Bookworld Online: Marsh Man

“Ow ow ow ow!” I said as the old hag slurped up the blood from the cut she had made to my wrist.

“Oh, stop complaining.” The Hag said and gave the cut a long lick. “Use the number four potion. I don't want you tasting like swamp frog again.”

“You labelled it.” I said and felt a bony hand slap my face and then the back of my head. “OW!”

“Don't talk back, Boy.” The Hag said. “If you knew I labelled it wrong, then you knew what it was when you drank it!”

I opened my mouth to lie and she whacked the back of my head again. “OW! Yes! I knew!”

“You thought I wouldn't drink from you if you tasted bad?” The Hag asked and cackled a laugh that changed tone mid-cackle to that of a soft seductive voice. The old hag's features lost their sharpness as her skin became healthy and smooth. Her wild and untamed grey hair reformed and became luscious black locks that framed her face and made her crazy eyes seem normal. “Yes, this is going to be one of my good days.”

Oh, crap. I thought and my eyes grew fearful, because it was never a good day for me when she decided to have one of her good days. Never.

“I've groomed you for years to become the perfect restorative for me, Boy.” The now quite beautiful Hag said. Or Sorceress, as she preferred to be called when in this form. “Now strip off and get on the bed for me, while I go and get my tools.”

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You have a choice to make. Do you stick around and do as the demented Sorceress demands or will you try to flee and risk your life in the marsh again?

A) Do as she says. B) Spit in her eye. C) Flee. D) Grab one of her tools and fight. E) Bargain.

She's going to flay me again. Or fillet me. Or both. I thought, fear filling me. The pain she puts me through is unimaginable and she never gives me one of her numbing potions. She says it changes the taste too much when I couldn't feel it. She never listens and she's too strong to fight, too. I shook my head. I choose C.

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Once the Hag's back was turned I ducked down and crept towards the back of the cluttered hut. I had made a hole in the wall at the back a bit larger over the last few weeks. The problem with that was it sometimes let the spiders in when the protective wards fluctuated. I didn't care about that right now, though. I just needed to get out of there.

I avoided making any noise and moved the large pot that she brewed the stinky potions in, then scrambled through the hole. I didn't bother trying to pull the pot back into place, because that would only delay me. She would know where I got out, anyway. Somehow, she always knew.

I grabbed the little bag I had made of an old shirt and did my best to avoid the traps we had set up for the various creatures that roamed by. The last thing I wanted was to get caught so easily. Once I started running, I didn't want to make it too easy for her to get me back. I made it out to the more wetter part of the marsh and slipped into the waist deep water. It wasn't very deep, considering I was only ten, and I made it to the next drier area.

I opened my little bag and drank the number four potion, just like she asked, then I drank number six and number seven. I felt my energy double because of four. I felt my muscles thicken and my strength double because of six, then my mind cleared and I felt smarter because of seven. Once again, stupid me drank the important one last. I realized my mistake and ran as fast as I could before the backlash hit me.

I made it nearly a hundred feet and over two more water breaks before my stomach knotted up and it double me over. Stupid, stupid, stupid! I thought and tumbled to the damp ground as a huge headache tried to split my head apart. You are supposed to drink seven first! Then six to stop the effect, then four to heal it! Stupid!

I laid there and convulsed for several moments, moments I knew I didn't have, then the spasms ended. I felt a tangling vine wrap around my bare ankle and I scrambled to my feet. I kicked it off before it gained a hold and then I took off running. Bare feet were not suited for running in a marsh that was full of odd-shaped and sharp rocks, sticks, branches, and brambles. I had no choice, though. It's not like the Hag ever bought me clothes or shoes to run in.

I stepped on a particularly pokey stick and it pierced the skin. I hopped away from it and then hopped around for a moment to let it heal, thanks to the number four potion, then I took off running again. I chose a different direction, since running in a straight line was pretty much impossible in a marsh. I dove between two trees and through a large spider web.

Luckily, I had seen that the occupant was well up the tree and had avoided getting bitten by it. Those damn things always stung for days, even after the treatment for the poison. It let out a screech and I winced at it. The Hag was sure to hear that and come this way. I changed directions again and wadded through another water area, then ran for another minute.

That was when my luck ran out.

In front of me was about a twenty foot waterway, something a skiff could easily traverse, except that I didn't have a skiff. Or a boat. Or even a piece of driftwood.

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You have a choice to make. Will you brave the depths of one of the many waterways and try to escape or will you backtrack and hope that you don't meet the Hag on the way?

A) Dive in. B) Go back and find another way. C) Climb a tree. D) Surrender. E) Drown yourself.

Those are great options! I thought sarcastically. Do you even know what's in the waters?!? I sighed and thought about going back, then shook my head. I worked too hard to give up now. I thought and looked down at my tattered pants. I choose C!

_______________

I had an idea and took out my tiny knife, barely the stub of a real knife that she let me use, and I cut off part of my pant leg. I bundled it up and tossed it out into the water, then ran to the nearest tree and scrambled up the side of it. Since I was pretty small and didn't weigh much, the tree didn't sway when I reached about twenty feet up.

I took out the short rope I had stolen and tied it around my waist and around the tree to hold me, since I would never have the strength to hold on for a long time all by myself. I perched on the edge of a branch and sat there while I waited for the inevitable. I heard a sloshing in the water and a mass of something came up out of the depths and poked the piece of cloth I had thrown.

NO! I thought, then the creature splashed out of the water and snatched the cloth into its mouth and dove away. I needed that, you damn beast!

I was tied to the tree, so it was a lot harder to cut off another piece of cloth. I managed to, then I snapped a small piece of branch off to give it some weight, then tossed both out and into the water. They plopped and bobbed on the surface just in time.

“BOY!” The Sorceress yelled and her angry voice cut through me like her knives usually did. “If you aren't dead by the time I find you, you are going to wish you were!”

I stayed perfectly still and waited for her to make an appearance. I slowed my breathing down and only took very shallow breaths. It was a technique she taught me for when she needed me to dive down into the watery depths for potion ingredients that didn't grow on the surface of the marsh. I had been gathering ingredients for her ever since I could walk and hold things in my hand without dropping them.

I heard a splash and several snapping twigs and turned my head to look at a very enraged Sorceress as she smashed her way through the underbrush. The damp ground had soaked her clothing up to her knees and she was mightily pissed as she stomped over to the waterway to look at the piece of clothing I had thrown there. I almost laughed when the underwater beast splashed and took the second piece.

I felt something move above me and I didn't dare move myself. If it was what I think it was, then moving was the last thing I wanted to do right then. The bright green head of a poisonous snake slithered into view and over my shoulder. It was three inches thick, a mamma snake, and she wasn't happy to have someone on her tree as she turned her head and looked at me.

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You have a choice to make. It's pretty obvious what you should do. I mean, you don't actually want to die, do you?

A) Call for help. B) Grab the snake. C) Untie the rope holding you. D) Do nothing and die.

I read the options and they were all pretty much the same thing. If I called for help, the Hag would find me and the snake would bite me and kill me. If I try to grab the snake, it would bite me and kill me. If I untie the rope, I'll fall to the ground and it would kill me.

I'd rather hope for the best. I thought. I choose D.

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I looked at the angry snake for a second, then closed my eyes. There was nothing I could do to save myself, so the only thing I could do was wait. I heard the hiss of the snake just before its teeth sank deep into my cheek. One fang stayed in the flesh and squirted its deadly poison inside, while the other had gone right through the skin and had popped into my mouth. The poison squirted right to the back of my throat and I swallowed it automatically.

My face turned bright red as the first dose of poison filled my cheek. My throat withered and contracted as the second dose flowed like tree sap down into my stomach. I started to shake and convulse as the poison did its work. As fate would have it, I let out a gurgling sound, just as my hand hooked the knot I had tied on myself. It was a slip knot, since that was the only kind I could tie, and my spastic hand pulled the rope free.

The Sorceress turned at the sound of my gurgle and her eyes nearly bulged out of her head as she witnessed me fall the twenty feet down the tree with a startled snake wrapped around my neck.

Everything went black when I slammed head first into the mushy marsh ground.