Operation: OHR Presents:

Episode #3

"The Ends of the Earth Story"

By Pepsi Ranger

Time has its beginning, as does its legends. One such legend began long ago in the history of time. That legend was of a young centaur that dreamed of finding another of his kind. His story of adventure became timeless. This is his story told from the Ends of the Earth.

Although the true records of Centaurus’s entrance into the world have since long been lost, many believe he was born in a cave along the southern beach of a long forgotten continent. Those who had searched long and hard for his origins rediscovered the tiny mythical island, where they combed for any signs of evidence of his birth. After months of hunting for anything, speculations of his birthplace became quickly confirmed when the hunters found traces of horse tracks in the sand along the southern shoreline. To their surprise, the tracks led inside a cave.

The cave may have been the shelter of his birth, but it wasn’t the cave that served as Centaurus’s home. Long before his memories began, Centaurus was sent to a small village on the other side of the world, known to only a few as Birka.

Centaurus grew up learning the ways of the hunter, stalking beetles and earwigs with his gleaming bow and arrow. Although he took some time to master his tool, his neighbors agreed that his archery became a skill unlike any others’. Soon his desire to hunt transformed into a desire to show off, and the change couldn’t have happened at a better time.

Centaurus won the top honor of being the best hunter in the region, but it was a victory that was less than satisfying. Deep down, the lonely centaur knew he was missing something important in his life. His desire to hunt progressed to a different level.

Centaurus decided his hunting skills would no longer pertain to local wildlife, but rather to the search for other centaurs. After many months of deliberating his thoughts, Centaurus finally made a firm decision. If other centaurs were out there, he was going to find them.

But that’s when the unexpected happened. Monsters appeared in the countryside.

The citizens of Birka continued on with their lives inside the town walls, but the sense of danger constantly loomed over their heads. At any moment the monsters could’ve attacked, but that was a thought kept in the deep recesses of their minds. That was, all except Centaurus, who kept visions of other centaurs on his mind. His decision to search for any clues to their whereabouts had remained intact.

The mayor’s decision to prevent all citizens from leaving Birka had become final. Guards were hired to protect the gates and to keep everyone inside. Only the specially trained were allowed to roam the outskirts of town, and those few never dared to venture out more than fifty feet. The monsters’ breaths were warming the air, and all the townsfolk could feel it. That’s when the decree was set to relocate.

But the time to act on their nervousness came a few minutes too soon. It was approximately 5:30 in the evening when the first blood-curdling cry came from below the mayor’s hut. Moments later, Centaurus and Frazz emerged through the entry hole, covered in gears and motor oil.

Once the two alerted the authorities about the trauma below, the order was made to cut the town of Birka off from its underground shelter. The remaining citizens weren’t sure how such a decision would affect their mining economy, but they knew their safety was on the line, so the town’s carpenter left his dinner table and acted quickly to board up the hole. Within moments, the sub-surface threat had been averted.

But the mayor stood strong and continued to maintain his decree. The guards continued to stand their posts. The citizens continued to struggle with their way of life. Centaurus continued to plan his escape.

Centaurus was ready to go, but the guards stood in his way. He offered money, beans, and his first-born daughter to the one who would let him pass, but the mayor’s decree held strong with them, so they were not going to let him through. Centaurus contemplated jumping the town walls, but even the horse half of him could not make a ten-foot leap. So he did the very last thing he knew he could do. He begged the mayor to let him leave.

Banishment. It was the one thing that Centaurus feared about his journey. It was one thing to leave voluntarily, but it was another to be denied reentry. When he set his foot on the soil beyond the walls, it was his destiny to never look back.

Centaurus set forth for the forest ahead, fighting off the very creatures that threatened his town. They swarmed around him in packs, but his skills as an expert archer paid off. One by one he would drop his assailants in cold blood.

Life up to this point had been confusing, but acceptable for Centaurus. However, as the winds changed through his town, so had the circumstances of his life. Everything he knew and embraced had been altered into the forms of banishment, attacks by vile creatures, and an uncertainty of the future. His very being began to change. Centaurus had experienced genuine anger.

Centaurus maintained enough of a grip on reality to keep his goals focused in the right perspective. But as his adventure continued, and his passions intensified, he began listening to the voices of the trees around him. One tree in particular led him south to a land of fire.

The Minotaur named Alzahad became Centaurus’s first quest companion. Through thick and thin, they would fight off violent red rattlesnakes and fire medusas in order to find their way out of the forest, and onto greener pastures. But all was not well with their partnership. Centaurus began cracking under the pressure of his mission and his anger.

The fury of the other centaur’s capture burrowed deep into Centaurus’s heart. His mission was no longer just a quest for truth. It became a quest for justice. It was about that moment when his whole persona changed for the worse. His valiant virtue took an awful turn. He was no longer a hero of the people. He had become a nightmare.

Centaurus’s journey had warped his mind to the point where making targets out of the enemy was not enough. His lust to display his wrath and justice had leaked into a form of aggravated assault against his companions. With every moment he had free, he would shoot the Minotaur, and others who would later join the quest, in their sacred cheek zones.

Centaurus’s newfound addiction was not something that would blow over easily. As he journeyed through the land, looking for any clue that might lead to his past, he met more people and shot them in the arse.

Centaurus’s devotion to the quest got progressively corrupted. As he traveled through towns on the water and in the air, his desire to make extra holes in peoples’ butts became too overwhelming, even for him. That’s when he realized he had crossed the line of sanity.

Centaurus traveled from forest, to blazing forest, to cave, to oceanic city, to the sky above him before accepting the fact that he was in over his head. His choice to leave Birka was a bad one. His desire to find the lost centaur was meaningless. He had made a mockery of his very being. That’s when he contemplated ending his journey.

When Centaurus descended from the town of Concorde, which rose three miles above the surface of the earth, he stopped and he waited. He knew he could not continue with such a violent streak in his heart. If he continued in his present state, he would ultimately destroy his character, his integrity, and himself. That was something he didn’t want to do.

He set his bow and arrow on the ground and he waited for peace. His companions all set their weapons next to his and waited with him. The winds blew and the clouds rolled. Centaurus breathed hard.

When the moment came to pick up his weapon again, he was ready to push forward. His anger was subtly dying away. The time had come to finish his quest.

Centaurus and his companions crossed the countryside to reach a forgotten land. As they came closer to the shadowed region, they felt anxious. Something didn’t seem right to any of them. The four heroes stopped at the shoreline of their present land to stare across the river that separated them from the mysterious continent. All that was left to do was cross a bridge.

The bridge that set before them proved to be the greatest disaster of all. What had become safe to him, was about to be shaken.

Centaurus didn’t know what to do at first. He was ordered to shatter one of three crystals to decide who crossed and who died. He knew that he had to make the choice, or else his mission would never be complete. As he prepared to smash the white crystal, which would’ve been the choice of the assassination of his wind-wielding friend, he stopped. He realized his mission was no longer just about him finding another of his kind. It was about him learning to adjust to his circumstances. It was about making noble sacrifices.

But the relapse wasn’t good for everyone. As the heroes entered the forgotten land, Centaurus felt his anger rise to an unhealthy level. His effort to clean himself up had been nullified. His path of destruction took over his journey for the last time.

Centaurus and his group did what they could to help the people of the shadowed land, but the efforts were made shallow. Adversaries like none he had ever known before were waiting for his arrival. And all of them were ready to end his mission and his life.

The evil wizard’s test of endurance was just a glimmer of the battle that Centaurus had to face. He had already trekked halfway across the world. He already slew enough monsters and enemies to fill an entire city. He had even come to a point of reason in his own self-control. But as his efforts began to unravel under the weight of his trials, his guard finally dropped. And the timing couldn’t have been worse.

The folly that Centaurus made was earth shattering. His anger had turned to confusion. His keen sense of reaction had failed him. The centaur beast named Caramawn passed along information that changed his life forever. His will to fight had fallen. His journey had ended.

The sun fell early that day as it mourned Centaurus’s fate. The Minotaur, the fishman, and the griffin set their weapons to the earth and went their separate ways. Never before had they desired a pierced butt-cheek so badly.

The story of Centaurus’s adventure had been locked away for generations. Those who lived it returned to their lives in various pockets in and above the world. But they rarely spoke of what transpired during that short season of Centaurus’s life. The last commitment they made to Centaurus’s cause was to have his name cleared in Birka and a shrine erected in Concorde. Everything else faded into legend.

Those involved with Centaurus’s search had no idea what the future held. None knew of the dangers and treachery that their world would soon face. None of them knew about their place in history. All they knew was that the next day would present a new ambition. Centaurus knew it well, and he pressed on anyway until he found what he was looking for.

And he found it.

END CREDITS:

All mythical creature action was monitored by the National Humane Organization. All creatures were shot in the butt in the making of this documentary.

Ends of the Earth and all character occurrences are copyright of Valkayree Productions (1997-2001) All rights reserved. Any attempt to reproduce any material read or seen in this program or the game will result in the sharp reception of an arrow in your behind.

Next Episode:

"The Memoria Story"

©2001

O:OHR’s Behind the Epic