’s truly nuts …”
Raytheon nodded and crossed his arms. “That’s what happens when someone obtains too much magic for them to handle sometimes … you either are fine, which was very few of an already small number of founts, you explode and make a leave a rift behind, or your mind is overwhelmed and you end up like … him.”
“Yeah … like him.”
“But, hey! Watch that! It’s about to get good now!” declared Raytheon as he pointed down at his other self. “The Ice Trolls are all in position and it’s time for a new sport!”
Donut cringed and looked down. “What?”
“Ski-Troll! … No wait. That doesn’t sound good. Troll-Ball? No … there’s no balls.”
“Penguin-Launch?” asked Donut as a disturbed expression formed on his face.
“Yes! That’s perfect!” proclaimed Raytheon as a bucket of popcorn appeared in his hands. “Want some?”
The Raython in the midst of the other strange individuals raised his hand. “Alright, Sam! They’re in position!”
The old man leaped off of his donkey with a cheer, “Ee-ahhh! Transform Lilly and show’em what for!”
The donkey immediately transformed into a huge brown bear and watched with obvious satisfaction as a penguin was levitated over to in front of her. Lilly raised a powerful paw and and hit the penguin with all her might. The penguin rocketed across the ice and impacted against the first of the charging Ice Trolls.
Donuts jaw dropped as impact spells surrounding the penguin blew away any Ice Trolls immediately in front of it as the flightless bird soared into the infuriated mass. “What the …”
“Eight pins!” proclaimed the Raytheon on the ground below. “Great job, Lilly! Lillian, you’re up next!”
A strongly built woman, who was mostly concealed by her winter garb, stepped forward and summoned a huge war hammer. She held the hammer back and rotated it for a moment before nodding at Raytheon. When her penguin had been floated over in front of her, she hit it toward the closing hoard.
Again, the penguin soared through the air and into the mass of the Ice Trolls.
“Twelve! Now time for the lightning-fire round of Penguin-Launch since they’ve all gotten closer!” proclaimed the Raytheon on the ground as he set spells to deliver penguins to each participant as fast as they were needed.
Donut continued to watch in stunned disbelief as penguin after penguin soared through the air and into the Ice Trolls. He shook his head. “I know that you have to keep him busy, but do you have to do that to those poor birds?”
“Poor birds?” asked the Raytheon next to Donut. “Just look!” he said proudly as he pointed out toward the now-thinned hoard of Ice Trolls.
Donut squinted his eyes and he found himself fighting a feeling of light-headedness as he made out the first of the launched penguins running back toward the Penguin-Launch launchers with unnatural speed.
“They love it!” said Raytheon as he put another handful of popcorn into his mouth.
Donut grabbed a handful of popcorn out of the bucket. “I need a vacation after this.”
I hope you enjoyed this installment of short stories! A new challenge has already been issued for this month and it will be another one tied into this story! Be sure to read up so you'll begin to understand how these three stories fit together!
As always, enjoy and read on!
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