The Groven Myth

In a dark and damp basement Poxy lay strapped out on an operating table. The torches on the walls gave birth to sinister shadows that played with his delirium. Prynn had stopped the bleeding. There had been a lot of it and now the floors were stained with Poxy's blood. I'll murder that good for nothing samurai... he thought to himself, only he must of spoken his revenge out loud because Prynn responded.

Cooing to his pet Prynn said, "You will my Poxy, you will. Let me finish up here and you shall rest, and then you shall get me my Ruko." With a deep breath Prynn began again to hammer the mechanical arm into place while Poxy tried to ignore the pain. "We did good today, you and me. All the children are sleeping. Tomorrow I shall make the preparations for the spell... This will please the demon lords.. yes.. and then.. THEN THEY.... theeey.. they will bring me Prynn.." Prynn cackled to himself.

"Master... aren't you him? Aren't you Prynn?" Poxy mumbled.

Prynn just blinked. "YOU INSOLENT FOOL!" He boomed and with the strength and anger of 10 men the wizard tore the mechanical arm from Poxy's shoulder which caused the wound to reopen. The spray of blood splashed across Prynn's demonic face and Poxy let out a mournful howl. In the flicker of torch light Prynn's vampiric teeth shown brilliantly, which gave away his true identity; That of an imposter, that of a faux Prynn, the vampire.

At the shock of seeing an old friend, Ruko let his guard down giving Poxy a chance to bring a blow dangerously close to the fallen Samurai's head. Luckily Ruko was a master with his katana. The Ronin leaned back at the right second letting the cleaver fly past his shoulder. "Prynn, good sport, What are you doing with all these children?" He asked as he deflected Poxy's cleaver once more.

Without so much as a word or gesture to respond to the Ronin's presence Prynn gave a quick order to Poxy: "Keep him busy while I prepare the spell." With that the wizard knelt down and with a single finger drew a circle in the dirt. The wizard then spoke a few words of enchantment and the circle in the dirt lit with the glow of a portal spell. He then turned towards the tent to retrieve the five children whom he had picked moments earlier.

Meanwhile, with the portal spell going, Poxy and Ruko were still at each other's throats. What the fuck is Prynn up to? Ruko thought. He better have a good explanation for all this... Poxy brought his cleaver down hard onto the Ronin's katana pressing him back. Ruko stumbled to brace the overpowering blow, slipped, and fell to the ground.

Prynn returned from the tent leading the five children, the rest looked onward, dumbstruck from shock at the scene before them. Again Prynn gave a quick order to Poxy: "After I am through the portal, Poxy, follow." With his right hand he opened a music box which let out a strange tune and in an instant the sun-colored tent jumped into the air, shrank, and was sucked into the box. Prynn then march with determination to the portal, leading the five children. Then and only then did he turn to address Ruko, who lay on the ground with his sword up defending against Poxy's attacks. "Vile and wicked man we will meet again shortly. When I see you a second time I will cut from you your skin and wear it with honor for the betrayal you have brought against me." With that Prynn pushed the five children into the portal and then quickly followed, disappearing from sight.

Poxy and Ruko were alone left to continue their battle.

"You samurai aren't so tough!" Poxy let out his arrogance as he brought his cleaver down trying to sunder through Ruko's katana.

Poxy's blow was miscalculated and the trained Ronin took his chance. With his left foot he pushed off into a roll while spinning on his right he lifted himself. In a flash of movement Ruko let his katana slash behind him cutting through what felt like flesh and then bone and then flesh. Blood began to spurt with great force from Poxy's right arm, so shocked by this the creature bolted for the portal. Before Poxy's arm and cleaver fell to the ground he had jumped through the portal and was gone. Ruko was left there standing, dripping with blood, before the group of remaining children.

"Now" he said with a pause. "Who wants to see their mommies?"

Bruised and bleeding, led by chains tied around their necks, the children followed the hideous creature through the lowlands between the great hills of the valley. They were too frightened and too wounded to yell for help, not that it would have benefited their situation. The creature had already eaten the few who had tried to cry for their mothers. He was greatly satisfied with his newly aquired collection of children. Twenty-three alive and eleven in his belly, his master was going to be proud. In the distance through the thick fog of morning the creature spotted a dark figure standing at the entrance of a sun-colored tent. Power and pride emanated from the man which sent chills down the spine of the creature.

"Good work boy, good work Poxy." His master’s voice cooed across the distance. Poxy came closer to the tent leading the line of children, the man’s features became defined as Poxy's eyes focused on his master's face. His master was a tall man with raven black hair and a small goatee. He wore the dark robes of a wizard and had the confidence of magic in his smile. Poxy feared him but knew that this partnership would someday lead to great things. Wizards always had treasure.

Poxy reached the tent, his master standing just inside reading a manuscript. The creature bowed deeply and said "My most glorious lord I serve you honorably by completing the task you set before me. Here, these are the children you asked for."

"Excellent. You have done well Poxy now bring these children into my tent so that I can pick which ones will be right for my intentions."

Poxy did as his master told, being sure to keep his eyes low in order not to offend the wizard with direct eye contact.

Inside the tent the wizard walked down the line examining each of the children. Silently his eyes picked the ones he would need. Two girls and three boys, a total of five children in all. "I have made my choice Poxy, you have done well. As your reward you may devour the rest." The man unchained the five children that met his twisted criteria.

"Yes master, as you wish." Poxy looked hungrily at the crowd of children that were now his to eat.

"Do take them outside; I don't want any blood on my tent."

"Of course master, of course" Poxy said nodding as he led the children out. After walking a good distance away and through the fog Poxy turned to the children. "Now my little poppets which one of yous will be first in my belly?"

"Me" came a voice from the back of the crowd. Poxy peeked over the heads of the children to get a better look at his next meal and was surprised to see not a boy but a man. A man holding a very long sword and wearing very thick armor. "But you're gonna have to work a little if plan on eating me." Ruko circled the crowd of children and then closed with Poxy. The creature, speaking no words, drew a large cleaver from his back and raised it to defend himself.

From within the tent the wizard could hear the sounds of the battle raging outside. With frustration in his voice he addressed the five children. "Wait here my little ones Uncle needs to check on dear little Poxy." The wizard pushed open the curtains hanging in the tent's entrance to see Poxy engaged in combat with a Samurai. "Ruko" he said plainly.

"Prynn!"

With deft gather information skill Ruko quickly grasped the weight of the situation. All of the children of the village had either been murder or taken from their beds by violent force. A few hopeful townsfolk still believed that their little ones were alive. After spotting a trail of blood and the tracks of small feet Ruko had to agree. With heroic vigor Ruko announced that he would follow the trail and reclaim what had been stolen in the night. Commandeering an old donkey he rode as swiftly as he could from the distraught village. Whatever took these children had to still be around here. Leading that many children through a rocky valley is bound to slow anyone down... not that I would ever steal this many children.. but... The donkey's trot was swift but the path quickly became dangerous as a thick and unnatural fog set in. Is this magic? he wondered as he dismounted leaving the donkey behind so that he could continue on foot. No doubt it is. Wizards! Oh how I hate wizards!

The rising sun brought the angry morning. The villagers awoke to find every single one of their children missing. Horror and panic swept over the hamlet. The only remains to be found were the blood stains on the pillows of their children's empty beds. Mothers and Fathers gasped for air between sobs, grandparents clawed at their hair and family pets pissed their bladders dry. The uproar could be heard for miles. In fact when it reached the ears of a sleeping Ronin he was startled from his pleasant dreams of dancing in rolling fields with beautiful maidens.

Ruko sat up in the muddy ditch he was sleeping in. It had been a year since he left Dragon city and HIS Samurai order because Ashitaka had deemed it to be invalid and dishonorable. What a self-righteous asshole, Ruko thought as he dug himself out of the mudhole. Now, what in the Divine's name is all that screaming? He turned his head to look down the dirt road. His blurry eyes saw a small but charming village in the distance. "Ah hell, I suppose I better go and check it out." Ruko pick himself up along with his katana and trudged towards the village carrying with him his bad attitude.

When he reached the first house he saw a woman, mad with despair, about to throw herself on a pitchfork in order to end her suffering. Ruko, assessing the situation with a warrior's eye simply said "Hey, how's it going?" in his nonchalant swagger. Confused by this the woman turned around to look at the arrogant man, her eyes darting between thoughts of suicide. "You don't need to do that" Ruko said. "I'm here and I'm a Samurai. We save the day and all that."

"What?" the woman asked, her grasp on reality fading.

"I said that I'm a samurai, We solve problems. I have a sword. It fixes situations, do you get my meaning?" He walked over to the woman and put his hand on her shoulder while with the other he slid the pitchfork away. "Now, let me hear it. What's your problem darling?"

"They are all dead, all of them. All dead."

In the dark of night the creature sat looking over the valley. Like faint stars being strangled to death by grisly hands the candle light in the windows of the houses below flickered with sadistic glee. Somewhere in the silent village a mouse nibbled on a bit of cheese while the creature who sat all the way up top on the ridge opened its mouth to reveal a toothy grin. In the deathly moonlight the creature's red-rum eyes darted from distant house to distant house, seeking for something or someone. His sharp eyes cut and clawed through the village till they spied their quarry. Carefully and quietly the creature stalked down the side of the mountain with its long legs, bounding over rocks as if they were the severed heads of helpless grandfathers. Closer and closer he approached the village. With a sniff at the air he could smell all the fat little children sleeping in their warm little beds and this made his mouth water. Tonight there would be a feast.