Death's Deal

Death's Deal

Caleb Strickland

Once upon a time, in a land far north of the edges of the map, lay a magnificent kingdom, stretching as far as the eye could see. The people here were known for their skill and craftsmanship, and all things they made would outshine even the greatest of works we know now.

This kingdom was in turmoil, as their harvests were met with nothing but a few scraps of wheat. As the winters grew harsher and harsher the King of this land called forth his Advisor and requested him to ask every man in the kingdom for a solution to this issue.

The Advisor did as he was tasked and went across the sprawling plains of the realm, asking each man, woman and child for answers, yet he was met with none until he entered the dirty, grimy, small town of Giantsmouth neighboring a nearby mountain range. There he came across a worn down, old man working away at a spindle outside his hut in the far reaches of this community.

As the Advisor approached the old man he could smell a mixture of smoke and sulfur enter his nose giving a short shock throughout his body as he spoke in an authoritative tone, “Hello there, I am the King’s advisor and I am looking across the lands far and wide for answers to the recent problems that have plagued us, would you have one that might be of use?”

The old man turned around and looked The Advisor in the eyes with a cold dead stare as he pointed towards the nearby mountain and in a quiet voice said, “I couldn’t tell you how to deal with that but I know he could.”

And with that he went back to work on the spindle as The Advisor noticed it didn’t have any silk in it. When the Advisor questioned this, the man did not answer.

The Advisor, realizing his questioning was pointless, began marching towards the mountain. He could immediately feel chills up his body as he approached the base, almost as if the cold hands of death had momentarily touched him. Nonetheless he kept going, he needed to find an answer. He would be hailed as a hero after all and finally get the recognition he deserved.

As he reached the beginning of the long climb towards the summit, he could almost hear a whisper enter his ear saying, “Come the foolish, the desperate and the wise, all meet the same fate" in a playful resonance.

This obviously put The Advisor on the edge but he began climbing even so, as the statues he imagined they would erect of him became clearer in his mind.

As The Advisor reached the summit, he called out for all to hear, “Is anyone there? The king is in need of your assistance!”

As he finished his statement The Advisor felt a hand grasp his shoulder. As he turned around he saw a hooded, shadowy figure as it waved back and forth in the wind almost as if it were liquid, a thick stench of sulfur present around it’s chilling aura.

The Advisor jumped in fright but recovered himself and timidly asked, “Are you the man who can solve the kingdom’s issues?”

The figure quickly chuckled as if it heard that question a million times before. He approached the advisor and began analyzing the pale, weak man.

“Why of course!” said the figure in a confident tone “It’s my specialty! Many men have come here for my assistance and I always give them what they need. What torments your kingdom, as to come to me?"

“Our harvests have suffered over the years," explained The Advisor still wary of the figure “Whispers of revolting have become increasingly more common throughout the streets and we need action now.”

“That’s quite the problem," said the figure in an empathetic tone “I can help you, come next harvest, you will be blessed with more food then 10 generations could eat! But I require something in return for this heavy favor.”

“Of course!” said the Advisor hopefully, having let his guard down at this point of his own greed for popularity “The king can give you anything, money, land, power. Anything anyone could dream of!”

“I would like you to figure out my secret," said the figure in a mischievous tone. “It wouldn't be that hard. It’s quite well known. You only one chance to figure it out, if you can’t then I will take another form of payment. One much more taxing on yourself”

The Advisor was shocked by this proposition, however he was confident in his own ability. No man had ever bested him in a game. This would be child’s play with a man with as many resources as he.

“It’s a deal!” he said in a overconfident loud voice.

“I’ll give you a hint," said the figure in a cocky tone. “I’m a weaver but do not use silk for my spindle, I’m a tree with no branches to make leaves, I’m a smith with no iron to make swords”

The Advisor began to ponder this question before he could feel himself be grasped by hands around him and his vision closed. As he opened his eyes, he was not met with a mountain but the town Giantsmouth, as if he had just entered the town. The Advisor went back to the old man who had told him of the figure and he was still working away at the same spindle.

“Hello there again, I have done as you asked and I need help with a deal I made with whatever’s up there,” The Advisor said in a slightly scared, authoritative voice.

The old man turned around and just laughed at the Advisor and said to him, “Everyone falls to his charm don’t they? I’ll give you some advice because I pity you. The giants in the clouds know his secret. I’ll give you these beans, they’ll help you reach them. Once you’re at the top, say that you have sold your soul. They’ll give you the secret then.”

The Advisor had a puzzled look upon his face but took the old man’s advice and accepted the man’s offering of beans. However a smell of sulfur even stronger than before filled his nose. And as The Advisor blinked in shock, the old man was no longer there, neither was his hut or the spindle he was so desperately working on.

The Advisor soon traveled back to the king he served and told him of the figure but not of the deal he had made because he was desperate for the rewards he would receive. The King was overjoyed at the news and married him to his daughter out of gratitude. He even set up the statues The Advisor had dreamed of.

However, The Advisor was not able to sleep the following two nights as he could feel cold hands desperately clawing at him as he heard whispers saying, “Come the foolish, the desperate and the wise, all meet the same fate" echoing around him.

In the waking hours The Advisor desperately tried to figure out how to use the beans to discover the secret but could not. In frustration he threw the beans out of his bedroom window and lost them. The Advisor entered a state of pure panic and hysteria, not leaving his room for the following day. When he woke up, he was met with a giant beanstalk in front of his window where he threw the beans. The Advisor in pure ecstasy climbed the beanstalk and beheld a small town of giants. Their architecture was quite old and worn down but that did not concern the advisor as he approached the center where a fountain depicting the same figure The Advisor had made the deal with.

“Hello the citizens of this humble town,” The Advisor cried out. “I have sold my soul and seek the answer to earn it back.”

The giants turned their heads to the man and stared at him. Eventually the largest one, who bore resemblance to a mighty tree, with thick and bumpy skin like bark, approached the Advisor and said in a deep booming voice, “To earn that answer, you need to prove you can outsmart the man who took that soul.”

The Advisor scoffed at the proposition. He was the smartest person of all the lands, nobody could outsmart him.

“How can I prove this to you,” he said in a challenging tone.

“Answer this riddle, if you believe you are so smart," said the giant in a demeaning voice. “What can you hold in your left hand, but never in your right hand.”

The Advisor pondered for a great while before coming to an epiphany.

“Your right hand!” he said in a satisfactory resonance. “You can’t hold your own right hand, can you?”

The giant gazed at The Advisor for what felt like an eternity when suddenly his facial expression changed to that of interest and leaned in close as the stench of sulfur filled the air.

“His secret is that he is fate, father of destiny," The giant said in a rumbling whisper.

Once he was finished, The Advisor’s eyes were forced shut by invisible hands and when he opened them, he awoke in his bedroom with no beanstalk outside but the beans were still on his desk, as if he never met the mighty giants.

With the figure’s secret now in hand, the Advisor ran into the streets with glee at his wits, being able to outsmart death himself. However as he ran, he could smell sulfur overcome him. When he turned his head in disgust he could see a smith ushering him inside. In his narcissism he didn’t even notice the man had a skeletal hand. As The Advisor drew closer to the man he was knocked out by the sulfur growing even stronger.

The man woke up his eyes were introduced to a new landscape, one made of rocks and old bones. A pitch, black, empty void took the place of the sky as hands grasped at The Advisor. In shock The Advisor attempted to run but was unable to as if strings held him in place. There before him was the figure he had seen before, radiating an even more chilling aura, one that froze his bones in place.

“You seem pretty confident you have discovered my secret, have you not?” The Figure said in an amused voice.

“I have, quite easy as well," said The Advisor in smug tone.

“I underestimated your investigative skills, your intellect is truly one to behold," The Figure said in a mocking way.

“You better believe it, The King has erected statues of my grandeur!” said The Advisor, so self-delusional he had not figured out The Figure was mocking him.

“What is my secret then?” said The Figure, anticipating the answer.

“You’re Fate, Father of destiny," said The Advisor, not even thinking about what he had just said. He was so confident in that answer he did not see any of the red herrings before him.

“You seem quite confident in that," said The Figure in a demeaning tone. “However doesn’t Fate use silk to thread your destiny or use branches to guide leaves?”

The Advisor froze at this statement, he was so caught up with his discovery the hint never came to his mind.

“You have to be more trusting with information like that," said The Figure, suddenly morphing his form into the old man and then the giant as the sea turns into waves. “I am known to reek of sulfur once I fully engross my victims. I thought a genius of investigation such yourself might figure that out. However, I must have thought wrong.”

The Advisor’s mind raced as he pieced together his identity through his hints and his appearance.

He looked into The Figure’s hood which revealed not even the slightest bit of light and lightly, with fear building, he said, “You're Death.”

“Yes, I am," said Death, eagerly waiting to see what was going to happen to the arrogant man before him. “However you’re quite late in figuring that out and like I said ‘You only have one chance!’ Now you have to pay the debt.”

“Please, I'm sorry! I was too full of myself and I realize that now! Please don’t kill me!” said The Advisor desperately pleading for his life.

“Kill you?” said Death in an amused tone “No, you have a lot of use for me and killing you would just waste that. Besides, I'm not that barbaric. I need you to be my connection to the outside world. First we can start with the beans. There’s a giant getting in my way that needs to be taken care of. Would you mind helping with that.”

Death revealed his scythe hidden beneath his cloak as he finished, almost taunting The Advisor.

“Of course! Thank you so much!” said The Advisor, grateful for his life being spared.

“Trust me, this is way worse," Death said in a menacing tone as The Advisor’s eyes shut tightly closed and he arrived at his bedroom, beans on his desk. The Advisor rushed out of his bedroom with beans in hand and ran out into the countryside, looking to appease his new found master.

Soon he arrived in a bustling market fair where scammers ran free and merchant men found riches. There he met a young, naive boy who had a cow with him. The boy looked around the market for someone to buy his cow when The Advisor asked him and offered his beans. The boy accepted and ran off with his riches.

The Advisor, pleased with his plan to kill the giant, returned to the land of rock and bone within his next blink. And there he still remains, looking to appease favor after favor from death, always cursed by his arrogance to never be free again.