SpinTales

Leads

Chapter 1

Fireflies lazily drift to and fro through the seemingly endless, rolling hillside of the valley. The sun gently tucking itself from the scene as a small group of youths sat around the campfire patiently waiting to hear the next lead to a possible adventure. "And it is said that this lone merchant travels far and in between all the dimensions of the world to sell his wares to all forms of life. Many if not all of the items have mystical powers of sorts, too." Stated the dashing male youth with a twinkling in his steel, grey eyes. Silence, but the crackling of the fire. "But Brodie, where does he get them from?" Squeaks out the youngest male in the group. He sat directly next to the speaker, obviously itching to learn more. "And how do they have magic? And how...?" Brodie raised his brows and held his hands up. "Whoa, there, Dane!!! One question at a time!!" Everyone burst out in laughter. Dane's cheeks became dusted with a lovely shade of pink as he chuckled out "sorry." A voice that sounded like tinkling chimes came from above in the tree "Aww, it's ok kiddo. It's hard not wanting to ask questions after hearing something like that!!!" Said the slender beauty as she hopped down from the large, twisted branch hanging overhead. "Oh yeah, Vaya, then why didn't YOU ask anything?!" giggled Dane. "That's because you're always full of questions about EVERYTHING, silly!!" responded Vaya. "Now, now Vaya. He can't help that. He is a child, after all." Another member in the group responded. "Am no..!" But Brodie cut in before a full blown disruption and flying fists ensued, "Back to the legend, though, it seems to be a very consistant story throughout the lands I've researched. All the stories I've heard, sadly, end in tragedy due to the dark magics instilled in the artifacts." Vaya stretched her limbs looking up at the diamond filled sky. "Exactly how did you come across this particular story, cousin?" Brodie stood up then, "Well, I first heard about it when I was in the lands of Tzarnus, about a year and a half ago. I was pursuing some clues about an immortal witch who helps humanity by fighting against the shadow beings. Of course, most of the locals didn't believe it, but I kept pushing for information on her. The last place I came across was at this run-down travel lodge at the outskirts of the town and this withered man approached me after the bar keep tried running me off for asking some questions. The old man's name was Gustave, and he scared the bar keep with his look. It was absolutely hilarious. Anyhow, Gustave took me to the adjacent room and he asked what my fascination was with the Mountain Enchantress. I was surprised and told him I like listening to folklore and wanted to hear more about her story."

*Flashback*

Gustave: "Hahahaha...!!!! You should be more careful of things of that nature, young one. It could very well lead to your untimely demise."
Brodie: "So I've heard. However, one can say that finding the truth of these things is sort of what I do."
Gustave : "Alright lad. I'll tell you what I can, but you must not be so foolish as to seek her out. Story goes that she was once a very beautiful and powerful cleric and helped and healed many throughout these lands. Many men from distant lands tried proposing to her, which she declined over and over again saying she could not settle down because of her duty to life. Although, it was said that there was one young man who she had taken a fancy to, but he never proposed to her. He would help her with gathering rare and difficult to obtain ingredients and only asked to be in her company in return. They became good friends and seemed like they were always together. She fell in love with him and was willing to settle down, but he said he could not. No one really knows why, but they slowly grew apart."
Brodie: "Hmmm... I don't understand how he could just turn her down when they were close and so many sought after her."
Gustave: "Indeed. There are many speculations, but nobody is for sure. But one day she was injured from someone she was healing. That person had become sick with delusions and repeatedly tried to kill himself. She tried her best to fight him off and succeeded in knocking the poor soul unconscious, but the damage was already done and she had been stabbed and slashed and died shortly after. When her friend came around to visit he found her lifeless body. He collected her corpse and cleaned it up for the funeral pyre. But he was at such a loss and could not bring himself to let her go. Even in death her beauty held and he was so grief stricken that he yelled to the heavens, demanding "Why?!?!"

*Flashback ends*

Brodie paused as he looked at the faces of all his companions. He could tell that he had everyone's full attention. "This is where the story gets strange. Gustave then told me while the guy had finished setting the funeral pyre, he broke down in hysterics and cried because he couldn't bring himself to carry on with the funeral. He stayed by her side and grieved for many days until his strength was almost spent. As he laid there, he looked upon her body that didn't seem to have changed one bit and saw a figure standing at a distance past his beloved. He tried to focus, but it was blurry and his eyes were so cloudy from exhaustion. He didn't even see the figure as it loomed over their bodies. He heard a voice say "Dear soul, do you regret that you never told her of your hearts desire? I have something that will bring her back to you. Would you like that?" The voice was so eerily raspy and low that the man barely heard. "Oh well. It is time for some amusement for many days to come." The dark figure then brought out a small trinket from inside his long coat and said "This is some bauble that I've acquired in my travels for my cabinet of curiosity, but it'll be more amusing in the hands of a human, I bet." And with that, he set it upon her chest where it faded into her flesh.
She came back to life instantly, but not like before." All at once, every member in the group started asking questions and debating the possibility behind the partial story they just heard."I wonder what that object was?" "How can she just come back to life?" "Think the old man was pulling your leg." Brodie tried to get everyone to calm down, but then someone shouted above all of them "So what the hell happened next?!?!" And with that the chatting died down and all eyes were on the person who shouted. He was tall and had a lean build with medium dark brown hair and hazel eyes. "I'm so glad you asked, Thadd. I was just getting to that." Said Brodie. "Like I was saying, she came back to life, just in time for the friend to expelled his last breath. Gustave said that the events from there were uncertain, but the cleric was not so easily influenced by whatever dark forces was at hand. He broke away from the story saying that the dark figure was none other than the deity that ran the Mercantile of Curios and that his goods were far from being good. Especially in the hands of mortals. He said he didn't know more than that and he suddenly stood up to leave. I tried to stop him as he made his way to the back door, but as soon as I stepped outside he was gone!! No footprints in the snow and nowhere he could hide. I searched all over and even checked the roof top, but he wasn't there. After a while, I went back into the travel lodge, but now it was deserted. And I don't mean like everyone left to go to bed. It was like nobody had been there in years!!!" Dane looked up with frightened eyes. It seemed that maybe he wasn't ready to go down this path with them. A path that held supernatural wonders and life threatening dangers around every turn. Thadd then spoke up, "So after experiencing that, do you believe now the things we have been discussing the past several weeks?" Brodie was thoughtful. "Ever since that day I've been wanting to find this merchant. There are other stories that were similar as far as a dark figure appearing and leaving an item behind which lead to many unfortunate events. However, I think it's getting late now and we all need to turn in for the night. We can debate about theories tomorrow." "I'll say. As much as I'd like to hear more, I think I need a little time to digest this info." Vaya said. It was agreed upon everyone's face and soon started to settle down for the night. Unknown to the small group of teens, that as they drifted into the dreaming realms, that there were eyes and ears upon them from high above in the shadow of the trees. A wicked smile plastered on the face of the observer. "Very interesting, indeed."

(To be continued)