Monday 9 June 2008

The curse of Berabenar

Berabenar had cursed himself. A transformation spell gone horribly wrong, his body was in disarray surging into uncontrollable creatures, shapes and other ungodly things. Only the Green Witch could help him now, could stop his bodily flux. So he set off on a tiring and bewildering journey to her door, as his body pulsed into everything you (or he) could imagine.
Great boils pockmarked the wizard's flesh, before it became bark and the boils were simply gnarls in the wood. He had been walking for a mere thirty seconds before his legs, at once horse and lizard, became pond weed and he collapsed like harvested corn.
His fingers oozed, but every now and then they became solid enough for him to drag his infinite carcass another step or so along the road. The night was as black as the soul of Azamoth, and he was thankful that the sun's tyrant master had sewn up the very eyes of the stars so that no light could illuminate his grotesquery.
He oozed ever onward. Two hours had passed and his blasphemy had ailed Berabenar. Longing for sustenance, he saw that his form became more gelatinous, more able to spread across the dark lane. A huge spider happened across his path. His teeth were leaves but his tongue was of a frog and he lashed the spider with horrible force and spontaneity. It retracted into his beak, biting horribly at his feathery cheeks, and then it was gone, crushed into the lava of flesh and fauna beyond.
He guessed he was still an hour's slide from the door of Hulldimble, the Green Witch of the North Pastures. She lived on the village's north-eastern edge so he needn't risk detection and certain immolation by passing through the streets of Casterdale.
Then, growing the strong legs of some giant tarantula he found the strength and speed to scuttle onward to his goal, the spider had burned in the furnace of his body and revitalised him. As he approached the village boundaries his legs began to pool. They flowed like ugly syrup now, and he felt himself collapsing into this sludge. A horse whinnied and he looked in horror as a lone rider approached him.
The shadow of the forest canopy provided cover from the eyes of the rider. A strong man, probably travelling home after some secret assignation, rode as quietly as possible over the cobbled ground. He hushed the horse, who no doubt smelt the rotting of a creature in the forest before him. The wizard had no control and his tongue slithered greedily and flatly across the forest carpet to the edge of the sturdy Casterdale pathway.
The horse stepped onto the simple slime that was now Berabenar and reared up. The rider caught hold of the reins and steadied. The horse bucked and turned around, its legs seemed to sink into something acidic and it cried out. Thrashing frantically the steed loosed the rider and gained the strength to bolt away though its limb twisted and broke and the horse collapsed into a verge.
The rider had fallen face-first into the puddle of moss and scum. Ferns grew and twisted around his head so he could not scream, would never scream. Roses grew through his body and leech like arms attached themselves to his body or vanished into orifices. His body convulsed in seeming agonies but no cries could be heard.
At last the flesh formed again and engulfed the man. The wizard took on a truer form, though he was now eight feet tall and carried the bulk of a man who had feasted on man. Replenished, and in some control of his flux, he staggered onwards. Torches now flickered in the village, stirred by the neighs of the broken horse. The wizard faltered, sweating, but his path was straight now and time evaporated until the moment he crashed through the door of Hulldimble's cottage.
She was feeding a serpent from her breast. She looked up and smiled…

Thanks to Matt for the inspiration for this tale.

5 comments:

Sucharita Sarkar said...

Whew, that was one roller-coaster ride of transmogrifications (as in Calvin and Hobbes), reminding me of Kafka's Metamorphoses on fast-forward and Bosch's crowded paintings of medieval hells (have you looked at these pictures, like the Garden of Earthly Delight? I'm sure your fertile imagination will pick some visual clue and turn it into a fantastic fable, esp. as you seem to be interested in fantasy and allegory right now).

Jaquanda Rae said...

Different...your mind reminds me of Ariel taking the reins of the wagon in The Little Mermaid. lol.

JenEffer Vescent said...

I came here by accident once. and I loved it. I come by every now and then just to see what you'll put out next. Now my visits are almost as daily as your tales. I used to write. Long ago. And reading your stories has stirred something in me to want to write again. Thank you for courage to do what you love. You are very good at it.

Paul Bernard Baker said...

Thanks for your comments guys.

SS - I do enjoy looking at a good Bosch. Actually there's a recent film called 'In Bruges' in which Bosch's painting of the day of Final Judgement is important to the plot. It's a great movie - check it out if it comes on near you.

JR - Ariel driving the wagon? Hmmm, I don't fully remember that scene but I think she seems totally out of control and then gets it together to seem like she knew what she was doing all the time. Maybe that does sum up my mind (and my writing). It's a strange place (inside my head).

Jenmarie - thanks for the comment and encouragement. Glad you've been enjoying the Tales and hope you get writing about whatever you love again, soon.

Miladysa said...

Delicious!

Will there be more?