Sometimes your prompts are most mysterious: is this, for example, a hint that you've been trading children to try and get a boy-girl pair? Or that you've opened up the wigwam on airbnb and have had a collection of wanderers and travellers through, one of whom carried an odd gold ring that fell into a campfire one evening and not only stayed cool in the flames, but turned out to have writing inscribed along the inside?
Comings and Goings The pit was not large: Lord Derby estimated he could cross it in fifteen or fewer steps, but it was broadly circular and the only way out was back up. There were three pewter statues stood around the perimeter of the pit, and a fourth one was toppled over and its head separated from its body. Lord Derby recognised them as the kind of things that mage used in their rituals and contented himself with noting their positions without getting too close. In the middle of the pit's floor was a body: the neck was twisted at an ugly angle and one leg was trapped beneath the body in a way that suggested that the person would not have been climbing back out even if they'd survived. The flesh was tight and grey over bone and lustrous brown hair still framed the face. She was wearing heavy cotton clothing, something denser than denim that Lord Derby didn't think he'd seen before. There was padding across the front and around the thighs, and marks of repair everywhere. He reached out gently and rolled her over; when he saw her face clearly his own drooped slightly, but he kept his reaction to saying "Poor Dignity," very softly. Clutched to her chest was a leather satchel, and in one hand was a broken athame. Shards of high quality steel were scattered away from the body on the opposite side to Lord Derby, so it was obvious that it had struck the floor first: Dignity had not known what to expect when she attempted to leave Carcosa. "Well," he said, noting that the pit, or maybe the darkness above, was anechoic. "this tells us one of the endings of this tale."
Samual felt the tension on the rope increase and felt icy fingers tickle his spine as he realised that he was bracing harder now than when Lord Derby had gone down. He tried telling himself that it was natural to feel a difference, since in one direction Lord Derby was braking, helping Samual support his weight, but now in the other direction he was pulling on the rope, but it wasn't convincing: whatever was coming up the rope weighed more than Lord Derby had going down. He bit his lip, worrying over what to do for the best, and finally called out Tomasz's name.
Lord Derby hauled himself over the edge of the pit and came abruptly to a stop: a gun was pointed directly at his forehead. "You went to school with Lord Therambol, one of the Lords Magical," said Samual, his face white and his hands shaking. "What name did you call him by at school?" "I did not," said Lord Derby calmly. "I went to school with Memnith Vileburn, and I called him Andy, which I still do now and then to this day." Tomasz cocked the trigger on the gun, and the click was the only sound in the room. "That's right," said Samual hoarsely. He waved a hand at Tomasz, trying to swallow. "It's -- it's ok. It's him." "There's someone on his back," said Tomasz, not changing the gun's position. "Yes," said Lord Derby. "Though she's rather dead, which is why she didn't come up herself." Now the gun dropped, the safety snicking on. Tomasz went as pale as Samual. "I'm sorry," said Lord Derby. "Dignity's last going was... her last going. I'm pretty certain she was sabotaged, though I don't have a good understanding of how magic works, let alone in other dimensions."
Greg - sometimes I wonder if you're just seeing how wild your theories can get before I just reply 'You're weird.' and leave it at that. We're not there yet, by the way, but we're getting there :P
Ah, an answer at last. Not a happy one, but one that is beautifully executed. I think I like Samual's response to the extra weight coming back up the best.
2 comments:
Sometimes your prompts are most mysterious: is this, for example, a hint that you've been trading children to try and get a boy-girl pair? Or that you've opened up the wigwam on airbnb and have had a collection of wanderers and travellers through, one of whom carried an odd gold ring that fell into a campfire one evening and not only stayed cool in the flames, but turned out to have writing inscribed along the inside?
Comings and Goings
The pit was not large: Lord Derby estimated he could cross it in fifteen or fewer steps, but it was broadly circular and the only way out was back up. There were three pewter statues stood around the perimeter of the pit, and a fourth one was toppled over and its head separated from its body. Lord Derby recognised them as the kind of things that mage used in their rituals and contented himself with noting their positions without getting too close.
In the middle of the pit's floor was a body: the neck was twisted at an ugly angle and one leg was trapped beneath the body in a way that suggested that the person would not have been climbing back out even if they'd survived. The flesh was tight and grey over bone and lustrous brown hair still framed the face. She was wearing heavy cotton clothing, something denser than denim that Lord Derby didn't think he'd seen before. There was padding across the front and around the thighs, and marks of repair everywhere.
He reached out gently and rolled her over; when he saw her face clearly his own drooped slightly, but he kept his reaction to saying "Poor Dignity," very softly. Clutched to her chest was a leather satchel, and in one hand was a broken athame. Shards of high quality steel were scattered away from the body on the opposite side to Lord Derby, so it was obvious that it had struck the floor first: Dignity had not known what to expect when she attempted to leave Carcosa.
"Well," he said, noting that the pit, or maybe the darkness above, was anechoic. "this tells us one of the endings of this tale."
Samual felt the tension on the rope increase and felt icy fingers tickle his spine as he realised that he was bracing harder now than when Lord Derby had gone down. He tried telling himself that it was natural to feel a difference, since in one direction Lord Derby was braking, helping Samual support his weight, but now in the other direction he was pulling on the rope, but it wasn't convincing: whatever was coming up the rope weighed more than Lord Derby had going down.
He bit his lip, worrying over what to do for the best, and finally called out Tomasz's name.
Lord Derby hauled himself over the edge of the pit and came abruptly to a stop: a gun was pointed directly at his forehead.
"You went to school with Lord Therambol, one of the Lords Magical," said Samual, his face white and his hands shaking. "What name did you call him by at school?"
"I did not," said Lord Derby calmly. "I went to school with Memnith Vileburn, and I called him Andy, which I still do now and then to this day."
Tomasz cocked the trigger on the gun, and the click was the only sound in the room.
"That's right," said Samual hoarsely. He waved a hand at Tomasz, trying to swallow. "It's -- it's ok. It's him."
"There's someone on his back," said Tomasz, not changing the gun's position.
"Yes," said Lord Derby. "Though she's rather dead, which is why she didn't come up herself."
Now the gun dropped, the safety snicking on. Tomasz went as pale as Samual.
"I'm sorry," said Lord Derby. "Dignity's last going was... her last going. I'm pretty certain she was sabotaged, though I don't have a good understanding of how magic works, let alone in other dimensions."
Greg - sometimes I wonder if you're just seeing how wild your theories can get before I just reply 'You're weird.' and leave it at that. We're not there yet, by the way, but we're getting there :P
Ah, an answer at last. Not a happy one, but one that is beautifully executed. I think I like Samual's response to the extra weight coming back up the best.
Now... on to other questions! :)
Post a Comment