KING’S FIELD: KING’S FIELD IV
I have been given a cursed idol. Terrible things are certain to happen to me, and yet I feel compelled to grasp it tightly in my hands. Someone offers me a few coins to buy the idol from me, but I cannot part with it. First, because I would not wish for another to share my curse. Second, because I feel like my fate is tied to this object and losing it would mean losing myself. I have been given King’s Field.
The world I step into is grey and brown. One exception are the vermilion lakes and rivers of lava that seem to be eating this land. I come into this world almost naked. I find helmets, boots, and breastplates scattered on the ground, the only pieces of bodies that haven’t rotted. More than armor, these are costume pieces.
I am not alone. There is a soldier who is afraid to join the rest of his troop. His remaining troop is probably dead. There is an old man who wants to cross a ravine. The bridge has been destroyed. There is a young girl standing next to her dog. Her mom is dying and her dad has probably already died. I am not alone, but the world seems to be working towards my isolation. I wonder if this is part of my curse.
I am becoming more like the rest of the inhabitants of this world. The people I meet are curt, but I am more sparing with my words. I learn how long my arms stretch out when I strike. I learn to stop running when I begin to approach a carnivorous plant or giant pill bug. Most importantly, I learn how to move like a crab and only face my enemies’ backs.
The world is decaying and people are becoming more desperate. In my first visit to a shop, I notice that a hole in the wall has been boarded up. After I return from an excursion into poisonous mines, I see that the boards are gone. The shopkeeper tells me the old man has bought a map and despite warning, he has forced himself into the opening. I follow in the old man’s footsteps and find the skeletons of soldiers. These skeletons stand up and seem doomed to continue fighting for eternity. I run away from them and find the old man sitting in a church. He tells me that there are too many monsters. He asks me if I can help him. I go out the back to a graveyard swarming with the living dead. They are slow and I can easily flank them. I return to the church. The old man is dead. A skeleton peers over him. I wonder if I will become one of these skeletons. I wonder if this is a part of my curse.
The road is long and hard, but the only way out is through. My actions are so limited that I’ve been able to work my way past every challenge I’ve met so far. I will continue my march.