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Chronicles of TheFili: Chapter 3 - The First Tricks[]

Now for something different. I have decided to chronicle all possible Kongai Fan Fiction that still remains (given that the official Kongai Forum also had fanfic that was now sadly purged) on this website so that none may further succumb to destruction. The reason I decided to name these blogs "the Apocrypha Games" is that firstly, Kongai is a game (duh!), secondly, "apocrypha" refers to the fact that these stories are at best dubious to Sirlin's official "canon" of Kongai (even tough there isn't that much in the first place) and finally, "apocrypha" also means that these stories are not canon to my attempt at fan fiction (Project Kongai). I have neither used any ideas from these stories (hopefully mere coincidences if any similarities ever show up), since my story has 1. The concepts have been planned out meticulously long ago before I found these. 2. Features original characters from my other concepts Mavericks. And 3. Most of these stories would have some direct conflict with any lore I would have proposed.

Note that the fanfic here has been unaltered, bad grammar and all.

Anyway, here's the 10th book of the Apocrypha Games, originally written by Kongregate's TheFili (Sep 11, 2008), sourced here.

P.S: For some reason, Scroll 2 was named "Chapter 2" here. I'm keeping with the format of the other stories.

"Scroll 2"[]

Scene 1[]

The smile on the Marquis’ face broadened, got wider still and finally hatched into a laugh.

“Yes, I can see that,” he said. “Oh, I can just imagine it.” His handsome middle-aged face turned to Zina again. “And then what did you do?”

“What could I do?” she said, obviously enjoying the attention. “I stayed up there and bombarded the wolf with acorns until it went away. After that, I decided I wasn’t cut out for a trapper, at least not without my little darling here,” she added and scratched behind the tiger’s ears.

“Could we return to the map?” Tafari asked. Ever since Cornelius had magically given them the knowledge of the local language, Zina had certainly made a lot of use of it.

The Marquis stroked his moustache and nodded “Yes, yes, of course, I beg your pardon. It seems we got sidetracked once more.” They bowed over the two parchments on the big oak table again; Zina and Tafari on one side, the Marquis and Cornelius on the other. The had occupied the mansions large library (an entirely new concept for the guests) where all the documents were kept and shelves were filled with countless intimidating books bound in leather.

The first map was an artful representation of Krifting and its surrounding lands. The writing consisted of some fairly complex calligraphy while the little town’s coat of arms adorned the upper right corner. On it lay several small wooden blocks, used to represent future houses where currently only forest and grassland existed. “So, do you think this area will be adequate for your people?” Cornelius asked Tafari.

“Guess so,” he answered. “May be a bit crowded, but I’m sure it’ll…”

“In that case,” the Marquis interrupted and moved some of the blocks to encompass a larger area, “we’ll just increase the size of the site. It’s only going to waste now, anyway. And there will still be plenty of forest left for your trappers.”

“I’m not sure we can accept this generosity,” Zina said slowly. “You have already given us,,,”

“Nonsense, my dear lady,” the nobleman answered. “I’m happy to be in a position to help your people – we all are. Nothing like a bit of fresh blood in town.”

The two villagers exchanged a glance. When Tafari saw Zina’s small nod, he said: “Very well. Thank you.”

“Not at all,” the Marquis waved his gratitude asidde. “But there is stil the bigger problem.” He indicated the second parchment, a crude sketch of the route from their home to Krifting, drawn from Zina’s and Tafari’s memory. “We will need workers to secure the passage, mark the right way in the caves, clear the mountain paths of stones and animals… not to mention the effort of actually moving your people.” He looked at them, his face very grave. “It will probably take months. Can your people hold out that long?”

The trapper shrugged. “They’ll have to.” He rose to his feet and said: “If you allow it, I’d like to take a look at the area.”

“At night?” the Marquis asked. “Please, my friend, it is bad enough that our family’s disease forces us to live exclusively by night. Pray, do not feel hindered by our burden.”

“No, it’s all right,” Tafari said. “It’ll help me keep my feeling for the night.”

“If that is your wish… Take Solomon with you to show you around.” Tafari nodded and left the room. Outside, he took a deep breath, glad to be out of the stuffy room with its paper towers and dusty air. With wide strides he marched towards the mansion’s gate, towards an open sky and stars. This place really was incredibly big, it surrounded its inhabitants and cut them off from the world like a stone cocoon.

From one of the crossing corridors, Popo appeared, followed by Solomon. “Tafari,” the boy shouted and ran towards him. “I’ve had a great night,” he blabbed, “there’s so much to see here! Ambrosia took me to one of the rooms and there were paintings of people on the wall, some were even creepier than old Juju’s masks. And then we were on the roof, and …”

Tafari stopped listening for a while and looked at Solomon. The young man shrugged and gave him a lopsided grin. Tafari knew what he meant.

“… and now Solomon wants to show me some new game that’s called futtbohl.”

“Nice,” he answered, “I’ll just go out and catch a bit of fresh air.” Taking Solomon would mean taking Popo, and he could do without the nagging of a boy intent on going home and playing.

He left the two to their game and went out the front door, down the hill and towards the collection of lights that was Krifting. Halfway down, he met Ambrosia coming the other way, a couple in tow. “Evening,” she smiled. “Going out?”

“Just for a quick walk. Can’t stand the indoors too long.”

“Always moving, always restless,” she mocked. “Well, just keep to the village. You know we have a bandit problem and we don’t want anything to happen to you. I’ll just take these two up now.” She indicated the couple. They seemed a bit intimidated. He was a big man with broad shoulders and blonde hair, while his wife was a thin creature with dark hair and a delicate face. They made for quite an interesting combination. “It’s their second anniversary and we usually celebrate this kind of thing at the mansion with them.”

Tafari said “Congratulations” and nodded to the young people. After treating Ambrosia to the same gesture he walked on.

His stride through the village was not hindered. Everybody knew him as the aristocrats’ guest by now and showed him respect; some people even seemed a little… afraid? It looked like that; they ducked into doorways or started to stare at the street when he walked by. Probably the muwongu, he mused.

At the outskirts of the city he paused to stare into the night until he could make out some trees in the dark forest. Thus accustomed, he went on to the area marked on the map for the villagers. Only one road connected Krifting with the outside world. Consequently the rest, including this place, was just forest fields and hills.

The village’s new home looked like a small valley, being surrounded by hills on either side. He climbed one of the far ones, where the surrounding forest began. The landscape reminded him of a soup bowl. And for the first time, he really thought that his people might make it.

The village’s trappers were adept at noting movements, no matter how small or slow – after all their survival depended on it. And so Tafari’s attention was drawn to the dark figure moving through the night like a leaf carried by the wind. Nobody was supposed to be out here (not him, either).

He faded into the forest until he was sure that the shadows of trees and the dark leaves had embraced him. It was impossible for the world outside his armour of plants and darkness to find him.

All of his senses were beckoned to silence so his hearing could work perfectly undisturbed. Only the sounds woodland animals . Rustling leaves. The wind in his own hair.

And then the footsteps came closer, swift, long strides, almost deafening him in the silence. His opponent was not used to stealth – so much the better. A quick strike from invisibility would decide this confrontation. And then he would have some questions.

Tafari’s vision elbowed his hearing aside as his whole world became light. It battered his pupils like hail striking down crops, and even seared through his eyelids, setting his brain aflame.

He faltered and took a few steps to regain his balance. The flat side of a sword came down onto his back and he fell.

“There you were,” a hoarse female voice snarled.

This was all he needed. His hand grabbed a poison dart and let fly into the direction of the voice. He heard the sound of metal being struck followed by a grunt, but he was already stumbling into the opposite direction where the blurry outlines of trees became clearer in front of his tortured eyes.

“Come back,” she called, “I don’t want to hurt you.” Judging by her voice, she actually wanted to but would grudgingly refrain from it.

Tafari trusted the trees above her self-control and hid from view again. He dropped a small object and moved on, careful to touch one or two branches for his pursuer’s benefit. When he heard her approach, he released another dart and smiled at the satisfying sound of her reaction. The smile charred on his face as another light, smaller but brighter than the first one beat his vision into submission.

He stepped out of is hiding place, a trifle more helplessly than he actually was, but arms raised for a fight.

A sword hissed through the air towards him, but before he felt its touch, a small click told him that his trap had sprung. Spikes, so far concealed by the fallen leaves bit into his opponent’s legs like the teeth of a steel badger.

Her reaction surprised him: without bothering to check the damage, she rushed him, the irregular assortment of metal still clinging to her leg. Tafari was too bewildered to do anything, so the sword’s flat side caught him at the temple and finally he felt his legs give in for good.

The woman’s blurry shape was with him almost immediately and put her sword to his throat.

“Idiot,” she said. “I’m here to warn you.”

He said nothing, just tried to see her better. His night eyes had left him long ago, so now he could only see a silhouette threaten him.

“Do you have any idea,” she continued, “under whose roof you are staying? I hope not. If you did, I’d have to kill you.”

“Like that poor bloke at the market.”

“Yes. He was guilty of consorting with vampires.”

Tafari gave a dry laugh. His view became clearer and he saw black shiny surfaces where the woman’s eyes should have been. “Right. And of dancing with the fairies, I expect.”

The black shine vanished as her face shot towards him. Her eyes reflected like those of Zina’s pet, only these had a red tint to them. Moonlight glinted off teeth longer than any human’s should be.

“Look at me, and then call me a fairy. You better believe what you heard as a child. But this time it’s no cosy fireside story, savage. Your legends are real, and they can kill you.” She paused, then said calmly: “Take that blade away, or I swear to whatever being still listens to me I’ll split your chest open.”

He withdrew the hunter’s knife he had moved against her stomach. She straightened up and after a few gestures, her eyes were black gems again.

“They haven’t made their move yet, because they want to study you first. Learn how you work, how you react to things. And then they either use you or kill you. Of course, one follows the other, most of the time.”

He got up while in his head some things took on a new colour. The “guests”, the “family disease”… and most of all their eagerness to help his people resettle. If they succeeded, it would be his fault all over again.

Tafari focused his gaze on the woman. “What’s your part in this? You’re…” He stopped when he noticed her tense at the sentence’s beginning. “You’re trying to help us,” he avoided the actual topic.

“My business,” she snapped. “But believe me, I don’t want to see you in their hands.”

“So you’ll hide us?”

“If that’s what it takes.” Her tone suggested that other actions were available, too.

Scene 2[]

He met Popo and Solomon on the front lawn of the mansion. He was carrying some parcels, and Popo, with a child’s unerring instinct, ran towards him.

“Tafari, did you bring me something?”

“Of course I did,” he answered smiling. He wouldn’t be a trapper if he didn’t know a thing or two about bait. “And Zina, too. Go get her.”

The villager and the vampire watched the boy run into the house. “Thought I’d take him off your hands for a while. Give you some time off.” The monster looked relieved.

“Thanks. You always have to watch, or he runs off.”

“Yes, noticed that.”

“Actually, there is something I’d have to do,” Solomon said. “Will you be all right on your own for a while?”

“I’m sure of that.”

“All right then.” The thing turned and went into the mansion; Zina and Popo passed him on their way out, along with the tiger.

“What is it?” Popo shouted.

Tafari kept an eye on Solomon to see when he was out of earshot. Meanwhile, he gave one of the parcels to Popo and one to Zina. “The merchants were very generous,” he said clearly.

Popo had liberated some stuffed animal from its coarse cloth wrapping, and Zina was examining a nice bracelet of semiprecious stones.

“Continue to look at the things,” he ordered without changing his expression. Theirs became puzzled while he continued: “We’ll have to leave. Now. I’ll explain everything later.”

They looked as though they were going to argue, until his eyes told them that he was very serious about it.

With the practise of life in the wilderness, they melted away from the mansion and into the night.