by James Rasile
It was a beautiful autumn evening. The leaves had all changed colour, something Sybil was all to use to. Where she was from the skies were gray, the leaves were either off the trees, or they were in the midst of changing colour. Here it was a season, and soon, Madok informed her, there would be snow. Piles and piles of cold white flakey stuff, Sybil couldn’t fathom such a sight! Why would anyone want to be cold? She thought. Madok was excited for the winter months, and Sibyl, now engaged to Madok, was excited for the future. First things first, she needed to find Eshtrum a bride, and she had high hopes for one of Madok’s sisters.
Madok’ mother and father greeted them at the door with the most loving faces Sybil had ever witnessed. Madok’s sisters were running late as they were getting in from school, which they attended out of town, but they would be there shortly. The dinner table was set with a beautiful array of décor. Sibyl compliment her soon to be mother-in-law’s set-up.
The front door swung open and Madok’s sisters danced their way into their parents’ house. They hugged and kissed their mother and father, rushed over to Madok and hugged him as well. One was blonde the other a brunette, and both were very attractive females. Either one would make a great spouse for Esthrum, Sybil thought. The blonde was called Avice and the brunette was Edith. Avice was ten months older than Edith, but Edith had a certain cunningness about her that Sybil thought would match quite well with the Mapap.
At dinner Sybil was asked a varying array of questions, from how the two met, to what she did before and where she was born. They asked her about her schooling, and her religious beliefs. To which the witch had to conjure up her most inventive lie and claim to have been a Christian from birth. Then it was her time for her questions. She asked the parents about their love story, which she found fascinating. The two met on a sailboat when they were under the age of ten and could not be separated since. Sybil then turned her attention to the sisters, most notably Edith. She asked them about their schooling, their hobbies, where they see themselves in the future, and of course their luck with the opposite sex. And as luck would have it Avice was seeing a fellow at school, but Edith was single, waiting to catch a falling star, as she put it. Sybil grinded her teeth, she didn’t want to speak too soon, but she also hadn’t much time to waste. She pressed Edith for more information, asking her what type of man she saw herself with. Edith was looking for a smart man, loving, who could take care of herself and the family. She wanted many children. Sybil pounced at the opportunity to tell Edith about her “cousin” who would be coming to town over the next couple of weeks. Edith smiled, and accepted Sibyl’s invitation to meet Eshtrum.
When Edith met with Esthrum it was love at first sight. In her mind Sybil questioned whether the Mapap used dark magic to trick Edith into loving him, but that could not be. Their child must be born out of true love in order for the worlds to merge. Edith loved Esthrum, and Esthrum her. Their love was so strong in fact that the Mapap, who was typically by the books and not very understanding, allowed Sibyl to wed her love and remain in the human realm. “What does it matter? Our worlds will eventually merge together and our peoples will once again be united!” Esthrum proclaimed.
Their wedding was blissful. The most wonderful day of either Sibyl or Madok’s lives. The entire town saw them off from the church, which of course was the portion of the ceremony Esthrum excused himself from. The proceeding party saw Madok’s workmates dancing up a storm, his sisters and parents in a frenzy. Not a soul was sober. None save for Estrhum. He watched the family closely. The smiles were contagious to all but him. He lived for purpose, and currently his purpose was to wed Edith, and impregnate her.
It was the stroke of twelve when Eshtrum approached Edith on the dance floor. She asked if he wanted to dance, he had no response. He knelt to one knee and removed an engagement ring from his jacket pocket, he asked for Edith’s hand in marriage. She gleefully accepted his request and embraced him in a long loving hug. The party grew happier, one married couple and another engaged. Everyone was joyful, everyone that is with the exception of Sybil. She took a seat at her table and watched on as the family she loved embraced the man who would be the destroyer of mankind. She watched on knowing that it was all because of her.
Two weeks after marrying Madok, Sibyl discovered she was pregnant. The newlyweds were beside themselves! Madok considered taking a job in an adjacent town, there was more crime and a larger population, but the pay was substantially greater and they could live in a much larger house giving their child the best upbringing possible. Sibyl wasn’t sure about the move, rather she was unsure if the Mapap would approve, and so she talked Madok into holding off on making any rash decisions until after his sister’s wedding.
The wedding day of Esthrum and Edith had arrived quicker than Sibyl had hoped. No less than a month after proposing they were to wed. On the morning of the wedding Esthrum had requested Sibyl visit him at his house. It was four hours until the ceremony. She of course did as her Mapap asked. He closed the door behind her and thanked her for all that she had done. In his words Sibyl had “Saved the witching world.” This of course was not true. She had ruined the human world. He then proceeded to tell her that on the first full moon after the wedding she would have to return to the witching world and continue her duties on the council. Sibyl was in shocked and outraged by this. Esthrum had told her she could remain the human realm and she was now pregnant herself. Esthrum told her she could not give birth to the child! He ordered her to have the fetus destroyed by whatever means necessary. Any child born in union of man and witch without the Mapap’s blessing will be born a still birth, so the scriptures read. Sibyl asked for Esthrum’s blessing, but he would not allow it. The witching realm needed a complete council during his absence and so Sibyl must return to her world.
Sibyl was at a crosshair and did not know what to do. She couldn’t sleep at night, during the day she would venture out on long walks and when she returned home her eyes were swollen from the tear shed. Madok would ask her if something was troubling her, but of course she could not explain. Then one morning the answer came to her. Not in a thought, not in a vision, and not from a friend, it came from her child within her. She woke up that morning, as any other, made her way to the kitchen to make some tea. That was when she felt the kick, her child kicked within her. Her unborn child was much too young to have been able to kick, but it had and she felt it! This was a sign and she took it as such. She would remain amongst the humans, but what of Esthrum? The Mapap would never allow it, he already ordered her to return and the full moon was approaching. She’d have to move away and hide. She had to convince Madok to take the position in the other town. He was smart and dependable, any township would lucky to have a constable such as Madok, so she was sure the position would still be available for him. Once Madok returned home she would discuss the move with him. That was when she heard it.
There was a slow knock at her door. An eerie sensation rushed through her body. She reached for the knob and turned it gently. The metal hinges creaking as it opened. When the door was fully ajar, she could feel a rush of heat towards her. It wasn’t from the sun but from the torches lit outside. A mob of townsfolk waited for her on her property. “There she is!” A resident shouted, “KILL THE WITCH!!” he continued. Madok raced to his doorstep, he grabbed his wife and rushed her inside. He hugged her and kissed her then looked her dead in the eye and asked her if any of the rumours were true, if she were a witch. Sibyl denied the claims and explained she had no idea where these accusations were coming from. That was when the front door burst open, and her “cousin” Esthrum marched in. He walked towards her and ripped open the top drawer of her dresser. He removed a talisman and raised it above his head for all the townspeople to see. He looked down at Sibyl with a devilish glare “Kill the witch!” he shouted. Sibyl looked over at Madok who was in disbelief, and heartbroken. “Our child.” Sibyl cried out, “What about our child?” tears were flowing down her cheeks. “If she’s a witch, you
r unborn child’s a witch.” Esthrum stated in a dry serious tone to his brother-in-law. Madok stayed motionless as the mob dragged his wife out of their house.
A tickling sensation brushed the bottom of her feet, waking Sibyl up. She looked around in dismay. Her right hand was tied while she could feel the grip on her left-hand be tied to something. She looked over and saw none other than Esthrum tying her to a stake. He looked into her eyes and smiled “No one double crosses the Mapap. May the devil have mercy on the soul of you and your unborn child. May the flames from this immolation stay with you for all eternity.” He walked away from Sybil never looking back. Madok held a torch up high and walked towards his wife. Sibyl cried out “Madok, no. Madok I love you. You know me. Madok!” It was too late. The verdict had been set. The town had indicted Sibyl and there was no turning back. The constable fought back tears; he could not bring himself to look at his former wife. He set his torch down on the straw beneath her feet and let the flames spread. “Kill the witch!” the constable cried out.
Sibyl took a deep breath. She began chanting an incantation. It was not of a dialect the Mapap was familiar with. “What’s she doing?” Madok inquired? “She’s casting a spell on us all.” Esthrum replied, “Not to worry. She’ll be dead before it can take effect.” The flames hurried fast and as they reached up to her face the townsfolk braced for a loud scream. Instead Sibyl remained calm and chanted her incantation. The flames grew higher and higher before encompassing Sibyl whole. There was a loud burst, a scream, and some folk claim they witnessed the soul of the witch eject from her body and vanquish into the clouds. Suddenly the chaos relinquished. The fire extinguished as fast as it started. There was no body. No Sibyl. The townspeople believed she was a witch, and her vanishing was proof. Madok walked to the stake, dropped to his knees and cried.
Weeks and months went by. Madok could never find it in his heart to marry again, though his sisters begged him too. Soon Edith was with child, Esthrum was thrilled. He had a large festival the night her pregnancy was announced, and had a raven deliver the news to the witching council. Soon they would be reunited with the humans. Soon they would have their dominance.
Edith’s labour was long and agonizing. Esthrum was there to witness the birth of his child. The child that would reunite the two realms and allow witches to reclaim what was rightfully theirs. Edith pushed and pushed until finally the baby was delivered. Both Esthrum and Edith waited to hear the cries and screams from their newborn child. Instead only silence. Esthrum looked at the midwife who had tears running down her face, and a look of shock.
A still birth. The child was born but never breathed a breath of air. Esthrum rushed to the midwife and grabbed his child. He cradled it in his arms, a boy. He hugged the baby and cried. All of the lights in the room suddenly extinguished. Esthrum stood up straight. He looked around, Edith and the midwife were frozen in time. A specter appeared before him. It was Sibyl, dressed in the clothes the day Esthrum sent her into the human realm. “You betrayed me.” The ghost’s voice was hollow and sharp. “No I…” Esthrum ‘started to speak but the phantom would not let him finish. “Silence!” Winds blew through the curtains. “You betrayed your kind, yet it is your kind who betray you.” Esthrum was confused by apparition. “The witching world and the human world will merge, but at a price. Witches will be sequestered to darkness for five years, and on the fifth year they will emerge. From the Devil’s night until Anterus witches will be free to wander the human realm. But, at the stroke of twelve on the Ansterus witches shall be banished to darkness once again.” Esthrum was confused, “You have no place here! I am the Mapap!” Esthrum shouted. “And I am the Dark Queen who is ruling over all kinds. Witches, Beasts, Humans and beyond! My word is my pledge. From this day forth and until the fifth season each and every witch shall be a banished to darkness! HEAR ME NO LONGER!” She shouted flames at the Mapap and then the spirit of Sibyl vanished.
The candle flames in the room lit up once again. Edith lay in her bed, the midwife at her feet. Esthrum and the child were nowhere to be seen.
All across the lands hundreds if not thousands of people were being reported missing. All this time the witches and warlocks lived in peace with man. But now, because of the greed of a few, their freedoms were taken from them.
No longer were witches burned at the stake, or drown, there were no more witches to be seen or heard from. With this newfound curse and exile came new rules. Since Sibyl lived with a priest and was married in a Christian church the only way to kill a witch upon their return would be with holy water. And when killed with holy water they would enter the dark gates of hell and be greeted by Sibyl herself who would decide their eternal fate.
THE GOBLIN OF THE WOODS
There is a Goblin in the woods, or so they say. These are the words muddled around by the locals in Hastings. A Goblin lives far within the deepest darkest stretches of the woods, no man nor woman shall ever venture into the woods and return with their life.
This, at one point, was surely true. Today however, as I write this fable it is not. Tourists traveled far and wide to fish along the river that spreads throughout the heart of Hastings. One of these travelers went by the name of Barnabas Barabbas. He was the eldest brother of the Barabbas boys, a gang of thugs who tortured shop owners in faraway towns. No one was quite fond of the Barabbas boys moving into a town like Hastings, a small quant village town. The only thing exciting about Hastings was the goblin of the woods which the town folk all but brushed it off as hearsay and an urban myth.
Barnabas Barabbas felt as the townspeople did, and one day he decided to test the waters for himself. He ventured off into Kobold woods, and two days later he returned, no scratch on him, and no sign of a goblin. He told only his brothers of his adventures in the woods, and made the rest of the town believe he had come face to face with the goblin, and in fact was able to best it and return home no worse for wear.
Barnabas quickly decided to turn a profit from the woods. He hired his brothers to deliver packages to the other side of the woods. This would save days on delivery and trips. The fee would be heavy, but if medicine, or other such importance substances were needed rather hastily, well then there would be no one else to turn to than the Barabbas boys.
Business was good for Barnabas and his brothers, and soon they had to hire outwards. As you would suspect, not a lot of traffic came to them in the form of resumes. Even though they ventured in and out of the Kobold Woods semi-regularly not many folks trusted it. The brothers built up the façade of an evil goblin almost too well, the townsfolk believed the goblin was all seeing, and would strike anyone not names Barabbas down if they entered those woods.
Reuben Burrows was their lone applicant. Whether Barnabas liked it or not, Reuben would be their hire. Reuben Burrows had lived most of his life in Hastings. He was never quite sure where exactly he was born, but when he was three his family moved to Hastings. His father, a man of African descent, opened a bait and tackle shop, then lost it in a game of cards when Reuben was seventeen years old.
On Reuben’s eighteenth birthday he met his future wife, Penelope Tatum. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever met. Her hair was black as night, her skin the colour of a sandy beach, and her eyes a shimmering hazel. The moment Reuben laid eyes on Penelope he knew he had to marry her. That of course was easier said than done. A woman that beautiful was the desire of many men. Reuben found himself in line with every other single man in Hastings from ages fifteen to forty-seven. To say Penelope didn’t love the attention would be a lie, she did however fancy Reuben more so than the other suitors. Her parents however had other plans for their daughter. Bo Barabbas also fancied the seventeen-year-old and had hoped to court her. Penelope’s parents were in favour of this arrangement. Bo was a Barabbas, and the Barabbas boys were known to be quite wealthy. Reuben came from a father who gambled everything away, and was working as a janitor at a pantry on the outskirts of town.
Penelope, always wanting to ple
ase her parents, agreed to court Bo. The courtship lasted no more than a month, much to the chagrin of Penelope’s parents. Bo, while wealthy, was also not the nicest of fellows, and furthermore he hit Penelope. One time giving her a black eye, another time bruising her left thigh. Her parents refused to believe such nonsense. Penelope was quite the tomboy, playing in the creeks as a child, killing toads on the side of roads, roasting ants with magnify glasses. Her parents blamed her, and only her, for the black eye she endured during her courtship with Bo.
Bo himself was none too happy with Penelope’s decision to end their courtship. His work began slacking, and it caught the attention of his brother-in-law Cassidy Ford. Cassidy was the self-proclaimed accountant of the Barabbas boys, after all someone had to take care of their earnings. If it were left up to the brothers the profits would all be wasted on booze, tobacco, and women.
To say Barnabas was furious was an understatement. How could Bo let this happen? The Barabbas reputation was one of good will throughout the town. It took a lot of time and hard work to change the town’s perception of the boys. True, the Barabbas boys were hardly pleasant, hardly your model citizen underneath their exteriors. Barnabas had relied on Bo to wed Penelope, not for love, but for an investment.
Every outing in the woods the Barabbas boys were swindling their clients. No goblin lived in the Kobold woods, of all the times Barnabas made it back and forth he never experienced any fear, he never even heard a sound, not even so much as a deer was to be seen in those woods. When a brave soul of a local ventured into the woods and never returned this was not due to any ghost or goblin, this was all Barnabas Barabbas. He would follow the fool into the woods, and he would do the devil’s work. No trace would be left. A fire would burn, a grave dug out.
Barnabas Barabbas was the goblin of the woods.
