The World Askew
The Never Ending Quest - Episode 50326
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It was exactly three days later that Synizn appeared in the city of
Walants. He was disheveled, wild-eyed
and crazed looking. He didn't seem to know where he was, as if he was
lost. He seemed to be searching
for something, but didn't know where to look. And there was something
else about him, something that
made the people on the streets veer away from him, for they could tell
that this dangerous man was more
dangerous now than he had ever been before.
Lurching through the muddy street Synizn stumbled into a nearby door, into the Goat Head Tavern. He slumped into a chair and took a deep, shuddering breath. Al, the barmaid, cautiously approached. "Take your order?" she asked. Synizn lifted his gaze toward her and she took an involuntary step away from him. He did not speak, but lowered his head in silence, and Al slowly crept away from him. He did not notice it though. Nor did he notice the stares and the whispers coming from the others in the pub. He didn't notice anything. He did not seem to really be there in the pub at all, but somewhere else far, far away. "DRINK!" he suddenly shouted, and everyone in the pub jumped. Al came quickly with a pitcher in her hand and just as quickly placed it on his table and moved away. Synizn grabbed the pitcher of ale and pulled it to his lips, gulping the cool, burning liquid down. Half of it spilled down his face, leaving his wild whiskers glistening. And then he slammed the empty pitcher down onto the table and yelled again, "DRINK!" 'Drink' was the only word Synizn seemed capable of speaking. The only word that seemed to have any meaning to him. Any substance. Any reality. The only word he could grab onto and hold with his own two hands. And right now, Synizn desperately needed something to hold onto, something real and solid and tangible. "DRINK!" And in time his scattered wits, his buffeted mind, began to gather itself. And the world around him began to seem more real. What had happened to him he would never be able to put into words, but that wasn't important. What was important was what he had learned. What Malachi had feared to tell him. What a dangerous game Minestus had been playing. Suddenly standing up, Synizn gazed about the tavern, seeing it for the very first time. He recognized the men who sat in the room around him, glaring at him with frightened stares. He knew the barmaid, her face, her name. He knew he was in Walants. It was all coming back to him. And yet... none of it was the same. Everything was different. Slightly out of place. Synizn closed his eyes. No, Walants hadn't changed at all. He was the one who was different, out of place. He had seen what Minestus had kept hidden, locked away within his lair. Hidden away in a place beyond the normal bounds of time and space. And now he too was, in a way, existing outside of the world's normal borders. He opened his eyes and for a moment he saw... Synizn gripped the edge of the table to steady himself and when he looked around again all he saw was the familiar surroundings of the Goat Head Tavern. Familiar, but slightly askew. Still, it was a better sight than that other. Turning toward the door, Synizn left the tavern. He had to return to his lair beneath the city. He had to get back to Fed and Astra. He had to fix what Minestus had broken, and bind what had been let loose. But...
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WolfRun
5/15/2005 2:35:20 AM
Extending Enabled
21475093 episodes viewed since 9/30/2002 1:22:06 PM.