Monday, August 7, 2006

Here's some story for u!
The Hero Returns
Prologue
He sits up, the animal fur rustling in the small breeze. I thought I had been fast enough I have the flower. It’s even in full bloom. That would have easily been enough medicine to save….everyone I’d hoped. Absentmindedly, he crushes the flower in his hand. Each and every worthless petal floats out of his sight. The plague was spreading so slowly at first; only a person at a time. How did they all die so suddenly? How many pyres am I going to have to build? Maybe I should build one and…and put them all on that. The only thing left standing in the village was the totem in the middle of it all. Why didn’t you save them? We prayed every day! Why? On his hands and knees and begins to crawl towards what once he revered as the creator of everything. A few of the bodies slow his progress. Didn’t I sacrifice enough animals? When did I go wrong? ANY OF THEM! WHAT DID ANY OF THEM DO WRONG? Tears fell from his face and his mouth shivered too much to form the words. Putting his hand on the totem, he tried to lift himself to face it. I… I give up. There’s no point. Sliding back down to the ground, he checks his left hand again. The infection has spread farther from the cut than it was before. Not much longer now then. I’ll wait.
…..
1
Sleep is supposed to be a time of rest. Dreams fill your mind and take you to the places that exist only in your heart. The problems come when your heart is filled with something ugly; something like fire or screams for mercy.
“Caleb.”
……Someone’s talking. I can’t tell from where though. The table found a way of separating itself from his head, or is it the other way around? “Yesh?” An unidentifiable shadow stood in the doorway.
“The Lord wants to see you about the attack last night.”
Damn. I did exactly what the writ asked of me. What could I possibly have done wrong? Standing up, he knocked over the bottle. It shattered, spilling nothing but a few meager drops of alcohol onto the floor.
“Well, Caleb. Thanks to your efforts last night we no longer have to worry about bibles or the drink.” Laughter filled the room. None of it was Caleb’s.
Shut up and help carry me out. “Look. If he wantz to ‘alk to me help me get shere.” The room moved far too quickly, but the floor was kind enough to break his fall.
“Alright. But I want you to remember the day that Victor saved your life.” He’s off the floor and being carried down the hallway. Victor’s hair blows up every time they pass a window.
Why doesn’t he tie his hair back? You can’t win a duel when you can’t even see the face of the man you’re trying to kill.
“That was quite a massacre you conducted last night.”
Hmmmm…..I sense a contradiction.
They rounded a corner. “Before we get to the king, would you mind telling me what you mean by massacre?” The struggle to not slur was becoming easier, but was still quite taxing.
They stopped walking and Victor’s face showed nothing but confusion. “You and your men killed half of a town in one night. For whatever reason, you have so far been spared execution by the Forlorn Guard.”

The castle was very empty.

I could kill him right now for what he accuses me of. At least, if I could stop the stones of the ground beneath from shifting size enough to give me footing.
The two move around another corner and through a door. “Spared?” Caleb’s head tried to reach an upright position to look at Victor. A wicked smile crossed the face above him. Caleb could have sworn, the knife on Victor’s hip sang ever so slightly. The double doors to the throne room grew closer. Banners with the unimaginative symbol of a lion fighting a griffon adorned this hall. The guards before it stepped aside, each pulling one slab of wood with him. Creaking filled the room and split Caleb’s head in two. The door sounds like a god screaming. Oh no, the trumpets! The heralds moved as if time itself were slowed. Caleb’s brows pressed together like a fault line. If his head was split before, it was in pieces now. The entire throne room paid no attention to the heralds and stared solely at the form on the ground. The lesser royals made an especially strong show of disgust. They rarely had someone to look down on.
“SILENCE!” My hands can’t block the noise.
“Did the filth give a command in my throne room?” the look on the King’s face said the Forlorn might taste Caleb’s blood after all. The Queen only sneered
What is going on? Caleb struggled to a kneeling position and bowed his head. Once again, Victor leaned against the door frame. If he doesn’t want to die in this room he should bow.
“Do not concern yourself with Victor. Today is about whether or not you live long enough to regret what you have done.”
Inquisitor. His voice means death. I am very close to the grave here. The Inquisitor’s pungent breath passed into Caleb’s ear. He had been witness to this scene many times, though never on this side of it. Someone had decided Caleb was to be punished. Guilt? That didn’t matter here.
“I want to know why you slaughtered the lambs of our auspicious Lord.” Inquisitor, as he lost all other names while gaining his rank, began to pace the room.
“I received a writ of purging. It stated that the town farthest south was filled with heretics. As the leader of The Order, I set out to-”
“To ruin the name of your grand heritage. Those people were nothing but faithful” The inquisitor had stopped and turned to slightly face Caleb. “Where is this writ you speak of?”
“You know where it is.” The anger in Caleb’s voice was plain to everyone. One jeweled lady covered her face to laugh in private. His pride won’t like that. As an Inquisitor he is new and looking to prove himself. Deflating him will not help me. “The ashes of my command lay on the field they were carried out on.”
“Convenient. Do you have any proof that you were given this order?”
“Diligence dictates that my second in command would witness my receiving of the order. As well, the messenger himself would have memory of giving me a letter.” Caleb was still kneeling and Victor was still smirking from the doorway.
“There are many problems with what you say. No messengers were sent last night. Even if one of them had left, they would not know what the letter they delivered said, and”
“Then ask Hoffman and see that I speak the truth.”
“I was getting to that. Look out the window.” Inquisitor once again turned his back on Caleb. Slowly, he stood and wobbled to the window.
He waited for the onlookers blocking the window to step aside. Let’s see why this window has such a special view. Twenty blood and crow covered bodies were put up on pikes. Each had the face skinned and eyes replaced with stones to mark them as a kill of the Forlorn. Each one still wore the necklace meant to protect a person while sleeping. “You sent assassins after my men while they were asleep.” Move slowly, you can‘t kill them all in this shape. Voices met Caleb’s ears, but the words didn’t matter. There is no honor here.
“ajk ease, nxow- sume to judge the greatest incarnation of god on our planet.” Though Inquisitor’s face showed anger, his voice was even.
“What was the first half of the sentence?”
The king waved a finger, “Kill this man.”
“Wait, my Lord”, Victor finally unfolded his arms and moved from the doorway, “I have a much grander idea. Let us send him.” The tone of Victor’s voice was one of pure joy.
The King put down the apple he had been eating and said, “Agreed.”
Something is very wrong here. Victor has always been nothing in the courts. Why would our “Lord” ignore his lack of obeisance and then take his advice so quickly? And what is that ringing? I know I drank, but this is different.
Victor turned and smiled. “You have no face here White Knight. Leave while you still have a face at all.” The shadows in the corners of the room moved, proving to be more than darkness. The guards that came out of those shadows were dragging Caleb out of the room before he even knew what was happening. At that moment, he knew where the singing came from. Victor’s smile grew. The weapon on his hip vibrated visibly and shed a horrible red glow.

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