Monday, 10 July 2017

19. Ends and Means


“Why are we back here again?” Andrew-Shadowfoot asked.
Miroven and his wolf-brother companion were standing near the entrance to Emerin, overlooking the underground city bathed in its eerie green glow. Miroven took one more sweeping glance of the city before answering.
“The wind spirit ... resides within me”, Miroven said, his astonishment at the fact still not overcome, “But it has been dormant my entire life. Dormant spirits wake only when in presence of a catalyst, something that helps the user connect with his or her spirit and channel its power. Thats why most elementals to date have had an amulet or weapon associated and unseperable from them. The trinket was the one enabling him, or her, to access their inner power source.”
Miroven was silent for a while, surveying Emerin, and finally turned to Andrew.
“We, you and I, have been all over the world together brother”,he said, “And what happened a few moments ago hasn’t happened anywhere else. It could only mean one thing. Whatever awakened my spirit is in Emerin and nowhere else.”
Andrew took in the vastness of Emerin stretching and tunneling away before them. “But how do we find it?”
Miroven considered the question for a few moments.
“It has to be something that we came in contact with here. There is also the possibility it might even be something on that thief who grabbed my coins. But there’s nothing to do about that right now. I think we might just as well start with Vayu’s curiosities”.
Andrew-Shadownfoot nodded. One more quick survey of Emerin later, the brothers set off, retracing their path back to the hoarder elf’s home.

***

Oblivion was pacing her palace hall, furious at recent developments. After all these years her plans were about to be spoiled by a mere potion lady who had the nerve to brew a memory recovery potion. It was a recipie thought to be lost to time, and voila, now and here of all the possibilities it chose to resurface. Madamme Nira was good at what she did, and she was close to Laura too.
An idea suddenly sparked in Oblivion’s mind, and quickly grew. Yes, she thought, thats the way. It was a messy solution, but it could be one to work in her favor over the long run. She had to act fast though, Laura could decide to take the potion at any time.
With a quick swirl of her hooded robes, Oblivion vanished into thin air.
***
Madamme Nira and Laura were walking along their usual route through the woods. Vibrant fields of flowers lay to one side and huge trees of the forest surrouding Akram to the other. It was a path they both took to on special occasions, a little stroll away from the city, enjoying natures splendor beside each other.
Laura was holding the bottle of the potion Nira had gifted her, subconciously weighing it in her hands. It was surprisingly heavy.
Noticing her, Nira smiled. “Its the weight of memories not experienced and experiences forgotten”, she said.
Laura playfully dug her elbow into Nira’s plump ribs. “Philosophical are we Madamme Nira?”, she teased.
Nira laughed heartily, her bushy tail wagging.
“But Nira,” Laura said, suddenly serious, “I am not sure about this", she looked down at the vial in her hand, "I could be anyone. What if I don't like who I am? What of you don't like who I am?”
Nira stopped and turned Laura around to face her, holding her by the arms.
“Look here Laura” she said, eyes shining, “Your past doesnt chan...”
There was a sudden flash of brilliance. Nira and Laura were thrown off their feet in opposite directions, falling hard on their backs.
Nira was in shock and couldn’t move. Her body ached. There was something warm and wet near her lower back. She knew it was blood. She couldn’t feel her tail.
Slowly Nira rolled onto her side; and stared in horror. Her tail lay a full foot away from her, its edge crimson. It had been torn right off.
The thought of Laura suddenly came to her, and she painfully looked to where they were standing. Where both of them had been a few moments ago now stood a woman clothed in black flowing robes. A hood had been pulled down to reveal a startlingly beautiful face. Nira glimpsed Laura lying on the floor behind the woman, clearly unconscious.
“Help”, Nira wheezed.
The lady in black drifted towards her.
“Oh dear, your tail seems to have been torn off! Thankfully, I can help . I specialize in such practices.” she beamed. The smile vanished as quickly as it came, and the woman put her hand on her chin as if thinking, “But wait. Humans do not have tails. Not such bushy ones.Hmm”, she was paused, pretending to think hard, and suddenly her face lit up. She looked back down at Nira, who was now on all fours and coughing, struggling to stand. “I know!”, exclaimed the woman, “You must be a fox!”
With one quick motion, the woman kicked Nira hard across her ribs. Nira flew sideways and onto her back, tears streaming down her face, blood spilling from her lips. She clenched her eyes close in pain.
Nira felt something cold enveloping her. She opened her eyes. Through dust and blood, she saw an orange glow forming all around her body. It seemed to be making her body shrink. Brown hair suddenly sprouted out of her skin, and in a few seconds she had a thick fur coat. Her ears were elongating, her face was lengthening, her fingers were melting together.
“Who..you” Nira rasped with the last of her strength as the spell took full hold.
Oblivion watched with emotionless eyes as Madamme Nira’s body writhed and twisted and contorted under the effect of the hex. After a few more seconds, the spell was complete, and its orange glow diffused into the evening light. Where Madamme Nira lay, there now stood a fully grown vixen, staring hard at Oblivion.
Oblivion stared back for a second. She bent down, picked up a stone, and hurled it in the animal's direction. The fox that was Madamme Nira darted into the forest.
I love human transmutation, Oblivion thought as she picked up the fallen vial of memory potion. She looked into its contents against the gathering dusk, and then at Laura, still out cold. Such a waste, Oblivion though as she opened the vial, pouring all its contents to the dirt path. She dropped the bottle, shattering the glass to a thousand pieces.
It was time for her next move. Oblivion brought her hands together and concentrated for a second. The spell erupted out of her hands in a swirling yellow tornado, covering her entirely. It swirled around the sorceress for a few minutes, before dissipating. Where Oblivion stood, now stood Madamme Nira, complete with her bushy tail. Nira looked at her wagging tail, and smirked. Inside her, the fire spirit surged through the new body, exploring it.
Oblivion looked at Laura. Awww sweety, she thought, time to wake up. We got so much to do together.

****

Larry leaned back in his high throne, crossed his legs and brought his fingers together. He regarded the pitiful humans standing in chains in front of him. They were mostly men, a few women and a couple of young kids, coming to around thirty people. All had their clothes torn, dusty and bloodied, most of them bleeding, and looked to be at the verge of collapsing. The OneArmy,Larry smirked,what’s left of it anyhow. The captain had told him a few dozen good soldiers had died in the skirmish, but this was a victory worth the spent lives.
“I didn’t ask for prisoners Captain” Larry spoke out, his eyes not leaving those in front of him in his hall.
“Sire, we couldn’t find the King’s son L”, the Captain began, but suddenly caught himself as Larry shot him a murderous look.
“The traitor General’s son Leo”, he corrected himself quietly, knowing quite well the price of incurring the High King’s wrath.
“So? You bring these filth to my hall?”
“I’m sorry Your Highness”, the captain said, bowing his head, “but I thought you would...”
“No.”, Larry cut him off, “I do not care about insects. Squish it if it makes trouble”, he turned towards the prisoners in shackles. He regarded them for a minute, one half of his lips curving upwards into a smug smile.
“My father taught me to treat guests with respect”, he sneered, “So I’ll give you , my honored guests an option. Die, or kneel before me. Accept me as your sovereign overlord and work as the palace slaves for the rest of your lives.”
A few of the men looked up to catch his eye, but none of them seemed to register shock. They all were expecting to be slaughtered, already resigned to their fate. Larry smirked again.
“What’s your decision, One Army?” Larry uncrossed his leg and leaned forward, an evil gleam in his eyes. A black masked soldier wielding an axe in stepped up to beside the King.
A heavy set man standing at the front of the rows of prisoners stood forward. His hands were bound behind him and he was bleeding from hundreds of cuts all over his body. Yet, Braider held his head high.
“My name is Braider”, he boomed in his strong voice, “ Commander of the OneArmy, the General’s friend. I will not serve under you”. Braider leveled his gaze with the King.
“Are you sure Braider?”, Larry asked, “I remember you from when I was young. Maybe I’ll be kind and give you work in the sty cleaning my pigs.”
Braider spat onto the ground, his face red and brimming with disgust and hatred. Larry quickly signaled with a slight nod of his head, and the executioner standing by Braider’s side swung the axe. Blood gushed out of Braider’s neck and splashed onto Larry’s face. Larry didn’t flinch. Braider's head rolled to one side as the decapitated body fell to the ground.
Larry looked up from the corpse and at the remaining prisoners, the sparkle of madness still in his eyes.
“Who’s next?”

Thursday, 1 June 2017

18.After the Wind



Miroven trudged up the knoll to have a better view of the path ahead.It was the third day since he had started his journey to find Vayu.He had walked a great long distance and was overcome by fatigue.Riding Shadowfoot was not really an option since now it also meant riding on Andrew,and that felt wrong.
There was also the nagging doubt in his mind whether Valarmuth had been telling the truth.No one seemed to know where the city of Emerin was.Nor anything about Vayu.He frowned.What if the dwarf had made up those names in the spur of the moment?What if they had been fed a false trail?Too many unanswered questions,and there wasn’t much choice but to go on with the very little information they had.Information that could be as easily false as it could be real.
                                                         ***
“Laura,my dear..” cried Nira,pulling her into a bear hug.  "I can’t believe that is has been seven years since I found you..It very much seems like yesterday..”
“You say that every day, Nira.”
Nira pulled out a tiny vial from her apron pocket and handed it to Laura.

“This my dear, is something I have been wanting to give you as a gift..”

“What is this you have written on it? Only when you are ready?? What does it mean? Why would I ever be not ready for a present?”

“Dear child,this potion will tell you everything about your past..All your lost memories…they’ll come back to you.I don’t know what it is that you will see..perhaps, you are far better off not knowing about yourself..maybe you will not like what you come to know.It is your choice to use it or not.My mind tells me that there are going to be huge things in your path and that you have a great role to play in the future.”

“Thank you for everything Nira.What about we leave these lofty matters for later and go for a little walk in the woods now?You’ve been working so hard for me..I don’t think I can ever repay you for all your goodness”

“My little Laura,no matter how many autumns pass,how many old lives taken and wherever you turn out to be;this heart of mine will always be a place where you can call home.Time may riddle you with choices and you may find yourself in places you least expect  to be in.But here,you can call forever your home.”

Laura took her hand and smiled.

In her mind,she said “Yes,I know.No matter what my past has to offer,here will be my home.Here and in no place other.”
                                                         ****
King Larry had everything that he could possibly ever want.But still was his mind in turmoil.The fact that his father,though dead now, still had supporters , perturbed him.Well,he was going to put an end to it,he thought.  
He ordered for the chief of his secrets and stealth wing to come before him.
The command given to the chief was easily spoken.
“Find the One Army and make them mine.”

“But your highness,do you think they are going to agree to join you?”

“A banquet and riches ought to do the trick.Surely it should appeal more than going on with the memory of a dead leader.”

“And what if they put up resistance?”

“In that case,paint the forest floor red.”

 The chief gulped.The king sure wasn’t in his best mood today.
In under an hour,nearly three hundred armed men marched out of the city into the forest,ready for combat with swords,arrows and minds of steel.
                                                   
                                                        ***

“How do you think we will die?”,Leo aked Scorpi.

She put a finger to his mouth and notioned him to be quiet.“We are trying to spot a meteor shower,dear..not discuss probable causes of death.”

“I need to get my father back.What do you say to finding that sorceress he was always so pent up about?One clad in black,he used to say.I do not know how he knew her,but I have a feeling she can bring him back.”

“Leo.Look at me..”Scorpi turned Leo’s face to make him face her.She held his palms and said , “There is nothing you can do to bring your father back.He has journeyed to the other world and there is no coming back.Turning to the darker side may seem tempting.But trust me,Leo..the consequences are always dire.My mother never came out of her state of unconsciousness after she gave birth to me.They say right before I was born, she healed all in the land with her powers that day..without her knowing it.A mysterious Energy radiated right out of her,flowing into those who needed it.The old grew young and people forgot pain.But she never came out of the coma she went into.She continued to breathe,but her eyes remained closed.And then,after a month,my father believing a sorceress’ advice that summoning dark forces could help,locked himself away..losing himself in the summoning.And in the end,the same forces he believed would help him,sucked the remaining life out of my mother.She ceased to breathe forever.”Scorpi looked at the ground and sighed.

“I wish..”,Leo began and stopped.

“We shall find them,Leo..and we shall make them pay..but we shall not resort to crude dark arts..no matter how appealing they seem”
Leo put an arm around his wife and nodded.

                                                          ***

It was Andrew-Shadowfoot who discovered that Emerin was not your everyday kind of city.What men were unable to answer,rats did.Andrew,feeling hungry had gone after yet another rat and in a classic lion and the mouse story fashion,agreed to let one go under the condition that he’d give them information about Emerin.
The rat was true to its word,and almost immediately told them everything they needed to know about reaching the city.Miroven stood dazed,watching his brother converse with a rat.
It turned out that the rats knew Emerin pretty well since it was an underground city made entirely of limestone.There were just a few entry and exit points to and from the city and their locations were kept safely guarded from humans.Creatures of other species,leprechauns and elves,gnomes and dwarves thrived in Emerin.Having an underground locale worked for them and they worked hard hiding the doorways to the surface.Non human organisms were highly susceptible to the after effects of pollution and could survive for long only in a subterranean habitat.

The rat proved to be of further help by leading them to one of the entrances to the underground city.It was a tumbledown staircase in ruins,run over by years of ivy and ferns.The fronds made a curtain of sorts that when parted revealed a kind of bath.Completely dry and cracked at places,it had a few loose bricks.The rat jumped into the gap made by the bricks and man and werewolf followed suit.


Emerin did not look like a city.It looked like the inside of a building made of milk chocolate,tunnels meshing in and out of every possible wall and worst of all the darkness.Well,it wasn’t entirely dark like one would expect the insides  of the earth to be..but the whole place was washed in a eerie green glow.Miroven noticed that there was a kind of phosphorescent moss on all the walls.Possibly an alternative lighting solution,he mused.
“Ask your little rodent friend about Vayu”,Miroven told Andrew.Andrew turned around ,but suddenly the rat had disappeared.

                                                      ***


Captain Bradier was in his tent,telling stories to his grandkids.The tales engrossed the little listeners and they listened avidly ,captured by every word uttered.He was relaxed and unwary.That was his mistake.
There were dozens of men who had gathered around his tent.None of them he knew.
One stepped forward and said,”King Larry is offering your army umimaginable wealth.Come with us and join the right side.Or prepare to lose everything.”

Bradier didn’t have to think twice. “Your king is a usurper,a villain.He has a heart made of stone.To join the man who tried to kill his own father to get the throne?The one who sent his father and entire families into exile to suit his need for power?The General was a great man..and though he is no more,we will uphold the legacy he has left.Tell your ruler that the One Army doesn’t take orders from him.”

“And that is your final decision?”

“The very final one,yes.”

“Well,then so be it.The war begins now.”

“Now?Night has fallen and and many of us are resting.It would never be a fair battle,if you choose to attack now.”

“We do not battle to suit the convenience of our foes.”

The man ordered his fellow soldiers to charge.Battle cries erupted from the nearby bushes too and Bradier found himself facing an entire army of uniformed men trained in battle.They moved in all directions and Bradier saw his grandchildren being carried away.

The soldiers filled the forest,spreading out everywhere.Tents were pulled down and set on fire.The carnage that ensued was horrific and the night was rent with the screams of wails of women,children and dying men.

Arrows rained upon the ground and blades glinted in the light of the fire.The One Army had never before faced such a defeat.

                                                                      ***
Miroven and Andrew-Shadowfoot tried to make their way around the place,realized that it was futile since the place was a maze and gave up trying alone.They asked passers by about Vayu and soon enough reached a mansion of sorts made of the same substance that made pretty much all the rest of the city.Miroven knocked on the door.A fat elf ,wearing a green "I LIMESTONE" t-shirt opened it .

"Are you Vayu?",Miroven asked.

"Yes,but what do you humans want from an elf?"

"Can you do anything extraordinary?"

"What do you mean?You people auditioning me for some reality show?"

"Is there anything special about you that can't be seen elsewhere?"

Vayu was getting irritated.He wasn't like the whole being cross questioned deal.Made him feel like he was some petty thief.

"No,and gentlemen I'm kind of busy and need to get going.Think you came searching for the wrong person"

"Do you own a...zeppelin?"

Vayu laughed eerily."Sure,I do.Wanna see it?Come on in."

The house was not what it seemed like from outside.It was absolutely huge and had definitely the wrong size for an elf.But well,he owned a zeppelin,Miroven thought and walked on.
Finally they reached a hall of sorts and Miroven could not but be amazed at the items there.Everything in glass cases too.
Guns,medieval torture devices,bits of pottery,ancient looking manuscripts,bead ornaments,marble figurines,bronze and steel armour and in the middle of everything,a zeppelin that had obviously been patched up.
"Great collection,ain't it?Other collectors will kill to get their hands on my pieces."

"The zeppelin flies?",Miroven asked,though he already knew the answer.

"Don't be daft.Of course not.This beauty is the remnant of one of your wars.Had to bribe a dozen elves to help me lug it into Emerin."

Andrew-Shadowfoot nudged Miroven."We are wasting time,brother"

Miroven glared at Vayu angrily and walked out of the house.

Thanks to his werewolf brother's superior sniffing abilities,they didnt lose time searching for the entrance they came into Emerin through.
Miroven was worried though.What would happen when Andrew saw the fullmoon?He was already in wolf form with Shadowfoot,but was that the end of it?Could anything more happen?

While he was lost in thought,a lank hand went into his robe pocket and pulled out his coin purse.
"Hey..Stop there",Miroven shouted,coming back to his senses.
The urchin kept running and didnt look back.Andrew had given into his wolf instincts again and was helplessly sniffing inside a garbage can,rummaging through its contents.

Miroven ran after the boy for a while and found himself tiring.He found himself getting filled with anger and frustration.So many days had been wasted.He was proving himself to be more and more of the lousy father he had ever been to Laura.Believing the tale of a dwarf and traveling for ages in search of a city no one had even heard about.And finally when they found the person they were in search of,he turned out to be a goddamned collector with a fancy name.And now,the pickpocket.He could feel the fury surging through him,he could feel it at his fingertips.Around him,the wind was getting faster.Leaves,debris,paper bits and old petals began to fly around.Trees bowed and birds ceased to fly.And then,twigs and branches broke free and everything began pumelling into one  vortex faster and faster.

Andrew was done with the trash can.

"Brother?.."he went,his eyes wide with surprise.

Miroven looked at Andrew and felt himself calming down.The gale subsided.
Andrew gulped.

"I think we might have located the wind spirit."

                                                              ***