A Price to Pay

The story begins before the duel with James (in this case, the one who fought James in the story will be named Richard), where the three were offered a ride with the merchant. Since this part of the story had already been made known, let us move on to the events after the duel.

The trio had been set free from their captors and the first thing they had done was to collect as much gold and jewelry as they could find in the cart. People began to fight amongst themselves as they were approaching the cart and even tore each other apart with hidden weapons they had kept in their sleeves. Fortunately, the children were able to pass by the quarreling groups of people because of their small stature. Once the sounds of screaming and blood splattering became more present, Sylvia and her friends gathered only two small bags filled with as much gold as they could gather.

The children ran as fast as they could into the town known as Carnal, searching for a port that could take them into a different country. The streets, once coated in a fine golden color, were covered with littered junk and scraps of food. From the many shops on both left and right sides of the street, the scent of cigar smoke and the sight of people quarreling both verbally and physically did not make quite the difference as to the people outside of town. All of the citizens were dressed nobly like the ones seen in the previous town, High Mighty but the difference between these people can be noticed if you were to drop one small coin in Carnal.

As they continued to run, a coin fell off of Joseph's pouch and once that coin hit the ground, the small and faint sound waves emitted were noticed by a large number of people within the vicinity. Many people flocked towards that one singular coin and even fought over it by breaking each other's fingers to prevent one another from picking it up. If such a conflict could be sparked by a small amount of money, who knows what could happen if a whole bag of coins were to fall down on the street.

Joseph noticed the dangerous potential the group held just by carrying this large sum of money and grabbed the second bag of coin carried by Sylvia. With both bags in his grasp, Joseph tucked the money under his shirt to keep it hidden. Though the lumps were noticeable, he thought it would have made it more difficult for passersby to steal it since he could easily defend them.

In any and all towns presented in fiction and reality, there was always the convenient alleyway available to hide in. To the left side of the road, a narrow gap in between the row of houses was seen and Sylvia led the group immediately as soon as she noticed it. Thankfully, they were all able to slip inside undetected.

They continued to labor on walking through the alley until a light was seen at the other end of it. Not only that, the scent of the ocean and of dead fishes was also vaguely present.

Just as they were about to exit the dark and tight space, a tall and incredibly slim guard came climbing down from the roof to guard the exit. He extended an unexpectedly long and slender arm down unto the ground to signify that they were not granted permission to leave. His figure was somewhat inhuman for his height appeared to be the size of two men; and his muscle mass was practically non-existent, making him appear to be like a walking twig.

"Whatever a human seeks, they must know it is not freely given." The man-creature spoke, "If you wish to run free, then know that your freedom will come at a cost." His voice sounded croaky and grim.

"Then what is the cost you speak of?" Joseph interacted with the creature first but his words were still terribly affected by his fear.

"I suppose that paying me all that you have will be enough." The man chuckled as he said, "Or, we hold a wager to see how much you children are willing to sacrifice in order to achieve what you want?" His words felt as if the devil himself were to speak.

"Sacrifice? You must be making an attempt at ludicrousy with your threat-like words." Joseph said as if he knew that it was all a joke, "I'll take you up on that wager, spiderlike man." He proudly stated as if a sudden rush of adrenaline gave him a false sense of confidence. Joseph held true to his words despite Sylvia and Mary silently pulling his sleeve to tell him to stop.

"Very well, for this small game, all you have to do in order to win is to arrive at your destination; and the only way for you to lose is that you forfeit to me." The man said as he lifted off his arm covered in daggers in order to begin the wager, "The two of you may arrive at wherever it is that you need to go to since the boy will be the only one to play." The man directed his words to the two girls who grew hesitant of Joseph's actions.

Sylvia and Mary stayed side by side and watched as Joseph arrogantly walked out of the alleyway and out onto the street. He bumped into a passerby and apologized immediately for his actions. However, his small moment of embarrassment would soon turn into shock and terror as the passerby's head was sent flying off of her shoulders. The game had finally begun, and the tall, stick man wiped off the blood on his blade easily like cleaning a knife after using it to cook.

"I almost forgot about the third rule." The murderer said, "The final rule is simple, being that any and all people who walk along these streets play within this game, and those who walk past you are 'eliminated'." He finally finished stating his last cruel rule to a boy trembling on his knees unable to cry out any audible word. "And don't even think of contacting the authorities, they have not been able to apprehend someone like me for the past fifteen years of my work and if they do ever answer your call, I won't be there to answer for my actions for I will have you pay for them." The malicious killer laughed softly on the empty street. It was terribly unfair to have bystanders die but perhaps this is what the malicious man meant by "sacrifice".

Joseph was finally aware of the consequences and realized that the only way to stop this game was to advance through. His only option was to move forward into the active and bustling bazaar that was just between him and the port. Joseph took small and slow steps as he scanned his field of vision for people who were about to walk past him.

Halfway through the entrance, he walked, and suddenly, a child sprang forth from the crowd and came running towards the entrance. The option of running was not available for Joseph as the man stood right behind him, but there was another action that Joseph could take. With the slightest force, Joseph put his hand on the child's head and asked the boy: "Are you lost? Would you like me to help you find your parents?" Fortunately, the child was indeed lost and gullible enough to accept his help. The two proceeded to walk through the entrance with Joseph's heart slightly encouraged to take upon this battle of wits.

"Help! A murder has happened!" A voice cried out just behind Joseph. The cry of help attracted almost everyone from the bazaar and had them running towards the scene. "No! Don't go!" Joseph did his best to try and stop the curious victims from walking past him but all of his actions were for naught.

The steps of people running upon the street were heard first, then, the shouts stating that the murderer has appeared; finally, a bloodbath ensued right behind Joseph in a matter of seconds. Cries for help and screams for mercy were all the noises that reverberated into Joseph's ears but as seconds passed, all of their voices died out like a lamp losing its oil.

Sylvia and Mary stood silently and traumatized at the sea of corpses. As he saw the despairing reactions of his only friends, Joseph muttered softly almost as if he was making a call for help or a declaration of innocence. Consistently he said, "It's not my fault, please, you must understand. If you refuse to believe me, then flee from this place and save yourselves." With such depression and regret in his voice.

The innocent child, who has never seen the sight of blood before, asked Joseph why was everyone laying on the ground. Joseph did not answer the boy as he focused all of his will into preventing his eyes from bawling with tears.

Taking every step with fear and caution, Joseph held the child's hand firmly and concocted a small plan in order to prevent as many people from walking past him; however, his plan could involve the loss of more lives but he must still consider it as an option.

As the bazaar began to be filled again with curious passersby, anxiety continued to dominate Joseph's nerves. However, two miracles had emerged from the incoming crowd. It was Sylvia and Mary, who both had taken an alternative route as to go around the bazaar and to enter through a different entrance, running towards the fear-stricken boy to aid him in his predicament.

Firstly, Joseph handed the child over to Mary to search for the child's mother in a safer manner, and secondly, Sylvia was requested to make as much noise as possible to steer the crowd away from the bazaar. The sudden change of events had finally turned the unfair game to Joseph's favor. With the people being slowly steered away, Joseph walked forward confidently but remained vigilant still of what the gamemaster could do.

The end of the bazaar was soon approaching and as he walked closer, the crowd would soon make contact with Joseph. Despite Sylvia's efforts, the exit could not fully be rid of the people because of their slow movement. Whilst Sylvia continued to present herself like a lunatic, Mary had returned to Joseph to know of what he planned to do next.

"The people are moving too slow, Joseph. At this rate, we won't be able to arrive at the port before it closes." Mary expressed her worries.

As they waited, an idea sparked within Joseph's mind. The young man brought out the bags of gold from under his shirt and gave one of them to Mary.

"One coin." Joseph said, "All I need to do is to throw one coin. If my plan does not end the way I intended it to, find a ship to take both you and Sylvia." Mary was confused at first about what he could mean until a coin was thrown from Joseph's bag.

The shining piece of gold already attracted the attention of many men and women as it flew in the air and it was only when it had hit the ground did the people began fighting over that coin with all of their being. It was a genius plan that could have saved much more time had Joseph not occupied his mind with panic. Sylvia felt embarrassed knowing that the problem could have been easily resolved with one coin but thankfully, the three could finally make it to the port easily.

Another coin was thrown by Mary for good measure and again, another crowd of greedy bystanders fell victim to the gold's luster. However, Mary had unfortunately caught herself in the raging torrent of people and was eventually pushed towards Joseph. Her footsteps were misaligned and eventually, Mary had lost her balance.

The moment was incredibly sudden that neither Sylvia nor Joseph could perceive what had happened or do anything to stop Mary from falling. Once her body tipped over, she mistakingly fell past Joseph shocking everyone.

It was then that the man quickly and quietly sprinted right out of his hiding place to strike Mary. On the other hand, Joseph's nerves were heightened at the sight of Mary's imminent doom, and became aware of the man's incoming presence. In order to preserve Mary's life, Joseph threw himself in front of the man just before the dagger could pierce Mary's cranium.

Though the dagger had been placed into Joseph's right shoulder, he felt as if his wound was far too small to kill him. Since Joseph cheated in the game, he was willing to shoulder the penalties and even pushed Mary away and scolded her to follow the plan. Mary hesitated to leave but Sylvia dragged her to the port anyway, leaving Joseph by himself to face the slender killer.

"Earlier, you have said something along the lines of me sacrificing for what I want. At first, I thought you were a madman for making such a declaration but it was only when I realized what I truly wanted did I know what I was going to sacrifice." Joseph stated as he slowly pulled out the knife from his bloodied shoulder.

"And what might that be?" The man's curiousness caused him to stay and listen to Joseph before he would kill him.

"I wanted to keep my friends safe and for that, I am willing to sacrifice my legs." Joseph said as he tried to stab the man with all of his energy but his target evaded the attack, "I wanted my friends to live on and for that, I am willing to sacrifice my arms." He attacked the man again but missed his target entirely again, "I wanted my friends to be happy with the lives they were given and for that, I am willing to sacrifice my life." Like a soldier empowered by the love for his country, Joseph tackled the man's legs and threw him on the ground.

With the dagger in his hand still, Joseph repeatedly pierced his opponent's chest cavity with inhumane vigor. Despite the overwhelming pain, the man prepared a second dagger and thrust his weapon directly into Joseph's stomach. Only a few moments of life were left for young Joseph and he already knew what was needed to triumph against his enemy.

Letting go of the dagger, Joseph pulled out the bag of gold he kept and stuffed that bag into the man's chest as hard as he could. Once the man was writhing in pain and the bag was deep within his body, Joseph shouted with whatever life was left in his body.

"Come, everyone! A bag of riches has appeared for us to take!" Though it would have been seen as suicide, Joseph gladly shouldered his final burden and kept the man in one place.

As the man spent the remainder of his life struggling to free himself, Joseph kept quiet and held the sticklike man with all of his might as people swarmed all over them. Seeing that the bag was inside the flesh of a man, the people were not disturbed by this detail at all, rather, they willingly tore open his flesh and trampled over Joseph since he was in the way.

Joseph died happily in that moment, knowing that even though he could not bid his friends a proper farewell, the thought of them living on already comforted his lifeless heart.

As for Sylvia and Mary, they could not share the same happiness Joseph did for they had left a trail of tears whilst they ran towards the nearest ship. Though the burden of his death weighed upon their shoulders, they knew it was their responsibility and obligation to fulfill their dreams and to live further on for these two things were Joseph's utmost wishes.

The ship had almost departed but for a small moment, two miserable girls caused it to stay as they cried out to the ship's master. With the small pouch of money in Mary's hand, The captain accepted their payment and allowed them to stay out of his pity since he had witnessed their tear-soaked faces.

The large and fully packed ship had set sail in the direction of the setting sun slightly comforting the two girls as they let their bitter tears fall down upon the blue sea. To Sylvia, she could only curse and rant about Joseph's stupidity to the silent sea but to Mary, she could only let the burning memory of his presence and smile make her suffer in quietness. However, one thought resonated in similarity between the two girls onboard, "How cruel it must be, to pay the price of one's salvation with blood."

"What a tragic ending!" Elizabeth exclaimed as the story ended, "And to think that I willingly came here just to have myself heartbroken over such a story!"

It was amusing to see Elizabeth whine to me about rewriting the plot for the sake of a much happier ending. After a comforting hug and a pat on the head, she grew a bit calmer as we laid ourselves upon my bed. The thought about me not learning to love Elizabeth back still ran around in my head. What good is it for us to live like this for only a small moment if I cannot even envision us like this in the future?

The thought of living together and as one frightens my soul. Could it be the responsibilities and obstacles that make me to be a coward? Was my true desire within this world to just live alone? Idly letting time pass me by for though I did not want to become a part of the world's affairs, it did not mean that I wanted to die peacefully alone.

I truly am pathetic for letting these thoughts conquer me but, would it have been proper for me to ask Elizabeth to lend me her strength? Would asking her such a thing make her think lowly of me, or would it make her think better of me for my honesty? I could have asked her right in that moment of peaceful slumber but fear had convinced me to not indulge myself in knowing what could cost me further on.