Cooper Russell Presents
A Fan Fiction Based On 'Fable:'
Prophecy
Chapter 3: An Unscheduled Detour
Day had turned to night, and the animals of the dark made their way out from there nests. The moon was bright, and large in size and perfect in shape. Aside from the rustling of creatures from within the woods, only the sound of a set of wheels could be heard, being slowly pulled over tiny pebbles on a gravel path. Arlet awoke at this instance and was immediately relieved when he saw Terry alive and well sitting near him.
'You're awake...' Terry said quietly.
'What happened?' Arlet asked. The back of his head was very sore, and hurt to touch. His hair around the wound was stuck together in clumps, from dry blood that had crusted over. Looking around, he saw they were both in a caged wagon of sorts, poorly constructed and low to the ground. It was not comfortable by any means, and was obviously not made with the purpose of holding humans. Two small creatures were on either side of the cage, occasionally peering through the bars as they walked along side. It was too dark for Arlet to make out exactly what they were, except for the small beady red eyes. But it wasn't that which worried Arlet, for they were short. But it was the great beast that was pulling the wagon, which gave off a stench of raw sewage. Neither Arlet nor Terry was able to get a good look at the animal, but its vibe was of danger. The only calming fact was that these small creatures were able to contain the beast. A few of them were even riding it, and hitting it with a steel ball that swung from a chain.
'I was beginning to worry about you Arlet,' Terry said with earnest concern.
'I'm fine Terry, now tell me what happened. Where are we?'
'I don't quite remember myself, though I'm sure I had a better look at it then you.' Terry was jolted when one of the creatures made a snorting sound. Arlet could see Terry was terrified, as his breathing was becoming heavier.
'Terry, listen to me. We have to focus on the situation,' Arlet began, he then quieted his voice even more saying, 'we have to get out of here. Now tell me what happened.'
'I was looking at the dog, you remember the dog?'
'Yes, of course, that's about all I do remember.'
'...next thing I know, we're being attacked. A group of...' Terry stopped.
'A group of what Terry? A group of what?' Arlet asked.
Terry looked down, away from Arlet almost ashamed. 'Hobbes...'
'Hobbes...' Arlet said to himself, with interest.
'I guess you were right Arlet...' Terry started with a saddened voice. 'Such fowl things do exist in these lands. I never believed you; I guess I never really wanted to either.'
'It's okay Terry, but this is not of our concern right now'
Terry didn't speak for awhile, for his mind had yet to catch up with him since the attack. Arlet was concerned for his friend.
'Terry?'
Terry looked up at Arlet and recalled a childhood memory. 'I remember when we were kids. We were playing hide-and-go-seek in the hills, north of the village. When you were off on your own you said you had seen a Hobbe. Keller and me laughed at you when you told us, we didn't believe you. We thought you had been listening to Mr. Bartley's stories too much.'
'It's okay Terry, really. I do not hold it against you. At times I often wondered if I had gone mad.'
Terry then seemed to get himself together, and continued on what happened. 'They attacked us, first you and then me. One of them had thrown a large rock at you from behind, and then from the bushes three more pushed the wagon onto the path. It was done very swift and precise, there is no doubt in my mind it was planned.'
'Were you hurt?'
'No, they just grabbed me and threw me in here along with you. A few jabs and shoves, but I was glad to get into the cage before the beast had shown up. I've been awake the whole time keeping my eye on it. They haven't spoken to me, but I heard some of them talking amongst themselves, but in a tongue I cannot understand.'
'Do you know where we are?'
'We passed your uncles Orchard awhile ago, but beyond that I do not know. This is the farthest I've ever been from Bowerstone.'
'And I do not like the looks of where we are going...' Arlet sighed.
They looked around at what they could make out of their surroundings. The sky was dark, and everything seemed to be dipped in evil. The rocks were jagged, the paths were dark, and the trees were pointed and were without color of any kind. There also was a thin blanket of fog which hung low to the ground, covering most of the insects and worms that crawled about.
'I'm scared Arlet. The trees here look like they are dieing.' Terry said, with fear glazing his eyes. 'I think we're nearing Darkwood...'
That name struck fear into their hearts, for many things have been said of Darkwood. Tradesmen, who traveled there, never came back and the few who did, told stories of horror. Most of the towns people said they were out of there minds, or they were after attention. But it seemed all too real to doubt them now.
'Tell me, what have they done with our weapons?'
'They were put in a large sac, it's on the back of that beast,' Terry explained. 'Look Arlet,' he said, waving his hand in front of his face. 'I can see my breath.' This seems to fascinate Terry, and Arlet was glad to see his friend's old self being slowly restored, despite the fear the loomed around them.
Arlet blew into the air, watching his breath bellow out like a chimney. 'This place is cold. I think I've caught a chill.'
One of the Hobbes to Arlet's left peered in once again with his little red eyes. He pushed his face against the bars, starring at them. It's breath reeked. Arlet didn't like being treated like an animal, and this display built up a sudden burst of confidence, Arlet took his hand and smacked the cage where the Hobbe was looking in.
'Away with you!' he shouted.
The Hobbe didn't take kindly to this, he grunted. Actually it was more like a squeal, like a wild boar. It took the dull end of its axe and swung it against the cage in anger, startling Terry. Arlet tried to show no sign of fear, instead he looked deep into the red glowing spheres of the Hobbe.
'Please Arlet; don't do anything like that again. I don't wish for any harm to come to us.'
Arlet ignored how naive the comment could end up being, but not to worry Terry's spirits anymore, he refrained from anymore outbursts. They sat still for the remainder of the evening being taken through territory unknown to them. Eventually they approached a cluster of mountains in which they broke off from the main path, and were taken through a bumpy road slightly uphill which lead up into the maw of a cave. What seemed like hundreds of hours finally appeared to be ending as they were taken through the final stretch of this journey.
Torches were mounted on the side of the cavern walls, just enough to light up the dark, damp ruins of what seemed to be the home of many Hobbes. They were ugly to the eye, and looked slimy and wet if touched. Hair grew from their ears, and patches sat atop their small little heads. In the light they didn't seem as scary, but more so repulsive. Small warts littered their skin; Arlet sometimes had to look away in disgust. He was beginning to understand why they might live in such dark places. The rolling of the wheels echoed and was amplified, as were the grunts of the Hobbes which were now more intense, like the loud beat of a drum. Even Terry's heart seemed to be thumping harder the deeper they moved into the cave.
'What do you think is going to happen to us?' Terry asked in a calm voice, as if he had already prepared for something terrible.
'I do not know, and I hope that we will not find out soon.'
The beast which was pulling them still looked all the more scary, but its face could still not be seen. Terry imagined the worst; millions of jagged teeth, and eyes so fierce they could take a man's life just by looking into them. Terry's imagination often ran wild with thoughts.
'Mr. Bartley.' Terry said.
'What?'
'Mr. Bartley's stories... what did he say about Hobbes? What do they eat?'
'Stew…' Arlet said, as if the thought of food alone warmed his heart.
'Stew?' Terry asked.
'Yes, it's a very thick soup. You've had it before at my house; it's full of vegetables, meat and potatoes.' Arlet explained with dreamy eyes.
'Oh, that's right,' Terry sighed. 'I already miss a good home made meal...'
Arlet then taking a look at the Hobbe still walking outside of the cage he said, 'though I can't imagine what they put in their stew; dreadful things.'
'What else do they eat, Arlet?' Terry asked, looking afraid. 'Are they going to eat us?'
'What did you say?' Arlet seemed surprised at the comment
'Humans, are they known for eating humans?' He asked again.
'Terry, there is no need to worry. If they were going to kill us they had the opportunity hours ago.'
'Unless they're getting us ready for a good home made stew!' Terry suggested, though honest he was being; Arlet couldn't help but smile at the thoughts that must have been going through his friend's mind.
'How can you smile? I'm serious!' Terry asked with a perplexed look on his face.
'I'm sorry, Terry.' He said turning the smile into one of gentleness and care, 'I just thought if these were our last moments, that they could be happy ones.'
'Don't Arlet, don't you start talking like that.'
The wagon continued through the many twists and turns of the caverns, until they reached what looked like the center of this hidden civilization.
'Look.' Terry said. 'We're stopping...'
They came to a stop, torches lit the large circular room in which Hobbes were in every direction, communicating amongst themselves; actually living. There was an entire small village that dwelled within the cave, as tiny huts stood along the walls; it was very human like in structure. One in particular waddled over to the cage, its right eye was missing, and stitches ran from top to bottom of its face. Though small, it looked like it could pack a pretty hard punch, even if it stood at only 3 feet from the ground. Grunting, it opened the cage and signaled for Arlet and Terry to get out. Even though scared to do so, Terry crawled his way out with Arlet following. Immediately their feet and hands were bound by chain and cuffs, they didn't do much to resist as they knew it was hopeless to try and escape.
After awhile of what seemed to be constant bickering amongst the Hobbes, Arlet and Terry were taken and shoved off into the darkest part of the room by force. The Hobbes used sticks as poking devices to get them to walk faster, and even sometimes lobbing small stones at them. There were no torches in this particular area of the cave, it was dark and various bones that belonged to many animals lay strewn across the ground where they were thrown. A large ribcage that seemed to belong to a rather large beast stood against the side of the cave, beside Terry. He looked at it with wondrous eyes. He thought to himself what it could have belonged to, but before he could even think, his answer was shown to him. A bunch of clatter started amongst the Hobbes, and Arlet and Terry watched in curiosity. They watched as the bigger Hobbes started going into their homes and coming out with weapons, while the smaller ones began to throw whatever they could lift at the beast that had brought Arlet and Terry here in the first place.
In a matter of minutes, the Hobbes were attacking the beast and seeming victorious. Viciously they stabbed at the beast with long swords, and some of them would even climb the sides of the cavern wall to leap atop the animal, only to dig their axe into its side. The animal was hopeless against its foe, it was greatly outnumbered. Roars or maybe cries could be heard all throughout the cave from the beast, which was seconds from its violent fate. It scratched and clawed as many of them as it could, but it was still bound to the wagon, limiting its movement. Though deathly afraid, Terry still felt bad for the animal. Arlet felt a bizarre change in his perceptions toward the Hobbes; they were ruthless monsters and good at what they did. A knot formed in Arlet's stomach, twisting and turning as he watched the inevitable death of the great beast. Though it fought hard, it hadn't a chance to survive. With one last howl, it fell from its hind legs onto the cold cavern floor. Arlet and Terry froze, and stayed silent as the Hobbes began to celebrate over their kill; a chant even followed.
Without a single casualty, what seemed like twenty of them pushed the beast into the center of the room, as another group of them wheeled out a giant pot. It sort of looked like it was from the old tales Arlet's mother would tell him of Witches from Witchwood. Steam poured out from the top of the giant metal cauldron and it appeared the entire village gathered around it, as the beast was savagely decapitated piece by piece and thrown into the pot. Each tare of every limb gave out a ripping sound that made Terry cringe.
'These Hobbes...they're nightmares,' Terry uttered.
Both of them watched as the Hobbes ate their prey, spoonful after spoonful was poured into a bowl for every Hobbe. They did not speak often while eating, but the noise they generated while doing so was enough to make any man lose his appetite. Then to the surprise of them both, one of the Hobbes spooned out the last of their dinner from the pot, and brought over a single bowl for each Arlet, and Terry. It did not speak, but set down the bowls in front of them and walked away. Inside the bowl was the meat of the animal, with bits of uncooked flesh still clinging to the meat. However, a few carrots and chopped potatoes could be found swimming in the dark red soup.
'There's blood in this...' Terry said. 'I think I may be sick.'
Though awful in appearance, the spices they added did make it smell decent.
'I think we ought to eat it, we may offend them.'
'I can't eat this Arlet; it takes enough in me to even look at it.'
'Close your eyes and think of something that you crave.' Arlet started as he picked up the bowl which seemed to be carved from a stone. 'Mother's stew...' he said softly as he tipped the bowl into his mouth. Once the sour broth had touched his lips he had to set it back down in disgust, blood ran from his mouth and off his chin.
'Well...?' Terry asked with a sick look cast on his face.
'I think I may just pick out the vegetables on second thought.'
A glimmer then caught Terry's eye. The torches had lit the blade of Arlet's sword, which was still in the bag that held their weapons. Though it was on the other side of the room, he nudged Arlet saying, 'You think we could make it over there?'
'It would do us no good; not with the restrictions of these chains.' Arlet said. 'Besides, there is no need for any plans just yet. I think they have a purpose for us then just death.'
'I hope death isn't even a part of their plan...'
'Nor do I, but I think we should just sit tight for now and see what happens.' Arlet suggested. 'You should also try eating some of the carrot in the stew, it isn't too bad.'
Looking at the pile of bones, Terry poured his stew behind them, 'I think it needs it more than me.'
Arlet grinned as a loud grunt was heard. Terry looked up to see a Hobbe standing away from them, starring at Terry. It began to walk over toward them both, with one hand on its axe.
'Eat your soup! Pretend to eat!' Arlet said with great urgency.
Terry tried to ignore his last action and he began to act as if he was sipping what was left. The Hobbe approached Terry, and smacked the bowl from his hands. It then snapped quickly and grabbed the chains that linked the two cuffs together and tugged on them, forcing him to the ground. Terry's face hit the surface with a hard thump; he let out a groan. He lay still, starring at Arlet as if he would know what to do. The Hobbe proceeded to pull Terry up again by his hair, but Terry struggled out of its grasp and backed up against the wall. He kept on repeating to himself, 'leave me alone...leave me alone...' The Hobbe let out a growl, leaning inward and went for Terry's chains; but once again he pulled away. The Hobbe quickly clenched its fist and pelted Terry in the face and he fell to the ground.
'Terry!' Arlet yelled. Terry remained motionless and silent.
By this time, the situation had grabbed the attention of two other Hobbes. One of them was very small and thinner than the rest, but the second made up for that with its large arms and rather taller height. They swiftly hopped toward the scene. The three of them began to pick Terry up.
'Arlet...' he murmured.
'Terry!' Arlet screamed, 'let go of him!' Arlet then stood to his knees, and briefly attempted to stand when one of the Hobbes used one of its arms to reach for its axe. Arlet froze, starring into the Hobbe's eyes for a moment. It then faced back with the others and slowly they dragged Terry off down a walkway of the cave out of sight. Arlet stay watching until Terry was out of sight, and until the jingling of his chains was too distant to hear.
After the commotion had died down, Arlet stayed sitting alone in the dark. None of the other Hobbes paid any attention to him, which Arlet found to be strange. He couldn't help but keep thinking of the whereabouts of his friend.
The Hobbes seemed to all be breaking off into there separate quarters at this time, and resting for the night; something Arlet wished he could do. That is when Arlet heard something of a slight giggle. He looked around, but all he could see was darkness, until something fluttered by quickly in front of him then disappeared again.
'Who's there? He asked aimlessly into the dark, keeping his voice quiet from waking up any Hobbes.
'Show yourself,' he tried again.
Then at a distance, a small blue light lit up suspended in mid-air. Arlet looked at it intensely, he even thought for a second that he may be dreaming, but everything felt too real for it all to be a dream. The light then darted around; it seemed to be hovering over top of the quarters in which the Hobbes were all resting. Then once again Arlet lost sight of it.
'Lazy creatures they are,' a soft female voice was heard.
The blue light then revealed itself to Arlet, almost appearing right beside his shoulder. It appeared to be a sort of fairy; only this one looked like it had more to hide than to tell. Its eyes were of a sinister nature, and small fangs poked their way from her mouth. A buzzing sound gave off from the constant fluttering of her wings.
'Who are you?'
'Arial, and you?' she said, plopping herself on Arlet's shoulder.
'Something tells me you already know the answer to that question.' Arlet said, shaking her off.
'Snappy are we? But smart.'
'Well considering the circumstances-
'Considering the circumstances, I would think you would be more cooperative,' she started; cutting Arlet off. 'I mean, you wouldn't want to join your friend would you?'
'What have you done with him?' Arlet said, insisting to know. 'Speak now!'
'Me?' she giggled. 'You should be thankful it wasn't me in charge or you both would be dead by now.' Arial said this, as she fluttered about Arlet's head. 'Though I don't know what's worse; death, or the agony they will put your friend through.' she added.
'You lie!'
Arial flapped her wings in his face, almost in a sick playful way. Arlet batted his head about, refusing to play along. 'Now what would I have to gain from telling you something like that?' she giggled once again.
'Why do you take pleasure in such things?'
Darting low to the ground, she sat atop a carrot that lay on the ground, which had been poured out from Terry earlier. 'Tell me Arlet, what makes you so important?'
'How do you know my name?'
She began picking at the carrot, which was half her size; eating tiny bits of it. 'This isn't going to work if you don't answer my questions.'
'Answer mine and I shall answer yours.'
She smiled, 'What have you know?'
Thinking for a moment, he then asked, 'who sent you here?'
'I was sent here by Lord Malachi, to watch over you.' she said.
'Watch over me?'
'The Hobbes can get a little carried away at times, and I'm here to make sure nothing bad happens.' She then flew back on his shoulder, resting upon Arlet's neck. Arlet did little to resist, she had a seductive trance about her ways.
'Then what about Terry?' Arlet asked.
'He is not of my concern... just you.' she said, as she licked his neck.
Arlet shrugged her off, and she fluttered out of the way giggling to herself.
'Earlier, you asked of my importance. What did you mean by that?'
'Oh my, did these Hobbes manage to capture you before you even made it to the Guild? She laughed, almost mocking Arlet. 'Maybe I should give them more credit... and perhaps you a little less.'
'What do you mean?' Arlet asked. 'Explain yourself!'
Just then a loud cry echoed throughout the cave.
'Terry...' Arlet said quietly. 'What is happening? What are they doing?' Arlet said, franticly.
'Like I said, the Hobbes can get carried away sometimes.'
And with that, she fluttered out of sight once again, and Arlet sat in mystery. There was no sign of Arial for the rest of the night, however the screams did not stop; they continued all through the night.
