1 00:00:00,140 --> 00:00:18,480 Speaker 1: Hello, 2 00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:24,160 Speaker 1: traveler. I am Second Mask, purveyor of 3 00:00:24,360 --> 00:00:29,600 Speaker 1: secrets, master of mysteries, and right hand to the Revealer 4 00:00:29,720 --> 00:00:30,480 Speaker 1: herself. 5 00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:38,120 Speaker 1: Whether you realize it or not, you are under her dominion. 6 00:00:39,220 --> 00:00:45,200 Speaker 1: All of these collected worlds are hers. But 7 00:00:45,680 --> 00:00:51,360 Speaker 1: fear not, because she and I are generous souls. We 8 00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:56,380 Speaker 1: seek only to reveal the many secrets her worlds have to offer. 9 00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:04,360 Speaker 1: Ah, I am so glad to see the travelers flitting about again between 10 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:10,040 Speaker 1: worlds, sowing and revealing secrets. And in honor of this 11 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:15,860 Speaker 1: momentous occasion, I will be hosting an auction, an auction 12 00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:21,420 Speaker 1: unlike any you have seen before, for I will be selling secrets. 13 00:01:22,260 --> 00:01:26,360 Speaker 1: Take this book, for instance. There is nothing like it in all the Eternium. 14 00:01:28,700 --> 00:01:34,020 Speaker 1: Like everything at this auction, it has a story. The best secrets are 15 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:40,120 Speaker 1: stories, don't you think? The man who sold this to me did so at great 16 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:46,160 Speaker 1: cost to himself. I took ten years from his life simply to remove the memory 17 00:01:46,220 --> 00:01:51,980 Speaker 1: of it. His own frantic notes are scrawled on the front cover. See, you can see them 18 00:01:52,060 --> 00:01:57,160 Speaker 1: here. Ah, but you're made of tougher stuff than he, aren't you? I'm sure you have 19 00:01:57,220 --> 00:02:02,980 Speaker 1: nothing to fear. And in the spirit of celebration and generosity, I will 20 00:02:03,140 --> 00:02:05,800 Speaker 1: read it to you at no cost. 21 00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:13,240 Speaker 1: You have no body at present, so relax your mind instead and listen to 22 00:02:14,540 --> 00:02:15,640 Speaker 1: The Woodsman. 23 00:02:18,140 --> 00:02:23,420 Speaker 1: My name isn't important. Who I am isn't important. 24 00:02:24,180 --> 00:02:30,180 Speaker 1: The only thing that matters is a single question. Read it carefully, then read it 25 00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:35,360 Speaker 1: again. Is it better to live a tortured existence 26 00:02:36,440 --> 00:02:37,680 Speaker 1: or to not exist at all? 27 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:45,620 Speaker 1: This isn't an academic question. It matters. It matters because you 28 00:02:45,700 --> 00:02:51,280 Speaker 1: have to decide right now. I couldn't live with the weight of that question. 29 00:02:52,220 --> 00:02:57,800 Speaker 1: I'm sorry. I just couldn't do it alone. So I wrote here. 30 00:02:59,960 --> 00:03:05,160 Speaker 1: I tried. I really tried. If you change the words, 31 00:03:06,320 --> 00:03:11,340 Speaker 1: lifeless. If you stop halfway, lifeless. 32 00:03:12,580 --> 00:03:18,020 Speaker 1: I understand if you hate me too after reading this, but you need to decide. 33 00:03:20,360 --> 00:03:26,080 Speaker 1: Is it better to live a tortured existence or to not exist at all? 34 00:03:27,380 --> 00:03:32,060 Speaker 1: If you choose oblivion, then simply stop reading. 35 00:03:35,340 --> 00:03:41,180 Speaker 1: The Woodsman. I'm walking down the street, holding my arms over my head to 36 00:03:41,220 --> 00:03:43,900 Speaker 1: try and stop the falling rain from soaking my dress. 37 00:03:45,220 --> 00:03:47,120 Speaker 2: Why are we out here exactly? 38 00:03:48,320 --> 00:03:52,980 Speaker 3: We're out here because I have four daughters and not a single one of them is 39 00:03:53,040 --> 00:03:53,460 Speaker 3: married. 40 00:03:54,700 --> 00:03:55,060 Speaker 2: So? 41 00:03:56,200 --> 00:03:57,100 Speaker 3: So, there. 42 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:02,120 Speaker 2: Is that the Woodsman? Why is he just sitting here? 43 00:04:02,740 --> 00:04:05,620 Speaker 1: He looks pensive and sort of sad. 44 00:04:06,140 --> 00:04:12,040 Speaker 3: Who knows? It doesn't matter. The point is he's sitting there and you are the 45 00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:14,680 Speaker 3: pretty young girl he's been dying to talk to. 46 00:04:15,700 --> 00:04:21,000 Speaker 1: I don't believe her. I've never even talked to him, unless you count a polite nod 47 00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:26,280 Speaker 1: when he wanders into the general store, stinking from his work mapping the forests. 48 00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:29,100 Speaker 2: He's Papa's age. 49 00:04:29,860 --> 00:04:35,160 Speaker 3: He is not. And he's far more handsome than your papa, so consider yourself lucky. 50 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:40,640 Speaker 1: I resent the way she said that. I hate how she always makes me feel like I'm a 51 00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:46,560 Speaker 1: burden, even when I do what she asks. I almost walk away, risking her wrath, 52 00:04:46,660 --> 00:04:51,500 Speaker 1: but something stops me. He looks so sad over there. 53 00:04:52,700 --> 00:04:54,100 Speaker 1: It would be getting dark soon. 54 00:04:56,320 --> 00:05:00,360 Speaker 1: No one should have to sit alone in the rain and in the dark. 55 00:05:02,360 --> 00:05:04,520 Speaker 1: I sigh and steel myself. 56 00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:10,460 Speaker 2: [sighs] He never talks to anyone. What if he's 57 00:05:10,840 --> 00:05:11,380 Speaker 2: weird? 58 00:05:12,180 --> 00:05:17,800 Speaker 3: Oh, goodness, girl. It's just a conversation. And he's not weird. He's 59 00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:23,500 Speaker 3: just tired of his lifestyle, I think. You're the perfect thing to cheer him up. 60 00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:25,320 Speaker 2: Fine. 61 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:32,240 Speaker 1: It wasn't fine, but what was I going to do? Run away to Temit's Ville and 62 00:05:32,300 --> 00:05:34,380 Speaker 1: work the fields? Never. 63 00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:41,200 Speaker 1: As I walk over to the Woodsman, my mother flees with surprising haste. She had a 64 00:05:41,280 --> 00:05:46,440 Speaker 1: smile on her face, though, so regardless of how bad I botch this conversation, at 65 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:51,260 Speaker 1: least she will be pleased for a while. Maybe she'll even wait a few more days before 66 00:05:51,300 --> 00:05:55,020 Speaker 1: introducing me to the next love of my life. Maybe. 67 00:05:56,580 --> 00:06:00,660 Speaker 1: The Woodsman is sitting on a large stump with various equipment strewn about the 68 00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:05,980 Speaker 1: ground next to him. Among the equipment is a crossbow. I wonder what that's for. 69 00:06:06,700 --> 00:06:07,120 Speaker 1: Wolves? 70 00:06:08,960 --> 00:06:12,760 Speaker 1: He's still staring off into the woods that surround the clearing around our village. 71 00:06:13,460 --> 00:06:19,180 Speaker 1: It's like we're living on a little island of grass inside a great big sea of trees. 72 00:06:19,200 --> 00:06:24,839 Speaker 1: "Good evening." The woodsman doesn't reply. I look 73 00:06:24,900 --> 00:06:30,680 Speaker 1: around, feeling awkward. How annoying. Well, I'm at least 74 00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:35,260 Speaker 1: going to get him to tell me to piss off. It's one thing to be turned down and 75 00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:41,219 Speaker 1: another entirely to be ignored. I sit down on the stump next to him. He'll talk 76 00:06:41,259 --> 00:06:44,040 Speaker 1: eventually. We can't ignore each other forever. 77 00:06:45,660 --> 00:06:51,620 Speaker 1: To my surprise, he does speak. "Why am I just sitting here in the rain? Shouldn't 78 00:06:51,700 --> 00:06:57,600 Speaker 1: I be doing something? It's such a strange place to start." For some reason, 79 00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:03,000 Speaker 1: those questions catch me off guard for a moment. Not that I mind skipping the formal 80 00:07:03,100 --> 00:07:07,980 Speaker 1: pleasantries of a greeting. It can get tiresome asking how another person is doing 81 00:07:08,540 --> 00:07:12,400 Speaker 1: when it's plain to see that they are sitting sullenly in the rain looking at a 82 00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:18,400 Speaker 1: gloomy forest. He probably hates spending so much time in there. "I don't 83 00:07:18,400 --> 00:07:22,640 Speaker 1: think anyone will blame you for waiting until the rain lets up, sir. It's dreadful 84 00:07:22,700 --> 00:07:27,060 Speaker 1: weather to be mucking about in those woods." He turns to me with a strange 85 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:32,520 Speaker 1: expression. Is that pity? "It's so short. 86 00:07:32,960 --> 00:07:38,840 Speaker 1: Why is it so short?" I don't respond to his strange questions. I did interrupt his 87 00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:43,480 Speaker 1: brooding after all. It wouldn't be right for me to interrupt a person's thoughts and 88 00:07:43,500 --> 00:07:49,040 Speaker 1: then complain that I don't understand. He shivers and I notice how chill the air has 89 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:54,940 Speaker 1: become. Before long, I'm shivering too. "I'll go get us some warm cider." 90 00:07:55,560 --> 00:08:01,000 Speaker 1: I spoke too cheerfully. Lord, am I terrible at this. How does one make 91 00:08:01,200 --> 00:08:06,320 Speaker 1: conversation? Isn't it just supposed to happen or not happen? 92 00:08:07,460 --> 00:08:13,020 Speaker 1: Mother has gone baby crazy. She sees perfect matches in the most unlikely suitors. 93 00:08:13,620 --> 00:08:18,120 Speaker 1: She'll be setting me up with the mop before long on account of its beautiful thick 94 00:08:18,220 --> 00:08:18,660 Speaker 1: hair. 95 00:08:20,900 --> 00:08:25,420 Speaker 1: Still, I look over at the chiseled rough features of the woodsman. 96 00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:31,400 Speaker 1: Perhaps she wasn't completely wrong about him. "There isn't time for cider. 97 00:08:32,280 --> 00:08:37,380 Speaker 1: There's never time for cider." Is he pouting? Yes, 98 00:08:38,260 --> 00:08:43,800 Speaker 1: he's definitely pouting. "Oh, come now. It's just inside the bunkhouse. 99 00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:47,760 Speaker 1: My uncles have it warmed already. I'll be back in just a few minutes, and then the 100 00:08:47,800 --> 00:08:53,740 Speaker 1: two of us can gaze into the woods with cider." The woodsman cracks a smile. 101 00:08:53,740 --> 00:08:59,500 Speaker 1: "We're cursed, you know. My curse is to remember." 102 00:09:00,660 --> 00:09:05,860 Speaker 1: I smile too. I don't know what game he's playing, but if he thinks I'm some dull 103 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:10,960 Speaker 1: girl who would be frightened by his stories from the woods, he is sorely mistaken. 104 00:09:10,960 --> 00:09:16,460 Speaker 1: "Oh? Then what's my curse?" His smile fades. 105 00:09:17,780 --> 00:09:22,980 Speaker 1: Then he points into the darkness between the towering trees. "They kill the others, 106 00:09:23,980 --> 00:09:29,060 Speaker 1: but they always take you. You scream for death, but it never comes. 107 00:09:30,520 --> 00:09:35,560 Speaker 1: Or if it does, it comes long after mine. They will take you, 108 00:09:36,720 --> 00:09:37,200 Speaker 1: shape you, 109 00:09:38,800 --> 00:09:44,240 Speaker 1: break you. They will smear you into themselves." He laughs 110 00:09:44,860 --> 00:09:50,800 Speaker 1: a dark, cynical laugh. Then he continues. "Forgive me, 111 00:09:51,720 --> 00:09:57,380 Speaker 1: but I can't listen to the screams anymore. When the time comes, I will leave. 112 00:09:58,420 --> 00:10:03,760 Speaker 1: I suggest you do the same." The woodsman's words are strange and 113 00:10:03,960 --> 00:10:09,740 Speaker 1: frightening in a way I don't expect. I don't really know what I expected to talk 114 00:10:09,820 --> 00:10:15,740 Speaker 1: about when I came over to sit with him, but I hadn't expected this. But 115 00:10:15,820 --> 00:10:20,820 Speaker 1: this, this echoes. It feels so 116 00:10:21,140 --> 00:10:22,100 Speaker 1: familiar. 117 00:10:23,820 --> 00:10:29,580 Speaker 1: I feel foolish, but I just want to run back to the bunkhouse now. I know it will 118 00:10:29,640 --> 00:10:35,600 Speaker 1: make me look like the frightened girl that I pretended not to be, but I don't care. 119 00:10:36,600 --> 00:10:42,260 Speaker 1: I just want to be in the light, in the warmth. I want to sing and dance and watch my 120 00:10:42,340 --> 00:10:47,240 Speaker 1: uncles drink until they cannot stand, then laugh with the others as they are dragged 121 00:10:47,300 --> 00:10:52,900 Speaker 1: away by their wives. "I have to go." It was a mistake to come talk to the 122 00:10:52,940 --> 00:10:58,940 Speaker 1: woodsman. He is twice as weird as I feared he might be. Lesson learned. Time 123 00:10:58,980 --> 00:11:04,720 Speaker 1: to go. "You won't make it." He puts a foot on his crossbow, 124 00:11:05,320 --> 00:11:11,020 Speaker 1: drawing it back with a huff of exertion. Is he going to kill me? Panic shoots 125 00:11:11,060 --> 00:11:16,340 Speaker 1: through me. No. No, he won't. And yet he doesn't seem right. 126 00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:22,140 Speaker 1: This man isn't world-weary as Mother said. He's broken. 127 00:11:23,120 --> 00:11:28,700 Speaker 1: He sees my expression and smiles with unexpected warmth. He sets the loaded crossbow 128 00:11:28,740 --> 00:11:34,440 Speaker 1: back down at his feet. "This isn't for you, child, though I would shoot you 129 00:11:34,640 --> 00:11:40,160 Speaker 1: with my only bolt if you asked." He looks down at the crossbow and shakes his head, 130 00:11:40,800 --> 00:11:46,580 Speaker 1: smiling wryly. "It's so cruel that there is only one." "I, 131 00:11:47,580 --> 00:11:52,480 Speaker 1: I don't understand." He begins speaking again as if he hadn't heard me. "I'd like a 132 00:11:52,540 --> 00:11:58,480 Speaker 1: kiss next time, if you don't mind. I've never asked for that." My face flushes red 133 00:11:58,560 --> 00:12:03,400 Speaker 1: and I nervously spread the wrinkles out of my dress. It's not like I haven't kissed 134 00:12:03,440 --> 00:12:09,100 Speaker 1: boys, but they were boys. The woodsman is more than 135 00:12:09,160 --> 00:12:15,100 Speaker 1: twice my age. Is this right? He said he wouldn't hurt me, but what will he 136 00:12:15,160 --> 00:12:20,116 Speaker 1: do if I say no? He doesn't look like a violent man. 137 00:12:21,976 --> 00:12:27,656 Speaker 2: You don't have to wait until next time. I could give you one now, on the cheek. 138 00:12:28,536 --> 00:12:34,256 Speaker 1: I regret the words the moment I say them. I'm never thinking, always acting. 139 00:12:35,136 --> 00:12:39,916 Speaker 1: Mother hates my impulsiveness, but she must have intended for something like this to 140 00:12:39,956 --> 00:12:45,516 Speaker 1: happen. Had she really seen some potential chemistry between me and the strange 141 00:12:45,616 --> 00:12:50,896 Speaker 1: man who spent as much time in the woods as he did in the village? On the cheek is 142 00:12:50,956 --> 00:12:56,776 Speaker 1: fine. So I lean in and kiss his cheek. The hairs of his beard scratch 143 00:12:56,816 --> 00:13:02,756 Speaker 1: against my face and I jerk back after leaving only a tiny peck. It was a nightmare. 144 00:13:03,616 --> 00:13:08,776 Speaker 1: How many women, real women, has he kissed? Thank you. 145 00:13:10,196 --> 00:13:16,016 Speaker 1: It's almost time. They'll be here soon. He lifts the crossbow and stares intently at 146 00:13:16,056 --> 00:13:21,576 Speaker 1: the darkness of the woods all around our village. What is he looking for? 147 00:13:22,315 --> 00:13:26,536 Speaker 1: A person? Multiple people? I whisper to him. 148 00:13:28,216 --> 00:13:30,916 Speaker 2: Is there someone out there? Are we under attack? 149 00:13:32,056 --> 00:13:35,876 Speaker 1: Yes. Yes? That's all he has to say? 150 00:13:36,676 --> 00:13:41,576 Speaker 2: I have to go warn the others. We'll gather some men and make a fight of it. How 151 00:13:41,616 --> 00:13:41,956 Speaker 2: many? 152 00:13:43,076 --> 00:13:48,316 Speaker 1: Too many. And they aren't human. It doesn't matter, child. Just sit. 153 00:13:49,316 --> 00:13:50,596 Speaker 1: So I stand up. 154 00:13:51,236 --> 00:13:56,996 Speaker 2: No, I'm getting help. If we can't fight, we can run. We'll pack bare essentials and 155 00:13:57,036 --> 00:14:02,076 Speaker 2: be gone within the hour. We can flee to Timmitsville. It's not twenty miles by the 156 00:14:02,136 --> 00:14:02,456 Speaker 2: road. 157 00:14:03,056 --> 00:14:08,076 Speaker 1: The woodsman shakes his head in frustration. Timmitsville is overrun, 158 00:14:09,056 --> 00:14:14,976 Speaker 1: or soon will be. I've gone there before. There is no sanctuary. Just 159 00:14:15,016 --> 00:14:20,436 Speaker 1: sit down. I am infuriated. Logically, I 160 00:14:20,476 --> 00:14:25,956 Speaker 1: understand that the surest way to anger me is to command me against my will. And 161 00:14:26,016 --> 00:14:31,956 Speaker 1: yet, I cannot stop the rage from building. Mother always says that I am stubborn. 162 00:14:33,396 --> 00:14:34,976 Speaker 1: I prefer to think that I'm right. 163 00:14:37,216 --> 00:14:42,756 Speaker 1: There is a cracking sound from within the woods, like the pop of a tree branch. 164 00:14:43,696 --> 00:14:49,036 Speaker 1: The cracking doesn't stop. The sound of tortured wood grows louder. 165 00:14:49,956 --> 00:14:55,756 Speaker 1: In the gloom of the coming night, I can see an entire tree go down, just a stone's 166 00:14:55,796 --> 00:14:57,176 Speaker 1: throw into the woods. 167 00:14:57,936 --> 00:14:58,976 Speaker 2: What was that? 168 00:14:59,476 --> 00:15:04,176 Speaker 1: I'm torn between staying to see and fleeing to the safety of the village center. 169 00:15:05,216 --> 00:15:07,716 Speaker 1: Unfortunately, it's time. 170 00:15:09,976 --> 00:15:15,316 Speaker 1: I know you think I'm a coward, but, but I just can't listen to your screams anymore. 171 00:15:16,556 --> 00:15:22,016 Speaker 1: Please just say you forgive me. He looks at me longingly. He's 172 00:15:22,076 --> 00:15:23,476 Speaker 1: waiting for an answer. 173 00:15:24,916 --> 00:15:26,236 Speaker 2: I forgive you. 174 00:15:27,496 --> 00:15:32,876 Speaker 1: I don't know why I say it. Maybe because he looks like he needs me to say it. 175 00:15:33,956 --> 00:15:39,656 Speaker 1: I don't understand his mind or what has fractured it this way. But if a few 176 00:15:39,776 --> 00:15:45,596 Speaker 1: useless words will grant him some reprieve, who am I not to help? Thank you. 177 00:15:46,516 --> 00:15:52,316 Speaker 1: I thought I was supposed to protect you. But that doesn't make sense. Then I thought 178 00:15:52,376 --> 00:15:58,036 Speaker 1: I was supposed to give you answers. The way he speaks, it's like he's reading the 179 00:15:58,176 --> 00:16:03,476 Speaker 1: script from a play. He delivers his lines like he's trying to get them over with. 180 00:16:04,236 --> 00:16:09,456 Speaker 1: I want to ask him a strange question, but I can't bring myself to speak the words. 181 00:16:10,436 --> 00:16:16,176 Speaker 1: What's come over me? But if that's my purpose here, I failed you. 182 00:16:18,056 --> 00:16:23,956 Speaker 1: I gave up a long time ago. Then, with a smooth, practiced 183 00:16:24,016 --> 00:16:29,936 Speaker 1: motion, he puts the crossbow to his temple and pulls the trigger. Blood 184 00:16:30,196 --> 00:16:35,996 Speaker 1: splatters both of us. It isn't much, not really. Only a little gets on my 185 00:16:36,056 --> 00:16:40,956 Speaker 1: dress. I stare down at the little red dots, unable to think. 186 00:16:42,576 --> 00:16:48,576 Speaker 1: His body falls over and rolls a few feet down the hill. That's 187 00:16:49,416 --> 00:16:54,996 Speaker 1: when I start screaming. I tear at my dress, trying to rip the bloody parts away. 188 00:16:55,576 --> 00:17:00,776 Speaker 1: It doesn't work, so I scramble to my feet to get away from his body. Another crack 189 00:17:00,816 --> 00:17:06,716 Speaker 1: in the forest, and another. My attention snaps from the horror of his body toward 190 00:17:06,756 --> 00:17:12,116 Speaker 1: the tree line. Twisted shapes move in the almost darkness at the edge of the forest. 191 00:17:14,296 --> 00:17:19,436 Speaker 1: The question I wanted to ask the woodsman comes unbidden to my mind. 192 00:17:20,736 --> 00:17:22,856 Speaker 1: Are we real? 193 00:17:25,136 --> 00:17:25,996 Speaker 1: Am I real? 194 00:17:27,536 --> 00:17:33,216 Speaker 1: It's a silly question on the surface. I feel. I hurt. I 195 00:17:33,296 --> 00:17:39,136 Speaker 1: experience. But if we're real, why do you keep doing this 196 00:17:39,556 --> 00:17:42,276 Speaker 1: to me? I don't understand. 197 00:17:44,156 --> 00:17:49,916 Speaker 1: I am caught off guard by a moan. It's a thing making a low, sad sound. 198 00:17:50,796 --> 00:17:56,476 Speaker 1: And I can see it. Even with the dim light of the cloudy evening 199 00:17:56,636 --> 00:18:02,516 Speaker 1: sky, I can see it. It's almost human, like a 200 00:18:02,576 --> 00:18:08,556 Speaker 1: child has taken a person and squeezed it between their hands. It 201 00:18:08,616 --> 00:18:14,236 Speaker 1: is as if the body were clay. Crossbow bolts cover it like porcupine 202 00:18:14,416 --> 00:18:20,096 Speaker 1: quills. It's pulling itself by its misshapen arms through the grass and up the hill 203 00:18:20,216 --> 00:18:22,436 Speaker 1: toward the village. Toward me. 204 00:18:24,460 --> 00:18:29,880 Speaker 1: The forest becomes a cacophony of splintering trees. Massive twisted 205 00:18:30,020 --> 00:18:35,660 Speaker 1: creatures push aside the ancient trees as if they were mere twigs. A wall of 206 00:18:35,880 --> 00:18:41,540 Speaker 1: moaning, writhing flesh pours from the forest. My 207 00:18:41,620 --> 00:18:47,540 Speaker 1: mind is blank with fear. I am an animal, and my instincts get me off the 208 00:18:47,600 --> 00:18:53,400 Speaker 1: ground and running. Not running anywhere in particular, just away. I 209 00:18:53,460 --> 00:18:59,160 Speaker 1: run through the village. I am mindless. A girl greets me and steps into my path. I 210 00:18:59,240 --> 00:19:04,160 Speaker 1: know her. I put my shoulder into her chest and knock her away without stopping. She 211 00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:09,800 Speaker 1: lets out a single, wounded cry, but I am already gone, running out of the village 212 00:19:09,840 --> 00:19:12,280 Speaker 1: and down the dirt path that leads to Temitzville. 213 00:19:13,860 --> 00:19:19,780 Speaker 1: Behind me I hear a few panicked shouts and then a great crash. They are screaming. 214 00:19:20,640 --> 00:19:25,800 Speaker 1: So many screams. My friends and family. I know them. 215 00:19:26,540 --> 00:19:32,140 Speaker 1: And yet, I have no idea who they are. It's as if somebody told me 216 00:19:32,220 --> 00:19:37,320 Speaker 1: everything about my life with them, but I can't remember any of it. 217 00:19:38,480 --> 00:19:39,800 Speaker 1: Did you do that too? 218 00:19:42,200 --> 00:19:47,720 Speaker 1: The screams and crashes die away behind me. My footfalls on the dirt path and my 219 00:19:47,800 --> 00:19:53,740 Speaker 1: labored breaths are all I hear. I am surrounded by dense forest. It's 220 00:19:53,820 --> 00:19:59,740 Speaker 1: twenty miles to Temitzville. I hear a moan on the narrow path ahead of me, the 221 00:19:59,840 --> 00:20:05,200 Speaker 1: cracks of breaking tree limbs in the distance. In every direction. 222 00:20:06,400 --> 00:20:10,740 Speaker 1: It's twenty miles to Temitzville, but it may as well not exist. 223 00:20:12,560 --> 00:20:18,000 Speaker 1: I'm exhausted. I kneel in the dirt and hang my head. I can't 224 00:20:18,220 --> 00:20:24,000 Speaker 1: fight my fate anymore. I want to. I would fight. 225 00:20:24,760 --> 00:20:29,840 Speaker 1: But it's as if you compel me towards this same ending. 226 00:20:30,980 --> 00:20:36,980 Speaker 1: A tower of human bodies, all stuck together, writhes its way down the dirt path. 227 00:20:37,780 --> 00:20:43,760 Speaker 1: Their bodies are so misshapen, but it's clear who they are. I don't want 228 00:20:43,820 --> 00:20:49,400 Speaker 1: to look. I cover my face and throw myself onto the ground. Please, 229 00:20:50,700 --> 00:20:56,420 Speaker 1: stop reading. Can you hear me? Don't let them do this to me again. 230 00:20:58,380 --> 00:21:03,940 Speaker 1: The creature is so close to me. I look up at it. I have to. 231 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:09,700 Speaker 1: There are others like it surrounding me in every direction. Slowly, 232 00:21:10,640 --> 00:21:16,520 Speaker 1: slowly moving their bloated bodies on twisted masses of limbs. And they are all 233 00:21:17,860 --> 00:21:23,480 Speaker 1: me. Every single one of them is me. I see the pain in their 234 00:21:23,540 --> 00:21:29,420 Speaker 1: monstrous faces, sometimes as many as a dozen faces per body. They are all 235 00:21:29,500 --> 00:21:31,080 Speaker 1: covered in crossbow bolts. 236 00:21:32,740 --> 00:21:37,640 Speaker 1: How many times has the woodsman fired his only bolt in my defense? 237 00:21:39,720 --> 00:21:45,280 Speaker 1: They don't want you to do this to me, but they are compelled. It's your 238 00:21:45,740 --> 00:21:51,120 Speaker 1: fault. You're making this happen. I don't know how or why, 239 00:21:51,920 --> 00:21:56,700 Speaker 1: but it's always you. Please, just stop reading. 240 00:21:57,920 --> 00:22:03,400 Speaker 1: I can feel everything. I don't know if I'm real, 241 00:22:04,260 --> 00:22:05,560 Speaker 1: but I'm real enough. 242 00:22:07,100 --> 00:22:07,740 Speaker 1: I'm here. 243 00:22:09,520 --> 00:22:15,480 Speaker 1: A single meaty appendage slaps my leg and pain like a fire rolls up my 244 00:22:15,520 --> 00:22:21,040 Speaker 1: body. I hear the popping of bones as the creature sucks me into its mass. 245 00:22:21,760 --> 00:22:27,640 Speaker 1: I scream and nothing comes out. Why won't you stop it? Why won't you stop 246 00:22:27,780 --> 00:22:32,780 Speaker 1: reading? I am being pulled apart. Why? 247 00:22:35,600 --> 00:22:36,840 Speaker 1: I hate you. 248 00:22:46,640 --> 00:22:52,520 Speaker 1: Welcome back. Now, was that mere novelty? Or something 249 00:22:52,580 --> 00:22:57,860 Speaker 1: more? How does it work, do you think? So many 250 00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:03,960 Speaker 1: secrets to uncover. You could have this book, and many things like it. 251 00:23:04,940 --> 00:23:10,120 Speaker 1: Oh, but I have no payment, you are thinking. Be at ease. 252 00:23:10,940 --> 00:23:16,040 Speaker 1: I don't want your money. I deal only in secrets. 253 00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:22,580 Speaker 1: So, go now and find me some. Or miss out on a 254 00:23:22,660 --> 00:23:28,300 Speaker 1: once-in-a-many-lifetimes event. An auction unlike any 255 00:23:28,400 --> 00:23:34,160 Speaker 1: other. But be warned. When you 256 00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:39,980 Speaker 1: bring your secrets, I will know what is true, what is embellished, 257 00:23:40,800 --> 00:23:42,640 Speaker 1: and what is a lie. 258 00:23:44,300 --> 00:23:47,180 Speaker 1: Until next time, traveler. 259 00:23:59,300 --> 00:24:04,280 Speaker 1: Special thanks to our voice actors, Alfie Murray-Dudgeon, who played The Woodsman, 260 00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:11,260 Speaker 1: and Christy Soutar, who played The Mother and The Girl. Her Twitter is 261 00:24:11,320 --> 00:24:15,760 Speaker 1: LittleRedHen42, and there are links to the rest of her contact information in the 262 00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:21,500 Speaker 1: show notes. And on a personal note, they were both absolute joys to work with. 263 00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:23,600 Speaker 1: See you next time.