Chapter 24 Rewrite #2
“Can you write on dirt?” Em rasped, clinging to the pen for dear life.
“Indeed! Would you like to attempt…”
She rolled away from a stomping orc boot. It was her last chance to undo the insane disorder she’d created. As she staggered to push herself upright, Em dragged the quill into the dirt street.
“And it all went away,” she stammered as she hastily wrote, “Kriqir was weakened by how close he was to the relic, and the orcs disappeared with him back into his tower.”
In a gut-wrenching, blood-curdling, eye-blazing flash, everything stilled.
Colors swam across Em’s eyes. Her head ached so bad, like her skull had split open.
Cool, fresh air drifted over her. No more orcs, no more shoving and pushing, no more Kriqir. Just sunny skies and a peaceful Mercer Village.
The silence was almost as deafening as the onslaught seconds before.
Em let out a moan, peeling herself out of the dirt. Unfortunately, sticky gore still clung to her clothes, and blood still stained the buildings and street. Her gasping, wide-eyed companions were covered in gashes and bruises, paused mid-swing where their orc opponents had once been.
At her feet, her words were clear as day for them to see.
“Oh, thank Novella!” Polo collapsed and passed out with a groan.
Sasha hugged one of her strewn arms, whimpering and still somehow hiccupping.
Gair eyed Inky in Em’s hands. Close to his feet lay the glittering, unassuming dragon relic.
Thank Novella. Em retrieved the green stone. Unfortunately, her journal was beyond saving. She’d have to buy another.
Her companions steered away from her like she was a plague.
“What was that, princess?” Roden snapped. He slammed Destiny’s Song into its sheath and marched over to Em. The reek of raw guts still clung to his leathery clothes. His violet irises flashed with pure rage. “Are you insane?”
“I just fucking saved you,” Em scoffed. “I think a ‘thank you’ should be in order?”
“No.” Roden covered her mouth with his smelly glove. She tried to bite down, but he didn’t even flinch. Instead, something slimy stuck to his fingers slipped into her mouth, and she gagged. It tasted like actual shit.
“You can’t rewrite something and not expect consequences,” the half-elf said. “We didn’t need you to kill the orcs in a split second. Especially since you didn’t remember Kriqir the Living’s necromancy. You gave him stronger powers by providing him instant access to a graveyard of soldiers!”
“And then I undid it all!” Em shoved him off her. “So, you can’t be mad at me.”
“Just because you undid something doesn’t mean it didn’t happen,” Roden growled.
Excuse me? Em glanced at the others for help, but Polo was still unconscious, snoring on the road. Sasha just stared past her drunken haze, and even Gair was glaring at her now.
“I don’t like this pen, Em,” the dragon mutant said. “It’s changing you.”
“I made one damn mistake,” Em argued. “Just one. You can’t expect me to already know how to use the pen and write a story…”
“No, we don’t,” Gair snapped. “Which is exactly why we didn’t ask you to start any of this in the first place!
You’re the one who snuck off and stole that thing from the Great Author.
Then you’re suddenly able to teleport us around without even asking if we agreed to your selfish aspirations or not?
And now you can literally kill an entire army with the flick of your wrist? ”
“I’m sorry, wait a damn second!” Em scoffed. “You can’t judge me. The reason I had to go so extreme and steal Inky is because people like you have ruined my story!”
Gair paled, flinching.
“Take that back, princess,” Roden growled.
“No.”
“He doesn’t deserve that,” the half-elf said.
“I don’t fucking care,” Em sniffed, heat pricking the edges of her eyes, threatening to produce tears. “This is my story. I will write it how I want.”
“This was our story, Em,” Gair said, avoiding her gaze. He rubbed at the scales along his neck, wincing past the various injuries along his muscular arms. “You just happened to be the Main Character.”
“You aren’t supposed to be here!” Em jabbed a finger at his chest, then reeled on Roden. “And you told me at the masquerade ball you’d at least try to help me. He’s damn useless…” she motioned to Polo. Finally, Em met Sasha’s uneasy expression.
“You’re here just because I paid you to be,” Em said.
“You wanted something original,” Sasha shrugged. “But I guess I wasn’t enough, huh?”
“You still could be,” she offered.
“I’ll charge you double,” the dryad hiccupped.
“I can pay you whatever the hell you want,” Em managed to crack a smirk, waving Inky under Sasha’s nose. She glared back at Roden and Gair. “You either stick with me, or you can consider yourselves dismissed from this story.”
“It doesn’t work like that…” Roden growled.
“Yes, it does,” Em said. “Do I have to keep reminding you? I’m in charge now. If you don’t want to become original or save yourselves from your dreadful, shitty tropes, then I can’t have you associating yourselves with me anymore.”
“Characters can’t leave a story, Em,” Gair’s voice cracked, and he blinked back welling tears. “We’re all bound to this plotline until it’s complete. You should remember this from Mr. Snicket’s Character Growth class at Sanderson.”
“Either you’re coming with me, or you stay here waiting until I need you,” Em snapped. “But I can’t keep wasting my time on your tropes when I have a questline to finish.”
Gair flinched. But then he cleared his throat with a deadpanned chuckle.
“Guess Rex was right, hey, Roden?” He pushed past Em, scooping Polo over his shoulder, and shot her a final glare. “You really have become a villain.”
Without another word, Gair disappeared back into the Long Rest Inn and Tavern.
“I’m sorry, he can’t just do that!” Em exclaimed.
“It’s called agency, princess,” Roden growled, following after Gair and averting his gaze to avoid hers. “It’s something you’re so obsessed with achieving that you aren’t aware when it’s right under your nose.
“What the actual fuck?”
Swear words spewed from her mouth. Em was left alone with the moaning Sasha in the empty, bloody village. She stomped her foot and strangled her filthy skirts and paced, but she couldn’t bring herself to chase after the infuriating love interests into the tavern.
Just who the hell do they think they are?
Finally, with a defeated huff, Em turned to the dryad.
“I need a new journal,” she said.
“Alright.” Sasha pinched her nose bridge, wincing past her hangover. “And I need some water.”
Em hesitated, lingering on the temptation both to force the guys back into her party or to delete them all from her manuscript simultaneously.
Instead, she chose the more practical solution: cool off before she made another rash decision.
The gory remains of her previous impulsive choice still stained every inch of Mercer Village.
“They’ll come around, sweetheart,” Sasha said as she laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Besides, they’re just Side Characters. They’re relevant when you need them to be.”
Right.
“Would you still like me to provide those coordinates to Larian Community College of Secondary Characters?” Inky sang out brightly from Em’s hand, startling her half to death.
She had forgotten the pen could talk for a moment, so lost in her own woes.
Once again, the pen conveniently had the answer to her problems. She needed new Side Characters.
“Yes,” Em said. “And, Inky, can you give us a quick stop at the nearest supply store? Sasha and I need a few things for the journey.”
“On it!” the pen sang out.