Rafael Silkskin: First job gone wrong, Part VIII

This archived article was written by: Kiara Horowitz

The idea of facing Melanie in a closed room with a child involved doesn’t appeal to me. But what other choice do I have? It’s my job to make sure that children are safe, and where they belong. Just because I think the king is an idiot, the idea of Prince Bradmir in the hands of a fairy as messed up as Melanie sickens me even more. I clenched my fist. On the bright side, if Melanie still believes that the prince is useful to her she wouldn’t dare use any really powerful magic in fear of hurting him. With that realization in the front of my mind, I stepped into the room and closed the door behind me.
“Hand the prince over, Melanie,” My voice caught in my throat, as I stared not at Melanie as I expected, but at the biggest, meanest looking goose I’d ever seen since I was eight years old. Pressing my back against the door, I tried not to make any sudden movements. The goose glared me down over its orange beak with its beaded blue eyes. Behind the goose I could see Melanie sitting in a chair with the prince on her lap.
“How did you get out?” Melanie demanded.
“You insult me,” I said bravely. “After all I am Rumpelstiltskin.”
Melanie rolled eyes, sighing in annoyance. “Randolf,” she laughed. “I really should have guessed. He never tires of puppy guarding you.”
“Is this a golden egg laying goose?” I asked, changing the subject.
“One of the best,” Melanie responded. My heart sank, magical geese are the worst. “I gave him as a gift to that money grabbing king in order to gain his trust.”
My gaze flashed from the terror inducing goose to Melanie. I couldn’t decide which to fear more. Until I noticed a flicker of gold running down Melanie’s ankle. She’d been in contact with silver recently. Well, it explained why she was just sitting there leering at me. However, it does leave me with one large-feather-covered problem.
Melanie raised her right hand, almost triumphantly. “I think the prince would enjoy some entertainment, don’t you agree?” Not waiting for my answer, she snapped her fingers, the sound echoing off the stone walls. The goose lifted her wings and let out a honk that became a roar. The teeth along the edge of its beak grew into fangs, and the claws become talons. The goose roared again, diving at me. I did the only intelligent thing I could think of; I screamed and flung myself to the right.
Rolling away, I got to my feet in time to see the goose pull her fangs out of the door she’d just bit through. It didn’t phase her at all. The goose came at me a second time, roaring and flapping her wings. Spotting an iron candle stand in the corner, I grabbed it and shook off the unlit candles.
“Back, back goosy.” I said, shoving the legs of candle stand into the gooses face, jabbing it forward and back. The goose bit down on one of the legs and tried to pull the stand away. Doing my best to rip the leg free was hard because my own limbs were trembling. With the goose’s mouth occupied I could hear Prince Bradmir crying from across the room. Narrowing my eyes, I tightened my grip on the shaft of the candle stand. I shook the stand as hard and fast as I could and managed to slam the goose’s head against the wall, stunning her long enough for me to pull the stand’s leg free.
I held the stand across my chest as if it was a bow staff. “Okay,” I cleared my throat. “Come at me you big ugly goosy you.” I would like to think that under different circumstances and with more blood in my brain, I would’ve come up with something more threatening, but then again I am yelling at a stupid bird.
The goose shook her head to clear it before flapping her wings and coming at me with nothing held back. Her fangs and talons flashed in the early morning light that started filtering in from the windows along the east wall behind me.
The light gave me an advantage, since it blinded the goose and not me. I swung the stand as fast as I could, blocking her violent attacks. Unfortunately the light only gave me the one advantage, the goose isn’t as weak as I feel. The weight of the iron stand was zapping my strength. The goose could tell that I’m fading fast. She flew above me and grabbed the shaft of the stand in her talons, lifting me into the air and slamming me into the wall.
The impact knocked my breath right out of my lungs. I let go of the stand, falling to the floor and landing in a heap. The goose dropped the candle stand on top of me, bruising my back and right shoulder. I squeezed my eyes shut. I didn’t need to see her finish me off.