Tamalia and the trapdoor

Tamalia search for spell books

Tamalia and the trapdoor Part 01
Any constructive comments are welcome
Started as a 300 word contest.

Tamalia stuck the skillfully crafted pin in the map of yellowed parchment. Indicating the thicket she intended to explore that afternoon. Scooping up the overly large toad that had been her Dwarf lover Podolfo; she brushed aside black hair streaked with gray. For a moment she thought of putting her lustrous hair up into a messy ponytail. It was a short moment, and then she shouldered her side bag and skipped out the door.

The curvy Witchy Woman talked and cooed to her toad as she walked. Half a day would elapse before arriving at the thicket. The pines were separated by several feet and so seemed sparse in comparison to the actual amount of trees outside the town and almost to the ridge. Before pulling out her borrowed bush sword and cutting into the living barrier, she took in a little nourishment. The bread, cheese, and apples filled her and soon she was searching for the trapdoor.

Setting down the bag and short cloak, the morning had been chilled by thick mist, Tamalia gauged her starting point and began slashing at the skunk vines. The underbrush pulled at her deep red skirt, and the points on the vines scratched at her skin.

An hour of activity brought her to a sawed-off tree stump. Cut into the resinous rings was a glyph of warding. Setting down her former lover, she pulled out a potion from the pocket from her leather leg bag and poured it onto the glyph. The etched symbol glowed brightly with a green light and became jet black. The interruption would be precariously brief. Stepping up and onto the flat surface she searched the immediate area with her bright hazel eyes.

The needleless pine tree to the south was out of place, and Tamalia bound to it. The illusion was quite good, and only passing her hand through the intangible bole proved her suspicion. Crossing her eyes forced the tree out of her vision, and the unrotten trapdoor pulled up with a bronze ring. The ease of use belied its age of fifty years.

In the pit below the trapdoor The Witchy Woman found five small bound books. The glyph began to flicker, and the tree began to enter back into existence. Her long-fingered hands grabbed up the books, and knocked the trapdoor closed with her ample hip. Smiling she returned to her toad, and her shoulder bag. Unable to wait, she skimmed through the spell books and murmured her pleasure to her former Dwarf lover.

Podolfo croaked.

"Once I translate these spells, I may be able to transform you back to yourself," Tamalia smiled. "And this time it may be permanent.”