darkandstormy

<<later>>Antonio isn't scared.\n\n<<becomes>>Blood covers Antonio's tongue.\n\n<<endlater>>Antonio <<insert "opens his mouth.">>\n\nAntonio <<insert "begins:">>\n\n<<replace "IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT">><<replace "IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT ">><<replace "IT͡ WAS͞ ͟A̵ ̢DARK AND ̛S͢T͡O̷R͏MY ̶NIG͡HT">>I̴͢͠T͘ W̸̧A͜͡͡S̸͠ Ą ̵̷D͘͟A͜҉̨RK̀ ̧͘AN͟D̶ ̧͡ST͞Ó͞R̷M͜Ỳ͞ ͏N̛͢I̡͘͟G̢̀HT͏ I̛T҉̶̨ ̵͟͢Ẁ̨͟A̕͝S̶̡ ͡A̴ ̶D̴̨͜A҉R͟K͠ ͘A̵̢N͢͞D͏͜͠ ̸̨Ś͢͝T̴̕͝O͟͠R̴̛M̴͠Y̧͟͝ N̢I҉GHT<<endreplace>> <<replace "I͝T ͞W͏A̴S ̀A D̷ÁR̵K̨ AND ͢S͞ŢORM̢Y N̴IGHT̶">>IT͘͏ ̕WA̡̕S̀҉ ͏̷A̢͏ DA̧RK҉͏ ̧̡̡AN͏҉D́̕҉ ̡͡ST́͏O͏̶R̛͠M҉Y̛͠ ͏̵N͡Ì̸͜G͢͟H̨̀T̢ I̡͜T͘ W̵AS̶̨ ͞A͡҉ ͜D̡̕A̷̛Ŗ̵Ḱ̴̕ ̸̷͠A͡N̕͜D ҉̴͢S̷҉T͠͡Ò̴R҉̡M̢Ý̨̛ ̨͢N̸I̷̕G͝H̵͘T͝<<endreplace>><<endreplace>> <<replace "IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT">><<replace "I͢T҉ W͘AŚ A ̢DAR͝K AND ͞STORMY̧ N̢IGHT">>ĮT̸̡̀ ̸W͡A̢S ҉͠͞À̡̢ ̷D̕͝Ą̵R̷͜K̀ ̢͢A͞͝N̸D҉͞ ̶̡͘S͘Ţ̧OR̴̢͟M̧Y̴̕ ̨̢͡N̶I͝G̨HT͡ I̸͢Ţ ̨W̷͡A͝S̛ ̨A̧̨͢ ̶҉̕D̛́Ą̴́R̡̨͠K͠ ̷͞A̸N҉D̢͘ ͞Ś̛T̸̡O̶̡͏R҉Ḿ̧Y̢ ̸͠N̛̛͞I͠G̸̀H͟T\n͟҉<<endreplace>> <<replace "I͢T W͢AS A D͜A̴RK͢ A͡N̵D ͠STOR͟M͞Y ̕N̛IGHT͝">>I҉̸́T̨͢ ͘͞WA͝S ̢A ̛̕D̷̀AR̵Ķ ĄǸ͝D ST͘͟Ò́͏R̸̀͟M̸̡Y̷̷̢ ̕N̵̛͘I̶͘͞G̷H̀͞T̵͜͡ I̵T̵̡ ̛͘͟W̷̕A̸̧S̸̨ ̨̧A ̸D͟͞ARK͡ ͢҉ÁŃ̵̛D̢̕҉ ͏S͜͜T̵̕O͝͡R̛͢M̡Y̶̕ ̷N͜͝IGH҉́T<<endreplace>><<endreplace>><<endreplace>> <<replace "IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT">><<replace "IT W͞A͜S͞ ̧A ͡DA͘RK͞ ͠AN҉D̶ ̷STO͜RM̧Y̵ NIGHT">><<replace "IT̕ ͏WA̕S A͏ ͝DARK͜ ͢A̴ND S̷TOR̨M͡Y̛ ͏NI͘GH͞T̢">>Ì̢T͘͠ ͝WÁ͜S͢ ̴A ̀Ḑ́A҉RK̵ ͝͞A͜͢N͠D̡ ̴ST̸Ò̵R̨͜M̶͘͡Y̸ N̢I҉̷G͟͜H̸́͜T̨̀̕ I̵̡͏T̡ ҉͜W͠A҉͠͞S̷ ̨A ̧D̷A̵̢͜Ŕ̵͡K̨̨͢ ̧Á̶N̷͜D̸͠ ̧͟ST͏͢͝O͢R̕͜M̢͏Y͞ ͘͜Ń̶͡I̵GH̶̶͢T́<<endreplace>> <<replace "ĮT̴ W͞AS̡ A̷ DAR̀K ̴A̶N͏D̶ ̢ST͏O͘RMY͜ N҉IĢH͠T">>I̡͢T ҉͠W̴͠A͡S̨ ͜A̡ ͏҉̡D͟A͟҉R̶̕K ̛͞AŅ̨D͏̧ ̀̕ST͞͞O̸̡͢R͘M̸̶Y̷ ̴͘N̷̨͠I̕G͝H̶́T́͞͞ [[IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT|begin]]<<endreplace>><<endreplace>> <<replace "IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT">><<replace "ÌT͜ ͡W̢AS͟ A ҉D͝A̢RK A̧N̷D ̢S̶T̷O͘R̀MY NIG̕HT̡">> I̶T̕͟͜ ́Ẃ̨A̵S͢͞ ̶A̴̵͠ ̀͜D̢A̧̢R̸̕͢K̸ ͟A̢͜ND͝ ̀S͠͞T̛͠OR͠҉M̴͢Y̵ ͏̷Ņ̕I͘G̶H̸T̕͜ I̴̧͡T̀́ ͏W̨͡A͟͞S̛͘ ̸͟Á ̀D́̀A̕͏R̕͝K̴ ͜͢A̧҉̴N͢D ͢S̡T̨ÓR͢M̨͘͢Y̶҉ N҉I̵G̸HT҉͝<<endreplace>> <<replace "IŢ W̡A͡S A̸ D͟A̵RK̛ A͏ND ͏S͏T͟O̷RM͟Y N̨I͡G͘HT">>I̢̛͝T͘ ̵͘W͘A̡S A͝ D̸A͜͏R͏͢K̀͟ AN͢͡D̢͡҉ S͞T̷Ó͢R͡M̴̧͟Ỳ̵ ̢͡N̴͢I̴G̴̶H͏T Į̕͡T̡̕ ̧́Ẁ͡҉A̡҉̵S͡͝ ̶A̸ ̀̕͞D̴̨A̶̷Ŗ͘Ḱ ̷A̷̢ND ST͜OR͟MÝ ̵͘NIGHT<<endreplace>><<endreplace>><<endreplace>> <<replace "IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT">><<replace "I͝T͝ WA͠S̨ A̵ ̛DAR̴K̨ ̶A̶N͜D ŚTOR͞MY ̢NI̢G͜H͝T">><<replace "IT ẀA̴S ҉A̢ ̛DARK̛ ͞AN҉D STO͢R̴MY NI͜GH҉T͏">>I̕T͜͡ ̨͜͝W͘͟A̢S̡͝ ́͘A͏ D̡A̵R͢͜K͠ ͘͟͜ÁN͝͡D̵҉ ̶̶̴S̢͢Ţ̵O̧͡R̢Ḿ̴Ỳ͞ Ń̸͘IG͘͟Ḩ̀͠T̷͟ I͡T W̡͟͏Ą̸͞S͞҉ ͡͠A͘͟͞ ̴̴͜D͠A̵͡RK̀͡ A҉̵N͝D͏ ̵̶̨S͘TO͏̨R̢̢͘M̀͝҉Ý͠ ̷̵̧N҉̷͞I̸̛G͢͟H́T<<endreplace>> <<replace "I͏T̨ ҉ẀÀS ̨A ̡D̸AR̛K ̵AN҉D S͠T͏ÓR͞MY̛ ́NIGHT">>Í͘T͠ ̸̸W҉ÁS̀ ́A͘ ̵̸D͘A̡̢̨RK͏̛͘ ͏AN̸D ͘Ş̷T̕҉O͠R̀M̀Y̡̛ ̡Ņ̧́I͢G̷H̶̕͜T̶͟ I͜͟T ̢͟W͘͠A͜͟͠S̷ ̢͠A̸̛͡ ̨͠DA̷͡R̨̢K̨҉ ͘A͜͝͞N͏̷D̷ S̵TO҉̸̶R̷̕͢M̛͘Y ̷̢͟Ǹ͘͟I̧̕G҉H̕͏T̡̡͘<<endreplace>><<endreplace>> <<replace "IT́ ͞W͢AS A DARK ͢AN̷D̛ STOR̕M̢Y̡ ͝N̢I̡G͘HT">><<replace "ÍT WA̛S A ̨ḐARK AN̷D̷ ́S͠TO̧R̷M̸Y̴ ̶NIG͞HT">>Ì̸T̢͜ ̡̀W͟A̴Ś̛͢ ̛A͏̕ ̷͝D́Ą҉́R̶͝K͜͏ ͜AN̴͘Ḑ̕ ̧͡S̡͟͞T̸̨͟ÓR̶̡M̵Y̶͞ ́͜Ņ͝I̴G̛HT̷ I͠T̡͜ ̷͝Ẁ̛A̸͞S ̢A͏ ͡D͞A҉̧͝RK̛͘҉ ̸͡͠A͠ND̴͝ ̀͡S̀T͜Ơ͞RMY ͞͝N͏I͘̕G͠HT̨͢͟<<endreplace>> <<replace "I̶T ͠W̴A͢S A ́D͜A̡R͝K҉ ̵AN̶D ST̡O̴R̛M̧Y̸ NI͏G̡H̀T">>I̷̸͝T̡̀ ́WA̢S̨ ̛A̵ ̢́D̴̕Ą̢RK ̸͟͠A̶͜ND̡́ ͟S̡͟T̶̵͝O̶R̀͘҉M̸͏҉Y̧͡ ̨͟NI̛͘G͘͠H̸͢T<<endreplace>><<endreplace>><<endreplace>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>>

It's the size of a child's fist.\n\nAntonio inspects the sorcerer closely. Slack jaw, blank eyes. Long, long fingers. Rich black and purple clothes, a rich cravat. His expensive grey wig has been knocked off-kilter on his head.\n\n[[Antonio sets it right.]]

<<once>>And now the passenger <<insert "hears him.">>\n\nThat terrible face <<insert "swivels round.">>\n\n[[The passenger sees.]]<<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endonce>><<later>>But now the passenger <<insert "hears him.">>\n\nThat terrible face <<insert "swivels round.">>\n\n[[The passenger sees.]]<<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<becomes>>And now, the sorcerer <<insert "hears him.">>\n\nThat terrible face <<insert "swivels round.">>\n\n[[The sorcerer sees.|The passenger sees.]]<<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<becomes>>Once again that sorcerer <<insert "hears him.">>\n\nOnce more that terrible face <<insert "seeks him out.">>\n\nAgain, again, [[the sorcerer sees--|The passenger sees.]]<<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endlater>>

Alain sees Antonio staring at his high-collared coat. "Dress warm," he recommends. "We'll be waiting all night in this rain for that fucker."\n\nSomewhere in the [[campfire,|hub]] a log cracks, and a high-pitched whine of steam escapes.

"Tell us a story, Antonio!" the captain calls again. [["Tell us that story|tellstory]] you told the girls in Caen!"\n\nFor some reason, the captain's cheerful grin makes Antonio's stomach flop over like a beached fish.\n\nBehind him, [[the campfire|hub]] pops and snaps.

--and then the carriage door bursts open. \n\n<<once>>A dark fog pours out thick onto the trampled dust of the inn's courtyard. Ash like water. Black as fuck, night on night.\n\nThe passenger's heavy boot emerges on the end of a long leather leg.\n\nIt meets the earth. Antonio hears that sound [[in the bones of his skull.|firefight]]<<endonce>><<later>>A leg kicks out elegant from the depths of the fog. High heel on that boot, like a noble. Thick cloud, like to choke a man. Black on black on black.\n\nThe passenger's heavy shoe catches the light from the hanging lanterns and swings down toward the earth like the hammer for the anvil.\n\nAntonio feels that step in his lungs. In [[the meat of his chest.|firefight]]<<becomes>>The door slams open against the carriage-wall, and a billow of night bursts out of it. Night to put this night to shame: darker than the dark Antonio hides in.\n\nThe sorcerer steps out onto the inn's drive. He wears that night on him like a thick winter coat.\n\nHis foot strikes the earth with a sound like [[a far-off cannon-shot.|firefight]]<<becomes>>The carriage door is opening, the foot is coming out. The fog or ash or billowing plume of night is streaming out of the carriage. Souls escaping. Black fire. It's happened, it's happening--\n\nAntonio almost hears the sound of that boot coming down before it hits the earth.\n\nHe feels something happen in his throat but he is not entirely sure whether [[he has screamed.|firefight]]<<endlater>>

If you'd like, you can [[repeat this story forever.|5loop]]\n\nIf you'd like, you can [[stop.|ending]]\n\nThank you for coming this far.

"What's that for? Is that part of all this?" Antonio asks.\n\nVictor shrugs. "It was on the table with the charms and the books and the rest of the stuff the client gave us, so we took it," he says. "Look, Tony, I been carrying this heavy sorcerer stuff round in my bag for //three days.// Can't someone else take charge of it, huh?"\n\nThe [[campfire|hub]] makes the blade shine wet and glassy.

The arm snakes out and locks around Antonio's midsection with a sound like a <<insert "claw trap closing.">>\n\nFive fingers like knives dig into Antonio's gut. He flops at the waist like a rag doll and coughs blood <<insert "onto the ground.">>\n\nThe sorcerer [[reels him in]] over thirty feet of empty drive while the black fog pours out of his carriage and the bandits run, sobbing, into the woods.<<endinsert>><<endinsert>>

The Brigand's Story

The curtains are drawn back. Bright noon light outside.\n\nSitting on the seat above him is a tall, thin man with a grey, unshaven face and a black-handled dagger buried up to its hilt in his narrow little chest.\n\n[[It's the sorcerer.]]

Antonio panics. "I don't want to tell that story," he snaps. There's something wrong about the story-- something magic, something violent, maybe <<insert "something lewd--">>\n\n"Don't be a spoilsport," the captain exclaims, incredulous. "What's <<revise thematter "the matter?">><<revision thematter>><<becomes>>the matter?<<endrevision>> Just tell us the tale."<<revision thematter>><<becomes>>\n\nAntonio splutters, shakes his head. "We should be preparing," he says. "We should be thinking about tonight. We-- we should stop drinking. We should think-- the sorcerer-- the sorcerer's going to be ready--"\n\nThe captain seizes him by the shoulder. "What, man? [[Are you scared?"|the story,]]<<endrevision>><<endinsert>>

Antonio has an odd sensation-- lead weights on his shoulders, heavy ropes round his neck. "...No," he manages to say. "No, no. I won't. I won't."\n\nThe captain stands. "Tell us the story," he says. There's an odd hostility in his flat voice, in his set shoulders. What's happened to him? "Tell us the story, goddamn you!" he cries.\n\n"We-- We're not ready," Antonio stammers. "We'll die!"\n\nThe captain takes <<revise hisgun "his gun">><<revision hisgun>><<becomes>>his gun<<endrevision>> out of his belt.<<revision hisgun>><<becomes>>\n\n"Tell us the story," he [[snarls.]]<<endrevision>>

The carriage is here.\n\nNo driver.\n\nAntonio rises to a crouch and grips the knife and feels a pearl of sweat crawl down his chest toward his navel.\n\n[[And then--|finalthen]]

A curious feeling comes over Antonio. "Why do you want to hear that story?" he asks. Something's wrong, something's not right-- he shouldn't be telling stories.\n\n"We want to learn it!" the captain laughs. "We'll all <<revise lurein "lure in">><<revision lurein>><<becomes>>lure in<<endrevision>> the ladies like you do, right?"<<revision lurein>><<becomes>>\n\nAntonio crouches. There's a deep unease in his belly. Nausea. A sensation-- the men around him are dead. <<insert "Shades of the dead.">>\n\n"Tell us [[the story,]] lieutenant," the captain cries.<<endinsert>><<endrevision>>

The sorcerer holds Antonio close and drops his //long dark worm-searching eye of a head// to Antonio's ear.\n\nHe says, <<replace "let's try this again.">>//let's try this again.//\n\n[[Antonio stabs him dead in the eye.|dead]]<<endreplace>>

The carriage is here.\n\n<<once>>Antonio rises to a crouch.<<endonce>><<later>>Antonio's back stiffens like a board.<<becomes>>Antonio cannot move. He cannot breathe.<<becomes>>Antonio cannot feel his arms and legs in the dark. Just a pair of eyes now, naked and cold, watching.<<endlater>> The carriage stops-- only fifty feet away, in the pool of light outside the inn.\n\nThe carriage [[has no driver.|longsilence]]

There is a space for Antonio by the campfire.\n\nAlain reaches out a long pale hand and pats the dry earth floor of the cave.\n\n"We have a space for you," he says. His voice is cool and firm and it stays all at one volume, one tone. Antonio's stomach roils.\n\n"Don't you like [[the fire?"|hub]] Alain asks.

THE END\n\n//The Brigand's Story// is an adaptation of a children's story I learned from my friend Philip in grade school. [[You can find many versions of it here.|http://bohemiancoast.livejournal.com/164722.html?page=1#comments]]\n\nThe Brigand's Story\nby [[Laura Michet|http://lauramichet.com/]]\nOctober 2016\nLos Angeles\n\nMade with [[Twine 1.4.2.|http://twinery.org/]] Uses the [[Replace Macro Set|http://www.glorioustrainwrecks.com/node/5462]] by Leon Arnott.

Antonio kneels beside Nat Jack.\n\n//"Itwasadarkandstormynight andaroundthecampfireburningbright satbrigandslargeand-- //uhh!// --brignadssmall andthecaptainturningtohisleiutenantsaid--"//\n\n"Stop," Antonio mutters.\n\n//"Antoniotellusoneofyourmostfamousstories,"// Nat Jack finishes. His lower lip trembles. He sucks down a pair of ragged breaths. "Uhh! Uhh."\n\nHe won't look up. He lets his jaw hang slack, and he stares right into [[the campfire.|hub]]

<<set $cycle = 0>>

<<if $cycle is 10>><<tenthcycle>><<else>><<set $cycle += 1>>Flat black night.\n\nAntonio waits in the dark.\n\n[[The carriage is coming.]]<<endif>>

<<insert "Long silence.">>\n\n<<once>>Crickets and toads <<insert "quit their calling.">>\n\n[[And then--|has no driver.]]<<endinsert>><<endonce>><<later>>The night-birds have <<insert "shut up.">>\n\n[[And then--|has no driver.]]<<endinsert>><<becomes>>Antonio cannot even hear <<insert "the wind in the leaves anymore.">>\n\n[[And then--|has no driver.]]<<endinsert>><<becomes>>Antonio's ears are popping. <<insert "His jaw aches.">>\n\n[[And then--|has no driver.]]<<endinsert>><<endlater>><<endinsert>>

Alain has that calm, schooled reading-voice. //"'Wards or no, a strike dead in the eye will kill any sorcerer instantly,'"// he says.\n\n"Then we just shoot him in the eye," Victor crows.\n\n"Not so easy, I think," Alain warns.\n\nHe stretches his legs out to warm his boots at the [[campfire.|hub]]

The campfire again. Antonio sits and watches his brother brigands.\n\nSomething is not right. Again. <<insert "Something is not right.">>\n\n"Antonio, Antonio, [[tell the story!"]]<<endinsert>>

<<once>>The passenger <<replace "leaks.">>steams.<<becomes>>hisses.<<becomes>>screams.<<becomes>>assumes the visage of the devil, throws two arms like withered tree branches up to the top of the sky, and <<insert "peels down strips of the stars.">>\n\nBlack blood washes across the ground. Antonio's mates stagger from the shadows, choking on ash, stiff-armed and stiff-legged already, like bodies with rigor mortis. They thump into the dust. The passenger reaches out long whipping crackling arms like ships' cables and <<insert "seizes them.">>\n\nAntonio watches frozen, aching, something burning on his lips-- watches motionless as the captain's head bursts open on a tree not <<insert "ten feet away.">>\n\nAntonio [[vomits.]]<<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endreplace>><<endonce>><<later>>The passenger <<replace "leaks.">>steams.<<becomes>>hisses.<<becomes>>screams.<<becomes>>calls up ash and shadow out of the ground, out of the very air, and raises his horrible hands to <<insert "tear the moon from the sky.">>\n\nBandits are falling from the roof of the stables, from the balcony of the inn, and the dark fog pours and pours from the carriage door as the passenger wades out, thigh-deep in it, to snatch the falling bodies and <<insert "crack them in half.">>\n\nThe passenger flings Antonio's mates into the woods. They plummet down around him, snapping the branches as they fall, but Antonio can't move. He can only stand stock-still in the leaf loam and feel the blood <<insert "leak from his ears.">>\n\nAntonio [[screams.|vomits.]]<<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endreplace>><<becomes>>The sorcerer <<replace "leaks.">>steams.<<becomes>>hisses.<<becomes>>screams.<<becomes>>turns his face-- black and ragged at the edges, like a hole punched with a pen through the surface of the air-- at the sky. His gaze brings down <<insert "black ichor.">>\n\nBandits are wailing. The plans are forgotten. People beside whom Antonio has camped and supped and split loot are splattering across the side of the stable. The sorcerer rips a man in half and his guts unspool in profile against the light of the <<insert "open inn door.">>\n\nAntonio can feel the tears streaming down his face, burning tracks across his split skin. A human jawbone bounces off the wall of the stable and <<insert "whirls into the trees.">>\n\nAntonio [[bleeds.|vomits.]]<<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>> <<endreplace>><<becomes>>The passenger <<replace "leaks.">>steams.<<becomes>>hisses.<<becomes>>screams.<<becomes>>erases the sky and the trees and shrinks this whole world down to the little void-ringed theater of the inn, the stable, and the <<insert "roaring carriage door.">>\n\nPeople are screaming in the dark. Muscle is tearing. Hot blood spatters against Antonio's face. The passenger whips his two long arms round and round and in the center of it all Antonio can see that ragged-edged hole of a face snaking out, sniffing, seeking back and forth <<insert "in the dark.">>\n\nSomething wet falls heavily in the woods nearby. Antonio drops to his knees. He feels a slippery, naked limb in the loam at his feet, and something grips his wrist-- a skinless hand. <<insert "He feels bone.">>\n\nAntonio [[wails.|vomits.]]<<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endreplace>><<endlater>>

The captain is perched on a rock by the fire, lit from below, skeletal, with orange light. [["Tell us the story,"]] he barks. "Tell it right!"

Antonio goes on and on like this, forever.\n\nWhen you are a child there is something funny about a story that repeats itself. When you are older, there is something comforting about having a chant like this one to return to. When I tell the Antonio story today, I use the same silly voices I used when I was eight or nine.\n\nI searched on the internet for //"it was a dark and stormy night and around the campfire burning bright sat brigands large and brigands small"// out of curiosity, to learn where the story came from, and I learned instead that it's been told a thousand ways, and that nobody tells it exactly the way my friend taught me to say it.\n\nNobody else says "most famous story," but [[plenty say "favorite."]]

"Antonio, get up. Tell us that story," says [[the captain.]]

"Antonio, wake up. We want [[that story,"]] says the captain.

"Your majesty! Arise," the captain jokes. "Tell us [[that one]] you told the girls."

Antonio leans between Paulo and the fire. "Wake up," he says. He snaps his fingers. "Hey!"\n\nSomething stirs beneath Paulo's eyelid, but he doesn't look up. Antonio wonders for a moment whether it was really a normal eye he saw moving in there, and he raises his hand to peel it open--\n\nBut he stops, an inch from Paulo's face. His hand hovers.\n\nPaulo is looking into [[the campfire,|hub]] but he isn't looking with a proper eye.

--and then the carriage door bursts open. \n\nThe carriage door opens and the foot comes out and it strikes the earth with a sound much louder and heavier than anyone anticipated but Antonio is already <<insert "running">> <<insert "running">> <<insert "running">> out into the inn's drive, waving the knife, <<insert "screaming--">>\n\nskidding to a stop, [[screaming in terror--|terror]]<<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>>

Antonio walks out onto the narrow cliff path. Bearman glowers on his stump, angrier than usual. "This whole thing is fucked," he snarls. "Can't a sorcerer can sense ill intent? Can't they smell it a mile off?"\n\nBack in the cave, the [[campfire|hub]] snaps at falling drops of roasted fat.

Toby White licks the fat off his chickenbone and shows his snaggle teeth. "When this is all over, I'm buying a night at Polly's," he shouts. "What about you, Antonio? Which girls are you planning to visit? Ha!"\n\nBeside him, the [[campfire|hub]] huffs and whooshes in the wind.

Antonio is waiting for the carriage with <<once>>rainwater in his eyes.<<endonce>><<later>>dust in his eyes.<<becomes>>tears in his eyes.<<becomes>>blood in his eyes.<<endlater>>\n\nHe remembers <<once>>his orders.<<endonce>><<later>>the smell of this dirt from somewhere before.<<becomes>>carriages passing before, raising dust that burned his throat.<<becomes>>other passengers. Other nights.<<endlater>> He's trying to keep his concentration. He's trying to stay focused.\n\nAntonio hears something [[on the road down the hill.]]

<<insert "This is strange.">>\n\nAntonio's throat is dry. His hand is shaking.\n\nAntonio tosses the bullets over his shoulder, [[into the woods.|waiting for the carriage.]]<<endinsert>>

<<if $cycle is 2>><<insert "Whip crack.">> <<insert "Arm out.">> Steel cables <<insert "lock round his hips.">> <<insert "Gut sliced.">> The sorcerer reels him back in across the fifty feet of open ground while while blood <<insert "fills his throat.">>\n\nAntonio's back is broken. He cannot feel his legs. The passenger has enormous hands and they're biting into his sides and //for some reason// he wants to look at them, to see what they've //done// to him, but he cannot turn his head or his shoulders. He can <<replace "only look up.">>only look at <<insert "the passenger.">>\n\n[[It speaks his name.|carriage]]<<endinsert>><<endreplace>><<endreplace>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<else>><<if $cycle is 3>><<insert "Whip crack.">> <<insert "Arm out.">> Steel cables <<insert "lock round his hips.">> <<insert "Gut sliced.">> The sorcerer reels him back in across the fifty feet of open ground while while blood <<insert "fills his throat.">>\n\nThe sorcerer pulls Antonio right up to his face, right up against his stretched and warped and twisted chest. Antonio can feel the bones twisting and cracking in there. He can <<insert "hear the pops.">>\n\n[[It tells him it's done this before.|carriage]]<<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<else>><<if $cycle is 4>><<insert "Whip crack.">> <<insert "Arm out.">> Steel cables <<insert "lock round his hips.">> <<insert "Gut sliced.">> The sorcerer reels him back in across the fifty feet of open ground while while blood <<insert "fills his throat.">>\n\nAntonio looks dead into the thing's single, boiling black eye. //Dead in the eye. Hit it// <<insert "dead in the eye--">>\n\n<<insert "He raises his hands.">> The eye <<insert "swallows his fingers.">>\n\n[[It tells him he'll be here forever.|carriage]]<<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<else>><<insert "Whip crack.">> <<insert "Arm out.">> Steel cables <<insert "lock round his hips.">> <<insert "Gut sliced.">> The passenger reels him back in across the fifty feet of open ground while while blood <<insert "fills his throat.">>\n\nAn extraorindarily intimate meeting there, in the middle of the nightmare, for Antonio and <<once>>the passenger.<<endonce>><<later>>that passenger.<<becomes>>sorcerer.<<becomes>>sorcerer.<<endlater>> <<replace "Face to face.">>Face to face with <<replace "something.">>//something.//\n\n[[It whispers at him.|carriage]]<<endreplace>><<endreplace>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endif>><<endif>><<endif>>

[[And then Antonio dies--]]

Except for his voice, the cave is dead quiet. The men are sitting still in a [[tight circle,]] shoulder to shoulder, eyes locked on the fire. Their mouths move. Silently, [[they whisper.]]

The campfire is guttering in the wind. The whole troop is here, just eating and drinking like idiots-- not sharpening [[their swords,]] not checking [[their kit,]] just celebrating like the battle's already won.

The campfire casts an [[odd light,]] and the troop's faces wear it funny-- paler, somehow, greener, dark eye sockets, bigger teeth, like shades or ghosts or [[sorcerers' familiars.]]

The campfire is roaring in the mouth of the cave. The crew is all here, bundled in their heavy [[travelling-clothes,]] nursing mugs of [[rum and water.]]

<<set $cycle += 1>>Flat black night.\n\nTwo eyes stand out like firebugs in the bushes.\n\n[[It's Antonio!|itsantonio]]

<<once>><<tellstory1>><<endonce>><<later>><<tellstory2>><<becomes>><<tellstory3>><<becomes>><<tellstory4>><<endlater>>

The swords and bullets are drying beside the fire. Francis London has given up painting them with the cowsblood. "What are you waiting for?" Antonio demands. He snaps his fingers. "You want us to get killed?"\n\nLittle London scrambles to find the brush again. "Yes sir," he splutters.\n\nBeside him, the [[campfire|hub]] makes the cowsblood steam.

He considers: perhaps I'll find myself here in the morning, when I go to search for the sorcerer on the road.\n\n<<insert "Ahh!">> [[What a story that will be!|ending]]<<endinsert>>

Laura Michet

<<once>><<chant1>><<endonce>><<later>><<chant2>><<becomes>><<chant3>><<becomes>><<chant4>><<endlater>>

Nat Jack and Toby White are cackling together over the remains of the chicken. "If he brings out demons, I've got a bullet for each one," says Jack. He shows the cowsblood bullets in his palm.\n\nThe [[campfire|hub]] light makes them swim in his hand.

<<insert "Campfire.">> <<insert "Wind wailing.">> <<insert "Heartbeat. Blood in the ears.">>\n\nThere's a claw resting on his shoulder.\n\n[[Antonio opens his eyes.|hub]]<<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>>

He's rocking back and forth, hugging the can of cowsblood close to his chest. His shirt and coat are soaked; an apron of blood runs from his neck to his lap but he doesn't seem to care. He doesn't seem to have noticed. He's laughing. There's something wrong with his his eyes. There's something wrong with his //teeth.//\n\n"Get-- get your, your stuff together," Antonio urges him. "Get ready!"\n\nLittle London hitches forward, slopping cowsblood down over his arms. "For what?" he asks, in genuine ignorance.\n\nBeside him, a trickle of bubbling cowsblood finds its way into the [[campfire.|hub]]

"What story?" Antonio asks. "What's this story about?"\n\n"The one about the sorcerer," the captain says. "The spooky one, that made the girls hold you and shriek! Just [[tell us,|tellstory]] man. We want to hear it!"\n\nBehind him the [[campfire|hub]] shrieks for a moment, too.

<<insert "Slam.">>\n\n<<insert "Foot on the ground.">>\n\n[[Black mist, black ash.]]<<endinsert>><<endinsert>>

@@font-size:200%;THE BRIGAND'S STORY@@\n\nBY [[LAURA MICHET|http://lauramichet.com/]]\n\n[[START|realStart]]

Toby White hasn't pinned any of the charms to his jacket yet. "What are you waiting for?" Antonio yells. "Get ready!"\n\n//"Christ-a-bove,// man, it's no rush," Toby cackles. "We've got hours yet!"\n\nThe light from the [[campfire|hub]] gleams off the glassy baubles pinned to the captain's jacket.

<<if $cycle is 4>>Antonio's gut hurts and his ears are ringing. Why are his ears ringing? He's been lying here all night.\n\nHe shifts uncomfortably, <<insert "pawing his belly.">>\n\nThere's something <<insert "under his shirt.">>\n\nAntonio finds [[two bullets drenched in cowsblood]] rattling around inside his clothes.<<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<else>>There's the warm handle of the pistol in his palm.\n\nIt was pressed against his gut all night as he lay holding his breath in the underbrush beside the stables. It's as warm as his blood.\n\nAntonio is [[waiting for the carriage.]]<<endif>>

Antonio's shredded, broken body cartwheels weightlessly out into a starless void.\n\n<<once>>He tries to hold his guts in, but he's so cold he can hardly move his arms.<<endonce>><<later>>He can't scream. There's no air to scream in.<<becomes>>He very clearly understands that he's died more than once, now. He remembers this numbing cold.<<becomes>>This is the peaceful bit. This bit he clearly remembers.<<endlater>>\n\nThere's someone speaking, someone he can [[almost hear:]]

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"No," Antonio shouts.\n\nThe captain <<replace "shoots him.">>shoots him twice in the belly. //CRACK-CRACK.// Two cowsblood bullets burrow hot tracks through <<insert "his intestines.">>\n\nAntonio thuds to his knees, blood dribbling between his fingers. //This is familiar.//\n\n[["Tell the story,"|the story,]] the captain bawls.<<endinsert>><<endreplace>>

The carriage is here.\n\nThe door is opening.\n\n[[The foot is coming out.]]

<<if $cycle is 1>><<tellus1>>\n\n<<description1>>\n\n<<people1>><<else>><<if $cycle is 2>><<tellus2>>\n\n<<description2>>\n\n<<people2>><<else>><<if $cycle is 3>><<tellus3>>\n\n<<description3>>\n\n<<people3>><<else>><<if $cycle is 4>><<tellus4>>\n\n<<description4>>\n\n<<people4>><<else>><<if $cycle > 4>>The campfire again. Antonio sits and watches his brother brigands.\n\nSomething is not right. Again. <<insert "Something is not right.">>\n\n"Antonio, Antonio, [[tell the story!"]]<<endinsert>><<endif>><<endif>><<endif>><<endif>><<endif>>

Antonio steps out onto the narrow cliff path. Bearman is sighing, crying, raising and dropping his hulking shoulders. "Fucking //sorcerers!// Who thought this was a good idea?"\n\n"We agreed," Antonio stammers. "We-- we-- we agreed--"\n\nBearman turns and squints at the people gathered around the [[campfire.|hub]] "I didn't agree," he snarls. "Not me! Not me!"

"I'm not going to tell you that story," Antonio says.\n\nThe captain gets up and walks <<insert "into the fire.">>\n\nHe stands with flames crawling up his legs and holds [[the knife]] to Antonio's neck. His voice cracks and snaps. [["Tell it,"|5loop]] he says.<<endinsert>>

Antonio opens his mouth.\n\nAntonio [[repeats the story.|next5loop]]

The world comes apart.\n\n<<revision goessoft>><<revision washes>>The sky <<revise washes "washes out white.">><<becomes>>The ground <<revise goessoft "goes soft.">><<endrevision>><<becomes>>The sorcerer howls and grabs at the knife, but it burns his metal hands, burns his face, and there's fire rising, <<insert "green fire everywhere--">>\n\nAntonio [[topples into the carriage--]]<<endinsert>><<endrevision>>

Antonio feels sluggish, stiff. He shakes his head and it hurts like a hangover, though he hasn't drunk anything strong. And the [[campfire|hub]] seems taller, darker 'round the edges somehow, and there's a stench--\n\n"No," Antonio says. "No, I won't tell the story."\n\n"Don't be a prat about it," the captain snaps. [["Go on, tell!"|tellstory]]

"Fuck! Shit!!"\n\nSomeone slides off the driver's seat and, screaming, runs into the tall grass beside the road. Antonio can hear it swishing.\n\nHe tries to push himself off the floor, but there's something <<insert "wrong with his belly.">>\n\nHe lifts his red palm. [[He's been cut open.]]<<endinsert>>

And then the creature <<insert "rears back--">>\n\n[[--and stuffs Antonio into the carriage.|spiral]]<<endinsert>>

He can barely stand, but he forces himself out of the carriage and into the breeze outside.\n\nHe's on the road ten or twenty miles away from the inn. He recognizes this hillside. He recognizes the town in the valley below.\n\nHe slips the <<replace "diamond into his pocket.">>diamond into his pocket and [[goes for a walk.]]<<endreplace>>

Antonio watches the road with dry, stinging eyes. He forces himself to blink. He forces himself to breathe.\n\nHe remembers his captain cutting him open and burning to death with him in a common campfire while his fellows <<insert "watched in silence.">>\n\nAntonio hears something [[on the road down the hill.|roaddown]]<<endinsert>>

<<insert "Campfire.">> <<insert "Stew cooking.">> <<insert "Sound of the rain outside.">>\n\nThere's a man shaking him by the shoulder.\n\n[[Antonio opens his eyes.|hub]]<<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>>

<<insert "Campfire.">> <<insert "Smell of shit.">> <<insert "Taste of blood, old and dry.">>\n\nA stiff hand on Antonio's shoulder, shaking him out of sleep.\n\n[[Antonio opens his eyes.|hub]]<<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>>

<<insert "The taste of rum.">> <<insert "The smell of horse.">> <<insert "Raindrops plopping on the tarp.">>\n\nSomeone is shaking him awake.\n\n[[Antonio opens his eyes.|hub]]<<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>>

The captain <<insert "cuts Antonio's throat.">>\n\nAntonio falls, face-first, <<insert "into the fire.">>\n\nAntonio screams:\n\n<<replace "IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT">><<replace "IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT ">><<replace "IT͡ WAS͞ ͟A̵ ̢DARK AND ̛S͢T͡O̷R͏MY ̶NIG͡HT">>I̴͢͠T͘ W̸̧A͜͡͡S̸͠ Ą ̵̷D͘͟A͜҉̨RK̀ ̧͘AN͟D̶ ̧͡ST͞Ó͞R̷M͜Ỳ͞ ͏N̛͢I̡͘͟G̢̀HT͏ I̛T҉̶̨ ̵͟͢Ẁ̨͟A̕͝S̶̡ ͡A̴ ̶D̴̨͜A҉R͟K͠ ͘A̵̢N͢͞D͏͜͠ ̸̨Ś͢͝T̴̕͝O͟͠R̴̛M̴͠Y̧͟͝ N̢I҉GHT<<endreplace>> <<replace "I͝T ͞W͏A̴S ̀A D̷ÁR̵K̨ AND ͢S͞ŢORM̢Y N̴IGHT̶">>IT͘͏ ̕WA̡̕S̀҉ ͏̷A̢͏ DA̧RK҉͏ ̧̡̡AN͏҉D́̕҉ ̡͡ST́͏O͏̶R̛͠M҉Y̛͠ ͏̵N͡Ì̸͜G͢͟H̨̀T̢ I̡͜T͘ W̵AS̶̨ ͞A͡҉ ͜D̡̕A̷̛Ŗ̵Ḱ̴̕ ̸̷͠A͡N̕͜D ҉̴͢S̷҉T͠͡Ò̴R҉̡M̢Ý̨̛ ̨͢N̸I̷̕G͝H̵͘T͝<<endreplace>><<endreplace>> <<replace "IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT">><<replace "I͢T҉ W͘AŚ A ̢DAR͝K AND ͞STORMY̧ N̢IGHT">>ĮT̸̡̀ ̸W͡A̢S ҉͠͞À̡̢ ̷D̕͝Ą̵R̷͜K̀ ̢͢A͞͝N̸D҉͞ ̶̡͘S͘Ţ̧OR̴̢͟M̧Y̴̕ ̨̢͡N̶I͝G̨HT͡ I̸͢Ţ ̨W̷͡A͝S̛ ̨A̧̨͢ ̶҉̕D̛́Ą̴́R̡̨͠K͠ ̷͞A̸N҉D̢͘ ͞Ś̛T̸̡O̶̡͏R҉Ḿ̧Y̢ ̸͠N̛̛͞I͠G̸̀H͟T\n͟҉<<endreplace>> <<replace "I͢T W͢AS A D͜A̴RK͢ A͡N̵D ͠STOR͟M͞Y ̕N̛IGHT͝">>I҉̸́T̨͢ ͘͞WA͝S ̢A ̛̕D̷̀AR̵Ķ ĄǸ͝D ST͘͟Ò́͏R̸̀͟M̸̡Y̷̷̢ ̕N̵̛͘I̶͘͞G̷H̀͞T̵͜͡ I̵T̵̡ ̛͘͟W̷̕A̸̧S̸̨ ̨̧A ̸D͟͞ARK͡ ͢҉ÁŃ̵̛D̢̕҉ ͏S͜͜T̵̕O͝͡R̛͢M̡Y̶̕ ̷N͜͝IGH҉́T<<endreplace>><<endreplace>><<endreplace>> <<replace "IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT">><<replace "IT W͞A͜S͞ ̧A ͡DA͘RK͞ ͠AN҉D̶ ̷STO͜RM̧Y̵ NIGHT">><<replace "IT̕ ͏WA̕S A͏ ͝DARK͜ ͢A̴ND S̷TOR̨M͡Y̛ ͏NI͘GH͞T̢">>Ì̢T͘͠ ͝WÁ͜S͢ ̴A ̀Ḑ́A҉RK̵ ͝͞A͜͢N͠D̡ ̴ST̸Ò̵R̨͜M̶͘͡Y̸ N̢I҉̷G͟͜H̸́͜T̨̀̕ I̵̡͏T̡ ҉͜W͠A҉͠͞S̷ ̨A ̧D̷A̵̢͜Ŕ̵͡K̨̨͢ ̧Á̶N̷͜D̸͠ ̧͟ST͏͢͝O͢R̕͜M̢͏Y͞ ͘͜Ń̶͡I̵GH̶̶͢T́<<endreplace>> <<replace "ĮT̴ W͞AS̡ A̷ DAR̀K ̴A̶N͏D̶ ̢ST͏O͘RMY͜ N҉IĢH͠T">>I̡͢T ҉͠W̴͠A͡S̨ ͜A̡ ͏҉̡D͟A͟҉R̶̕K ̛͞AŅ̨D͏̧ ̀̕ST͞͞O̸̡͢R͘M̸̶Y̷ ̴͘N̷̨͠I̕G͝H̶́T́͞͞ [[IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT|final loop]]<<endreplace>><<endreplace>> <<replace "IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT">><<replace "ÌT͜ ͡W̢AS͟ A ҉D͝A̢RK A̧N̷D ̢S̶T̷O͘R̀MY NIG̕HT̡">> I̶T̕͟͜ ́Ẃ̨A̵S͢͞ ̶A̴̵͠ ̀͜D̢A̧̢R̸̕͢K̸ ͟A̢͜ND͝ ̀S͠͞T̛͠OR͠҉M̴͢Y̵ ͏̷Ņ̕I͘G̶H̸T̕͜ I̴̧͡T̀́ ͏W̨͡A͟͞S̛͘ ̸͟Á ̀D́̀A̕͏R̕͝K̴ ͜͢A̧҉̴N͢D ͢S̡T̨ÓR͢M̨͘͢Y̶҉ N҉I̵G̸HT҉͝<<endreplace>> <<replace "IŢ W̡A͡S A̸ D͟A̵RK̛ A͏ND ͏S͏T͟O̷RM͟Y N̨I͡G͘HT">>I̢̛͝T͘ ̵͘W͘A̡S A͝ D̸A͜͏R͏͢K̀͟ AN͢͡D̢͡҉ S͞T̷Ó͢R͡M̴̧͟Ỳ̵ ̢͡N̴͢I̴G̴̶H͏T Į̕͡T̡̕ ̧́Ẁ͡҉A̡҉̵S͡͝ ̶A̸ ̀̕͞D̴̨A̶̷Ŗ͘Ḱ ̷A̷̢ND ST͜OR͟MÝ ̵͘NIGHT<<endreplace>><<endreplace>><<endreplace>> <<replace "IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT">><<replace "I͝T͝ WA͠S̨ A̵ ̛DAR̴K̨ ̶A̶N͜D ŚTOR͞MY ̢NI̢G͜H͝T">><<replace "IT ẀA̴S ҉A̢ ̛DARK̛ ͞AN҉D STO͢R̴MY NI͜GH҉T͏">>I̕T͜͡ ̨͜͝W͘͟A̢S̡͝ ́͘A͏ D̡A̵R͢͜K͠ ͘͟͜ÁN͝͡D̵҉ ̶̶̴S̢͢Ţ̵O̧͡R̢Ḿ̴Ỳ͞ Ń̸͘IG͘͟Ḩ̀͠T̷͟ I͡T W̡͟͏Ą̸͞S͞҉ ͡͠A͘͟͞ ̴̴͜D͠A̵͡RK̀͡ A҉̵N͝D͏ ̵̶̨S͘TO͏̨R̢̢͘M̀͝҉Ý͠ ̷̵̧N҉̷͞I̸̛G͢͟H́T<<endreplace>> <<replace "I͏T̨ ҉ẀÀS ̨A ̡D̸AR̛K ̵AN҉D S͠T͏ÓR͞MY̛ ́NIGHT">>Í͘T͠ ̸̸W҉ÁS̀ ́A͘ ̵̸D͘A̡̢̨RK͏̛͘ ͏AN̸D ͘Ş̷T̕҉O͠R̀M̀Y̡̛ ̡Ņ̧́I͢G̷H̶̕͜T̶͟ I͜͟T ̢͟W͘͠A͜͟͠S̷ ̢͠A̸̛͡ ̨͠DA̷͡R̨̢K̨҉ ͘A͜͝͞N͏̷D̷ S̵TO҉̸̶R̷̕͢M̛͘Y ̷̢͟Ǹ͘͟I̧̕G҉H̕͏T̡̡͘<<endreplace>><<endreplace>> <<replace "IT́ ͞W͢AS A DARK ͢AN̷D̛ STOR̕M̢Y̡ ͝N̢I̡G͘HT">><<replace "ÍT WA̛S A ̨ḐARK AN̷D̷ ́S͠TO̧R̷M̸Y̴ ̶NIG͞HT">>Ì̸T̢͜ ̡̀W͟A̴Ś̛͢ ̛A͏̕ ̷͝D́Ą҉́R̶͝K͜͏ ͜AN̴͘Ḑ̕ ̧͡S̡͟͞T̸̨͟ÓR̶̡M̵Y̶͞ ́͜Ņ͝I̴G̛HT̷ I͠T̡͜ ̷͝Ẁ̛A̸͞S ̢A͏ ͡D͞A҉̧͝RK̛͘҉ ̸͡͠A͠ND̴͝ ̀͡S̀T͜Ơ͞RMY ͞͝N͏I͘̕G͠HT̨͢͟<<endreplace>> <<replace "I̶T ͠W̴A͢S A ́D͜A̡R͝K҉ ̵AN̶D ST̡O̴R̛M̧Y̸ NI͏G̡H̀T">>I̷̸͝T̡̀ ́WA̢S̨ ̛A̵ ̢́D̴̕Ą̢RK ̸͟͠A̶͜ND̡́ ͟S̡͟T̶̵͝O̶R̀͘҉M̸͏҉Y̧͡ ̨͟NI̛͘G͘͠H̸͢T<<endreplace>><<endreplace>><<endreplace>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>>

Antonio takes five minutes to pull himself onto the seat opposite the sorcerer. There's blood everywhere. There's blood pooling in the sorcerer's lap, and blood in <<insert "his jacket--">>\n\n--which is where Antonio eventually finds [[the diamond.]]<<endinsert>>

<<replace "The night was dark and stormy,">><<replace "It was a dark and stormy night">>One dark night the rain fell down,<<endreplace>><<endreplace>> <<replace "and the moon was at its height.">><<replace "and the rain came down in bucketfuls.">>and the wind was blowing hard.<<endreplace>><<endreplace>> <<replace "Three bands of brigands met.">><<replace "Two men met on a bridge.">>The robbers sat round the campfire,<<endreplace>><<endreplace>> <<replace "Tell us a tale, said the leader of one.">><<replace "And the captain said to his mate:">>and their captain said:<<endreplace>><<endreplace>> <<replace "The Lieutenant Antonio raised his voice,">><<replace "Antonio, tell us a tale.">>Oi! Mate! Tell us a yarn!<<endreplace>><<endreplace>> <<replace "and this is the tale he said:">><<replace "And Antonio began:">>And the mate [[began as follows:|beginning2]]<<endreplace>><<endreplace>>

Antonio makes it halfway down the hill to the town before his thighs go weak and his knees give out.\n\nHe lies in the meadow and watches the sparrows zip overhead and wonder if he's //also,// somehow, ten miles off up the mountainside in the cave with his brothers. If he's also cooking the chicken, painting the cowsblood on the bullets, readying the obsidian knife.\n\nPerhaps he'll live through the evening, now. Sweat on his back in the bushes, as he lies all night long waiting for [[a carriage that never comes.]]

"Tell us the story," the captain repeats. The gun is in his belt. the obsidian sorcerer-killing knife is in his lap.\n\n"No," Antonio says. It's his duty to say no. It's his duty to make the captain ask.\n\nThe captain spits into [[the campfire.|hub]] //"You tell us the story,"// the captain says.\n\nAntonio clears his throat and swallows phlegm. [["No."|tellstory4]]

Antonio watches his friends die.\n\nAntonio raises his pistol. Crack crack crack!\n\nAnd then [[the sorcerer sees--]]

//"Aaaaugh! Fuck!!"//\n\nAntonio <<replace "opens his eyes.">>is sitting on [[the floor of a carriage.|the floor of a carriagebox.]]<<endreplace>>

<<set $cycle += 1>>Flat black night.\n\nTwo eyes stand out like firebugs in the bushes.\n\n[[It's Antonio!]]

<<replace "It was a deep, dark, dismal night">><<replace "It was a dark and stormy night">>It was a dark and stormy night<<endreplace>><<endreplace>> <<replace "in the middle of the Hartz mountains.">><<replace "and the robbers were in their den.">>and around the campfire burning bright<<endreplace>><<endreplace>> <<replace "Twelve bandits were seated around the fire.">><<replace "They sat all together around the fire,">>sat brigands large and brigands small.<<endreplace>><<endreplace>> <<replace "One bandit said suddenly:">><<replace "and he captain said to his men,">>And the captain said to his lieutenant:<<endreplace>><<endreplace>> <<replace "Scuddy, tell us a funny story.">><<replace "Jack! Tell us a tale!">>Antonio! Tell us one of your most famous stories!<<endreplace>><<endreplace>> <<replace "And Scuddy told the following tale:">><<replace "And the tale goes as follows:">>And [[Antonio began:|beginning4]]<<endreplace>><<endreplace>>

It was a dark and <<insert "stormy night">> and around the campfire <<insert "burning bright">> sat brigands large and <<insert "brigands small.">> And the captain, turning to his lieutenant, <<insert "said:">> Antonio, tell us one of your <<insert "most famous stories!">> And <<insert "Antonio began:">> It was a dark and <<insert "stormy night">> and around the campfire <<insert "burning bright">> sat brigands large and <<insert "brigands small.">> And the captain, turning to his lieutenant, <<insert "said:">> Antonio, tell us one of your <<insert "most famous stories!">> And <<insert "Antonio began:">> It was a dark and <<insert "stormy night">> and around the campfire <<insert "burning bright">> sat brigands large and <<insert "brigands small.">> And the captain, turning to his lieutenant, <<insert "said:">> [[Antonio,|begin]] tell us one of your <<insert "most famous stories!">> And <<insert "Antonio began:">> It was a dark and <<insert "stormy night">> and around the campfire <<insert "burning bright">> sat brigands large and <<insert "brigands small.">> And the captain, turning to his lieutenant, <<insert "said:">> Antonio, tell us one of your <<insert "most famous stories!">> And <<insert "Antonio began:">> It was a dark and <<insert "stormy night">> and around the campfire <<insert "burning bright">> sat brigands large and <<insert "brigands small.">> And the captain, turning to his lieutenant, <<insert "said:">> Antonio, tell us one of your <<insert "most famous stories!">> And <<insert "Antonio began:">> It was a dark and stormy night...<<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>>

[[Bearman|Bearman2]] is //wailing// outside, a soft thready voice Antonio hasn't heard before. Little [[Francis London]] is rocking back and forth by the fire, spilling his cowsblood everywhere.

Antonio's shredded, broken body cartwheels weightlessly out into a starless void.\n\nHe coughs once, a splutter of blood, and wraps his jacket tight around his belly.\n\nThere's someone speaking, someone he can [[almost hear:|almosthere]]

Antonio's friends stand and hold his arms. They force him to his knees.\n\n"I'm not going to tell you that story," Antonio says.\n\nThe captain gets up and walks <<insert "into the fire.">>\n\nHe stands with flames crawling up his legs and holds [[the knife]] to Antonio's neck. His voice cracks and snaps. [["Tell it,"|5loop]] he says.<<endinsert>>

The light makes the cave walls move and sway. There are people standing in the half-shadows at the back of the cave, but Antonio cannot see their faces.\n\n"Paulo?" Antonio asks. "Nick?"\n\nIn the strange dark light they seem both bigger and smaller than men should be. Their clothes are strange. Their steps are odd. They do not answer; they turn away into the dark and whisper amongst themselves. Whisper, crackle, snap-- the wind blows outside, the rain spatters on rock.\n\nAntonio steps back to the [[campfire,|hub]] but the flickering light makes the floor seem to swing, and he stumbles. In the back of the cave, the strangers laugh.

<<once>>But muscle memory takes over. He wipes the vomit from his mouth and<<endonce>><<later>>He topples backward. The woods behind him are roaring: no way out, no way out. He<<becomes>>He moves his body to convince himself he's still alive. He wipes the blood from his cheeks. He<<becomes>>It's happening again, it's happening again. It will always happen. He wants it to stop but he can only do what he's always done, so he gathers his legs beneath him and<<endlater>> <<replace "struggles to stand.">>//lifts his pistol://\n\n<<insert "Crack!">> <<insert "Crack!">> <<insert "Crack!">>\n\n<<once>>He can't-- he can't tell-- it's like shooting [[into the sea--]]<<endonce>><<later>>Nothing, nothing-- are they blanks? [[Is this real?|into the sea--]]<<becomes>>But its too dark to see where he's shooting, too dark to tell if [[anything has happened--|into the sea--]]<<becomes>>He knows nothing will happen, he's just shooting because he should, because it's [[expected of him--|into the sea--]]<<endlater>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endinsert>><<endreplace>>

Paulo offers Antonio the bottle. "Armor for your soul," he recommends. "Sorcerers and diamonds! Dark work for a sober man, eh?"\n\nA gust of wind finds its way into the mouth of the cave, and [[the campfire|hub]] flares up bright.

[[Paulo's|Paulo]] eyes are just dark, limp-lidded holes. Beside him, [[Nat Jack's]] lips are moving and popping, going a hundred silent, breathless words a minute. Neither will look Antonio in the eye.

<<replace "One dark night the rain blew">><<replace "The night was dark and dreary">>'Twas on a dark and stormy night<<endreplace>><<endreplace>> <<replace "and the wind fell,">><<replace "and the rain came down in torrents.">>and the campfires were burning bright.<<endreplace>><<endreplace>> <<replace "and three bandits were sitting around a campfire.">><<replace "Three bandits sat 'round the campfire.">>There were brigands small and brigands tall,<<endreplace>><<endreplace>> <<replace "And one of them said:">><<replace "And Antonio said to Antonio:">>and the little one said to the big one:<<endreplace>><<endreplace>> <<replace "Antonio, tell us a storio.">><<replace "Tell us a tale!">>Tell us an old war story!<<endreplace>><<endreplace>> <<replace "And so Antonio began:">><<replace "And the tale began as follows:">>And [[the big one began:|beginning3]]<<endreplace>><<endreplace>>

<<replace "It was a dark and stormy night">><<replace "T'was a dark and stormy night">>The night was dark and stormy,<<endreplace>><<endreplace>> <<replace "and around the campfire burning bright">><<replace "and the rain came down in torrents.">>and the moon was at its height.<<endreplace>><<endreplace>> <<replace "sat brigands large and brigands small.">><<replace "Three robbers sat in a cave.">>Three brigands sat round a campfire.<<endreplace>><<endreplace>> <<replace "And the captain, turning to his lieutenant, said:">><<replace "The captain said to his Lieutenant:">>The captain turned to Antonio, and he said:<<endreplace>><<endreplace>> <<replace "Antonio! Tell us one of your most famous stories!">><<replace "Antonio! Tell us a stor-io!">>Lieutenant! Tell us a tale!<<endreplace>><<endreplace>> <<replace "And Antonio began:">><<replace "And this is the story he told:">>And the tale [[began like this:|beginning1]]<<endreplace>><<endreplace>>

Little [[Toby White]] is here and whole, gnawing a chickenbone at Antonio's hip. [[Bearman]] sits hunched on a log outside, wrapped in his oilskin, keeping guard in the rain.

Tall and genteel Alain is reading aloud from [[the book]] they were given. Victor is listening nearby, picking chicken from between his teeth with the [[obsidian knife.]]

"What are you saying," Antonio demands. //"What are you saying?"//\n\n"We're telling a story," snorts Toby White, almost in disgust.\n\n//"You// should tell a story," grunts Bearman.\n\nBeside them, the [[campfire|hub]] makes a sound like human breath.

Antonio feels a pricking at this throat, and he finds the obsidian knife pressed flat against his shirt in the open bosom of his jacket.\n\nHe drops his pistol. He grips the knife. The handle is warm wood, stained black, and it stinks of blood.\n\nAntonio [[watches the road.]]