Riddle
"Relax" you boom, feeling your voice rumble deep in your chest now but comes out with a melodic purr beneath its loud sound. "I don't wish to cause any harm, in fact, I merely want to collect a toll."
"What? This has always been a free road." Instant irritation is showing on the man's face. He has the pose of a strong worker, a constant tradesman, and one who's worked hard and smart for his family's meager fortune. You eye him for a second, seeing where the veins are straining in his forehead.
"Now, now!" you shout, vexed at being interrupted. "If you can answer my riddle, the toll is paid. If not, you must drop half your supplies here for me."
"And if we do neither?"
The answer exploded from you, somewhere deep inside, some instinct lost in the form you've now taken: "Well then, I'll eat you."
The man, for a second, looked shaken before he gave a stern nod. "The riddle then."
Your lips curl up, showing off your glimmering white teeth, faintly sharper than a normal human's because you are now anything but normal. You're a Sphinx after all.
"Okay, a riddle it is..."
I make you weak at the worst of all times.
I keep you safe, I keep you fine.
I make your hands sweat, and your heart grow cold,
I visit the weak, but seldom the bold.
What am I?
The men lean into one another, bickering in hushed tones. At first, neither looked concerned. Instead, mere annoyance shows on their faces until a few minutes into deliberation. You spy sweat starting to dot along their foreheads, catching the rising light of the sun. After nearly five minutes, you stamp a foot impatiently. "What's your response?"
"I-I... I don't know!"
Again, you feel your lips pull back away from your teeth, "Why, can't you feel me? I'm fear."
With a gloating expression, you watch the men unload a carton of goods from their cart before they continue beneath your gaze. At first, their box sits beneath your feet, lonely as you wait, but by midday a pile has been amassed. The original crate of assorted crafts is now the ere base of a tower of treasure.
"Fear," you think, "Is an amazingly powerful thing."
Written by Picklessauce69 on 22 August 2015
The end (for now)