THE NIGHT HANS KROEGER CAME BACK,
by Kenneth BykerkA Tale of the Bajazid
In the latter days of Baird’s Holler, before Destiny and Doom collided in a riot of fear and flame, a creeping decay had corrupted the soul and the very soil of the town. The denizens remaining lurked like gaunts at a graveyard, passing time in a listless haze while waiting for the rot to consume them as well. This malaise, this pall which hung like an ill omen over the town infected as well the whole of the Bajazid valley region. Gone complete were the promises and expectations which had carved from these canyons dreams of hearth and home, of industry and enterprise, of community and commerce. What remained was the haunted, hollowed shell of a town fallen to ruin, a place where Hope had long been buried and shadows
