by Richard Wood
The men on the stone slab begin to quickly scatter in all directions. As they are getting up, the Ancient grabs the arm of the man directly to his left, keeping him from leaving. The screaming of the Ancient must have been a rare event, as a small, curious crowd began to build at a distance. Besem point his boney finger toward Jesse and Quygon screams out, “Boy, I will destroy this whole village and everyone in it. But not before they get to watch me skin you alive. I’ll tear you apart and toss you into the village square!” Jesse looks into the face of Besem, speaks past Quygon to Besem himself and asks, “Sir, if Quygon destroys your village, how will you ever again be able to enjoy the aroma of baking bread, how will you be able to smell the rising smoke from a fire fed by cypress? Besem, you will never again know the passing of a woman whose clothes have been touched by the oil of myrrh”. Besem shakes his fist violently and Quygon screams out, “Shut up boy! When you talk, you address me; this useless old man means nothing. I’m going to kill him anyway!” Jesse looks around and notices a few children moving towards them. He shouts out to the crowd, “Someone please come and get these kids!” He knows firsthand that Quygon has no problem hurting children. An adult from the crowd quickly runs to escort the children from the event unfolding.
Looking back at Besem, Jesse says, “Quygon, killing the village will give you no joy. There is no honor here for you, accept the honor of releasing Besem. If you walk away now, you will forever have the memory of a good deed alive in your mind, it will be a place to go in times of despair”. Quygon replies, “Little boy, I will make these useless people fall to their faces and beg for their empty lives!” Then Jesse speaks to Besem, “Great Besem, search the heart of Quygon. There you will find the memory of the tortured mass locked inside of the beast”. Besem then connects with the mind of Quygon and searches its blackened, endless hallows. His soul catches the indescribable, putrid odor of decayed flesh. Instantly, he is plunged into a twisting mass of unimaginable torture and pain. Yet there in the mass of twisted bodies and decaying flesh, there was no connection to any of the other suffering. All there is, is unmeasurable pain and fear and the terror of being 100% alone. Suddenly, Besem realizes the pain, fear, and terror was his own. His body belongs to Quygon. The things that make him Besem are now locked away forever. Then Besem hears a distant voice, “Master Besem, talk to me”. It was Jesse. Besem reached through the mass and grasps the echo of Jesse’s voice and instantly is hurled back into his own body.
Besem raises his head and speaks through his own mouth one resounding word, “Hideous”, and then vomits repeatedly. Quygon screams out, “I’ll kill you boy!” Jesse looks into the face of Besem and repeats calmly, “Quygon, you lived in a palace made of living ivory. The fragrant aromas of your world were beyond the ability to describe. Every eternal second, your life was filled with the sound of soul filling music. Each of your garments had an amazing fragrance all of their own. You wore a living symphony of unspeakable aromas. Now all you smell is the constant decay of the undying mass rolling around in your pit. You lost it all by your own hand”. Besem’s head tilts upward and Quygon screams vile cursing’s full of detestable hatred. Over the eons, he had squashed the memories of the glorious world he was banished from.
Quygon screams out once again, “I almost killed you with that ground shake boy. But I will kill you this time”. Jesse ignores his threats and looks calmly to the ground. After turning a few stones with his shoe, he replies, “Quygon, those coals didn’t burn me. The ground shake didn’t wake me, my clothes didn’t even smell of smoke. My life will continue Quygon. I will grow strong and tall. Quygon, I will always have the smell of victory on me because I never walk alone!”
Quygon replies, “I hate you boy, I hate you, I hate your dad and I hate your mother. I’m going to kill you all. I’m going to cut you down like a tree then I’ll sit and watch all of your bodies rot!”
Simultaneously in Elamor, the King looks down into the battle between Jesse and Quygon. The King raises his majestic head and howls out a laughter that shakes the foundations of Elamor. The idea of Quygon’s ability to hurt Jesse was beyond the realm of reality. The King found it amusing. As he laughs out, a thick haze of multi colored jewels billowed from his opened mouth. There were millions of them, each one totally separate in color than any other. They were flung out through all of Elamor and hung in the air like millions of glistening stars. Each jewel had an entire world of fragrant aromas completely unique unto itself. The citizens of Elamor shouted out endless songs of thanks to their King for his glorious gifts. They would pluck the jewels from the luminous sky and spend an eternity hungrily lavishing its fragrant aromas. Then they would replace the jewel for the next citizen and pluck another. Such an incredible delight in their eternity of eternities.
Meanwhile, Jesse looks into the face of the Ancient and says, “Quygon, you will never get back one bit of the glories you had eons ago. But if you release Besem, you will add a tiny degree of fragrant memory to your already blackened soul”. Then the man that Quygon held tightly to suddenly jerked forward and then backward. Quygon rips Besem’s lungs open and blood started to gush from his nostrils, then the Ancient fell forward. Quygon and the Essence flee into the man sitting next to Besem, who then jumped from the stone slab and ran into the village. Jesse stands silent, staring onto the dead body of the Ancient Besem. Jesse raises his right hand and places it on the back of the still warm Besem and says softly, “I’m so sorry dear Besem, I tried my very best to help you today. Your greatness has touched many lives and you will never be forgotten. Now please rest peacefully. Enjoy the wonders of your new life, I will see you again”.
Jesse turns and slowly walks back to his wagon. He climbs into place and sits down. As he reaches for the reins, he turns to see Pala, who stares at him with an opened mouth. Pala blinks a few times and asks, “Who are you?” Jesse smiles back at him and replies, “I am Jesse, the son of Eli and Shaira from the village of Payne. I’ve only come to deliver supplies for the village Elders”. As the wagon passes the stone slab, Jesse remarks, “now let’s deliver them so that we can get back home”.
Passing the village border, the people stand in amazement to see the boy who shows no fear in the face of so much danger. Some wonder what kind of disaster a person could bring to their village if he were to stay. Sitting on the wagon seat, Pala asks Jesse, “How did you do that, and why weren’t you afraid?” Jesse politely turns toward Pala and explains with a smile, “I have been given secret knowledge from many hidden friends”. Pala quickly responds, “I don’t know who your friends are, but they must be a mighty people. Did they tell you how to deal with all the actions of our Ancient Besem?” “Yes”, Jesse replies calmly. “They teach me the great power of our spoken words, but they also teach me about the things that reach beyond our spoken words. Great things that can’t be spoken, they can only be experienced. They teach me how to reach into the world beyond our life”. Pala looks forward, lowers his head and breathes in deeply. He doesn’t understand all that Jesse has spoken to him. But he knows one thing for sure, Jesse’s wisdom and actions are not those of a twelve year old boy. As Pala sits, he considers what the chances are that a person like this would come into his life. Ever greater than that is the looming question that hangs over him like a shroud. Finally he works up the courage to ask Jesse, even though his heart tells him not to. As Pala hangs his head with his palms clinched, he asks Jesse, “Will you allow me to travel to Payne with you?” “Yes”, Jesse replies, taking on the personality of a playful twelve year old boy. Jesse leans over and bumps Pala with his shoulder and says, “You are going to like my mother and father. Our village is full of some very good people”. Jesse’s eyes twinkle and he takes on a big grin. “My mother is the best cook in our village, Pala! And when she bakes bread, it’s like smelling an open field of flowers in the spring time”. Pala nods his head and smiles. “These are more like the words of a twelve year old”, he thinks. As the wagon continues on, they laugh together.
/> In the village Jesse sees a merchant at the side of the road. The merchant is selling spiced tea and cake filled with fruit and honey. Jesse stops the wagon and jumps to the ground. Walking over to the merchant, he asks, “Sir how much for tea and cake?” The merchant looks up from the table and says, “One copper son”. Jesse smiles and reaches into his pocket. He pulls out two copper coins. He hands them to the merchant and says with a smile, “two teas and two cakes please”. The merchant takes the coins and pours Jesse two cups of hot spiced tea then says, “Son, I’ll need these cups back when you’re done”. “Yes sir”, Jesse says joyfully. The merchant then hands him the two cups of tea. Jesse goes back to the wagon, sets one of the cups next to his seat and hands the other one to Pala, who takes it with a smile. He returns to the merchant who then hands him the two cakes. He takes them to the wagon and hands one to Pala, holding the other as he climbs up and sits next to his cup of tea. Jesse holds the cake upward and says with a smile, “time for lunch!” Pala smacks his lips and says thoughtfully, “Thank you Jesse”. Jesse raises the cake to his mouth and takes a bite of it. He closes his eyes, and slowly chews savoring every morsel. The soft texture of the cake, the sweet crisp taste of ripened strawberries and orange melon and the fragrant lingering sweetness of wildflower honey overjoy his senses. Jesse swallows gingerly then looks over to Pala. His cake is already half gone. Jesse says in a kind voice, “If you eat it slowly, you get to enjoy it longer. My mother taught me that”. Pala nods his head and takes a sip of the spiced tea. He rolls it around in his mouth, tasting the cinnamon, the ginger, and the cloves, then swallows it slowly, feeling the warm tea making its way down to his stomach. Jesse shouts joyfully, “See, I told you! It’s good huh?” “Oh yes”, Pala replies. He then takes a slow bite of the cake, this time fully enjoying it. “Wow”, Pala says surprisingly, “That does taste better!” They sat there together enjoying their tea and cake and one another’s company until they were both done. Jesse steps from the wagon, walks to the merchant and returned the cups.
Looking to his right, Jesse sees the man who sat next to Besem when he died. Moving through the crowd, he stalked like a wolf. Jesse knows inside of the man is the beast Quygon and the Essence. The man then turns his attention to Jesse and watches him closely. Jesse looks into the eyes and sees Quygon staring back, boiling with poisonous hatred. Both Quygon and the Essence have experienced this before. Without a doubt, Jesse of Payne is the little boy who defeated the Horde years ago. Quygon’s next attempt to kill the boy will be much more deliberate.
Back on the wagon, Jesse whips the reins and the wagon lunges forward. At a distance, he sees a man approaching holding a platter filled with objects. As the man gets closer, Jesses sees a bowl surrounded by bits of broken bread on the platter. As Jesse’s horse reaches the man, he holds up the platter and says, “A gift from our baker”. Looking at the platter, Jesse sees what looks like coriander oil mixed with salt. The man politely says, “You may dip the bread into the oil. It’s one of our village favorites”. Pala looks at the platter and reaches for the bread. Jesse grabs Pala’s hand and says calmly, “No Pala, look into the bottom of the bowl”. Pala leans over Jesse to get a closer look. There at the bottom of the bowl through the amber colored oil he could see red and white bits. “What is it?” Pala asks. “Poison mushrooms”, Jesse replied. Pala quickly sits back in place looking straight ahead. With his fingers crossed and a ridged body, he asks, “Who’s trying to kill us?” Looking toward Pala, Jesse replies, “None of the villagers here Pala. My enemy is not out to kill you, let’s just not eat anything else from this village and we’ll be ok”. Stiff necked, Pala scans the crowd. But he has no idea what he should be looking for. His mind is flooded with fears. Lingering in the air is the awareness that death is about to stretch its icy hand toward all on this wagon. Even though death looms, Pala has a steady assurance that he will live unscathed. Pala looks over to Jesse and says, “I’m so glad to be with you. It sounds kind of crazy, but you make me feel very safe. With you, I know I’m going to be safe”. Jesse smiles, he knows if Pala only realized how safe he really was, he’d fall into a restful sleep. Glancing to the horses, Pala says, “If you don’t mind Jesse, I’m going to spend the rest of time here, just watching and listening”. Jesse politely nods his head and says, “Sure Pala that would be fine”. From this time forward, Pala will do his best to remain a silent witness to what he is sure will be one of the most amazing days of his life. Looking at the man holding the platter, Jesse says, “No thank you sir, we just finished tea and cake”.
Another Duesburg villager hears the end of their conversation and runs toward the platter saying, “I’ll take it!” With both hands, he grabs the bread pieces and drops them in the oil. Pulling them from the bowl, he shoves a handful into his mouth and eats. He finishes it and puts the other handful into his mouth and chews. After, he turns and walks away, sucking the excess oil from his fingers. He reaches the entrance of what had to be his hut and the man grabs his stomach and starts to weave. He grabs his throat and his face turns a bright red. Making gaging sounds, he falls to his knees then falls flat on his face. His body jerked a few times then went limp. Someone in the crowd shouts, “Falco, someone run and get Falco’s wife. I think he’s dead”. Pala’s face gets pale white while his mouth and eyes open wide. Slowly he says to Jesse, “That was almost me!” Jesse turns to Pala and says, “Pala, if you want to go home with me today, don’t take anything else from anyone”. “Ok”, Pala answers quickly.
Jesse hears a commotion to his left and looks into that direction. Past the villagers he hears a buzzing sound and sees what happens to be a swarm of bees. Looking in the direction he tells Pala, “Remember to not take anything from anyone!” Seconds later from that direction, Jesse hears a man shouting, “Honey for our visitor!” The man comes running to the wagon, both hands full of honeycomb. With honey oozing down his forearms, he raises his hands upward and says to Jesse, “Its clover honey, our villages very best. We want to thank you for visiting our village”. Jesse looks kindly down to the man and says politely, “Thank you sir but I can’t take it”. “You must”, the villager demands. Jesse, still looking down at the man says, “My friend and I are fine, no thank you. We just had tea and cake earlier”.
Suddenly an arrow flies through the crowd and hits the man holding the honeycomb in his chest. Instantly, the man’s body goes limp and falls to the ground. From the direction of the bees, Jesse sees a huge man approaching. He was tall with broad shoulders. The robust man pushes his way through the crowd. He is carrying an empty bow, without a doubt the arrow came from him. He walks up to the man lying on the ground and shouts with an angry voice, “That’s the last time you people steal my honey!” He reaches down and pulls the arrow from the man’s chest, then pointing the arrow into the villagers’ direction he shouts, “From now on, this happens to anyone who takes honey without paying for it. I’m tired of warning you all!” He then storms through the crowd and into the trees. Once again, Quygon has used a villager to try and kill Jesse. Jesse looks down from his wagon at the dead villager on the ground and wonders how many loved ones this man has left behind. Pala then taps Jesse on the shoulder and asks, “Jesse, does this kind of thing happen to you all the time?” Jesse shakes his head and says, “No Pala, I don’t know why this is happening. No matter what happens today Pala, don’t leave this wagon unless I tell you to”.
Jesse yells out to the crows in as polite a manner as possible, “Does anyone know where I can find the Elders of this village?” But there is no answer, only empty faces from confused villagers. Jesse is becoming awkwardly frustrated with his visit to Duesburg and it’s starting to show. His eyes are beginning to squint, the corners of his mouth is slightly drooped, and his posture is becoming more ridged. Slowly Jesse inhales and exhales several times trying his best to ease his tension.
After a few more breaths, Jesse decides to continue his search of the village Elders. He raises his hands to whip the reins when he sees
a separation in the back of the crowd. He’s asked for an elder, and hopes whoever is dividing the crowd is one of them. Jesse decides to wait and see who approaches the wagon. As the crowd divides, Jesse notices a man who appears to be in his mid-twenties. As the crowd hushes, he hears the man say, “Make way for Ta’am, and please move so that Madam Ta’am may come through”.
The man making his way through the crowd is pushing what seems to be a table on wheels. Sitting on top of the table is a very old woman. She is wearing a beautiful pink dress. She had long, gray hair that stopped midway down her back. Her skin was soft and pleasant looking, but very wrinkled. Her legs were narrow and short, both hanging over the table, swaying almost lifeless as the table moved. She wore thick, heavy golden earrings that have over the years caused her earlobes to droop almost to her chin. As she made her way to the wagon, Jesse hears the woman speaking but couldn’t quite make out what she was saying.
Reaching the wagon, Ta’am looks up to Jesse and says with a heavy, gravelly voice, “Son of Eli, I have some questions for you today!” The man pushing Ta’am looks at her with a puzzled look. In all the time he has known her, she has never spoken in this voice. Ta’am speaks again, “If you answer them correctly boy, I will take you to the Elders. But if you miss only one, Son of Eli, then you must leave our village and never return again”.
