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Class Action
by: Alonzo Fugate
4-23-07
I stared at the silver axe that the man was holding out to me.  It glimmered in the dirty light of the torch.  I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.  Then, I remembered that the oracle had spoken of such an instrument.  It had stated that I would indeed find a silver axe. 
“I have two questions,” I said, as I took the axe from the hands of the hermit and examined it closely, “First of all, how did you get such a thing as a silver axe?  Second, how in the world did you know that I needed this?”
The man chuckled, “I’ve had this axe for years.  It was handed down to me by my dad.  He got it from his dad…who got it from his dad…and so on.  You know how those things go.  I guess that this axe has been in our family for generations.  It came all the way from Germany!”
It amazed me that the man was still in possession of such a valuable item.  I was even more amazed that he had just handed it to me without even asking if I needed it.
“I almost sold it once,” the hermit was looking down at the floor, “I was in a bad place in my life…and I needed the money.  But one of the nuns….Marianne….came to me right before I was fixing to leave and sell it.  She asked me not to sell it….said that it would be needed…”
“So I guess that you listened to her?” I smiled.
“Well, duh….” the hermit said, “If I hadn’t then you wouldn’t be holding the thing…now would you?  Plus, it helped that she was able to give me some money.  I usually don’t take charity…and she knew that.  She said that it wasn’t charity….that it was a payment.  She was paying me to keep this axe until the day that it would be needed.”
“So how did you know that I needed this axe?” I was confused as I asked this question.
“Marianne said that a man would come wandering around in the forest looking for me,” the hermit said, “She said, ‘Charlie, you keep this axe until that man gets here.  He is really gonna need it.’  So I kept it….and here it is.  You can have it for all that I’m concerned.  Marianne paid for it long, long ago.”
The cold heaviness of the axe felt good in my hands.  I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do with it though.
“Am I supposed to kill the Dar-koth with this?” I asked.
Charlie, for I had picked up the hermit’s name from his conversation, began to laugh, “NO!  No way man!  It would take more than a silver axe to kill that thing.  It isn’t actually alive…like you and me.  It’s gonna take something more to get rid of that demon.  Believe me…I know.  I’ve been trying to kill it for twenty years.”
I sat down on the ground and examined the axe closely.  It was carved with strange symbols that I could not read.  Little squiggles were carved into the handle.  They seemed to move with a power of their own in the flickering firelight.
Charlie crouched down beside me, “Hey there man.  Sorry to burst your bubble.  But if the Dar-koth is really after you then there isn’t much you can do.  I’ve heard that thing tracking its victims in the woods.  It never fails.  I’m just lucky that I haven’t been tracked down as of yet….and I can thank the sisters for that.  They can really work some strong magic up there in that little hut of theirs….and they’ve kept me safe all these long years.  I don’t think that I can ever pay them back.”
“But I’m not gonna die for anybody,” he continue, standing up again, “If that creature is really after you, then you’re gonna have to get the heck out of here.  I don’t want it to come snooping around where I sleep.  I don’t want to start messing with that thing right now….not after all these years.”
I was stunned.  Was he really sending me back out into the forest?  Didn’t he care if I lived or died?  I felt numb.  My mind was whirling as I tried to remember what the oracle had said.  I could remember the part about the hermit…I had found him.  I could also remember that I was going to be getting a silver axe….and now I had it.  What was the third part?  Something about….about….
“Twins!” I shouted, jumping up and waving the axe around like a madman.
Charlie, the hermit, jumped back as the axe whizzed past his beard, threatening a shave.  He looked at me like I was crazy (and I still wasn’t entirely sure that I wasn’t) and snorted, “Twins…what in tarnation are you talkin’ about boy?  There ain’t no children around these parts.”
“But that is what the oracle told me!” I was pacing around wildly, “It said that I would find a hermit….you….and that I would get a silver axe.  It also said that I would find the twins….and that they were imprisoned.  Do you think that there are some twins who are being kept locked up….trapped?”
Charlie’s eyes glazed over, and he seemed lost in deep thought.  Then I saw him give a shiver.  His eyes widened as he stared at me. 
“I know what the silver axe is for!” he wheezed suddenly, “It isn’t for the Dar-koth!  But if you don’t use it, you can never defeat the Dar-koth!”
I had no idea what he meant, but goosebumps broke out on my arms.