The Ebon Death

You have been on the road for three days and the food ran out two nights ago. Your horse walks behind you, carrying the child while you lead your small party through the endless, barren scrubland. You pray the monk is right, and that the village is nearby. If he's wrong... Well. Maybe starvation is the best death that can be hoped for. The hunger has wormed its way out of your belly and is now in your bones and your head. You feel, paradoxically, light and sluggish at the same time. You're drifting over the road, scarcely under your own power. [[The child]] [[The monk]]

She is nine years old and you still do not know her name, though you have been travelling together since you left the Holy Land. She has not said a word to you in all that time. You know she does not speak Frankish, but you would have thought she would have picked up at least a word or two by now. You talk to her all the time. Maybe she's mute. Maybe it's because you killed her father. She gazes back at you with those piercing green eyes, so stark against her dark hair and features. [[The monk]] [[Turn back to the road]]

The monk is always smiling. He is completely bald and his face is so weathered that it is impossible to guess his age. He could be in his forties or his nineties. A few teeth, last stubborn survivors of a long-lost war, hang uneasily in his mouth. And he smiles. Always. At first it was a comfort but as the days have worn on it has made you ever-more uneasy. He has gone two days without food and he's still smiling. You hope to God he hasn't gone mad. He's the one guiding you to the village, if it exists. Suddenly, he gives a hoarse whoop and lifts his left arm to the horizon. There it is, a tiny village. He smiles proudly. Your eyes drift to his right shoulder. The arm is missing, but it does not look like it was cut away cleanly. The flesh of the shoulder is mottled and uneven. It looks as if the arm almost...dissolved away. [[The child]] [[Enter the village]]

You suddenly realise you haven't been paying attention to the road and your head snaps back to the horizon. You're getting sloppy. A lack of concentration can be fatal. If you see them on the horizon there's still time to run. Barely. Suddenly, you see it! The village the monk told you about crouches by the side of the road in the distance. You thought you'd feel happier to see it. [[Enter the village]]

Your horse whinnies and snorts anxiously as you enter the village. The child pats its neck reassuringly. The monk smiles and spreads his one arm expansively, like a prophet who has led his people to the promised land. You wish you shared his optimism. This village was clearly a shithole before. Now... There are half a dozen wretched hovels, damp from the recent rain. The only building of note is a tiny, shabby church in the centre of town. Your horse stamps its foot and pulls nervously at the reigns. He wants to leave. Course he does, he can always eat grass. Aside from your party there is not a single living thing here. No people. No dogs. Not even a rat. But there may be food. [[Search the hovels]] [[Go to church]]

The rotting wooden door creaks open and you are almost glad that your stomach is empty as the smell strikes you, carried on the wings of a near biblical swarm of flies. The bodies have been too badly mangled to tell how many people they originally constituted. [[Look around the room]] [[Leave without a word]]

You have not been inside a church since you left your village for the Holy Land. It should feel wrong to hold a drawn sword in this place, but instinctively you feel that any sanctity this church held is long gone. Right now, you would not leave yourself defenceless if the Pope himself appeared and commanded you to lay down your sword. Idly, you find yourself wondering if the Pope is still alive. You have heard rumours that Rome has fallen. But then, they say that about everywhere. If you were to heed rumour, there is not a single city left living in all of Europe. Some of the villagers must have tried to barricade themselves in the church. The massive hole that has been clawed through the front door tells you just how successful they were. The shredded bodies lain across the floor complete the tale. You bend down to examine the closest body (a woman...you think). Then, you hear it. It rises, like a nightmare, from behind the alter. Its jet black hide murders the light that falls on it and its long, serrated tail caresses its body and head like a serpent tempting it to atrocity. It turns its long, obscene-looking, eyeless head to face you and it opens a drooling mouth, alive with needle-like teeth. And then, with a sickening slowness, a second mouth emerges from the depths of the first. The demon fixes you with an eyeless gaze. And hisses. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_kVJRVNJbgo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> [[attack creature]] [[flee]]

The bodies have been dead for some time. They all bear the signs of the Ebon Death. Their chests are hollowed out, broken ribs glinting palely in the daylight. The child and the monk stand in the doorway, staring at the carnage. There was a time when you would have shielded her from something like this, but it's nothing she hasn't seen before. The monk goes to pray over the bodies. He's still smiling. The child has more earthly concerns. She points to her mouth and looks at you. You shake your head. No food. Not for you. [[Leave the village immediately]] [[Go to church]]

Your first instinct is to run. The Ebon Death has struck here and may still be nearby. You look at the church. The door has been barricaded. This was where they made their last stand. You doubt that there are any survivors in the church. But perhaps they hoarded food there? Perhaps there is a great stash of dried meat and bread and water just waiting for a hungry traveller brave enough to claim it? Perhaps. And perhaps you should get out of here while your legs are still attached to your hips. [[Go to church]] [[Leave the village immediately]]

You need to leave. Now. You put the child back on your horse. She gazes over at the church, almost accusingly. You shake your head. No. Too dangerous. She nods. She understands. You scan around the village one last time for safety and head back on to the road. [[Continue on.]]

You leave the village behind, every few seconds casting a glance over your shoulder to make sure that nothing is following you. The monk walks alongside you, that same damn smile still wrapped around his weathered face. You realise that you hate him, and repress an urge to bury your dull, rusty sword in the small of his back. The child has fallen asleep on the horse, but even so she retains perfect balance and rides on. The horse has become restless and wants to stop. Irritably, you jerk the reigns to pull him forward. Suddenly the horse snorts, and then screams. It rears up on its hind legs and the child wakes with a startled yelp and goes tumbling to the hard ground. The horse suddenly keels over, its eyes staring wide in terror. It rolls onto its side, its hooves kicking wildly, its mouth open with great yellow teeth bared and its tongue lolling grotesquely. The child rushes to the horse's side, whispering in its ear to comfort it. You yell at her to stay back, terrified she'll be bitten or kicked. Suddenly, the horse's chest seems to leap, as if its heart was trying to burst out. No. No. It's not possible. How did they get your horse? You draw your sword and yell at the child to step back but she won't abandon the horse. Suddenly, the horse's eyes roll back in its head and it gives a low shuddering scream as the air is filled with the sound of ripping leather blood. The wyrm, the larval stage of the Ebon Death, bursts from the horse's chest like hate with teeth and rolls on to the dusty road. You bring the sword down but the wyrm moves likes lightning and vanishes into the thick, tangled scrubland, leaving only a thick soupy red trail behind it. This is the country of the Ebon Death. They are everywhere. Stalking the roads, scouring every village they find. And now, you don't even have horse. Well, at least now you have food. YOU HAVE REACHED THE WISE MAN'S ENDING.

You took an oath. To protect the innocent and to never turn your back on a foe. You have broken this oath more times than you can remember. But today, it shall hold. You can buy them a few precious moments. Time to be a knight. You scream a single word: "RUN!" and hope your voice carries far enough to reach them outside the church. You charge the creature, sword raised high. You feel yourself yanked back as the creature's tail bursts out of your chest, hooking you in place. The creature holds your face almost tenderly in its icy cold hands. The second mouth emerges through a forest of glistening teeth. Slowly. You await its kiss. YOU HAVE REACHED THE THE MARTYR'S ENDING.

Obviously, but where? [[Back the way you came, if you can lead it towards the child and the monk, you may buy yourself some time]] [[lead it away from the child and the monk, towards the back of the church]]

You have been given a choice, dead hero or living coward. You choose the latter. With a scream you turn and run for the main entrance of the church. You hear the creature's claws scarring the wooden alter as it leaps after you. You burt out into the daylight and run for your horse. You climb onto him and dig your heels so deep in his flank that he whinnies in anger. You hear a scream and you cast your head over your shoulder. What you see will stay with you forever. The Ebon death holds the monk in its hands, and has penetrated his chest with his tail, an ocean of blood seeping into the ground beneath his cassock. The monk stares into the creature's hissing, hateful face. And the monk is still smiling. But it's the child who will remain with you most indelibly. She stares at your retreating back with a look you didn't even see when you ran her father through with your sword. You have left her. And she hates you. You can almost feel your skin blister from the fire of her hate. You do not watch the creature kill her. You ride. You run. [[Flee]]

While you realise that it's ultimately a moot point, you still need to decide whether to run to the creature's left or right. [[Left, and certain death]] [[Right, and certain death]]

You tell yourself that you only did what anyone would have done. What could you possibly done against that creature. The strongest armies in Europe and the Holy Land have already fallen against them. The Ebon Death is like any other death; Inevitable. It is simply a matter of when. And how long could you have been expected to escort the stuck up brat and the old fool anyway? You should get a sainthood for putting up with them this long. You're better off on your own. As if disgusted by your thoughts, your horse throws you from its shoulders and you go skidding to the ground. Blood dripping from the cut over your eyes you go to strike the beast but stop when you realise that something is very wrong. The horse collapses to the ground and starts screaming and thrashing its legs. Suddenly, the horse's eyes roll back in its head and it gives a low shuddering scream as the air is filled with the sound of ripping leather blood. The wyrm, the larval stage of the Ebon Death, bursts from the horse's chest like hate with teeth and rolls on to the dusty road. You bring the sword down but the wyrm moves likes lightning and vanishes into the thick, tangled scrubland, leaving only a thick soupy red trail behind it. This is the country of the Ebon Death. They are everywhere. Stalking the roads, scouring every village they find. Your companions are dead, by your hand, or as good as. And you don't even have a horse. Well, at least now you have food. YOU HAVE REACHED THE COWARD'S ENDING.

You run towards the back of the church and find only a dead end. Your to face the creature with your sword drawn but it knocks it from your hand and pins you against the wall. Your head is pinned against the wall but out of the corner of your eye you see a <i> second </i> creature has appeared behind the first. You pray that the child and the monk have already fled. Maybe, just maybe, they'll have time to escape. Suddenly, the creature pinning you screams in pain and fury. The second creature has impaled it through the chest with its tail. You have never seen the Ebon Death kill each other. You wonder what it means. Unfortunately for you, the creature's blood burns everything it touches. Your vision fades as your chest and arms are dissolved to nothing. YOU HAVE REACHED THE UNLUCKY MAN'S ENDING.

The creature swings its tail to impale you and you feel the serrated edge miss your scalp by the sliver of an inch. The creature is thrown off balance and you gain a few precious seconds. At the back of the church there is a tiny passageway instead of the dead end you dreaded. You race towards. A SECOND creature suddenly raises its black, elongated head from the darkened passageway. The creature behind you hisses furiously at the sight of this interloper. You have less than a second to register that something seems...different, about the second creature. [[There's no time for this. Strike the second creature with your sword and escape]] [[Stop to see what it is about the second creature that seems so unusual.]]

You plunge your sword deep into the creatures neck and it gives an angry scream. There's something wrong. That scream sounded like... You look down at your hands. They are covered in red blood. You have seen enough of the Ebon Death to know that the creatures bleed green, and that their blood melts flesh and blood like snow. "Who have I killed?" you ask yourself as you feel the creatures teeth pierce your back and fasten like a vice around your spine. YOU HAVE REACHED THE RECKLESS MAN'S ENDING

The second creature pushes past you and plunges its tail deep into the chest of the first creature and leaps back to avoid the splatter of acid blood. The creature roars like hell itself and the newcomer drives its spiked tail straight through its oval skull, killing the beast. There is silence, except for the sizzle of the creature's blood eating a pit into the church's floorboards. The second creature stands and you realise just what it is you are looking at. The creature removes its head, revealing a thin, hollow cheeked man with a scraggly brown beard and pale blue eyes, with not a little madness in them. From head to toe, he is wearing the armoured hide of one of the Ebon Death, with a skull as a helmet. The "tail" is the razor sharp tip of the creature's primary weapon fixed to the end of a halberd. He glares at you. "What are you doing running at me with a sword?" he asks angrily "Scared the shit out of me." [[Ask the stranger who he is]]

You ask the stranger who he is, but before he answers you hear your horse whinny outside. The stranger raises his hand to silence you. "You have a horse?!" he exclaims. He runs through the main door of the church and out into the village. You follow him. The child and the monk are still outside, they obviously didn't hear your warning or couldn't bring themselves to leave you behind. When the child sees that you're still alive she runs to you and embraces you tightly. You put your arms around her and kiss the top of her head. She's never done this before. You didn't realise until just now how much she's come to mean to you. The monk gives you a big, happy grin. For once, it doesn't seem out of place. The stranger has finished examining your horse and grabs you by the shoulder. The child glares at him suspiciously. "Come with me." the stranger says with a grin "I've got something to show you." [[Go with him]]

The armoured stranger takes you to the sacristy at the back of the church. He shows you the stores of food that the villagers had stashed there in the vain hope that the Ebon death coud be kept out of the church. You almost kiss him. You feel like you're going to weep with joy. "More than I can carry. More than you can carry." your new friend says "But now, thanks to you, you beautiful Frankish whoreseon, we have a HORSE!" he bellows. [[Now you kiss him]]

You help the stranger to load up the horse with supplies and your party sets off down the road. The child now holds your hand as you walk, which she has never done before. You can't tell if it's because she's glad you survived your encounter with the Ebon Death, or because she is wary of your new companion. Her eyes dart between the skull helmet that he carries and his face. You squeeze her hand reassuringly. You realise you still don't know your new companion's name. You turn to ask him but you are cut short by a hideous, shuddering, scream. You spin around to your tossing its head back and forth in agony. It keels over and the sacks of food you've laden it down with break and send their contents spilling across the road. The child goes to help the animal but you hold her back. The monk smiles and nods. The stranger in the ebon armour has donned his helmet. He looks like one of them. Even knowing that it's him, you feel a chill. He raises the halberd and plunges it deep into the horse's chest. The horse's head strikes the ground with a crack. It's dead, and freed from all agony. The stranger pulls a slick red, spasming thing from the horse's chest. A wyrm. The infant form of the Ebon Death. How did it possess your horse? When did that happen? A spider must have kissed your horse in the dead of night while it slept. Just your horse? Oh God. He holds the dead wyrm a few inches in front of your face. "Did you know?" he hisses. You shake your head. "Have you been possessed?" he asks. [["No."]] [["I don't know."]]

The stranger looks at the child and the monk. "What about them?" he whispers. You shake your head. You'd know. Wouldn't you? The stranger does not remove his helmet. You began this day starving. Now, with the hoard recovered from the village and your horse dead, you have ended the day with more food than you can use. Night is closing in. Time to light a fire. [[Sit down by the campfire]]

The words are barely out of your mouth when the stranger pulls the wyrm off the halberd and plunges the weapon into your chest. The child screams. So she's not mute after all. Your vision fades and the last thing you see is the stranger in his stolen demon-skin. He looks just like the real thing. YOU HAVE REACHED THE HONEST MAN'S END.

The child wraps your arm around her as you sit beside her. She glares unblinkingly at the stranger across the flames. He still has not taken off his helmet or armour. In the shadows cast by the fire, he looks just like the Ebon Death. The monk has begun to recite a prayer. It's one you have heard him recite many times. You bless yourself and bow your head. The child simply watches the monk, but does not bless herself. The monk thanks God for His protection, and prays for deliverance from Satan and his servants, the Ebon Death. "You're wrong." the stranger says "The death does not come from Hell. It fell from heaven." The monk smiles. [[The stranger's words are heresy. Ignore them.]] [[Ask the stranger what he means.]]

The fire has settled to a blood red glow. You have eaten well and feel drowsy. The child lies curled asleep beside you. The monk lies slumbering in the shadows, his one arm wrapped comfortingly around his chest. "You must have questions." the stranger murmurs quietly. [["What is your name?"]] [["Where did you get that armour?"]] [["You're a soldier?"]] [["Where are you travelling from?"]] [["What were you doing in the village?"]] [[Shake your head. It doesn't matter.]]

"You fought in the Holy Land. Didn't you? That's where she came from." You nod. The child squeezes your hand. He's talking about her, and she doesn't like it "I was at Jerusalem." says the stranger. He says it like he's confessing a murder. He tilts his head up to the night sky and watches the sparks fly upward from the fire. "There was a hole in the sky." he whispers "and a star fell, sick and red. That was the beginning." [[watch the fire in silence--->The stranger's words are heresy. Ignore them.]]

"My name is Ioan." he says. His Frankish is excellent but you can tell he is not a countryman. His accent is from one of the isles to the North West of Normandy. Britain or Ireland, your ear cannot be more specific than that. He does not offer any more information. [["Where did you get that armour?"]] [["You're a soldier?"]] [["Where are you travelling from?"]] [["What were you doing in the village?"]] [[Sleep now. Questions tomorrow--->Shake your head. It doesn't matter.]]

"You want to know how to get a suit of armour like this?" he asks "Why, nothing simpler. You take twelve strong, brave, Knights Templar. Strong of limb, pure of faith. True brothers in arms, who have fought together across the Holy Land." "They ride along the banks of the Jordan, where Naaman was made clean by God's grace. And they are followed, by the Ebon Death. It swims along the river behind them, a single creature. Lurking in the water. Like a serpent. It takes its time with them. It savours the hunt. And soon, there are only eight left. The survivors declare that they shall not turn their back on this foe. They shall avenge their brothers. They find a cave, with but one way in and they hobble two of their horses and leave them there, hoping that their screams will draw the creature." "Nothing surer. The thing emerges from the water, and while the brave knights watch from their hiding place, it slips inside. The crying of the horses grows louder. And then silence. The knights light their torches, ready their steel, and charge the cave. And from the cave their emanates such screams and cries, and calls for succour and terrible, hissing HATE.." The stranger breaks off his story until he can find his voice again. "And then two knights re-emerge. Burning alive from the creatures blood which coats them. And between them they drag the body of the creature. They are the last survivors, but they did it. They have fought the Ebon Death, and they have prevailed." "You need one more thing, to get a suit of armour like this. You need one knight who did not go into the cave, whose courage failed in the crucial moment. A knight who waited amongst the trees, weeping and cowering as he heard his brothers torn limb from limb. For you see, it is THIS knight who will, once he has put his two surviving brethren out of their agony, who will carefully drag the creature's body to the Jordan and bleed it thoroughly into the water." "It is this knight who will skin the creature after days and days of awful labour and fasten the creature's tail to his halberd. It is this knight who now has a suit of armour that their blood cannot burn through, and a weapon that can pierce their hide. It is this knight who they cannot kill." He pokes the fire with a stick. The sparks fly upwards. "That's how you get a suit of armour like this." [["What is your name?"]] [["You're a soldier?"]] [["Where are you travelling from?"]] [["What were you doing in the village?"]] [[Sleep now. Questions tomorrow--->Shake your head. It doesn't matter.]]

"A knight." You tell him that you're a knight too. "What order?" he asks. You tell him that you are sworn to the Order of St. John. "Well. That does make you a sort of knight, I suppose." he muses. That answers your next question. Only Templars are that arrogant. [["What is your name?"]] [["Where did you get that armour?"]] [["Where are you travelling from?"]] [["What were you doing in the village?"]] [[Sleep now. Questions tomorrow--->Shake your head. It doesn't matter.]]

"I have walked across half of bloody Christendom." he tells you "There's nothing left." You ask him if he thinks it's true what they say, that these are the End Times. "Maybe yours." he answers "Not mine." [["What is your name?"]] [["Where did you get that armour?"]] [["You're a soldier?"]] [["What were you doing in the village?"]] [[Sleep now. Questions tomorrow--->Shake your head. It doesn't matter.]]

He grins wickedly. Beneath the skull helmet the effect is...unsettling, to say the least. "I was looking for good Christian men and women, to give them my kiss and lay my wyrm within them." He hisses, in a fair impression of the Ebon Death. Your face must betray that you do not find his joke in good taste as he drops the smile instantly. "Searching for food. Same as you." he growls. [["What is your name?"]] [["Where did you get that armour?"]] [["Where are you travelling from?"]] [["You're a soldier?"]] [[Sleep now. Questions tomorrow--->Shake your head. It doesn't matter.]]

"You and I." he says, hooking the space between you with his finger, as if to draw you in. "We need to talk." You say nothing. "You can swing a sword. You can run. You can ride." he says "That means you're worth the food it'll take to keep you alive." He gestures to the sleeping child, and then the monk. "Them?" he shakes his head slowly, and the black skull glints in the firelight. "I have survived this long by holding on to that which will keep me alive, and discarding that which will get me killed. I can keep you alive. I can keep <i>you</i> alive. Do you understand?" You can feel beads of cold sweat forming on your brow. [[Plead for the life of the child.]] [[Plead for the life of the monk.]] [[Plead for the life of both.]] [[Tell him to leave, and that if you ever see him again, you'll kill him.]] [[He's right. Do what needs to be done.]]

Your mind races. You need him. But you can't let him kill the child. You have to convince him. Some how. [[Lie.]] [[Tell the truth. Tell him that you have sworn an oath to protect her, that she's smart and doesn't eat much.]] [[Tell him to leave, and that if you ever see him again, you'll kill him.]] [[He's right. Do what needs to be done.]]

The child means nothing to you, but the thought of killing a man of God terrifies you. You say that you don't want to be damned. "Neither do I." he replies "But here we are." You beg him to reconsider. "No." he says "That smile of his. It irritates me." [[Tell him to leave, and that if you ever see him again, you'll kill him.]] [[He's right. Do what needs to be done.]]

You tell him that you are a knight, and have sworn an oath to protect the innocent. "If you bring them with us, we will all die." he says as if he's reading scripture. His faith in his words is absolute. You see he will never agree to bringing both of them. But maybe... [[Plead for the life of the child.]] [[Plead for the life of the monk.]] [[Tell him to leave, and that if you ever see him again, you'll kill him.]] [[He's right. Do what needs to be done.]]

The monk has begun his morning prayers. He holds his one arm out, the palm flat against the air, as if he can feel the missing palm still there. The child wakes and rubs sleep out of her eyes. She looks around anxiously. "He's gone." you tell her "He left in the night." She arches an eyebrow. "Don't worry." you say "He left us our share of the food. We don't need him. We'll be fine." "Amen." says the monk. YOU HAVE REACHED THE GOOD MAN'S ENDING.

Dawn breaks and two figures walk silently through the barren scrubland. Your stomach is full but now you feel a different kind of emptiness. Half a mile down the road a circle of ashes rests between two cold forms. Each one weighs a ton. You turn to look at your companion. The Ebon Death looks back at you, and smiles. YOU HAVE REACHED THE SCOUNDREL'S ENDING

You tell him that she is a Saracen princess and that you are escorting her back to her father's kingdom. Once there, you both will be showered with wealth and favour and will live peaceful, contented lives behind the solid walls of his citadel. The Ebon Death will never reach you there. He says nothing for a few moments. "That was beautiful." he says at last "But lies usually are. Who was her father, really?" A goat herder, you tell him. He surprised you when you were ransacking his hovel for food. She saw it all. You could not leave her there. He nods. "You have taken her far enough." [[Tell the truth. Tell him that you have sworn an oath to protect her, that she's smart and doesn't eat much.]] [[Tell him to leave, and that if you ever see him again, you'll kill him.]] [[He's right. Do what needs to be done.]]

The man wearing the hide of the Ebon Death listens in silence as you plead for the life of the child. At last, he sighs. "Very well." he says "But you will feed her from your rations. Make sure she understands that." You nod gratefully. He turns his head to look at the sleeping monk. "Do it." he tells you. [[The morning after.]]

You carry the still sleeping child in your arms as you and Ioan, the ebon-armoured knight, continue on your journey. When she wakes, you'll tell her the monk died in his sleep. Not a lie, exactly. You have cleaned your sword but your soul feels sick. But you have food, and a powerful protector. And you have her. You have kept her alive, and you know now that is the only thing that matters to you. You look down at her, asleep in your arms. She smiles. YOU HAVE REACHED THE FATHER'S ENDING.