Taming the Beast, by Kit Campbell
Taming the BeastKit Campbell Mortimer the Magnificent leaned forward, his focus completely on the task in front of him. He almost had it…just a few more inches… There was a knock on his door, startling him. The replica of Gildrun’s sword, tiny and perfect, fell from his fingers, clanging onto the table in front of his model of the great hero’s historic defense of Longswallow. Mortimer sighed; it never failed. The knocking continued. Mortimer frowned at his model, but there was no use going back to it, not with that ruckus. He pushed to his feet, crossed the room, and pulled the door open just as the man on the other side of it started to knock yet again. Mortimer calmly dodged the man’s fist. “Can I help you?” “Oh, ah, yes.” The man took off his hat, holding it with both hands. “I’m looking for Mortimer the Magnificent.” Oh, no, not this again. “You’ve found him.” “I have?” The man tried to discreetly examine Mortimer and failed miserably. “You’re Mortimer?” Mortimer was never quite sure what they were expecting to see. A slight man in glasses and a worn cardigan never seemed to be it. The man scuttled back, starting to bow but then apparently deciding otherwise halfway through the motion. He fidgeted with the hat in his hands. “Hector says you got rid of his dragon problem.” Mortimer had no idea who Hector was, but suspected he knew where this was going. “Yes…?” The man fidgeted more. Mortimer…