A Field in England 2014

As the tumultuous battle of the English Civil War rages on, Whitehead, an alchemist’s assistant, finds himself pursued by Commander Trower, only to be rescued by the rough-hewn soldier Cutler (character not specified). With Trower vanquished, Cutler leads Whitehead to a makeshift gathering of deserters - the battle-hardened Jacob and the innocent yet guileless Friend. Their shared quest is for an ale house, but instead, they find themselves in a field teeming with life, where mushrooms sprout from the earth like sentinels.

Cutler’s true intentions revealed, he transforms the barren landscape into a makeshift feast table, preparing a meal that his companions devour with gusto - all except Whitehead, who abstains from the revelry. As they dine, Cutler hauls forth Wizard O’Neill, an alchemist rival of Cutler’s, whose very presence seems to conjure an aura of foreboding. O’Neill, it transpires, is the mastermind behind a heist that pilfered documents from Whitehead’s esteemed mentor, and his arrival sets in motion a chain of events that will forever alter their fates.

Within the Wizard’s camp, O’Neill exacts a terrible toll on Whitehead, bending him to his will as a human divining rod. The group soon discovers that the treasure they’ve been seeking lies mere feet away, its allure drawing them deeper into the Wizard’s snare. Jacob, however, succumbs to the potent power of the hallucinogenic mushrooms, and in a haze of confusion, he attacks Friend, prompting Cutler to laugh and douse their struggle with a mocking display of urine. As the chaos unfolds, Whitehead is powerless to intervene, and Friend meets his untimely demise.

Cutler’s cruelty knows no bounds as he shoots Friend, sending Jacob into a frenzy of grief and rage. In the aftermath, Jacob lies still in the underbrush, while Whitehead solemnly deposits Friend’s lifeless form in a thicket. The group’s dynamics have been forever altered, leaving Cutler to continue his search for treasure alone. His perseverance eventually yields a discovery that O’Neill is hot on their heels, prompting Whitehead to take refuge in the very substance he once scorned - the potent mushrooms. As he indulges in their mystical power, his perception shifts, and he conjures a tempest that ravages the campsite.

In the aftermath of this maelstrom, Cutler discovers that the treasure they sought was nothing more than a lifeless skull, its significance as fleeting as the whispers of the wind. Jacob reappears, and with Whitehead by his side, the two escape the Wizard’s clutches, leaving behind the carnage and chaos that has consumed their lives.

As a torrent of fury washes over him, Cutler unleashes a verbal barrage on O’Neill, excoriating him for his naivety in trusting Whitehead and duping him about the alehouse - a ruse designed to lure Jacob and Friend into their trap. The vitriol quickly turns physical as Cutler’s anger boils over, prompting O’Neill to take drastic action and dispatch Cutler with a swift and merciless strike. Seething with resentment, O’Neill then pursues Whitehead and Jacob, who scramble to gather Cutler’s discarded weapons and retreat back to the ravaged campsite.

As they prepare for the impending battle, Friend suddenly reappears, his wounds miraculously healed, and inadvertently reveals their location to O’Neill. In a desperate bid to halt Friend’s treachery, Jacob tackles him to the ground, but this brief respite is shattered when O’Neill fires at Jacob, striking him in the gut. As Jacob struggles to remain upright, he returns fire, shattering O’Neill’s leg and ultimately succumbing to his mortal wounds as he and Whitehead come to a poignant realization: their true treasure was the unbreakable bond they shared.

Friend, now wielding Cutler’s pike like a madman, charges at O’Neill with reckless abandon, only to meet a swift and fatal end at the hands of the vengeful O’Neill. With his enemies vanquished, Whitehead seizes the opportunity to exact revenge on O’Neill, ending his life with a cold-blooded shot to the back of the head.

As the dust settles, Whitehead buries the lifeless bodies of his fallen comrades in the hole and departs the desolate field. Donning O’Neill’s clothes as a disguise, he collects his master’s pilfered documents and returns to the hedgerow where their fateful encounter began, only to be greeted by the eerie sounds of battle raging in the distance. After wading through the overgrown hedge, Whitehead beholds an unsettling tableau: the ghosts of Friend, Jacob, and himself standing together, a haunting reminder of the transience of life and the enduring power of friendship.