Battle Prose: The finale, for-now-le

"Any showing, adjacent that which ends successful demise, is simply a bully showing"

Thilmann had ever sneered astatine apocalyptic portents. Comfort blankets, helium thought. The warming wool of occurrence and brimstone and an extremity to each that is and volition ever be, pulled up implicit arrogant fools, shivering from conscionable having travel to presumption with their ain mortality, afeared they'd miss retired connected the important parts. It is the eventual comfort, helium ever said, to judge that you'll necktie with instauration astatine the decorativeness line, celestial mechanisms sputtering retired successful clip with your ain squishy innards. And yet, helium could not assistance himself sensing finality connected the wind. Louder even, it seemed, than the goading arena assemblage astir them.

Not that he'd ever outright contradict anyone the playful small lies and distractions they needed to resistance themselves from sunup to down. He'd met excessively galore learned men who decried fate's breadstuff and circuses adjacent portion they voluntarily gorged and giggled and blinded themselves to creation's indiscriminate, idiot tyranny with self-spun stories astir what really mattered, arsenic if substance itself would mould to their beliefs.

And what were his convulsive small set but troupe and assemblage some to to this Grand Guignol, this grizzly theatre of mercenary enactment they had convinced themselves stood alongside the farmer, oregon the baker, oregon the mother, oregon the teacher, successful the ostensible bully it brought to this land? Shanking radical was amusive to bash and it was amusive to ticker and it got them paid truthful they could get liquored up and devour good and slumber lukewarm and person the vigor to spell shank much radical the adjacent time over. There were nary sacrifices made here. Every discomfort and information was 1 they willingly brought connected themselves. It's not that they had a endowment for violence, arsenic men often told them. The nasty small information was they had nary endowment for thing else.

It was astir apt determination done the 2nd paragraph of navel gazing elevated to the presumption of utmost athletics that Thilmann got himself stabbed successful the thigh by not paying attraction to the fight. Jason of Stathingham sighed and shook his caput and Rumjugs, having developed a tense tick each clip Jason's caput moved connected relationship of the man's inexplicably potent fondness for headbutting things, conscionable stood twitching.

Jason was slain earlier they'd adjacent had a accidental to signifier ranks. Flailed to giblets. He's headbutting God now, thought Rumjugs, letting a teardrop autumn and mingle with the sand. He brought down his axe hard connected his opponent's neck, sending the man's severed caput caterwauling. The assemblage erupted arsenic it landed, similar a volcano made of rowdy dipshits.

Thilmann thrust his spear repeatedly astatine the surviving gladiator, achieving small much than chipping his shield and hurting his elbow a small tiny bit, not truly capable to notation honestly but I accidental you tin instrumentality it successful determination if it helps overgarment a much implicit representation but truly his elbow was beauteous large actually, amended than ever maybe, possibly the champion elbow successful the world, if you were keeping track. The adjacent stroke destroyed Thilmann's caput armour. Visibly destroyed it, I should add. No constituent narrativising it.

And that was Thilmann's last enactment successful this world. Mythologising his ain elbow. None of america were rather definite however Rumjugs survived, but of the 3 brothers that walked into the arena, helium was the lone 1 that returned.

Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Overhype

A slideshow of images began to overtake the remaining band's senses. Sentimental euphony floated connected the upwind from obscurity successful particular, possibly from the arse of a adjacent goat. The images continued. The clip they'd each decided to halt paying Rick Nipples for a bit, conscionable to spot what would happen, and he'd called them traitors and skinflints and cowards and near and they'd laughed until they pissed themselves. That clip they'd stolen ham from terrified children and past were approached by a distraught pistillate whose gramps had fallen down a well, to which Terry had replied "Well, bully luck with that", and they'd laughed until they pissed themselves. That clip Thilmann had demanded they stopped pissing themselves truthful overmuch due to the fact that the laundering bills were getting astronomical. How they'd laughed! Laughed until they pissed themselves…

As for me? I'd already near by this point. I'd formed a existent kinship with these hopeless bastards, but a wandering scribe's lone existent loyalty is to a bully yarn, and aft six chapters, I'd gotten bushed of penning "Jason Of Stathingham'. Also, with Thilmann dead, I couldn't assistance but consciousness that aforesaid consciousness of finality that had truthful haunted the man. He's wherever our communicative began, aft all. It was ever going to extremity severely for Thillmann The Braggart. Badly is the lone mode helium would person liked it n'all.