Heck Tate
The Fleet Footed
This is a story I've tried to rework a few times, and as a result it's kind of twisted itself out of my control. I want to do something with it but I'm torn between reworking the whole thing again to keep it under 1,000 words or expanding on it. Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.
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When he reached Perdition's Pass, Invidio cut the harnesses which bound the team of horses to his nearly broken-down wagon. The team bolted back down the road from which they came, knowing better than to pass between this natural gate of mountains to the hellish landscape beyond.
All but Shade, that is. The tall mare stamped at the ground and snorted at the others as if to say “good riddance.” When he first departed, Invidio had set forth with only a quest, a week's worth of provisions, and the midnight mare. The provisions had faded quickly, and the quest had eventually been accomplished, but as always, Shade had remained his constant companion, even saving his life on a few occasions. “Thick as thieves,” was what the Greenfolk called them, but where Invidio came from the expression was “fickle as thieves.”
Shade grazed patiently on the nearby fauna as Invidio took his time packing the wagon's essentials into more portable bags. He was reminiscing all the while about the purpose of his journey, and the man he had killed.
While theft, assault, rape, and even murder were not prohibited within Perdition, escape was. It was for such a crime that Invidio had been required to hunt down and bring justice to Debeion Sint, often known as Red Deb for his anger.
Debeion had managed to survive the long, unforgiving journey across the desert, escaping into the Greenlands almost three months ago. He had fled far and fast, but he was not hard to track. He left a trail of murders and robberies that anyone could follow.
The night Deb escaped, an elderly couple had been murdered in their sleep in the cottage they owned in the woods on the green side of the mountains. Money, clothes, food, horses, all stolen, as was expected with most burglaries, but most importantly, there had not been a single drop of water left in the house. Invidio had almost caught him at the nearest town from there, but Deb had narrowly avoided him, stealing away on small river boat, while Shade chased and Invidio shot in vain.
Invidio had eventually caught up with the criminal, but it had taken many weeks, partially due to the hesitance of local authorities to cooperate with him. Authorities had eventually caught Deb trying to buy passage across the ocean on a luxury ship. He had shown up just before the ship left, dressed in rags but offering gold to board, clearly desperate. By the time Invidio had been informed Deb had been living comfortably in a local police holding cell for a full week.
He had the prisoner released into his custody and brought him to a secluded section of one of the nearby beaches. “It's fitting that you should die with sand between your toes,” Invidio told him, but Deb was clearly mad, likely due to dehydration from his desert crossing.
“Why make a desert with all this extra water,” he murmured as he stared at the waves rolling in. He stood as if in a trance, unmoving until Invidio tugged on the chain attached to the prisoner's manacles. “It's infinite,” he said when again they stopped and he had lapsed back into his hypnotic state.
“Hell is infinite,” replied Invidio before reading the judgment as he was required to do. “Debeion 'Red Deb' Sint, for refusing to serve your previously decreed sentence I hereby condemn you to death.” He drew the heavy steel six-shooter form his hip holster and aimed it at the criminal's head. “Do you have any final words?”
Debeion had been muttering to himself quietly the whole while, but at the sound of Invidio cocking the gun's hammer he seemed to regain himself for a final moment. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I –” he began to quote, but the gun had silenced him.
“The wicked may not speak the words of God,” he said as the Deb fell to the sand to be washed away when the tide came in.
But that was all over, and with saddlebags and rucksack stuffed full of food and water, Invidio departed the Greenlands and their soft people behind until next time duty called. He was going home.
Shade and Invidio passed through the narrow gap in the mountains which lead to the Desert of the Damned. At the end of the long path he bowed his head to the sign which arched above them, as he always did upon returning. “Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here,” had been engraved in the now well-weathered, but still thick oaken boards long ago.
A new sign stood beyond this one, however. A shoddily crafted one of cheap wood which stuck in a ground at such an angle that it seemed about to collapse. Propped casually on top of this new sign was a clean though fragile looking skeleton. One of its arms lay half buried in the hot desert sand, but both hands still held the positions they had been forced in to. Both thumbs extended towards the sky and forefingers towards Shade and Invidio as they lingered at the end of the pass. All skulls grin, for they know something the living do not, and this one was no exception. Invidio's eyes locked with the skull's empty sockets and for a moment it dared him to join in the joke, but instead he glanced down at the sign itself.
Scrawled messily in what appeared to be long dried blood were the words “Welcome back Sheriff!!” The exclamation points were dotted with small X's below which was drawn a smile with its tongue sticking out. It seemed the other guards had missed him.
Invidio took a deep breath of dry desert air and smiled. “Feels good to be home,” he said aloud. Shade whinnied her agreement and the two rode off to Perdition.
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When he reached Perdition's Pass, Invidio cut the harnesses which bound the team of horses to his nearly broken-down wagon. The team bolted back down the road from which they came, knowing better than to pass between this natural gate of mountains to the hellish landscape beyond.
All but Shade, that is. The tall mare stamped at the ground and snorted at the others as if to say “good riddance.” When he first departed, Invidio had set forth with only a quest, a week's worth of provisions, and the midnight mare. The provisions had faded quickly, and the quest had eventually been accomplished, but as always, Shade had remained his constant companion, even saving his life on a few occasions. “Thick as thieves,” was what the Greenfolk called them, but where Invidio came from the expression was “fickle as thieves.”
Shade grazed patiently on the nearby fauna as Invidio took his time packing the wagon's essentials into more portable bags. He was reminiscing all the while about the purpose of his journey, and the man he had killed.
While theft, assault, rape, and even murder were not prohibited within Perdition, escape was. It was for such a crime that Invidio had been required to hunt down and bring justice to Debeion Sint, often known as Red Deb for his anger.
Debeion had managed to survive the long, unforgiving journey across the desert, escaping into the Greenlands almost three months ago. He had fled far and fast, but he was not hard to track. He left a trail of murders and robberies that anyone could follow.
The night Deb escaped, an elderly couple had been murdered in their sleep in the cottage they owned in the woods on the green side of the mountains. Money, clothes, food, horses, all stolen, as was expected with most burglaries, but most importantly, there had not been a single drop of water left in the house. Invidio had almost caught him at the nearest town from there, but Deb had narrowly avoided him, stealing away on small river boat, while Shade chased and Invidio shot in vain.
Invidio had eventually caught up with the criminal, but it had taken many weeks, partially due to the hesitance of local authorities to cooperate with him. Authorities had eventually caught Deb trying to buy passage across the ocean on a luxury ship. He had shown up just before the ship left, dressed in rags but offering gold to board, clearly desperate. By the time Invidio had been informed Deb had been living comfortably in a local police holding cell for a full week.
He had the prisoner released into his custody and brought him to a secluded section of one of the nearby beaches. “It's fitting that you should die with sand between your toes,” Invidio told him, but Deb was clearly mad, likely due to dehydration from his desert crossing.
“Why make a desert with all this extra water,” he murmured as he stared at the waves rolling in. He stood as if in a trance, unmoving until Invidio tugged on the chain attached to the prisoner's manacles. “It's infinite,” he said when again they stopped and he had lapsed back into his hypnotic state.
“Hell is infinite,” replied Invidio before reading the judgment as he was required to do. “Debeion 'Red Deb' Sint, for refusing to serve your previously decreed sentence I hereby condemn you to death.” He drew the heavy steel six-shooter form his hip holster and aimed it at the criminal's head. “Do you have any final words?”
Debeion had been muttering to himself quietly the whole while, but at the sound of Invidio cocking the gun's hammer he seemed to regain himself for a final moment. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I –” he began to quote, but the gun had silenced him.
“The wicked may not speak the words of God,” he said as the Deb fell to the sand to be washed away when the tide came in.
But that was all over, and with saddlebags and rucksack stuffed full of food and water, Invidio departed the Greenlands and their soft people behind until next time duty called. He was going home.
Shade and Invidio passed through the narrow gap in the mountains which lead to the Desert of the Damned. At the end of the long path he bowed his head to the sign which arched above them, as he always did upon returning. “Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here,” had been engraved in the now well-weathered, but still thick oaken boards long ago.
A new sign stood beyond this one, however. A shoddily crafted one of cheap wood which stuck in a ground at such an angle that it seemed about to collapse. Propped casually on top of this new sign was a clean though fragile looking skeleton. One of its arms lay half buried in the hot desert sand, but both hands still held the positions they had been forced in to. Both thumbs extended towards the sky and forefingers towards Shade and Invidio as they lingered at the end of the pass. All skulls grin, for they know something the living do not, and this one was no exception. Invidio's eyes locked with the skull's empty sockets and for a moment it dared him to join in the joke, but instead he glanced down at the sign itself.
Scrawled messily in what appeared to be long dried blood were the words “Welcome back Sheriff!!” The exclamation points were dotted with small X's below which was drawn a smile with its tongue sticking out. It seemed the other guards had missed him.
Invidio took a deep breath of dry desert air and smiled. “Feels good to be home,” he said aloud. Shade whinnied her agreement and the two rode off to Perdition.
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