(Meanwhile, inside the city)
“We can’t wait any longer. It has to be today”, a voice declared.
“Don’t be foolish! He may not live in the city itself, but such an auspicious figure being murdered is something that could never be covered up”, another voice tried to reason.
“I agree”, a third affirmed, “Moving now is the worst time. The Unknown one is soon due to begin training at the Halcyonic temple. If he does before then, it will cause too much attention.”
“Then I suppose we should let him exhaust every option by training fruitlessly at every temple until it’s finally time for the selections.”
The first man pounded his fist on the table, “Enough of this! It is correct that selections are coming soon, so we must prevent this… living anomaly from being known to the world. From what everyone concurs, he habitually spends his mornings running in the forest. So, here is what I suggest we do.”
(Back at Thatch’s residence)
The four heroes sitting around the table were busy laughing their heads off as Jimmy told them some of a crazy story after losing a hand in their poker game. Frank was laughing loud enough to make an echo in the room while slamming a fist on the table. Angela was none too subtly giggling, her face red from the wine that Jimmy made. And Thatch while, the quietest, was still having a hard time keeping a barking laugh from escaping. Frank had revealed a story about how once when someone in his unit caused some trouble, they took that guy’s cot and hoisted him into the air in a tree. Angela told a story of how she sank her entire research team except herself when they tried to claim a breakthrough she found was someone else’s.
Through the haze of the alcohol and hilarity, Frank had to know, “You can’t be serious, Jimmy. You seriously didn’t try to nurse from a heifer.”
Edwin couldn’t tell if it was from the wine or embarrassment, but Jimmy’s face was every bit as red, “Well, that’s for you all to decide. Place your bets, am I lying or telling the truth?”
The three others took a moment to decide their answer. Frank thought that while the story was hilarious, that a farm boy wouldn’t be quite that stupid. Meanwhile, Angela had drank the least but in return had the least tolerance, her divinely blessed mind calculated the odds and thought he was telling the truth. Finally, Edwin was trying to think through the pleasantly strong buzz the wine gave him. He wasn’t completely sure, but he had a feeling that he shouldn’t be able to get drunk so easily. But as he looked at the Agriculture hero’s face, there was still that distinct impression that while this may be a tall tale, Jimmy wasn’t necessarily a liar. He bet on the truth.
If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
“And the final answer is”, Jimmy dramatically paused before answering, “That it’s true.”
“AAARRGGGHHH”, the other three exclaimed, some in victory, others in detriment.
Jimmy went on to explain, “It was my twenty first birthday, and my one brother and me were getting plastered out of our minds and we were just sittin’ there on the porch lookin’ at the fields. And we see the cows and start wonderin’ what musta been goin’ through the head of the first guy to milk one. Then my brother bets me that I wouldn’t go and try to get a drink ‘straight from the source.’”, he air quoted
Frank began laughing so hard he fell out of his chair which made everyone else laugh even harder at his literal pratfall. The War hero turned to Edwin, “OK, Thatch, it’s your turn. What are you betting as a secret?”
Taking a generous breath, James looked out the window, “Oh, hey guys, I think we need to cap it off here.”
“Ah, c’mon, it was just getting good”, Frank complained as he scraped himself off the floor.
James shook his head and then had to pause, “Right now, I’m pretty certain the world just turned into a giant merry-go-round and I really want to get off.”
Angela took a glance outside, “And judging by the particular angle of the sun, it’ll soon be time to get to training.”
Frank sat at the table after remembering which way was up, “How do you sound so normal right now? I don’t get it.”
“Oh yeah, you did want to know about that”, she casually replied, “Well, as followers of the Knowledge God, one of my abilities is that I can just look at certain things and have an influx of knowledge based on the already existing knowledge I possess. And the more I learn, the more in depth that analysis becomes.”
Frank let out a low whistle, “I have an ability that’s sort of like that, but it’s limited to me being able to predict how a person will move based on the way I can see their body shifting.”
Angela nodded in affirmation, “Yeah, now imagine that except it’s happening all the time when you focus intently on anything. That’s why you see so many Epiphinian priests get blackout drunk any chance they can. It’s only by killing their brains that they can put a cap on their ability or just forget a portion of the useless stuff.”
Edwin walked everyone out to the entrance of the house and saw them walk down the pathway towards the city. As he watched them go, he felt a shiver in the back of his head, his whole body suddenly on edge. He swept his eyes across the trees but nothing was there. The only sound that he could hear was the crunch of his visitors’ shoes as they left the clearing. Casting one last look around, Thatch quickly shut the door behind him.
After Thatch disappeared back into the manor, the three heroes could no longer be heard. On some unheard signal, three figures stalked towards the house. Two wore deep scarlet robes, while the third wore dark gray. One of the scarlet clad men rapped on the door and called out, “Unknown Hero, it is time for your training. Come along with us.”
They waited until the count of five before exchanging a look and the door swung open and echoed through the empty vestibule. The words of their leaders echoing in their minds about the potential hell on earth that could be unleashed by something that wasn’t demonic for once. Silently nodding to each other before splitting up, they entered the silent manor. But as they did so, though none said anything, they all felt as though the silence was surrounding them. Like a snake just waiting to rear its ugly head.
