"BRING IN ON YOU BURLAP SACK!"
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Artist: Bird From the Abyss
Song: Ways of Slaughter
The weather hadn't changed, though neither could tell if that was an effect of the haze or not. Dark clouds still hung above them, the scene appearing more like autumn than spring.
"Aw, cheer up. I'm sure we're almost out of here." Agoti said, patting Tabi on the back.
"You said that 5 minutes ago."
"And we're even closer than we were before."
Tabi just sighed. He knew Agoti would have a response for whatever he could say next. Better to just shut up.
Finally after maneuvering around more banshees, scarecrows and evil pumpkins they entered a linear path opening to an open area.
They continued walking down another path but stopped. At the end of the path was an open expanse. As they looked on it was as if they had found the exit to the maze.
Tabi didn't have a good feeling about it. This place was too open for a corn maze. Maybe it was a crop circle?
They had stopped. Not for any particular reason but seeing the wide-open field ahead of the path made Tabi uneasy. A ding went off on Tabi's phone, which Agoti still held. It had gone off a few times though S dealt with it mostly. He had also stopped announcing them, each time having done so only pissed Tabi off more.
S read the new messages.
applejack1: are you guys scared yet?
Sonic3301: Uh, I don't think so. One guys all pissed off and the other is trying not to laugh at him.
applejack1: i see well hold on
"Applejack says to stop." S said. They did so.
applejack1: whos pissed off?
Sonic3301: the bony guy
applejack1: ok ;)
Agoti watched the messages, snickering with S as he did so. Rather annoyed Tabi waited, drawing and inspecting his knife. He heard it first, something moving quickly far away and coming close. He wasted no time, lunging at it, knife in hand, before it emerged. The creature reacted fast enough, catching Tabi's knife in its claws.
A scarecrow, pumpkin for a head, wearing a witch’s hat. Covered in burlap sacks it had no hands proper. He instead had metal claws on each, poking out of the brown fabric arm. They were sharp, claws extracted from a cultivator meant for tilling the earth. It had glowing eyes, similar to the same ones as those that grabbed his shoe earlier.
It was surprised as Tabi's sudden aggression, nearly falling itself. Tabi pushed back, forcing the creature back into the stalks. He stepped forward, ready to stab it directly but it ducked out of the way, vanishing back into the endless corn field.
"She says to continue on. That it's almost over." S said. Unseen, Applejack asked if S like that, which he replied was very funny.
"Good. I'm getting real sick of this." Tabi spat.
Deciding to calm his nerves he whipped out a cigarette and his lighter. No more did the cigarette leave his hand that a vine shot up from the ground, knocking it out of his mouth. It drove the unlit cigarette into the dirt, vanishing with the vine.
"Applejack says no smoking. Says the chemicals will hurt the crops." S said, relaying Applejack's message. He couldn’t help but sound sarcastic as he spoke.
"Just say the word and I burn this whole farm down. Just say the word Agoti." Tabi muttered. He pocketed his lighter, less Applejack get any ideas.
"Um no, we're here for a reason."
Tabi sighed.
Stepping into the open area they looked around. In the centre of the expanse was a glowing blue pool, vines with neon blue thorns rising out of it into the sky. It was a small pool, only about the size of a kiddy one. They couldn't see where the 'tower' ended.
Other than the pool and vine tower, the area was wide open, dry grass beneath them, walls of corn stalks surrounding the area. At the opposite end of the opening stood a rickety gate, similar to the one seen earlier. Unlike the maze’s entrance this gate was covered in vines lovingly wrapped around it. It must have been the exit.
Though Tabi was relieved they had made it out he knew it wouldn’t be that easy. He knew this was an arena, not just some random expanse.
"You should be able to use the axe to chop the vines and free yourself. Applejack says."
"What axe?" Agoti asked.
"She says you were supposed to pick up an axe earlier. She's typing again. She says hold on."
The two waited impatiently. Agoti had still been taking the whole thing in stride, the event reminding him more of an escape room. He had completely forgotten about the whole 'Applejack recruitment', instead having more fun. He couldn't even bring himself to hate the scarecrow that attacked them when he climbed the pole. After all, that was cheating, so said Applejack1.
"She stopped typing but there's no message."
The ground started to rumble. Everyone’s attention was fixated on the blue pool.
The vines started to lower and disappear into the ground. From the sky came a large flower bulb. It’s petals were all up, concealing whatever hid in it. As it landed gracefully the petals started to unravel. As they wilted downwards, covering the pool a figure stood inside. As they parted the trio could see someone emerge from it. It was a living scarecrow. His eyes were glowing and murderous.
"I hope you've been enjoying my maze." He said with a raggedy, rustic voice. A scarecrow emerged from the vines. At least, he was part scarecrow. With a few steps forward he walked out of the flower, the bulb further disappearing and vanishing into the small pool.
He had a full body, standing as tall as Agoti. He wore a large black witches hat which covered a burlap sack head. His mouth appeared to be stitched together but it moved easily as he spoke. In his mouth he was chewing on a wooden stick, it sticking out like a cigar. His eyes were cut in from the cloth and glowed a bright yellow, just as Tabi's did. He wore a black poncho with gold sache along the edges. Underneath it he wore cloth clothes, all black with the pants tucked into sackcloth shoes. His hands were of the same cloth material though it was unclear if those were his hands or gloves.
He carried with him a large hoe, the edge sharpened.
image: Vs. Zardy https://twitter.com/odaocer/status/1696146768625319971 [https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F4nsdZJXwAE9b4L?format=jpg&name=large]
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Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
Artist: Ulises Valadez Contreras
Song: Performance Specialist
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DWvtxM7xtY
Though he spoke with a southern drawl, Tabi could detect some kind of European accent hidden within. From atop the flower he bowed.
"I trust ya been enjoying my maze here." He spoke.
With a bow he introduced himself. "Name's Zahrada, but you can call me Zardy."
His voice was hollow and rough. There was no doubt in either ones mind that Zardy wasn't human or any living creature disguised.
"Zahrada...Slavic." Tabi muttered.
"Oh, you can tell? Ya quite the clever boy." Zardy said condescendingly.
S was still watching the scene through the phone Agoti was holding. With no new messages from Applejack he figured that must've been her/him. The app stated that Applejack1 was offline.
"You're Applejack1?" He said confused.
"Ha. Y'all can speak without talking?" Zardy asked, assuming Agoti was talking. "Lotta clever folks this time. Haha! That's a cute name though. But that ain't me."
Zardy spread his arms out motioning around the field. "Nah you see. I'm a simple fella. Y'all trespass into my maze, you become my prey. I'm what you might call a guardian of this place."
Vines arose in front of him carrying the remains of the jack o' lanterns Tabi has smashed in.
"And I might've considered letting you all go free but look at what you did to my beautiful crawlers. They woulda grown up just fine." He said sadly. "You have any regrets, how could ya hurt such innocent creatures?"
"I don't care." Tabi spat. He had no interest in this 'show'.
Zardy took a step forward. Neither Agoti nor Tabi budged. They were still unsure of Zardy's intentions. Tabi knew that regardless of what happened next he was going to fight Zardy. If he was the purveyor of this maze he deserved to pay. He glanced down, both shoes covered in splotches of pumpkin and mud.
Getting a better look at them Zardy laughed. "Why I see, the animals are out to play today. On one hand we got...well whatever you're s'posed to be." Zardy said, referring to Agoti.
"And a goat! Ripe for the slaughter."
"Хуй с горы, go to hell." Tabi spat.
"Haha, love it when they got spirit!" Zardy roared. "I'm Slovak actually but I understand enough. Before we get started, let's get rid of the distractions!"
Zardy snapped his fingers. Out of the left field a hook shot forth latching onto Tabi's phone and pulling it to the pole nearby. One of the cablecrows snatched it and held it near the top of the pole.
"Hey!" Agoti protested. He got into a football stance, now prepped for a fight.
"HEYYyyy..." S said as his world was suddenly turned upside down, his voice fading as the other scarecrow pulled him out of hearing distance.
"Now, now. Those pesky devices cause too many problems. Kids can't focus with 'em. Can't have you callin' for help either." Zardy joked. He was having a grand time, the evil smile not once leaving his lips.
"I see you've met him my cable crow already. You know phones are a bad distraction, though I guess you city slickers wouldn't know haha." He motioned to the raggedy figure sitting atop the pole. It held Tabi's phone in an embrace, S shouting obsentities at the crow. Either it didn't understand or didn't hear S, it did nothing.
"And with the hammer over there is the banshee. Nice fella." Zardy said, motioning to the flying ghost nearby. It hovered over the clouds, unmmoving. It was watching with intent, it unsure of Tabi and Agoti's intention. After all, the goat-looking one had been incredibly violent.
"You bastard!" Tabi spat.
"Let's start this harvest, shall we?" Zardy said confidently. With a swing of the hoe he laughed again.
"I'll show you a harvest, ублюдок!" Tabi shot back. Pulling the flamethrower from off his back in one motion he loaded it with the lighter. Now fully operational. He no longer cared if the cops were called. Enough playing around. He thought.
Agoti took a step back also noticing Tabi's eyes had started to burn. He was pissed.
"How about some controlled burning!" Tabi shouted and, flames blazing charged Zardy.
Zardy jumped back vines shooting up from where he jumped. Though the flame hit them the force was enough to knock Tabi on his butt.
"You think I'm just gonna fall to fire? You're sorely mistaken pal!" Zardy shouted. Tabi shouted something that was lost to the roar of the flame and got back up. Still blazing he set fire to the vines which moved back into the ground.
He had become enraged.
Agoti turned his focus to the phone. "S! Get to my phone!" He shouted. With a ding S jumped to Agoti's phone and started speaking. "What do we do? I'd kill them but I can't do much from here."
"I don't know. We gotta get Tab's phone back."
"Shouldn't we help Tabi?" S asked earnestly. One glance over at Tabi saw him and Zardy playing a game a tag with fire. The ground was shaking from how many vines were moving underground. Tabi was fast in his dodges, as was Zardy. He was screaming at the scarecrow in Russian, Zardy shouting back in Slovak.
Another squelching sound, one of those tiny pumpkin beings grabbing him.
He brought his knife onto it, easily destroying the creature.
"I don't have time for this!" He shouted in frustration.
"You don't seem to have much care for my friends either."
"Shut up!"
"Not much manners eeither." Zardy muttered.
"Tabi'll be fine. Can you port into anything around?" Agoti asked.
"I can't see much...oh! I got it!" With another ding S vanished from the phone. With the volume cranked to max and vibration on S let the phone go off, ringing loudly. The sudden burst of sound was enough to startle the cable crow who dropped the phone.
In an instant, Agoti dashed to it, going into a slide to grab it before it hit the ground. With a quick motion, he pocketed the phone.
From atop the pole the cable crow hissed. With a swing it shot down at Agoti, hook barred. With his acrobatics, Agoti managed to backflip and the hook jammed into the dirt.
Just as it hit the ground, Agoti grabbed the wire and yanked, ripping the cable crow off the pole.
Just before it landed Agoti jumped up and kicked upwards, landing a perfect hit on its head. It toppled over, likely unconscious.
Agoti didn't have much time to react when the scarecrow from earlier rose out of the stalks. He swiped at Agoti, cutting through his hoodie. "Woah! You have any idea how much that costs!" Agoti said, now finally reaching his limit. As another swipe lined up, Agoti ducked into football tackle and hurled himself at the Scarecrow's mid-section.
"C'MON CYKA, STOP HIDING BEHIND YOUR VINES!" Tabi shouted. The vines so far had saved Zardy's life. Tabi had stopped caring, no worrying how much fuel used as he burned through the vines. They had kept their fight confined to the centre of the clearing, but the grass around had grown charred, ash in the air.
Just as Tabi ducked under a sharp vine he rose up and shot the flamethrower directly at Zardy. Though Zardy just managed to avoid it, the flame seared a bit of his poncho. He looked at it horrified.
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Zardy shouted, eyes turning a deep shade of crimson. "I was trying to be nice, do a favour but I can see you're not good enough for her!"
Just as Tabi rose, his hoodie got caught on a thorn. He narrowly dodged a vine from the right launch down at him. He ripped the hoodie off, tearing a hole in the fabric. In the chaos he dropped the flamethrower.
The vine crashed into it, smashing the whole weapon into the dirt. Zardy cracked a smile at Tabi. It lasted no longer than a few seconds as the lighter oil mixed with the aerosol can. Once pierced the weapon exploded into a ball of fire. It was close enough that the explosion lit a nearby corn stalk.
It was now only moments before the rest of the corn maze would start to burn. The lack of wind helped contain the fire.
"Girl! You had better get out here before I do something you're gonna regret!" Zardy shouted at the fields. Zardy barely even noticed, his anger more fixated on Tabi. "You're really starting to piss me off."
"BRING IN ON YOU BURLAP SACK!" Tabi shouted back. He drew his hunting knife.
"I'll put you in the ground where you belong, jedák boršču!" Zardy wielded his hoe like a scythe.
In a flurry of fists Agoti managed to get the scarecrow off him, curb stomping the beast till it stopped moving. He had been cut directly in the arm, the cut now bleeding black.
Seeing the ongoing confrontation Agoti got up and ran to Zardy, planning to dropkick the scarecrow.
"Don't worry friends! I'll save you!" Someone shouted from afar. No one paid much attention to it. Tabi and Zardy were enraged at each other, Agoti was ready to stop the battle.
Tabi got close, swinging with his knife. The action wasn't expected by Zardy who's side got slashed, sand slowly started to drip out. "Argh!" Zardy winced in pain.
"Y'know. I was just trying to play around but now I don't care. You're dead." Zardy said furiously. He clutched his side as a vine rose from the ground and wrapped around the wound.
Just before Agoti could get close enough the banshee swung its hammer, narrowly missing Agoti who jumped atop it. He jumped up and grabbed the hammer, bringing he and the banshee down to ground.
"AAH! What have you done?!" Someone screamed from afar. Agoti only barely noticed it, his attention fully on the banshee he was currently wrestling.
"What the hell?" Agoti heard S say muffled before the ding went off. He had ported elsewhere.
Tabi's knife and Zardy's hoe clashed, Tabi holding the knife right in-between the split. Zardy was pushing down and Tabi up. They were engaged in a deadly game of mercy.
The fire had started to burn all around them, spreading to more and more corn stalks. The orange haze had turned red.
Slamming his fist it on the back of the banshee's head Agoti knocked it out. He got up, ready to help Tabi but stopped. Something had hit him atop the head. It was a raindrop. "Oh no." He muttered. Not now. Dammit why now?!
As he looked around, he barely noticed someone struggling to aim at Tabi and Zardy. Their figure was hidden in now blazing inferno.
He didn't say anything, his mind awash with a single thought. Get out of the rain. It was one of his weaknesses and there was no cover anywhere around. As he glanced at the enraged Slavs, time slowed down. It was far too late to intervene.
"You're r-reign of t-terror ends today Zardy!" The person shouted. They paused, wondering why nobody was paying attention to them.
In an instant a lightning bolt was shot at Tabi and Zardy. In that second, Tabi let go, trying to fake out Zardy. With the sudden change in footing, Tabi had moved right into the bolt's direction. The strike hit him right in the back.
It was a direct hit. He screamed as the bolt reverberated throughout his bones. It was far more than enough to knock him out, the volts coursing through his body.
The last thing he heard before losing consciousness was someone scream.
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The next chapter is called A Botched Setup.