Fatefalls: Short Stories on the World of Gundrim

The Night On Fire - Jaranph

The calm and beauty of the night may have seemed eerie or out of place to any random passerby or tourist, but for those of us who lived in Cyystyr, it felt right at home. That's what it was to us... home. They say "home is where the heart is" or "home is where the bed lies", but those are mainly drifters and vagrants who say that to make themselves feel better. Unfortunately, it doesn't help me feel any better about what happened that night. The night that has undoubtedly already carved out a nice little permanent home in my thoughts, despite its events merely taking place less than a week ago. I've heard different people already giving it names. Things like "The Night the Planet Stood Still" or "The Night of Screams". Personally, I like to call it "The Night on Fire".

It had just turned dusk when I first heard that sound. The horrible sound that will forever haunt my dreams, and eat at my waking consciousness. A loud rumble that faded just as fast as it had appeared, followed by a horrific screeching sound. At first, like the others, I didn't think much of it, maybe just a wayward fishing boat scraping against the metallic edge of one of the many docks along the coast. How naive I was back then. In fact, it took until the third return of that blasted sound before I eventually went outside to try and find the source of it. As I approached the door, I found myself face to face with a crowd of villagers looking around, almost certainly searching for the same sound that I was.

Of course, once we had decided to all look for the sound, it stopped. Typical, as these kinds of events, are. No, the sound wouldn't manifest itself for another hour, and we were all looking around for it for what felt like decades, surely ages. At long last the sound to which we were all so invested in reemerged but this time, much closer to our whereabouts than the previous three. This was followed by an even louder and more immediate boom directly after. It shook the village and all her inhabitants to the core. Someone caught wind of the smell of smoke and directed everyone's attention to the nearby forest edge. We could see and smell the smoke rise, but nobody could seem to find the fire. We sent many of our men into those woods that night to find the fire, but they never came out. We waited for hours before we finally saw something step out of the forest. He may have looked like an old man but in all my years of experience, I've never seen someone so cruel and otherworldly.

He wore a jet black top hat and had a light blue robe around an all-white dress shirt. Tall and lanky was the man, with a limp in his leg, and a cane in his hand. Eyes dirty brown like the muddy waters laid along some of our less walked upon trails that spread all throughout Cystyyr. He grinned an eerie grin confirming my suspicions that he certainly had no good intentions for us. The strange man slowly hobbled out of the forest floor and onto one of the dirt trails. For a moment, we all just stared at him, and he stared at us. I guess some people refer to that as 'the calm before the storm' because, without a word of warning, he quickly sprang to life. With a newfound "pep in his step" and an almost pointlessly excessive Southern drawl, he began.

"Hello, my little confidantes. Y'all made it just in time for my little show, and boy, let me tell ya, it's certainly one you ain't ever gonna forget." We were all looking amongst ourselves in confusion, nobody said a word, yet our eyes were all asking the same questions. "What 'show' is he talking about?" "Who is this guy?" "What does 'y'all' mean?" Unluckily for us, he answered two of our questions right away in one swift action.

"My name is Doc, but y'all can just call me--" His musings were interrupted by an explosion from behind us, followed by another, and another after still. Quickly, the entire crowd dissipated into mayhem, frenzied screams, and cries of anguish. Everybody running every way, but not me. I felt a civic sense of duty and self-discipline to try and restrain the stranger. Thinking in a panic, I ran straight for him and dove immediately after him. To my surprise, I actually knocked him down, or so I thought because when I looked back down, he was gone. Vanished into thin air.

Looking back behind me, I watched as the whole village burned. I froze up, as I'd never seen such destruction and loathing before my very own eyes. I don't know how long I was in awe at the fire, but I broke out of it when I heard that damned sound again. That rumbling screech. I turned to see what was making that noise but quickly realized it was a mix of the fires and the cries of my villagers. I started to throw up, knowing there was nothing I could do to stop this man. All this loss of life and I was powerless. It's a sickening feeling, really. Actually, it's worse than sickening.

Once I finished spilling my guts on the grassy earth beneath me, I looked up and saw the most awful sight. That monster was holding my wife and child. He let out an awful cackling, causing my son to start crying. That really must've annoyed him because his evil grin quickly turned into a scowl.

"Let me ask you something, deary." He turned to my wife. She gazed into my eyes as if to ask for help, but I could give her no reassurance. "Do you know anyone by the name of Marrett Roseluck?" He asked as politely as he could, although he knew we could see right through his facade.

"N-no, I don't." She said, voice shaky, fearing the consequences of being caught in a lie. She knows Marrett. We all do, he's Levee's son. The kid can't be any older than fifteen, but we haven't seen him in over a month. He left on account of having constant nightmares of a boogie man who is a little too comfortable around fire. Surely, this was the man he saw in his dreams.

"What about you, little boy?" The question being directed at my son, although the man eyed me down as if he was staring straight into my soul. My son didn't answer, he was crying too much. After about thirty seconds of no response, he grinned back at me and threw my son onto the ground. "Well, that's too bad. You know I hate to do this, but y'all really leave me no choice." He cooed, not once breaking eye contact with me.

In a moment of fear and cowardice I turned away because deep down in my heart, I could feel what would come next. Looking away from the man and my family, I heard the awful sound of bones snapping but didn't have the heart to look back at them. I knew what he had done. That was it, that was my breaking point.

I wish this was the part of the story where I say that I fought him and won, but unfortunately, life isn't always like a work of fiction. I ran away. I ran, not to live another day, but so I wouldn't have to see the two most precious people in my life as nothing but bodies on the ground surrounded by the flames caused by my inability to act. I was the village chieftain who let my people down that day. I was the father who let my family down that day. I was the fool who let himself down that day. I was a coward and I may never truly redeem myself.

I ran for what seemed like hours. I ran until I made it to the next town, but unfortunately, it looks like the man was here before he hit our village. There was nothing but the smoldering remains of a town once full of life. I've been here before, to Morad. They used to have a celebration every year that would praise the forest, and all that it has done for us. Now both this town and the forest surrounding it were burned to the ground. Mother nature really can be a bitch.

I don't know where this man has gone, or what he even was. All that I know is that he's still out there, so I'll leave you with this. If you hear the sound of a rumble, followed by an ear-piercing screech, run. Run away, run as far as you can. Don't look back, just gather your family and go. The farther the better, but if you have the heart for it, we can take this monster down. For if there's anything I've learned while living on this planet, it's this. We have quite the resilient bunch of creatures here. I have no doubt in my mind that we can and will right these wrongs. We can make this man pay for what he's done to us. So, if you have the heart for it, we can take him down. Heed this warning, monster.

I, Jaranph, Chieftain of the once-great village of Cystyyr, am going to acquire every race I can, and we're going to put an end to your monstrosities, once and for all. If you're capable and have confidence in your fighting abilities, I'm calling you out. I'm calling every type of Gen; Ingen, Codgen, Pedgen, and Ventegen. Humans, Misobeks, and Minauren. Elves, both light, and dark. This is a call to arms, and one not to be taken lightly. As long as this man is allowed to roam free, we're at war.