Fractured Spirits

Chapter 2, Hayline Shoemaker:

Chapter 2, Hayline Shoemaker:

The rain wasn’t the only thing that dampened Hayline’s spirits. The journey to the wall passed uneventfully. Too uneventful for Hayline’s tastes.

Past the wall, past the reach of civilization and all things would be better, or at least so Hayline thought. His tutors had drilled into his head the wall marked the end of civilization. The only men past the wall should not be considered men. More monsters who would breed with anything that stood still long enough.

Hayline suffered disappointment after agonizing disappointment. He expected an edifice as imposing as the cliffs Perdition was built upon. The wall wasn’t. It stood perhaps the height of two short men standing on one another’s shoulders. It did go on for quite a distance, but a drunken toddler could scale the blocks in seconds. Many of the stones had gone missing, and when Hayline reached the summit, he found farms and fields on the far side. A section of the barrier had been removed for a road to pass through.

“This is it?” Giblet asked.

“It appears so.” Hayline strolled toward the fissure that cut through the barrier.

A wagon approached, and Hayline had questions.

“Maybe there is another, a more… imposing one?”

Hayline shook his head. “I don’t see any more in the distance.” Reaching the gap before the invading wagon, he loomed over the edge.

Left hand raised, he looked an imposing force clad in the now drenched oilcloth cloak. The wagon, carrying an old man and a young girl stopped before Hayline spoke.

“Good sir, where are the demons? Where are the monsters I heard called this land past the wall their home?”

The old man scanned the wall and the area behind him. “I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about.”

“Can we kill them now?” the little girl asked.

Hayline shook his head. The thatch in the back of the wagon shifted into a load of dead children, by the look of it their throats all slit and their bodies drained of blood. Hayline shook his head, and the load returned to thatch.

“I asked where are the demons? Are they farther inland?” Hayline asked again.

“Ain’t nothing around here but farms. I’ve never seen a demon my whole life here. They are all gone, I think, gone the way of the dragons.”

“Kill, kill, kill them all.” The little girl sprouted horns. Her tongue flicked out, split like a serpent’s, tasting the air. The wagon was loaded with babies again.

Hayline forced himself to remain calm, even if he felt an overwhelming urge to vomit. “And farther into the mountains? What lies past the farms?” he asked while his hands flexed on the weapon handles under the oilcloth.

“Nothing, as far as I know, only trees, valleys, and the wild folk.” The old man’s eyes narrowed as he inspected Hayline’s behavior.

“I want to drink his BLOOD!” the little girl screamed, standing on the bench seat of the wagon.

Releasing his dagger, Hayline cinched his cilice tighter, shooting the pain down his leg and deep into his abdomen. He felt the blood from the device mix with the rain and dribble into his shoe.

Giblet screamed in pain when the band tightened and the spines dug into the flesh. “Just kill the beasts already!”

The dead babies in the back of the wagon returned to the thatch needed to repair a leaking roof down the lane.

“Thank you, good sir, I will search the mountains for these wild men…” Hayline saluted the old man and the little girl as he let them pass.

While the wagon passed under his perch on the wall, Hayline blacked out.

The rain beating on the top of his bare head brought him back to reality. He kneeled in the center of the path, the mud and horseshit seeping into his leather trousers. He glanced up, tears mixing with the rain, and in the distance, he spotted the wagon, the old man and the young girl missing from the driver’s seat. Close to him, along the side of the road, lay the forms of two bodies. Hayline only assumed what happened. He had no doubt the cadavers were of the old man and girl. Rivulets of blood ran in the rain down his blades and puddled on the track.

He screamed, “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?”

“We are past the wall, they must be demons. Didn’t you see them? She wanted to drink your blood!” Giblet let out a soft giggle. “You should have heard the screams of fear when we attacked.”

Hayline realized he still held his weapons, the blades resting in the mud. He did all he could think of: he crossed the blades over his neck and carried them there ready to slit his own throat. “Leave me, or else I will do it right here.” His emotional outburst made it hard to understand his words. Snot ran down his chin while he cried.

“You know you can’t do that. Remember, you said you would do anything to be free of your bindings. Now you’re stuck with me, forever.” Giblet’s voice mocked in his ears.

“I mean it!” The fine edges bit into the soft flesh of his neck. His blood mixed with the victims’ that covered him.

“Fine!” Giblet retook control. The sword points dropped onto the muddy path. Out of control, Hayline stood and turned to the nearest hut at the far side of the wall. “Remember, everyone on this side is a demon.” Hayline marched toward the nearest hut, both blades twisting in his hands as he warmed up his wrists, preparing for the workout that would soon come.

Hayline watched in horror as he uncontrollably marched to the closest hut and kicked in the door. Screams reached his ears, while his dissenting sword arm hacked, killing every demon in sight. The unarmed civilians had little chance against the well-armed and armored fighter.

The shrieks of the dying were accompanied by the hideous cackle of Giblet’s bloodlust. If Hayline had the control, he would have fallen on his sword, anything to stop the murderous rampage he committed at Giblet’s command.

Hut after hut, he worked his way up the valley through the smaller and smaller farmsteads until there stood nothing left to slaughter. Even the farm animals were not safe from Giblet’s rage. By the time the killing was finished, nothing lived in the path of destruction save the harpies that began gathering to feast on the fallen families.

Hayline marched farther up the valley, past any settlement or signs of civilization. His ragged breath sounded more like a wild rabid animal than a human, but he climbed higher, following a small stream that ran along his track.

Eventually, Hayline spoke. His voice, hoarse from the exertion, came in gasps. “How could you?”

“That was fun, wasn’t it?” Giblet giggled.

Through the pain, Hayline climbed on. “They…”

“They were demons, that’s all you need to tell yourself. We are on the far side of the wall, everyone on this side is a demon, and we can kill at will here.”

Hayline quickened his pace. “They were… farmers… and children.” He would have shouted, but his breath grew short from the exertion.

“No! They were demons! You need to listen to me, you need to always listen to me. I am the only one that keeps you safe! Not your father, or siblings, especially not that b***h of a witch! Me! I am the only one!” Giblet’s voice screamed in Hayline’s head. “You will die if not for me.”

The more exerted Hayline became, the more he controlled his body. The simple act of walking higher into the mountains caused enough pain for him to take partial control over his actions. “You know… I can’t let you… do this.” He puffed.

“You can’t do s**t unless I let you. Just tell yourself everything past the wall is a demon, and all will be well.” Giblet’s voice became soothing, like it was when Hayline was a child. “You know I only want to keep you safe, but I have needs. I need the fear of their souls as they die a violent death. Don’t you love that feeling? I could feel your hard-on when your blade sliced through that soft tender flesh.”

Hayline felt himself becoming aroused at the thought of the power he gained when Giblet controlled his actions. The power over life and death excited him, while making him feel the true monster he’d become. He picked the path as close to the edge as possible, the stream a distant memory at the bottom of the cliff. Ahead, he heard the growing thunder of a waterfall. “Is there nothing I can say to convince you to stop the killing?” Hayline pleaded with Giblet. “Please, let’s go back to the way it used to be, like when I was a child.”

Giblet laughed. “Silly boy, you can never go back.”

A tear rolled down Hayline’s cheek. He recognized there was nothing he could do to change Giblet’s mind. The roaring water approached on his left, his pace quickened. “You’re right about one thing,” Hayline said to himself and left the words hanging.

Giblet gleefully asked, “What’s that, my boy?”

“There are demons over the wall.” To that, Hayline walked over the cliff, throwing himself into the mist below. His, or Giblet’s voice if you prefer, screamed, “Nooo!” until the echoes drowned out the original scream. After, there was only the sound of the water crashing over the rocks below. No one witnessed Hayline’s final act of bravery.