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Our second place Middle School category winner was written by Nathan Roberts of McKinney, Texas, a student of the Dowell Middle School. |
Antony Zelner staggered out of the merchant’s wagon like a drunkard staggering out of a tavern after having well over one too many drinks; his legs stumbled and danced around the stone road as they tried to remember how to stand and walk. Eventually, he managed to get his footing and a master performance in the art of not falling over. His eyes squinted and detested seeing the sky and the sun again, for they were so used to the peaceful darkness of the inside of the wagon, but his eyes were pleased when they saw the name "ANAM" on the sign standing in the middle of the crossroad. His arms groaned, his knees creaked, his back whined, and his neck was filing a formal complaint to his brain. When his body eventually stopped protesting, he turned to face the elderly traveling merchant that let him ride in the back of their wagon (for a fee, of course). Antony thanked the merchant for their kindness before reaching his hand into the small leather coinpurse on his hip, which rattled as he rummaged through the currency inside. He eventually retracted his hand, and in his fingers was a silver coin decorated with the stern face of a long-dead emperor on the front and an intricate royal crest on the back. Antony flung the coin through the air, and the sun reflected off the shiny silver surface as the coin spun and whirled magnificently through the sky, and it only stopped when the merchant caught it in his wrinkled hands. Antony waved at the merchant, turned around, and as he began down the path to the city of Anam, he couldn't stop his hand from wandering to the precious envelope stuffed into his pocket.
As Antony approached the city, he was stopped by a farmer calling out to him from his small farm on the city's outskirts. The farmer cried: "Welcome to Anam, sir, I hope I'm not interrupting you or anything like that, but would you mind taking some time out of your day to talk to a poor farmer?" Antony Zelner smiled at the middle-aged laborer, the first person he'd seen in weeks, except for the merchant who brought him here. he eagerly answered: "sure, I have been traveling for so long I'd discuss philosophy with a fish if it listened." the farmer chuckled and grinned, showing his yellow teeth, and replied, "Well, Sir, I'm pretty confident I can hold a conversation better than a fish, although I may smell worse than one." Antony laughed and extended his hand toward the farmer. "The name's Antony Zelner, and thanks for talking with me." The farmer grabbed Antony's hand with both of his and said "I'm Gerald, thank you for taking the time out of your day to talk with someone like me, Mister Zelner. I hope I wasn't interrupting anything, and you should probably continue into the town." Antony nodded at him, turned, and began walking once more before he stopped and turned around. He saw Gerald dropping to his knees and raising his hands in front of his face, flinching and shouting "I'm ever so sorry sir! I didn't steal anything, I swear! please, please, I beg of you to have mercy on a pitiful peasant like me!" Gerald's face had gone pale, and he was shaking. Antony panicked and responded, "calm down, it's okay, I'm not going to hurt you." Gerald lowered his arms to his side, opening his eyes and staring down into the dirt with his still pale-white face, muttering "I-I'm so sorry, it's a reflex, I thought you were going to hurt me, I'm so sorry." Antony walked over to the farmer and got on one knee, placing one of his hands on the man's shoulder, feeling a scar beneath his shirt, and looking him in the eyes. Gerald looked up at him, and he said "I'm the one who should be sorry, I'm the one who caused this reaction. Forgive me for asking this, I hope it isn't a very touchy subject, but what's the problem, and can I help?" by now, the color had returned to Gerald's face, and he looked away from Antony as he explained "I used to be a slave in a faraway kingdom, forced to serve a man named Sir Kingston, the highest noble in that land. He had a first name, but he never told it to anyone, believing everyone to be unworthy of knowing it, and had believed himself as such since childhood. When he was old enough to give orders, he demanded anyone who knew his name have their tounges cut off and their hands maimed so they may never speak or write his name ever. If we dared to speak or act 'wrong' we would be beaten, whipped, and thrashed mercilessly in order to ingrain the idea that we were scum, below all other humans. They said we were only good for serving humans, and that we deserved our treatment because it was punishment for straying off that path and questioning our God-given job and that we were to blame for our punishments. If the crops withered or the harvests didn't reach some unknown standard, everyone would be punished and forced to work more. I remember one man trying to escape from the plantation. He... was caught and killing him would make him a martyr." He was a brave and prideful man...", Gerald frowned. "they took that away from him. He never said anything besides formal expressions afterward. They told us he was a fool, and the only way we could leave was if Sir Kingston or his royal family let us. I don't remember how I escaped, but the weirdest thing I remember is that I talked to someone, someone on the other side of the fence..." Gerald shook his head and regained his composure, he stood up and Antony followed suit. "Thank you for listening to me, Mister Zel- no, Antony, Thank you, Antony." Antony smiled "Thank you, Gerald, I wish you good luck and I wish I could talk with you more, but it's getting late and I should probably find an inn to stay at." Gerald pulled out a card from his pocket and handed it to Antony, saying "I know a good place, The Heldish Alehouse, I used to stay there before I got this plot of land." Antony examined the card, which had a small map on one side and a logo on the other. Antony thanked the farmer and turned back towards the city, and before he could start walking, Gerald said "one more thing, would you please visit me tomorrow? you don't have to, of course, it's fine with me, Antony." Antony smiled "Sure, I'll be here tomorrow, it’s not like I’ve got any fish to talk to!" and both of them laughed as Antony walked away.
Antony walked through the streets of Anam, following the directions on the business card. The city was surprisingly quiet, and the streets and buildings were coated in a thin layer of dust, but there was still the faint sound of footsteps and conversation echoing through the empty streets. After his eyes were strained from squinting at a tiny card in the dark Antony arrived at the alehouse and was relieved to see the light coming from it's windows and illuminating the street ahead of him. He walked up to the doors, twisted the handle, and walked inside. The bartender was polishing a glass with a worn rag, and two men were playing cards in the corner. The bartender looked up at Antony and smiled, his black hair was short and well-kempt and he smelled of soap and cologne. "Nice to meet you, my name's Samson Heldish, and welcome to The Heldish Alehouse, how can I help you?" Antony smiled back. "I'm looking for a room, hopefully one with a desk or something." Samson responded, "Sure, I've got one on the second floor, but it may be a little messy as it was used recently." Antony replied "That's fine with-" but was cut off by Samson. "I must ask, what brings you here?" Antony, a bit confused, answered "Well, your friend Gerald sent me here, he gave me a business card." Samson looked surprised. "Normally nobody talks to him, but that's obvious seeing as you got here without help from one of the locals and he totally gave you a business card. However, that's not what I meant. What brings you to this city, Anam?" Antony pulled the envelope out of his pocket and laid it out on the table. "A letter from an old comrade." The bartender examined the envelope, muttering to himself, and Antony only recognized a few words, something about the type of paper, how much the stamp costs and the significance of the imagery on it, and something else about postage that was too complicated for him to understand. One of the men playing cards shouted "You know, you'd get a lot more customers if you didn't do this to people." Samson glared at him. "I do this to EVERY customer, John, it's standard practice that's been passed through the family." The other man at the table laughed at John, who blushed and turned to face him "don't blame me, I can't remember the last few people he did this to!" Samson shook his head and clicked his tongue before turning back to Antony. "My father explained to me why we do this many years ago. He told me we come from a long line of scribes and storytellers. It's our job to write down stories and history, preserving them for future generations. A recent visitor told me his story. He was a soldier and fought in many battles with his comrade and would never leave his side. He was guarding a keep against invaders when his comrade was mortally wounded, slashed from the left shoulder to the right hip, but even though his comrade was bleeding out, he still stood by his side and fended off man after man, and when reinforcements arrived, he picked up his comrade and rushed him to the infirmary. his comrade survived, but the injury rendered him unable to fight in the war, so he was sent home, and he had to keep fighting without him. His comrade was the only reason he fought at all, so the night his friend was going to be sent away, he snuck into the wagon with his friend. This story teaches us that friendship triumphs over hardship and that your bonds with other people can make the difference between life and death." Antony nodded. "My name is Antony Zelner, I was born in the city of Stonehearth to parents of no renown. I became a soldier, fought in wars between nobles over land and power and I was told it was for my country. I took the lives of other men, and they took the lives of fellow soldiers, so I guess that was reason enough for us to fight. Eventually, I retired, and I came to this city from far away because of this letter." Samson smiled. "good, that's something to work off of, but it's getting awfully late, let's talk about this tomorrow, it'll be much easier, let me show you to your room." Antony grabbed the letter on the table and followed Samson up the stairs and to the room at the farthest end of the hallway. "Mister Zelner, this is where you will be staying for the duration of your visit. Don't worry about payment, we'll discuss that tomorrow. Anyways, I'm off to deal with the two other customers, Goodnight!" Samson smiled at Antony, and then walked back down the hallway and descended the stairs.
The room was small but it was neat and clean, except for the desk next to the window, and on the other side of the room was a twin bed. Antony laid his backpack at the foot of the bed and sat on the chair in front of the desk. On the desk was a wine bottle, which was lying on its side, a stack of papers, and a bottle of ink. Antony picked up the wine bottle and placed it at the edge of the desk, and placed the envelope on the desk. He opened it and took out the letter inside.
"My good friend Antony Zelner: I hope this letter reaches you, I've missed your company and I hope you've been doing well. I'm currently in the city of Anam, It's quite a lively city! I'm thinking of maybe settling down here instead of continuing to wander from place to place like I've been doing for the past few years. I ask you to come to visit me instead of me visiting you, and it's not like you have anything better to do, and at least it'll get you out of the house for once!
Your Comrade
Sean Muinin”
Antony panicked, not because of the contents of the letter, but because of the name Sean Muinin. He didn't recognize that name, and this letter was important enough to bring him however many miles to get to this city, and now he can't even remember who Sean Muinin is. He knew it brought him here, this single letter was the sole reason he left the town he was living in and he can't even remember who sent him the letter! He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. What did he know about this person? Well, he knows he was a comrade, and since Antony was a soldier, that word meant to him he was also a soldier. He knows about me, and we supposedly are good friends, but no matter how hard he tried Antony just was unable to remember, nothing came to his mind. Frustrated, he decided to try again tomorrow, got in bed, and closed his eyes, letting himself clear his mind of the frustrations.
Time passed, and as Antony's mind began to fall into sleep, he was instantly awoken by a sound. A scream.
Antony shot out of bed, everyone knew that a random blood-curdling scream was a sign of disaster, a dead giveaway of murder, be it the screams of a victim or the poor soul who had the misfortune to discover the body. It was Antony's job as a guard to deal with problems, specifically the kind of problems that are heralded by screams in the night. He slid his feet into his boots and sprinted towards the window. in one hand he grabbed the wine bottle on the desk, and the other hand held onto the windowsill as Antony flung himself out the window and into the streets, and he landed on the ground with his feet, although the momentum caused him to slam into a wall with his shoulder. Miraculously, the bottle had survived the impact, but that wasn't important. in the dark, he saw a flash of a sickly white hide and the dragging of two legs across the stone alleyway, and he sprinted after the sound of the shoes scraping across the stone. He took note of where he turned, in order to find his way back, being careful not to forget them due to the pounding of adrenaline in his body and head. His muscles ached as he ran and ran after whatever the hell he witnessed, holding the bottle of La Paix with an iron grip, and he noted that it was the exact kind that he drank with his comrade, Sean, but dismissed it as he bolted down the maze of streets and alleyways. He got a glimpse of the creature, no, the thing, no, the monster dragging its prey, it was white, not the hue of a noble horse's hide but of the flesh of some vile maggot, yellowish in hue, yet it wasn't slimy nor fleshy, it didn't look like skin and flesh had muscle, it had nothing but it still moved and writhed as it pulled the victim to god knows where. turn after turn Antony counted and focused on the order. left, he slammed into a wall, right, he dashed down the pathway, right, he grit his teeth enduring the pain of the injuries he kept on getting, left, his legs slid across the ground and SLAMMED into a stone higher than the others, and he tensed up before crashing into the ground, tearing and ripping up his coat and scratching his arm. his head was unscathed, thankfully, and the bottle was still held tight in Antony's grip. His arm stung and wailed in pain as he stood up and started to slowly return to the inn while asking himself What the hell had I seen? Why did I remember something about Sean? What is wrong with this place? Antony was exhausted and out of breath as he stood at the door of the inn, and as he opened the door he felt his legs finally give way due to exhaustion, but before he could hit the ground he felt himself being grabbed and heard the door shut behind him. "Filthy drunkard, just because this is an alehouse doesn't mean you can steal my alcohol and drink yourself into a fervor!" Antony tried to cry out in confusion but could only manage to emit a painful wheeze, and he felt Samson loosen his grip and ask "oh god, Antony? Are you alright?" to which he responded by coughing out a weak "yeah" or at least a sound similar to it. Samson responded "You sound like a whining puppy, you seem to be anything but alright. let me help." Samson placed Antony's arm over his shoulder and escorted him across the bar, up the stairs, to his room, and placed Antony on the bed and put the bottle in his hand back onto the desk. He told Antony "Be patient, I need to get a few things." Samson left the room, and a few minutes later he walked into the room, carrying a massive book under one arm, a medium-sized leather bag in the other, and a lantern held by grabbing onto the handle with his teeth. He walked over to the desk, carefully placing the book in the middle of the desk and then lowering his head and dropping the lantern on the table. after turning on the lantern, he walked over to Antony and placed the bag on the floor. "Now tell me, what the hell happened? Take your time." Samson took a handful of medical supplies out of the bag and began to tend to Antony's injuries. "You know that letter I showed you? I read it, and I couldn't remember the name. I went to bed thinking I'd handle that tomorrow, but I was awoken by a scream outside the window." Samson interrupted him. "Hold on, give me a second." Samson finished wrapping the bandages and sat down at the desk. He picked up the enormous book, opened it, and placed it on his lap, simultaneously pulling a pen out of his pocket and turning a few pages before looking back up at Antony. "now, continue." He turned his attention back to the book on his lap and started writing in it. "I was a guard in my town, and I instinctively got out of my bed, put my shoes on, grabbed that wine bottle, and jumped out the window." "you jumped out the window?" Antony blushed. "It was an emergency, and gravity is faster than stairs." Samson sighed. "Please don't go throwing yourself out of windows, especially mine. You could break the window frame and your face, and it would look like I murdered you if you cracked your skull open. However, I do have to admit that was quite heroic, even if heroism and stupidity are extremely similar. Continue." "I landed on my feet, and I saw a faint glimpse of something dragging someone across the ground. The rest is hazy, but I chased it down through the streets and alleyways and could only ever get faint glimpses of whatever the hell it was that was dragging that person away." "Tell me as much about that thing as you can." Antony thought for a few minutes before responding. "It was white, not pale white, it was a little yellow, somewhat like yellowed paper, or an apple left out for too long, it was a sickly color, though." "you got anything about its body structure?" "I barely could see anything about its shape, but it was big, it had a mouth, no arms. Not sure if it had legs." "texture?" "I can't pin it down, not slimy, not hairy, I'm not sure if it was leathery, it wasn't really fleshy either." "Did it smell? did it make any noises? how did it behave?" "My lungs felt kind of on fire from running so I didn't get a chance to smell it, it didn't make any noises either and I followed the sound of the victim's shoes scraping against the ground, and it just went away from me, no reactions to pain to scraping across the ground and I'm not sure it even touched the ground." "Did you feel anything else unusual? did you feel stuck in an infinite maze?" "It didn't mess with space or time or anything, but something else happened. You know how I forgot about the name "Sean Muinin"? well, I remembered something about him and the bottle I was holding, the information was clear when I was chasing it but now I can't remember it that well." "Alright, continue." "So, I was chasing it, and then I tripped on a raised rock and that's why my arm was injured." Samson looked up at Antony with a confused look on his face. "How the hell did you get back here? It's extremely easy to get lost and stuck in the system of roads and alleyways of a city you aren't familiar with." Antony shrugged, even though it hurt his shoulder to do so. "I just remembered the turns I took." Samson was feverishly writing in the book, only stopping to contemplate. "Sorry I grabbed you, it's a habit I use to deal with alcoholics trying to steal my beer and whatnot late at night." Antony asked him "Who would be stupid enough to do that?" and he saw Samson's head raise to answer, but he then lowered his head, and under his breath, he said "You're right. Who?"
As Antony walked up the gravel road, he heard the sound of talking coming from Gerald's farm. As he got closer, he made out two voices, one was Gerald's, obviously, but he didn't recognize the second. He saw not only Gerald on his knee, pulling a weed out of the ground, but also a little girl skipping around him, and he heard her asking him question after question. "Why are you pulling that plant out of the ground? is it evil?" Gerald didn't look up as he answered "It's a weed, and yes, it is evil." The girl stopped skipping to process the answer. "How can a plant be evil? Is it poison?" Gerald sighed. Antony shouted, "Hey, Gerald, I'm back, did you miss me?" Gerald looked up from the weed and smiled when he saw Antony standing at the fence. He stood up and brushed the dirt off his leg. "Yes I did, thank you for coming here. This girl here is named Magdoline, I guess you could call her my daughter. Usually, she would be at home, reading, but last night I told her about you and she was intent on meeting you since the moment I told her you weren't from Anam." Gerald turned his head to look at Magdoline, who stood proudly with a smug expression on her face and her hands on her hips. "It's not a compliment, you crazy girl." She still kept her smug expression as she responded "You said I would get bored waiting for him to come, and I said I wouldn't! And I didn't! So I win!" Gerald sighed again. "Fine, whatever, kiddo, but you better go talk to the guy you've been waiting for before HE gets bored and leaves." Magdoline's smug expression changed to a look of surprise, and she shouted "AAGH! I didn't even think about that!" She ran over to the fence and looked up at Antony before exclaiming "Hello Mister! I'm Magdoline! I'm nine! My favorite color is purple! Where are you from? What job do you have? Did you go to school?" Antony stammered out a response: "I-I'm from the city of Stonehearth, uh, I used to be a soldier and a guard but I don't have a job right now, and uhm, I graduated from the Grosgrad Public School before I enrolled as a soldier." The young girl's eyes widened as Antony spoke the last sentence. "What's a public school?" she asked, staring at Antony. "uhm, It's a school that anyone can attend, not just people with a lot of money or people who are very important." Antony looked back into her eyes and could see her thinking as if he was watching machinery pump and hiss from the other side of a tinted glass window. Gerald grinned. "I can tell she's interested in what you have to say, but she does this to anyone who can tell her things she hasn't heard about before. Would you mind taking her with you, into town? not only would it get her out of my hair, but she would never forgive me if I took away an opportunity for her to learn, plus, she'd be glad to guide you around town." Antony stared back at Magdoline as he responded "Sure, but tell her to stop glaring at me like that or her eyes are gonna burst right out of her head!" Immediately, Magdoline shrieked and threw herself to the ground, covering her eyes with her hands and rolling back and forth across the grass. Gerald laughed, and Antony just barely kept himself together. "Calm down," Antony said, taking in a deep breath to prevent himself from laughing, "I was making a joke, your eyes aren't actually gonna burst out of your head, I promise." Magdoline still kept rolling for a few seconds before slowly beginning to stop. when she had stopped completely, she jumped up and shouted "AAAGH! I LOST AGAIN!"
Magdoline skipped along the road as Antony followed behind. They entered the town square, and instead of being crowded like every other town square Antony had visited, it was completely empty. The perimeter of the square consisted of a ring of buildings, all of which were abandoned as well as the various vendors and stands that stood near the middle of the square. Antony felt incredibly uncomfortable as he walked through the square, the more he thought about how lifeless everything was, the more uncomfortable he became. Magdoline turned to Antony. "Let's visit the church, it has a library!" she said, trying but failing to hide her excitement. Antony nodded his head. "Sure, it's not like I can go anywhere else, I'm kind of lost without you." Antony followed the girl into the church, and he expected to be alone, but in front of the altar sat an elderly woman. Her silver hair reached down to the floor, and she wore a black robe, and various sigils, symbols, runes, and patterns were sown onto the robe, however, what attracted
Antony's attention the most was the broadsword leaning against the wall beside her. She stared at Antony, and Antony stared back. "The adults say that her name is Oracle or something, my dad says she can see the future and whatnot. That's a lot to ask of someone who can't even hear, and I can call them an OLD BUTTFACE!" The old woman glared at Magdoline, who jumped back and frustratedly shouted "HOW?!?!" Antony turned to Magdoline. "She's been alive for a long time, she probably learned the ability to read lips." Magdoline was extremely surprised. "SHE CAN READ LIPS? I THOUGHT YOU COULD ONLY DO THAT TO BOOKS!!!" Antony chuckled and turned back towards the oracle who was pointing towards Antony. she slowly unfolded her hand and turned it over, and she pulled back her fingers twice. "What does that mean? does she want something from you?" Magdoline asked, tilting her head. "No, Magdoline, it means "come here." or "this way." she's calling me forwards." Magdoline squinted at the oracle. "I didn't know that old people can talk with their hands." Antony sighed and walked down the runway towards the oracle. he got on one knee and looked the oracle in the eye. she firmly grabbed his hand, and Antony was surprised at how strong her grip was. She slowly raised his hand and placed four small cylindrical pieces of cork in it. The oracle let go of his hand and smiled as she lifted her arms and covered her ears with her hands, and exhaled. Antony kept kneeling, and the oracle did not move. she didn't even blink. He reached up and touched her arm, and it was tensed up, and she didn't move. He reached his hand up to her wrist and attempted to look for a pulse. Nothing. He reached his fingers up to her face and closed her eyelids before standing up and turning around to face Magdoline, who looked confused and enthralled by what was going on. "She's dead, Magdoline." Magdoline's expression changed from curiosity to shock and she gasped. She then squinted suspiciously at Antony and loudly whispered "DID YOU KILL HER?" Antony shook his head. "It could have been old age, but I'm unsure. Have you ever seen anyone visit the church before?" Magdoline stood lost in thought for a second until she shook her head. "Nope, I can't even remember seeing anybody visit the town square before, except for me." Antony asked another question. "Did she ever leave the church?" Antony heard the confusion in Magdoline's voice as she answered "No, all the adults say she's always in the church and I've never seen her leave or even stand one time throughout my entire life, and I'm the one who visits this church most, because of the library." Antony responded "well, how do you think she got food to eat or water to drink?" Antony saw the gears click in Magdoline's head as she exclaimed "She DIDN'T GET food or water!" Antony nodded. "Now, Magdoline, let's check out that library." Magdoline was staring at the oracle, dumbfounded, until she registered the question she was asked and replied with a quiet "Yes."
Antony was yet again exhausted as he reached the door of The Heldish Alehouse. He had to haul a massive compendium describing countless species of animals and plants, including all sorts of mythical creatures, from the town square back to Gerald's farm, and it didn't help that his body was already bruised and beaten from the night before. He expected to be welcomed by a warm smile from Samson or at least a firm grip that he could convince himself was a hug and not a form of defense, but when he opened that door he was surprised to see Samson had hung a large board on the wall behind the counter, on which was a large board, and nailed to it was countless scraps of papers covered in text. Samson was at the counter, leaning over the massive tome which Antony saw him write in last night. One hand was flipping the pages and the other held a pen, which feverishly danced back and forth over the top layer of a stack of papers that stood right next to the enormous book. Antony stared at Samson, confused and concerned until he heard a voice from the corner of the alehouse. "He's been like this all day, I tried to grab his shoulder and asked if he was okay but he grabbed me instead and threw me across the room." Antony turned to look towards the corner and he saw a man sitting alone at a table with two chairs and playing solitaire. "come, take a seat, the three of us are the only men in this alehouse and I don't think Samson will care ." Antony nodded and sat in front of the man. "If I remember correctly, your name is Antony, am I right?" Antony nodded. "My name's Steven, I'm one of the two patrons who show up at this alehouse every day and keep it in business. I basically live here." Antony asked the man "Who's the other patron? It can't be me." Steven paused for a second before shaking his head. "No, I must have remembered incorrectly, I don't remember who I was talking about, the ale must have gotten to my head or something. Anyways, what did you get up to today? I'm genuinely curious, this town's pretty empty and I can't think of anything to do myself, there's nowhere to get a job or anything but Samson lets me stay here because he's a caring man, even though he'll pass it off as just being good with customer service if you bring it up in front of him." Antony yawned. "Well, it was mostly uneventful, Gerald asked me to look after his daughter for him and she gave me a tour of the town." Steven interrupted Antony before he could start another sentence. "Gerald told me Magdoline isn't actually his daughter, and he said that Magdoline was adopted, but I have a memory of magdoline coming up and asking me how to play the card game I was playing, but the next is hazy. Someone had too many drinks and tried to make fun of her for wanting to play a "Man's game" and told her to go back to her fake father, but she got angry and shouted at us that her father isn't fake and something about him actually being her real dad. I'm not sure if she interpreted it as a claim that Gerald wasn't real or she believed that Gerald was her biological father." Antony nodded. "She was going to take me on a tour around town, but it was abruptly cut when we went to the chapel and I met the oracle. She beckoned me over and gave me these." Antony took the pieces of cork out of his pocket and placed them on the table, which caught the attention of Steven, and Antony also heard the sound of mad scribbling behind him stop. He continued. "the next thing I know, she covered her ears with her hands, smiled, and she froze in place and stopped moving. I felt her pulse and she was dead, and I assume it was from starvation or dehydration because nobody brought her food or water." Antony heard Samson gasp behind him, and he exclaimed "If she died from a lack of food or water her body would fall limp before the necrosis set in, this was Self-Mummification! She used to be known as The Sword Maiden, because of the sword, but we never knew why she had it. This must be a clue or something, but I've checked this book from the front page to the most recent entries!" Antony turned and saw Samson grabbing his hair and gritting his teeth, and Samson looked back and demanded "Tell me what you did next!" Antony was concerned, but he continued. "Well, we went into the library and Magdoline picked out a few books. She also made me haul this massive compendium of creatures from the town square to the farm." Samson slammed his hands into the desk and started laughing. "That's it!" he cried, and before Antony could ask a single question, Samson had stuffed his pen and a piece of paper back into his pocket and sprinted out of the door. Antony and Steven sat still and silent for what felt like an eternity until Steven broke the silence. "I've never seen him act like this. All we can do is hope he returns. Get some rest, carrying a giant compendium around has probably damaged your muscles and you seem like you could use the rest anyways. Antony nodded, put the pieces of cork back into his pocket, and got up from the table. he walked towards the staircase and stopped to look at the board. The scrap papers each seemed to describe a different monster, most of which Antony knew nothing about. All of the papers had a large 'X' in the top right corner, and Antony could tell it indicated the monster didn't match up with the monster Antony described to Samson. There were familiar names like "Unicorn" and "Basilisk" to names that Antony had never heard of like "Lindwyrm" and "Gashadokuro". Antony sighed and walked up the stairs, jumped into his bed, and fell asleep.
He was on a battlefield, fighting for his home country and his people, or at least that's what he was told. He had killed other men, but he dismissed it because "It was us or them." Right now, he was on the frontlines fighting off a wave of enemy soldiers. We have to kill them before they kill us. That truly is the most reasonable form of action. he slashed and slashed, and felt safety behind his shield. next to him was his comrade. Who was he? Antony already knew this. It was Sean Muinin, the man who he drank with and who he traded tales about his home with. He smiled, he had his friend with him, what man wouldn't smile if they had a friend by their side? And then Antony fell to the ground, he was struck, his chest cut open and his lifeblood seeping into the earth. Sean looked back at him and screamed. He quickly drove his sword through the man he was fighting and rushed over to Antony. Antony smiled, at least one of us will survive. Sean panicked, and he knew that if only one of us survived, they'd be forced to live alone, losing the man who meant the most to him. If at least one of us survived, Sean hoped it would be Antony. He stood up and turned to the approaching waves of soldiers, adrenaline and vigor pumping through his veins, anger searing his face. He stood his ground and fought, he injured enemy soldiers, he hurt other men, he killed people, and he still kept his ground. He didn't care if other men died, he just cared for the life of Antony. Reinforcements reached the front line, and Sean took a breath. He realized he was alive and turned and picked up Antony, and the blood pouring out of Antony's chest mixed with the other blood already on Sean's hands, and the mix of the blood of enemy and friend dripped onto the ground. Antony's vision faded, but he still stared at sean until he felt the firm comfort of a bed and passed out. He woke up in a wagon, bandaged up and unable to move. Above him was Sean, who cried as he saw Antony's eyes open. And then Antony heard singing. It was faint but it pierced Antony's ears. He tried to look towards Sean but he wasn't there. There was only a stain of what Antony could only assume were tears on the wood next to him. Antony tried to remember, but he couldn't. he reached up to his face to reach into his head and pry into his mind, but all he felt was tears beneath his eyes and all he could hear was singing, wailing, crying.
Antony shot up out of bed and wiped his face with the back of his hand. It was wet. He licked the back of his hand, and it was salty. He felt a sharp pain in his chest and quickly reached his hand under his shirt. He rubbed the aching scar on his chest. It stretched from his left shoulder to his right hip and winced at how painful it was. Antony slipped out of his bed and slipped his feet into his boots. What was he doing? going downstairs, of course. He descended the stairs and looked around. One man sat playing cards in the corner, he knew his name was Steven. Antony looked to the left, and it looked like some madman hung a board on a wall and used it to cover it in deranged scribblings of their hallucinations. Antony turned to Steven. "Did you make this?" he asked. "Make what?" replied Steven, confused. "This." Anthony said, pointing to the board on the wall. Steven shook his head. "I live here and you don't, you probably got drunk and made that last night." Antony knew that his explanation was wrong, that none of those words meant anything to him, but the faint smell of cologne made him feel nauseous and worried, so he decided to leave and ask the locals. He stepped out of the Alehouse and turned to walk back to the main street, but before he did that he took a look at the sign above the entrance and exclaimed "Who's Heldish?"
As Antony wandered the silent and empty streets of Anam, he was startled by a large "THUNK" as his boot collided with something on the ground. It was a colossal book, titled "LIBER VITAE: A compendium of life from Man to Moss to Monster." the yellow print at the bottom said,
"Penned, Published, and Printed by The Scholar's Guild." Antony was shocked to see this book, he hauled it across town to Gerald's farm, what the hell was this doing here? Antony picked up the book and he noticed a wrinkled piece of paper sticking out of the top. He opened the book to the page that the paper was stuck in, and he was surprised to see the paper was a note. it read:
"I found it, oh god, I found it! of course, The Oracle knew, of course, she survived for that long because she was deaf! That explains the sword, the gesture, everything! I need to take those pieces of cork she gave Antony, I need them now. Why did she give him four, though? it doesn't matter, the story of Anam will save countless villages, dad. I'm proud! I'm
I saw it, oh god, I saw it, it saw me, Please, I haven't gone mad, don't forget me, I'm Samson Heldish, write my story.”
the note ended there. Antony crumpled the letter and stuck it into his pocket, and began to read the page behind the letter.
"THE FALSE HYDRA Everything that The Scholar's guild knows about the False Hydra is only from reports of a handful of individuals, and we aren't even sure how it comes into existence, some scholars claim it just appears in response to the repeated spread of lies and falsehoods, while others claim it starts life as a tumourous mass underground. We do know that the False Hydra "Sings", and hearing this song prevents the human brain from acknowledging that The False Hydra exists. It only stops singing when the Hydra hunts during the night, looking for humans to consume. We believe the Hydra's head can extend and retract, and it can do this due to the fatty substance that The Hydra's body is made of. When a Hydra consumes a human it prevents other humans from remembering them by repressing their memories of that person. Interestingly, this doesn't repress habits formed because of that person. The child of an alcoholic father will still be afraid of adults even if their alcoholic father has been eaten by the Hydra. The rest of the information on the Hydra varies wildly, including the number of heads the hydra has.”
Antony was interrupted by a familiar voice. Magdoline. She screamed, "Hey, Antony, WHY DO YOU HAVE THAT BOOK!?" Antony heard the fury in her voice and was confused. "I found it on the ground, a note was inside it." Magdoline, her voice laced with anger, shouted again. "SOMEBODY broke into MY house last night, I came here looking for help but it seems I found the CRIMINAL!" Antony sighed. "I'm not lying, Magdoline, look." He took the note out of his pocket and gave it to Magdoline, who took a few seconds to read it and asked "Who wrote this? doesn't this mean someone's in trouble?" "I don't know, and yes, yes it does. We're all in trouble, Maggie." Antony turned the book towards her and pointed to the page. She read the page before looking up at Antony. "Do you still have those thingies the oracle gave you? the ones the note was talking about?" "Yeah, I do." Magdoline looked up at Antony. "Put them in your ears and then read the letter." Antony rolled his eyes. "Alright, but if nothing happens then you lose." Magdoline crossed her arms confidently and proclaimed "I NEVER LOSE!" Before putting the cork in his ears, Antony looked at her and said, "Except for the first time we met." Antony saw Magdoline yelling, but he didn't hear her at all because he had already put the cork in his ears. He grabbed the paper out of Magdoline's hands and began reading it. He read the name and his heart sank. Samson was dead. He took one cork out of his ear and said "well, you win." Magdoline stood there and had her hands on her hips and her smug face was aimed up toward the sky. "As I said, I NEVER LOSE!" Antony sighed again. "Listen, go back to your house, I'm going to kill The Hydra and your dad wouldn't be able to live with himself if anything happened to you." Magdoline frowned. "I won't do that until you promise me that you won't die and that you'll come right back to me once you are completely sure that monster is DEAD!" Antony got on one knee and put his hands on Magdoline's shoulders. He looked into her eyes and said "I promise, I promise that I will kill The Hydra, and I promise I will return to you, alive, after I kill it." Magdoline smiled. "If you break that promise I'll kill you! even if you break it by dying!"
Antony entered The Heldish Alehouse carrying the compendium under his arm. He placed it down on the table in front of Steven, knocking his cards onto the floor. Steven looked up at Antony, who saw the shock and frustration on his face. "Hey, I'm playing solitaire here, what's your PROBLEM?" Antony placed the note and the pieces of cork in front of him. "Steven, put the cork in your ears and read the letter." Steven groaned. "I was right, you did make that conspiracy board while drunk." Antony stared at him, straight-faced. "Just do it." Steven took a deep breath. "Fine, I'll humor you." Steven put the cork in his ears and began reading. When he finished, Antony saw tears form beneath his eyes and roll down his face. Steven looked up at Antony, and, with his voice heavy with grief and anger, he asked "We gotta kill that Hydra thing, right?" Antony nodded. Steven groaned. "Where the hell do we find the weaponry to deal with it?" Antony scratched his chin for a few seconds before remembering the bag he left in his room. "Wait right here." Antony ascended the stairs, burst into his room, and opened up his bag. He pulled the clothes out of the bag until it was almost empty. At the bottom was Antony's armor he used as a soldier, hardened and studded leather armor as well as chainmail. He donned every piece, even the steel helmet, and beneath that uniform lay his old broadsword. Antony usually never traveled, but when he did he always packed these in case of an emergency. He strapped the sheath to his back and walked down the stairs. Steven looked surprised. "Wow, you're pretty prepared for this. Where's my sword?" Antony grinned and told him "Read the letter, who do you think carries a sword." Steven picked it up, and Antony saw him realize who he was talking about and groan. "Why didn't I think of THE SWORD MAIDEN? I really want to slap myself right now." Antony chuckled. "we're going to grab the sword, and when you have it the both of us will put the earplugs on and we'll search for The Hydra together." Steven nodded. "Buy me a beer after we're done, then that's a deal." Antony stuck out his hand. "If that's what it takes then I'd happily buy you a whole barrel of mead." Steven grinned. "No thanks, I may be thirsty but that's just overkill."
The two men entered the chapel. Steven walked up to the oracle and kneeled in front of her, and she was still in the same pose as Antony had seen her last. Antony watched Steven utter a prayer before standing up and grabbing the sword that lay next to her. He turned to Antony and said, "let's kill ourselves a Hydra, who knows, It could make some tasty soup!" Antony chuckled and gave him the other two pieces of cork. The men looked at each other as they put the cork into their ears, and both of the men smiled. Steven turned to leave the chapel but stopped, and the smile faded from his face. Antony felt fear rise in his throat, but he swallowed it and turned to look towards the chapel's entrance. The entrance was blocked by what Antony instantly recognized as the monster that he chased just two nights ago, but this time he saw it in full detail. It was The Hydra's head, and Antony had expected it to be like a snake, similar to the legend of The Hydra he had heard when he was a child. He knew this Hydra didn't have acidic blood and that it didn't regrow its head (or at least he hoped so) but he never expected it to be human. Vaguely human, but nowhere near human enough to be seen as similar to him. No, it was a mockery of the human face, the eye sockets were massive compared to the completely human-sized eyes which shifted back and forth between Antony and Steven, and its mouth was full of teeth, none of which were similar to any human teeth. the skin was pale white but also was a diseased yellow if you looked at it closely. It didn't even seem to breathe. Antony stepped closer to Steven and put his off-hand in front of Steven's face and lowered his fingers, counting down from 5 to 1. When he lowered the final finger both men charged at the monster, Steven slashed its face which The Hydra barely noticed, and it was distracted for long enough for Antony to shove his sword in the "neck" of The Hydra. It squirmed in pain and the head retracted quickly and destroyed the doorway. The two men saw the full body of The Hydra sitting at the very center of the town square, three heads sprouted out of a bloated sack of flesh which bloated and shrank as the heads writhed and extended and shortened themselves. The injured head stared back at the men and then raised itself towards the sky and wailed. Through the earplugs, Antony heard faint voices, more than just the hydras, those of what he could only assume were people devoured by the hydra. He stood still in shock until he heard a voice similar to Samson's, and Antony charged. He thrust his sword into the sack of flesh and it began to leak a gooey, yellow substance out of the wound. He turned and saw Steven plunge his sword into the base of the wounded head's neck, and Antony quickly slashed at the neck as well. He had expected The Hydra to be of a stronger, tougher substance, but it was just fatty and weak, like the meat in a stew his mother used to make. This almost made Antony puke, but he kept slashing at the neck, and so did Steven. They kept cutting at the Hydra's flailing head, and soon the other heads began to wail out in pain. Both the men eventually cut a hole in the neck, and it eventually fell limp and slammed into the ground. They moved on to the next head, but it was alert and wailing every time it was struck. It started to bite at Antony and Steven, Antony jumped out of the way of a bite, and Steven dived under the head and slashed at it from the bottom. He screamed something, Antony could not hear, but he did hear a loud CRACK and loud screaming. He turned to look at Steven and saw that the other head had turned around and bit him as he lay underneath, unable to move. Antony kept stabbing and slashing at the Hydra's head, and eventually, he cut deeply into
The Hydra's neck, and he kept hacking away at that one spot as the yellow substance oozed out onto him. He kept his resolve and cut it off. Antony looked down. Steven was on the ground not moving, and the last head turned to him and inched close. It opened its mouth and a long, curling tongue emerged from the mouth and began to wrap itself around Steven. Antony charged at the head and roared as he brought his sword down on the tongue, severing it. The head flew up, recoiling in pain, and Antony kept roaring and charging, Adrenaline slammed through his veins and his heartbeats boomed like cannon fire as he screamed and slashed, stabbed, and thrust his sword into The Hydra's neck. It wailed, and Antony heard the faint sound of the voice of Sean. He gritted his teeth and swung his sword with fury as he cut through the final neck, and the body the necks were attached to collapsed and the yellow substance spewed and splurted out of the severed stumps where the heads once were until it was just a sack of skin. Antony stared at the sack until his attention was brought to Steven by loud sounds of coughing and wheezing. Antony took the cork out of his ears and threw it to the ground, and he took the cork out of Steven's ears as well. Antony shouted "WE WON! WE KILLED IT!" Steven laughed, and blood shot out of his mouth. "Well, at least one of us is going to survive." Antony stopped smiling. He reached his hand to feel Steven's injuries. His ribs were broken, and so were part of his hip and his left shoulder. "Listen, Antony, take this." Steven reached into his pocket and pulled out a deck of cards, which he placed into Antony's hand. "Don't let these go to waste, John gave them to me, and I cherish them, even though he was a bad person at times. Also, Samson would want you to keep writing in that massive book of his, so I'd like to ask you to do that too." Antony was starting to cry as he kneeled next to Steven. "I'm sorry, please forgive me for not getting you that beer I owed you." Steven continued laughing and grinned as he said "It's okay, I just needed an excuse to get out of the house!" Both men laughed and laughed, and Steven smiled as he closed his eyes and fell limp.
Antony was carrying his bag on his back as he approached the farm. He had already packed everything he came to town with, as well as the pack of cards, the cork, and last but not least, the Heldish family book of records. As he approached the farm, he heard crying, and he dropped his bag and ran, expecting something horrible had happened while he was gone. He Jumped over the fence and sprinted up to Gerald's house. He opened the door and Magdoline welcomed him inside. "I see you aren't dead, that means you didn't break my promise." Antony was still concerned. "Who's crying? what's wrong?" Magdoline smiled. "Nothing. Here, let me show you." Magdoline grabbed Antony's hand and pulled him up the stairs and into the attic. Gerald was on his knees in front of a painting and crying. Antony approached and put his hand on Gerald's shoulder "What's wrong?" Gerald looked up at Antony and Antony saw he was smiling. "Nothing. Nothing at all." Gerald said as he gestured to the painting in front of him. Antony looked at it. It depicted a man, who appeared to be Gerald, standing right next to a woman in a purple dress holding a baby. There was text at the bottom of the painting which read "Gerald Kingston and Veronica Kingston, holding their newborn daughter Magdoline Kingston." Antony smiled and hugged Gerald, who muttered in his ear "I thought I was scum, I thought she wasn't my daughter, thank you, thank you so much." Behind him, Antony heard the voice of Magdoline. "Sorry to interrupt, but you're going back home, Aren't you, Antony?" Antony let go of Gerald and turned to face Magdoline "Yes I am, I've done everything I can here, and I've already packed my bags. Magdoline looked at Gerald and back at Antony "You said there was a "Public School" there, a place where anyone can go to school regardless of money or class, right?" Antony nodded. "Well then, take me with you, take me to school. I've always wanted to go to school and become a member of The Scholar's Guild, so take me with you, I want to go to school!" Antony was surprised. "I'd be happy to take you to Stonehearth, but I can't do that without your father's permission." Antony turned to Gerald who smiled as he said "I have no problems with that, plus, she would never forgive me if I took away an opportunity for her to learn."
Antony smiled. "Alright. Magdoline, you better pack your bags, we're gonna be on the road for quite a long time."
Antony stood at the road outside of Gerald's house, staring at the door and carrying his bag on his back. Suddenly, Magdoline burst out of the door, sprinted up to the fence, and jumped over. Gerald stood at the doorway and Antony could tell there were tears in his eyes. Antony turned to Magdoline who stood next to him, looking confident and proud. "Are you ready to go? did you leave anything? Magdoline looked up at him and grinned as she said "Nope." Antony smiled back "Well, if there's nothing else, we should get going." Magdoline shouted out "Wait, I forgot to do something!" Antony rolled his eyes. "Go ahead and do it, then!" Magdoline nodded. She turned to face the city of Anam and put her hands on her hips, donned her most smug expression, stepped as wide as she possibly could, and proudly exclaimed "TAKE THAT, HYDRA! I'M GOING TO BE THE BEST SCHOLAR EVER! I WIN!!!" Antony sighed, and he heard Gerald laughing in the distance. "I'm going to start walking, and if you don't follow me, you'll be stuck here." Magdoline smirked as she declared "as much as you try, you'll never get rid of me!" Antony chuckled. "Well, it seems like your father got rid of you quite easily. Come on, let's go." They both walked down the stone road together, and Antony sighed as he heard Gerald's laughter get farther and quieter. "She's right," he thought, "it seems like I'm gonna be stuck with her for a long time, whether I like it or not." He looked down towards Magdoline and saw the big, dumb smile stretching across her face. "Yeah, I'm probably going to like it."
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