Unspeakable Horror- A Short Story

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Mauny opened his eyes to sunlight. Waking up instantly knowing he was late. today was the "Qaurtering" of the Southy. He broke a wad of tobacco, chewing on it feverishly till his mind cleared. Mauny washed his face and leapt into his breeches and shirt. Shouting out " Maa! I'm going to the Quartering." he was away.

Mauny was in the crowd trying to push to the front. It was the first Quartering of his lifetime. Tall and gangly with curly brown hair and freckled cheeks Mauny all of 17 years, was not going to miss a "man thing" like witnessing or even participating in a Quartering. At last Mauny shouldered to the front. Four teams of three men each stood holding inch thick ropes at the four corners of the rough square, chewing on their tobacco bricks. In the middle the Southy boy lay spread eagled. A rope was securing each of his arms and legs. A coroner stood to one side holding a sharp axe, he looked at Mauny and spit out tobacco cud giving him a humourless smile.

The town clock struck noon and the quartering started. The teams started a chant in the old tongue. "Wara mal hutay rishi.. " For a moment nothing happened, just a little stretching of taut of the southy's limbs. Then the victims guttural scream rent the air. Mauny was shocked by the pain it conveyed. Transfixed now on the boy as he whipped his head side to side, now gulping air, now screaming. The crowd joined in the chant " Wara mal.."as the men strained forward. Then the terrible sound of rending flesh and popping bone drew Mauny's attention. He almost vomited there seeing the awkward angle of the boy's left shoulder and a tear spraying out blood.

Mauny tried to turn away but the crowd of people behind him was holding on to him. Pressing him, keeping him trapped. Mauny did vomit when the arm rent away, his mind refusing to work. He barely noticed the coroner proceed with the axe and cut the body up. The head would be hung at the main gate while the heart and liver would be divided among the teams that participated. The arms were being cut up into small bits to be distributed to all present - so the enemy's strength becomes ours.

Soon the tray was in front of him, ? Mauny took a little piece and closed his eyes as he placed it in his mouth. There was no option- all the men would jeer him, All his life, if he refused. the old man beside him patted and handed him a flask of ale. "Swallow up lad." Mauny did and he took out his cheeroot and lit it with trembling hands as he walked away. The tobacco calmed him a little. Smoking and chewing tobacco was away of life for both men and women, though the women rarely chewed. As his mind cleared, Mauny started to rationalise. Southys are animals, they do worse than quartering. No man was safe from them. They were evil and deserved to die for the Unspeakable Horrors they commit. Mauny had heard many tales of this Unspeakable Horror, but no details as to what it was. Only that it was extreme torture for men- living death.

It was months later when Mauny was out hunting wild fowl that he wandered into the hills. Cold rain had forced Mauny to seek shelter in the woods. The next morning was all fog and dim light. Mauny tried to make his way out following a small path he noticed. It was a good three hours before the fog started to burn away. Mauny at last found the main road but he could not recognize where he was, that was till he was captured by the Southy horsemen.

The captain had looked at him in disgust. "Wash the barbarian for Gods Sake. It smells like skunk's funeral! And burn his clothes. Give him a pair of leggings." They were a company of nine with the captain in charge. To his surprise four of them were carrying books in their pack. Mauny had been taught to read- but who reads except priests and healers. On the journey to the nearest town they fed him RAW vegetables, made him eat them at a point of the dagger. And wash hands before and after the meal. Also they made him scrub his plate and glass in the brook. The Southys were fastidious in keeping their mounts brushed down and clean, which was very confusing since the horses would be covered in sand and dirt by the evening. Worst part of the journey was that they had burned all his tobacco with his clothes. A full day without tobacco was torture for Mauny.

The night was even worse. There were no distractions of walking or eating or fatigue. The Southys lay down to sleep with two soldiers on watch. Around midnight Mauny had about of tremors. Shamefaced but wanting a puff of tobacco he had begged the soldiers to give him a wad but they had laughed in his face turned him away. they had broken camp before dawn and by mid morning they were approaching a walled city. They were entering huge arched gateway, Mauny read the declaration on the archway and fainted in horror.
"Cord City, Southern state. TOBACCO IS BANNED - CARRIERS AND USERS WILL BE WHIPPED"

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