ÿþ<HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>Agnes, By Joseph Jacobs</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY text=#00DD00 bgcolor=black> <h1><center>Srâchay, Collected By Joseph Jacobs</center></h1> <h2> <p>There once was a little girl named Srâchay. She was a warrior of uncontrollable power. Her father was a farmer and her mother, a forager. They were very poor. Her older brother was fighting in a far away country, and her younger sister was too young to do much. <p>Then, one day, without any warning, a sudden skirmish broke out in the streets. Some merchants were cheated out of a deal and the whole caravan got involved somehow. Srâchay was stolen from her house; along with her sister she was too look after. <p>Srâchay was put in a wagon and taken into the vast forest. Her sister wasn t seen for quite a while. When Srâchay was let out of the wagon, she was led into a cottage. The ones who stole her were gnomes. The big mean kind of gnomes. They were hornéd beasts from hell. Then Srâchay was put in an isolated room. She could see through a small, dusty window that there were other cells with little kids her age. There were many rooms in a row. First, the gnomes went into the first cell.  Where are the Sor-Vaï? You know! said the gnome.  I don t know what that is! Said the kid. Then the gnome ate him.  Where are the Sor-Vaï? You know!  No! I don t! said the kid. Then the gnome ate her. The gnomes came to Srâchay s cell.  Where are the Sor-Vaï? You know! The gnome asked.  I can find out for you if you wish. Offered Srâchay.  I didn t ask you that! Yelled the gnome. Then he walked up to her and opened his mouth real wide when Srâchay kicked him there. Her foot went through his throat. She grabbed his keys and unlocked the rest of the cells. There were many children in the hole. Srâchay took a gnomon axe and was off. The cottage, which looked a lot smaller from the outside, was in chaos. Some children ran into the woods and formed small bands, like Srâchay. 5 people followed her. They were about 11, her age. They lived in the woods for 6 years and made leather armor out of their meat catches and made swords out of bear vertebræ. <p>Many miles away, a hunter was going to hunt game. He killed 15 porcupines. The 16th one he was going to kill ran into a hollow tree and stayed there. The hunter climbed up the tree. The porcupine jumped off onto the ground just as the tree fell on the hunter. A horse the porcupine knows told me that this porcupine, before it became a snack for some tavern patron when their meat became popular, had seen a large band of human folk walking around while he eluded the hunter. Guess who was in this band. Nope, it s not Srâchay. I understand why you would think it was her though. It was her sister. Brainwashed and evil. <p>Srâchay and her band of 5 people, now all about 17 years old, found a few traders and merchants hanging around in the woods. They decided to steal their stuff. There were 24 traders and merchants. The Srâchay gang pulled out their crossbows and shot at them. 3 were killed and 2 wounded. They pulled out their bone swords and gnomon axes and rushed at the survivors. One boy, whose name was Vinun saw a merchant trying to climb up the wagon to the top. Vinun pinned him to the wall with his sword. There were iron weapons and plate armor and tower shields in the wagon. The after the initial carnage ended, they found and stole the weapons and stuff. There were only 6 unscathed traders and merchants who fled into the woods. There were 2 wounded ones that were promptly shot in the eye and stomach with a newly found longbow. <p>They took the wagon without a bone sword and a dead body and a hole in it and filled it to the brim with the spoils they found. They soon found it tiring to call themselves  they so they came up with a name for their small band. It was Gkl Cÿin or  Slithering maw. <p>They crept into a small hamlet and stole all the children and burnt down all the houses and killed all the adults. They taught the children how to use weapons and armor and shields and then they had 56 people in their group. They did the same until their numbers were more than 200,000 then they ruled the world they lived in and killed people at their leisure and then they died. <p>The End <p><a href=teen.html>The collected works</a>