Sally sat on the bed in her chambers. She could hear the sounds of the lightning strikes from outside of her husband which she had grown accustomed to all these years. Her stomach pained from when her she had been kicked. No, she hurt everywhere. Her life had been nothing but pain and sorrow ever since she and her sister had been snatched away from her father. She knew Lord Samson's other ten wives also felt the same way. Wife, she thought. That was a term meant to give woman respect. It was meant to raise her level in society. And yet, she was tortured and raped by her husband whenever he wished it. She was not a wife, she was a slave. She was a slave like all the other discriminated black slaves that were inside the castle.
The lightning strikes had stopped now. Oh great, another victim falls to Samson. Why did people even bother killing him? He could not die. Her sister's lover tried to save her too by killing the respawner. He had died and Lord Samson had presented his head to her sister at the dinner table much to their horror.
She sighed. She wished she could kill herself but she knew her father had probably not killed himself too because his daughters were all he had. She lived in the hope that she may return to him just like he hoped his daughters would return to him.
Sally knew she was pregnant again. She had not had her period for almost a month. Tears formed in her eyes. She had gotten pregnant twice before and twice they had been miscarriages. That was probably the reason why her husband hated her more than the others. What was the point of having her as a wife if she could not even give him children? This child is probably going to die too, she thought with tears streaming down her eyes. She was crying thinking about the way Samson had kicked her in the stomach. She had gone to his study to inform him about the pregnancy and he had not even listened to her. She could not bear to have another miscarriage. Her sister had already given birth to two healthy children who she dearly loved but made her envy her. She is worth something at least.
Her only support in the castle was Marvin, one of the black servants who served inside Lord Samson's castle. They had known each other since childhood and had grown to be good friends as they had grown up together before the respawners had appeared in the world. They had helped each other within the castles in moments of difficulty. He would sneak inside her room to support her in emotional moments. Often times, he had been there to comfort her and tend to her wounds after having a bad experience with her husband such as being flogged or raped by him. She would do the same with him and eventually, they had grown close and fallen in love with each other.
There had been plenty of moments where he had made up his mind to kill Lord Samson after she had been treated unjustly by her husband.
I will kill him tonight, she remembered him saying once upon a time with a sharp kitchen knife in his hand. I have seen enough. I cannot bear to see you in this condition. You do not deserve this.
Please, Marvin. He cannot die. It would be pointless.
No, I must try. I must try at the very least. I would rather die than seeing you tortured like this.
No, Marvin. I would not be able to handle it if you die. Please, darling, you must be patient. These times will pass. We will be together someday.
For how long shall I endure seeing you like this? It is cowardly for me to not take any action.
No, Marvin. You are brave, you are very brave. Please, do not attempt to kill him. Please.
She had managed to keep Marvin at bay. But for how long? One day he would snap and attempt to kill her husband. He would come back to life with the lightning strike and kill Marvin and probably present her his head just like he had done with this sister. No, she would not be able to handle it.
Even if somehow Lord Samson did die and she would somehow end up with Marvin, what use would she be to him? How would she even bear any children for him? Marvin had told her plenty of times that he did not care but she knew on the inside that he would want to have children. Aren't children the proof of a happy marriage? That made her cry even more. She was useless.
Footsteps. They seemed to be quick. Oh, please not Lord Samson again. Had he not already taken out all his anger on her? She quickly wiped her eyes and made herself presentable. A quick series of knocks sounded on the door and she heard Marvin's eager voice. Strange. Marvin had never come to her room at this time of the day. It was impossible to visit her without being seen before night. What was he thinking?
"Sally! Sally! Let me in, I have great news," she heard him say.
She opened the door and quickly let him in. She looked out into the corridor to see if anyone had seen him come here.
"What are you doing here Marvin at this time of the day?" she scolded. "Lord Samson will have our head if he sees us. I'm sure someone already heard you shouting like that. What is the matter?"
"No, he won't," said Marvin with a gleeful smile. "Lord Samson has fallen. He's dead! He's dead!"
"What? How is that even possible?"
"He's dead and I've seen the body with my own eyes. The fellow he was hunting in the arena managed to escape it and kill him. He's also killed hordes of the guards of which the rest have already run away."
"But has he not come to life?" Sally said in shock. It was impossible for her to believe that her husband had died.
"He has not for almost half an hour. He is dead, Sally. I have seen it with my own eyes. Come, I have already prepared the steeds for our journey home. Your father will be awaiting your arrival."
"What about my sister?" Sally asked. Lord Samson dead. The words swirled around in her mind. How could it be?
"She is already at the stables with her children. Come, Sally, we must not waste any more time."
"What of the person who killed Lord Samson?" Sally could not believe she was actually saying the sentence.
"He is gravely injured and is already being tended do by some of the other servants."
Lord Samson dead. No, she had to see it for herself to believe it. She did not want to feel the happiness that was struggling to burst out of her heart but was too afraid to.
"Show me his body," said Sally in a stone-cold tone that scared Marvin. "I will not leave until I have seen his corpse."
"But, Sally…"
"No, Marvin. Show me the body."
"But it is a bloodbath out there. It is not something your eyes should see."
"I do not care, Marvin. I want to see his body. Then I will be yours but only after."
Marvin hesitated. He did not want her to see the gory mess that the corridors were but he knew how persistent Sally was. "Very well," Marvin said reluctantly. "But it is a sight that will make you sick."
"I'm ready."
Marvin led her through the corridors towards Samson's study. Sally braced herself for what she was about to see. I've seen the torture that Samson has afflicted to others. I've seen him kill servants for disobeying him. I've bled plenty of times because of him. I should be able to handle it just fine. And yet she screamed in horror when she arrived at the scene.
Red.
Everything was red.
It was as if the castle corridors had merged with the corridors of hell itself. There were dead bodies strewn around with most of them chopped up and their guts were decorated all around the bloodied silk drapes and portraits. The looks of wide-eyed horror on the faces of the fallen mercenaries shook Sally to her core.
Sally instantly hugged Marvin and dug her face into his body. Marvin was also disgusted by what he was seeing. "See, I warned you. Let's get going. The steeds are-"
"No." answered Sally steeling herself but still holding on to Marvin. "Take me there. I want to see his body."
"But-"
"Take me there."
Marvin sighed. He could not understand why she was so persistent in looking at her husband's dead body. But he had done vile things to her and treated her worse than all the servants in the castle. It must take all the hate in the world to want to see the corpse of your husband.
Marvin led her through the corridors as they side-stepped the corpses and walked on the moist floor. Sally had never seen so much blood in her life. Only a monster would be capable of doing all this, she thought. Then she thought about all the blood that her husband had spilled. Only a monster could down a monster like Samson.
They arrived at the Lord Samson's study and Sally peeked inside. There were two servants tending to a peculiar man's injuries. He had a mechanized right arm and he was arguing fiercely with someone though he did not seem to be looking at the servants. She could see their confused expression mirroring hers.
"It was not unnecessary!" Crazy Terry was yelling. "You don't know shit about combat."
"I have done plenty of research on combat," replied Professor Terry calmly. "You could have ended their lives in a more peaceful manner. You did not even need to spill a drop of blood."
"Stuff it!" yelled Crazy Terry. "Just because you read that in books does not mean it applies in real life. You think the guy who wrote that research would be writing fucking books if he knew how to fight?"
"I'm sure he collected that data from observation rather than knowing how to fight himself."
"Blah blah blah. Just keep to what you know, mister smarty-pants," said Crazy Terry then noticing the people at the doorway. "What are you guys looking at?"
Sally noticed Lord Samson's body lying near the fireplace. His eyes were wide open with a look of fear that she would never have imagined seeing on him.
"See, I told you," said Marvin. "He's dead."
Sally moved closer to the body. She expected him to come back to life at that moment. To laugh in her face and tell her how stupid she was to believe her husband was dead. Then he would torture her and rape her for not being a loving wife to him, for wishing he was dead. But nothing happened. The look of horror stayed on his face.
"No, how is that even possible?"
"Lady, he's dead. He's fucking dead," said Crazy Terry. He got up to his face ignoring the servants' protests. He walked up to the corpse and grabbed the dead respawner by the neck.
"See, he's dead," he said moving the head. He then used his other hand to move his lips and pretended the corpse was a ventriloquist dummy. "I'm dead. I'm fucking dead. I'm not coming back to life. I'm just an ancient piece of shit who thinks he looks handsome with that fucking haircut and sideburns. I'm dead, honey, so you can please stop it with that fake stupid accent I've forced on you."
A smile broke on Sally's face.
The respawner was dead. He was actually dead. She had not felt that relief ever since Lord Samson had snatched her away from her father at the tender age of twelve. She had had no idea what was going on and feared her new husband ever since he had forcefully taken away her innocence. She had been a pretty girl and you could still see her beauty beyond the cuts, bruises and dark circles. Her face had grown dim from the brutal life she had been subjected too and yet it lit up in that moment when she saw him dead.
"You want more proof?" asked Crazy Terry. He drew the blade out his right arm and chopped off the respawner's head in one clean move. "See. Look at that. He's dead. You want this as a souvenir? Be my guest." He threw the head to the ground.
"That was really quite unnecessary," commented Professor Terry.
"I swear if I hear another word from you I'll fucking kill you like I killed him."
"But that would kill you as well…"
"Stuff it! Just fucking stuff it!"
The servants reluctantly got back to patching up Crazy Terry who grumbled on with his counterpart. Sally looked down at the fallen respawner's dead. Tears of relief were flowing down her eyes. He's dead! Lord Samson is dead! She felt like a curse had been lifted from her. She understood now how a caged bird felt like and how happy it must feel to finally be free to roam the outside world.
She turned around and smiled at Marvin. She ran up to him and embraced him. They kissed passionately as Samson's lifeless beheaded face looked up towards them with the frozen look of shock.
"Get a room you two," said Crazy Terry with a sigh. "And could someone please get me some food? I'm sure this rich bastard's got plenty of great food stocked up in his kitchen. I'm hungry."
Farmer Carrol sat on the dusty sofa which was dusty just like the whole house. It had been a while since he had bothered to clean it. What was the point? He would ask himself. He had nothing left. His farmlands were not providing enough for him and pretty soon the mercenaries would drag him to the castle and have him die in the arena.
It would be worth it if he could see his daughters one last time. Even a glimpse, even for a second. That would mean the world to him, to watch his daughters one last time. Even if he had to die for it.
He walked up to the window and looked in the direction of the castle in the distance. He had seen the red lightning strikes just an hour ago and had wondered what victim had fallen to Lord Samson. Were his daughters even still alive?
He turned towards the village which was a very drab and gloomy place and the atmosphere seemed to resonate inside it's inhabitants' souls as well. They had had to live in constant fear of the respawner knowing that one of them would end up being his prey and hunted down in the maze or the forests that surrounded the village for his amusement. They had lived in prosperity before the respawner's tyranny over them who had taken control over their resources and used it for his own good. He had used it to hire mercenaries, obtain exotic and endangered animal breeds so that he could hunt them down in his forests, and on decorating the castle while the people lived in harsh conditions.
Life had been cruel to the farmers for the last few years with plant growth being sparse due to environmental conditions. As a result, Farmer Carrol, just like the whole village, lived in acute poverty which could be seen in their shabby and weakened figures.
The farmer could hear a huge uproar in the direction of the courtyard. He wondered what the whole commotion was and made his way outside towards it.
A large number of people had gathered there and he craned his neck upwards when he reached to see what was going on. People were cheering and laughing amongst confused looks of which Farmer Carrol consisted. He spotted another farmer named Johnston with his wife who was one of his closest friend. He had often visited Carrol in the past with his son Marvin but had gotten depressed just like him because of his son being forced to work as a slave in the castle. But on this occasion, he looked joyful.
"Hey, Johnston," he said among the uproar. "What's all this ruckus about?"
"Didn't you hear?" he said and Carrol noticed that his wife was crying with joy. "Lord Samson has fallen."
"You're pulling my leg. How is that even possible?"
"I don't believe it either but look at the people that have arrived from the castle," he said pointing at the end of the stretching crowd. "Our children will be on their way too. I hope."
"What?" Carrol said and hurriedly made his way forward. He shoved away at the people in front of him with a look of shock on his face. Disbelief and happiness fought within his mind. The respawner dead? His daughters freed? He could finally see Sally and Molly again. It was too good to be true and yet, yes, there she was. He saw Molly with two children, one in her lap and the other holding on to her from behind, on a brown steed. She had been only a teenager when he had last seen her and yet it hadn't taken him a second to recognize the woman she had become. There were others arriving on horses too and embracing their loved ones who spotted them from the crowd. As he got closer, she spotted him too and he rushed forwards towards her. Molly carefully unmounted her children off the horse and hugged her father. How long had it been? He thought. Over a decade? He couldn't even remember.
Molly looked behind her father as she hugged him. Where was her mother? She asked her father the question who looked down and shook his head. Dread filled her heart now. She shouldn't have been surprised. Things were pretty bad in the village and a lot of people would die.
But Molly did not know that her mother had killed herself, that living without her children had taken too much toll on her. Their kidnapping had ruined the couple's marriage causing arguments and rifts between them. One day, he had entered their bedroom to find her limp body hanging off a noose. Ever since that day, he had thought of joining her.
Father Carrol looked at the children with Molly. "Who are these?"
"These are your grandchildren," he said with a half-hearted smile. She had no idea how her father would react knowing that the respawner was the father of his grandchildren. But to her surprise a wide smile formed on his face and he crouched down in front of them. They quickly moved away behind their mother.
"They're pretty shy. Reminds me of your sister," He then looked among the returning people from the castle. "Where is she? Is she-?"
"No, father, she is alive and well. Marvin had gone to fetch her from her chambers. They should be arriving shortly," she said turning around.
As if on cue, she spotted them arriving from the distance. As she got closer, Molly noticed that there was a sack in her hand. The horse stopped in front of the crowd and Marvin said in his booming voice.
"Lord Samson has fallen," he announced and the crowd cheered. "And for anyone who does not believe us."
He turned towards Sally who threw the sack she had in her hand to the ground. The sack rolled on to the ground and Lord Samson's head rolled out of it. The crowd cheered again and the villagers grabbed the head and threw it around in ecstasy. It was as if everyone had to see it and believe it for themselves.
The villagers awaited the arrival of legendary warrior who had bested Lord Samson but Sally and Marvin knew he would not come. They had tried to convince him to join their celebrations at the village but he had refused saying that his work was not complete yet. She spotted her father in the crowd and then turned to Marvin with a smile.
She was reunited with her father and was finally free to be with her lover.
What more could she ask for?
After chowing down everything he could in the castle's pantry, Crazy Terry limped his way to the shack even after the insistence of the servants to stay.
"I warned you that consuming too much would be a bad idea," criticized Professor Terry.
"Stuff it! We share the same brain. I know you loved the food," He said with a loud burp.
"But that is irrelevant-"
"Your opinions are irrevel… fuck, I can't even say half the fancy words you use."
He made his way the abandoned shack in the woods where he had been staying for the past few nights. His buggy was parked besides it and was piled with thick leaves and branches for camouflage. On entering inside, Professor Terry sat on the creaky chair in front of the dusty old table where thick files of his research were placed. He began to add further notes to his research when suddenly, Crazy Terry grabbed the papers and began to throw the papers in the air.
"Hey, what's the matter with you?" protested Professor Terry.
"We did it! We did it! We freaking killed a respawner!" screamed Crazy Terry. He ignored Professor Terry who fought back to get control of the body.
"Yes, so why are you messing with my research?"
"We did it, Martha!" yelled Crazy Terry still throwing papers and ignoring the professor. "We did it Zack! We did it Mandy!"
Professor Terry stopped fighting back. He was stunned.
Crazy Terry hadn't mentioned their dead wife and children even since he had come to life and the professor had developed the disorder.
"You have never said their name," remarked Professor Terry. "I thought you didn't even know them. I thought I made you to forget them."
"No, you made me because you're a wimp. I never forgot them," Crazy Terry said. "And now because we can avenge them, I'm not afraid to mention them."
"We'll get the respawners," said Professor Terry. "For them."
"For them," Crazy Terry repeated then proceeded to throw more papers in the air.
"For God's sake, please stop that!"