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“What are you looking for?”

Barf leaned against the wizard’s cart, like the smug little fart that he is. Why did my parents have to continue breeding after they had me? I never asked for a younger brother. I flung another book over my shoulder in his direction.

“Hey! You almost hit me!”

“Sorry.” I didn’t mean it. “But I gotta find the right spell.”

“You think you can cure that?” Barf laughed. “No orc can change the spell of a real wizard. You’re blue for life, you dummy. Might as well just accept it.”

I looked at the ugly, sky-blue color of my skin. I could feel the vomit tickling the back of my throat. No! I will not be a laughing stock for the rest of my days. I will not remain blue.

That wizard got what was coming to him when he tried to steal from our side of the mountain. Barf and I had been sent to scare him away. He put up a fight, so I had to bite his arm off. How was I supposed to know he would pull off one more spell before he died? Fortunately, I’d found a stash of spell books in his cart. I’ve got to find an answer. I tore into another one.

Barf sighed dramatically. “Everyone knows that when a Wizard curses you—a real human wizard like the one you attacked—there isn’t any way to undo it.”

I hastily closed another book and tossed it behind me. “If you won’t help, then go away!” I barked. What if I couldn’t get my skin back to normal? What if the stupid was permanent? I don’t want to be a blue creature!

“Look,” Barf said, “when the wizard cursed you, he mumbled something. It was like a riddle. I heard it from the bushes.”

“You mean where you were hiding like a coward?” I bellowed and grabbed another book.

“Where I was waiting strategically for the right time to attack.” Barf said in a lecturing voice. I hate when he uses that voice. “The riddle was something like, ‘remove the alloy, curse will deploy.’ Do you see any alloys in there? Or, ‘remove the toy, curse will employ’...No, that doesn’t make sense.”

Then all of the sudden, the answer came to me. Call it a brainstorm. It’s like the answer just popped up.

“Remove what annoys, the curse you’ll destroy.”  I said.

“What?” Barf asked. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. Remove what annoys…the curse you’ll destroy. That’s it!”

I turned on the spot. Before my brother could react, I sent a blast of red magic right at his chest. He was incinerated on the spot. A smoldering patch of dead grass was all that was left. Then the blue started to fade. My skin turned brownish-green, just like it had always been. I looked like an orc again. Everything was quiet. It was a beautiful day on the mountain. 

“Thanks, little brother,” I said to empty campsite. “You weren’t a complete waste after all. You solved the wizard’s riddle for me. I’ll tell mom and dad.”

I turned toward home, but not before conjuring one more blast of red magic. A brief, but effective stone rain pounded the wizard’s campsite. Nothing remained. A light snow began to fall. Did I mention it was a beautiful day on the mountain?

4 wins - 8 losses | by Andy