Rules of Economics-Prologue
#1 of Rules of Economics
The beginning of an epic story...Or so I hope.
Let me start by saying that this story will not be short. If you enjoy it, expect a little bit of reading time. And expect gaps between posting.
I never am sure what to say in the comments section... I came up with this idea over a year ago and I've been working on it consistently since. I've got a few chapters in and I hope you guys enjoy it. And...I am going to finish this one. I've been a slacker on many in the past and I apologize for that. So...keep me accountable. Keep me writing. And keep the comments (both criticism and praise are welcome and encouraged) coming. Your feedback helps and motivates me.
Thanks guys.
A polite warning: Submission rating will increase.
Prologue
A single, solitary dirt road ran through the woods. A stream followed beside the road, the sound cascading through the darkness of the night. Above, the sky was overcast, letting only a fraction of the moon's light to touch the earth. A few barren aspen trees grew here and there along the road and water. They once may have held leaves, but fall had taken hold and the leaves were long gone. Beyond the road and stream, mostly brush and pine trees attempted to form a woods.
The silence of the night was broken by a sound in the distance. At first, it was a muffled disturbance, like something rustling down a bend in the road. The sound, a steady 'thud-thud thud-thud', began to grown both in bass and volume. It was the sound of something heavy striking the ground quickly and it was moving fast judging by the way it got louder. It was the sound of hooves beating upon the dirt. As quickly as the sound began, a black shape appeared out of the shadows. A brown stallion burst out of darkness into what little light filtered through the clouds, a man astride his back.
"Heeyah! Faster, faster! Come on!" He moved in time with the horse's head bobbing, his body bucking forward and his thighs pressed into the sides of his steed. Behind him, past the bend in the woods, more disturbances began.
The horse drove on, kicking up dirt clods and tearing down the road and past the bend. The man on horseback looked back, clutching a satchel against his side. "Haha! They'll nevah catch MacGrady!" He lifted one hand away from the reins to cup his mouth and shout, "Give my regards to the lady, boyos!" He then whooped as loudly as he could.
Not far ahead on the road from his demonstration of bravado, light began to flicker in the waters that ran alongside the road, just where the road began to curve into the woods. While the man who was MacGrady kept his gaze rearward, the stallion's eyes caught the light flicker where there should have been none. The horse quickly tried to stop in a panic, his animal instinct overcoming his training. Before he could do anything to alter the course of physics, MacGrady was flung forward and away from the horse and the reins that he had so haphazardly loosened his grip on. He flew silently into the night, looking confused at the stallion that was upside down and moving away from him. There was a quiet flash of light and then only the skittered whiny of a stallion that suddenly had no rider.
On the road behind, other hoof beats began to grow just as quickly. "He won't get away so easily," one stern voice shouted in frustration, though it sounded like it was trying to convince itself instead of others. Around the bend they too came, and slowed just as quickly as they spotted the stallion foaming at the mouth and rearing at something unseen. "Look lads, he must've been thrown! He can't have gone far! Find him!"
A group of three men dismounted from their horses and spread out while one remained on his steed. One man walked into the stream, making the first splashing noise to be heard that night. He stalked to the other side of the stream, trying to find tracks. "He ain't gone this way," he said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"I don't care which way he ain't gone, I want him just found," the mounted man growled.
They slowly advanced into the woods. Aside from the crunching of dried twigs, there was only silence. And the silence seemed to grow with each passing minute. After about ten minutes, they returned to the road, each man glancing over their shoulders as though they expected something to be behind them. "Well," the mounted man demanded.
"Nothing," one responded. "And I mean nothing at all. Not a bird chirp or an animal stirring. It's damn odd, it is." Even the horses were suddenly quiet, their panting just a part of the background noise.
There was a silent assent and all mounted their horses. The lead man grabbed the reigns of the riderless stallion and tied it to his saddle. "He can't get far. We'll gather a search party in the morning and find him."
"Or what's left of him," whispered one of the other men.
"Maybe you're right. Either way, justice is served. Let's get out of here."
As they rode away, the night's oppressive darkness did not lift until they were far gone from the bend.
A flash of light and MacGrady landed on a hard surface that wasn't wet like he expected it to be. "Blast it all..." His voice quickly lost its sharpness as he looked around. He wasn't in the woods anymore. He wasn't on the dirt road either. He was somewhere else. His sharp eyes stared at the surface beneath his hands and knees, trying to understand what it was he lay upon.
Before his mind could even begin to process any of his surroundings, the ground shook beneath him. Not the sound of horse beats, but something even larger. Slowly, he looked up. Then he whispered, "May the devil take me..." Not even a scream could escape his lips as he simply stayed on his knees and watched a nightmare approach.