The chicken hero saga 18: Take a little trip with me

    It was a beautiful day in the harvest, cold because the winter winds blew this time of year, but unlike other realms the chicken hero heard of, when winter came at the harvest, it did not bring trouble or slow moving creatures, with the exception of Charlieus the pot scrubber. The hero was working away when he heard the relentless squawking of a flock of birds, as he stopped to enjoy the scene of them flying in unison he was disappointed to learn that it was just the take out maidens, as they walked by deep in their incessant chatter he shook his head, they were always squawking about something. It was going to be an important couple of days at the harvest as a member of the Council of Elders was coming to teach a new food item, it was still chicken of course, it was usually chicken, except when it was cow that one time, but this time the chicken would be placed in a boiling pot of oil, rumours were rampant that this idea came about due to how King Wittacus of Stagg dealt with any member of his regime that failed him. The hero and the rest of the staff were busy cleaning the harvest, polishing this, tucking this under there, hiding Jefficus the fry maker so he couldn't talk to the council member.
  Today the hero would be working with Zacharia, now there were a lot of unique people in the harvest, and Zacharia was no different, for he was a shape shifter, he didn't really exploit this ability like you figure most would, often times he looked like good ol Zacharia but sometimes he could make himself look like Joshias the tall, or Jamieus the hemp smoking elf, whichever one he felt like working that day. As the day went on and the hero prepared the meals and cleaned the harvest he began to feel hungry, and luckily enough as he began to seek out sustenance a serving maiden appeared with a large tray of chocolate cookies, saying that a mysterious cloaked person dropped them off at one of the tables and left, when the hero asked if she thought this was suspicious she responded
  "Well Karenus ate like three as soon as they laid them down and she seems fine"
  The hero was weary of the cookies but he was also hungry, and while he had won many battles during his time at the harvest, the battle with his stomach was one that could never win. He devoured the cookie and never felt any immediate effects but he still felt the need to investigate, he looked around at all the other members of the harvest, one of the maidens had expressed worry about Kevinus the cleaner, saying he had eaten one cookie and had been sat in the same spot for hours, he looked at the take out maidens, somehow they were managing to eat the cookies and still incessantly chatter without choking, it appeared that the cookies were legitimate, perhaps he would have another. As he approached the tray, three things surprised him, the first was that were cookies left at all, the second was that nobody had lost a hand, and the last was that weird voice he suddenly heard
  "You don't want to eat another one of those cookies, for they are cursed, they make you see things that aren't there"
  "I doubt that" responded the hero "Everyone seems fine, now step aside giant chicken and let me get more sustenance"
  The hero kept walking eagerly toward the tray when he stopped in his tracks, the only giant chicken he knew was Cluckus and he was off in battle, suddenly he felt woozy, the earth began to spin, he felt like he had just gotten out of Petrus the thirds wagon, and all of a sudden nothing looked right, Byronus the dwarf had grown to eight feet tall, Joshias the tall had shrunk down to a dwarf, Bogeyus, man of numbers and literature was working, no no things were not normal at the harvest. The hero knew he needed to clear his mind, and he had to get food, he was so hungry, how did Jamieus the hemp smoking elf not gain five hundred pounds? And did his feet still work? These questions clogged his mind, his usual tremendous focus was gone, he knew he had to help the people of the harvest but he just wanted to eat chips of potato. Suddenly he saw his beautiful Anastasia, truly a vision whether his mind was clear or not
  "What has happened here?"
  "Some mysterious stranger brought in cookies, the giant chicken told me not to trust them, but hey I've grown an extra finger so they can't be all bad right?"
  "Giant chicken, extra finger, townspeople giving us things instead of yelling at us, something doesn't add up, did anybody get a good look at the person's face?"
  "No Karenus just grabbed the tray and the said thank you as the person slowly walked away"
  The hero tried to fight through the fog in his mind to come up with a solution, he had heard that Marias had become a witch since being banished from the harvest, he knew it was a long shot but if they reached out to her maybe she had a potion that could help, but he did not know how to contact her and he was without his usual sharp thinking.
  "I have an idea, come with me" said Anastasia
  Finding him still on his perch she grabbed Kevinus the cleaner by his arm
  "It's no good" the hero cried "Kevinus ate the cookie too, he's been sat there for hours"
  "No, I didn't have either cookie" Kevinus said sounding confused
  "Kevinus, I need you make food, something that is not usually prepared at the harvest" said Anastasia throwing bowls and pots at him
 "Well that's a little strange but okay"
  Kevinus set out to prepare chicken in a different way than usual and in an instant a puff of smoke appeared and a voice trembled
  "Do you have any for me"
  There before them stood Marias, looking as ageless as ever
 "How did you know how to summon me" Marias asked
 "Ummm lucky guess" replied Anastasia "We need your help, the harvest has been hit with some kind of potion, we need your help to fix it"
 "This is what I will need, the ground up bones of a chicken, the ear of a wild pig, one live frog, the feather of the Eagle that lives on the highest tree, some tree resin, wild berries, the finger of a dwarf, and some salt and pepper"
  Without delay Anastasia set out to find those things, some would be harder than others of course, luckily she was surrounded by chicken bones and Byronus the dwarf was working that day, and had fingers to spare so those came easy. As she hopped on her trusty steed Brody she ran into Karenus, saying she was off to find the cure for those cookies
  "Who needs a cure?" Karenus asked "If that person was still here I would kiss their wrinkly face"
  Anastasia rode like the wind, luckily her trusty steed Brody was rarely tired and could run for days if she needed, as she tried to think about things she needed she also thought of Marias, how it was nice to see her again after the way she had been banished, and that time had not been kind to her, she had even more wrinkles than before
  "More....wrinkles......oh no"
   With realization set in Anastasia set back for the harvest to find everyone down on the ground except the hero who was tied to a spit with his own trusty chicken string, and Kevinus who was back sitting on his perch
  "Kevinus, what spell did she use to make you paralyzed"
  "What spell? What do you mean?"
  Anastasia knew she had to stop Marias, but she had grown powerful, it would take all her wit and cunning to stop her
  "Look, somebody ordered food and didn't need it"
  With that Marias turned sharply around, using the distraction Anastasia untied the hero from his trusty chicken string and flung it towards Marias bounding her tightly.
  "YOU WILL NEVER HOLD ME, I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE ON PETRUS THE SECOND"
  "How about I give you this free food and you remove the spell from everyone?"
  "Can I have a little extra?"
  "Sure"
   All of a sudden everyone came too, the hero was groggy, he looked at Anastasia
  "Sorry for sitting this one out, you did fine work"
  "Thanks, how do you feel?"
  "I am okay, my memory is hazy, I think I was supposed to write about when the villagers were afraid of gluten but I can't remember"
  "That's good, I am glad, now lets go home"
  As the hero walked with Anastasia he was proud of her, it was different being the one having to be saved, he looked at her admirably, then he looked past her at the vision behind her, a face from the past, surely another hallucination, but he felt fine, but the words he heard were no illusion
  "Hello Hero"
 
  "Hello.....Deboner"