Copyright 1992(c)

                             A Mother's Loss
                            By Michael Heinich

          "No. Thank you, but no. I am sure they are delicious. I am
     just not hungry right now."
          The ogress tried, for the last time, to feed me from a crude
     wooden bowl that overflowed with sickening green things in a gray
     ooze. One even looked like it was swimming around in that swill.
     Again, I pushed the bowl away. She gave me a long sad look that
     sent shivers up and down my spine. Then she lumbered over to a
     large rock and sat down heavily. After one more look in my
     direction, she began to scoop the gray ooze into that huge mouth
     with her fingers.
          The tree trunk that I was leaning against was an
     uncomfortable place to be at best. The ogress quickly looked up
     as I shifted my weight slightly. Realizing it would be futile to
     try and run for it, I settled back to study my Abductor.
          I'm sure a more hideous beast could be found, but one would
     be hard pressed to do so. Thick green skin, broken by ugly boils
     covered her body. Her thick strands of black hair, which would
     have done a gorgon proud, were tied around a long, thin piece of
     bone. I am not sure if even a mother could love that face, with
     its huge, limpid eyes staring out of a face that had more crags
     then most cliffs, and that huge maw with sickening teeth that
     look like they could make quick work of my bones. If I lived
     through this, I expected to have nightmares of being eaten alive
     by that mouth, though right then it seemed she was more likely to
     kiss me then eat me. Just the thought made me want to faint.
          GADZOOKS, how do I get myself into these messes?
     Unfortunately, I have an answer this time. This is what I get
     for not being properly prepared, not to mention being greedy and
     sticking my nose where it did not belong. I should have heeded my
     gut reaction from the start, but, as always, greed reared its
     ugly head.
                                   * * *
          I was happily starting a text on rare herbs when Samuel
     barged in with his news.
          "Marcus, do you remember those rocky hills about a day's
     ride south of the city?"
          Annoyed at the interruption, I looked up and responded that
     I vaguely remembered something about them. The tone of my voice
     didn't seem to phase him in the least. Samuel sat down in the
     chair in front of me, and proceeded to drain my glass of its
     wine. After wiping his mouth on his sleeve and ignoring my icy
     stare, he began to tell me the events of his last couple days.
          "I have been investigating some rumors of marauding
     humanoids out past the south crossroads."
          "I have heard some similar rumors," I murmured.
          "Well Marcus, the stories I heard said that the creatures
     were coming from those rocky hills. The Captain of the City
     Guard, himself, requested that I investigate."
          "Probably hoping you would be killed," I said under my
     breath.
          "What? Did you say something Marcus?"
          "It was nothing. Won't you please continue your story?"
          "I discovered that the damage done was somewhat less then
     what I was led to believe. There were some sheep and cattle
     missing, but not many. Also, something had knocked down a
     farmer's shed. Definitely not the work of a roving band of orcs
     and goblins. After examining the damage, I decided my next step
     was to take a look around the rocky hills where they were
     supposed to be hiding. Oh, do you mind if I help myself to
     your fruit bowl?"
          I weariedly waved my hand to go ahead, knowing that any
     objections I had would have fallen on deaf ears. He continued his
     story through mouthfuls of apple.
          "I started working under the assumption that perhaps there
     were only one or two creatures out there. This would imply that
     I should not be looking for signs of a large group. While
     searching, I found some spoor that was vaguely familiar. The
     spoor reminded me of something like ogres. And sure enough, not
     too long after following the tracks I had found, I ran into one.
     Mind you, it was a very young ogre who only came up to my horse's
     head, but that didn't make it any less dangerous. When the ogre
     charged me, my horse bolted right out from under me. I fell off
     the horse, and managed to roll out of the way. The ogre quickly
     turned around and picked me off the ground. After shaking me
     between its huge hands, it threw me against some large rocks. I
     had just enough sense left to draw my sword and hold it out in
     front of me. The rushing ogre impaled itself on the sword, its
     body sliding all the way down to the hilt.
          "I managed to stumble back to my horse and rode straight
     back to the city. Your home was the first place I stopped."
          Under closer observation, he did seem to be a bit more
     ragged and worn out then usual, but it was hard to tell.
          "Why did you stop here instead of reporting to the Captain?"
          "Your house was the first place I could find to rest a
     moment. Also I remembered that you use strange ingredients in
     your potions and that you might want first grabs at the corpse."
          I sat back and pondered this for a moment as Samuel reached
     for some more fruit. Samuel was always trying to turn things to
     his own advantage. He had to be up to something. I got up and
     crossed over to my bookcase to pull out a large tome that I had
     not used in awhile. There were a few chewed edges that I didn't
     remember. A mental note was made about mice and poisons. I
     seemed to remember a powerful spell that called for a lock of
     ogre hair and the puss from a boil. Yes, of course! Pest
     Control! This spell would protect a wide area from rodents and
     insects for an entire season. Included, would be farm lands and
     granaries. I could charge farmers and merchants a small fortune
     for this spell. Before I turned back to Samuel, I tried to hide
     my smile.
          "Do you think you could describe the exact location where
     you left the corpse?" He looked at me for a minute before he
     answered with a big grin, "Not so fast. I am not sure I can
     remember all the details, everything seems a little blurry." He
     gazed innocently at the ceiling, as though studying my rafters. I
     mentally kicked myself.
          "What do you want for the information?"
          Samuel looked back at me all big-eyed and professed his
     innocence.
          "I do not want anything but the pleasure of knowing that I
     helped you." I knew my so called friend a little better than
     that.
          "Spit it out man, what is your price?"
          "Well, there is a little something that you can do for me.
     I am sure that it would not tax a great wizard like yourself to
     grant me this small request."
          I hid my face in my hand."What is this small thing that I
     can do for you?"
          "You see, there is this girl that has caught my eye and she
     will not give me a second glance." I nodded in complete
     understanding. I only I could, I wouldn't give him a second
     glance either.
          Samuel continued, "I was thinking you could whip up
     something to make her more attracted to me, like a love potion or
     something."
          "Flaming Fireballs!!! A LOVE POTION?!?"
          "Yes, a love potion."
          I looked at him for a moment. "Do you know that the effects
     of a love potion are temporary?"
          "All the better," he said, giving me an ugly leer.
          I shook my head in disgust. "Can the payment wait or did
     you need it right away?"
          "No, No, it can wait till after your little trip."
          I went over to a locked cabinet and removed a crystal ball
     from its contents. I returned to Samuel and held the ball up in
     front of him.
          "Stare into the center and visualize the location of the
     body." A gray fog came over the ball, and slowly a rocky scene
     appeared inside. I waved my hand over the ball to lock the
     image in place. Carefully setting the crystal ball down on the
     table, I looked back up at Samuel.
          "Come back tomorrow evening with something of the young
     lady's. Perhaps a lock of hair, scarf or something. It has to
     be something she has worn recently."
          "All right, I will return when the sun starts to set on the
     horizon tomorrow." As I let him out, I muttered under my breath
     that he could come back when Hades froze over for all I cared.
     Back at my desk, I started to prepare the spells needed to
     teleport me to the scene and back. I just hoped that some wild
     beast had not mangled the body beyond all use. I moved into a
     side room, and lit the candles on a small table near the door.
     The floor had to be studied carefully, I had to make sure that
     the marks that made up the circles that protected me were
     complete and were not scuffed in any way.
          Everything seemed fine, the circles were still complete. I
     moved a small brazier and a stand to the middle of the chamber,
     retrieved the crystal ball, and placed it on the stand next
     to the smoking brazier. Returning to the main room, I picked up
     the other items that I would be needing: A silver dagger to cut
     the hair and to lance the boils; A small vial to capture the pus
     from a boil; and, last but most important, the scroll with the
     return spell. With everything in place, I stood in the middle
     circle facing the brazier and crystal ball. With intense
     concentration, I felt the power collect around me as I recited
     the spell. The bright light that filled the room, blinded me.
          When the light began to fade, I found that I could not see a
     thing. It took a few moments for my eyes to adjust before I
     found myself among the rocky crags that Samuel had visualized,
     except that there was a slight problem. There was no body. Just
     a large rock pile marked where I had hoped the body would be. It
     looked like the body had been crudely buried in stones. This was
     the first disturbing observation. The second was a large ogre
     charging me. I fumbled with the return spell, only to have it
     knocked out of my hand when the monster enveloped me in a huge
     bear hug. I nearly passed out from the pressure. I felt its
     mouth pressing against my face like it was tasting me for
     dinner. Then another, more horrifying thought. Perhaps it
     wasn't tasting me, but kissing me!
          Everything went black as I fainted dead away.
          When I came to, I found myself propped up against a dead
     tree trunk. The ogre, or ogress, as I soon discovered, was
     squatting nearby, hovering like a mother hen. As soon as she
     saw that I was awake, she began to poke and prod me in different
     places. After a few minutes of this bruising torture, she seemed
     to come to some sort of decision. She pushed a ragged blanket
     aside that had been covering me and brought over a horrible
     smelling bowl of food. Any fears I had, were soon justified as
     she tried to force me to eat whatever that gunk was.
                                   * * *
          The clatter of he empty bowl being dropped brought me back
     to the present.
          My benefactor seemed visibly upset by my reluctance to eat.
     She sat back on her haunches and gave me a long mournful look,
     and I had a chance to examine my situation. I still had my dagger
     and the vial in a small pouch. A lot of good the small dagger was
     going to do against an ogre. What really distressed me was that
     the teleport scroll to get me home was nowhere to be found. It
     looked like I was going to have a long walk home if I ever did
     get free.
          Uncomfortable, I settled back once more, where I could
     observe the ogress. She definitely was of the ogre family,
     large, green and ugly. For some reason, she looked incredibly
     sad. I hoped my refusal to eat was not all to blame for this.
     She slowly looked around our surroundings and called out loudly
     into the night. After a couple of minutes, a slight shudder went
     through her body as she looked down at her feet. I realized
     suddenly that she was looking for something or perhaps,
     should I say, someone. With my chin resting upon my knees, I
     watched her by the firelight. I thought I saw the fire reflect
     off something under her eyes, as she stared into it. Something
     was tugging at the back of my mind, but sleep was pulling on me
     harder. As I closed my eyes, I wondered who was missing.
          I woke up the next morning to the sounds of birds singing
     near by. The sun had not broken free of the horizon yet. Despite
     my circumstances, the morning looked wonderful. The Ogress was
     up, busily grouping her stuff together into a bundle and making
     sure that I was all right. I didn't seem to be a prisoner, but
     she watched me very closely, like she was my mother.
          Mother!!! That's it! She is someone's mother. Probably
     that small ogre that Samuel killed. I guessed she had adopted me
     as a surrogate child, though the thought of calling her mother
     caused me to shudder. We started off moving to the west, away
     from where I imagined the road to be. After a few hours of
     walking, we stopped in a small grassy field. A small, clear
     stream ran through the middle of the middle. I collapsed to the
     ground in pain and exhaustion. I hadn't prepared for taking a
     long hike. I watched the Ogress drop all her baggage before
     kneeling by the  stream for a drink. Back in her baggage, I
     noticed a rusty mace sticking out of a bag. Slowly, I inched
     over, and hid the mace beneath my robes. She still had not stood
     up from the stream. I started to pick some of the wild flowers
     that nearly covered the area. My mind entertained evil thoughts
     of offering the flowers and then knocking her out with the mace.
          After I made sure I was ready, I glanced back toward the
     ogress. Something was wrong, she still hadn't moved from where
     she was kneeling. I moved a little closer trying to determine
     what had her attention. As I moved forward, I noticed that her
     shoulders were slightly shaking. I was becoming a little
     worried, unsure of what was happening. Then I heard strange
     sounds coming from the ogress. I think she was crying. Perhaps
     it had hit her all at once when she looked into the water and saw
     her face. She began to shake even harder as I stood there, and a
     numbness seemed to come over me. The mace slipped from my hand
     and fell to the ground with a thump. I stood watching as she
     cried for her lost child. Then, slowly, I placed my hand upon her
     shoulder. She didn't seem to notice my presence. With my other
     hand, I reached around and offered her the flowers.
          Sniffling, she looked at the flowers a long time. Everything
     seemed to stop. Slowly, she reached out and took the flowers from
     my hand. I stepped back, not sure what she might do next.
          When she stood and turned toward me, my heart caught in my
     throat at the sorrow that poured from those eyes. She turned
     away and shambled back to her belongings. Stooping, she rummaged
     through the bags for something and laid it aside on the grass.
     Then she collected the rest into a large bundle, and stood up.
     The Ogress never looked back at me as she turned and moved away,
     humming a strange, eerie lullaby. All I was able to do was stand
     and watch as she slowly walked away.
          After a few minutes, I walked over to see what she had left
     behind. I reached down and picked up a small, crude looking
     figurine, made of clay. Just like something a child might play
     with. Next to the figurine was one of the flowers I had given to
     the Ogress. I looked off in the direction she had taken, and for
     a moment, I thought I heard that eerie lullaby on the breath of
     the wind.
                                    END