A
man small in stature ran down an ally.
His clothing was dirty and torn, there were several larger men giving
chase. The little guy was desperate,
trying to get away from his potential captors.
The men are after him because he is a lowly thief. He stole an abundant amount of riches that he
clutched to his tiny frame as he ran.
Suddenly an outreached foot trips the little man and he abruptly flew through
the air before landing in a thorn bush.
He screamed in pain and agony, “Holy goblet, man! What’s the big idea? I am just trying to make a living here. I had a very rough childhood and feel that
material possessions can subsidize that, man.”
He got up and dusted off his already disheveled clothes and turned to
run. As he turned around, to his dismay,
he discovered Strom towering over him.
The angry mob reached the thief, to which Strom said,
“The treasure is safe now. Let us
be. I will handle the thief
accordingly.” The mob left disappointed
and grumbling among themselves. Strom
knelt down face to face with the thief.
The thief was visibly shaken, “I didn’t know, I mean
that I couldn’t know that. . .here you can have the gold,” his hands were
trembling, “the gold is yours. This was
just a misunderstanding. I don’t know
what I was thinking. No harm no foul
right? I have a family to support, man.”
“How did you make your way to my treasure? It was protected by many able men. You are surely skillful. What is your name, little one?”
“My name is Madmordigan, and yes I am skillful. I cannot tell you how I do it, secrets of the trade, you know, man.”
“I know all to well.
Too many secrets plague our society.”
“Let me assure you, Lord Strom, that my skill is
unmatched by any other. I can be helpful to you. If you want something, I can get it. I get stuff, man.”
“I am no thief!
I earn what I get. Crom is a
thief. Go to him if you want work,”
Strom was insulted at Madmordigan’s proposal.
“Crom a thief?
I find that hard to belief. I
think you are mistaken, man. In what way
is he a thief?”
“He steals the hearts of girls which do not belong to
him. And in that, he is truly skillful.”
“I find that a heart cannot be stolen. If somebody loses companionship, then he
never truly possessed it. If one is
foolish enough to lose love in the first place, I fear that he does not deserve
said love, man.” The thief was right, if
there was one thing that he could never steal, it was the love of another.
“Make silence, thief.
If you were so skillful, why were you caught? You have disrespected me twice now. So you shall die.” How was it that everybody was an expert on
love except Strom?
“Was it something I said? I respect you, I respect you!”
Strom grabbed the thief with one hand and lifted him
up off of the ground and lifted him to his height. The poor fellow was being choked. His death was imminent when Heti came running
down the ally screaming, “Father, father!
I bring you terrible news!” The
group of disappointed men had pointed him in his father’s direction.
Strom dropped the thief and looked at Heti. The thief got up and scurried away, but not
before swiping a handful of jewels.
Strom let out a loud thud of breath and yelled at his son, “Damn! He got away!”
Breathless was Heti as he said, “Worry not about that
scum, father. I bring you news of the
passing of Aparthie.”
And then the earth stopped its spin. Everything went black, the only sound was the
steadily increasing beat of Strom’s heart.
Thud, thud thud. Louder, louder
it grew. Strom broke out in an intense
sweat and cried out, “Wha. .
.wha. . .what? This cannot be. We must be together. Has God forsaken me once more? Tell me Heti.
Tell me more.”
Heti wondered why his father took it so
personally. Apparthie was just part of a
plot, surely another commoner could be found as a replacement. Could this be part of one of the secrets that
Boxt kept from Heti? He obliged his
father and told him more, “Just this morning she passed. She, she was stricken with a grave illness
recently that has finally taken its toll.
She fought for many weeks but could not hold on.”
Again, Strom was hit hard. Possibly, just possibly he had heard his son
wrong the first time, but the additional revelation only confirmed it, “Tell me
who told you this horrible news! I must
know for I must find out for myself the whole truth. I cannot stand the possibility of information
being filtered as is only natural when being passed by tongue and ear.”
“I cannot tell, father, for I am sworn to secrecy.”
This was not the time to play games with Strom,
“Blasted boy! You are sworn to loyalty
to your own father before all else. Now
tell me or I will disown you!”
“Are you loyal to your own father?” mumbled Heti,
barely audible.
“What’s that I hear?”
“It is none other than Boxt who shares the
information with me father. He is taken
into the house of Ganesh and Crom. Crom
has taken to him as a son,” Heti had just shamed himself, he betrayed his own
brother.
“What? My son
has sought solace and charity among my wretched family? Oh the horror! Why me?
Why me!”
Heti had to try and make it up to his father and took
another step in the betrayal of his brother.
Heti picked his father over his brother, “I fear the information I gave
you is not entirely accurate.”
“Wicked child!
Tell me the truth now” how much more could Strom take?
“Her death was not natural, but by her hands. She realized that Crom shared no affection
for her and she took her own life. . .she was devastated.”
“First he takes my love, then he takes my son! Then he takes my love’s life! This cannot stand. Crom shall fall tonight! Quadri!
Make yourself by me.” Strom was
not thinking clearly, all of their
careful planning over the past months was being thrown because of Strom’s sudden rage.
Quadri made his way through the town and made it to
Strom, “Yes, Strom?”
“Gather all of our forces. We will prepare for battle.”
“Yes! I shall
make haste!” and he ran off excitedly
shouting to all who could hear, “Gather ‘round, gather ‘round! Battle is near.”
The sound of
Quadri’s voice got quieter as he got further and further from where Strom was
kneeling. Strom would let his passion
get the best of him. Strom could never
go halfway. He was full throttle all of
the way and there would be no turning back now.
After all of the men gathered on the town square, Strom made his way to
the center of their circle. He was going
to improvise a speech on the spot. This
would trump his previous speech tenfold and send him souring into the realm of
greatness. It would be his moment of
clarity. He knew deep down what he must
do. He would shine and share his light
with those willing to see it. Strom
would lead them. They would all march
down a path that would blister their feet yet strengthen their collective
pride. Together they were all a
unit. They were a unit divided by an
invisible border that separated Strom’s secret goal of selfish achievement and
their misguided, yet somehow understandable desire to avenge Ishmael. Ironic was it that Strom mislead his
followers in the same way that Ishmael had before him. But still, wrong as Ishmael was, he certainly
was no pillar of pride—but of order.
Strom never did understand this but pushed forth anyway. His speech would be remembered for
generations, “I have decided that it is time.
We have waited long enough. I am
confident enough that all of you will fight the tyranny. We must join together in a unity that will
stand forever. We shall put a stop to
the evil throne and give it back to the people.
I have wanted so long for this day.
I cannot begin to tell you how I feel now that I know that we will all
persevere. Our challenge is to an
authority that has abused its power for far too long now. I promise that I will serve you as you have
served me, and that is diligently. I
look into your eyes and I see pride.
Pride that Ganesh has tried to break.
The soldiers have raped our women.
They have starved our children.
They have pushed us to the brink of self-pity. I say that we give them what they deserve,
which is a painful, agonizing death. I
want to hear them apologize and beg for mercy.
But we must not grant clemency to the pigs. They must be stopped and now is the
time. The longer we wait, the more of us
will die or crossover to the pig’s army.
It is time we give our children a future that we did not have. It is time we give our children a reason to
live and to be proud. Will you fight by
my side on this glorious evening?”
He was overwhelmed by the response that he
received. The entire crowd raised their
hands in unison and screamed and celebrated.
Despite the news of the tragic demise of his love, that day was a good
day.
###
More Greatest Evil
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