Mad Shadows by Joe Bonadonna

Author:Joe Bonadonna [Bonadonna, Joe]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: weird tales, sword sorcery, weird fiction, grimdark, dark fantasy
Publisher: Pulp Hero Press
Published: 2019-12-22T22:00:00+00:00

2

The next few days passed slowly, pleasantly. Cerisa had to work at the dressmaker’s shop and Tareena attended school. Praxus and I kept ourselves busy strolling about the village, visiting old friends and old haunts, and watching young minotaurs and satyrs wrestle and spar. At night, the four of us enjoyed Glorell’s cooking, and we spent time together as any normal family would. But day or night, whenever we were in the village square, we didn’t see Kribble’s little puppet theater in its usual spot across from the fountain. In fact, no one had seen the puppeteer for a number of days.

It was during this time that we heard of a strange malady that had stricken a number of children in the village. Four boys had come down with something that affected them like marsh fever. They weren’t feverish, however, but their breathing and heartbeats were slow and weak. They couldn’t be wakened, either; they were comatose. The only physician in Amalin was doing all he could, making sure the children were kept warm and comfortable. He told their parents to use sponges or anything else to help get water and broth into them.

Though it seems odd to me now that, within four days, four children had fallen ill, I thought nothing of it at the time. Illness is a part of life. Colds, fevers and all forms of disease are bound to spread. Sooner or later, children do get sick.

On the afternoon of our sixth day in Amalin, Praxus and I met Cerisa for a midday meal at the Smoking Dragon, a modest inn near the coast. While he and I were naturally concerned about Tareena, we tried to keep up a brave face for Cerisa’s sake. She had decided to keep Tareena home from school and in Glorell’s care, until this malady had run its course. We could see how worried Cerisa was for her daughter, as she hadn’t been eating much in the last day or two.

Now she sat across from me, scraping at her food like a preoccupied sculptor, steering it into various shapes on her plate. None of it found its way to her belly.

“You’ve got to be eating something, lass,” Praxus said to her. “It’s your own health you must be looking after, too.”

“I know, I know,” she said. She hadn’t slept well, either. The dark circles under her eyes betrayed her. “But I’m not letting Tareena out of the house until the doctor knows how to treat this fever, or whatever it is.”

“Don’t let her play with any of her friends, either,” I said. “This might be something only children come down with. So far, no adults have taken ill.”

Just then, a young couple came down the stairs from the upper floor, where the rooms were located. They took a table in a far corner, and I saw that the woman was crying. The man with her—I assumed her husband—looked like he’d been shedding a few tears himself.

“Haven’t we seen that couple before?” Praxus asked me.

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