Insanity (Short Story 1)

It was a daunting tast, this particual mission. Azre was weary and tired, she lacked proper provisions and was living off of wild game. Roasted quail was fine, but lacked the proper nutrients needed to keep going. The insanity was wearing off, leaving a depressed and tired general to her fate.

    She looked up at the sky through her bandaged eyes, cursing at the heavens. She was thinking about the warm banquet she usually partook in back at the castle. Roasted goose smothered with a warm and sweet plum sauce. Onions and peppers blanketing the lush salads, and a savory dressing made from honey and spice. A full goblet of red wine waiting at the table, ready to overflow. She sighed, thinking about the delicacies she was missing.

    The mission was not going as planned. Many important people had already died due to the lack of information. 'This mission was a fools quest,' Azre thought, grinding her teeth. It was true, this mission was a quest best left for the dancing fool. Thinking back to what started the whole event, Azre gave a long groan...


    It just so happened that Lord Daigus had called General Azre to preform a mission of dire importance. The nobles of the village kingdoms in Illinor were being targeted by an organization called The Elied. It was an assasination orginization that specilized in taking down wealthy people, and stealing their land and belongings. Their special agents posed as foreign citizens, using the said persons money to buy back the land. It was a scheme that was costing the king money in taxes, for he could not tax foreigners who bought land using only money. It was a system that was put in place to protect the his alliances with wealthy foreign nobles.

    Lord Daigus ordered Azre to take care of the organization, to stop it from its nefarious schemes. This task was much easier said then done. Azre was supposed to find the main culprits behind the murders, kill them in a gruesome way, and make a public display of their bodies. That was the mission, to make The Elied fear them.


    'But things never go as planned,' Azre growled, clutching her claymore in her right hand. The mission was failing horribly due to The Elied's spies. They knew about this mission and prepared for it, killing the nobles with poison instead of knives. Azre growled once more and continued to patrol the grounds, cloak swishing at her feet. She knew that they would strike here tonight, she just did not know when or how. And the damn noble she was now protecting wasn't cooperating in the slightest. He was a cocky bastard who believed that he could not be killed. 'Piece of crap...' Azre's thoughts trailed off... she musn't let her attention slip.

    As the night grew long, the full moon shone bright. Azre was incredibly tired, but could not afford to sleep. She felt eyes on her since the moment she came to the Village of Cerlion, and not the nobles perverted ones. These eyes, she felt, were the eyes of a well trained killer. Whoever he was, it was definately a he since The Elied only allows males membership, he was a immediate threat. She knew that at some point the assassin would come out of the bushes to kill his prey, he had to. To Azre's knowledge, a piece of the code of The Elied states that one must complete the mission, or be killed upon return. Unfortunately with little intelligence on the organization, it was impossible to fully understand their ways and mindset.

    "Dammit," Azre whispered, clutching her silver claymore tighter in her hand.

    "Oh, what did you say just now? My little chickadee..." the voice came from behind her. Azre spun around to face the speaker, claymore raised to the sky. What she saw made her growl, it made her blood boil and her adrenaline rush. It was a member of The Elied... a cocky one at that. He wore the trademark black robes with a red insignia on the front, and possibly the back. The crimson insignia was of a feather surrounded by a snake.

    Azre pointed her large sword at the assassin, silently challenging him to a fight. The hooded man just laughed in her face and lightly pushed the sword away from him. "Do you really think-," he paused mid-sentence, "That I would fight the general of Illinor?" He gave another laugh, and spit on her shoes. "Come now my dear, I hope I have better sense then that!"

    "Then why did you reveal yourself... a diversion! But you are the only one here...," Azre looked positively confused. The man continued to laugh, walking around her lazily, like a saber lion stalking its prey. Her head followed his every movements, never letting him escape from her vision.

    "Oh dear general... whatever will I do with you?" He smiled and shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "You may not know it... but you infected me," he said, his laughter growing more out of control. "You infected me with the insanity!" He let his head fall back and he gave out a maniacal laugh. "Oh my wonderful little birdie! Do you know what you have done?!" He fell to his knees and gave a whimper, tears started to flow heavily. "Because of you... because of you they are trying to kill me...," he trailed off, putting his face in his hands. "I am no longer a part of The Elied... I have nowhere to go where I am safe...." he trailed off. His body then became stiff, and he looked up at Azre and said, "Kill me... please kill me." His green eyes held tears, his face was distorted.

    Azre stepped forward, towards the pleading man. She raised her sword high in the air... and then dropped it upon the ground. She knelt beside him, and put her mouth next to his ear. She whispered in what seemed to be a demonic voice, "Oh really now, is it so bad? To be free from the shackles of normality, to cast away those who do not understand the pleasures... you fool!" She grabbed both of his shoulders and shook him violently. "What say you? You speak in tongues! Use it to your advantage!" A large smirk appeared upon her face, her voice grew even wilder, "Join me! Join me... Join King Daigus! Together we can destroy those who seek our destruction! We enjoy ourselves for once in our pathetic lives!" She was panting, her face seemed change from expression to expression.

    The young man just looked at her, understanding graced his features. "Wh-what are you saying? I-I can... I can have a purpose again!" He looked up at her, with the eyes of a newborn. "Train me General of Illinor! Teach me how to control this curse... no, not curse, gift... teach me how to control this gift..." He looked towards the ground and fell into her chest.

    She held him to her bosom, and stroked his hair. Her body was rocking back and forth and she was humming a merry tune. She looked down at the man in her arms and said, "What is you name?"

    He looked up at her and whispered, "Slame...my name is Slame...General Azre." He tried to bury himself deeper within her chest, trying to find a way out of the horrors of reality.

    "Well Slame... shall we go kill a nobleman?" Her smile turned into a full on grin, her body started to convulse. "Oh my dear Slame, I think that... the insanity's coming!" She let out a high pitched laugh. The king could understand another nobleman killed... and if he didn't? That was where the fun would come in!