Mayday Stories: Day 24 Tombstones & The Wild West

 

The prompt featured a lyric that reminded us of an idea we had but had yet to play around with. So behold our scene that takes you into a weird wild west!

Arrested for Magical Means

"Now see here!" Briyce stomps his foot indignantly. "I'm a changed man! Reformed got stamped all over my papers! I know my rights!" The last thing Briyce expected when he woke up that morning was being rounded up and deposited in the sheriff's office.

Sheriff Taln was a proud Ophrea. She took her job seriously and would do anything to protect this town. Even from riffraff like Briyce. "Look, you have a long history of … shall we say relapsing? Why should I believe you?" She had her dark hair pulled into a bun out of her eyes. Her pointed ears were tipped in silver that matched the simples that were etched onto her cheeks while her forehead formed into two horns that resembled a crown, and pale skin that looked like it was brushed over with glittering silver.

"Your people dragged me out of my bed this morning!" Briyce cried. He was well past being intimidated by the Ophrea woman. Which could be explained away as being a Dophnel, one of the few races that still stand at odds with the Ophrea. Briyce's short-cropped steel gray hair somehow emphasizes the frill of stalks that form a crescent around his ears. Gold dusts his dusky skin, making him appear to shimmer as he squirms about in rage. His square pupils allow for astonishingly good peripheral vision, which was useful in his previous life of crime. 

"We had a recent shipment of tombstones go missing. Know anything about that?" she asks. The sheriff leans on her desk and eyes him.

"Tombstones," Briyce says slowly. "Are you kidding me?"

"I really wish I was, but unfortunately I am not." She sighs. "Now, do you know anything about it? Yes or no?"

"No!" Briyce yells. He wriggled against the ropes. "This is unlawful!"

"You are the most likely suspect. You have to admit that." The sheriff gets to her feet and rounds her desk. She sits on the edge and eyes him. 

"Yeah, if something /worthwhile/ was stolen." Briyce pauses struggling to glare up at Taln. "There's no market for headstones."

"There is a rumor that the stone is being used...." She clears her throat. "They're stealing tombstones for curses. Carving names of victims into the stone and the next they die by some ... mysterious situation." 

Briyce bursts out laughing. He regains a bit of control when he realizes Taln is still serious. "That's ridiculous," he says warily.

"It is not. The butcher dropped dead of a heart attack. We found his tombstone hours before that had it etched." The sheriff pushes photos over to Briyce. "If this isn't you then who is it?"

"Have you tried, I don't know, /any of the magical races/?" Briyce asks, sarcastic.

"See, the thing is Briy, can I call you Briy? The thing is that we did. And our sources pointed us right back to you." She points at him. Taln was good at her job and she had no doubt he had some involvement. 

"Sure, why not?" Briyce sighs. "Look, I don't deal in curses."

Taln gestures with a hand. "Go on." 

"You are infuriating!" Briyce yells.

Taln crosses her arms and frowns. "And you aren't leaving here until I hear the rest. I could send you the cell to rot."

"Or," Briyce suggests, "you could untie me and we could have this conversation cordially."

The sheriff sighs. But with a wave of her hand, the binds undo and drop to the floor. "How's that? Better?" 

"Much," Briyce says, rubbing his wrists to restore circulation. "Okay, so I know a few magic types from before my turning over the new leaf."

She gets paper and a pencil. "See Briy, you're helping." She taps him on the arm with the paper. "Go on." 

Briyce bites back a scathing comment. He just got out of the ropes, he'd rather not invite them back to stay. "Okay, so you know the Zimeon Jezper, right? By reputation at least, I'm sure. Anyway, he started up a little side business with his sister Edan and the mercenary Kolb. Brack - no, wait, Brack died in an 'accident.' Curses tend to backfire."

She takes notes as he rattles off the names. "And could they be doing this?"

"They have the power to," Briyce confirms. "They're usually more discreet but..." Briyce shrugs. "Desperate times."

"Desperate measures." The sheriff shakes her head. "You've been helpful." She taps the paper. "We'll be in touch."

"Hopefully not the same way as you've been," Briyce grouses.

"We'll see." Taln moves off the desk and goes back to her chair. She looks up to find him there still. "You can go."

"I'll be around," Briyce says, making for the door before Taln can change her mind.