Round Hill Hop

By the end of the great battle with Gareth, I was teleported and left unconscious to Fehnrir, the home of the Fire Hogs. After which Arelyene found me and shielded me to safety, I was to embark on a great quest to relocate my friends, warrior Devenger and Jachimo the Mage. But that story is for another time. This story is about my adventure upon the Round Hill.

Pushing open the wide doors, I entered the great hall and walked forward to the bar. I ordered a light meal and proceeded to find a seat. Upon sitting, many of the locals turned their heads and stared at me, wondering who I was. One of these men knew who I was though, despite me not knowing him. Alaster was his name, a tall, large man, who was said to not speak much. He often sat there, alone most nights. Every once in a while, another older gentleman was seen with him, but no one in the town ever found out his name.

A dark figured called out to me from the corner, giving me a hard time for entering their town, but I paid him no mind. I kept on eating alone, contemplating my current dilemma. Far off to my left, I began to hear some shouting. As I turned, I discovered a nine-foot-tall beast-of-a-man enter the room. I realized after a little while, the reason I mistook him for a beast was because of his furry hide, and a large fluffy hat he wore. The bartender did not want any trouble, and trouble was just what this man was looking for. The guards at the door had no ability to stop him from entering. He waltzed right into the large gathering hall and demanded a brew. The bartender gave him a hard time and asked him a few more times to leave, but with a slam of his fist, the beast received his drink.

Within a few minutes, this man had a belly full of drink and was raring for a fight. He picked up the man next to him, and threw him across the table, hitting several other men down. Some of the other men rushed over to help defend the bar from whatever may happen next. Of course this meant nothing to the large fellow. He brushed through them like it was fun for him, which I’m sure it was. I was halfway to standing when an arm held me down. Alaster stood there over me, letting me know that he would take care of this. Alaster slowly walked over to the scene of this beast ripping into a group of men. Another person ran up behind him in a frenzy and started hitting his back. The beast reeled back and hit her, dropping her to the ground. With this, Alaster knew he had to be stopped.

“No more,” Alaster spoke, “You have caused enough harm this night, Burundi. Leave this place at once and let us return to our meals. Can you not see that you have gone as far as to hit a woman?”

Burundi looked up in shame, knowing that he took his rage too far. Unable to redeem himself, he shouted back, “Be quiet, old man. You are no longer my Master. I come and go as I please, and I do as please on my own time. If you think you can control me, I’d like to see you try. Meet me on at the Round Hill tomorrow, if you care to dare. And as a little motivator for you, I will be taking this so-called woman with me.” Burundi immediately picked up the small lady and hurried himself out the door, running far faster than any man in the town.

The woman’s husband cried out after him, knowing just exactly what Burundi planned to do with her if she was not saved the next day. “Please Alaster, you must go and bring back my wife. She is my all, she is my everything. Please. please.”

Alaster, knowing perfectly well the trouble of the situation, returned to his seat to consider his next action. Burundi was a difficult case. He was always so strong-willed and stubborn, never knew when to stop. He would continually push until he got his way. Despite having a conscious, his actions often got away from him and his pride took over. Alaster, knowing this, had not many other options but to fight his student. But Alaster was far older now, and did not desire the adrenaline of battle.

The next day came all too quickly, and I followed Alaster up to that hilltop. Most of the villagers had gathered for the fight, for this was, of course, a pastime for them. They were often aware of the fights that occurred, and enjoyed watching. Unfortunately, a food vendor was even walking around selling his goods. I can never understand how humans take pleasure in watching such a fight. Alaster hated that they were all present. The last thing he wanted to do was fan Burundi’s ego any further.

With a rumble, Burundi came out from a large hole in the ground. Scared as if it were an earthquake, many of the villagers huddled to the ground waiting for it to pass. The stolen woman was nowhere to be seen. Burundi did not bring her back to the surface. As they began to circle one another, I took this as an opportunity to enter this massive hole. I snuck over, close to the entrance and slunk my way in. Deeper and deeper the hole went, darker and darker. At least ninety yards down this path took me. Unable to detect where I was any longer, I cautiously advanced. Slowly but surely, I finally reached a large boulder, with a little light creeping out from behind. I pushed and I pushed with all of my strength, the boulder baring budged. But alas, after rocking it back and forth a few times, I got the boulder to roll out from the crevice. Inside were all sorts of treasure from the surrounding mountainside. How was he able to get away with all of this stuff without being caught? I peered around the room some more, trying to uncover as much as I could about this beast. It seemed that he ate a lot of raw meat and took his time butchering the animal too. It was cold and damp down there under the hill, so it kept the meat rather fresh.

Searching around the room, I came upon a stunning statue. The marble image glistened in the soft light of the hearth. It appeared to be from old times, during the age of the Philosopher’s Writings. The intricate design of the man’s features was brilliant. It was perfected enough that through Mason’s Word, I called upon the statue. The statue began to creak awake. Starting by blinking his eyes, he slowly twitched his nose and moustache. Given some time, he was prepared to speak.

“Greetings Guardian, what is your need of me?”

“Please, oh wise one, tell me of your captor.”

“Ah yes, this brute of a man. Burundi is his name. He brought me here from the gates of Durham. I have stood the test of time in the temple of Graben, until he came around. He burst into the temple in an awful fit. The priests tried to stop him, but alas, their words fell on deaf ears. Burundi smashed some of the beautiful pillars, killing many of my comrades. I, for some reason, earned his attention. He stopped his wanton destruction only when he caught the sight of me. Upon my bridled horse, I flickered in the moonlight. I am made with the highest quality of marble too, mind you. Fortunately, he pulled almost the entirety of my pillar down in one foul swooping, careful to not damage my beautiful image. Luckily, with my theft, he left the gates and never returned. From time to time, the man seems normal, but other times, even in his own home, he goes berserk and smashes his own goods. Burundi is certainly unbalanced. Although one thing I have noticed, he rarely takes his hat and coat off. I am unsure if it is cold down here, but I would expect him to relax his garb at some point.”

“Anything else you have noticed?”

“Now that you mention it, I have no…” He turned back to stone when a quiet rustling started, which I heard coming from the back wall. As I approached that area, the lady began to cry out, begging for help. I picked her up and brought her to the outside, leaving the statue stranded once again.

Shining brightly, the sun blinded me as I approached the surface. “Stop,” I shouted, “There is no longer any need for a battle. I have rescued the lady from Burundi’s den and brought her to safety. Alaster, this fight is fruitless.”

“I know it is, I just could not bear to see her harmed for my folly. I have taught Burundi many things, but this rage and fear I know not from whence it came. I am sorry Burundi; I have not been able to help you over these years. I no longer wish to fight.” And with that being said, Alaster turned away from the hulking beast, and proceeded to walk away.

Burundi would not have any of this and prepared to strike. He rushed forward, striking the death blow if it were not for me. I jumped into the fray, realizing what was going to happen. Of course Burundi was going to lash out as he always had, but Alaster did not deserve to die. He is a peaceful soul and simply wanted to return the safety of the woman back to her husband.

Blow after blow came raining down upon me. Burundi knew not that I had jumped in front of him, for every punch that landed on me was meant for Alaster. The fear and pride of this battle kept Burundi unclear of his motives and thoughts. The only thing he knew was pain and suffering. With a blind passion, Burundi picked me up and threw me aside. Hastily, I rose to the challenge and began to rain blows back upon the beast. He was a solid man, a giant rippling muscle. At this point the man was no longer present, it was just a ferocious beast with one objective—to kill. To this day, I am not entirely sure if he was cursed or if somehow he tapped into some primitive state of man, but there was no way for him to return to normal. I used my Swiftest Fist on his chest, hoping to relieve him of his air. No such luck. He took my blows in stride. Almost as if it were a tail, his leg came swinging around and sent me sailing back a few yards. This beast was not messing around. I gathered my strength, and with a mighty crash, I punched the ground. Sending up the power of a directed earthquake, the ground shattered and sputtered, sending Burundi soaring into the sky. I leapt into the air and conducted an overhead smash, directing the beast back towards the shattered ground with a higher velocity.

The beast crumpled to an awkward position as he lay there on the broken earth. He was not dead, but he was certainly unconscious. Alaster removed the furry hat from the beast, somehow gathering that the hat had somehow transformed him and diluted his thoughts. “Does anyone know what this is or can tell me why it does what it does?”

No one responded. No one had the magical background that Kauai, Yorick, or Jachimo had learned from centuries of historical reading. Alaster called out, “Gaheris, student of Kauai, walk forward.” He threw me the hat as I approached. “I once knew your Master. Please deliver this to him and find the answer to my ailment.” In some confusion over how he knew me, I slowly realized that he must have known my fighting style and attributed it back to Kauai. That, or maybe the school emblem I where on my armor gave it away. I never did figure it out. But alas, I may not have known if that hat was the curse upon Burundi’s head, but I did know that if Alaster asked me to find out, I surely would get him the answer. I would seek out Jachimo and someday return with this wisdom. Hopefully by that day, the relationship between Master and student will have returned and Burundi can move forward with his life, no longer fearing or lashing out in pride.

Alas, I must make haste and find Jachimo and Devenger before it’s too late. Thus ended my time with Alaster and Burundi, but I expect we’ll be meeting them again sometime in the near future. For who knows whether or not the curse had made its way fully into Burundi’s soul.