Chicken Hero Saga Chapter 16: Putting walls between us

 The chicken hero didn't know quite what to make of the situation that faced him. For the first time since he could remember he didn't have anything witty or sarcastic to say, as he looked around at the bodies of his fallen harvesters his expression was blank, he worked with these people, mostly enjoyed their company, how did it get to this? He looked straight ahead and he knew, as he saw the giant wall, once white, now covered in red, he had never faced anything like this before.


**********Two days earlier***********


  Today at the harvest all hands were on deck, for it was the feast of Black Friday, the one day of the year there was no sun and the village was left in perpetual darkness. To appease the gods all merchants slashed their wares to ridiculous prices causing throngs of people to flock to their wagons and markets. The chicken hero didn't quite see the appeal of everyone fighting over objects, but it certainly worked better than Black Plague Friday, even if there was almost as many casualties. The hero arrived at the harvest and instantly noticed that something was different, the harvest seemed smaller than usual, there was a giant wall where before there was no giant wall. This wall blocked the access from his station to where the villagers dined. How did this wall get here? he asked himself, was it the work of the dreaded Deboner, no it was all quiet on that front, as far as he knew he was still dead, was it one of the other dreaded villains he had faced, he didn't remember their names, surely he could have went back to check but who has time for that.
  The wall wasn't the only thing he noticed, the air felt heavier, sure it was quieter, and it blocked out some of the more annoying serving wenches, but the harvest felt more claustrophobic, more confined. He had heard examples of walls being put up all over the world, it was usually to keep the dark people in check, the ones who could control the dark spirits. He heard about one really long wall in the far east, he didn't know much about it, only that it was pretty great. There was something off about this wall though, he could not put his finger on it, cause every time he touched it there was a spark that jolted him backwards. He didn't have a good feeling about this, mostly cause he was numb from the shock of the wall, but also because he had that familiar feeling that it was going to get worse before it got better.

**********The next day***********

   The chicken hero didn't know how things had escalated so quickly, everywhere he looked around the harvest his co-harvesters were at each other's throats, this was not who they were, it was supposed to them versus everybody, not them versus them. The pressure never got to them before, they had known the busy season and always gotten through it, something was different now, it was the wall, some kind of force trapped inside was causing them to turn on each other, some of the serving wenches even said that if you listened closely enough you could hear a voice inside there, which shocked the chicken hero, he didn't think they ever listened. The chicken hero knew what he had to do, a plan must be made, that wall had to come down, he had experienced a lot of awkward silences in his time; however, all the silences at work were making it difficult. He could not do this alone, it was time to rally the troops.
   First he sought out his brother Robbieus the strong, who could throw objects and send them hurdling two villages over, next he went looking for the mighty gronk Brendor, whose ability to smash was unmatched. Next came Bogeyus, man of literaure and numbers, who could order the tools they needed, even if some were special orders and they could not be gotten by regular means. Next came Jamieus the hemp smoking leprachaun, the chicken hero figured he could try to climb the wall because he liked getting high. Last came Allysiaus, well mostly because she stumbled in on the planning and they could not get rid of her, plus her shrill voice could make anything want to go away. Everyone was up to speed on the plan, everyone was ready, they would meet the next day, as they were leaving Brendor let out a mighty scream
 "TOMORROW WALL YOU MEET THE WALLBANGERS"
  "Ahahahahahahaha" giggled Jamieus
  "Don't call us that" said the hero ".....well maybe Allysiaus" he added.

 ************The day it all went wrong***********

  It was just them now, as the hero looked at the big dumb inanimate object he moved Brendor out of the way so he could see the wall better. He could swear it was glowing, but it could have been the sun's reflection. Bogeyus was the first to try, he had been up all night doing mathematical calculations trying to figure out the proper place to attack the wall, as he approaced the wall he started to cough, but the immense power of his smoker's lung was not phasing the wall, it stood strong, it did not bend or break, Bogeyus coughed and coughed with all he had till he passed out. Unphased our heroes proceeded, it was now the turn of Robbieus, he throw many objects at the wall but they just bounced off, unfortunately as Bogeyus was starting to awaken he was hit by one of the objects and rendered unconscious again. Running out of things to throw Robbie picked up Byronus the dwarf who happened to walk by, with a mighty heave he launched him into the air and with a mighty thud Byronus hit the wall, landing on top of Bogeyus who had just started to stir. It was now the turn of Brendor, he knew he would have to smash like he had never smashed before, he moved back as far as he could, smoke poured from his nostrils like a raging bull and with a loud BRENDOR SMASH he was off, but he was no match for the wall, and he fell down into the heap.
  It was now the turn of Allysiaus, she simply walked up to the wall and started telling it a story, as the chicken hero had instructed her to do, she kept talking and talking but the wall stayed in one piece, surely it had the resolve of steel, finally, mercifully Allysiaus lost her voice collapsing to the ground clutching her throat. It was now the turn of Jamieus the hemp smoking leprachaun who was........already in the pile of bodies, he had fallen asleep. Frustrated now the hero started throwing whatever he could at the wall, plates, glasses, the bottle of red Grenadine Elixir they used for kids drinks. Just then the chicken hero heard a familiar voice, was it coming from the wall, no it was coming from alongside him, it was Anna the palindromic one, digger of truth.
 "What happened here?"
 "We tried to take down the wall that was causing all the fighting, we needed to get out, how did you get in here?"
  "I.....just walked around the corner"
  And with that the chicken hero noticed an opening to get around the wall
  "Hmm, a secret passageway, very clever"
  "No, no...it was always here" added Anna whose name was the same in forward or reverse
  "I can't believe there was a secret door"
   "But there wasn't........yes there was a secret door"
  In the days that followed they learned to live with the wall, they had even gotten used to it, and if there was a silver lining to it, it would be several more days before Allysiaus got her voice back.