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                    A Brush With Death                     
                      -by WALN-Zell-                       
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                         Chapter 1                         
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Chapter 1
Sharp waded through the water, his hands sweeping the bottom of the pond. The lost Ring of Adag was his at last! He felt around for that precious platinum band. Little did he know, something else was looking for its fortune as well.  
Sharp was shoulder-deep in the water when he felt something that didn’t feel like sand. Foolishly, he grabbed hold of it in his right hand and raised his hand out of the water in victory. Then he felt a sharp pain on his palm. He opened his hand and there was a purple, wriggling, leech sucking blood from his hand. Then suddenly, he blacked out.
He held the Ring of Adag in his fingers. He admired the garnet inlaid on that perfectly polished platinum band. He could see the bids for this little thing being thrown at him. Ten million bits. Forty million bits. One billion bits. And there he stood on stage in front of hundreds of rich men and women hoping to add this little beauty to their collections of fancy decor and jewelry.
Now he held it as seven of the most rich folk in the world bid on it. Those other bids were nothing. A billion bits was not enough for the ring worn by the most famous sea raider in history.
The first bid came from High Priestess Welfeth. Twenty billion Gryphon shennings. Equal to around thirty-three billion Equestrian bits. This ring would be a most wonderful sight to the people of her theocracy, the city of Ertath. The other members of the Seceded States would know of her wealth and power and in turn, the power of the Goddess.  
Lord Mayor Oldrid scoffed at her petty sum and raised to thirty billion shennings.
The seven kept raising their promised sums until Marshall Lud of the Duchy of Morkar waved one hundred and ten billion shennings. No one dared surpass this lowly councilor’s offer. The ring was his. His guards carried in five large chests filled with hundred shenning coins and goods equivalent to certain prices such as gems, ivory, precious ores, and even rare wine. The other bidders were seen out by Sharp’s officers quickly so they could count their shares as soon as possible. Sharp handed over the ring to Lud and made sure that neither of them dropped it. Then Lud left with his prize and left Sharp with his. He kneeled down to pick up the coins and gems, his officers drooling at the sight of the glimmering treasure. Sharp went for the shiniest diamond in all the chests. A purple one weighing about twenty grams He felt the smooth gem in his palm, it’s perfectly cut corners stabbed his skin in the most pleasing way. He let out a big laugh and held out the diamond to his officers who cheered in turn.
“This… this is what we live for!” One sailor came from behind the crowd, but something seemed off about him. Sharp didn’t recognize this man, and he couldn’t identify because his face was shrouded by shadows, yet not a thing was blocking the lights, nor did he wear a hat.
“Hey cap’n! Can I see that!” Sharp had no intention of letting anyone else touch this beautiful show of wealth, yet for some reason, Sharp held out his arm and the man took hold of it. Then he and the room disappeared. All that was left was Sharp, but not entirely. With the man and the room, his forearm disappeared as well. As Sharp looked at what was left, fire erupted from the stump and Sharp awoke with a blood-curling scream!
Sharp had left his dream and had entered a room adorned with old medical equipment and oddities. He was strapped to a bed. Not a medical bed in a hospital, but a bed in this room with wooden walls and no windows, lit by candlelight. He immediately looked to his right arm, and what he saw sent his heart racing faster. A stallion dressed in a black, hooded robe was shoving a handful of long matches into the stump where his forearm used to be. This was the burning he felt.  
Sharp let out another scream and the man looked into his eyes. This man could see the look on Sharp’s face, but Sharp couldn’t see the look on his, for his face was covered by a white, beaked mask. He spoke calmly, “Cease your worry sailor! You are safe!”
“You! What did you do to my arm!? Get away from me!”
“Please. I haven’t fini-”
“Nooooow!” The robes stallion took his matches and stepped back. Sharp raised his arm and looked at the cauterized wound. Blood still dripped from a few places.
“What the fuck!? You cut off my arm! You sick bastard!”
“I just saved your life! Please! Just calm yourself as much as you can.” Sharp looked around the room and slowly managed to calm himself down.
“Tell me why you did this.” Sharp commanded. The masked man turned around to an icebox and took out something wrapped in fabric. When the fabric was unfolded, it was revealed to be Sharp’s forearm and hand.
“This is why.” He showed the palm, and still attached to the palm was that purple leech, weakened by the freezing cold icebox and no longer squirming.
“You cut off my arm because of a leech!?”
“This isn’t just any leech.” He took a dagger out from a drawer on his desk behind him and cut the leech from the hand, then took hold of the leech and tossed it into a tub filled with them. He placed folded Sharp’s arm back in the fabric and put it back in the icebox. “This is an Adag Leech. They can only be found on the small island of Adag in the Far East Ocean. They usually latch onto crabs. They’re very rare and usually don’t want anything to do with anything or anyone not native to their island. That’s all they have going for them. These leeches are very dangerous. I take it you were after Adag’s ring?”
“I was. I found that little bastard instead. All it did was bite me and suck my blood. I don’t see why they’re so-”
“Observe.” the masked stallion interrupted. He opened a closet that Sharp couldn’t see since it was on the right side of a small hallway that he wasn’t at the right angle to see down. He emerged with a very large crab chitin. Then he grabbed a leech from the tub and dropped it onto the chitin. The man snapped his fingers and before him appeared a small, stone table with a stand on it. He then put the chitin down on it. The leech stayed still for a moment, then it spat a green fluid that dissolved through the chitin in an instant. The fluid sizzled on the stone table then began to eat through that as well. Sharp staired in horror and intrigue as the fluid passed through the table. Just as it was about to hit the floor, the masked man through a salmon underneath the drop. The fluid was stopped its tracks. “That, my friend, is Adag Leech acid. It eats through most hard surfaces and only stops when it evaporates or hits flesh. These things like crab blood. I’m not sure why. But they’ve evolved teeth that can pierce their chitin and acid saliva that dissolves it. Then its teeth dig into the flesh and it begins feeding.”
“Alright. So it spits acid. Is that why you cut off my arm?”
“Hm? Oh! Right. Your arm. No. That’s only part of it.”
“These leeches do worse things?”
“Mhm.” The man picked up the fish and it turned into smoke. He reached into his sleeve  
and took out a glass tube filled with the acid. “Inside this acid lies eggs. The next generation of acid-spitting bloodsuckers protected by a layer of acid proof protein. These leeches reproduce asexually, and at an alarming rate. Nearly every time they feed on their prey, they lay these eggs in them. These eggs usually lie dormant where the leech bites, but eventually the leech will stop feeding, detach, and fall back into the water. Then the eggs will travel through the bloodstream,” he paused and pointed to his temple. “And travel to your brain. When they reach your brain, they hatch and the young attach to your brain.”
“Shit!”
“It doesn’t end there.” The man drew a black rag and waved it over the stone table. From under it appeared a huge crab about a foot and a third in width. It was very calm for being in such and environment. The man took a leech from the tub and held it over the crab. “I’m sorry about this friend.” he dropped the leech on top of the crab and it began its process. The crab stumbled around, clearly in pain. The man grabbed his dagger again and sliced the leech in half. “Now that the leech has stopped feeding…” the crab began shaking violently and fell off of the stone table onto the floor. Eventually it stopped moving.
“I…”
“Wait.” About a minute passed before the crab began to move again. It stumbled around, all over the place. Out of thin air, a clam appeared in the man’s palm. He dropped it to the crab, but it stopped in mid-air just out of the crab’s reach. It raised its claws and reached desperately for the clam. “This is normal behavior. But with those young in its brain…” the crab suddenly grabbed its right arm and ripped it off. It then proceeded to swing its arm like a club at the clam. It missed a few times, but eventually hit it, and gravity returned to its prey. The crab grabbed the clam and cracked it open then dug in. “That isn’t something these crabs do. In fact, I don’t know of any crabs that would even consider that. That’s because the young leeches in the brain will do anything to get food. This kind of crab does grow back its limbs, but using them as tools is way beyond any crab species, or any animal species.”
“That’s beyond creepy. You’re saying that this could’ve happened to me? That I could’ve been ripping my arm off and...” he looked at his right arm.
“And still it gets worse.” The man grabbed the crab and put it back on the stone table.
“Creatures affected by these leech young will even devour their own kind. I don’t mean like smaller crabs. I mean the same species. Their own young or even another full sized crab if it can take it down. If those leech young got into your brain, you’d be eating your friends and family at Heartswarming dinner! I’ve seen it happen twice. That’s two times too many. The first time, a small ship made port. Ten people in all. One of them murdered the rest and ate them before jumping into the water and drowning himself. The second time, an adventurer and his crew. His wife and kids. The affected burned the ship. Only three of the thirty after that. Then those three took their own lives before they could die of starvation. One of the worst things I’ve ever seen is a baby biting off his mother’s finger and spitting blood all over her. Then she became affected and then she ate…” The man pulled out a chair from nowhere and sat down. There’s only two ways to save them. Cut off the limb the leech or affected bit, or…” He stood up, took his dagger, stroked the crab on its chitin, then plunged the dagger into its brain. “If the leech attaches to your neck or head or torso. This is the only way. You can only save their souls and the lives of countless others they could have affected or eaten. He pulled the dagger, now covered in blue blood, out of the dead crab.
The man sighed. The crab, the dead leech and the blood on the dagger turned to smoke like the fish from before. “It’s a good thing they were just familiars.” said the man. I take no joy in this sort of thing. Even if they were real, they couldn’t die. Nothing here can die. That crab would be in agonizing pain until I brought it back to the mortal world. So there you go. That’s what you lost an arm for.”
“So. Can I-”
“Yes yes. The bed. I’m sorry. I should’ve let you up sooner.” the man undid the straps on the bed and let Sharp get up.
“I don’t know what to say. I’m really lucky you were around. Thanks. Uh. Who are you?”
“That’s not an easy question to answer. I am everywhere, but nowhere. I am there when an old man takes his last breath on his deathbed. I’m there when a soldier stabs another through the chest with a sword. I am there when a predator mauls its prey.”
“No. You couldn’t be…” The man grabbed a leech from the tub and let it bite his hand. The leech began wriggling, it spat out acid, and then it dried up and died. Its acid disappeared and the bite wound healed itself.
“Yes. I am death itself. You could consider yourself privileged to come face to face with me before you’re dead. I consider it a curse. For me at least. I don’t like to make connections with future… clients. Except in this case. I have a somewhat unhealthy interest in you and your family. That is why I spared you. I admire your feats and adventures, and I’d hate to see them end so soon.”
“Wouldn’t the gods have your head for that?”
“I can certainly say they aren’t pleased, but you let me handle them. Besides, I’m already dead. Decapitating me isn’t going to do anything. As for you, you won’t be getting your hand back. However, I cannot stand to see you live a boring life because of your loss. In the time you were out. I carved this.” Death rummaged through the closet again and took out a box. He opened it and inside was a hand made of wood.  
“How does this work? We have metal prosthetics and they’re clunky and hard to use. How is this thing made of wood supposed to get me back to what I do best?”
“Well, this isn’t just any wood.” Death opened a large drawer on his desk and pulled out a log with several short branches and placed it on the desk. “This here is called living wood. Everyone knows that plants are alive, but they aren’t sentient. They can’t think or feel. But this wood can. In fact.” Death drew his dagger and stabbed at the log. One of the branches wrapped around his wrist and stopped him. “See? It has a will to live.” He tried to pull away, but the branch held tight. “Oh what a bother.” Death turned to smoke and appeared again, the branch went back to normal. They don’t quite think like you. They can’t even be compared to children of certain ages. They think in their own way. Sometimes similar to you, but sometimes not.”
“So you killed a log and carved it into this hand?”
“Carved, yes. Killed, no. The wood your new hand is made of merely docile because I promised it a greater purpose.”
“A greater purpose?”
“Yes. There is something they share with children, and that’s ambitions. Dreams. Living trees are grown and wait for so long doing nothing while sitting in one place for years on end. They want to do something else. They’ll pray that they’ll get a chance to be a part of something greater. When someone chops them down, the tree is happy. Even when the tree is chopped into pieces, each log will have its own mind and own ambitions. The log that became this hand had such a goal. To help someone. I promised it that I found someone who needed help. When it saw you, it gave me permission to carve it into a hand. So I did. And here we are.”
“So. How does this work. How do we attach it to my arm?”
“Well. I can surgically attach these strings” Death showed the end of the forearm. These strings were the nerves. “To the ones in your arm. Don’t worry, these strings are durable and flexible. They won’t snap. However, the living wood must be shown that you are worthy of using it. Of taking control of it.”
“How do we do that?” Death reached into his robe and took out a syringe.
“Sacrifice. You must be willing to give a part of yourself to the wood before it gives itself to you. You need to be close. Like sharing the same blood, close. Like siblings.”
“I’d love to get a new arm and all, but what about my crew? They’re probably worrying about me by now. I think I should go tell them what’s going on before I do all this.”
“That won’t be necessary. You’re in my realm. Here, no time passes. Well, no mortal time.”
“Mortal time?”
“The Heavens and Tartarus and the like have time, but your world, the world of living things has no effect here. Well. Not entirely. I mean, ancestors look down on descendants, the gods watch too, but time here is… Describing it in mortal words is impossible.”
“Mortal words?”
“Haha! Same problem. The point is, you’ll meet up with your crew as if only a few minutes passed.”
“But how would a minute pass if-”
“Just sit down and give me your arm.”
When Death had taken a sufficient amount of Sharp’s blood, he reluctantly inserted the syringe into the hand and injected his blood into it. The hand tapped its middle and index fingers on the desk. Death sighed, “More.”  
Death took several more syringes of blood and the hand still wanted more. Mind his syringe was fairly large.
“I can’t take much more of this. That hand is selfish.” said Sharp.
“Don’t jump to conclusions like that. Remember, living wood thinks differently than you and has different needs. Plus, it can hear you.” the hand tapped its index finger twice on the desk. “Let’s try one more. Alright?”
“Alright. Just one more. If that doesn’t do it… I don’t know what I’ll do.”
“Okay. Here we go.” Death took one more syringe full and injected the blood into the hand. Before Sharp could see whether it wanted more or not, he passed out.
Author's Note
Originally, the major swears in this story were censored with asterisks, but I didn't know if it was necessary since there's some violence against crustaceans in it. Not sure if it would be fit for teen if I left them censored.