|| -------- -- -----  A E R I E   O B L I V I A N A . singular book of text wandertainment by Frank Edward Nora ------------------- ----------- CLOWN CENTAUR ARCHITECT--CUP 4--"HARLOT" <-------  ||  Severe Repair  ||  Clown Centaur Architect  ||  -------> (Cup SRcc004, Created v2 (6/7/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = "Look what you did, dolt!" Thalerdrad yelled at Gorblame. "Don't blame me," Gorblame said "He should have known the effects of backtracking on a highway. Besides, he got off easy--the Nomars method of death-inducing is unpleasant in the extreme. If I were you I'd do the same as him." "I think you're lying!" Thalerdrad said "You want the glory of gaining the Amarith yourself! Well, I'll not allow you to commit such an evil act!" With this, Thalerdrad drew his blade and held it before him. "Calm yourself, son of Dradmer. If I wished to kill him, or you, for that matter, I'd have done it myself. Neither of you are a match for me. Please believe me. I'm telling the truth." Thalerdrad, breathing heavily, faced Gorblame, but slowly released his tensed muscles, and then resheathed his blade. "So be it." Thalerdrad said "I will believe you for now, but I shall face my fate like a true warrior." "Okay." Gorblame uttered lowly, as they began walking again. They walked a long time, neither saying a word. Then Thalerdrad spoke. "How will they kill us?" "I will tell you. They place us in tanks of weak acid and baby snakes, and as we slowly decompose, the snakes feed on us and grow larger. It is called Thirteen Days of Agony." "Oh God!" Thalerdrad exclaimed. "Yes." Gorblame commented. "But--what about you, in that huge and impervious metal body of yours?" "Well, they regenerate my original body, just to kill me." They walked on a while longer. Finally Thalerdrad, who seemed to be in deep thought, spoke. "I believe you, since you have no reason to lie. I wish to find some way out of this situation. To blazes with the king!" "Well, when we exit the highway, the Nomars will be waiting for us. Then the highway will disappear, and we'll be trapped in Darthule. They already know of our mission, and have the acid vats ready. There is no escape." "Well," Thalerdrad yelled "I know one escape! No one who's jumped off a highway was ever seen again! But it might lead to anywhere--even everlasting life! Farewell!" With this, Thalerdrad jumped off the side of the highway. He fell for a long, long time, and watched as the highway above drifted farther and farther into the distance. Then he felt himself burst into flame and evaporate. "Such is life." Gorblame said as he continued walking along the highway. But just at that moment, Felptash the Highwayist took a ballista bolt through the heart as Thartos was being invaded by the Union of Draldia. Felptash dead, the highway disintegrated, and Gorblame fell into oblivion. In oblivion, Gorblame reminisced about his days as a tern-man on the high seas. Soon, he felt his metal body disassembling and dispersing, and his soul was finally free. He felt like he was naked in a thunderstorm. It was glorious. Liberty at last. Back in Thartos, the palace of King Drey had just taken a huge fireball on it's western wall, and was collapsing. As his dying thought, Drey imagined the harlot he made love to decades earlier in Boshophot. He thought to himself, in all my life, is that the most outstanding memory? Yes, he thought, it is the most memorable thought. Pity. -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- -----