LoN Lost Chapters: The Chair

The doorbell of the Kinilwood store startled the man as he entered. He never could prepare himself for the jarring noise. Despite this disappointing fact, this was his favorite trade store in all of Kinilwood. There was always some new and unique item here. 

The owner usually stopped the man as soon as he came in to inform him about such merchandise. Today, the store clerk wasn't even given a chance to halt the man's stride. From the moment the man entered the store,  his attention was immediately drawn to one thing only. A rocking chair sat adjacent to the back window of the store that faced the back alleyway. It drew in every bit of the man's awareness, baiting him into a trance like state.

He didn't feel himself walking there but all of the sudden, he was there.  He examined the chair closely, attempting to determine its age. It looked ancient but sturdy.The chair was made entirely of wood. Despite its antiquated look,  it felt smooth to the touch.  It had multiple rivets and designs carved all over it. The most elaborate designs sat in it's center.

It had engraved letters on it unfamiliar to the man.  He brushed his hands over  the detailed patterns until they came to the foreign lettering. As his fingertips came into contact with the lettering, shockwaves rippled throughout his body. This instantly paralyzed him.  As he stood there frozen, a vision of a man flashed through his brain.

Along with the mental image, came a disembodied voice. "Ferg" is all that the man could make out of the incorporeal utterances. Then a huge crash broke the man's trance. He regained his senses and turned to see the store engulfed in flames. It looked as though someone had broken the front display window and set the place on fire.

Thinking fast,  the man grabbed a nearby antique. He threw it against the store's back window.  He began to escape through the window but something was holding him back. It was as if Ferg held him with an invisible hand.  He stood at the window, with his head turned back to Ferg. Finally, he decided to grab it and escaped just as the store began to crumble.

"Something must be going on, I gotta get home." the man said aloud to himself, in a panic. 

He picked up Ferg and ran as fast he could towards the main street. Rioters, looters, and law enforcement were scattered everywhere. Kinilwood was on fire. The man didn't waste even a second more on taking in the chaos. He gripped Ferg tightly with both hands and galloped in the direction of his home.

The man weaved between confused,scared, and enraged civilians. He slipped through alleys and avoided violence.  He ran until his body ached and his head was dripping with sweat.  He couldn't stop though, not until he made it home. Which was right around the next corner. Though as soon as he turned the corner he was only met with heartbreak.

His home was already being swallowed up by the flames.  Everything he owned was being burned or looted. He dropped to his knees and began to sob.  All the while, never releasing his grip on the chair. As his thoughts raced through his mind, his sadness transmuted to anger. Then the man stood up and decided to do something.

"Hey stop! That's mine!" The man said to a random looter, one hand on the man and the other on Ferg.

The looter didn't bother to reply with words.  Their eyes met at the same time a knife met the man’s belly. The looter then smashed his fist into the man's face. This sent him careening to the ground, knocking him unconscious.

After an extended period of time in complete darkness,  the man came back to. His entire body was covered in pain and blood. The streets were littered with debris. He looked up at his former household to see nothing but charred remains. Unfortunately, most of the stores and other homes had suffered a similar fate. Yet, for some reason, the man's hand still held on tightly to Ferg.

At that moment he realized that Ferg was all that he had left.  With that realization came the determination to do whatever he could to protect it. So the man rose to his feet using Ferg as leverage. Slowly,He began to drag himself and Ferg through the ruined city.There was only one realistic way out of Kinilwood for him now. He had to make it to the train station.

He moved through the destroyed streets at the quickest pace he could manage. He finally came up to a large gathering of people. Everyone was attempting to board the train. This was an ill-fated predicament for the man. They couldn't fit everyone on the train and he was stuck in the back.

He didn't know what would happen to everyone stuck in Kinilwood. Even worse, he didn't know if he would live much longer with the amount of blood he was losing. So he made the last decision of life.  He grabbed hold of Ferg with one hand and stuck the other out in front of him.  He took a deep breath in and charged into the crowd.

He mowed over men, women, and children of all ages. "Don't leave,  take Ferg! please take Ferg!" He screamed, as he made his way to the front.

He finally crawled his way out of the suffocating crowd. He grabbed onto the shin of one of the guards protecting the train. "Please save Ferg, please save The Chair." The man barely let out, as his life slowly left his body.

The guard looked down at him remorselessly as he called another guard over.  "Throw the chair on the train and throw him in the morgue." Ferg was carried away and placed safely onto the train. The last remnant of the nameless man's story.