Flash Fiction : The Deepest Notch
Don’t overthink it.
“Pass me some of that leather.”
Kenneth was his name. Kenneth… something. His hand trembled, nearly dropping the stick of dried meat in the fresh pool of muddy wet forming beneath them. Couldn’t hurt the flavor much. Kenneth Grandwigget?
Rory spoke while chewing. “What’s your name now, boy?”
“Grant Kindle, sir. Newly dubbed.”
Close enough.
“Do you see that banner hung from the post yonder, Grant?” Rory pointed at the camp below the bluff with what was left of his sorry supper. “Be that three bullheads on green stripes?”
“Looks that way, sir. Bulls on paly green.”
So it is. No getting around it. Ol’ Dugan Pasture took his blade off the mantle.
“Remind me, Kindle. What was your name before?”
“Kinwrit, sir. Last of a lesser house.”
“Damn.”
“Sir?”
The smell of a twice cooked stew cut through the stench of damp dog for an instant. Rory spat the gristle and sighed. “Now’s the time then, Kindle. Rally the rest of them.”
Grant made his way around to the men who were huddled under tarps about the bluff. Southerners - the lot of them - not too keen on Merra’s blessings. “Rory says now’s the time”, Grant whispered as he made his way through the trees to muster the score-odd Arahetian soldiers.
Rory couldn’t help but smirk. The squad of sun-coddled Arahetian warriors stood at attention, exposed in the downpour. Each one pretended to be anything but miserable. Good lads.
I s’pose a rally is in order, then. Rory began, “You belong here. They disagree. They come bearing hate, famine, fear, and blood. There is naught left to do but send them to divinity for a proper cleansing.” That ought to do it.
Soft agreements and hard faces. Seasoned men then. Good. To work.
Rory splits the lot in two, directing each to a flanking wing. “They’re eating. They’re tired. They’re hiding from the wet. Mercy is no virtue today.” He joined the right wing as vanguard.
Rory encroached upon the transitory supper tent, his men spread out with their short blades lusting for throats. As he approached his own target, none other than Dugen turned to lock eyes with him. Perhaps instinct blinded Dugen to circumstance, because he offered his would-be assassin a surprised grin as if they’d just happened to cross ways in the market. Rory smiled back. A fond greeting. An embarrassed concession. It couldn’t be helped.
In those brief moments, as Rory's men performed summary executions on the unsuspecting rebels, Rory and Dugen stood deathly still - deathly close - for far too long. Dugen was always reliable. Dutiful. Ready. Quick to the hilt. A good man.
Don’t overthink it.
The flanks were secure. The battle was all but won. Dugen was reaching for his sidearm. Clever and cool as ever. Rory’s heart was screaming panic - screaming protest. His mind beat the steady rhythm of the kill. Don’t overthink it. Shield forward. Foot behind. Push. Tilt. Axe up. Thud.
Another notch.
Grant struggled to drag a dead man to the makeshift pyre. Nearly made it before mud stole his footing and the dropped corpse delivered a bloody wet splash to Rory’s grizzled face. Rory was not bothered. His focus was on his carving work. Two hundred and twelve notches on the handle of his axe. Two hundred and twelve Arahetian souls quickened by his hand. Two hundred and eleven Olden souls left to cross them out. Atonement.
“He’s the best man I’ve ever known. God’s got his fill today.”
“Sir?”
What you just read was written in an evening. The format is called Flash Fiction. Flash fiction is a self-contained short fictional story that consists of 500 to 1000 words.
While the matter-of-fact text exploring the histories and peoples of a world are a common and necessary feature of tabletop roleplaying setting guides, it often falls short of truly inviting the reader into the worlds explored. Stories, on the other hand, bring a world to life. To that end, flash fiction like this will be included throughout the Tribulation guide.
If you’d like to try your hand at writing flash fiction in the brutal world of Ash and Ruin, reach out to straygoat@tribulationgame.net for details. We’d love to share the imaginings of amateur enthusiasts!
