Crimson Hand Origin

Rain fell from the sky, beating the ground like fingers tapping on a drum. Samantha and Rumford Gould had left Mist Harbor but the rain followed them. “No one enjoys our company as much as the rain” Rumford joked.

A chilled breeze blew through and rustled their cloaks. Samantha wore her cloak with her hood up and her black leather gloves. She wore a sleeveless tunic and black pants. She wasn’t bothered by the chill in the air but had to keep her appearance and her hand covered at all times. Rumford looked like he was preparing for a blizzard with all of his layers of clothes. He wore enough clothes to cover any trace of bone or hint of green glow from the flame in his chest. The only spots visible were his eyes and the skin around the eyes. Rumford didn’t feel hot or cold, he didn’t get tired or need to eat or drink, so he carried all the extra clothes, watched over Samantha when she slept and remained covered as often as possible.

The two approached the Autumn Forest, the forest of autumn colors, honey, apples and maple. The air was always cooler there but it never snowed. Leaves fell from the trees and blew in the breeze but the trees were never bare. The Autumn Forest was a beautiful sight for most but not for Samantha.

Samantha was born in the small village of Honeydew, her life was quiet, peaceful and boring. Every day was greeted with beautiful fall colors and a cool breeze to temper the midday sun.

            When Samantha turned nineteen, she decided to leave her village in search of adventure. Her journey started on a clear and sunny day when the sky was a bright blue and the air was crisp. She was a spunky youth with a sharp tongue, a warming smile and plans for adventure. She knew how to plant and harvest crops and orchards, she could chop wood, hunt and ride horses. Samantha was prepared for the long road ahead and understood that life wouldn’t always be fair or kind outside of her village.

            The sunlight danced through the swaying leave of the forest and speckled the ground in golden rays. Samantha’s horse trotted along the well-treaded path from the Autumn Forest to Bright Harbor. Samantha spotted a dark haired traveler on the path. He had olive skin, black hair, brown eyes and wore layers of robes. Samantha rode up next to the man as he walked along the dirt road, his robes kicking up dust as he went. “I rarely see travelers on these roads” Samantha called to the man. The robed man flinched in surprise as he turned quickly. “H-hello. Yes, I’m traveling” The man said nervously. Samantha gave a suspicious look at the nervous man. “Is everything alright?” Samantha asked as she slowed down. The man’s face started to relax “Yes, thank you. I just need to get to Hallows End before the Halloween festival is over.

            “You are going the wrong way for that. If you want, I can take you” Samantha said. She planned on going to Bright Harbor but a spooky town of monsters all celebrating at once could be fun as well. “My name is Samantha, whats your name?” Samantha asked as she helped the man onto the horse. “Rumford” Replied the man with a big smile.

            Hallows End was a town deep in the Haunted Forest, a forest so dangerous that no one had ever returned from the forest once they entered it. Once a year the forest would magically open into a straight path leading to Hallows End. The bravest residence of the Autumn Forest and some tourists would go to Hallows End every year to celebrate Halloween. While the Haunted Forest was extremely dangerous, the town of Hallows End was one of the safest places in the world. Large monsters kept the peace and the town was founded on peace with all who enter as friends.

            Samantha knew where the path would open and knew when it would open. She road her horse to the entrance of the Haunted forest on the night before Halloween. The two arrived at the edge of the forest and set up a small camp. There was a visible line where the curse of the Haunted forest ended and the start of the healthy Autumn Forest began. there was no noticeable entrance of any kind but Rumford was an outsider and had to trust Samantha knew what she was doing.

            Rumford was slow to open up, he huddled into his robes like a turtle in his shell but as the night went on he loosened up. Samantha turned on her charms, she was witty and sarcastic and this connected with Rumford’s dry sense of humor and love of sarcasm. The difference was Samantha seemed fearless and Rumford was more timid.

            The cool night air blew through the Autumn Forest and swept over Samantha’s camp. The wind made the flames dance. The fire danced to the song of the wind, spreading light and heat out into the cold dark night, the flames spat little embers up into the air like a dancer throwing confetti. The embers popped and sizzled before burning out and drifting down to the earth as harmless ash. Rumford shyly laughed and smiled as Samantha told stories about the Autumn Forest and her small adventures she had so far. Rumford couldn’t take his eyes off the red haired woman from the Autumn forest. He stared at her pale face through the crackling flames, her green eyes were fierce and pushed back the darkness of night just as much as the roaring flames did. He saw a heroic woman who just started her journey, a conqueror of lands and a force to be reckoned with.

            Samantha tried her best to tell her boring stories to pass the time, she looked at her new traveling companion and realized that there was a cute and funny guy hidden in that pile of hair and robes. Samantha didn’t think her stories were very interesting but Rumford hung on her every word. Stories of scaring bears away from the fish she just caught, or shooting an arrow at a bandit who tried to run off with and old ladies money. These weren’t big battles between wizards and demons but a shut in like Rumford was enthralled.

            “So enough about my stories, what about you?” Samantha asked, as the light from the campfire glinted in her eyes.  “I study monsters, supernatural events and magic. I wanted to study Hallows end for the longest time but had to wait till the right time when the path opened. I also had to wait till the head scholar approved of my journey” Rumford explained. “So…” Samantha muttered but trailed off as she chose her next words. “what you are saying is, while everyone is partying on Halloween you are using it as a chance to study?” Samantha asked with a sly smile. “Yes” Rumford replied innocently. “NERD!” Samantha shouted then burst into laughter. She playfully threw her pillow at him and continued to laugh. This kind of remark would usually annoy Rumford but somehow when the words came from Samantha he didn’t mind at all. He smiled and felt embarrassed but also happy that something he did made her laugh.

            The two met on that day, the night before Halloween, one hundred years ago. Present day, Samantha and Rumford Gould, husband and wife, Crimson hand and Ghoulish bodyguard, road to the entrance of the Haunted forest. Rumford turned to his wife as the approached “Remember when we first met? All I wanted to do was study monsters” Rumford joked. “NERD!” Samantha shouted with a big smile then punched Rumford’s arm. She heard the sound of his shoulder bone crack as the joint popped out of place. The air went dead and the two were silent. “Its fine, I’ll fix it later. Ya know, I used to love monsters and now I AM one” Rumford tried to joke. Samantha winced and looked like she was going to cry. “You will never be a monster to me” Samantha said, looking Rumford in the eyes. Rumford had a flash back to that first night they met. The dark of night, the cold wind, Samantha’s pale beautiful face and her tender look, it was all just like that night, so much so that he could imagine the flames crackling and he could see the flaming glint in her eyes.

            “We will get revenge” Samantha said. Her whispered voice floated away like a hushed wind.

Mist Harbor

            Halloween was fast approaching, it was the day when people celebrated with costumes, tricks and treats. It was when the barrier between the world of the living and the dead was weakest and it was also the day when Samantha Gould’s husband, Rumford, was killed.

            Samantha ‘The Crimson Hand” walked briskly, her black, hard soled boots clacked against the cobblestone path. The sounds of her footsteps echoed through the alleyways of the dreary city of Mist Harbor. Fallen leaves gathered along the gutters and in alleys. There was little sound in the city that night except for footsteps, distant conversation, the sound of dried leaves being crunched underfoot and the scraping sound they made when the wind blew them across the stone walkways.

            Light rain drizzled over the city, trickling over anything that wasn’t covered by rooftops or tree branches. Mist harbor had several spots in the city spaced out for planting trees and while the population stagnated the tree growth boomed. Tall trees dotted the city landscape, with leaves of bright orange and yellow. With each breeze the branches would shake loose a few warm colored leaves. The leaves danced as they drifted slowly to the ground. Clusters of leaves floated through the air like autumn snow, while the gentle rain pattered the ground. The citizens of Mist Harbor missed the delicate balance of earth, wind, and water, as most of them were indoors getting warm or asleep.

            Samantha wore a long black cloak with her hood up, black leather gloves, a deep red shirt and black pants. Her green eyes shone brightly through the darkness in a supernatural way. She walked with purpose through the run down alleys but with every step forward a stranger took two steps towards her. The stranger moved quickly with menacing intentions. The dark and foggy back streets of the city were the perfect place for criminal activity and anyone could lose their life if they weren’t careful.

            Soon the stranger was right behind Samantha when he drew a dagger. He stabbed his dagger forward but his hand stopped an inch from her back. A glowing green eye peered behind the stranger. “You should be more careful with sharp edges” growled a menacing voice from the shadows. The attacker screamed, followed by crunching sounds and blood spilling out into the gutters and drains. “You are getting slow” Samantha chided, continuing to walk without missing a step. “Sorry my love, I guess I am getting old” Replied the voice, this time the voice was soothing and sweet. 

            Samantha made her way to the docks just as a large cargo ship arrived. She stood there patiently and unflinching as cold wind blew in from the sea. The ship’s captain waved when he saw Samantha. The gruff old man smiled at her and she returned with a slow nod. The crew unloaded crates of pumpkins, ale, wheat and lumber as the captain met with Samantha. 

            “It wasn’t an easy find, but we found it” Said the captain of the cargo ship. “You don’t need to give me the hard sell, I know it is rare and I know you have it. So how much do you want for it?” Samantha asked impatiently. The captain smiled, the corner of his lips moving the hairs in his bushy beard. “Well I-“ The captain began to say but stopped. He looked behind Samantha and saw a figure standing just outside the docks, covered by the shadow of a building. The figure was medium height, dressed in a cloak and had glowing green eyes and a ghoulish face of half bone and half skin. The captain had to look twice to make sure he saw it correctly. The dark of night clouded the vision and when the captain looked again, the figure was gone. “I-I’ll take whatever you think is fair” Said the captain, who no longer wanted to stay in this port.

            “Captain, the men are requesting shore leave” Said the first mate of the ship. The captain turned to the first mate and with a pale face “Like HEL- I mean, no. We have a schedule to keep. Tell’em that we will stay at the next port and the first round is on me” Replied the captain.

            Samantha paid the captain what she thought was fair and received a large heavy pouch. The captain hurried off to his ship and as soon as the rest of the cargo was unloaded and paid for, he set sail for the next port. Samantha gave a devilish smile “You just enjoy scaring people, don’t you” She said to the air. “I get bored being just a shadow sometimes” Replied a voice, carried on the wind.

Samantha was usually reserved and quick to smirk or say something sarcastic but her lover’s words stabbed at her heart. Rumford was being playful but there was truth in his words. Samantha often claimed she didn’t have a heart and when people used to tell her that Rumford was too good for her, she would agree.

            Samantha was dwelling on the past as her hands opened the large pouch that the ship’s
captain gave her. Inside the pouch was a round, pumpkin shaped, stone. It was the size of  a babies head and about as heavy as a baby head made of solid stone. The stone had a Jack-O-lantern face on the front. This wasn’t any generic Jack-O-Lantern face, it was the twisted and pointed face of the Hallows End Jack O Lantern. In the town of Halloween and monsters was a Jack-O-Lantern that was larger than a horse. It looked like a pumpkin but never wilted and always had a flame burning brightly at its core. This small stone pumpkin was the key to the center of Hallows End.

            Samantha and Rumford Gould knew they would have to return to Hallows End one day and it was this Halloween when Samantha would finally deliver vengeance to the one who murdered Rumford.

Specter of the Forest

The forest was dark and thick with pine trees, each tree heavy with branches and pine needles. The blackness of night and the branches of the trees kept any light from entering the deep forest. Any creature that didn’t posses significant night vision would be left uselessly stumbling around in pitch black darkness of the inner forest. The moon was full and glowing brightly but only the birds that lived in the forest canopy could witness its beauty.

 

Something stirred deep in the forest, forest creatures scattered as it quickly moved through the dense woods. Despite the speed of the movement, the creature was making very little noise. The creature moved like a specter, as it would have to float and pass through solid trees to move so quickly and silently. The movement had direction and purpose. The creature was rushing to meet intruders who carelessly entered the forest uninvited. 

 

Loud stomping boots marched through the outer edge of the forest, moonbeams could still be seen through the trees and the woods were not so dense that a group of men could not march. These men were soldiers sent to find the specter of the woods, who they believed was a fugitive of the kingdom and not a ghost or spirit of any kind. The men marched deeper into the forest with their swords and armor. The soldiers carried attack dogs and metal spheres packed with gunpowder. These bombs would put the odds in their favor as many people and even kingdoms did not have access to gunpowder.

 

The forest grew darker as the soldiers traveled deeper into the woods. Since the soldiers didn’t have night vision they lit torches to light their way, this let them navigate the forest but it also made them stand out. Even one torch would be a great glowing beacon in such a dark forest, but ten men all carried torches and their presence was known to every living creature for miles.

 

            The captain of the soldiers stopped abruptly jolting all the men as they were also forced to stop. The captain, named Charles Godwyn, swung his torch around as he scanned the darkness for movement. A noise caught his attention but had escaped the notice of the other nine members of the group. The other soldiers looked in every direction to help the captain locate the noise. “It was probably a small animal or a bird” Said one of the soldiers. “It sounded like something took off from the ground, jumped or flew with such force that it disturbed the ground below it. So unless it was a giant owl or a jumping bear, then I think we are close to our fugitive” Explained the captain in a calm and quiet voice. “Are jumping bears real?” Asked one of the soldiers, sounding nervous. Charles smacked the soldier in the head and sighed “No, jumping bears aren’t real. Now focus. The fugitive must have a light source in order to travel at night” replied Charles the captain.

 

            Something rustled in the branches above the soldiers. Two of the soldiers in the back of the group fired an arrow up into the trees. The arrows both shot straight but only hit trees. The distinct noise of an arrow plunging into a tree made the captain sigh. The branches shook again but this time a small sack of powder was thrown to the ground from the tree tops.

 

The sack broke open on the floor and the powder turned to dust. The dust floated into the air and was pushed up higher and spread around as the soldiers tried to move away from it as quickly as they could. The movement and scuffling of feet from ten men forced the dust into the air and caused them to inhale some of it. The soldiers all stood and looked around. The powder didn’t explode or ignite, it appeared to be nothing more than a bag of dirt or sand. “Ten soldiers all distracted and surprised by a bag of sand” Charles said with another heavy sigh. He included himself in the number of men that were distracted, he was equally disappointed in himself. The soldiers had been carrying gunpowder bombs all day and were all aware of how dangerous the bombs could be, so when a porch of powder landed at their feet they reacted as if trying to escape a blast.

 

 

Glowing yellow eyes appeared from the darkness. The eyes looked down at the soldiers from above. Some kind of creature was staring at them while perched ten feet in the air on a tree branch. The forest canopy went up twenty feet or more, which left plenty of places to hide for anything that knew how to climb trees and leap across branches.

 

The captain gave a signal to the archers in the back and they each fired an arrow. Both arrows headed straight at the eyes but instead of hitting anything, the arrows passed through the glowing eyes and struck a tree with a loud thud. The eyes faded away as laughter began to echo through the forest. The laughter was maniacal and disturbing, the soldiers couldn’t tell if it was the laugh of a human or a hyena. Yellow eyes slowly faded into view on another tree branch but this time the eyes moved and appeared as though there were a creature walking along the branch. The eyes were higher up as well. The first set of eyes were low like a hunching human or an animal, the second pair of eyes would belong to someone standing between five and six feet tall. As the creature moved the glowing eyes left a trail of yellow light.

 

The men began to panic and one of them lit a bomb and threw it. Charles saw this and shouted “NO!” but it was too late, the bomb was air born. The bomb struck the tree and exploded. The sound of the explosion echoed through the otherwise silent forest for miles. The shockwave knocked the soldiers back and the blast destroyed several branches and ripped a chunk out of three surrounding trees. The soldiers were so close to the blast that chunks of wood pelted their armor and the light from the explosion temporarily blinded them.

 

When Charles came to his senses he noticed blood on his face and a dent in the side of his helmet caused by a flying high velocity chunk of wood. His men were slowly recovering and some were barely getting back on their feet. Charles walked over to check on his soldiers and saw one of them was dead. While all of the soldiers had been knocked back by the explosion or by chunks of wood one of the soldiers had been noticeably stabbed in the neck multiple times. The assailant would have had to strike precisely into the small gab between the helmet and the chest armor, which meant that if the creature or person they were tracking had killed a soldier they would have had to jump from the tree branches, escape the explosion, get next to a soldier, stab him on a very precise spot several times and leave before anyone noticed.

 

The soldiers grew more nervous at the skill of the criminal they were tracking. Then they heard its voice. “You were fools to come after me and bigger fools to track me at night!” the voice echoed through forest. “You are a wanted fugitive! You killed the prince of Gahlor and fled from justice. You have been credited to be agile and quick but no human could navigate through the dark forest as you have done this night. So if you are indeed Katharine Dohl then you need to come with us for the murder of the prince and now an imperial soldier!” Captain Charles called back. The voice laughed again, the laugh chilled their bones but the soldiers stood firm. “I was Katharine until I was driven from the land. I believe you and I remember things differently. I am now a ghost, a specter of the woods. I am a queen spider and you are all in my web. Now flee before you are consumed by my hatred!” Yelled the voice of Katharine. Her voice was only vaguely female, Her voice sounded otherworldly and threatening. “We can’t leave, I don’t care if we have to blow up the whole forest! The Prince must be avenged!” yelled the Captain.

 

Suddenly bright yellow eyes appeared in front of Captain Charles. It was a females face, she looked sad but her glowing yellow eyes and pale face still made him nervous. She looked undead with her paper white skin and scars across her face. “I avenged the victims of the Prince. The Prince was a monster and does not deserve to be avenged” Said the haunting face of Katharine. “Katharine? What happened to you?” Asked Captain Charles as the ghostly face of someone he used to know shook him to the core.   “I am not Katharine anymore, I am Delirium Doll, the stitched together girl, the undead witch of Gahlor, the specter of the woods and I am your death” Delirium snarled then vanished into the darkness. Before Charles could react another soldier screamed and blood splashed across the captain’s armor. A second soldier had been killed, this time stabbed through the throat. 

 

Charles was horrified by how bloodthirsty Katharine had become, she used to be a sweet girl who lived in the town just outside the castle. She studied medicine and plants with her father and wanted to help people, not hurt them. Charles thought about what she had said, about the Prince having victims and about that strange name, Delirium Doll. She said she was like a doll stitched together also her last name sounded like Doll.

“But why delirium?” Charles muttered, then he realized, the powder was a poison, altering the perception of the soldiers. They were delirious and seeing ghostly faces and glowing eyes. Katharine was killing them off slowly while they threw bombs at illusions. She could have killed everyone by now if she wanted to.

 

            “Men, retreat! We’ve been poisoned, your sight has been altered!” Charles shouted. The men all turned  and began to quickly march back the way they came, holding their shields up while they went. The situation was more complex than Charles first thought and even if Captain Charles Godwyn wanted to capture Katharine, he wouldn’t be able to while being poisoned in a dark unfamiliar forest.

 

            Katharine watched the soldiers retreat from the safety of the tree branches. She decided to spare the soldiers, men who were just doing their jobs. She had proven her might and coated the soldiers with so much toxic dust that anyone who goes near them will see ghosts for days. That was enough revenge for one day.

 

            The night slowly faded to morning as the soldiers marched back to the castle. Katharine Dohl, the Delirium Doll retreated to her forest hide out and Captain Charles headed home with a heavy heart and a head full of Delirium dust.