TBC Publishing Pride Month Flash Fiction Challenge, 17 of 30

TBC Publishing Pride Month Flash Fiction Challenge, 17 of 30

TBC Publishing Pride Month Flash Fiction Challenge, 17 of 30

Title: Starweaver

Author: R. Scott Tyler

Genre: Fantasy

Word count (500 max): 481

Elias sang to his flock of sheep, and they listened while munching on the sweet mountain grass. This time of year was his favorite because they could come down from the mountain and be closer to his mother and home. However, this year was different. It was Elias’s turn to visit the village sorcerer and bring a gift.

Every year, one young man from the village had to present a gift to the reclusive sorcerer who lived in the mountains—or the town would risk his wrath, or so it was said. Elias’s family didn’t possess gold or jewels, but he was a talented musician. He wrote songs and sang them to his flock of sheep throughout the year. This indeed kept them closer to him and thus safer. 

“I will write a song for the sorcerer,” he told his mother.

She wrung her hands and replied, “Maybe I will also send a pair of woolen boots and dried mutton for the winter?” Although the gifts were always an anonymous thing between the giver and the sorcerer, she was worried a song might not prove enough to get his blessing and help for the coming year.

“Sure, that sounds fine,” was Elias’s easy reply.

He spent the summer working on a song meant solely for the sorcerer’s ears. The song he wrote was about a love he had never dared to experience. 

On the appointed day, Elias brought his harp, the warm boots, and the dried mutton his mom made. And in his heart, he carried his song.

The sorcerer greeted him, and it was the first time they had met, as both were generally outside the village. The sorcerer accepted the boots and mutton, slipping out of his tattered shoes and into the boots while chewing on the mutton. 

“Is this your gift, Elias?” he asked, musing. “To be honest, the cards told me of something more…creative,” he finished.

Elias blushed and replied, “I have one more gift…,” stammering because he did not know the sorcerer’s name.

“Call me Alaric, Elias. Alaric Starweaver,” the sorcerer said, feeling Elias’s discomfort.

Elias then took the harp from his back and began to sing the love song that now felt as if he had written it specifically for the Starweaver. 

Alaric listened, silent and unreadable… then smiled and said, “Elias, this song was meant to be. The cards told me even before my heart believed.”

“After 25 years, my search for a partner and apprentice is over. I have chosen you, Elias. But you must still choose me,” he said.

“Accepting my affection will come at a cost,” the sorcerer continued. “A cost that even I am not sure of. It could rewrite your past or even erase both of our current futures.”

Alaric stepped toward Elias and held out his hand, a gesture meant to ask for Elias’s decision.

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