You look down and shuffle your feet a bit, cutting short a few attempts to walk towards your companions.
"Ye mind if I preach a little bit? Promise it won't be too, well, preachy."
Maria tilts her head slightly before nodding. "I suppose."
"Right, well." You clap your hands together. "For what it's worth, from one geezer who died givin' everythin' they had to another, bein' able ta experience more o' this Hell we call life was fun. The good, the bad, the ugly; this life that the LORD gave us really is sweet and I can't say I've lost out for breathin' a bit longer, if only for havin' had the chance ta meet people like you. When your light finally snuffs out, crack a smile, why don't ye? The tale was grand."
You bow and she bows with you, a smile on her face that you've seen many times beneath a bonnet. A handful of steps take you to Djura and Simon and the three of you step into the saltwater mist, an old song on your lips.
For life is quite absurd
And death's the final word
You must always face the curtain with a bow.
Forget about your sin - give the audience a grin
Enjoy it - it's your last chance anyhow.
So always look on the bright side of death
Just before you draw your terminal breath
Life's a piece of shit
When you look at it
Life's a laugh and death's a joke, it's true.
You'll see it's all a show
Keep 'em laughing as you go
Just remember that the last laugh is on you.
You've got them whistling with you by the halfway point.
Once more, you give thanks to the Dream's cleaning service; you're damn sure going to need it after this. You have to walk nearly single-file at times to stay atop the sandbar, which sucks at your boots and somehow manages to befoul Simon's previously unbefoulable rags. Naked trees of indeterminate life stand at the edge of the drop off alongside clusters of stones, some of which are stacked in miniature idols, and towering masts with rotten sails peek through the mist. You step over a partially-buried whale skeleton as candlelit canoes, each bearing the corpse of a sluglike woman, bob gently. What shacks you see in the limited visibility are bloated with water and not so much encrusted as infested with tumorous clumps of barnacles.
"It's a graveyard," Djura murmurs.
"Man, even if we hadn't promised ta be quick and practical, I don't think I even could have fun with this," you reply. "Too damn depressing."
"You're more used to places only looking like this after you leave, I take it?" says Simon.
A towering form lurches into sight and the three of you draw, but the thing shows no interest in you. Humanoid and near three meters tall, it wears a sheet of sailcloth wrapped in fishing line atop its blue flesh. As it approaches, its ramblings become audible, unaffected by your proximity or the hand you rather rudely wave in front of its face to draw its attention.
"Byrgenwerth...Byrgenwerth...Blasphemous murderers...Blood-crazed fiends...Atonement for the wretches...By the wrath of Mother Kos...Mercy for the poor, wizened child...Mercy, oh please..."
That is a lot of ellipses. Some proper foreboding rambling right there.
"I'm with ye, man," you call after him as he slouches past. "Fuck Byrgenwerth."
At this, he stops and slowly turns to face you. After a moment's pause, he gives a ponderous nod and flips a lethargic bird at the clocktower.
"Fuck Byrgenwerth."
With that, he resumes his walk. You shrug and your troop advances into the hamlet, where the water rises to almost knee-deep. You flick a lantern to life and watch the heavy nets strung between the buildings sway in the breeze.
"He seemed nice," you say.
Unfortunately, the crazed Innsmouth-looking motherfucker with a spear charges in before Djura or Simon can add an appropriate setup line. You put a bayonet through his brain with a sigh.
"Won't even throw me that fuckin' bone," you mutter. "Alright, who's up ta start killin' and feelin' real bad about it?"
"Is it alright if I just feel ambivalent?" Djura replies. You and Simon stare at him.
"I legitimately can't tell if you're joking and that frightens me," says the bowman.
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