Harold Into Chaos

By Joseph Barone

Harold was the King of the Imps. He had long admired humanity and sought to live among them. One hundred years ago, he gave up his Imphood to become human.
However when his new home was attacked by magic, he was forced to return to his former nature and aid the kingdom of Mansfield.
Now a century later he faces a new peril - someone mysterious, unknown and immensely powerful is causing all the magical kingdoms on earth to disappear, one by one.
As the hammer approaches, will it fall on Harold as well?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Joseph Barone
• Release date: Aug 9, 2016
• ISBN: 9781370457120

Joseph Barone

I'm a Brooklyn author with many different likes and styles of writing such as fantasy, Scifi and other speculative genres, horror, etc. I have a passion for the act of writing and a beautiful family, each of which make me paradisiacally happy. My first novel, Harold the Imp, was published last year and I'm currently in the process of working on a sequel. My family is why I write, and they have always been extremely encouraging. I'm in the process of making things happen in the publishing space and looking to grow my brand bigger and better. To that end, I've been putting a couple of things on Smashwords for free so that readers can get a sampling- something that says, "If you liked that even a little, you'll LOVE what this guy can do with his pay books!" That last part was a little cheeky to ensure you were still reading. If you'd like to connect to collaborate, network, or are interested in an editor, ghostwriter, ?pen pal? - Then email me at [e-mail]

Book preview

HAROLD INTO CHAOS

All Small Tales

© 2016 Joseph Barone

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: I am Harold

Chapter 2: The Fire and the Feast

Chapter 3: Jarden, Alain and the Hideaway

Chapter 4: The Dragon and the Pit

Chapter 5: The Wembas Fairy

Chapter 6: The Memory Room

Chapter 7: The Magician

Chapter 8: The Return From Atlantis

Chapter 9: The War on Mansfield

ONE

I am Harold

My name is Harold and I'm an Imp. Not just any Imp, mind you. I'm the King of the Imps. My true name is Erubaca, but just like my appearance, I've decided to change my name to reflect a more human side. I have a brown beard and look like a man in his late 30's.

I'm married to a beautiful woman named Hyacinth, a princess of the Sprites. I met her 99 years ago but the wedding was recent. When I met her, I was going through a time that I wanted to be fully human and give up my Imp-hood. I didn't like those parts of myself that were mischievous and subversive.

Basically I was tired of being an Imp - of belonging to my nature. So I went to a witch, an old acquaintance named Vanna, who transformed me.

She removed my powers and my memories of being an Imp, then locked me into a human body. There was only one condition- if I were to do anything mischievous as a human, I would immediately turn back into an Imp.

I traveled to a human kingdom named Mansfield, where I was welcomed as a new citizen and where I became the baker of the great King Sabrian. Hyacinth was his adopted daughter. She was transformed into a human being as a child, and had no memories of ever having been a Sprite. We fell in love at first sight, although the king also objected at first sight.

My newly evil brother Erumite attacked Mansfield, seeking to plunder the human kingdom's vast magical archives. He was searching for a locating spell, where he could find my glass ring. My ring is a binding talisman, like a crown for my kingdom. If he were able to get it, the Imp kingdom of Monello would have been his to rule. But the ring was safe with Vanna, who stored it in her enchanted cottage.

In order to save Mansfield, I tricked Erumite and his army into drinking a victory draft spiked with moonlock- an herb that induces a hundred year sleep- give or take a few months. Mansfield and Monello were safe. But because of my deception, I was no longer human. I regained my magic, memories, and former appearance - red, with gray eyes.

But Hyacinth still loved me. It was Vanna that revealed Hyacinth's true nature to me afterwards. Sprites are basically female Imps, which was further proof that we were made for each other.

This brought me to my most recent dilemma. Erumite and the rogue Imps were going to awaken within one year and when they did, I would have to decide their fate. I would also deal with perhaps another takeover attempt. Or worse, an all-out war. We may have become a house divided.

I didn't know what course to take, so I brought my issue up to the Council of Magic Royalty. I was away from the Council for about 75 years, while Hyacinth and I traveled the world for most of that time. I belonged to the Forest Chapter of the Council, which contained magic creatures that lived among the trees.

Monello was a hidden realm located in a great isolated forest in Europe. It was also the site for the current Council meeting. As the host of this particular meeting, I led the agenda, so I opened up with that. I tried to explain how this decision affected everyone at the table, since Erumite could become dangerous. We weren't always enemies, but he'd proven himself to not be a friend, either. Who knew what he was capable of?

Elf King Braddock allowed me to finish my speech. Then he shot me down. Erubaca-

Harold, I corrected politely. I always prefer my human name, especially lately.

Harold, he continued. "The Council would like to help in this matter, but this is your own internal turmoil, unfortunately. The Council does not like to interfere in its members' sovereign affairs. For one thing, if your brother succeeds in taking over Monello, it would be very awkward for us during future meetings to be able to look him in the eye if we condemned him now.

I also don't believe Erumite has any intention of attacking any other realm except yours. The rest of us would be safe from his wrath, so why bother? Braddock was the Head of Council for the past two decades in a row. I was starting to think I should run against him in the next election.

For another thing, we have a bigger, more pressing problem on our hands. Something that truly concerns us all. Even you, Eru- Harold. I sat down. I could see that it was pointless for me to push for my agenda.

Braddock, who was purple-skinned and wore dark blue clothing, gained control of the meeting. You probably noticed that Taia and Giro are not here. It is because something has happened to them. They and their hidden kingdoms have disappeared, vanished into thin air. Taia was Queen of the Wood Nymphs, and Giro was the High Steward of the Satyrs.

The other members who were present began to murmur amongst themselves. I was still steamed about being hushed and flatly refused. Aside from myself, Hyacinth and Braddock, there was the Queen Pixie, Lady Faerie, Lord Dwarf, and several others in attendance. Braddock also seemed genuinely afraid, which stunned me.

He was a very powerful Elf. He took a sip of grimmleberry wine to wet his whistle. I should have given him moonlock.

If that wasn't enough, the Water Chapter of the Council has reported that the Merfolk have all disappeared, as has their home of Triton. Triton was hidden by an enchantment, as all our realms are. But now, there is no trace of them. Zero, as if they were never here. There are others missing and the threat is growing. We must do something.

What can we do? Paxi the Queen Pixie yelled vociferously.

We must pool our resources and form an alliance. Whatever has happened to the others must not be allowed to happen to us! Braddock slammed my table. I’d never seen him harm his own furniture before, but mine was perfectly fine to disrespect.

I had a thought about something that might help, but I didn't yet want to make the suggestion to the group. I wanted to think about it first. So my wife blurted out exactly what I was thinking.

Why don't we seek the counsel of Mansfield? They have a huge collection of information in their magic archives- they may have some way for us to protect ourselves from whatever is causing these regions to disappear. She looked at me with her deep emerald eyes, which smiled before her lips did.

Braddock agreed with Hyacinth. He nodded to me and then to her with a great big purple grin.

Then it's settled. We will seek out human magic in our defense. You and Harold will go to Mansfield and search their legendary archives for anything that might help us. The rest of us will consult the elders in our own realms for advice. We will meet again in one month, if of course we are all still around.

Braddock paused. And in that next meeting, we will vote on whether to become involved in the upcoming challenge to the Imp throne. He and the rest of the magic royals got up quietly and walked out through different bronze doors, directly into their king or queendoms. They'd come in like the wind and gone out like a fart.

I didn't like these meetings, and this was the first one that had any real purpose. Most of the time, we spoke about nonsense. Braddock suggested what they call a quid pro quo- meaning that they would vote to help me only if I could help them. I turned to my beautiful wife and held her hands. Hyacinth, honey?

Yes? she asked me expectantly.

Why did you suggest Mansfield’s assistance to the Council? I kissed her to hide my irritation. She pulled away, not hiding hers. When you're together for almost a century, you have lots of sweet moments, sprinkled with some sour or even bitter ones. But they always go well together, like a cherry tomato and arugula salad with lemon vinaigrette dressing.

Why shouldn't I have suggested Mansfield? This is a very real problem. There's no better place in the world to uncover a solution. And you and I have seen the world - you know that I'm right. There’s no place like it. She kissed my hand, adding sweetness to the salty sour mix.

There were many reasons I didn't want to go. For one thing, no one that we’d known would be there. They'd all be dead. Hyacinth's adopted father Sabrian, would be dead. Her adopted sister, Syla - dead. Vanna, Warlocke, Brutus, Radegast, and all the townspeople.

Dead, dead, dead. I was afraid that Hyacinth would want to go there and expect to find the same feelings that existed in her memories. But in reality, she would find sadness. She would find that the world she knew had deeply changed.

In a profound way, change is death. And death is change. Mutable quantities rendered immutable.

But I couldn't argue. I knew that when she wanted something badly enough, she got it. That was how she got me, after all. So I agreed and we were instantly off together. There were no affairs to get in order, since my kingdom basically ran itself. We left immediately.

Imps and Sprites usually have limited magical powers, but the older you are, the more tricks you learn. When we left Monello and walked into the human realm, we found ourselves at a clearing. Mansfield was a difficult kingdom to find, especially if you were looking for it. So I used a location spell, a new one that I’d learned in my travels.

Imps and Sprites can transport themselves instantly to places whose locations they know. We used to know where Mansfield was, but that was a long time ago. It was also protected by many enchantments, which has a dampening effect on finding its location.

The spell involves a falcon's feather and just a few little words. I let Hyacinth do the honors. She took the feather out of her satchel, which could fit a whole lot more than it would appear. She held it in the palm of her hand and said,

Fly far and stay low, take us where we want to go; head now with great haste, Mansfield is our intended place.

Instantly, the feather took off and flew on the back of the wind. We ran to keep up. Being magical creatures, we rarely tired and ran very quickly.

Within 6 hours, we reached the high gate of the main entrance of Mansfield, where the feather settled gently to the ground. From the outside, the place looked very much like I remembered. Its gates were restored and reinforced with tempered wood.

In my former (human) life, I had become close with the gatekeeper, Gatekeeper Al. He turned out to be Warlocke, Vanna's husband. They had both been keeping an eye on things in secret.

The first time I came to these gates, arrows were pointed at me by at least six archers. Mansfielders at the time were very intimidated by outsiders because of the many attacks on them over the years. This time, there was only one archer. There was still an elderly gentleman gatekeeper and he called down from the front tower: Ahoy there! Welcome to Mansfield, friends! State yer business!

We're returning citizens, come to visit! Hyacinth called up. We have our papers with us for inspection!

The old man looked us over from above and then waved off the archer. He gave a signal to someone somewhere, who then slowly opened the heavy doors. The old man greeted with smiles us as soon as they opened.

He must have been very spry to walk down all those stairs so quickly. He had heavy jowls and a toothy grin, but otherwise all his features were small and skinny. He wore a blue vest of light leather armor with a bow clipped to his belt and a quiver of arrows slung over his back.

He held a large notebook in his hands and a quill feather to write with. Alright, then. My name is Gatekeeper Bob. It's surely and truly a pleasure to meet some fellow Mansfielders. May I be seein’ yer papers? Hyacinth happily obliged.

Bob's toothy grin turned into a lippy frown. These papers are a hundr’d years old! He squinted and read the same few lines over and over. Hyacinth...as in former Princess Hyacinth? And Harold...Baker? THE Harold Baker? I bowed low and Hyacinth curtsied.

"You're both legends here! Fergive me, but