Photo by Nik Owens on Unsplash
Photo by Pablo Pacheco on Unsplash

Links to the original post and the story so far (in order) can be found in the Tale of Two Pizza's Archive Post

This week's Tale of Two Pizzas progressed nicely with a great piece by @wrestlingdesires. We caught another glimpse of the Preda's attempts to rebuild some sort of culture with their continued efforts to train their townsfolk in Ballet. Rachel was lucky enough to meet Tanya who once again proved her loyalty to the Pizza Baron and aided Rachel in rescuing Henry from where he was held in the dungeon.

With only @wrestlingdesires entry this week he will obviously be receiving the customary SBI sponsorship and Pizza and without further ado I will get right into the next section of our story!

Winners delivery pics

The casual way the old women had talked to the twisted and broken horse left Barry shaken. He didn't want to admit it even to himself but he was genuinely frightened. He tried to remain still in the hay and straw he had hidden himself in. He could see the twisted horse still, now obviously dead and collapsed in the stall across from him. Blood dripped from its nostrils and lifeless, staring eyes and pooled on the cobbles beneath. The way its neck was twisted it seemed to be staring directly at him. He stilled the shudder that tried to ripple through him.

Busk's Dragon was stomping and snorting relentlessly in his stall. The stallion was clearly not happy about the black mist that had attempted to overcome him. He likely wouldn't settle for some time. The gelding that the old woman had offered as a second choice was still and silent. Barry would have thought Dragon the only horse in the stables if he didn't know otherwise. Whatever it was that had twisted the dead horses neck must now be possessing the gelding. The thought terrified him. He was expert in espionage and combat, he had trained to be the best at both. He knew that torture and imprisonment was a possibility for anyone that worked as a spy. That had not been enough to dissuade him. He knew how to deal with them and remain in control of himself. He prided himself on that.

The thought of that black mist- he had seen it pour out of the twisted horse and into Dragon- possessing him. Losing control of himself... well that thought was too much.

So he dared not move. He knew he had a mission to complete but how was he supposed to get out past the possessed gelding without being noticed... or worse... possessed? Do possessed horses sleep? Why would they need to... they can always just get another horse and leave the host exhausted... I wonder if Henry's horse suffered the same fate? He pulled himself together. The logistics of horse possession could be pondered another time, preferably when he was safe at home. I'm gonna have to try and sneak past... nothing else for it!

With that final thought he began to move slowly, timing his movements with the stomps and snorts of Dragon so his rustling might remain undetected. He extricated himself from the hay and began crawling along the cobbles, heading for the courtyard outside.

Inside the main house the old woman was strolling along the corridor to report to Selene. She held the note from Mrs. Preda in front of her as she entered the study where Selene sat by a roaring fire. It was uncomfortably warm, though neither Selene or the old woman showed any sign of the heat. When Frederick Busk had used this study the huge south facing windows had been surrounded by plants. The man was the Fruit Baron after all. He loved things that grow. Now those plants were all withered and skeletal. They seemed to be completely dried out. Of course the old woman didn't even glance at them.

"Mistress? I have a message from the Preda's. The usual messenger. He dumped his rider in the woods because he was taking too long and killed the horse while he was at it. We'll need more horses if he keeps it up!" The old woman clucked her disapproval and placed the envelope on the small table beside the armchair.

"He's just having some fun. Can you imagine if you were stuck with animals as he is? As uncomfortable as it is in this woman at least I can speak and enjoy myself a little." Her voice echoed slightly, and the echoes carried with them deeper tones that couldn't have been made by human vocal chords. "You don't wish to switch with him do you Sheila?"

"No no I am quite happy with this old lady Mistress. And I will say it is much more fun now that most of the servants have gone home. To hear the darkness in your voice without worrying about scaring the help you know?" The woman cackled briefly, and the echoes of her laughter seemed distorted into a hacking cough. The shadows playing across the wall behind her, cast by the dancing flames, shifted occasionally from a human outline to something other.

"Perhaps the two of you together would be strong enough to handle Busk's Dragon" Selene mused. She reached for the envelope and tore it open with a fingertip in a slashing motion somehow reminiscent of a dagger slicing open some innocent's throat. She scanned the paper while the old women struggled to come up with a fitting response to her Mistress' casual threat.

"He tried just now... He is in the gelding instead..." She said lamely, and the echoes of her voice came back as a fearful whisper.

"Well there will be no more horses until you've managed to deal with that one Sheila! It seems the Preda's wish to join forces to face down the Pizza Baron... Shame... just after we've gotten all comfy here. We will have to call back all of the servants and guards and blend in once more. We will need them to fight for us." As she spoke the strange echoes began to fade from her voice until suddenly she sounded as she appeared. A middle aged, beautiful, and slightly irritated human woman. She quickly walked over to the desk and scribbled a few lines on the back side of the message. She stalked over to Sheila and handed it to her.

"Send him back to the Preda's in his new form. Tonight. At once. Then get busy rounding everyone up. We must tell them that Danny Rupert is holding their beloved Frederick and Delilah captive. We will make them fight, one way or another. And we WILL win."

The rules for this week remain the same as previous weeks!

I'd like to continue building on the story of the Pizza Baron and his post apocalyptic world. Each week I'll pick a winner that becomes the next piece of the story and wins 20 $PIZZA and a 2 SBI sponsorship from me. I may award additional prizes if I feel multiple entries expand the story well.

Each week I'll write a post announcing the winner and then I will write another chunk of the story and open it up again for the next weeks competition. I'll compile the winning entry for each week. If we reach a conclusion of the epic tale of the Pizza Baron I'll divide another TBD amount of PIZZA among all the winning entries throughout the whole story and publish the finished story here on Hive with all the contributors as beneficiaries. If this goes well we might have the first open source blockchain novella on our hands! 😂

The first weeks contest established a secondary storyline that may be tied back into the main plot if you so wish!

Bear in mind this is an experiment as well as a competition so we will see how many entries I get and how well it goes!

Rules:

Entries must be more than 200 words but less than.

Entries must use the hivepizza tag

Entries must comment on this post with the link to their entry

Entries must fit in the world/scenario that has developed from the previous weeks contest(s). You are free to develop characters, introduce new ones, invite aliens to the feast, I don't care as long it makes some kind of sense in the context! The Pizza Baron should remain relevant to the plot!
(I've named it a Tale of TWO Pizza's for a reason HINT HINT)