THE EXTRA-ORDINARY MEETING

THE EXTRA-ORDINARY MEETING

by

Albert Woods

 

None of them had ever known fear, though all four had stared into the face of death many times. Killing was routine for them; their occupation. Every pack has its top dog. Garlen was theirs. He had slaughtered more than the rest of them put together and nobody, not even he, could say how many. Maggo was number two; not that he could claim to more than Zarf or Lud, but simply because Garlen wanted it that way. And if they were capable of having regard for any other creature, it was only - and grudgingly - for each other; so the leader's will prevailed. That was why they were together now, taking their seats for the extra-ordinary meeting.

A venue had been difficult to find. Nobody wanted them. At this one the innkeeper was told they were monks, Zarf having stripped the habits from some holy brothers whom he left disembowelled on the mountainside.

With victuals on the table and the heavy oak door securely bolted, they removed their disguises. There was talking to be done, but eating and drinking came first. Garlen consumed vast quantities of wine, and could hold it well. The others watched him pouring jug after jug down his chasm of a throat, the pit from where his gruff resonant voice escaped when he allowed it to.

Requiring little sustenance, Zarf was the first to finish. He belched, sitting back to observe his colleagues, his knowing eyes darting from one to the next. It was a good opportunity to re-appraise them. First Garlen. Ah, Garlen: the supreme master. Was there ever a being with a capacity for destruction such as his? Nobody could touch him, not even Maggo with his lust for torture and slow death. Then Lud: he was the youngest, and if anyone were to challenge Garlen it would be him. Not yet though; one day maybe. Of himself, Zarf thought little. He did not share their taste for wholesale destruction; one at a time was his method; laborious, but pleasurable in its own way.

The flickering firelight briefly played across Maggo's face, highlighting a gash scar that Zarf had not noticed before. "Who left their mark on you?" he asked, breaking the silence.

Lud and Garlen turned to look themselves. Maggo shrugged his shoulders and grunted. "Souvenir from a commission; it's nothing," he buried his face back into the lump of mutton he was gnawing on.

Only when Garlen was sated did the meeting really begin. He left the table and stood with his back to the fire, his huge frame obscuring the radiance. Pausing while his eyes adjusted to the dimness, he drained his jug and handed it to Lud for refill. "Before I tell you why we are here," he said, "I must have account of your past days."

Lud stopped pouring and the room was briefly silent.

"What is this?" Maggo eventually protested.

Garlen raised his flattened palms. "I know, I know," he reassured them. "We have never talked of our work before. But this time there is good reason - I promise you."

"There could never be reason enough for that," said Zarf. "We do not speak of these things."

They listened as Garlen repeated his assurance, insisting that his demand was justified, and they would realise it in good time. They were doubtful, but knew there would be no more forthcoming unless they agreed to the demand. Zarf broke off a morsel of cheese and nibbled, thoughtfully sideways-eyeing the leader as he questioned him: "Tell us Garlen, Is there a purse to be had?" he was keen to hear.

"There is; the biggest purse of all. And we will take equal shares."

Lud reacted before the others. "Do you speak of working together?" he winced, his tone conveying dismay at what was an entirely new, and unwelcome, departure.

"Not working;" said Garlen, "though I can tell you no more until I have heard your accounts. Now Maggo; you first.”

It took a while before the scarred one spoke. He breathed heavily with uncertainty, then overcame it. "It was on the continent of Europe," he began. "I was summoned by a powerful leader whose country was plagued by undesirables; he wanting them disposed of. It was too easy. No danger, no threat. No pleasure for me. As you know, I have never liked it that way; still I did his bidding. He could tell that I was uneasy and suggested I amuse myself before terminating the victims. It was better then. Some suffered for months; millions of them. That pleased him too."

"How did it end?" Garlen was keen to know.

"Not well," Maggo, picked at his teeth with a fragment of quill, "I heard the man was losing his power and had gone to ground. I sensed that my reward might not be forthcoming, so I sought him out. He was in hiding; none of his wealth left; no bounty to come. I obliged him to despatch himself, and took the cut in my face before finishing his henchmen."

"Not a profitable period then," Lud observed.

"It had its rewards."

"And what of your nerve?" asked Garlen. “Were you not afeared?”

Maggo rose to his feet. "Afeared!" he raged. "I fear nothing. Never put that question to me again."

"I will not," said Garlen, a reassured smile creeping across his lips.

The next account was Zarf's, and he could not boast the mass extermination of his predecessor. "It was just one man; a man holding great power. There was an element who wanted him out of the way. His aims differed from theirs, and they had tried many times before but could never get to him, never get past his entourage."

"So how was it done?" Maggo interrupted.

"Surprise," said Zarf. "His people were confident that anybody meaning to strike would wait for a quiet moment. I did the opposite and took him in front of his supporters, an audience of thousands. Such was the panic and confusion, I was able to walk away unchallenged."

Lud and Maggo wanted to hear more; who this special man was. Garlen overruled them. He was eager to get to the point. "It must have been a fearful experience," he suggested.

"Fearful experience?" scoffed Zarf. "I do not know the meaning of the term."

The young Lud was something of an unknown quantity. Garlen had always suspected him of being responsible for certain evils, though had never really known exactly what.

"My experience was much the same as previous ones," said Lud. "I employ a single method only, and let the people do the real work for me. They are such fools. All I have to do is sow the seeds then wait. They cultivate the crop."

"I don’t understand," complained Zarf, resentful of the lack of detail - especially after his own account.

"Never mind that," Garlen cut across him. "Were you afraid, Lud?" he asked. "That is the important thing."

"No. Never. Why do you ask me?"

"That is good. Then I will speak of myself."

The three listeners heard how the undisputed death-virtuoso had swept across whole continents leaving appalling destruction in his wake. Like the other tales, there was little detail forthcoming - but enough to remind them who was the master. They nodded in approval when he finished, then drifted back to the table. They were hungry again, and satiation came before all other considerations - even Garlen's proposition.

Once the food had been consumed, Garlen drew the others close to him and spoke almost in a whisper. "There is a certain being;" he said, "a shadowy figure who claims to have a power which is beyond our understanding. He also has a chest in which he keeps his papers; deeds they are - titles to land."

"And what of this being?" Maggo was never patient.

Garlen went on: "He says he knows us all; each one of us."

"A liar!" Maggo protested, slamming down his goblet. "Those who make my acquaintance seldom live to boast of it."

"Let me continue," Garlen persisted. "The lands he controls are vast. I could only see a few of the documents in his coffer, though they accounted for more estate than I have ever known any one being hold. And there were hundreds more like them. They could be ours."

Lud could sense the power it would bring. "Tell us more," he urged. "What do we have to do?"

"That is the beauty of it," said Garlen. "It is already done."

Again, Maggo was irritated. "Will you cease talking in riddles?" he shouted.

"Aye," agreed Zarf, who had also begun to lose his way.

"It is simple," smiled Garlen. "This being is coming here tonight to obtain proof of my claim in a wager. He challenged me and I accepted. He said that there was one thing that would bring terror to our hearts."

"Where is he?" Maggo was riled. "Show me this creature and I’ll cut him down."

"Keep calm," Garlen advised. "There will be time enough for that after we have won the prize. I told him there was nothing that would ever terrorise any of us, and staked our very existence on it."

"Good," said Maggo, now less agitated.

"And he agreed that if I was right, he would render up all of his property. Now, I ask you, how can we lose?"

Garlen smiled; so did Zarf and Lud. Maggo burst into laughter.

There was little said after that. None of them could see any profit to be had from wasted words. Lud and Garlen idly threw knives at the door, Zarf dozed at the table, Maggo sat cross-legged on the hearth, lost in thought, grinning from time to time as he contemplated the prize.

The inn was long closed when a coach and four turned into the yard. The clatter of hooves had the party making their way to the window. They looked down to see a figure alighting; another in hooded garb. He walked into the building and they heard him on the stairs.

"Remember," Garlen said with authority, "we know no fear."

The door was unbolted and the strange being came in carrying a deed box. They felt respect, almost humbled, though couldn’t say why.

That agitated Maggo. "Take off that cowl," he ordered. “Show yourself.”

The guest did not oblige. "Sit down!" it countered, quietly.

They obeyed.

"So you are incapable of knowing fear?" the creature snorted. "You delude yourselves."

Maggo had already heard enough. He sprang up with a knife. A gloved hand raised before him and he froze, unable to move until he returned to his chair, puzzled by his body's refusal to obey the directive of his will.

Now the being had their full attention. "I have brought the documents," it said.

"How much land is there?" asked Lud.

"As much as there is on this earth," said the being. "I am offering you title to the whole world. You will never need labour again, unless you must for your own amusement."

Garlen was allowed to properly examine the chest. It was right - the visitor spoke the truth.

The being then bade them all attend. "I will first address the one named Zarf."

Like Maggo, Zarf had been vexed by the thing, but restrained himself. He wanted to hear what it had to say; what possible challenge it could pose.

"This," said the being, "is the one among you who has killed the least, yet has brought about the fall of kings and governments. He is the political one; the assassin, the thief in the night. He has done his work well. But he will know fear."

"What fear?" Zarf reared up.

The visitor beckoned him. "Come, I'll show you," it said, and led him out.

"What foolery is this?" Lud asked Maggo.

"I do not know," Maggo replied. "But we'll not lose the wager."

Presently Zarf and the being returned to the room. The others watched their colleague pad quietly over to sit in the corner. He said nothing, and looked troubled; intense.

Yet again, Maggo went to attack the visitor. "What have you done to him?" he was shouting. The power stopped him.

"You, Maggo, are the warmonger, are you not," said the being. "The purveyor of fruitless combat and all the obscenities that it brings; torture, looting, rape."

“Aye,” Maggo nodded, proudly.

"You have inspired the destruction of millions, and influenced the minds of sadistic monsters. There can be few methods that you have not thought of and used, yet you still want more. How could such an unstoppable force, as you, possibly succumb to fear, one might ask. But you will."

"I fear nothing," were Maggo's last words which hung over the others as he, too, left the room with the guest. From the look in his bloodshot eyes, when he returned, it was clear that he now feared something.

"Deal with me!" demanded Garlen who was anxious - not fearful. "I defy you to try and instil your poison into me."

The visitor ignored him. "Lud," it said. "Next is Lud, the agent of disease. You have breathed on the innocent, started the infestations."

Lud smiled in agreement. He was proud of his work.

"Come," the being beckoned, leading him out. "Let me show you what you claim does not exist."

If any of them had one single layer more of hard skin than the rest, it was Garlen. He was surprised that his colleagues had reacted to the visitor's influence. Not a single nerve twitched when it came to his turn. "I'm ready for you," he declared.

"Are you?" the being asked. "Is the vehicle of natural disaster really ready - the one who causes landslides, earthquakes, moves mountains, turns the tides; the one whose works of devastation the foolish beings call acts of God? You are the one who interests me the most. There is no end to your craving, no limit to your methods. Surely you, above all, must have seen fear in countless eyes?"

"I have," said Garlen. "But there is none in mine. What does fear achieve? Nothing; and those who indulge it are lost."

"As indeed are your friends," the being pointed. "Observe the rewards of fear."

The three stupefied killers became animated. First Zarf the assasin; he rose from his chair, went to the door and pulled a knife from it. Without a single word or utterance, he slit his own throat.

"This does not put fear into me," said Garlen with conviction.

Maggo was up. He walked over and knelt by the fire. They watched him extend an arm and sink it into the red-hot coals. He screamed, yet instinctively plunged the other arm in alongside the first. The process took some minutes, the fire gradually consuming his flesh. While his legs would still bear him, he stepped into the flames and squatted. Last to perish was his head, lips mouthing hatred.

Now Lud was decomposing; flakes of putrid flesh falling from his plague-racked body. The room stank, even after the last remnants had been brushed onto the fire.

"And what do you plan for me?" Garlen asked. "What was it you revealed to them?"

The visitor laughed. "Myself," it said. "My true self. I am fear. You have never thought that there is one mightier than you; one, without whom, all of your work would have been in vain."

It seemed inevitable to Garlen that he, like the others, would be shown fear, then finished. "You had better do your work," he said. "I am ready."

"No," pronounced the being. "You are needed."

"What of the others?" Garlen said. "Is there to be no more war, no disease, no murder?"

"The people have found ways to do all of these things themselves. No; it is only you who must go on. Your skills are still beyond them."

Garlen now knew that the visitor dare not reveal itself to him, so he smiled. "I’ve won the wager then; the prize," he ventured.

The being shrugged. “For the moment. But soon enough they’ll learn - then destroy it all."

 

** ** **

© Albert Woods (2014)

 

My e-book crime thriller novel, ‘EIGHTEEN to TWELVE’, is available on Amazon

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/EIGHTEEN-to-TWELVE-ebook/dp/B009171P0C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345757036&sr=8-1