Oliver and Zip

Foreword: The following story was written using the titles of songs, a section of the story was written after a song was chosen based entirely on the title. The choices were presented to someone I will always regard as a friend, I am thankful they played along and helped me write this tale with each choice they made. A few edits were made, but I am now proud to present this story to you, the reader.

There was once a young golden haired farm boy who dreamed of nothing more than adventure. His world was dull and tired after only 10 winters, he would wake before dawn and tend to the corn, potatoes, wheat, chicken and cows all day, everyday. Once night fell, the boy would pick up a stick and pretend to fight monsters with a sword. His actual opponent was just an old scarecrow, but he what wanted more than anything was to join the Holy Knights. One day, while the boy was standing in the yard throwing corn to the chickens, a group of heavily armored men came galloping up to the farm and hammered on the door with a heavy fist. "By order of The King, open this door immediately!" The leader barked loudly. The boy ducked behind the low fence in fear, knights hadn't ever bothered them before. What did they want?

"Oliver!" The boy's mother called. "Come over here, now."

Oliver flattened himself as much as he could against the cold rocky ground. He didn't know what he could have done to have the knights after him, his mind was racing searching for a possible cause. He had that extra cookie at dinner last week without permission, but that wasn't a reason to be arrested, was it? Peeking through the slots of the fence, Oliver watched his mother cross her arms over her simple brown smock. Her face was etched in an expression of annoyance and fear. "Oliver, you aren't well enough hidden that I can't see you and this isn't the time for games! Get over here, NOW!" she barked. Oliver slowly got to his feet and surrendered himself to being arrested. It was only a cookie, he thought to himself. Risking a glance at the knights, Oliver saw they were muscular men with thick black mustaches and their silver armor gleamed in the sunlight.

The leader of the knights fixed his steely gaze on Oliver and spoke in a gravelly voice "we have come to find recruits to bolster our Holy Ranks. The number of monsters in the area have increased dramatically and we will need the help to protect our lands. Ponder this well, lad. 'Tis not a decision that should be made lightly. Come meet us in the Capital should you decide it's a worthy cause." The knights climbed back on their mounts and rode away.

Oliver's hopes soared through the heavens but very quickly crashed back to reality. His mother would be alone and his father died in the last Monster War. "Mother, what do you think I should do?" Oliver asked quietly.

The tears were welling behind her soft brown eyes as she responded "sleep on it. The decision is yours to make, but I want you to be absolutely sure of your decision. There isn't any room for regrets." His mother turned and hurried back into the house. Oliver wandered into the barn, lost in his thoughts. CRASH! Oliver spun around, his eyes flickering wildly to find the source to the noise. Two pails of oats were spilled on the ground and a pair of large yellow eyes were staring at him from within the hay pile behind the mess. Oliver's heart drummed in his ears as he stared at the eyes, then he turned to grab the pitchfork hanging on the wall to his left. As his fingers brushed the wood, Oliver felt thin and powerful claws on his throat.

A thick voice in his ear "Do not move. Do not scream. No harm will be done. Understand?". The boy stood frozen again, panic rising in his chest. Swallowing hard, Oliver squeaked a quiet "yes". The creature slowly released its grip and took a step back, eyeing the boy suspiciously. Shaking its head, the creature began to wring its hands together anxiously. "The human child sees me. What to do? What should be done?" Oliver stared at the creature, his own brain trying to comprehend what was happening. Dressed in a dirty and torn shirt that was likely white at one time, the imp stood no taller than a large dog. Razor sharp claws clicked together as the creature nervously continued to rub his hands together. The yellow eyes flickered like fire and its skin was smooth and remarkably blue like the ocean on a clear day.

Oliver built up the courage to pipe up "I'm Oliver, a human. May I ask for your name?" The creature froze and stared at Oliver like he had lost his mind.

"Zip," was the response after a couple of moments. "I am Zip the demon." Oliver started to extend his hand towards Zip in greeting when his mother's voice called out "Oliver! Are you in here?" Zip's eyes grew wide and then rolled back into his head and the demon vanished from sight. “

Yes, Mother!" Oliver replied, trying to hide his shock.

The door to the barn burst open, Oliver's mother rushed inside and squeezed him tightly as she wailed in his ear. "War! War has been declared!" She cried, the fear heavy in her voice. "You're needed in their ranks, you must head to the Capital post haste!"

After being lead into the house and hastily packed, Oliver struck out for the Capital. It was only a few hours away on foot, he reached the massive gates of the army house nestled just outside of the city as dusk fell casting shadows all around. The captain of the guard recognized him immediately and clapped a giant hand on his shoulder. "Good to see you, lad. This will not be easy. Your training begins at dawn."

For the next ten years, Oliver woke at dawn, trained muscles he never used before, learned the ways of the sword and the bow and quickly became one of the best rookie soldiers in the army of the Holy Knights. News of battles, causalities, victories and loses came frequently. One morning, he awoke to find the Captain standing over him. "It's time, lad. You need to go join the fight and bring victory for Humans." With a silent nod, Oliver prepared a small travel pack of food, clothes and other supplies and set forth to travel west. He didn't need further orders, he was to seek out and fight monsters anywhere they might lurk.

Days after leaving the comfort and safety of the barracks, Oliver found his supplies were running low. He decided to enter the Darkstar forest, so named because of the lights that were often seen among the trees even during the day. It was the only place for days that might hold something Oliver could eat as well. Trying to shake off his fears, the young man picked his way through the dense trees and shrubs. He was able to find blackberries and mulberries a short way in and set about gathering as many as he could into his pack. Voices drifted on the air, Oliver snapped his head up and pulled his bow from his shoulder, knocking an arrow ready to fire in a moment's notice. Moving silently, he crept over to a tree to spy into a small clearing where a young woman with fire red hair and an ocean blue monster were having an argument. Narrowing his eyes, Oliver pulled the string on his bow back to full strength. Taking a step forward to get a better view, a twig snapped under his foot and caused the woman and monster to look up in surprise. Oliver let his arrow fly as the woman shrieked "NOOOOO" but the demon didn't even flinch as the arrow grazed its cheek. A streak of green blood oozed out of the cut as the monster cocked its head. "What was that? A love shot?"

Oliver stomped forward and slapped the demon fully in the face. "HOW DARE YOU LEAVE ME LIKE THAT, ZIP!"

Zip slowly turned back to look at Oliver, rubbing its cheek to ease the throbbing pain. "Deserved, I guess," Zip conceded. "Still, good seeing you again."

The red haired woman stared at the angry blonde man and blue devil before her with growing confusion. "You two know each other?"

Oliver looked at her, really seeing her for the first time. "We met briefly in my youth, just before the war broke out. Why did the monsters decide to start this bloody war, Zip? Tell me that!"

Zip started to shake his head and opened his mouth to reply as another arrow struck ground between them. The trio looked around to discover an army of humans lined the trees on one side and an army of monsters weaved the other. Oliver's eyes narrowed as he knocked another arrow. To many to fight, not enough cover to fight. "Bee line to the trees to the East as soon as possible. Do not run in a straight line," he breathed to the others, silently counting over sixty potential enemies. Calls of "traitor!" rang out from both sides as a flood of arrows and throwing axes started filling the sky aimed at the clearing and the other side. Oliver fired arrow after arrow into both sides of the clearing while running. Oliver weaved through the trees, continuing to fire arrows at pursuers. Zip and the woman had no choice but to run, both being weaponless was a severe disadvantage.

After running for what seemed like hours, the trio decided to take a break by a softly murmuring stream. Filling his cupped hands with water, Oliver drank deeply and washed the sweat from his brow. "Right, let's start with introductions. My name is Oliver, i met Zip," he pointed at the blue demon, "roughly ten winters ago when I was just a lad. May I ask your name?"

The red haired woman crossed her arms in front of her light blue blouse. "My name is Lenore. I have been searching for a way to end this pointless war. The monsters didn't start this, the humans did. My father, King Redmond, sent out the order. I don't know why, i can't even guess."

Zip closed his eyes and swayed in the breeze like a tulip. "My people wish to leave this realm, to live in peace in a world of their own. The humans, they wish to hunt us for sport. Not the first time, hopefully the last." Opening his golden eyes, Zip asked the question everyone was thinking "what comes next?"

The trio spend the night by the stream, devising a plan. It was so stupid and so outrageous that it might just work. They traveled together over the next few days to the Capital city called Dramquist. Stealing three shapeless dark brown cloaks to disguise themselves, they quickly made their way through the poorest parts of the town to the middle class areas where beer was hand crafted at the brewery. "There," Lenora pointed at sphere shaped casks. "The prototype barrels I told you about."

The three set about quietly handing out the beer marked for the castle to the poor and middle class people before climbing into the casks themselves. "Operation Roly-Poly is a go!" Oliver hissed as he sealed himself inside. The sun climbed over the horizon as the brewers and royal guard loaded the three spheres into a wagon.

Gruffly, the head guard commented on the weight. "Rather heavy, ain't it? Not sloshing about like it usually does either." The head brewer retorted immediately "we filled these as we were ordered! Don't even THINK about testing it yourself!" The guard grumbled under his breath, clearly he had the thought already and was disappointed for being called out. The wagon rolled into the castle without further incident and the barrels were rolled into the throne room as far as Oliver and company could tell by the sounds. Oliver burst from the cask with a battle cry, drawing his sword as he emerged. Zip raised a clawed hand and made a jerking motion as if he were pulling a rope. Swords, bows and knives clattered to the ground from all of the surprised guards.

Lenore scooped up a short sword and pointed it at her father. "This war ends today, your majesty. Whether by blood or by surrender is your choice."

A guard slowly stooped down, his eyes on the intruders and as his fingers brushed the his sword he felt thin lines on pain on his neck. "Do it and won't live to regret," Zip snarled in his ear. Raising his hands in surrender, the guard took two steps back.

King Redmond eyed Oliver, studying him for a moment. "You father, his name was Stephen, wasn't it?" Oliver stiffened, his eyes narrowed. Redmond smiled deeply as he continued, "I knew him. An honorable fool, just like you. I still remember what it was like to stab him like a squealing pig!"

With a roar of hate and disgust, Oliver kicked a sword to the king. "We duel, NOW," Oliver barked, raising his sword into a fighting stance.

Redmond picked up the blade, tested its weight and smirked. "A fool, like his father before him."

Guards, nobles, peasants, Lenore and Zip moved to form a large circle around the two men. The fighters squared off, sizing the other up, trying to find a weakness in the other's stance or an opening in which to strike. SHRINK! The sound of metal striking metal resonated through the air as Oliver delivered the first wide strike.

"HA! You will have to try harder than that!" Redmond laughed as he returned the attack. The farm boy and the king traded blow after blow, trying to throw each other off as the crowd jeered and cheered.

Redmond gritted his teeth and jabbed his sword into Oliver's side. With a cry of pain, Oliver took the blow and knelt to catch his breath. Redmond raised his sword to deliver the final blow but Oliver vanished!

Stunned, Redmond spun around to look in the clear blue eyes of the young solider and felt the sharp blade against his ribs. "Do you yield?" Oliver dug the tip of the blade into the soft flesh a tiny fraction to help the fallen ruler decide.

"YES!" Redmond yelped, fear filling his gray eyes. "I yield!"

Oliver took a step back, but didn't lower his guard. Lenore came forward, her gaze as hard as steel. "Take this slimy worm to the dungeons. He can stand trial for his crimes later." After Redmond was lead away, Lenore turned to Oliver. "How did you vanish like that?"

Zip stepped forward, his hand raised. "Twas me. I made a promise to father," he croaked, gestering to Oliver. "Promise to keep family safe." Zip went on to explain he had met Oliver's father many years ago and had fought along side Zip to end the first Monster War. Redmond had Stephen killed for treason but blamed the monsters.

Lenore shook her head in sadness, she knew her father was the real monster but she didn't realize how evil he truly was. "On this day, I take the crown. On this day, I give you peace."