Will Ye page 2
The item was there close to him, easily within reach if he merely stretched his arm out. But he couldn't move -- not a muscle would twitch.
Come on, he thought to himself, pull yourself together. You've taken on crack fighting men all by yourself…not to speak of the weredragon you once killed. So, what's so scary about -- he swallowed hard -- a hummingbird and its portent?
Grasping for the item almost against his own will, he realized it was a note folded over many times so as to become quite small. Unraveling it, he saw that it was a treasure map.
Yes, that's what it was, written on parchment with gold lettering -- the likes of which he had never seen!
It even had a dotted line indicating a path to follow and a large X marking the spot where the treasure lay hidden, or so the caption said.
Looking more closely, he noticed that the large X was right at the base of Mount Doom. And there was an opening indicated; the mouth of a great cave. In small letters that he could barely read was the following inscription:
Will Ye Mortals Never Learn!
Now, even though no one living in the Forest of Malevolence had ever been to Mount Doom -- or had been killed before they could return -- there was a legend about this place that was spoken about only in whispers. For it was well known that evil lurked there. A horrible evil that was written down in the Ancient Scrolls and taught to children to keep them from wandering off too far from their mother's care, lest the creatures of Mount Doom enthrall them with their mystical powers and render one useless for the tending of mushrooms. And since mushrooms were the very stuff of life -- the only digestible food within the Forest of Malevolence -- anything that interfered with their growth and harvesting had to be considered evil.
But a treasure! thought Sourjack…and maybe an adventure? A battle fought against mystical creatures who defended evil and perhaps bring home something that might be more profitable than tending mushrooms? Be careful of what you are contemplating! Leaving the crop now and going off on some silly roving would spell certain doom for the harvest. And yet…the thirst was there -- buried and smoldering, to be sure; though gaining in strength as he blew on those embers.
Judging by the scale of the map, though no specific distance was indicated, Mount Doom couldn't be that far away.
And he was bored, anyhow.
