by Mark Boutros
Lord Ragnus booted Karl’s shoulder.
The Fools chased Scrath and Lord Ragnus strolled after them.
Karl crawled away but Arazod landed in front of him. ‘These are incredible. Now I can fly over Flowfornia and monitor everyone whenever I like.’ He swung his Soul Bleeder through Karl’s chains.
‘I think it’s time I made sure you died. Now, rise for your king.’ He threw the sword by Karl.
Karl struggled to his feet and stared at the steel, curved blade.
‘Pick it up,’ Arazod said.
Karl lifted it, but he was so weak it just hung from his limp grip.
Arazod narrowed his eyes and swung his axe.
Karl swung the sword to counter, but the Soul Bleeder sliced through it.
Arazod raked his talons down Karl’s wrist. Karl dropped the sword handle.
Arazod swung his axe again. Karl fell towards the edge of the cliff.
Arazod stared at him and drew his axe back. He smiled. That damn, smug smile.
Karl summoned what little strength he had and forced himself to his feet. He was no longer scared he was just exhausted. He looked Arazod in the eyes. ‘Wouldn’t you rather torture me?’ He spat blood. ‘It lasts longer, is more fun for you and is a better anecdote than chopping me in half. Plus, this all seems a bit—’
‘A bit what?’ Arazod’s eyes widened.
Karl stood as tall as his beaten body would allow. ‘Extreme. You pigeon-brained, overly aggressive little idiot.’
Arazod dropped his axe and kicked Karl off the cliff.
Karl let the breeze take him towards the relief of death. His final thought was that he hoped Sabrinia would be okay.
34
The sun cast tree shadows onto Questions’ ash and tear-stained face. She scraped through the remains of the tavern, hoping to find some clue to confirm her friends were alive. Her focus masked her annoyance at herself.
‘Why can’t I speak like normal people?’ she moaned.
Her hands were criss-crossed with cuts from all the jagged bits of wreckage. She booted a burnt plank, releasing a puff of ash that made her retch. ‘What’s that smell?’
Tortured Soul sniffed around. ‘I recognise that.’
Questions stepped away from the stench. ‘Is that the smell of a dead body?’ She dug her nails into her palms.
‘Nah.’ Tortured Soul sniffed some more. ‘It’s burnt horse-mole hair.’
‘Is the smell mixed with the smell of a person?’ Questions trembled, remembering Sags’ feet.
‘Nope. Just the hair.’
Questions scratched her stomach. ‘Do you remember anything else?’
Tortured Soul’s eyes rolled around. ‘Nope. Nothing. Just that smell.’ She rubbed her head against some splinters.
Questions gazed into the forest. ‘Do you think we should go and find Oaf?’
‘He told us not to.’ Tortured Soul licked the ash.
Questions bit her lip. Where could Oaf be? Isn’t Oaf against Lord Ragnus and a group of Fools unfair? Does he care about what happens to him after he kills Lord Ragnus? Is the problem with revenge that all planning is up to the point of getting revenge? Does any thought go into an escape plan?
‘He’s a big fella. He can handle himself,’ Tortured Soul said.
‘Do you remember when he got stuck in the sludge in Lake Shizneh?’ She remembered the first time she met him, bloody and beaten by several Fools.
‘Good point.’
‘Do you think he’s even thought about the danger?’ Her throat hurt.
‘If I was nutty mad, carryin' the rage of a lifetime in me and close to unleashing it… probably not, nah.’
Questions smiled, knowing Tortured Soul was on her side.
‘Lead the way.’ Tortured Soul jumped into her bottle, resting in the shade of a tree.
They followed the footprints through the woods until they arrived at the site of a burnt camp. Oaf’s footprints became confusing. Feet faced each other, crossing everywhere and going around trees.
Tortured Soul jumped out of her bottle. ‘Looks like a big ruck.’ She ran around and nodded at a skid line. ‘You reckon he knocked a Fool off its horned wolf here?’
Questions spotted blood on a rock. ‘Do you think?’ She put her hand to her mouth.
Tortured Soul blinked. ‘No… No. He wouldn’t be. He’s too tough…’
Questions picked up a bloody piece of Oaf’s leather vest. Her eyes filled with tears. Why didn’t she stop him?
Tortured Soul walked up to her. ‘I…’ A drop of blood hit Tortured Soul on the head. ‘Oi!’
Questions was a mix of relief and terror. Oaf floated about three people high next to a tree, face down as though held by some kind of magic. His right arm dripped and dangled while the rest of his body looked like it was being pulled towards the sky. Drops of his blood floated above him.
‘Oaf!’ Tortured Soul beamed.
Why wasn’t he moving? What was keeping him in the air?
Underneath Oaf, a perfect circle of grass around unknown letters pointed to the sky while the surrounding grass was patchy and flat.
’Let’s not get too close.’ Tortured Soul continued calling Oaf's name until he stirred.
‘Ugh…’ His eyes opened and he looked relieved when he saw them.
‘Welcome back!’ Tortured Soul said, while Questions smiled.
‘Why am I looking down on you?’ He realised where he was and panicked, but he couldn’t move anything other than his right arm. ‘Why can’t I move properly?’
‘What happened?’ Questions asked.
‘Well… Last thing I remember is tripping up, hitting my shoulder on a rock and rolling, then I’m up here. Can you help me get down? I’d like to carry on with my revenge.’
Questions folded her arms. ‘Do you promise to not go running off if we get you down?’
He held his gaze on her, then his muscles tensed but he didn’t move. He stretched out his right hand and grabbed a small twig, but all he could do was shake it and the branches it was attached to, making purple berries fall to the floor. He wasn’t going anywhere.
Tortured Soul stood by Questions. ‘I’ve seen this before. It’s a rune trap.’
‘How are you remembering things?’ Questions asked.
‘I guess I’ve lived longer than old Feathers normally lets tortured souls live.’ She looked at the markings on the grass. ‘But yeah… There ain’t no way down unless someone…’ She nodded at Questions. ’… Helps you.’
Oaf looked at her. His desperate anger faded behind defeat. ‘I promise I won’t go running off.’
Questions nodded. Was she being mean for depriving him of revenge? Would he understand that she was saving his life? ‘What do I do?’ she asked Tortured Soul.
‘Hmm… You’ve gotta dig underneath and poke out the letters, but anything that gets near them starts floatin’, so you’ve gotta be careful.’
Questions nodded and looked for something to dig with. There were lots of sticks, but none quite right.
‘I’m remembering more.’ Tortured Soul stared at Oaf. ‘This trap is used for catching big but not Oaf big animals. In fact, there’s normally different kinds of traps in one area.’
Questions lifted a stick. A noose took her leg. Everything spun and rushed and she dangled from a branch, about ten feet from Oaf.
‘I guess the promise doesn’t count now,’ Oaf said.
‘Can you not talk to me?’ Questions pulled herself up the rope to untie it but couldn’t reach. She swung her body to turn away from Oaf.
An uncomfortable silence filled the evening air. Questions refused to look in his direction.
‘Gooboo?’ he said to Tortured Soul, trying to guess her name.
‘Stop it! You’ll never get it,’ she said.
‘Ziki?’
Questions wanted to join in but wouldn't give him the satisfaction. Instead, she added to the map of Flowfornia in her Is This the Book of Tales? Writing upside down was
difficult, but it was better than letting Oaf feel like things were okay.
Tortured Soul kept trying to run up the tree to free Questions. She admired her effort, even if it was of no use.
‘Oi, sulky, chuck me down my bottle. I’m tired and I’m gettin’ dry,’ Tortured Soul told Questions.
Questions took the bottle from her inside pocket and dropped it onto the grass. Tortured Soul stood the bottle up using the tree for leverage and bit the lid off. ‘I ain’t gonna bovva tryin’ to help until you two are friends again.’ She took the lid in her mouth and jumped inside the bottle, closing it behind her. She went to sleep.
Leaves rustled in the wind and battled the silence.
Questions spotted some plump, purple berries and hunger crept in. She swung back and forth but they were out of her grasp. With each swing she got closer, but she’d reached the limit. She strained and stretched and groaned.
The branches shook and she turned to see Oaf pulling on a twig that shook the branch. ‘What are you doing?’ she complained
He kept shaking, bouncing her more and more.
Why was he being so cruel? She wanted to scream at him but then a berry hit her. Then another one, until it rained berries all over her and she caught them.
Oaf stopped shaking the twig, and when the rope settled, Questions' hands and mouth were painted with berries. She aimed an appreciative smile at Oaf and stuffed her face, struggling to eat upside down.
‘Do you think I’d be more understanding if I knew more about revenge?’ she asked through a mouthful of berries.
‘We’ve got time, so ask all the questions you want,’ Oaf replied.
Questions swung back and forth. ‘Umm, does revenge make you see things in funny colours?’
‘No.’
‘Do you hear angry music in your head?’
‘No.’
‘If revenge was any being who would it be?’
‘I’ve never thought about it like that. But… it would be Lord Ragnus. Angry and just… selfish. Shutting everything else out for what it wants.’ Oaf frowned as though ashamed of himself.
Questions continued her interrogation, asking whether revenge existed in the air, and if you could make revenge-flavoured cakes and what Oaf thought they might taste like. Without either of them saying the word sorry, they were friends again.
‘Tortured Soul!’ Oaf called out.
‘Can we ask you a question?’ Questions shouted.
Tortured Soul opened the lid and sat on the rim of her bottle. ‘Go on then.’
The circling wind blew a leaf towards Oaf and it caught in the magic and floated in front of his face. ‘Why would someone want to catch big but not me big animals?’
Tortured Soul searched her mind for a memory. ‘Well… it wouldn’t be to torture. Pits cover that market. You can leave things in there to starve and can add scary stuff, for a laugh. Bit of a business for it. Weird folk pay top gold to pick things to throw at victims in pits. So yeah, you ain’t in danger of that.’
‘That’s a relief,’ Oaf said.
‘Yeah. Magic traps and nooses are used to catch food… Oh…’
Oaf and Questions looked at each other, concern on their faces.
A howl pierced the night. The colour drained from Oaf's face and he shut his eyes.
Bushes rustled and growls neared.
‘Are you okay, Oaf?’ Questions asked.
‘I know that howl…’
‘Help!’ Tortured Soul shouted.
Four beasts emerged from the thicket and ran for her bottle. Tortured Soul jumped in and closed it. The horned wolves knocked it between them, trying to open it.
Oaf tensed, opened an eye and then shut it again.
‘Oaf, can you do me a favour?’ Questions asked.
He nodded and opened his eyes.
A horned wolf placed its horn under the bottle and flicked it against the tree. The crack alerted the other wolves to a potential way in.
‘Can you say they’re just little cuddly creatures? Can you say it over and over?’ Questions asked.
He nodded. ‘They’re just little cuddly creatures. They’re just… little… cuddly creatures. They’re just… HAIRY KNIVES WITH EYES AND LEGS!’
Questions swung towards Oaf. ‘Do you want Tortured Soul to get eaten?’
‘No.’ He shut his eyes again.
‘Can you open your eyes?’
Oaf nodded. He slowly opened them. 'It's staring at me. It could snack on my calf, then feast on my body. For dessert it would probably skewer my fingers, eyes, ears, and toes and cook them over a fire. I can't do it Questions!'
Tortured Soul stumbled around her bottle. ‘Speed it up!’ she shouted. The wolves knocked the bottle some more.
Questions reached for Oaf’s hand. ‘Can you help me?’
Oaf stretched his fingers.
Questions’ fingertips pinched Oaf’s. She pulled herself until she was grabbing his wrist. ‘Can you pull?’
He did, and rather than pull him out, he pulled Questions towards him, but her rope was at its limit and her method began to work. Oaf’s arm moved out of the magic field, then his head, followed by his other arm.
Questions groaned, her body ached from being stretched.
A horned wolf flicked Tortured Soul’s bottle against the tree. The bottle smashed and she fell out.
‘Do I believe in you?’ Questions asked.
‘I guess so,’ Oaf replied.
‘Do you believe in you?’ Questions groaned through the pain.
‘No,’ Oaf said.
With one last pull he was free, and Questions’ noose whipped back into position. Oaf fell between the wolves and Tortured Soul. He got to his feet, his legs wobbling. ‘Please don’t eat me, please don’t eat me.’ He stepped back.
A berry hit a horned wolf on the head. It growled up at Questions and stood on its back legs. She showered them all with berries, and they howled and whined.
Oaf spread his arms, inspired by the wolves looking confused. He stepped forward and roared at them.
‘That’s it!’ Tortured Soul said, spurring him on.
Oaf took slow steps towards them and they backed off just as slowly. He waved his hand at them. A horned wolf jumped at him. He smashed its jaw with his forearm. Several of its teeth fell out. It whimpered and ran away.
Another wolf leapt at Oaf. He backhanded it into a tree. Its horn wedged in the bark. It used its legs to push free while a third horned wolf sunk its teeth into Oaf’s ribs.
Questions wished she could do something.
Oaf fell to his knees, but he fought the stinging pain and pried its mouth open, then hurled it by its jaw into the magic, imprisoning it in the air. Another horned wolf approached.
Oaf showed no fear.
It turned and ran away with the others, leaving the trapped wolf.
‘You did it!’ Tortured Soul said.
Questions grinned and shook her rope.
‘Yeah. Yeah… thanks to you two.’ Oaf rotated his wounded shoulder and looked at his bloodied torso. He collapsed onto the muddy grass.
‘How am I supposed to get down?’ Questions asked.
‘We’ll figure that out when this one gets up.’ Tortured Soul put leaves on Oaf’s wound and patted them down with her head. She jumped on Oaf’s cheek but he wouldn’t awaken.
‘Did you hear that?’ Questions asked.
‘What?’
A gentle whistling.
Tortured Soul hid behind a tree.
A hairy-faced, muscular woman carrying ropes and dressed in steel armour, approached. She noticed the wolf in the rune trap. ‘You idiot. Not again.’ She raised her hand towards the trap, the letters in the grass glowed and the wolf dropped gently. It ran for Oaf but the woman grabbed its horn. ‘Go away.’ It ran back from where it came.
She unsheathed her dagger from her belt and poked Oaf with it. ‘Ooh, this’ll feed 'em for a while.’ She looked up at Questions. ‘You’ll do as a snack.’
‘Can you let us go, please?’ Questions asked more out of hope than expectation.
The woman laughed. ‘Sorry… They pay me generously to train the horned beasties on my farm.’ She pinched her nose and blew it, filling her palm with sticky black mess. ‘Think I’m allergic to the damn fur monsters.’ She wiped her hand on her behind. ‘Now, this is going to hurt.’ She took a throwing axe from her belt.
‘Why?’ Questions asked.
‘Because falling hurts.’ The woman threw the axe and it cut the rope. Questions fell and her body thumped against the ground. She groaned. The woman approached, kicked Questions onto her belly, stood on her back and tied her ankles to her wrists. The woman stank of damp animal hair.
She walked over to Oaf and tied the rope around his ankles.
Oaf pulled his knees to his chest, dragging the woman forwards. He sat up, grabbed her around the throat and thumped her on the top of her head. She fell to the dirt, unconscious.
Oaf stood, grabbed the dagger and cut Questions free. He helped her up and pressed a hand to his wound. ‘Questions. I promise I won’t go charging after Lord Ragnus. I’ll wait until the moment is right.’
She hugged him.
Oaf searched the woman for any items they could use but found nothing. Questions tied the woman's arms and legs, making sure she wouldn’t follow them.
A Fool emerged from the bushes and walked towards them. Then another, and another, until there were more than were worth counting.
‘Oh no…’ Tortured Soul said.
Oaf braced himself for a fight. ‘I’ll distract them. You two run.’
Questions clenched her fists and stood next to him.
‘If you won’t go, at least take this.’ Oaf handed her the dagger.
The Fools closed in. Questions readied herself to stab one, desperate not to.
The Fools ignored them and continued walking north.
‘What’s going on?’ Questions asked.
Oaf ran next to a Fool and grabbed its arm.
‘Must return to Flowforn…’ It tried to shake free. ‘Must stand guard at the wedding in two nights. Move, otherwise I’ll be late.’ It swung a fist at Oaf but he grabbed its hand.
The Fool tried to bite him.
‘Does that mean Karl found Arazod?’ Questions asked.