The Only Game In Town [Adventure]

"Why couldn't I kill him?" Joy spoke to himself as he ran away. He knew what David planned to do, so why hadn't he been able to kill him?

He had killed Ian. He had watched many people die, but why had his hands shaken at the thought of ending the king's life? Why was he so weak when the world needed a stronger man?

The boy back in the room seemed strong. He had stood defiantly in the face of David's overwhelming power, and all Joy had done was run. Maybe that guy was the hero that the world needed, maybe he was the one who could save them.

Lightning lanced down behind Joy, and he heard a sudden storm pick up around him.

Maybe the man could do what Joy couldn't.

Joy ran out into the storm. Every self-respecting member of society had gone inside to hide from the torrential downpour that had sprung out of nowhere, so Joy was all alone.

Joy's feet carried him to the only place that they could. He ran into the medical tent where his two friends were being held. Were they being treated, or being held hostage until David could eat and then assimilate them into his pseudo god?

He had to find them; he had to save them.

Joy ran into the medical tent. It was filled to the brim with injured people. But now the storm had forced almost everyone in the surrounding area to pile into one of the only covered structures.

The tent was filled with the scent of sweat, fear, and blood. People huddled together and Joy had to break these little huddles apart to break his way to the back of the tent where his two friends were being held.

Beside his two friends sat two monks. Joy recognized them as being from the Freer men. The man and woman were both bald and sat in their robes, applying wet towels to Lillian and Theo's foreheads.

Joy brushed them aside and tried speaking to Theo. "We have to get out of here, David is…"

But Joy was abruptly cut off as one of the Freer Men tersely spoke up, "you will be taking neither of our patients anywhere. They are injured and need medical attention; they are not to be moved."

"But the prince is eating people!" Joy nearly screamed at the two monks, neither of whom batted an eye at the statement. Furthermore, no one in the entire tent even looked over at Joy. His words were taken as the ramblings of the insane, and even Joy understood what he was saying couldn't be taken seriously.

The pushy monk who had spoken before cleared his throat and spoke again, "we know. But you are misinterpreting it. He wishes to free us all from the whims of the gods. He is giving us that chance by letting us become a part of something greater than ourselves."

Joy didn't know why he felt it, but somewhere deep inside his stomach a violent creature reared its head. It was the ugly beast that had made Joy kill Ian, this was the creature that Joy wanted to appear earlier to kill David.

The monster inside Joy gnashed its teeth and caused Joy to bring his fist directly into the Freer Man's head. That monk was knocked out cold, while the other monk immediately tried to call out for help while kicking at Joy. Joy grabbed the foot and wrenched it until it was facing the wrong direction.

A cry of pain left the monk's mouth and blended in with the general misery of the tent.

Joy smashed his elbow into the monk's face. Then he tried to breathe the violence in his soul away. Flashes of red came across his vision, but he refused to listen to the voices that told him to kill these two monks. Instead, he laid them on Theo and Lillian's beds while convincing Theo to get up and start moving.

Theo took very little convincing, he simply stood up when told to and went wherever he was directed. Lillian took a little more effort; Joy fashioned another sled to bear her weight so he could drag her away from this gods forsaken part of the world.

No one questioned Joy as he started yanking Lillian's sled out of the medical tent, and Theo followed by holding the sleeve of Joy's shirt.

They hit the massive storm and continued walking despite the lightning, thunder, and heavy rain. They walked away from the remains of Vena Cava. They walked away from the king and his schemes. They walked away from responsibility and consequence.

They walked.

Joy was content with his wallowing silence. He was miserable thinking of his murder of Ian as well as his inability to murder David. He enjoyed the duality that his two greatest pains in life were caused by both his action and his inaction. He felt there was something symbolic in there.

But Theo was the first to break the silence.

"What does it look like out there?" Theo tentatively asked. He was still holding Joy's sleeve for support.

"It looks bad." Joy gestured expansively towards the outermost ring of the city. The least damage had occurred in this section of the city, yet it was still wrecked.

Another awkward pause filled the air between the two men. A few hundred steps and shuffles took place between the first question and the second. The scenery changed yet the devastation did not.

If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

"What's wrong with Lillian?"

"Ian cut her across the chest, and she lost a lot of blood. She also couldn't receive medical attention for quite a while. She is in a coma right now and there isn't much we can do for her."

Theo stifled a cry at Joy's words. Joy watched the emotions war across Theo's face. He ranged from despair to hatred in a matter of moments.

"I'm going to kill him. I am going to kill Bloody Ian if it is the last thing I ever do." Venom erupted from Theo's mouth as he let all his hatred out in one final declaration of his life's goal.

"He's already dead, Theo." Joy didn't look at his friend, so Joy couldn't see how his words broke him. And Theo was missing his eyes, so he was unable to see the way uttering those words seemed to break Joy.

Theo yanked on Joy's shirt. Joy was not ready for his blind friend to take advantage of the connection that allowed him to move freely in his new blackened world. So, he went tumbling to the ground.

Without any of the grace Theo used to possess, he grasped for where he believed Joy to have fallen. Then he brought a fist into Joy's face.

Joy gasped as a bright spot of pain filled his vision. Theo fists descended over and over again, breaking Joy's nose and giving him a new black eye to match.

Joy didn't bring his arms up to defend himself. He didn't even cry out in pain after the initial surprise wore off. He just let himself be thrown awash into the freedom of pain.

Joy didn't have to take responsibility for his actions when he was in pain. He didn't have to plan how to deal with David. He didn't have to do anything other than let himself get beaten into a bloody pulp.

After a few vigorous minutes of beating Joy, Theo slipped on the muddy ground and fell off his position atop Joy. He rolled away and clawed at the ground, fingers leaving divots in the earth.

"Get back here!" Theo screamed at Joy.

But Joy just lay there, letting the rain pelt his face. The storm was still raging in the world around them. The two men had barely made any progress in running away from Vena Cava. What was the point?

He was just so tired.

Joy watched impassively as Theo scrambled around on the ground crying and screaming for Joy to answer him. Theo screamed until his voice was hoarse and Joy had to struggle to hear him over the sounds of thunder in the distance.

Joy looked at his friend and tried to see past the scar that bisected his face. He tried to look underneath the hate and rage that his friend was exuding and see the man he had grown to love and respect. To Joy, it seemed like that man was gone and all that was left was this angry little goblin.

One excruciating motion after another brought Joy to his feet. Theo had crawled into the fetal position after he had finished his tirade, seemingly unable to hold himself up under the weight of his pain.

Joy grabbed his friend by the armpits and yanked him to his feet. Theo was quiet again and Joy forced him to grab onto Joy's sleeve so that he wouldn't fall behind while he dragged Lillian's sled a little further from Vena Cava.

One foot after another kept this dreary march moving. One man leading the infirm and blind. One man who knew nothing of what to do.

Joy was drenched after a full day of walking through the storm. He knew that he needed to get Lillian and Theo warm or else they may get sick, or worse.

Joy felt such relief when he saw the lights shining from a tiny town. It had been nearly a full day of travel and Joy desperately needed a reprieve from Nature's wrath.

The town was so small that it may not have even counted as a full town for some of the city folk. It was just a collection of homes surrounding a communal patch of farm that was probably shared by the tenants of each home. The houses were a simple affair, made of thatch and mud.

Joy saw no one in the area, which was expected since any self-respecting person would be hiding from the deluge of rain.

He limped into town keeping both Lillian and Theo close. Neither of his companions said a word as he dragged them to the doorstep of one of the houses and knocked on the door.

A small child answered the door. She couldn't have been more than five years old. She seemed like a ball of energy and muscle, ready to run in every direction if you let her. Her hair was a light shade of red, and her eyes shone with that exuberance unique to children.

"Mom! Freaky people at our door!" The child shouted before slamming the door directly into Joy's face.

The action was done without malice; it was simply what she had been taught to do. Still "freaky people" stung in Joy's mind. Did they truly look so derelict?

A new woman opened the door and looked upon their bedraggled party. She surveyed the state of their clothes and their wetness. She was the spitting image of the little girl, just older. Her eyes didn't have that exuberance anymore though. Instead, deep realism had taken root in her soul and Joy saw her entire life in her eyes.

Joy felt that she had been so happy as a child, then Life crushed her beneath their endless wheel of suffering and weariness.

"Can you let us stay the night? I'll wash dishes. I'll do anything for my friends to get out of the rain." Joy pitched the best offer he could to the woman who stared impassively at him.

"Get in here." Something inside the woman seemed to cave and a soft expression crossed her face before going back to her casual impassivity.

The woman laid down a few blankets and made an area nearby the fire for the three friends to warm up. Joy thanked her profusely and asked what he could do to repay her.

The woman was bringing warm broth and helped Joy force it down Lillian's throat when she came up with an answer.

"My daughter loves to hear stories before she goes to bed. Could you tell her a happy story to help her go to sleep?" Joy thought of the little rascal that he had seen when he knocked on the door. She was so full of life and joy; he would have to come up with something fantastic to entertain her.

Joy forced Theo to lie down. Joy made him drink water and eat a hearty soup that the woman had heated up for them. But Theo was back to being lifeless. Joy didn't enjoy this oscillation between Theo being a goblin and being a ghost of a man. But he knew that his annoyance at his friend paled in comparison to the misery Theo was in. So, he kept his thoughts to himself.

After the grueling task of putting his friend to sleep, Joy walked to the room that housed the little girl. She was laying down on a small bed of straw with wide eyes. She looked like she was expecting a good story.

Joy decided to pander to his audience a little bit. "What's your name?"

After a moment of hesitation she said, "Emerald."

"That's a lovely name. Emerald, what sort of story do you want to hear?"

"I want to hear about the knight tournament. You were there, right? Everyone who was anyone was there. But mom didn't let me go to Vena Cava to watch. So, who was fighting and who won?"

One tear slid down Joy's cheek.

"You want to hear something crazy?" Joy leaned in conspiratorially while discretely wiping the random tear away.

Emerald leaned closer to Joy, waiting to hear whatever his secret was.

"Both my friends downstairs were in the knight tournament." Joy grinned at the little girl. Emerald had a dubious look on her face.

"The blind guy and the lady who won't wake up were in a tournament?" Joy cringed at her words, the walls were thin in this house and he hoped that Theo wouldn't hear them.

"Yes, Emerald. They were shining stars – let me tell you all about them."