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Hello everyone, this is Asclepius, and I’m delighted to welcome a new author to the ranks. This is a piece by Bee Striker, entitled

A Not So Scary Short Story

Background music by Smartsound

It started as a trickle as she walked under the awning to avoid the rain. As she extended her hand to touch the drops, a rough hand grabbed it, forcing her to swing around. A pale face with dark eyes met her surprised stare. Before she could respond, the man released her with a quick turn and walked off.

The intense moment had gone straight through her entire body, and she felt something pull out of her…or in her. She couldn’t really tell. She shuddered. A quick look around made her realise nobody seemed to notice anything odd had just happened. Shaken, she headed home, quickly looked around, and locked her door.

The unsettled feeling did not leave as she readied for bed. She felt silly as she double checked the lock on her door, the windows, every room, and even under her bed before she climbed into bed. She tried to calm herself but sleep would not come.

“Please help me.” She sat up. What the hell was that? “Please…help…” The voice initially startled her but quickly grew faint. She flew out of bed and flicked on the light. She looked under the bed again, flung open her closet, and opened her bedroom door. She stared into the darkness in silence. Nothing.

She didn’t know how long she stood in her bedroom doorway. A cool draft reminded here she was barefoot. After a quick glance around the dark house, she crawled back into bed.

A man’s limp body lay with heavy chains anchoring his feet to the cement floor. A worn loincloth was his only covering. His damp hair stuck to his pale face. Each slight movement made him groan in pain. “help me..” He wasn’t sure if he actually voiced that or it was just in his head. He heard a door creak open and footsteps slowly descend the stairs. He turned away preparing himself for more pain.

She woke up with a start, bewildered at what she just saw. The face of the man was eerily familiar. A quick image of the man who had grabbed her earlier flashed before her eyes. It was him! Why did she just have a vision of him? Was it real, or just a dream? It sent a chill through her to the core.

The next morning she ran back to the awning where she first encountered the man. Eyes flitting back and forth, she saw no sign of him. Which direction had he gone when he walked away? She tried to think. Following what she thought was the direction, she headed down the street. At the end of the block she paused, not knowing which way to go. For no reason at all, she turned right, crossed the street, and headed down the sidewalk. The sidewalk started to decay as she continued walking.

Something made her pause in front of a small lot. Weeds dominated the landscape, almost drowning out the small shack. Weeds scratched her legs as she approached the building. She listened for any indication of life as she slowly walked up to the door. The screen door was ripped and the shabby door was ajar. The door creaked as she slowly pushed it open. A sparse room gave her an apathetic greeting. The worn couch sat quietly next to an old coffee table. She felt the lone beer bottle resting on the table. It was warm.

A groan made her alert to someone else in the house. She spun around towards the door. Nobody had entered behind her. Her ears almost perked up trying to listen. “Help me…” The helpless plea seemed to be calling from below. As she looked around the house, she noticed a small staircase around the corner. The stairs creaked as she cautiously descended.

The dank room surrounded her as the aroma attacked her senses. She forced her eyes to adjust to the darkness. A man lay almost motionless on the floor. A chain anchored his ankles to the floor. A worn loincloth was his only covering. He was facing the opposite wall as she slowly approached.

“Hello?”

She saw his light skin shake slightly. As she turned him over and saw his pale face, she gasped.

Echoes From the Caverns

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Hello everyone, this is Asclepius, with the next chapter of a wonderful story from Belladonna Rose, entitled
Black Rose Chronicles
Background music by Smartsound

Trudging down the road back towards Farmer Filmore’s she could see all manner of creatures about.

Bears, wolves, rabbits and squirrels. Crops growing in the farmer’s fields. Cotton. Strange. But that is probably how he makes his living. As she reached the entrance to the road that led to the farmer’s house some bandits made their way up the road….seeing her they turned and made way into the brush.

Finding their comrades on the road…dead..they must of thought better than to approach her. Funny she thought.

Halfway down the path she noticed fresh graves next to the tattered shack. The farmer must have gone inside and found Darwin and Quentin and decided to bury them. With that done she decided to leave the old man alone. With a turn of the heel she went on down the main path back to the bridge.

As she got close to the bridge the lady guard stepped out and met her. Sadly, Bella handed her the note she found on Quentin’s body. The poor girl was distraught. After reading the missive she scribbled a message on a scrap piece of paper and handed it to Bella.

“Please take this back to the Cap’n and tell her what you found. I will remain at my post as ordered.
She need not fear that I will leave. It will be my duty to avenge my poor Quentin.” She slowly turned wiping the tears from her face and took her post near the bridge.

Bella tucked the note in her vest and made her way back up the hill towards the camp. A few of the foolish bandits attacked her but she easily took care of them. This time she was going to check their pockets. A few coins and trinkets. She remembered something one guard said about returning heirlooms that the bandits had stolen. She would return these as well. The guards at the edge of the rope bridge were busy with a couple of those zombie things and immediately cleared the way so she could cross over. The camp was rather peaceful when she entered just before midday.

Looking to the one side of the camp the children were playing around their small campfire. She approached and stood watching for a minute. One of them stopped and looked her way.

“Ohhh. It be you. The Sword Breaker. What ya be wantin from us today? Here to spoil our fun some more?” Bella gave the child a scowling look and then walked closer to them. They all stopped their dancing and looked at her with a bit of fear in their eyes.

“Nay I do not wish to spoil your entertainment. I just thought you might want this.”

Holding the book up over their heads they all stared in disbelief. “Is that the Bloody Bones?”

All the children ran towards Bella as she teased them with the book. She laughed as they jumped up and down trying to get the book.

“Gimme that book Outlander. That is ours. We needs that book so we can sing the song right.”

Bella looked down at them and scowled again. “You do know that Bloody Bones is not a fairy-tale don’t you? Bloody Bones is real. And each time you sing that song it brings that creature out searching for who is singing its song. “

The children looked at her with surprise. Then jumped up and down laughing and cheering.

“She did it…she did it. The Outlander did it. She gots us the Bloody Bones.”

It was obvious these children had no clue what they were doing. But that was none of her business one way or the other…..she tossed the book in the air and let them fight over it. Laughing over her shoulder as they scrambled about trying to hold onto the book she moved on towards the guard.

The guard looked her up and down and smiled. “Thank you for giving them some glimmer of hope.
They know not what they do but they just try to stay entertained best they can. Eventually we will get them to a town and have them looked after better.”

Bella smiled at the guard and pulled out a small pouch and handed it to her. “I retrieved these from some fallen bandits on the road. I do hope you can return the items to their owners if they still live.”

The guard looked into the pouch and she smiled. “Thank you Outlander for doing such a good deed.

I will try my best to return them to their owners. By way what be your name.”

Bella looked at the young guard and smiled…Belladonna Rose.

Making her way through the camp she went straight to Captain Kinsey, handing her the note from Rhoswen about Quentin and the bottle of medicine from Ackerley. She proceeded to tell the Captain about the Ebon Cultists and that she had dispatched them from their ritual. She told her about the woman that appeared and disappeared at each ritual site.

“Damn. Then its true. Mistress Valdis is trying to come back to this side of the realm.”

She shook her head and explained that this creature was once very powerful and has been using the Ebon Cultists to make her way back to this side. The side of the living so she can try and take over the unrest of the lands. Bella looked at the Captain like she had lost her mind. What kind of sorcery is all this ? This realm has completely gone crazy. All this undead and such. Now master sorcery at work as well. Shaking her head she decided that she was no better off here than she was back in her world.

Evil is just that…Evil.

Captain Kinsey pulled a rolled parchment off her makeshift desk and handed it to Bella. Along with a rolled-up banner and pouch of coin.

“Its not much but you have truly showed your worth since you came here. I apologize it ís not much but we have very little as it is. Please take this parchment to Captain Stanley at Soltown and see if you can be of service there. They are in need of help with all the migrating villagers from around this area.

The undead and bandits are razing all the small towns so many are moving towards Ardoris. Soltown is where many have landed.”

Bella took what was given her and looked at the rolled-up banner.

“ That is the Banner of Love my dear Belladonna Rose. You have shown great love and compassion for us and these poor folks who have lost so much. I have a strong feeling you will do great things for our lands and help bring peace and Love back to our people. Take it. It will be better off in your hands than here in mine. Go now and safe travels Future Avatar.”

The sound in Kinsey’s voice was that of courage and devotion to her task. And she would take the banner and put it in a safe place til she could later retrieve it. Looking around one last time at the camp she headed towards the gates. Back to Soltown is it then.

Echoes From the Caverns