Fates of Chaos

Caleb was tired. Tilling the land with his father worked his body rough. They toiled over the land day after day preparing for Spring to come into fruition. Thus the planting would begin. Caleb hoped the harvest this year would be better. Lehrin's distributor had questioned Father last year. Saying the crops were not good enough for his full prices. Father had to hold Caleb back from bashing in his face at the time. A farmer who had been apart of the community for ages getting questioned like that was out of line. Caleb shook his head. He gathered the rest of the tools and headed towards the toolshed.

A soft ringing filled his ears. Caleb felt a yearning. A pull to turn around and walk towards the southern edge of the field they had spent all day toiling over. Caleb dropped the tools and gave in. He shrugged, perhaps he had forgotten something over there? He trudged across the field, making sure not to walk between the mounds they would use for planting.

Arriving he saw nothing out of sort. The field turned back to the rough uncut grass full of weeds. Caleb rubbed his face and frowned. The feeling was still there, and he surveyed the edge of toiled land. The pull suddenly intensified and he saw it. Near on of the toiled mounds the dirt moved, almost as if it was breathing. He saw a shining light emit from beneath the moving land. Caleb quickly ran towards it, digging the dirt out with his bare hands.

Underneath was a vine. Or so, that's what came to mind when Caleb saw it. Red spots pulsed while the vine itself swelled and shrank. A dark brackish vine that upon closer inspection, looked more like flesh than plant. The pull was too strong at this point, and Caleb reached out. His hand inching closer and closer to the vine. It swelled one last time, coming into contact with his flesh.

The vine lashed out suddenly. It wrapped around his arm and squeezed tightly. Caleb cried out, trying to pull his arm away from the mound. It wouldn't budge. His arm began to burn, and he watched horrified as the point of the vine pulled back and pierced his skin at his wrist. The pain was immeasurable and Caleb fell back writhing on the ground. Calebs vision was fading and he passed out on the toiled ground under him.

He awoke. The intense pain was still there. His mother was dabbing a wet rag against his head. He tried to speak but only muffled noises came out. He fell back into sleep.

When he next awoke, the pain was gone. His body ached and he could feel the sweat clinging to his shirt. It was dark in his room, he looked over and saw his father asleep. Caleb gently pulled himself out of bed. He crept past his father ensuring not to wake him, and went through the house until he was outside.

The cool air soothed him. A gentle wind calmed the ghost of pain that shrouded his right arm. He rubbed it gently and noticed the skin ripple slightly. He held his arm up in the moonlight and noticed a faint reddish tint from under the skin. Yet, Caleb felt okay. He did not fret for what had happened, and was simply happy to have survived the ordeal. After cooling off Caleb crept back into his room and slept fruitfully through the night. ____________________________________________________

The next couple of days Caleb found the extent of the vines influence over his body.

He was able to work on a field with his father and did not sweat or feel tired at all after. He pulled one of the carts himself after finding it no lighter than pulling on a branch. Caleb had found himself trying to be more careful around the doors and chairs in the household. His grip could crush the wood, and he had accidently broken the door of his room off its hinges while opening it one morning. He was scolded by his parents, who could not find themselves to understand how he had come across the increase of strength since his time unconscious.

Caleb simply smiled anytime he did something out of the ordinary. He was not a simple farmer anymore, and with his new strength he could ensure his families prosperity, as well as the towns.

Caleb accompanied his father on a trip to Lehrin. They were selling one of their horses and some tools they found were no longer needed after Caleb's abilities made them useless. Caleb was excited to show off his new abilities to his friends in town, and he was hoping the distributor would be there as well.

Once in town, his father ushered him away to sell the tools while he took the horse to the stable master for trade. Caleb attempted to find his friends after selling the tools, but Tammy the shopkeeper let him know they hadn't been in town for awhile. Working their own land nearby. It disheartened Caleb, but he knew he'd get to see them in due time.

On his way back to find his father, Caleb finally saw the man he was looking for. The distributor was talking to the blacksmith in front of his shop. They were arguing, and the distributor, a portly man who held a clip board, was getting in his face and pointing to something on the clipboard. Caleb hurried over to the scene.

The blacksmith held a finger up to the distributor and was pointing at him angrily. The distributor slapped the blacksmith with the back of his hand and spat at him. Caleb couldn't control himself. He ran up to the distributor and pushed him down. The distributor fell backwards with more force than Caleb had intended. Caleb stood over the man, he raised his and and his right arm formed into a spike of flesh. Caleb drove the spike into the gut of the distributor. He stabbed the man multiple times, screaming curses at the man.

People gathered and stood in shock. Kids began to cry and men started to usher their families away from the scene. Calebs father ran up to him and grabbed his shoulders. Caleb wasn't in control anymore. His eyes glowed a fierce red and his body was starting to ripple and grow. He roared at his fathers touch and brought the spike of flesh into his body.

Caleb could see tears around his fathers eyes. It meant nothing. Flesh burst forth from Calebs body as spiked tendrils lashed out finding surrounding people to stab and cut through. Caleb screamed in anger and was being pushed up from the ground.

The people of the village ran, they hid, some attempted to take arms and fight the monstrous tendrils that attacked them but it was futile. Calebs legs had fused into a pillar that raised him higher and higher into the air until he towered over the surrounding buildings. His body pulsed red. His skin began to turn a dark brackish black. He cried out one last time, a sudden clarity overcoming him.

A blast reverberated through the town. It lay waste to all of the buildings and its inhabitants. The ground was black as if a fire had run through it, and nothing but ruins lay in its way. ____________________________________________________

Far way. In a high tower within the Northern Mountains, a Wizard stroked his long white beard and closed the book on his desk.