Journia
3rd Level Blue Feather
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I have been exhausted. My back hurts, my head hurts and I have written a story on here. This is another on of my Habeas Corpus mysteries, well not really a mystery though but you get it...I did it for my English Class. I personally thin it is the crappiest story ever told, but I may be too critical, so I want you to decide.
Be as brutal as you'd like.
It was walking down the winding stairway of the eastern tower overlooking the eastern field of Varynx castle, that I noticed it. The fire that had been set in the east field the previous night had been put out, and all was at peace, but the scorch marks upon the ground was what led me to notice the uniqueness of the situation. Lady Gwynnyvir Varynx and I were descending the stairs, to the king’s chamber from our chambers.
“So, Master Corpus,” She began with a most pleasant tone, “Do you think that you will be able to solve the case that is brought before you by the King?”
“I can only decide if the work is worth doing if I hear of this problem he has. I wouldn’t want to end up killing myself.” I said with a laugh.
“You mean, as in your last case?” She asked.
“Precisely,”
“Well, Master Corpus, you most likely will not be that close to danger, if I know my husband.” She said smiling, “he isn’t usually one to put people in pressing situations.”
“Why aren’t you involved in your husband’s affairs?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you are his wife, and historically, women have a major influence upon the sway of politics, whether they are involved in it, themselves, or by way of husbands, or political friends, and family ties.”
“I don’t know what history books you have read sir,” she laughed, “but I have no more influence on my husband, than a blade of grass has, upon the wind to bring it upon it.” We passed by a window and it revealed the whole of the east field, the training ground for the hoplite army of Vlaxtau. The day before the day before, it was green, and lush, but during the previous night, it had been set aflame. The whole of the castle was up in arms, racing about, to prevent the flames from leaving the field, which they ultimately did. Now the blaze, under the Oriental light, showed something that was all too familiar to me.
“Master Corpus?” Lady Varynx called. “Master Corpus, are you listening to me?”
“Yes Lady Varynx. Oh, would you mind telling me what you see out there?”
“I see nothing but blackened earth.” That is when I remembered, Oh, what a world I resided in.
I entered the king’s chamber, which began with a sitting room, and branched off in four separate doors, which were behind the Sofas, and piano, and harp in addition to a table with an object under a black cloth upon it. The walls of the room were a pastoral portrait of the dawn, the reddish hue of the sky, and the darkness of those clouds, the beauty of which capture the imagination and set the soul aflame. There upon one of the sofas sat the king himself. Aluvardi Varynx.
“Highest inspector Habeas Corpus, I am delighted to see that you are up at this hour.” He said with a booming voice.
“I am pleased to be invited into the king’s sitting room. It is quite beautiful, but to amore pertinent matter, what is it that you want me to do?”
“Well, Corpus, there has been an attempt upon my life. Two in fact,” At this my eyebrow arched. “They were kept under wraps for many months. But I have received letters, I believe they are threatening.”
“Sir, would you mind telling me of how you r life was threatened?”
“Certainly, the first event was on the eve of All Angels Day, The feast which was to begin at midnight, had to be cancelled, because as he was testing my food, the food taster flew into convulsive fits, and began to arch his back until there was an audible snap.” I considered the event within my mind. “The second one was most horrible. I was in my chamber one night only three months ago, when I heard a screeching sound, which woke me from my sleep. I opened my eyes, and saw upon my bed, the hugest ugly looking spider I had ever laid eyes on! From its mouth it emitted such a horrible screech! Then it leapt upon me and attempted to plunge its fangs into me!” The king was obviously shaken by this. He continued. “My screams alerted the guards outside my door, and they burst in. They subdued the creature, and jarred it.”
“I take it that is what is under the cloth upon that table.” I said indicating the draped form. The king nodded.
“But that will come later. I have also received letters. They are in a strange unearthly language which no one has ever before seen.”
“Do show me the letters of which you speak.” The king took from under his pillow a parchment envelope, and handed it to me. I opened it carefully, and found something rather surprising. “King Varynx, have you considered the notion that your eastern field, was set ablaze by the ones who sent you the letters?”
“I have no doubt!”
“I see.” I said as I began to read. “Sir, I can tell you one thing for certain, this language is far older than any other language on this earth. Larvi, Kurnagis, Syn, or all put together.”
“What do you mean?”
“Just what I said, there is no way to put it into a clearer manner. You are dealing with a smart person here. Though when using a language like this, it gives me three ideas.” I rose to my feet, and began to pace. “One, the person wants to give you the most horrible death imaginable. A death where you have no defenses, you will know not the day nor the hour of the appearance of the assassin, or assassins, nor of how they might appear. Two, the perpetrator doesn’t want to hurt you at all, and merely wants to scare you, albeit, a lot. Or three, the person is a fool, who hasn’t a handle on a language like the one which you speak, and so they write in a rarely taught language. All three ideas are equally plausible, each one more comforting than its predecessor. But sir,” I said turning to him quickly, “do show me this spider.”
He removed the covering and I glanced at the creature, pressed up against the side of the thick container.
It was a toxic green arachnid with black spots and needle like hairs upon its bodies, at parts of its legs and its abdomen. Its face was not of a spider however, it was of a woman. And it was a beautiful face, though only one that could be beautiful in death. It grinned at me, for it recognized me, and I it.
“Mali Bali,” I uttered. The king looked at me confused. “This is a treat I have here. Have you heard of the Seraphs of Necrynon?”
“No.” I kneeled to peer at the creature that now caught my interest.
“They were sorceresses, who were so beautiful and intelligent that they were once compared to the Seraphim angels. However, they had a much darker side. They were vengeful Harpy hearted women who killed those they were jealous of, for their emotions would quickly become most extreme. They were famous for the murders of Falryn Georgaeus, a man who loved them with all his heart.”
“What does that have to do with this sick creature?”
“Everything, you see, they were famous for turning the corpses of those they killed into creatures known as Mali Bali. They were sent to destroy royal families. Due to various wrongs the women themselves believed had been done to them. Then they suddenly disappeared. “
“Habeas Corpus!” The spider whispered almost angelically
“My stars,” The king exclaimed, “the monstrosity speaks!”
“Yes, it is actually quite intelligent.” I turned to the Spider. “Now, Petreia,”
“You know of this creature?” The king cried.
“Yes, it is my deceased lover, I should know her. I buried her. Now, Petreia who has awakened you from your eternal rest?”
“The only ones who can,”
“Who has turned you into this unspeakable evil?”
“They who command me,”
“If I were to let you out, would you take me to them?”
“I always return to my creators.”
“Of course,” I turned to the king, “I believe I know who it is that is behind this.”
“Then you will help me?”
“Of course, But do not be too brash. I must take the Mali Bali--”
“Oh by all means, take the unspeakable creature from my sight. It sickens me!”
“That is why your arm is so fat!” The spider shouted as I put the cover over the jar. It immediately quieted down.
“That is something we found out the day after jarring it.” The king said.
The Mali Bali lay in its jar in the shadow of the blinds as they hit my desk. The shadows are the areas of peace for these creatures, and while I was not one of the types to cater to the comfort, I could not stand for my once adored, to have been awake, in a tormented being. That was when Gloria walked in.
“Habeas I--Oh my goodness, It is another one of those freaky little monsters!” She screamed before I could make a move. The Mali Bali awoke and turned to face her, then bounced up against the jar.
“Calm down Gloria, she won’t hurt you, so long as you don’t scream.”
“I hate spiders, and that thing is one of the worst.”
“It is the key in solving a possible assassination plot. This was found attacking the king about three months ago.”
“And we didn’t know about it?”
“They are like Catholics, the keep things under wraps.”
“Well, they certainly do.”
“Have you heard of English?”
“Yes, Malachai told me about it, I learned to read it too, but I haven’t gotten a handle on the symbols yet.”
“The letters?”
“No, punctuation.”
“Ah, I see. Well then while we go on our trip to solve this case, I will teach you about it.”
“Where are we going?” She asked eyeing me.
“Weir, then to Rathmus, most likely,”
“Why Weir?”
“Because below the land that Weir is built upon, is a far greater city. A larger city, where souls are trapped ad infinitum within its walls, and unable to escape to the sky, attempt to find their way out through the maze of darkened streets. The city is called Necrynon.”
That night we set off, and hours later we were in the foggy heights of the Chastys Mountains, traversing through the mountains by way of the Traetorian Bridge, in our carriage. The bluish gray mist that was on either side of the bridge and under it would have made the moment romantic if it weren’t so urgent a situation we were traveling for. During this time, I revealed to Gloria the papers which the king had given me.
“These letters are all written in English. They are late English, perhaps twentieth century, or early twenty-first. They show some of the final punctuation marks used in English writing, for that was when the Great Cleansing occurred.”
“The one that Agyptus caused?” She asked.
“Yes. Now, I will teach you of these marks, as we ride so you had better begin to take notes.”
“I‘m ready.”
Dear You Boob,
You will never know my name, for you are too stupid to understand this language, and are likely, too ill resourced, to find a person who does understand it, as rare as it may be. I also doubt you will be able to retrace the path of this letter that is sent by Operamore, to your doorstep. I hope that you adored my pet, they are so affectionate aren’t they? With their eight legs, and fangs which thirst for the life blood of adoration? The adoration which they acquire when they kiss their targets, or as I tend to refer to those such as yourself to them as, “The Apples of Their Eyes.” I hope that you enjoy my newest creation also, it shall certainly bring forth the sounds of the bells of Decatur upon us.
Those words were what were in the last letter. So using this as an example I began to instruct.
“Now Gloria, this hook like thing, is called, a comma, it is used to separate words from words, and sentence fragments. Say for example, I were to say, ‘James made brownies cakes and pies.' I would use a comma to separate the articles of food." I then indicated the next mark. The lesson continued on like this for over three hours. By the time we reached the semi colon, we had reached Weir.
The city still lay in slumber as we passed through the bridges that were one of the numerous hallmarks of the town. We were headed to the estate of Malachai and Yarmeli Valmons. As we neared the huge iron gates of the haunted estate, they swung open and clanged against the marble wall surrounding the perimeter of the estate. I stuck my head out to see the Main house, it was there before us, like some formidable caped figure. I brought my head back in to gather my papers. The carriage stopped and as I got out, there before me stood the tall figure of Malachai Valmons, and his daughter, perpetually child looking, Yarmeli.
"And you say that the king was attacked by a spider?" Malachai asked skeptically, or perhaps amused. I removed the cloth from the jar, and Yarmeli shrieked.
"Oh my god! It is one of those things from the sewers!” She leapt from the sofa and dashed out of the room screaming like a mad woman.
"Ah, Mali Bali." He grabbed the jar swiftly and examined it. “I haven't seen one of these for at least five thousand years. You say that the king had this on his arm?"
"Correct, and I have an idea of who might have done it."
"It has to be someone who speaks English well, and has a mastery of magic also." Gloria interjected.
"Correct my dear Granddaughter." Malachai replied. "Well, everyone in this town speaks English."
"Ugh," I thought of how something horrible might occur.
"But very few people know the sorcery of a level this great. And those people have been executed."
"What? How long ago?"
"Years ago. But..."
"But?" Gloria and I asked.
"But, one of these could have been conjured up by one of the executed before they were put upon the scaffold, and just happened to survive under the city." "Then we musty venture into Necrynon." Gloria said dismally. "Where there may be more of these terrible things."
Don't worry Gloria, you are with the best of protectors!" I said as I hugged her.
"I don't need protecting." She said as she slipped out of my grip. "Remember, I am nearly a goddess in lineage. Thanks to my Grandfather. I am merely annoyed by the ugliness of these...these...."
"Mali Bali." Malachai finished.
The next morning, Malachai, Yarmeli, Gloria and I, ventured into a sectioned off area OF the house. We traveled along until we arrived at a door that was bolted. It reminded me of a castle drawbridge, with the metal holding everything together. They opened a door and there were numerous firearms all along the walls, neatly arranged.
“Good god Malachai, How the devil did you get an MP40?” I said as Yarmeli pulled the German machine gun from a holder and placed it in my hands.
“I am a collector, and you never know when a pope might come after you, or a Surge of Mali Bali will rampage from the sewers.”
Yarmeli then held up a huge gun with tons of ammunition strapped to her body. “I am the youngest looking twenty-one year old in the world, I have in my hand an automatic machine gun which fires thirty million rounds of ammunition per minute, and each bullet is an exploding one. It has an accuracy of 110% and no one has ever survived it. Tell me, are you feeling lucky?”
“Well, you aren’t.” Malachai said as he lifted the gun and ammunition off of her in one grab of his long thin arms.
“Dad!” She wailed.
“After your last fiasco with this gun I am not letting you hold this!” He said placing the gun back onto its holder. I looked around and saw an old firearm that I found to my liking. I reached up to grab the single shot Grimmauld pistol. It was made of red glossed wood and was made in the seventeenth century of my time. But, I was too small to reach it, I cursed my height to myself, then asked Malachai to hand me the firearm.
“Do you really want a single shot pistol from the seventeenth century?” He asked before getting it.
“Aim positive. I used to play with these all the time. My uncle had a collection of them.” I held the pistol in my hand and turned it over numerous times. Malachai grabbed twelve guns and kicked the door closed. As we began to descend the stairs, there was a furious banging followed by Yarmeli’s child like voice.
“Dad! You locked me in again!” Malachai rushed back to the door, and unlocked it, and then told Yarmeli to stay at the house. She didn’t object. I had a feeling that she was going to turn up somehow.
Having prepared ourselves accordingly, we finally set off to Mixshewel place, the carriage center, where we rented a large carriage to carry our supplies in, our destination, were the hills of Fallas, where the entrance to Necrynon was to be found. By the end of the day, we had reached the hills and came upon a desert-like plain. Malachai got out first, and looked around.
“Where is the gate?” I called out.
“It isn’t agate!” He shouted. “It is a mine shaft! I just can‘t find it!” No sooner had he said that, than the ground beneath him gave way and he went screaming into the darkness below the dusty clearing.
“Malachai!” Gloria and I screamed as we tumbled from the carriage. We ran to the spot where he fell and looked down, we found him sitting in the hole, with a pleased look on his face.
“I found it!” He exclaimed.
We jumped down into the hole and called for the carriage driver to approach cautiously, then we got our supplies, and marched off into the darkness.
“Now, how exactly are we to see when we arrive in the city?” Gloria asked. “Do you have a torch or something?”
Malachai lit a match which added dim light to out situation. In the light, I could see little troughs of liquid, they went along the walls and continued into the darkness. He dropped the match in, and flames burst up along the trough, and illuminated the whole tunnel. Having solved our problem, Malachai led us down the tunnel and soon, into the city.
We entered the city from a cave mouth, which gave us a view of the whole city from above it. There were churches, with buttresses, and steeples that must have been magnificent under the light of the sun. Seeing this city for the first time, under the light of flames that encircled the city along the walls of this cavern, gave me some understanding to how this city was once known as, The Diamond of The Soul.
As we walked through the avenues and alleys, what amazed me most, was how many of the neighborhoods, or apartments, were built in the shapes of human beings, or angels. One such example was of a complex of one thousand houses that were built up high into the cavern, which was arranged, like an angel with it’s wings spread. It was kneeling upon the earth with its arms spread over it, under the wings.
We came upon a large building with glass doors. We entered it and found to our surprise, it was a museum of some sort. There were exhibits of huge animals attacking people, and people attacking huge creatures, and other strange things. While looking at the models, Gloria looked up and shouted, “English!”
I ran over to her and looked to where she stared. The sign above the creature, which was a centipede, was in fact, in English.
“My goodness,!” I exclaimed, “It is in English. Who would have known?”
“If you had asked me, I could have told you.” Malachai said without looking up from the exhibit panel he was reading. “I used to live here.”
Gloria and I turned and stared at him. Noticing the silence, he turned to face us.
“What? I have been around a long time. It isn’t like I wasn’t going to be here sometime.”
“How old are you?” I asked.
“Well,” he began, leaning on the exhibit, “I am almost three eons old. Give or take a couple of millennia.”
There was silence.
“Damn…”Gloria said slowly.
“Hay dio…” I followed.
“Well, I was one of the first,”
“First what? The first bacterium?!?”
“Angels.”
“Nope.” Gloria and I said, :We aren’t believing that.” Then Gloria stopped, and looked around. Malachai soon followed. They moved to the center of the room, and stood back to back.
“What is going on?” I asked. “What are you two doing?
“Shut up and get over here Habeas.” Gloria commanded.
“Coming dear.” I replied as I made my way over to them. That is when it hit me. A Mali Bali fell from the ceiling and right on my head, then skittered off into the darkness. “Augh! God damn it! What the Hell was that?”
“HAAABEAASSS.” A long, hissing voice called out. “we have been waiting for you.”
Who is that? Who is calling my name?” I shouted. I stared into the heights of the darkness above me and saw hundreds of Mali Bali descending. Their faces filled with hunger.
“Oh Mary…” I said to myself as the spider came down followed by numerous others. They landed on the ground gracefully. They looked at me, and began to march toward me. That was when over my shoulder Yarmeli bounded, wielding the Gun Malachai took from her. She unloaded one magazine after another upon the little beasts. When she finally finished, everything was quiet. Then there was a soft clapping that could be heard form all around the room. I turned around and in the doorway stood a man. When he saw him, Malachai took Yarmeli and dashed off past him and out into the streets. He took one leap and was soon, sailing across the city.
“Uh, hi.” I greeted the man as he stepped closer.
“Hello Master Corpus.” He said as he held out a gauntleted hand.
The man led us to a large mansion, we entered it and entered what I supposed would have been the living room, but it looked to have suffered damage, like fire. Everything was stained with black, either burns or smoke, and the man who felt so comfortably in this abode, turned to face us.
“So, what is your name?” The man asked Gloria as he sat down before us. “What is your reason for coming here?”
Before she could answer, I took from my cape, the jar and showed him the Mali Bali. “Someone sent this to the king of Vlaxtau. It almost killed him. I sir, came here to find out what if anything, you had to do with it.”
“I did in fact use my magic to create this Mali Bali. I believe you know her.”
“You bet your booty I know her! Why the heck did you dig up my dead lover?”
“I knew it would grab your interest Habeas.”
“But it was my dead girlfriend!”
“The Appearance of a lover on the scene always gets someone interested. Or a mother, or a younger sibling.”
“Fathers aren’t important I take it.”
“Not in the least. They damage their children’s souls too much in the beginning for them to care for their safety in adulthood.”
“Okay, here is a more pertinent question. Why?”
“Because Habeas, nations come and go. This nation was sent upon its way prematurely. For that its ghost must seek revenge. Vengeance can only be attained by the death of the land above us.”
“Weir? What does Weir have to do with it?”
“It is an event that you will learn of later.” He rose to his feet, and began walking to the door. He turned to face us. “This room is filled with English of different types. I understand that you are teaching the young lady to speak it. You may look around this room until I return.” He then left the house. No sooner had he left, had Gloria rushed to the door and tried to open it.
“It is locked.” She said dismally.
“Well,” I said with an optimistic tone, “You should be learning punctuation and dialogue now.”
“Very well,” She sighed.
“Alright, the next thing you are going to learn is the quotation mark. ”
“Okay…”
“The quotation mark is like a double apostrophe. It is used to symbolize the beginning of character speech in a story, and it can be used for quotes. There is a similar mark which is used for quoting within a quote. That is symbolized by an apostrophe.”
“So you say that the same ting that is used for showing possession for an object, is also used for a quote within a quote?”
“Precisely,”
“You should always begin a dialogue with a quotation mark. The double one of course, and you should end the conversation with a period, or comma, unless the situation calls for something more interesting, such as an exclamation point, or a dash.” Gloria began writing down in her notebook. “You are writing down what I am saying?”
“No, I am using what you are saying to make my own dialogue.” She showed me the notebook. “See? ‘Michael, what are you doing?’
‘Uh, nothing.’
‘What is that on your pants?’
‘Uh, water?’
‘That isn’t water…’
‘What are you—’
‘Don’t try to steer me away from the truth!’
‘But I—’
‘Truth!’”
“Hmmm…Interesting. You also used an ellipsis.”
“Well, I learned the use of an ellipsis in Malachai’s house.”
The man returned a few moments later with Malachai and Yarmeli. He hurled Malachai on the floor, and tossed Yarmeli to me. I nearly fell to the floor for her weight was immense. Three men came in the room
“Take the man and his girl to the jail, we will handle them tomorrow morning.” He turned to us. “I would like to take you somewhere.” He grinned. “Come with me.”
We were led to a staircase, I inquired as to where we were going, he didn’t reply. I soon found out though, when we arrived at a door labeled Hall.
“Before we enter, I will introduce myself. I am Malus. I am the leader of the Punctuati.” He opened the door, and I was greeted with a magnificent room.
The Hall was an old place. The ribbed vaulted ceiling. Extended wide into the darkness, where an audience sat in the balconies arching across the ceiling. Below was a table that stretched across the room, and there sat thirteen people, Malus walked to the head of the table, near a grand fireplace, with a great bright blaze.
“Sit. Please.” He said as he waved his hands to two seats that scooted out from the darkness. “We were just about to sit down to dinner.” Gloria and I sat and began to watch those around us. All manner of people, Black White, Latin, all dressed up in capes, and black suits and dresses. They all turned to face us, for a moment, then turned to face Malus.
“My friends,” he began, “it has been said that when the sun sets upon the land above us, in the night we are those who walk, grasping the souls of the people from their dreams as they slumber, to feast upon them. Their legends of our ancestors bring them to make us the brunt of their aggression. No more.”
There was silence. “The people of Weir will fall before the power of fourteen armed nations. At dawn, the regencies will surround this land from the north, south east and western ends. There will be no escape for the citizens who reside there, none except to go down, into the sewers, leading into Necrynon. Then we shall show them all, how powerful the Punctuati are!”
The seated guests clapped softly. Stiffly, their movements were constrained and while elegant, also added a hint of insidiousness which could not be ignored. That of course was added to the sinister speech Malus was giving.
“Our armies will also enter the field, to battle, and when the sun falls down upon this land, The Punctuati will be the last thing to be seen in the light of the occident. Though we will not be there to see it in our present states, in spirit we shall become victorious.”
“Yes!” A black man shouted as he thrust his fist into the air and rose from his seat. The silence afterward, was enough to bring him back to his seat. Slowly.
“And so this feast is prepared. The soldiers have had this speech, or its variant. They eat as I speak. Now my friends, the moment we have been waiting for is at hand. So eat drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.”
As soon as he said that, the seated persons began to eat ravenously. Bones of animals that were on spits at the table fell to the floor after five minutes of starving individuals grabbing at the meats. Wine was spilled upon the table. And as Gloria and I looked on, we could see Malus was watching with a dismal look upon his face.
“It will be grand,” Malus said to Gloria and I as we walked with him along the bridge outside the Hall. “When the Heavens smile upon us in the few hours that await us. However, I do not believe that my compatriots will ascend as I shall.”
“Malus, why do you want to die? And lead others with you?” Gloria asked.
“I will die for the sake of the English language and the punctuation, and the dialogue. English will bewcme dominant the world over and I shall see to it with my armies.”
“It is unethical.”
“Ethics.” he laughed. “Ethics are philosophies that human beings themselves made up in order to justify their actions. Ethics is not correct, because Ethics was made and discerned by an imperfect creature.”
“And that gives you the right, the justification, to destroy innocent people’s lives, and livelihood?” Gloria responded quickly with disgust. “You are sickening.” At this, Malus turned to her.
“My dear Miss Brisoum,” He said as he brought his hand up to her face. “I scarcely think you would object if you knew the precise workings of this machine. If you understood how, this is truly the right thing to do.” He caressed her cheek, and suddenly a light glowed from within her face, moments later, the light was gone, and she was in tears. She ran past me holding her face within her hands.
“What did you show her?!?” I shouted. He turned to me and stepped forward. He grabbed my forehead with great strength, and suddenly his hand grew as hot as fire, and I went into a trance like state. I was suddenly in another time where there was battle going on. Over the hills armies descended upon the city of Weir, except, it wasn’t Weir. It was Necrynon. Children ran as the chariots of archers and swordsmen thundered past. Adults fell to the ground, innocent civilians, riddled with arrows. Another part of the city, a child was running toward me, behind her, was a swordsman on a chariot. The swordsman maneuvered his horse to the side of the child and swung his weapon. The little girl’s head rolled upon the ground. In another part of the city, five men walked down the street. They wore a different manner of dress, but they all had one connection however. They were powerful magicians. They walked the streets, and as ordinary people came forward to slay them, one man or another would cast his hand out, and send the civilian flying into the air. In another area, the five men entered a palace. There before them, were the Seraphs of Necrynon. The five women and the five men began to battle. They drew swords and began to fight. They fought skillfully, all in almost choreographed action. Leaping and dancing about the blades as they blocked, dodged or pinned the blades to the floor, and at times, using other assets of their bodies to further their way through the battle. One man made a simple mistake, and one woman cut off his head. Only to have her head lopped off by one of the younger of the men, who then wheeled around and clashed swords with one of the women who were bearing down on him. Another man was killed, his own sword was thrust through him by a Seraph. She then attacked the one who lopped off her sister’s head. He kicked her in the stomach which sent her backward, but only for a moment, for she was back up again, and she lunged for him. He ducked and sliced off her calve. You could tell she was hurt, but she wasn’t about to give up either. The remaining men knew that. They furiously fought with their swords and other strategic moves in order to evade their opponents while getting a perfect shot. However the Seraphs were just as good and more than likely better than them.
“Your reputation precedes you Malachai.” One Seraph said to the man in the Eagle’s mask.
“My reputation is more preferable to that of a harpy.” The man replied as he raised his leg to kick at her. She grabbed his leg and twisted it until an audible pop was made. He screamed in more anger than pain.
“How dare you do that?!?” He shouted. The woman threw him across the room.
“Kill him children!” She shouted as numerous children flooded into the room, they surrounded him and would have killed him with their daggers. But he quickly drew his sword, and lopped off all their heads in a single swipe. Accidentally, his sword slipped from his grip and flew past the woman, into a torch stand, which fell to the floor. The woman approached Malachai and took aim with her sword. She then stepped forward, and her boot slipped upon the blood on the floor. She stumbled backward and fell upon the torch. Her clothes immediately burst into flames.
“Augh! You will pay for this! I curse this land, and all who inhabit it until the day of its destruction!” The woman shouted. Suddenly the younger of the three remaining men leapt into the air and came down with a horrific chop upon her neck, sending her head and neck rolling to Malachai’s feet. Another place in the city. The three men meet in another street. They are kneeling on the ground, their swords pressed into the earth. They are whispering a prayer. They rose and began to remove their masks. Two of the men I recognized. They were Sunni Agyptus and Malachai Valmons. But their eyes were glowing red, like those of a tired demon.
We must make certain that the good reputation of the people of this land are utterly destroyed.” Malachai said in a snake-like voice.
“That my friend has already been taken care of.” Sunni replied as he removed from his cloak, a wand. “The more important thing is that we destroy the reputation of the Goodly Women of Necrynon. Seraphs they will be for beauty’s sake, but harpies they shall be for the sake of purpose.”
“Will you stop talking so much and destroy the palace already Agyptus?” The third man, a thin fellow with red hair falling about his shoulders. “I mean simply because we are nearly immortals, does not give you the right to waste what remaining life we have left blowing hot air!”
“Vixcwell,” Agyptus snapped, “just be thankful I helped you become impervious to the sunlight.” He then waved his wand in the air gracefully, and everything shook. Then with a low, monotonous hum, the buildings began to melt into piled of dust. Finally I found myself facing the annoyed face of Malus.
I was stunned. Malachai. Malachai had caused the fall of Necrynon. Malachai had helped to kill the Seraphs, who were not evil whatsoever, or at least from what I could tell.
“Do you now see why this must be done?” Malus asked.
“I understand why you want to do this, but it doesn’t have to be done like this.”
Malus sighed, then smiled, “Then you should have eaten drank and been merry.” He turned and walked across the bridge. I started to follow him, but the waters sloshing up from below, froze instantly in deadly arches of ice. I decided to go find Gloria. My first stop was back in the Hall, itself, where the people were still eating. I looked around, but Gloria was not there. My next sytop was the jail under the Hall. There I found her, shouting at Malachai in some strange language I had never heard before. Yaremli was in the corner cringing in fear. Her ears were plugged. And tears rolled down her cheeks. I put my hand gently on Gloria’s shoulder.
“Please Gloria, it is a past event now. But we must stop it from being repeated.” I turned to Malachai. “Malachai, I forgive you for your atrocious deed. And I am sure in her heart Gloria will forgive you…one day.”
“I am not proud of what I did. But it is in the past.”
After a moment I said angrily, “Is that not what I just said? Look, Malachai, you are the last surviving member of the team that helped to destroy this city.. You need to help us to stop this before it begins again.”
“I can’t help you.” He replied.
“Why not?” I exclaimed.
“I don’t want to.”
“Alright then,” I said as I drew my carbine, “I will just shoot you then.” I aimed the pistol at his forehead. “I am giving you one last chance.”
“Shoot me. You aren’t going to kill me anyhow.” He told me.
My hand trembled, but I kept it steady. “Alright then.” I cocked the pistol, “Time to die.”
“No habeas!” Yarmeli screamed as she leapt into the scene, Gloria grabbed her and lifted her high into the air. I finally pulled the trigger. There was no explosion, no gunpowder, no screams of pain, no Malachai falling put dead as a doornail. In an event such as this when the weapon does not fire, I always resort to plan B. So what did I do, you might ask. Well, I raised the gun up, gripping it by the barrel, and slammed it down on Malachai’s head.
Gloria and I ran across the bridge to find Malus. He couldn’t be too far, since he had just left us. We found him on the street below.
“Malus!” I shouted. He looked up at me. “Where are your soldiers?”
“They are above the city. The armies of the other nations are coming forth and you will never stop us.”
I pulled out my Carbine, hoping it would finally work. I clicked the trigger, but nothing happened.
“This is a piece of junk!” I shouted as I hurled the weapon down to the street. “Gloria, hand me the Uzi.” Then there was a crack, and a scream of pain. I turned and saw Malus on the ground in a pool of blood.
“Okay,” Gloria said. “He is dead, Yarmeli is dying, and Malachai is dead. I say we need to stop this war.”
“It is too late for that.” A voice form behind us said. “As we speak, the armies are encroaching. As weir dies, I too shall die.” We turned and peered on as Yarmeli stood trembling, “I don’t want to die under here Habeas. At least, let me die above the city.” She trembled again, then fell to the bridge. I picked her up and tried to find a way out. The only way out, was up. Up the huge Angel that was the hallmark of the city.
It took us thirty minutes to get to the top of the huge complex of apartments. When we arrived, we were five feet below a small hole in the ground. How are we going to get out of here? I thought to myself. As if in answer to my question, there was a roar, and a crack, followed by smaller ones, Then the complex began to move.
“Back in the angel!” I shouted as we began to move upward. But it was too late. The angel crashed through the plain and rose up above the land, high above. SO high I could see the mountains, and lining all the mountains in every direction, were the millions of soldiers from the fourteen armed nations. The Angel stood erect.
“Gloria,”
“Yes?”
“There is one last thing I need to teach you.”
“I hardly think this is the time Habeas.”
“Well, I do. The last punctuation symbol is the period. It symbolizes abbreviation, it makes up ellipses, it is quite like the parent of all other punctuation marks. For all the other marks are composed of it. In some fashion. Finally, it also symbolizes the end.”
“:Are you done now?”
“Yes.” There was a rumble below us, and I watched as fire filled the city of Necrynon. The sun was making its way over the hills, and I watched as the armies began to converge. All the while, I could only think of what Malus had said at the dinner, “Now my friends, the moment we have been waiting for is at hand. So eat drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.”
Be as brutal as you'd like.
Assassination Punctuation
From The Casebook of Habeas Corpus
From The Casebook of Habeas Corpus
It was walking down the winding stairway of the eastern tower overlooking the eastern field of Varynx castle, that I noticed it. The fire that had been set in the east field the previous night had been put out, and all was at peace, but the scorch marks upon the ground was what led me to notice the uniqueness of the situation. Lady Gwynnyvir Varynx and I were descending the stairs, to the king’s chamber from our chambers.
“So, Master Corpus,” She began with a most pleasant tone, “Do you think that you will be able to solve the case that is brought before you by the King?”
“I can only decide if the work is worth doing if I hear of this problem he has. I wouldn’t want to end up killing myself.” I said with a laugh.
“You mean, as in your last case?” She asked.
“Precisely,”
“Well, Master Corpus, you most likely will not be that close to danger, if I know my husband.” She said smiling, “he isn’t usually one to put people in pressing situations.”
“Why aren’t you involved in your husband’s affairs?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you are his wife, and historically, women have a major influence upon the sway of politics, whether they are involved in it, themselves, or by way of husbands, or political friends, and family ties.”
“I don’t know what history books you have read sir,” she laughed, “but I have no more influence on my husband, than a blade of grass has, upon the wind to bring it upon it.” We passed by a window and it revealed the whole of the east field, the training ground for the hoplite army of Vlaxtau. The day before the day before, it was green, and lush, but during the previous night, it had been set aflame. The whole of the castle was up in arms, racing about, to prevent the flames from leaving the field, which they ultimately did. Now the blaze, under the Oriental light, showed something that was all too familiar to me.
“Master Corpus?” Lady Varynx called. “Master Corpus, are you listening to me?”
“Yes Lady Varynx. Oh, would you mind telling me what you see out there?”
“I see nothing but blackened earth.” That is when I remembered, Oh, what a world I resided in.
I entered the king’s chamber, which began with a sitting room, and branched off in four separate doors, which were behind the Sofas, and piano, and harp in addition to a table with an object under a black cloth upon it. The walls of the room were a pastoral portrait of the dawn, the reddish hue of the sky, and the darkness of those clouds, the beauty of which capture the imagination and set the soul aflame. There upon one of the sofas sat the king himself. Aluvardi Varynx.
“Highest inspector Habeas Corpus, I am delighted to see that you are up at this hour.” He said with a booming voice.
“I am pleased to be invited into the king’s sitting room. It is quite beautiful, but to amore pertinent matter, what is it that you want me to do?”
“Well, Corpus, there has been an attempt upon my life. Two in fact,” At this my eyebrow arched. “They were kept under wraps for many months. But I have received letters, I believe they are threatening.”
“Sir, would you mind telling me of how you r life was threatened?”
“Certainly, the first event was on the eve of All Angels Day, The feast which was to begin at midnight, had to be cancelled, because as he was testing my food, the food taster flew into convulsive fits, and began to arch his back until there was an audible snap.” I considered the event within my mind. “The second one was most horrible. I was in my chamber one night only three months ago, when I heard a screeching sound, which woke me from my sleep. I opened my eyes, and saw upon my bed, the hugest ugly looking spider I had ever laid eyes on! From its mouth it emitted such a horrible screech! Then it leapt upon me and attempted to plunge its fangs into me!” The king was obviously shaken by this. He continued. “My screams alerted the guards outside my door, and they burst in. They subdued the creature, and jarred it.”
“I take it that is what is under the cloth upon that table.” I said indicating the draped form. The king nodded.
“But that will come later. I have also received letters. They are in a strange unearthly language which no one has ever before seen.”
“Do show me the letters of which you speak.” The king took from under his pillow a parchment envelope, and handed it to me. I opened it carefully, and found something rather surprising. “King Varynx, have you considered the notion that your eastern field, was set ablaze by the ones who sent you the letters?”
“I have no doubt!”
“I see.” I said as I began to read. “Sir, I can tell you one thing for certain, this language is far older than any other language on this earth. Larvi, Kurnagis, Syn, or all put together.”
“What do you mean?”
“Just what I said, there is no way to put it into a clearer manner. You are dealing with a smart person here. Though when using a language like this, it gives me three ideas.” I rose to my feet, and began to pace. “One, the person wants to give you the most horrible death imaginable. A death where you have no defenses, you will know not the day nor the hour of the appearance of the assassin, or assassins, nor of how they might appear. Two, the perpetrator doesn’t want to hurt you at all, and merely wants to scare you, albeit, a lot. Or three, the person is a fool, who hasn’t a handle on a language like the one which you speak, and so they write in a rarely taught language. All three ideas are equally plausible, each one more comforting than its predecessor. But sir,” I said turning to him quickly, “do show me this spider.”
He removed the covering and I glanced at the creature, pressed up against the side of the thick container.
It was a toxic green arachnid with black spots and needle like hairs upon its bodies, at parts of its legs and its abdomen. Its face was not of a spider however, it was of a woman. And it was a beautiful face, though only one that could be beautiful in death. It grinned at me, for it recognized me, and I it.
“Mali Bali,” I uttered. The king looked at me confused. “This is a treat I have here. Have you heard of the Seraphs of Necrynon?”
“No.” I kneeled to peer at the creature that now caught my interest.
“They were sorceresses, who were so beautiful and intelligent that they were once compared to the Seraphim angels. However, they had a much darker side. They were vengeful Harpy hearted women who killed those they were jealous of, for their emotions would quickly become most extreme. They were famous for the murders of Falryn Georgaeus, a man who loved them with all his heart.”
“What does that have to do with this sick creature?”
“Everything, you see, they were famous for turning the corpses of those they killed into creatures known as Mali Bali. They were sent to destroy royal families. Due to various wrongs the women themselves believed had been done to them. Then they suddenly disappeared. “
“Habeas Corpus!” The spider whispered almost angelically
“My stars,” The king exclaimed, “the monstrosity speaks!”
“Yes, it is actually quite intelligent.” I turned to the Spider. “Now, Petreia,”
“You know of this creature?” The king cried.
“Yes, it is my deceased lover, I should know her. I buried her. Now, Petreia who has awakened you from your eternal rest?”
“The only ones who can,”
“Who has turned you into this unspeakable evil?”
“They who command me,”
“If I were to let you out, would you take me to them?”
“I always return to my creators.”
“Of course,” I turned to the king, “I believe I know who it is that is behind this.”
“Then you will help me?”
“Of course, But do not be too brash. I must take the Mali Bali--”
“Oh by all means, take the unspeakable creature from my sight. It sickens me!”
“That is why your arm is so fat!” The spider shouted as I put the cover over the jar. It immediately quieted down.
“That is something we found out the day after jarring it.” The king said.
The Mali Bali lay in its jar in the shadow of the blinds as they hit my desk. The shadows are the areas of peace for these creatures, and while I was not one of the types to cater to the comfort, I could not stand for my once adored, to have been awake, in a tormented being. That was when Gloria walked in.
“Habeas I--Oh my goodness, It is another one of those freaky little monsters!” She screamed before I could make a move. The Mali Bali awoke and turned to face her, then bounced up against the jar.
“Calm down Gloria, she won’t hurt you, so long as you don’t scream.”
“I hate spiders, and that thing is one of the worst.”
“It is the key in solving a possible assassination plot. This was found attacking the king about three months ago.”
“And we didn’t know about it?”
“They are like Catholics, the keep things under wraps.”
“Well, they certainly do.”
“Have you heard of English?”
“Yes, Malachai told me about it, I learned to read it too, but I haven’t gotten a handle on the symbols yet.”
“The letters?”
“No, punctuation.”
“Ah, I see. Well then while we go on our trip to solve this case, I will teach you about it.”
“Where are we going?” She asked eyeing me.
“Weir, then to Rathmus, most likely,”
“Why Weir?”
“Because below the land that Weir is built upon, is a far greater city. A larger city, where souls are trapped ad infinitum within its walls, and unable to escape to the sky, attempt to find their way out through the maze of darkened streets. The city is called Necrynon.”
That night we set off, and hours later we were in the foggy heights of the Chastys Mountains, traversing through the mountains by way of the Traetorian Bridge, in our carriage. The bluish gray mist that was on either side of the bridge and under it would have made the moment romantic if it weren’t so urgent a situation we were traveling for. During this time, I revealed to Gloria the papers which the king had given me.
“These letters are all written in English. They are late English, perhaps twentieth century, or early twenty-first. They show some of the final punctuation marks used in English writing, for that was when the Great Cleansing occurred.”
“The one that Agyptus caused?” She asked.
“Yes. Now, I will teach you of these marks, as we ride so you had better begin to take notes.”
“I‘m ready.”
Dear You Boob,
You will never know my name, for you are too stupid to understand this language, and are likely, too ill resourced, to find a person who does understand it, as rare as it may be. I also doubt you will be able to retrace the path of this letter that is sent by Operamore, to your doorstep. I hope that you adored my pet, they are so affectionate aren’t they? With their eight legs, and fangs which thirst for the life blood of adoration? The adoration which they acquire when they kiss their targets, or as I tend to refer to those such as yourself to them as, “The Apples of Their Eyes.” I hope that you enjoy my newest creation also, it shall certainly bring forth the sounds of the bells of Decatur upon us.
Those words were what were in the last letter. So using this as an example I began to instruct.
“Now Gloria, this hook like thing, is called, a comma, it is used to separate words from words, and sentence fragments. Say for example, I were to say, ‘James made brownies cakes and pies.' I would use a comma to separate the articles of food." I then indicated the next mark. The lesson continued on like this for over three hours. By the time we reached the semi colon, we had reached Weir.
The city still lay in slumber as we passed through the bridges that were one of the numerous hallmarks of the town. We were headed to the estate of Malachai and Yarmeli Valmons. As we neared the huge iron gates of the haunted estate, they swung open and clanged against the marble wall surrounding the perimeter of the estate. I stuck my head out to see the Main house, it was there before us, like some formidable caped figure. I brought my head back in to gather my papers. The carriage stopped and as I got out, there before me stood the tall figure of Malachai Valmons, and his daughter, perpetually child looking, Yarmeli.
"And you say that the king was attacked by a spider?" Malachai asked skeptically, or perhaps amused. I removed the cloth from the jar, and Yarmeli shrieked.
"Oh my god! It is one of those things from the sewers!” She leapt from the sofa and dashed out of the room screaming like a mad woman.
"Ah, Mali Bali." He grabbed the jar swiftly and examined it. “I haven't seen one of these for at least five thousand years. You say that the king had this on his arm?"
"Correct, and I have an idea of who might have done it."
"It has to be someone who speaks English well, and has a mastery of magic also." Gloria interjected.
"Correct my dear Granddaughter." Malachai replied. "Well, everyone in this town speaks English."
"Ugh," I thought of how something horrible might occur.
"But very few people know the sorcery of a level this great. And those people have been executed."
"What? How long ago?"
"Years ago. But..."
"But?" Gloria and I asked.
"But, one of these could have been conjured up by one of the executed before they were put upon the scaffold, and just happened to survive under the city." "Then we musty venture into Necrynon." Gloria said dismally. "Where there may be more of these terrible things."
Don't worry Gloria, you are with the best of protectors!" I said as I hugged her.
"I don't need protecting." She said as she slipped out of my grip. "Remember, I am nearly a goddess in lineage. Thanks to my Grandfather. I am merely annoyed by the ugliness of these...these...."
"Mali Bali." Malachai finished.
The next morning, Malachai, Yarmeli, Gloria and I, ventured into a sectioned off area OF the house. We traveled along until we arrived at a door that was bolted. It reminded me of a castle drawbridge, with the metal holding everything together. They opened a door and there were numerous firearms all along the walls, neatly arranged.
“Good god Malachai, How the devil did you get an MP40?” I said as Yarmeli pulled the German machine gun from a holder and placed it in my hands.
“I am a collector, and you never know when a pope might come after you, or a Surge of Mali Bali will rampage from the sewers.”
Yarmeli then held up a huge gun with tons of ammunition strapped to her body. “I am the youngest looking twenty-one year old in the world, I have in my hand an automatic machine gun which fires thirty million rounds of ammunition per minute, and each bullet is an exploding one. It has an accuracy of 110% and no one has ever survived it. Tell me, are you feeling lucky?”
“Well, you aren’t.” Malachai said as he lifted the gun and ammunition off of her in one grab of his long thin arms.
“Dad!” She wailed.
“After your last fiasco with this gun I am not letting you hold this!” He said placing the gun back onto its holder. I looked around and saw an old firearm that I found to my liking. I reached up to grab the single shot Grimmauld pistol. It was made of red glossed wood and was made in the seventeenth century of my time. But, I was too small to reach it, I cursed my height to myself, then asked Malachai to hand me the firearm.
“Do you really want a single shot pistol from the seventeenth century?” He asked before getting it.
“Aim positive. I used to play with these all the time. My uncle had a collection of them.” I held the pistol in my hand and turned it over numerous times. Malachai grabbed twelve guns and kicked the door closed. As we began to descend the stairs, there was a furious banging followed by Yarmeli’s child like voice.
“Dad! You locked me in again!” Malachai rushed back to the door, and unlocked it, and then told Yarmeli to stay at the house. She didn’t object. I had a feeling that she was going to turn up somehow.
Having prepared ourselves accordingly, we finally set off to Mixshewel place, the carriage center, where we rented a large carriage to carry our supplies in, our destination, were the hills of Fallas, where the entrance to Necrynon was to be found. By the end of the day, we had reached the hills and came upon a desert-like plain. Malachai got out first, and looked around.
“Where is the gate?” I called out.
“It isn’t agate!” He shouted. “It is a mine shaft! I just can‘t find it!” No sooner had he said that, than the ground beneath him gave way and he went screaming into the darkness below the dusty clearing.
“Malachai!” Gloria and I screamed as we tumbled from the carriage. We ran to the spot where he fell and looked down, we found him sitting in the hole, with a pleased look on his face.
“I found it!” He exclaimed.
We jumped down into the hole and called for the carriage driver to approach cautiously, then we got our supplies, and marched off into the darkness.
“Now, how exactly are we to see when we arrive in the city?” Gloria asked. “Do you have a torch or something?”
Malachai lit a match which added dim light to out situation. In the light, I could see little troughs of liquid, they went along the walls and continued into the darkness. He dropped the match in, and flames burst up along the trough, and illuminated the whole tunnel. Having solved our problem, Malachai led us down the tunnel and soon, into the city.
We entered the city from a cave mouth, which gave us a view of the whole city from above it. There were churches, with buttresses, and steeples that must have been magnificent under the light of the sun. Seeing this city for the first time, under the light of flames that encircled the city along the walls of this cavern, gave me some understanding to how this city was once known as, The Diamond of The Soul.
As we walked through the avenues and alleys, what amazed me most, was how many of the neighborhoods, or apartments, were built in the shapes of human beings, or angels. One such example was of a complex of one thousand houses that were built up high into the cavern, which was arranged, like an angel with it’s wings spread. It was kneeling upon the earth with its arms spread over it, under the wings.
We came upon a large building with glass doors. We entered it and found to our surprise, it was a museum of some sort. There were exhibits of huge animals attacking people, and people attacking huge creatures, and other strange things. While looking at the models, Gloria looked up and shouted, “English!”
I ran over to her and looked to where she stared. The sign above the creature, which was a centipede, was in fact, in English.
“My goodness,!” I exclaimed, “It is in English. Who would have known?”
“If you had asked me, I could have told you.” Malachai said without looking up from the exhibit panel he was reading. “I used to live here.”
Gloria and I turned and stared at him. Noticing the silence, he turned to face us.
“What? I have been around a long time. It isn’t like I wasn’t going to be here sometime.”
“How old are you?” I asked.
“Well,” he began, leaning on the exhibit, “I am almost three eons old. Give or take a couple of millennia.”
There was silence.
“Damn…”Gloria said slowly.
“Hay dio…” I followed.
“Well, I was one of the first,”
“First what? The first bacterium?!?”
“Angels.”
“Nope.” Gloria and I said, :We aren’t believing that.” Then Gloria stopped, and looked around. Malachai soon followed. They moved to the center of the room, and stood back to back.
“What is going on?” I asked. “What are you two doing?
“Shut up and get over here Habeas.” Gloria commanded.
“Coming dear.” I replied as I made my way over to them. That is when it hit me. A Mali Bali fell from the ceiling and right on my head, then skittered off into the darkness. “Augh! God damn it! What the Hell was that?”
“HAAABEAASSS.” A long, hissing voice called out. “we have been waiting for you.”
Who is that? Who is calling my name?” I shouted. I stared into the heights of the darkness above me and saw hundreds of Mali Bali descending. Their faces filled with hunger.
“Oh Mary…” I said to myself as the spider came down followed by numerous others. They landed on the ground gracefully. They looked at me, and began to march toward me. That was when over my shoulder Yarmeli bounded, wielding the Gun Malachai took from her. She unloaded one magazine after another upon the little beasts. When she finally finished, everything was quiet. Then there was a soft clapping that could be heard form all around the room. I turned around and in the doorway stood a man. When he saw him, Malachai took Yarmeli and dashed off past him and out into the streets. He took one leap and was soon, sailing across the city.
“Uh, hi.” I greeted the man as he stepped closer.
“Hello Master Corpus.” He said as he held out a gauntleted hand.
The man led us to a large mansion, we entered it and entered what I supposed would have been the living room, but it looked to have suffered damage, like fire. Everything was stained with black, either burns or smoke, and the man who felt so comfortably in this abode, turned to face us.
“So, what is your name?” The man asked Gloria as he sat down before us. “What is your reason for coming here?”
Before she could answer, I took from my cape, the jar and showed him the Mali Bali. “Someone sent this to the king of Vlaxtau. It almost killed him. I sir, came here to find out what if anything, you had to do with it.”
“I did in fact use my magic to create this Mali Bali. I believe you know her.”
“You bet your booty I know her! Why the heck did you dig up my dead lover?”
“I knew it would grab your interest Habeas.”
“But it was my dead girlfriend!”
“The Appearance of a lover on the scene always gets someone interested. Or a mother, or a younger sibling.”
“Fathers aren’t important I take it.”
“Not in the least. They damage their children’s souls too much in the beginning for them to care for their safety in adulthood.”
“Okay, here is a more pertinent question. Why?”
“Because Habeas, nations come and go. This nation was sent upon its way prematurely. For that its ghost must seek revenge. Vengeance can only be attained by the death of the land above us.”
“Weir? What does Weir have to do with it?”
“It is an event that you will learn of later.” He rose to his feet, and began walking to the door. He turned to face us. “This room is filled with English of different types. I understand that you are teaching the young lady to speak it. You may look around this room until I return.” He then left the house. No sooner had he left, had Gloria rushed to the door and tried to open it.
“It is locked.” She said dismally.
“Well,” I said with an optimistic tone, “You should be learning punctuation and dialogue now.”
“Very well,” She sighed.
“Alright, the next thing you are going to learn is the quotation mark. ”
“Okay…”
“The quotation mark is like a double apostrophe. It is used to symbolize the beginning of character speech in a story, and it can be used for quotes. There is a similar mark which is used for quoting within a quote. That is symbolized by an apostrophe.”
“So you say that the same ting that is used for showing possession for an object, is also used for a quote within a quote?”
“Precisely,”
“You should always begin a dialogue with a quotation mark. The double one of course, and you should end the conversation with a period, or comma, unless the situation calls for something more interesting, such as an exclamation point, or a dash.” Gloria began writing down in her notebook. “You are writing down what I am saying?”
“No, I am using what you are saying to make my own dialogue.” She showed me the notebook. “See? ‘Michael, what are you doing?’
‘Uh, nothing.’
‘What is that on your pants?’
‘Uh, water?’
‘That isn’t water…’
‘What are you—’
‘Don’t try to steer me away from the truth!’
‘But I—’
‘Truth!’”
“Hmmm…Interesting. You also used an ellipsis.”
“Well, I learned the use of an ellipsis in Malachai’s house.”
The man returned a few moments later with Malachai and Yarmeli. He hurled Malachai on the floor, and tossed Yarmeli to me. I nearly fell to the floor for her weight was immense. Three men came in the room
“Take the man and his girl to the jail, we will handle them tomorrow morning.” He turned to us. “I would like to take you somewhere.” He grinned. “Come with me.”
We were led to a staircase, I inquired as to where we were going, he didn’t reply. I soon found out though, when we arrived at a door labeled Hall.
“Before we enter, I will introduce myself. I am Malus. I am the leader of the Punctuati.” He opened the door, and I was greeted with a magnificent room.
The Hall was an old place. The ribbed vaulted ceiling. Extended wide into the darkness, where an audience sat in the balconies arching across the ceiling. Below was a table that stretched across the room, and there sat thirteen people, Malus walked to the head of the table, near a grand fireplace, with a great bright blaze.
“Sit. Please.” He said as he waved his hands to two seats that scooted out from the darkness. “We were just about to sit down to dinner.” Gloria and I sat and began to watch those around us. All manner of people, Black White, Latin, all dressed up in capes, and black suits and dresses. They all turned to face us, for a moment, then turned to face Malus.
“My friends,” he began, “it has been said that when the sun sets upon the land above us, in the night we are those who walk, grasping the souls of the people from their dreams as they slumber, to feast upon them. Their legends of our ancestors bring them to make us the brunt of their aggression. No more.”
There was silence. “The people of Weir will fall before the power of fourteen armed nations. At dawn, the regencies will surround this land from the north, south east and western ends. There will be no escape for the citizens who reside there, none except to go down, into the sewers, leading into Necrynon. Then we shall show them all, how powerful the Punctuati are!”
The seated guests clapped softly. Stiffly, their movements were constrained and while elegant, also added a hint of insidiousness which could not be ignored. That of course was added to the sinister speech Malus was giving.
“Our armies will also enter the field, to battle, and when the sun falls down upon this land, The Punctuati will be the last thing to be seen in the light of the occident. Though we will not be there to see it in our present states, in spirit we shall become victorious.”
“Yes!” A black man shouted as he thrust his fist into the air and rose from his seat. The silence afterward, was enough to bring him back to his seat. Slowly.
“And so this feast is prepared. The soldiers have had this speech, or its variant. They eat as I speak. Now my friends, the moment we have been waiting for is at hand. So eat drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.”
As soon as he said that, the seated persons began to eat ravenously. Bones of animals that were on spits at the table fell to the floor after five minutes of starving individuals grabbing at the meats. Wine was spilled upon the table. And as Gloria and I looked on, we could see Malus was watching with a dismal look upon his face.
“It will be grand,” Malus said to Gloria and I as we walked with him along the bridge outside the Hall. “When the Heavens smile upon us in the few hours that await us. However, I do not believe that my compatriots will ascend as I shall.”
“Malus, why do you want to die? And lead others with you?” Gloria asked.
“I will die for the sake of the English language and the punctuation, and the dialogue. English will bewcme dominant the world over and I shall see to it with my armies.”
“It is unethical.”
“Ethics.” he laughed. “Ethics are philosophies that human beings themselves made up in order to justify their actions. Ethics is not correct, because Ethics was made and discerned by an imperfect creature.”
“And that gives you the right, the justification, to destroy innocent people’s lives, and livelihood?” Gloria responded quickly with disgust. “You are sickening.” At this, Malus turned to her.
“My dear Miss Brisoum,” He said as he brought his hand up to her face. “I scarcely think you would object if you knew the precise workings of this machine. If you understood how, this is truly the right thing to do.” He caressed her cheek, and suddenly a light glowed from within her face, moments later, the light was gone, and she was in tears. She ran past me holding her face within her hands.
“What did you show her?!?” I shouted. He turned to me and stepped forward. He grabbed my forehead with great strength, and suddenly his hand grew as hot as fire, and I went into a trance like state. I was suddenly in another time where there was battle going on. Over the hills armies descended upon the city of Weir, except, it wasn’t Weir. It was Necrynon. Children ran as the chariots of archers and swordsmen thundered past. Adults fell to the ground, innocent civilians, riddled with arrows. Another part of the city, a child was running toward me, behind her, was a swordsman on a chariot. The swordsman maneuvered his horse to the side of the child and swung his weapon. The little girl’s head rolled upon the ground. In another part of the city, five men walked down the street. They wore a different manner of dress, but they all had one connection however. They were powerful magicians. They walked the streets, and as ordinary people came forward to slay them, one man or another would cast his hand out, and send the civilian flying into the air. In another area, the five men entered a palace. There before them, were the Seraphs of Necrynon. The five women and the five men began to battle. They drew swords and began to fight. They fought skillfully, all in almost choreographed action. Leaping and dancing about the blades as they blocked, dodged or pinned the blades to the floor, and at times, using other assets of their bodies to further their way through the battle. One man made a simple mistake, and one woman cut off his head. Only to have her head lopped off by one of the younger of the men, who then wheeled around and clashed swords with one of the women who were bearing down on him. Another man was killed, his own sword was thrust through him by a Seraph. She then attacked the one who lopped off her sister’s head. He kicked her in the stomach which sent her backward, but only for a moment, for she was back up again, and she lunged for him. He ducked and sliced off her calve. You could tell she was hurt, but she wasn’t about to give up either. The remaining men knew that. They furiously fought with their swords and other strategic moves in order to evade their opponents while getting a perfect shot. However the Seraphs were just as good and more than likely better than them.
“Your reputation precedes you Malachai.” One Seraph said to the man in the Eagle’s mask.
“My reputation is more preferable to that of a harpy.” The man replied as he raised his leg to kick at her. She grabbed his leg and twisted it until an audible pop was made. He screamed in more anger than pain.
“How dare you do that?!?” He shouted. The woman threw him across the room.
“Kill him children!” She shouted as numerous children flooded into the room, they surrounded him and would have killed him with their daggers. But he quickly drew his sword, and lopped off all their heads in a single swipe. Accidentally, his sword slipped from his grip and flew past the woman, into a torch stand, which fell to the floor. The woman approached Malachai and took aim with her sword. She then stepped forward, and her boot slipped upon the blood on the floor. She stumbled backward and fell upon the torch. Her clothes immediately burst into flames.
“Augh! You will pay for this! I curse this land, and all who inhabit it until the day of its destruction!” The woman shouted. Suddenly the younger of the three remaining men leapt into the air and came down with a horrific chop upon her neck, sending her head and neck rolling to Malachai’s feet. Another place in the city. The three men meet in another street. They are kneeling on the ground, their swords pressed into the earth. They are whispering a prayer. They rose and began to remove their masks. Two of the men I recognized. They were Sunni Agyptus and Malachai Valmons. But their eyes were glowing red, like those of a tired demon.
We must make certain that the good reputation of the people of this land are utterly destroyed.” Malachai said in a snake-like voice.
“That my friend has already been taken care of.” Sunni replied as he removed from his cloak, a wand. “The more important thing is that we destroy the reputation of the Goodly Women of Necrynon. Seraphs they will be for beauty’s sake, but harpies they shall be for the sake of purpose.”
“Will you stop talking so much and destroy the palace already Agyptus?” The third man, a thin fellow with red hair falling about his shoulders. “I mean simply because we are nearly immortals, does not give you the right to waste what remaining life we have left blowing hot air!”
“Vixcwell,” Agyptus snapped, “just be thankful I helped you become impervious to the sunlight.” He then waved his wand in the air gracefully, and everything shook. Then with a low, monotonous hum, the buildings began to melt into piled of dust. Finally I found myself facing the annoyed face of Malus.
I was stunned. Malachai. Malachai had caused the fall of Necrynon. Malachai had helped to kill the Seraphs, who were not evil whatsoever, or at least from what I could tell.
“Do you now see why this must be done?” Malus asked.
“I understand why you want to do this, but it doesn’t have to be done like this.”
Malus sighed, then smiled, “Then you should have eaten drank and been merry.” He turned and walked across the bridge. I started to follow him, but the waters sloshing up from below, froze instantly in deadly arches of ice. I decided to go find Gloria. My first stop was back in the Hall, itself, where the people were still eating. I looked around, but Gloria was not there. My next sytop was the jail under the Hall. There I found her, shouting at Malachai in some strange language I had never heard before. Yaremli was in the corner cringing in fear. Her ears were plugged. And tears rolled down her cheeks. I put my hand gently on Gloria’s shoulder.
“Please Gloria, it is a past event now. But we must stop it from being repeated.” I turned to Malachai. “Malachai, I forgive you for your atrocious deed. And I am sure in her heart Gloria will forgive you…one day.”
“I am not proud of what I did. But it is in the past.”
After a moment I said angrily, “Is that not what I just said? Look, Malachai, you are the last surviving member of the team that helped to destroy this city.. You need to help us to stop this before it begins again.”
“I can’t help you.” He replied.
“Why not?” I exclaimed.
“I don’t want to.”
“Alright then,” I said as I drew my carbine, “I will just shoot you then.” I aimed the pistol at his forehead. “I am giving you one last chance.”
“Shoot me. You aren’t going to kill me anyhow.” He told me.
My hand trembled, but I kept it steady. “Alright then.” I cocked the pistol, “Time to die.”
“No habeas!” Yarmeli screamed as she leapt into the scene, Gloria grabbed her and lifted her high into the air. I finally pulled the trigger. There was no explosion, no gunpowder, no screams of pain, no Malachai falling put dead as a doornail. In an event such as this when the weapon does not fire, I always resort to plan B. So what did I do, you might ask. Well, I raised the gun up, gripping it by the barrel, and slammed it down on Malachai’s head.
Gloria and I ran across the bridge to find Malus. He couldn’t be too far, since he had just left us. We found him on the street below.
“Malus!” I shouted. He looked up at me. “Where are your soldiers?”
“They are above the city. The armies of the other nations are coming forth and you will never stop us.”
I pulled out my Carbine, hoping it would finally work. I clicked the trigger, but nothing happened.
“This is a piece of junk!” I shouted as I hurled the weapon down to the street. “Gloria, hand me the Uzi.” Then there was a crack, and a scream of pain. I turned and saw Malus on the ground in a pool of blood.
“Okay,” Gloria said. “He is dead, Yarmeli is dying, and Malachai is dead. I say we need to stop this war.”
“It is too late for that.” A voice form behind us said. “As we speak, the armies are encroaching. As weir dies, I too shall die.” We turned and peered on as Yarmeli stood trembling, “I don’t want to die under here Habeas. At least, let me die above the city.” She trembled again, then fell to the bridge. I picked her up and tried to find a way out. The only way out, was up. Up the huge Angel that was the hallmark of the city.
It took us thirty minutes to get to the top of the huge complex of apartments. When we arrived, we were five feet below a small hole in the ground. How are we going to get out of here? I thought to myself. As if in answer to my question, there was a roar, and a crack, followed by smaller ones, Then the complex began to move.
“Back in the angel!” I shouted as we began to move upward. But it was too late. The angel crashed through the plain and rose up above the land, high above. SO high I could see the mountains, and lining all the mountains in every direction, were the millions of soldiers from the fourteen armed nations. The Angel stood erect.
“Gloria,”
“Yes?”
“There is one last thing I need to teach you.”
“I hardly think this is the time Habeas.”
“Well, I do. The last punctuation symbol is the period. It symbolizes abbreviation, it makes up ellipses, it is quite like the parent of all other punctuation marks. For all the other marks are composed of it. In some fashion. Finally, it also symbolizes the end.”
“:Are you done now?”
“Yes.” There was a rumble below us, and I watched as fire filled the city of Necrynon. The sun was making its way over the hills, and I watched as the armies began to converge. All the while, I could only think of what Malus had said at the dinner, “Now my friends, the moment we have been waiting for is at hand. So eat drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.”
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