Phantom-Elf

Trembling. The Dark One, the Crocodile, the Monster, the Beast – Rumplestiltskin was trembling. The village coward, he thought, fingers tightening around the golden head of his cane. No matter how thick you make your skin, that will never change. You didn’t fight. You are a coward. He couldn’t look back. He couldn’t surrender to the fear, though the loss of his magic shook him to his rotten core. He couldn’t give up, not when the odds were so close. This time, he would fight. He would win, or die trying. But his hands. His damned hands refused to cooperate, to accept his resolve. He would do this. But his palms