The Ear Collector

"We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak." -Epictetus

I, Jack Hollow, the Immortal traveler, have encountered many weird and terrifying things in my journey, from reincarnated axe to demonic chicken, to the point that it seemed that nothing could really surprise me anymore. However, it has become this dreadful feeling in my gut whenever something is about to prove me wrong. The village up ahead is a great example of this. From afar, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, it is a relatively small village close to the forest, everything seems normal, and yet this feeling will not calm down. 

As I arrived to the village, the village was very... quiet, there were people but no words were spoken. Why am I here then? So far fate has brought me to every problematic place, expecting me to figure it out, but this one doesn't seem to have any real conflict. Could it be that fate decided to give me a break? As I thought of that, I could hear a loud crying from a nearby house. It isn't a distress cry, rather it was a mourning one, as a body covered with white cloth was carried by two men out of the house. The cloth was stained with red blood. A murder perhaps? I walked to one of the people there and asked, "Excuse me, my good man, do you know what has happened here?" The man stared at me with fear in his eyes as he turned around and walked away. The people around who heard my words gave me a cold stare at me. 

Ah damn... I guess this isn't a vacation after all. Weirdly enough, none of them said a thing. I could feel their judgement directed at me and yet none of them try to scold me or correct me. What on earth did I do wrong? A woman stepped out of the house still crying over the body and yet none of the surrounding people seemed to give any words of comfort. They are visibly sad but no words are spoken. I observed the body one more time before it was taken away. I noticed two blood stains that were located in the stomach and the head. Considering that, I suppose this isn't some tragic accident, rather it was a murder, but who could it be? 

I tried walking around the village to find some information, only to be met by the same stare. No one is saying a single word. It doesn't help that I looked like a lost foreigner holding a metal rod. After hours of trying, the sun started to set, the people started going back to their homes. With no one to talked to, I decided to just wait for the sun to rise again. I put down my stick and laid down on a random dirt outside and began to close my eyes. As I am immortal, I don't actually need to sleep, but sometimes it is nice to try to clear my head. After a few hours, I could hear footsteps here and there. I didn't think much of it. Perhaps some people couldn't sleep. However, I did notice that the noise was slowly creeping on me. I opened my eyes hoping that someone decide to spill the tea, only to realize that my head was separated from my body.

Well... that is weird. I couldn't see it clearly, but there was a man holding a machete, cutting my ears. I didn't see his face, however, the man had a very eye-catching accessory, a necklace made of... ears. Well, I guess I have found why I am here. My head began to turn to ashes along with my ear, which surprised the man. As my head began to recreate itself on top of my body, the man started to run away. I grabbed my metal staff and began to chase him. The man turned around and in a blink of an eye, cut my right arm off. Well, this is annoying. The man quickly cut my body horizontally in half with his machete, only to be hit with a staff to the face. The man unleashed a rampage of slashes on my body, only to fully realize that I was unkillable, as my body instantly recreated the damaged areas. He grabbed my throat and crushed it with incredible raw strength which I replied by hitting his jaw with my metal staff full force, knocking one of his teeth off. He fell to the ground as blood began to spurt out of his mouth, the man turned around to run, but I bashed my staff at his right leg, breaking his bones to pieces. The man kicked me with his left leg and was desperately trying to crawl away to the forest. I proceed to break his left arm, stopping him from crawling any further. Despite all of that his right arm didn't let go of his machete. I asked him, "Who are you and why did you try to kill me?"

The man stared at me, full of anger and hatred as if his eyes were about to pop off. He then cut his own right ear with his machete and blood began to spill. He used all of his strength to throw his machete right at my face, which stuck right between my eyes. I pulled out the machete out as the sun's light began to shine through. I looked back at the man and he was gone.

Well..... shit. I looked around real quick but he was nowhere to be found. I heard cries from the inner villages, as crowds of people began to gather. I quickly rush to the scene only to find a body with cut wounds and missing ears. He was the man I questioned the first time I got here.

I went closer to take a look only to be met by shocked gazes from everyone. Everyone started to look at me in disbelief. Do they think I did this? The suspension continued for a few minutes until an older man holding a torch stepped forward from the crowd, came closer to me, and whispered, "Follow me.."

A feeling of relief suddenly just rushed in, accompanied by an unsettling feeling. But at least now, it seems I have some picture of what is going on. The old man guided me to a distant house, he invited me inside and shut the door behind me.

"Did the murderous man come for you?" the man asked.

"The one with an ear necklace? Yes." I replied.

"Did you escape from him?"

"No. I beat him up. I broke his limbs and knocked his teeth out."

The old man's face turned from suspicion to shock by my statement.

Excitedly the man asked, "Did you kill him then?"

His eyes were full of hope.

"Unfortunately no, I was questioning him when he disappeared into thin air."

The man's eyes began to tremble as if he was once more drawn to despair.

"You... you must be a great warrior then? You were able to defeat Ahak. Surely you could kill him."

Ahak... is that the man's name?

"Slow down, I need to know what is going on first for me to actually help you, I understand the threat now, but what is with the silence? Is it somehow related to the ears?"

"Perhaps, we do not know. It started off as a singular murder of a famous liar in our village. At first glance, we thought it was an act of revenge upon the man, someone lost their temper and decided to kill the con artist, and for whatever reason chopped off his ear. However, the murder didn't stop there. The next day, the other famous gossipers were all killed. The same thing happened, no ears. And the day after that, the talkative people were killed, and the cycle continues until everyone agrees to not talk at all."

"What? All of those murders are going on and none of you try to stop it or call for help?" I asked in disbelief.

"We did try to stop it, we even set up a trap, having one volunteer speak as much as she could and have a group of people protecting her house that night, only for the murderer to sneak in and kill the girl without anyone noticing. We even tried assembling a group of fighters and having them speak lies to lure out Ahak, and all of them were killed. We tried to send a messenger, asking for external help, only to find his lifeless body on the streets with his ears cut off."

This... is worse than I thought.

"Well, do you know where he might be then?" I asked.

The old man thought to himself for a couple of seconds before answering, "The only place we have yet to look for is the forest, we have sent several people there, and yet none return, there is most likely where he went."

"Well, then I shall go to the forest."

As I was preparing to exit the house, the old man grabbed my shoulder.

"Wait, let some of us come along to help you fight him."

"Ah, about that, it would be best if I go alone, I am not sure I can protect you all."

"You are a great warrior are you not? Among us, there are also quite capable fighters as well."

"I am... not a great warrior, the only reason I am still standing now is because I am immortal."

The old man looked at me in disbelief.

"Immortal? Are you perhaps a champion of the Gods?"

"I suppose you can say that.. this Ahak guy, on the other hand, might be a champion of the demons, he displayed powers beyond human capabilities, hence why it is best if I approach him alone."

The old man sighed, "I suppose so.. it is wrong for me to burden an outsider with our troubles."

"Ah, do not think too much about it. Fate will not let me leave this place anyway unless I resolved this story."

The old man was baffled by my statement and with that, I began my journey into the horrific forest. For a while there, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. Did the scouts who were sent here run away then? Perhaps Ahak was hiding among them in the village? Ah speaking of which, I forgot to ask the old man where the name Ahak comes from. Did the villagers just give him an alias? Does he introduce himself as one? Or perhaps...

My train of thought was disturbed by a sudden movement. I quickly held my staff and prepared myself for a fight, only for the sky to abruptly darken. The sun's light was blocked by the sudden expansion of the trees, as the forest created a dome surrounding me, leaving me in complete darkness.

Well, this forest is not normal for sure.

"This way.." A slient whispered can be heard.

"...."

"Come on right here..."

"..."

"The others are waiting for us..."

"..."

"Relax okay, this is just a simple ritual..."

"..."

"Lay down, don't move too much, Jack."

"....."

"The bindings is to make sure you don't move because it will be very dangerous if you do."

"...."

"I am sorry Jack, but we need a sacrifice to call upon the demon god."

"....Lies... Oh, I get it... you can't beat me physically so you try to play mind tricks on me... sorry bud.. but all of that is in the past."

I pulled out the Orb of Light from my bag and ignited it, disintegrating everything around me, and obliterating the dome. I quickly recreated my body and my clothes as well as my bag.

As the sky was revealed once more, Ahak appeared all healed up from our previous encounter, and launched forward, swinging his machete at my neck. I replied by swinging my metal rod full force towards his head. He chopped off my head, as I fractured his skull. He collapsed to the ground but was trying to quickly recover. I rushed to recreate my head, took his machete, and pierced his body with it, pinning him to the ground. I then drew a sigil on the ground using my staff and called forth the judgment of the crows. The sky turned black once more, as hundreds of thousands of crows engulfed the forest. The crows all gathered to look down upon Ahak's fate, they could see his past, present, and future and for a singular moment, the truth was revealed. The crows bestowed upon me the wisdom and knowledge of who this Ahak person truly is, along with their judgment.

Ah, all of this makes sense now. The demon within Ahak began to scream in agony, as it tried to fully take over Ahak's body, and ascend to our reality. If that happens, this will no longer be a fight between champions, but between a champion and a demon. Fortunately for me, the crows have spoken. I dropped my staff to the ground and the crows all flew to my hand, morphing into one single black axe. Ahak desperately tried to unpin himself from the ground but to no avail.

"By the judgment of the crows, you are found guilty, Ahak. You were, are, and will always fated to be a murderer. I sympathize with you, however, for the good of others and yourself, I shall end your story, right here, right now."

The demon within him screeched as he was engulfed with dark powers but it was too late. I swiftly swung my axe, chopping his head, his body, and his limbs, killing him and banishing the demon within him back to hell. It is over... I sighed my relief and buried his body in the ground. I took his ....necklace and went back to the village.

As I walked out of the forest I was greeted by a lot of people in the village, all seemed to be ready for a fight, the old man who by now I assumed to be the village's chief, stepped forward and asked me, "Did you find him?"

I pulled out the necklace and the man asked, "Is he dead?"

I nodded, and the old man fell down on his knees and started to cry, shouting, "It is over everyone, Ahak is dead."

For a second I thought everyone would started cheering, but it seemed everyone else is still hesitant. Understandable though, they have been terrorized for quite a while, and perhaps the chief didn't tell them I am a champion of the gods.

"I am sure all of you have your doubts. Just to be safe... I will stay here until tomorrow, if Ahak does not appear despite me talking this much, then you may take that as proof that he really is gone."

The people seemed to agree with the notion and all went back to their houses. I grabbed the old man's shoulder and told him that there was something I needed to talk about.

The old man brought me back to his house and it was time for me to call him on his lies.

"You know who Ahak is don't you?" I asked him.

The old man was once again shocked and tried to avoid my question.

"I... I .. do not know what you a.. are talking about."

"Do not lie, that is how you got to this mess in the first place."

The old man stumbled around a bit until finally admitted to it.

"You are right... Ahak was one of us once. He had always been a temperamental man who gets into fights, but one day someone snapped and decided to start a fight with him. Ahak accidentally killed the man in self-defense with the village's con man to be his witness."

"But the con man decided to twist around the scenario which put Ahak in a bad spot and led everyone to believe he killed the man unprovoked right?"

"Yes... Ahak pleaded for people to listen to him, but no one believed him. I was foolish back then, I knew that Ahak was not guilty, but I thought that getting rid of Ahak was a good way to ensure the others' safety as he was a problematic person. I decided to play along with the lies and exile him from the village."

"And that is when he made a deal with a demon to get vengeance upon all of those who heard his cries for help but chose to listen to the liar instead. He decided that if people's ears can only listen to lies, than they should not have one."

The old man's eyes were filled with shame and regret. I wanted to press him even further, but I shouldn't judge to easily. Ahak started off wanting a simple revenge, but the demon consumed his thoughts and left him with nothing more but never-ending hatred for the villagers.

I looked outside as the sun began to set.

"It is time for me to confront the darkness once more, to prove to the people that the darkness has been vanquished, after that, I shall take my leave."

I left the old man's house and positioned myself in front of the forest. I could hear people behind me, looking curiously if Ahak would appear to kill me, but until the sun rose once more, Ahak was nowhere go be seen.

The people, realizing that Ahak was gone, started whispering with one another, whispering turned to conversations, and the conversation turned to laughter and cheers and cries of joy as they realized that they were finally free as the light of a new day shined through.

Well... my job here is done... time for me to leave. Without saying a word, I walked out of the village and continued my journey.