Mage the Awakening - Intruders ...

Mage the Awakening - Intruders Encounters with the Abyss, new World of Darkness, Mage - The Awakening

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“Sure,” Ji
mmy said. H
e didn’t b
other to wh
isper, beca
use his pare
nts never c
hecked up
o
n him afte
r bedtime.
Not lately,
anyway.
“Th
is one’s cal
led:
The B
ull a
nd th
e An
ts
T
here once wa
s a large, stron
g bull who w
as mightier th
an any other i
n his herd. No
ne of the youn
ger, weaker
bul
ls ever dared
challenge him.
One day the b
ull decided th
at life with th
e herd was bo
ring, and so h
e decided to
see
what lay beyo
nd the pasture
. All the cows
warned him n
ot to go, and sa
id that there w
ere unspeaka
ble dangers
out
there, and tha
t it was much
better to stay
safe where th
ey were. The b
ull just laugh
ed at their fear
, convinced
tha
t there could b
e no other ani
mal as strong
and powerful
as he.
So the
bull easily bro
ke through th
e fence and be
gan walking t
hrough the fi e
ld beyond. He
had traveled
for a
whole da
y when he hea
rd a small voic
e call out to hi
m. “Please, mi
ghty one, do n
ot go any furth
er.” Looking d
own,
the bull sa
w a tiny ant.
“Please change
your directio
n, O powerful
bull,” said the
ant, “or you m
ay tread on m
e and
my famil
y.” The bull la
ughed. “No on
e tells me wha
t to do or whe
re to walk!” W
ith that, he d
eliberately cru
shed
the ant be
neath his hoo
f. The bull kep
t walking, and
every time h
e saw an ant h
e crushed it ou
t of spite.
But then, as h
is powerful h
oof crashed to
the ground to
crush another
ant, his hoof b
roke through
the turf. The
bu
ll had stepped
into an anth
ill and now h
is foot was tra
pped. He trie
d to pull out,
only to fi nd hi
s other three
li
mbs trapped a
s well. As the
bull snorted w
ith rage, hund
reds of ants sw
armed from
their holes an
d crawled up
h
is legs and fl an
ks and chest an
d back until h
is body was co
vered with th
e insects. They
began to rip aw
ay his fl esh,
ca
rrying bit aft
er bit of him d
own into their
anthills.
With
his last ounc
e of strength,
the bull turn
ed his head a
nd saw the b
roken fence, v
ery far away
now.
He coul
d just make o
ut all the cow
s standing be
hind it, watc
hing. And the
n the ants ca
rried away h
is eyes.
***
Jimmy
was in the f
ar corner o
f the schoo
lyard, wher
e the aspha
lt was torn
up, when h
e
heard the
snickers o
f the three
older boys.
They passe
d him by, t
hen stoppe
d and turne
d
back to lo
ok at him.
“I
never see
this kid in
Church,” o
ne was say
ing. “How
come you d
on’t go to
Church,
kid
?”
“Mayb
e he has be
tter things
to do.”
“
Maybe he’
s out lookin
g for babie
s to kill. Ba
bykiller.”
“How
come you
call him th
at?” the r
unt of the
trio asked,
his voice p
onderous
with
boredo
m.
“What are
you, stupid
? Everybod
y in town k
nows the st
ory,” their l
eader answ
ered. “His
w
hole famil
y are babyk
illers. They
took his m
om to the
plant and t
hey cut ou
t her baby
a
nd hung it
on a meat h
ook. Isn’t t
hat right, B
abykiller?
”
“
You’ll be so
rry,” Jimm
y sighed.
“What di
d you say?
The lead bo
y stepped
closer; his c
ompanions
scuffl ed th
eir feet on
the macada
m as they
followed. “Y
ou little fu
ck, what d
id you —”
The
n the three
aggressor
s began sha
king their
hands in th
e air, brush
ing at thei
r arms
and l
egs. Jimmy
was surpri
sed at how
girlish the
ir shrieks w
ere as he w
atched the
black
and y
ellow blurs
of a dozen
wasps divin
g at their f
aces and h
ands. The b
oys fl ed in a
blind
panic
, not lookin
g back, fal
ling to the
ground mo
re than onc
e.
“Jimmy.
” He alread
y knew Fox
was behin
d him; he d
idn’t turn
around. “Yo
u don’t
have to go
to school a
nymore, Jim
my. I told
you that. Yo
u have mor
e importan
t work to do
.”
“B
abykiller!”
La
ter, Fox tol
d Jimmy h
e’d be away
for severa
l hours. Bu
t before he
left, he sh
ared a
new
story:
Gra
ndpa
’s Fav
ouri
te
There was an
old man who
lived in a hou
se near the ed
ge of the worl
d, and he had
four grandchil
dren. Every
m
orning they w
ould walk to
the great glass
wall that sep
arated the wo
rld from what
was beyond.
One day, the
e
ldest grandchi
ld said, “Gran
dpa, if I was t
o climb to the
top of that hig
h wall, what
would I fi nd?”
“I don
’t know,” the
old man answ
ered. “Why do
n’t you try it,
then come bac
k and tell us?”
So the child
began to clim
b. The watche
d him for a w
hile, until he w
as just a smal
l dot, and then
was gone.
The
next day the c
hild returned
, and they all g
athered aroun
d him. “Well,
” they asked, “
What did you
fi nd?”
“They hav
e a thing calle
d Light,” the c
hild said. “Bu
t I have no eye
s, so it was use
less to me.” An
d the child fel
l
sick and died
.
Th
e next day, as
they stood by
the wall, the
second oldest c
hild said, “Gr
andpa, if I wa
s to climb to t
he top of
that
high wall, wh
at would I fi n
d?”
“I don’t k
now,” the old
man answered
. “Why don’t
you try it, the
n come back an
d tell us?”
S
o the child clim
bed. When th
e child return
ed on the follo
wing day, they
all gathered a
round him. “W
ell,” they
ask
ed, “What did
you fi nd?”
“They h
ave a thing ca
lled Music,” t
he child said. “
But I have no
ears, so it was
useless to me.”
And the child
fell
sick and d
ied.
The next day,
as they stood b
y the wall, th
e third oldest c
hild said, “Gra
ndpa, if I wa
s to climb to th
e top of that
h
igh wall, wha
t would I fi nd
?”
“I don
’t know,” the o
ld man answe
red. “Why do
n’t you try it, t
hen come back
and tell us?”
So the child
climbed. Whe
n the child ret
urned on the fo
llowing day, t
hey all gather
ed around him
. “Well,” they
asked, “What
did you fi nd?”
“Th
ey have a thin
g called Time,”
the child said
. “But I have n
o clock, so it w
as useless to m
e.” And the ch
ild fell
sick an
d died.
The next d
ay, as they sto
od by the wal
l, the youngest
child said, “G
randpa, if I w
as to climb to
the top of tha
t
high wall, w
hat would I fi
nd?”
“W
ait,” said the o
ld man. He w
ent into the ho
use and retur
ned with an ir
on box. “You a
re my favorit
e, grand-
child
,” he said, “so b
efore you clim
b, take these.”
He opened the
box. “These a
re eyes, and th
ese are ears, a
nd this is
a clo
ck.”
The chil
d took the eyes
, the ears, and
the clock. And
then, for the
fi rst time, he s
aw his grandf
ather, and hea
rd
his grandfa
ther’s voice, a
nd knew how
long they had
been living i
n the house at
the edge of th
e world. And
he
screamed in
horror and t
ore himself to
shreds.
***
“Is so
meone the
re?”
The voice w
as so soft t
hat Jimmy
wondered,
at fi rst, if he
’d imagine
d it. He stoo
d still for
t
he narrow
basement w
indow he’d
pushed o
pen. The vo
ice did not
repeat its
elf, but it
s
eemed to J
immy that
the voice w
aited behin
d the only
door in the
room.
He k
new that F
ox wouldn’
t like him
coming her
e to see the
Magician
. Fox seeme
d to
regret
ever ment
ioning the
Magician. B
ut Fox had
let enoug
h details sl
ip for Jimm
y to
fi nd th
is place, a
long-aband
oned farm
house acros
s the road
from the p
lant. “You c
an’t
trust a
magician,
Jimmy,” Fo
x had told h
im. “All ma
gicians are
liars. And w
hen magic
ians
lie, th
eir lies bec
ome real.”
a
minute, lis
tening. The
room was d
im, even w
ith the sun
light that fo
und its wa
y through
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