The sound of rustling leaves and buzzing insects rippled through the air as a man tilled the soil; a wide-brimmed straw hat was his only protection against the beating sun. The man knelt to the ground, and gently sunk his fingertips into the soil.

“Still no good, huh.” The man rose to his feet wiping away the sweat caught in his brow.

His eyes slowly shifted toward the nearby city of Wishmoore. As he gazed off into the horizon, out of the corner of his eyes he spotted three men approaching his farm. “Hello there!” he called out, placing down his tools.

“Hi there sir. My name’s Ace. These are my friends, Kai and Halvor.”

“Nice to meet you. Name’s Brixton. What brings you gentlemen out here today?”

“We heard this place is available for rent. Is that true?” Kai asked.

“That’s right. What’s the occasion?”

“A wedding,” Kai replied. “It’s for our friend Draxl, but he isn’t here right now.”

“Well, you came to the right place. Feel free to take a look around,” Brixton said, gesturing to the farm. “Another group rented the place out for tomorrow night, but after that, the schedule should be pretty free. They’ve come by to set up in the barn a couple of times. Asked me to not go in till they’re done, so I’d appreciate it if y'all did the same.”

“For sure,” Kai said.

“What’s going on with the land?” Ace had noticed Brixton diligently working the land, but nothing was being grown on it. It certainly wasn’t the result of a lack of effort on Brixton’s part; the weather seemed good enough too.

“Ah, it got poisoned.” Brixton looked at the land as if it were a bedridden loved one, with heavy eyelids and a small smile. “It was a monster that came by and tore everything up. Luckily there was this adventurer, kind woman, who happened to be in town and took care of it. Unfortunately, she couldn’t alleviate the poison. Said one of her party members could’ve, but they were all split up at the moment.”

“How long ago was this, if you don’t mind me asking?” Ace inquired.

“About a month ago now.”

Ace tilted his head. “And still nothing?”

“Nope. I don’t got much golem in me, but it's enough to hear land telling me it still needs time to heal.”

“Would you mind if I took a look around?” Ace asked. “I grew up in the country, so we did a fair bit of farming. I wasn’t a farmhand or anything, but I know a thing or two.”

“I’d appreciate a second opinion.”

“Alright, I’ll tell you if I find anything.” Ace wandered off to inspect the barren field.

“Did you say you were part golem?” Halvor asked.

“That’s right,” Brixton said. “Less than a tenth, but it's there.”

Halvor raised a rocky hand.

“A stonehand!” Brixton exclaimed.

“Stonehand?” Halvor asked.

“Oh, come on. You know what I’m talking about.”

“Sorry sir, I don’t,” Halvor said, shifting his hand back to normal.

“Stonehand refers to any golem hybrid that’s got enough golem in them to turn their whole hand to stone,” Brixton said. “It’s a pretty common term.”

“Is being a stonehand special?” Halvor asked.

“I never heard of any stonehand that was anything less than a fifth golem. It’s a pretty impressive thing. You ought to be proud son.” Brixton lightly punched Halvor in the shoulder—a small sign of respect.

“I didn’t grow up around many other golems,” Halvor said, rubbing his shoulder.

“Neither did I. My father taught everything I know. Surely, you've heard some of the folk tales, right? I mean, I know you’ve heard of The Chosen and the Chisel.”

“Uh, can’t say that I have.”

“A stonehand who doesn’t know The Chosen and The Chisel. I think you might be the only one.”.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“I’m sorry.”

“Ain’t nothing to be ashamed of.” Brixton placed a hand on Halvor’s back. “Want me to tell you the story of The Chosen and the Chisel?”

“Right now?” Halvor asked.

“So long as your friend wouldn’t mind.” Brixton looked toward Kai. “I feel bad for the three of you coming here for your own business, then one of you ends up tending to my land for me and the other is stuck indulging an old man’s stories.”

“I don’t mind,” Kai said. “Go for a walk and tell your stories. My friend and I promise to behave. Isn’t that right Ace?”

“Uh, yeah, sure, totally, whatever you say,” Ace said.

“See,” Kai said.

“Alright then. Where do you want to go?” Halvor asked.

“There’s this lovely lake less than a mile into the forest.”.

“That sounds nice. We should be back in about an hour, right?” Halvor asked.

“Oh, less than that,” Brixton said. “Unless you want to hear about The Sword of the Stone.”

“Isn’t it The Sword in the Stone?” Halvor asked.

Brixton chuckled to himself. “You have a lot to learn stonehand.”

After Halvor and Brixton had disappeared into the forest, Kai looked toward Ace, who was completely engrossed in trying to figure out the mystery of the land; Kai knew the look well, and figured it best not to remind Ace why they came here in the first place.

The barn stood out in the center of the field of grass like a drop of dried blood on a white shirt. Red paint chips littered the perimeter. With a strong push, Kai could hear the wood creak and cry. All the windows were shut from the inside. There was no way for Kai to peer inside without getting into the Barn itself.

At first, Kai considered breaking a window; Draxl had taught him that traps were far more likely to be on doors than windows. However, as Kai thought about it more, given the nature of the event—that several criminal organizations would be getting together—a trap could lead to serious tension if discovered by any of the guests.

An old polished lock hung from the barn door. After one quick look to make sure Halvor and Brixton were long gone, Kai dropped his backpack to the ground. Pulling out a small weathered wooden toolbox, Kai popped the top open and grabbed a lockpick from the case.

Click!

“What was that?” Ace asked.

“I’m going to check out the barn while Halvor keeps Brixton busy.” Kai placed the lockpick back in the box and shoved it into his backpack. “You wanna tag along?”

“I’m good.”

“Suit yourself.”

Kai took a single step into the Barn. He was surprised; surprised that the wooden boards didn’t bend and creak under his weight; surprised that the smell wasn’t musty; surprised that the dark interior lit up so brightly that for a moment, everything went white.

----------------------------------------

As Kai’s eyes blinked open, eye floaters danced around the edges of his vision. He found himself inside a lavish theater lobby with white walls adorned with velvet red drapes and golden striations; four grand paintings lined the walls. The cool marble floor sent a chill down Kai’s spine. The clinking of an ornate chandelier that swung overhead and the crackling of condensed torchlight trapped inside by an infusion were the only sounds that echoed through the space.

Before Kai could find his way out of the whirlwind of confusion he had just been thrust into, a voice broke the ambient silence.

“What the fuck are you doing here?”

Kai spun around. Behind him was a sharply dressed man wearing a bone white suit and a charcoal black skull mask.

“Actually, better question, who the fuck are you?”

“Oh, don’t mind me,” Kai said. “I’m just about to head out the door.”

“The door?”.

Kai’s head snapped to the left 90 degrees; where, in a normal theater, there would be a set of double doors to welcome patrons, Kai saw a blank marble wall. “Now would you believe me if I said I meant the bathroom?”

The man took a step toward Kai. “What’s in the bag?”

“Stuff.”

“What kind of stuff?”

“Uh …” Kai set his backpack on the ground. Hunched over his backpack, he pushed aside all sorts of gadgets, notes, vials, tools, and other miscellaneous items. “This is pretty cool.”

Kai tossed the man a small metal cylinder. Closer inspection revealed several tiny holes along the sides and a strange metal protrusion at the top with a small, thin ring strung through it.

“What does this do?” the man asked.

“It’s a confetti container. You pull the ring and a ton of confetti spews out. It’s a bitch to clean up though. Also a bitch to refill.”

“I like it. I think I’ll take one,” the man said.

“They aren’t for sale.”

“Oh, come on. You can spare one.”

“I’d really like it back.”

“Fine, you can have it back.” The man held the metal cylinder up to his face and wrapped his finger around the ring. “But first.”

The man ripped the ring from the cylinder. A violent hiss rang throughout the lobby as noxious gas poured out from the tiny holes in the cylinder; the initial burst sent the gas flying into the man’s face flooding his mouth and nose. The man began violently coughing, and mere moments later collapsed to the floor with a heavy thud.

“Tell people it’s a gas grenade, they’ll throw it back at you. Tell people it's a confetti container, and they can’t control themselves,” Kai said as he affixed his gas mask to his face.

“Although, a confetti container isn’t a bad idea.” Kai pulled out his notebook from his backpack and quickly jotted down “confetti container” at the end of a long list. “But container just doesn’t sound right. Eh, we’ll workshop it later.”

Kai grabbed the hollow grenade off the ground and placed it back into his backpack. He snapped his backpack shut, and slung it over his shoulder. Kai glanced down two hallways, one to his left, and one to his right, the only paths out of the lobby. “I mean it’s called right for a reason.”