Contest Entries and Short Stories

Asmodee

The seasons are shifting. Dusk has finally touched the earth and the surrounding woods are dark. Doom hung heavy in the air. A path can be made out by the hard and worn dirt leading to a small pit surrounded by tall trees in a tight circle. Darkness is all that can be seen in the endless hole. The elders say it leads to the afterlife.

Figures emerge, slowly slip through the trees lining the path, torches lighting their way. A cool wind gently nips at their skin. Tension vibrates around them as they wait for some unwelcome event to unfold. The pressure grows, the wind catches the tremors, and a humming comes through on its voice. Standing in the night they start to chant in unison and the noise rises harmoniously into the evening air.

Then it stops.

Silence.

At the end of the path are two large men, centinels. Their bodies are tree trunks and between them they drag a bound woman. Her hair falls in dark cascading strands around her face; parts clumped together stained red. Her face is littered with similar scarlet markings, along with traces of dirt. She flinches in pain as they pull her along but she does not fight them. Every once in a while she looks up at the people around her, displaying the tears as they roll down her high cheekbones. She has accepted her faith and the heaviness of her heart is evident.

As she peers around the group, everyone meets her eyes. They wave the burning branches in the air close to her, a last attempt to cleanse her soul before her physical form is taken.
The night quivers in anticipation. Every member draws their breath in and holds it as a hand is raised. Emerging from the darkness behind the bound girl comes a small round man. His hair is tied back in a long braid, and his skin shows the tell tale signs of years of sun exposure. His big brown eyes are bright and sharp. The depths of them show his age and wisdom.

The woods are silent. All the creatures of the night wait for whatever was about to unfold.

"This woman," he proclaims to the masses and holds a pause for effect. "This woman has broken our rules; she has committed sins which are unspeakable they are so foul. Her presence in our village, her poison has started to leach through us. She is the obvious choice for this village elder to have made." The crowd around him nods in agreement. "This one sacrifice will suffice Asmodee!" His voice rises high and broadcasts over the group.

Silence takes over the night again and the two guards pick the girl up, bringing her to her feet. She takes two steps before they give out beneath her. Her body slacks but her feet just drag in the dirt as the two men move forward, carrying her with them. Each step forwarded is drawn out before finally the trio meets the lip of the pit. All three sets of eyes peer downward into the darkness, looking for any signs of light or motion.

Nothing.

In a motion so quick, you would not expect it from two such heavy set men, they cut the ropes that bound her hands and push her forward into the darkness. A scream rips the night air as she 'thuds' to the ground and then silence, again.

Silence being the theme of the evening, quickly making the crowd uneasy as they wait for the night air to fill with more screams.

And wait they do.

The colourful village elder steps forward. "Give me a torch," he commands to the man standing next to him, whi quickly obliges, "and you two, you come with me."

Forth they venture, standing by the edge of the pit straining their ears to hear anything. Sobs. She is crying in deep quiet heaves, the scurrying of a mouse would be louder. The elder takes the torch, dipping it low into the pit to see the events that are unfolding below him.

Then it drops. Down into the pit. She stares at the light in front of her, the elder's right hand still holding the torch tight in its grip. She peers above her and in the dim lighting bending over the pit, he has still not grasped the reality of what has just transpired. Blood flows from the open wound, which was once his hand, like a fountain staining the earth a crimson red.

The two guards stared blankly at the elder, then at each other.

As they attempt to ratify the situation, their leader vanishes, leaving nothing more than a trail of red in his wake.

Ungodly screams fill the air, fading until it is nothing but a quiet gargling.

Then nothing. A weighted silence.