Bookworld Online: Marsh Man

“Stupid fool of a child!” The Hag's loud voice woke me up. “If I didn't need you so much I would have let you stay dead!”

I shivered at the hatred in her voice and waited for her to hit me. When she didn't, I opened my eyes and saw her sitting there staring at me. I wasn't sure what the look was on her face, then she reached over and I thought she was going to rub my chest. Instead, her fingertip dug into the flesh of my chest and she peeled off a large fillet that she had carved out.

“This tastes terrible when it's numb.” The Hag said with a frown and took a bite out of it. She chewed with an angry expression and swallowed, then took another bite.

I looked down at the rest of my chest and three other fillets had been cut out and eaten already. At least I can't feel it this time. I thought and closed my eyes. I just hoped that I could sleep through the rest of her meal.

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You have another choice to make, disgusting as it is. Will you try to garner some sympathy or will you endure in silence?

A) Cry. B) Yell angrily. C) Scream. D) Piss yourself. E) Ask for food. F) Beg to leave. G) Do nothing.

All of them are bad. I thought with a sigh. I want to do nothing; but, I haven't eaten since... I don't know how long I've been unconscious. I choose E.

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“Can I have something to eat?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. I didn't want to startle her or make her angrier at me than she already was.

“Gimmie, gimmie, gimmie.” The Hag said, almost in disappointment. “You want me to give you everything.”

I thought about arguing that I never ask for anything and decided it was smarter to keep my mouth shut.

“Fine.” She said and moved to my thigh. Her knife flashed faster than I could see and then a two inch by two inch square chunk of the flesh was cut out. I opened my mouth to protest as she held it up and covered it in blue flame for an instant. Before I could speak, she shoved the cooked meat into my mouth.

I gagged on it and she hit my stomach. The air pushed the chunk out and it flew several feet and landed on the dirt floor.

“Don't waste good meat.” The Hag said with a shake of her head. “Chew it and then swallow, stupid.” She said and shoved the chunk back into my mouth without wiping it off first. She held my mouth closed and I had to chew it or choke again. I did and then let tears come to my eyes as I swallowed some of my own body.

“You asked for some.” The Hag said and cut off a chunk for herself. “It tastes awful when you're not in pain or afraid, doesn't it?” She asked as she put the chunk in her mouth and chewed. “I can still taste Viper venom.”

I had ignored the taste completely, so I was grateful for that. I tasted the venom directly and that wasn't fun. “The snake...”

“You'll have to clean it to make the soup.” The Hag said and I heard a scuttling sound. “You need to fix that damn hole in my wall, too!”

The Hag's knife flashed around in an instant and the squeal of the foot-wide spider was loud inside the small hut as it was impaled on the wall behind the Hag's head.

“It's too small to add to the soup. He would boil up into nothing.” The Hag said in disappointment. “Even when you screw up, you can't do it right.”

I thought about arguing, then sighed instead. I really did screw up and didn't do it right.

“You're lucky we finished that batch of number four.” The Hag said and reached over, plugged my nose, then poured the potion down my throat.

I tried desperately to not swallow it, because I knew what was going to happen if I did. She closed my mouth and cut off my air, which meant I had better swallow or suffocate. It took me thirty seconds to decide that I wanted to live, even if it caused me more pain than dying would. I swallowed the potion and it flowed down into my mostly empty stomach.

Then it took effect.

“HHHHGGGGGHHHHH!” I groaned as she held my mouth closed to stop my screams. The numbing potion was removed by the healing potion, which meant I instantly felt all of the chunks and fillets she had cut out of me while I was unconscious and numb. Thankfully, the potion started healing me and the missing parts regrew and filled in.

The bad part was, I now had brand new skin in those patches and my old skin was darker, weathered, and covered in deep scars from previous carvings. My skin looked like a patchwork cloth, just like my clothing. She always made sure to never carve up something anyone else could see, like my face, lower arms, or calves. The last thing she wanted was to give away the secret of her youth and beauty.

“Get dressed and get to work.” The Hag said and grabbed my arm, pulled me up into a sitting position, then she slapped my face.

“OW!” I yelled and held my still damaged cheek. The fang that had only pierced the surface was almost healed; but, the hole in my cheek the other fang had punctured had only shrunk in size.

“That's for being so stupid.” The Hag said and slapped the good side of my face. “That's for making me waste so much of my power to keep you alive and to stop your face from rotting off.”

“But... the potions...”

“They aren't a cure all, Boy.” The Hag said. “I would be making a fortune off of them if they were.”

I opened my mouth to argue that she had been making a lot of money from them and she raised her hand to strike me. I winced and ducked my head to avoid it and she nodded.

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A basic choice and depending on what you do first, the Hag could possibly let you eat today. Actual food, not your own flesh. That was disgusting.

A) Prep the large snake for soup. B) Fix the hut. C) Hunt for ingredients. D) Brew potions.

She's pretty angry at the hole I made, so I better fix that. There's no point in delaying it. She won't let me near the back of the hut for a while, anyway. I thought. I choose B.

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“Make sure you take the number two potion before going outside. The wards are weak today.”

I smartly didn't tell her that I had intentionally scratched a few of them days ago to weaken her sense magic, that way I could sneak away easier. I took the potion, which was a mix of spider poison, the number one potion (which was a weak general health potion), and stagnant marsh water. I was pretty sure she spit in it, too. She never told me why she always does that.

I put my damp clothes back on and left the hut. I picked up the short pole that I needed to beat off the spiders that got too close. If you weren't careful, you could sometimes get a rare jumping one. They looked the same as the normal ones, so you always had to be careful. I didn't hesitate when I saw one and I always swung first. It made a satisfying squish sound.

The only problem was, they almost never travelled alone. When I went around the hut, six of the damn things were fighting to try and get into the hole first.

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Another choice so soon? Okay, let's see what we can do. Well, good luck.

A) Fight. B) Flee. C) Cry. D) Call the Hag. E) Pee your pants. F) Let them eat you.

There's no choice here. I thought. I choose A.

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I resigned myself to being bitten at least a few times, and dove into the middle of them and started swinging. I hoped that if one was a jumping one, I was too close for them to jump on me. I was half right. One was a jumping one. It had no problem jumping as it jumped straight up and landed on my face. To my utter surprise, its fangs tried to bury themselves into my cheek... where the hole was!

I laughed and pulled it off of my face. It squealed in surprise and I smashed its body with the short pole, then I kicked, stomped, and swung at the five remaining spiders. There was quite a lot of guts and goo, and I looked around for any more. I didn't see any, then realized one might have gotten inside. I ran around to the doorway and went inside the hut.

“I thought I told you...” The Hag started to say when I raised the short pole. “Don't you dare!”

I lunged past her and slammed the end of the pole into the head of the spider that was about to jump on her. “I got it!” I said happily as the spider died. Maybe she'll be nicer, now that I saved her!

“YOU IDIOT!” The Hag yelled and slapped the side of my face so hard that I saw stars. “I was training that spider!”

“H-h-huh?”

“They are the perfect spies! They can crawl anywhere! They have eight eyes! They can even understand words!”

My head was ringing from the hit and I stared at her with shock on my face.

“Get your worthless hide out of my sight!” The Hag said and slapped me again.

I fell to the floor and cried, pain shooting through my damaged cheek.

“Don't come back until all of your chores are done!” She nearly yelled, then she kicked me in the side and pushed me out the door. “You better hope that I find another suitable spider soon.” She said with a deadly voice. “Or you are going to wish I had let you die.”

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Here we go. Now it's the good stuff. Pick wisely.

A) Apologize. B) Cry. C) Tell her off. D) Attack. E) Run. F) Tell her to kill you.

I didn't even have to think about it. I choose C!

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“I already wish I was dead, you stupid Hag! Every day!” I said angrily and threw a tantrum. “I hate you! I hate you so much! I wish you would get eaten by a water beast! I wish you would shrivel up and die!”

“BOY!” The Hag yelled.

“Every day you hurt me and you always treat me like I'm nothing! I try and I try and I do everything you say, and you never say one nice thing to me! NEVER!” I yelled. “Do you know why I always try to run away? That's why! I even saw a spider trying to leap at you and I saved you! What did you do? YOU HIT ME!”

The Hag stood there and gave me the same expression she had given me when I woke up.

“You taught me to kill spiders whenever I saw them. I did just that.” I said and the pain in my face lessened. “If you want your hut fixed, do it yourself.”

“Boy.” The Hag said and stepped menacingly out of the hut.

I turned away from her and sat down on the ground. “Go ahead. Hit me. Kick me. Kill me. Eat me until there's nothing left. I don't care anymore.” I said and crossed my arms. “I don't care.”

To my surprise, nothing happened. A moment later, I heard the door to the hut close.