《Jiharu: A Story of The Hunt》Chapter 15
Advertisement
The engines never roared now, only rose slowly to a comfortable purr. Guff watched the bustle of the platform, the shrieking boys and girls flinging legs here and there, the stiff businessmice parting the crowds with firm blows of their briefcases, with something like satisfaction. It was always good to get through it in one piece.
They were out of downtown Jiharu in seconds. The engine rose a little more and then relaxed as the train slid into the downward curve of the slender track reaching out across the lake. The first time they had come this way, Guff had felt he knew what it was to be a dragon, with the whole word beneath your talons. Now, he only felt a little sick.
There was a throaty cackle from across the carriage. “Can’t handle your syrup anymore, friend?” Venn called. He was so far away Guff could hardly make him out. There were pockets of speciesism here and there, down in poky little shops and snobby theatre gatherings, but the municipal council was certainly good enough to skern. All the trains had these extra-wide carriages with long, cushioned galleries from which to watch the buildings blur past. The council had been very good to them, hadn’t it?
Guff said nothing. He wanted to say many things, but they kept toppling over each other when he tried to rearrange them in his head. “Just call it old age,” he settled on.
Venn got painfully to his feet. Then he was crossing the passage, abandoning his own comfort for his friend’s. He drew close. “There’s nothing to worry about now. Nobody, and I mean nobody, remembers any of that in these times. Nobody even cares. Remember what we used to tell them about the Twin Uprisings?”
Guff remembered. Skern were valued as history teachers in the Union for obvious reasons. Guff and Venn had both signed up at twenty or so, when a couple of generations of levin had already slipped by like paper in the wind. Their pay had only grown as the years went on. Their memories had guided the city as much as its politicians and scientists. The pair had counted many famous figures among their tiny pupils. They had also attended most of their funerals.
Advertisement
Memories were good, but there was also the national curriculum to uphold. And sometimes, particularly as far as the troubles were concerned, things were simplified. Sanitised.
“It was all lies. Like us.”
Venn shook his head, though not disagreeably. They were over the lake now, speeding southwards through the busy riverside wharves where an ancient stone bridge had once stood. The foundations on its left bank were still visible. They had visited it once, years ago, but quite frankly it hadn’t been worth the bus ride.
Old minds are always wandering, but this time, like many times before, both wandered in the same direction. It was something that had allowed them to remain close over the past century or so, even after Guff became disillusioned with the approved brand of truth and withdrew to his rented floor of the rotting Clanmates' Hall on the western lakeshore. The memory of the visit had kindled curiosity in Guff, and he pushed his guilt to one side for a more lonely day. He had to celebrate now. For his friend.
“So, I find myself sitting on a train, whizzing through town, and you still haven’t told me where we’re going. You could be taking me anywhere!” His voice was cheerful, and about halfway through, the words convinced his own heart too.
Venn’s nostrils flared. There was still that cheeky gleam in his eye, and Guff was struck by just how young he still looked. He wasn’t too sure about himself, but Venn really could pass for one hundred and fifty seven.
The gentleskern fumbled at a little leather pouch hooked onto a brittle spine on his side. “It’s a secret, and it shall remain so until we get there. But I do promise you it will be far more exciting than your choice last year.”
Advertisement
Guff snorted good-naturedly at the insult. They took it in turns to organise their hatchingday outing. The pair weren’t always backward-facing; often it was a trip to see a comedy at the Lakeside Cinema or a posh meal at one of the up-and-coming eateries downtown. Venn usually paid.
But last time, it was Guff that had led them south-east on a trip down memory lane. The riverbank was redundant; the now-sedentary water lazed its way along a rather unceremonious canal towards the lakelands. So were most of the rusty warehouses that cast their ragged shadows over the slope. Even the marsh, seemingly endless in its day and ripe with the fancied scent of females, had drained into obscurity long ago.
They had spent most of that afternoon arguing over where the burrows had been.
Venn’s aching feet had finally found their way past the clip on his pouch. He closed his claws around a small object and pulled it out. “Alright, I’ll give you a little clue. We’re still almost an hour away after all.”
Guff glanced up at the stations on the route panel, but found no name there to kindle his curiosity. “The rest of the gifts are getting sorted by the servants as we speak, I take it?” There was no bitterness in his voice. Or very little.
Venn gargled out a sound that only his old friend would interpret as good-hearted dismissal. “Yes, yes, and put into the twentieth vault on the left ready for a rainy day. I think you’re going a bit senile in your old age; you say it every hatchingday.” But then the edges of his muzzle puckered in a sudden seriousness. “This is the very best though. And why we’re here.”
Gently, he set down something onto the corner of Guff’s cushion. Guff peered closer and closer. He really did need to scrape the money together for some decent spectacles.
The offering was something long and thin. There were hints of intricate swirls and ornaments in Guff’s blurred impression of it. And, when he moved his head from side to side, it gleamed and twinkled from a thousand glassy facets.
He reached out and pressed a scale to its surface. Despite the pleasant warmth of the train, it was deeply, impossibly cold.
“So I’m not alone. Another ancient miscreant sends his regards,” Guff said.
“Close enough,” said Venn.
Advertisement
Old Riding Author Lunatic Asylum
Just off the A19, in the dark, incomprehensible lands known as Yorkshire, there lies a town. A town where shadow-silent alleys glint with the secret hunger of knives. Where blood soaks the chipboard window shutters of forsaken terraces stretching off into the night. Where the smog-choked air rattles with the depraved laughter echoing out from clubs that can only generously be described as post-apocalyptic. Well, that’s Middlesbrough. But down the A19 a bit (an impossibly long way down, actually) there lies another town: Raughnen, in the ancient, forgotten Old Riding. It is an equal match in muggery and thuggery alike. It also has magic spells and pointy wizard hats. And now, across the miles and across all sensibilities, a pretty nasty power (a magic one) calls out for its pretty nasty counterpart (a decidedly unmagic one): a proper sound Boro lad. Nothing good can come of it. This is a collection of one novella and four connected short stories: I. A Yorkshire Summoning II. Old Riding Day Trip (the novella) III. Heaven is a Parmo IV. Death on the 66 V. Death on the 257 In total, this comprises 34 chapters totalling around 35,000 words, so try not to worry. It will be over relatively quickly. There are three more short stories with more tenuous links to the core collection: Rush, Paper Round and Scenario 79: Sausage Fingers, all of which can be found in my collection Short Records of Misadventure. Reading these may allow you to make more sense of certain parts of the story, if any sense is to be made at all. NOTE: There are instances of prejudice and discrimination within these stories, including elements of sexism and ageism, which are purely the thoughts and actions of the characters involved and which certainly do not reflect my own views on these matters. ANOTHER NOTE; A WARNING, PERHAPS: This can get a bit weird. In less than 150 pages, we have four viewpoints, first and third person narratives, and a completely disjointed plot with lots of gaps, dead ends and no real resolution. Also ZERO lunatic asylums. It's all a bit odd. If that sort of thing isn't your cup of tea, which it most likely isn't, it might be best to move on now.
8 190Tower of Hell
A wicked tale of good, evil, and everything in between. This web novel follows eighteen-year-old Jonas Ariel and his dangerous adventure through the Tower of Hell, searching for his older brother. Jonas is a daring youth who attempts to climb the harsh social climate of Hell, all while training himself to master a strange, evil power called Sin. However, in his crusade to be reunited with his beloved brother, Jonas stumbles upon a world of shadow and blood, where he later learns that his being is much more significant than he once thought. How could an orphan from Kansas have so much impact on the fate of Hell? Tower of Hell is an adult 18+ story, viewer discretion is advised. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, business, events, and incidents are the products of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. © 2022 Chaosverser Web Novels
8 136Reborn in Tales of Demons and Gods
Rai need something else to entertain him while Ken is not doing anything or is just training so he decides to send another person to a different world. This time, instead of having a person change what world they are going to with a wish, he sends a survey for those who want to start a new life in TDG. The first person to reply will be sent to TDG while the rest will think that the message is a scam. I don't own TDG and Library of Heaven's Path or anything related to them. I do own my OC though... or do I? DUN DUN DUNNNN.I also don't own the picture.
8 1329Bug in this Game
There is a game that is popular all over the world called, "Fantasy Collusion". Played by almost 2.5 billion people it is a revolutionary VR game. With a Virtual reality device called "Fotan" players live their gaming experience. Due to a defect or glitch in the game, one NPC becomes self-aware. What will a bugged NPC do? in a world where they aren't considered people? For what reasons will he seek to be stronger?
8 284Basic Fantasy Solo RPG
A series of solo table-top RPG sessions set in a bog-standard fantasy setting with humans, elves, dwarves, halflings, and lots and lots of monsters. Hopefully for our adventurers, lots of treasure too. The adventurer Alhwald Tillyworth and the elf cleric Lyndis Hersandoral are on a fantasy adventure to become wealthy and powerful. Nothing more or less than that. Alhwald was the third child in his family. His father was a musician and could not afford to look after him so as a child he lived with some nomads. As a young adult, he left these nomads and moved to a small town hoping to achieve his ambitions of wealth and comfort. He can be a bit greedy because of his ambitions. Lyndis was the third child in her family. Her father was a mercenary and Lyndis wants to get experience on her own to follow his footsteps. When she was a child of 8 she got lost in the wilderness and she lost her consciousness while being pursued by Kobolds. When she was out she saw Kalmera the Goddess of Miracles and when she woke up her wounds were gone and she was in an area of the wilderness she was familiar with and the Kobolds were nowhere to be found.
8 149Phoebe's Afterword
When a story ends another one begins. Follow the journey of Silvia, a strange being coming from a now lost place, on these new lands. Hello everyone, this is the first story I ever wrote, in english on top of that (I am french).I hope you will have a good read.
8 93