El Trauco by Bonnie Hamre

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El Trauco
by Bonnie Hamre

Appearing in Myth-behavin, an anthology of magical creatures
with Shiloh Walker and Rachel Bo

ISBN: 1-4199-0140-0
Release date: July 27, 2005

The forest was cool and dim. Through the blanketing mist came the muffled whacks of a woodchopper at work. Isabel slowed her pace, head turning from side to side to discover the source of the noise.
Above her head, leaves rustled as tree branches swayed in the wind. What wind? The air was still and moist, heavily laden with water that dripped down on her bare head and arms. Her footfalls made no noise on the bed of mosses and decaying leaves. Her breathing quickened as she neared the woodchopper.
She hesitated, then as the chopping noises got louder, she parted the thick foliage of bushes and peered through. No one there! The noise had stopped, but she heard breathing behind her.
Slowly, dreading what she would find, she turned her head. So slowly she thought imagined it, a shape began to form on a tree stump. First, the vague humanistic form of a torso, then short arms, deformed legs that disappeared into mist, and then, at last, the head and face. She held her breath as the features solidified.
He snatched the conical cap from his head and swept her a low bow, saluting her. As he straightened, he held the cap to his chest and smiled. The smile began as a mere twitch of lips, a mocking mimicry of a greeting, but as it widened, it slowly transformed into a genuine, warm, welcoming smile. His gaze softened, losing fierceness as it became tender, beckoning. Seductive.
Without volition, she moved forward, her feet gliding over the forest floor without a sound. Held by his gaze, she felt her body responding to some ancient call. She felt fluid, warm, feminine.
Suddenly, without warning, a wooden club appeared in one hand. He raised it over his head, and crashed it down on the nearest tree trunk.
Whack! Whack! Whack!
The tree shattered. Pieces of the trunk fell around her, missing her as leaves rained over her head and shoulders, then over her body as she crumpled to the ground. She tried to get up, but her limbs had lost all their strength. She fell back, aware of the troll coming closer, closer, closer!

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Don't miss the rest of this story in Myth-behavin', available from my book pages at Ellora's Cave

Note:
This story is an adaptation of a famous Chilean legend from the island of Chiloé, where a mythical forest troll seduces and abandons young maidens.

For more about Chiloé and Chile, please read my article: Isla Grande de Chiloé - Island of Legend and Lore.