Wednesday, October 11, 2023

Day 284 - The Town Elders

 The Town Elders
Matthew Ryan Fischer
 
Sebastian Skinner turned first; the screams approached from the floor above.
Brother Marcus had lost his mind. He ran through the great hall of the inn screaming of ghosts, the windows, the wind and other such madness.
“The crows! The crows!” he cried. “The crows know all…”
Brother Marcus ran from the inn.
Skinner turned to Reverend Harding.
“One of yours?” asked Skinner.
“A man of no great importance,” responded Harding. “I’m surprised he survived the monastery.”
“Does that make him worth investigating?”
“Unfortunately, it seems too late for that.”
“He’s not wrong though. A shame his simple mind could not handle such truth.”
“If only he knew the rest. He might have died on the spot.”
“Enough talk gentlemen,” commanded Lord Hanbrook. “We have more important matters to attend to.”
The men rose from their chairs.
“I suppose we should retrieve our things from the room.”
The men went to the room Brother Marcus had come from. The owner of the inn was already there.
“He was screaming like a mad m. I wanted to make sure he hadn’t disturbed you gentlemen.”
“Thank you kindly,” responded Skinner. “But that man was no threat to us.”
“Good to hear. Will you be needing anything else tonight?”
“We are done here and you’ve been most generous. We won’t soon forget.”
The innkeeper nodded and went on his way.
“That man has further use?” asked Hanbrook.
“That man has eyes and ears in every room here. And he’s very good at keeping secrets.”
The men entered the darkness of the room. Inside, figures formed in the shadows. They cast themselves as soldiers of a long-ago militia.
Skinner’s face grew dark.
“They grow hungry and will need to eat soon.”
“Then why wait?” asked Harding. His face growing dark and twisted as well. “The time has come to take our men to town.”
Outside, dark things were on the march. The town elders led their army of the damned. The crows took flight and followed, as the darkness spread across the land.

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