“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?”
