Ashan 56, Arc 700
“You will play the Skinbane“, Victor told Michael in his best imitation of his father’s commandeering tone of voice and pointed his wooden toy sword at him. The two boys, one of them a son of the current Lord of Lysoria and the other one the son of said lord’s captain of the guards, were standing in the sun-lit courtyard of the fortress where Victor and his family lived, surrounded by a couple of other children that were of a similar age and all came from comparatively wealthy backgrounds.
“Why do I have to play the monster?” complained red-haired, freckled Michael and stuck out his lower lip.
“Skinbanes are awesome”, Victor insisted rather than answering his playmate’s question directly. “They are mean and violent, and they have tentacles and spider legs – and what more, they were made by magic! Speaking of tentacles”, he murmured as something had just occurred to him and took a look around before he grabbed a piece of rope that was lying on the ground, as if someone had forgotten it there.
“You can use this instead”, he decided. “Next time, you can be one of the heroes”, he added in a rather generous tone of voice because saying “You will play the monster because I’m the lord’s son, and I say so!” might not go over well with the other boy. In fact, it might lead to protests.
Besides, Michael was his friend!
Michael continued to pout for a few moments, and then his eyes suddenly lit up and he asked, “Skinbanes eat people, right? Can I kill a few heroes before you defeat me?”
“Sure”, Victor who had decided that the best way to get people to go along with his decisions was to occasionally make a few concessions said. “Now, go and hide somewhere, and we’ll try to locate your lair. I’ll count to one hundred, and then we’ll go and find you”, he told him. This time, Michael did not complain. He went on his way quite happily and with a spring in his step. He had decided that being a hero was boring, anyway.
They always had to be noble and honorable and follow lots of rules. Monsters could do pretty much whatever they wanted!
“How do we decide who’ll be the Skinbane’s victims?” Lydia, the daughter of a university professor, a girl with brown curls and green eyes wanted to know. “I don’t want to die! Being dead sucks!” she added, and the other children – apart from Victor, Michael and Lydia there were two more boys and two more girls - nodded in agreement.
“We don’t”, Victor replied. “The two that Michael hits first with his tentacles will be the victims.”
“Well, you should have told Michael that and established the rules before he left”, Lydia pointed out.
She was not particularly impressed by his leadership skills!
“We can tell Michael when we find him”, Victor retorted.
“Did you already start counting, by the way?” Lydia asked next.
“I’ll start now”, Victor said, trying not to blush too hard because he had forgotten that very important part of their game and began, “One … two … three … four … five … six …”
“That’s enough”, blonde, blue-eyed Jonathan, the son of an influential judge, said once Victor had reached seventy-five. “I’m bored. I’ll go and look for the Skinbane now. Who’ll come with me?”
Victor looked at his playmates, making a face as he did so because they didn’t follow the rules that he had set, and then he just counted the rest of the way to one hundred very quickly and told them, grinning all over his face, “Let’s go and find that Skinbane now!”
“You will play the Skinbane“, Victor told Michael in his best imitation of his father’s commandeering tone of voice and pointed his wooden toy sword at him. The two boys, one of them a son of the current Lord of Lysoria and the other one the son of said lord’s captain of the guards, were standing in the sun-lit courtyard of the fortress where Victor and his family lived, surrounded by a couple of other children that were of a similar age and all came from comparatively wealthy backgrounds.
“Why do I have to play the monster?” complained red-haired, freckled Michael and stuck out his lower lip.
“Skinbanes are awesome”, Victor insisted rather than answering his playmate’s question directly. “They are mean and violent, and they have tentacles and spider legs – and what more, they were made by magic! Speaking of tentacles”, he murmured as something had just occurred to him and took a look around before he grabbed a piece of rope that was lying on the ground, as if someone had forgotten it there.
“You can use this instead”, he decided. “Next time, you can be one of the heroes”, he added in a rather generous tone of voice because saying “You will play the monster because I’m the lord’s son, and I say so!” might not go over well with the other boy. In fact, it might lead to protests.
Besides, Michael was his friend!
Michael continued to pout for a few moments, and then his eyes suddenly lit up and he asked, “Skinbanes eat people, right? Can I kill a few heroes before you defeat me?”
“Sure”, Victor who had decided that the best way to get people to go along with his decisions was to occasionally make a few concessions said. “Now, go and hide somewhere, and we’ll try to locate your lair. I’ll count to one hundred, and then we’ll go and find you”, he told him. This time, Michael did not complain. He went on his way quite happily and with a spring in his step. He had decided that being a hero was boring, anyway.
They always had to be noble and honorable and follow lots of rules. Monsters could do pretty much whatever they wanted!
“How do we decide who’ll be the Skinbane’s victims?” Lydia, the daughter of a university professor, a girl with brown curls and green eyes wanted to know. “I don’t want to die! Being dead sucks!” she added, and the other children – apart from Victor, Michael and Lydia there were two more boys and two more girls - nodded in agreement.
“We don’t”, Victor replied. “The two that Michael hits first with his tentacles will be the victims.”
“Well, you should have told Michael that and established the rules before he left”, Lydia pointed out.
She was not particularly impressed by his leadership skills!
“We can tell Michael when we find him”, Victor retorted.
“Did you already start counting, by the way?” Lydia asked next.
“I’ll start now”, Victor said, trying not to blush too hard because he had forgotten that very important part of their game and began, “One … two … three … four … five … six …”
“That’s enough”, blonde, blue-eyed Jonathan, the son of an influential judge, said once Victor had reached seventy-five. “I’m bored. I’ll go and look for the Skinbane now. Who’ll come with me?”
Victor looked at his playmates, making a face as he did so because they didn’t follow the rules that he had set, and then he just counted the rest of the way to one hundred very quickly and told them, grinning all over his face, “Let’s go and find that Skinbane now!”
