Contrary to the indications otherwise, I am not dead, nor is this
story dead. Stress of real life has just put me and this in deep
hibernation. The phongb9@idt.net account is still semi-active and I
don't pick up mail often there, so gomen to those who have written me.
I only noticed the recent thread on the FFML. Chapters 21 and 22 have
been written for quite some time, but I haven't had the inclination to
post or review them, so here is Chapter 21 in rough draft, to sate
your curiosity.
This book may well be nearing its close, but I am considering
following up with Book 2: Shades and Light.
D.Fire
What has happened before: Several of the main characters from the
cast of Ranma have been drawn to a world populated by magic and
magical beings. Now, Ranma (known as Raeni) must gather his friends
(and enemies) to do battle with an unknown foe. Transformed into
toddlers, and with their memories gone, they were raised as natives
for ten years.
Last time: After valiantly battling the demon-assassin, Uerris had
taken a mortal blow. Old Miri's interference has saved her life, but
only temporarily. Meanwhile, still inside the shadow-cloak, Raeni and
Aarun explored the only unusual feature of the landscape. Finding
their objective, Raeni battles it out and has seemingly won. Will it
be in time?
Sword and Sorcery
Chapter 21
by D.Fire
phongb9@idt.net
Taking a look at the still whirling, miniature tornado,
Raeni's first thought was that she may have overdone it just a touch.
A Hiryu Shoten Ha reinforced with a wind element was definitely
something she'd consider about carefully before using again. The
thing seemed to take on a life of its own and she couldn't be sure of
controlling it. Even as she watched, it maintained internal force and
was in fact picking up speed judging from the velocity at which the
debris entrapped within was going.
Speaking of debris, the mage caught sight of a roughly
humanoid shape lift from the ground, but it seemed smaller than she
expected. It couldn't be anyone besides Daved. She shrugged,
thinking, 'Well, why *not* save him? I need answers, but I can't get
any if he's splattered across half the canyon.' At the speed he was
going up, she'd have to act fast.
Bunching up her leg muscles, she quickly released and
seemingly shot out of an invisible canyon, she bounded into the air,
homing in on her designated target. Daved, certainly, wouldn't give
her any trouble. His arms flopped wildly around in the wind,
obviously not in an effort to control his own ascent; evidently, he
was unconscious.
She had only a moment's preparation before she rammed into the
column of air. The pressure of the winds was too much and broke her
hair bindings. Her now loose hair whipped wildly and she almost lost
sight of him. Using her previous experience with mid-air combat, she
followed the flow of the wind, allowing it to carry her closer to the
drow. After 'swimming' for a short time, she reached him and latched
onto an arm and eventually gained a firmer hold across his chest.
'Goal accomplished, but now how to get out.' Considering her
options, Raeni figured on a chi-blast to be the most expedient. A
moment's concentration and one shout later, the mage and her burden
were kicked out of the raging winds. The drow remained limp in her
arms and she couldn't even be sure that he lived, his skin being cold
to the touch. She had other worries other than the life of the
assassin, however.
In the short time she and he had been inside the whirlwind,
they had been taken far above the ground. They were well above the
walls of the enclosure and without the wind to sustain their weight,
they were now quickly plummeting to the earth. At this height, Raeni
could be sure that even she could land safely using her martial arts
skills. At the very least, she expected to have two broken legs.
Fortunately for her, she had other options. Shouting, "Lati
Orum!", she conjured a spell of flying and abruptly stopped her
descent, jerking herself and her passenger to a painful halt. Her
arms ached from the strain, but she held on to Daved. It wouldn't do
to go through all that trouble just to have him slip literally from
her fingers.
She drifted slowly downward or fell with the speed of flight
as the whim suited her. The mage had full control over how they
reached the ground. As she neared the ground, she finally looked as
her passenger and almost dropped him in shock. The lower half of his
body was... in a word... missing. Surely, he couldn't be alive, but
as if only to prove her wrong, he groaned.
She hurried to the ground and laid him gently on the ground
and quickly examined his form. To her continuing surprise, she didn't
find torn flesh, as she feared. Instead, a layer of stone 'capped'
the bottom of his body.
Her first guilty thought was, 'At least I didn't do it.'
Well, technically she did, but she certainly hadn't expected this.
Her fear of finding the gory remains of one of her battles, would
remain a fear, at least for now. She dreaded the day that one of her
blows, blasts, or spells caused such terrible maiming, as implied as
possible by Daved's wound. This damage was natural, as natural as
being an assassin possessed by an age-old demon, not in control of
one's own actions. Oh well, if you fool with demons, that's what you
got.
The drow's eyes fluttered open, blinking in an effort to
remove the grit from his eyes. He came to full consciousness and
seemed disorientated for a minute, but the moment passed. He noticed
that her attention was focused at his missing half and at the 'wound'.
She didn't know quite what to say. 'I'm sorry for breaking
you in two' just doesn't quite apologize enough.
The choice of words was taken away as the half-elf gasped, "Do
you... understand?"
The confusion in her eyes was all the explanation he needed.
It was obvious the mage didn't.
With surprising strength the drow grabbed her arms with his
own, and his face contorted in concentration.
Raeni's first reaction was to jerk back from the unexpected
movement. The 'attack' came from another area. Images and visions
assaulted her mind and after a moment which seemed an eternity to her,
she was released from his hold. She crawled away as fast as her arms
and legs could take her, her head pounding the whole distance. When
she felt that she was a safe distance away, she stopped to clutch her
head in pain. Already, the hurt was dimming, but what remained was
horrific indeed. Snarling, she snapped out, "I didn't need that!" It
wasn't an attack as attacks go, but the massive headache she was
suffering made her want to retaliate.
"Yes..., you did. At least, I... did. Do you... understand?"
Yes, she understood, at least in part. Death, striving, an
eternity of torment, and somewhere in that massive jumble of memories,
repentance and regret. She had seen it all, and although much of it
was quickly forgotten, too much remained. As it was, she'd be having
nightmares for weeks. She had seen the dark elf's not-so-humble
beginnings, all the way up to the beginning of the end. She knew the
answer to his first question, that almost the entire space they were
in was an extension of Daved himself. This ravine, the featureless
plain outside, even the spiraling tunnel that led to the orcs, was an
extension of Daved's mind and soul. But she understood more.
"Do you expect me to forgive you? Nothing in this world would
ever allow that! All *your* victims, and all the of the demon's would
never forgive you."
He didn't answer for a long moment, but then he said, "I...
know. I don't... expect that. I just wanted someone to...
understand." His eyes closed with a seeming finality.
In a flash, Raeni was back over by Daved's side, not even
knowing why she was there. She quickly found a reason. "No!" she
yelled. "I won't let you die yet!" He deserved to die, but why was
she trying to stop it?
His eyes cracked opened and from behind tiny slits, he gazed
at her. "Why? You've already... killed me. What... more?"
She didn't want to pity him, but in her mind, there could be
no other response but pity. His story was tragic, yet it wasn't the
most tragic she had ever heard. She didn't want to cry for his death,
but still, tears made their way down her face. She wanted to hate him
for all the widows and orphans Daved had left behind in his quest to
found the Order of Night, but she couldn't condemn him. She had seen
his truth. To condemn him was to condemn her, because what drove him,
drove her. That drive to be the best, with the unreasonable arrogance
towards those that weren't, that was the thing behind it all. In
truth, she didn't know who she cried for.
She cradled his body as a mother would cradle her child, and
she wept. She wept for the loss of what could have been, had certain
things gone a certain way. A road not taken and a road destroyed.
She understood.
Raeni didn't know how long they remained in that position, but
the feeling of being watched shook her from her emotions. Several
paces away, Aarun stood, having returned from rocket trip. How long
he had been there, she didn't know or care. The ranger was polite
enough to remain distant, but the question lurked in his eyes. He
wanted to know what happened, but the mage didn't know if she had the
words to answer.
The drow spoke before she did, though. "You must... kill me."
"Why?" Raeni protested. "As you said, I've already killed
you."
An almost imperceptible shake of his indicated a negative.
"It's not... enough. If I die, without a heart... blow, then I'll be
reborn into this... hell, and all this space... with me. You'll
return as will all... of the others... in here, and that you won't...
like."
Reluctantly, he added, "That's what I had... planned. But not
now."
Woodenly, she reached for her own dagger, only to remember
that in here, she didn't have one. She glanced over at Aarun in
silent beseeching, unsure that she trusted her voice enough to make a
request of him. Wordlessly, he strode closer and passed over a
dagger.
Raeni's hands shook as she positioned the blade's tip over his
heart. This would be first time she had killed someone. Despite her
efforts to the contrary before, now it didn't seem right. It was
hypocritical of her. It had seemed so much easier to accept when she
viewed Daved as the enemy, but he really wasn't. The mage knew it was
necessary, or else he wouldn't have requested it. She couldn't do it.
His light touch on her hand startled her out of her
predicament. He gently guided the dagger's tip lower. "I'm not
human, remember?" he weakly joked.
The young girl flushed in embarrassment, glad that the low
light probably didn't show it.
Seeing the indecision in her eyes, Daved whispered, "I know
you... as well. It's hard..., but you must. Besides..., I died a
long time ago." He spoke no further, but the request remained in his
gaze.
He asked to be released from this torment, and now she knew
she had to. His misery was too much to bear, so she closed her eyes
and thrust the dagger forward.
Daved did not spasm in death. His eyes remained wide open as
the short blade stabbed into his chest. He didn't utter a single
sound, but the expression on his face told his feelings. The beatific
smile conveyed his joy and his relief at being finally released from
his hellish existence. Silently, he slumped and died.
A blazing white light burst out of the drow's body while at
the same time the ground beneath Raeni's feet began rumbling. She
looked wildly around. The ravine they were in was crumbling all
around them. Desperate, she turned to Aarun to yell at him to escape,
but what she saw astonished and frightened her. The light that had
exited from the dead elf's body was in the process of cocooning her
ranger friend in its light. Soon, he was swathed in threads of energy
and seemed frozen, unable to even glance her way.
As soon as it finished its job on Aarun, it turned its
attention onward to her. She could do nothing as it duplicated its
efforts. Raeni began panicking while being encased, but a whispered
voice forestalled her reaction.
"Please don't worry," it said. That voice. She recognized
that voice. It was Daved, and he didn't sound dangerous. "Please
trust me. I'm helping you leave here," he explained. "This place
will no longer *be* much longer. And then, it will be not."
Helpless to act, she could only watch as he finished the job.
The sky was breaking, she absently realized. Cracks of white showed
throughout the sky and pieces of gray fell to earth. The shuddering
of the earth grew only more violent as the spirit finished his task.
At last he was done. Before leaving, he turned one last time
to Raeni. "My fire-haired savior. I thank you. If you ever meet any
more of my kind, please let them know what happened. No one deserves
this fate." With those final words, he sped off to the west, while
the glow intensified around the mage. Soon, she could no longer hear
the rumbling earth nor see the dying sky. And then for a time, she
knew nothing at all.
***
Old Miri was desperate. The bubble of protection she held
around Uerris faded fast under the onslaught of the demon beast it
held out. With each blow, she felt the substance of her own being
ripped apart and lost.
She feared not for herself. She was already dead, but she had
no one to help protect the girl. When at last she was destroyed,
Uerris would be helpless before the creature. Her little protege was
unable to help herself, having succumbed some time ago to the venom
coursing through her veins. Only a shallow breath betrayed the fact
that Uerris still lived.
Things looked truly hopeless.
But in a single moment, the whole situation changed. The
demon, which had been battering at the shell, suddenly howled in pain,
spasming and crawling away, as though writhing under some unknown
attack. For a moment, she had thought Azure or even Keili had found
them and had somehow distracted the creature. But no.
It was the demon's host body that said otherwise. One moment,
it had lain there, a discarded puppet, the next it started radiating
an intense black. The darkness fully covered the body, allowing no
detail to show. Then a high pitch sounded throughout the clearing,
and the blackness... shattered.
As intense as was the black before, now a blinding white was
revealed from underneath the darkness, nearly overwhelming Miri's
senses in its painful purity. The demon howled louder, if that was
even possible. The devastation in its voice brought shivers up and
down her ethereal body.
As the white dimmed, the ex-mage could finally make out blobs
of light spread throughout the clearing. Moments later, she finally
saw the shapes clearly. One, twenty paces away, was a man, dressed as
a ranger. With an emotion bordering on glee, she recognized him. It
was Aarun!
The final shape resolved itself to be a young girl, about
Uerris' age. She was in a warrior's pose, a dagger held before her in
a defensive position. Her red-hair only added to the threat she
radiated. The girl seemed dazed for a moment before she snapped
herself awake. Sweeping the area with her gaze, she noted
absentmindedly the other shapes emerging from the light.
When her eyes focused on the demon, they narrowed to mere
slits. Her aura of danger unexpectedly intensified as she began
stalking toward it, only pausing to snap an order at Aarun and nodding
to where Miri stood, protecting Uerris. The ranger nodded in
acquiescence. He walked warily toward the unknown magic. Recognizing
her countenance, he blurted out, "Miri?!"
***
As Aarun approached closer to the translucent, gray sphere, he
saw its contents. Yelling out, "Uerris!" he ran full tilt to where
his daughter lay unmoving. He stopped inches short of actually
entering the bubble and tested it gingerly with his sword. It was
only then that he noticed the discorporeal form sitting beside the
still girl.
Although the rest of her was very indistinct, he could make
out facial features and was surprised at the sum total of his
impressions. It couldn't be! Old Miri had died six years before!
She could be here now. Nonetheless, he shouted out, "Miri?!"
At the apparition's nod, he relaxed slightly, although he
still partially disbelieved what his eyes told him. She motioned for
him to come inside. It was such a familiar gesture, one made hundreds
of times over his lifetime, that he didn't even consider the danger as
he entered the bubble of fog.
<Yes, Aarun. It's me. And am I glad to see you!> The words
had sounded in his mind, startling him a bit. She gestured to Uerris,
<She's been... poisoned, but that isn't quite the right word for it.
But I can't help her here.>
Reflexes on automatic, he bent down immediately to gather up
his daughter in his arms, but he paused. Slowly, regretfully, he
returned his arms to his sides. "I can't, Old Miri." Turning back to
look outside the sphere, he saw that Raeni had begun her battle with
the demon beast. It wasn't so much as a battle, but more of a game of
dodge and tag. Raeni, of course, was the dodger, and the malevolent
creature was the tagger. The tagger didn't seem to be having much
luck.
"I'm... sorry, Old Miri. But I can't leave until Raeni has
finished off the beast. I owe her." Although the girl seemed to have
the situation well in hand, there was the off chance that she would
slip up, and it was too dangerous a being to let roam loose. He was
further startled when he felt a feather-light touch upon his shoulder.
Looking back, he saw that Miri had placed a comforting, foggy hand
there, making sure not to sink her arm all the way through his body.
She was definitely a spirit.
<It's all right, Aarun. Uerris isn't in immediate danger. We
have a little time.> As one, they turned to watch the outcome of the
battle outside.
***
After Raeni had directed the ranger to find out what the heck
that magic bubble was by that tree, she focused her attention on the
only creature in the clearing that fairly radiated evil. The air was
thick with its stink, and she approached it carefully. She noted that
as the orcwen recovered their senses they fled the clearing, helping
along any who could not help themselves. Only Gihari, Balek, and
their daughter remained, clustered at the far end of the clearing.
The creature now stood upon its hind legs, towering over her
four-not-quite-five-foot height by a goodly amount. If it had meant
to intimidate her, it failed miserably. It was ugly, but that wasn't
its least endearing feature. It slavered and drooled ichor from its
mouth, but that wasn't quite it either. It was the eyes, those cold,
obsidian eyes, eyes that had viewed with glee the untold misery it had
caused over the centuries it had been free upon this earth. She
decided that she would see those eyes humbled.
Tossing her dagger over her shoulder, where it thumped into a
ready tree and sank in almost to the hilt from the force of her throw.
She turned to the creature and recited woodenly,
"Oh-dear-what-ever-will-I-do. It-is-a-big-bad-creature." To
emphasize her point, she had placed her hands up to her face in mock
fear.
With a roar of rage, the demon attacked. Leading with a
forepaw, it slashed across laterally toward her position. It followed
up with its remaining claw, driving downward with a blow that would
have split her in two had she been there. She wasn't of course.
Raeni had taken a mere single step backwards, dodging the
blows by inches. She continued her little tirade, "Oh-no.
It-almost-hit-me. What-ever-shall-I-do." Seeing an opportunity, she
landed a kick on one of its outstretched forepaws causing a resounding
crack to bounce throughout the clearing. The accompanying shriek of
pain gratified her, to say the least.
Dancing out of range, she asked it solicitously,
"Oh-I-am-sorry, Mr.-Beast. Did-that-hurt?" Then she tittered
mockingly. Turning her back to it, she pulled a red book out of
mid-air and thumbed through it. "Now let me see, I know the
demon-banishing ritual is around here somewhere."
The demon, thinking it had an opportunity to attack, leapt at
her emitting a loud bellow, only to be brought up short by the flying
sandal in its face. Raeni looked down at her foot. "Oh, dear. I
seem to have lost a sandal." Turning back to the monster she scolded
it, "Bad demon! You shouldn't play with things that don't belong to
you."
Shaking off the embedded footwear, the creature clambered to
its feet and attacked again. This time, it breathed a cloud of
noxious fumes right toward the mage. Her reaction was most
unexpected, especially by her opponent.
The mage bent over backwards not at her waist, but at her
knees. Like a limbo dancer, she then scuttled out of reach not even
using her arms, only straightening herself after putting herself a
fair distance away. The whole time she was thumbing through the book
she held saying, "Banishment of air elementals, nope. Banishment of
athlete's foot, nope." Even the demon had to pause to stare at what
just happened.
Closing the book with a dejected sigh, Raeni just shook her
head. "Too bad. I was sure it was in there." Tossing that book
backwards, also to disappear from whence it came, the young mage
pulled out another book, this time a blue one. She began leafing
through that one as well.
The demon was beyond furious. Its muscles bunched from
suppressed anger, and it shook from fury. Its forearm had healed, so
it bent down to all fours, readying a charge. It looked so much like
a overgrown bulldog, though nowhere as pretty.
Raeni ignored it. Back and forth over the clearing, the demon
chased her. Whenever it struck out at her, she would either do a
mid-air split or duck to the side avoiding the blow. If it tried to
bite her, she would curl her body out of the way, elbowing it
absentmindedly on the top of its head.
Meanwhile, she made her way through about ten different books.
The observers of the battle could hear faintly the different
banishment rituals she came across. It sounded like she was going
through the encyclopedia.
Finally, the mage got the 'S' category. She was muttering,
"Sephiroth... nope. Serpents... naw. Shadow-elementals... hmm close.
Shadow-demons... bingo!" Raeni stopped suddenly and the demon thought
it had her. It leapt at her with a triumphant bellow.
She just waited. When the creature was a mere pace away, she
reached out her unshod foot and completed the pentagram she had been
making with the piece of chalk held between the first two toes of her
foot. She muttered, "Oru arapham," and the pentagram blazed to life,
fire racing about its edge as though it were laid with oil instead of
the green chalk she had used.
The circle of containment was a simple affair. Basically it
was a star drawn inside a circle, but it was large. It stretched a
full three paces at its widest and no-one, not even the observers of
the fight had seen Raeni lay it. What had seemed to be random
movements during the fight had really been calculated blocks and
parries that had allowed her time to place the lines.
When the circle sprang to life, the demon was caught totally
unprepared. It was in the middle of leap to tear Raeni's head off
when it slammed it a barrier of fire, the boundary of the pentagram.
It screamed in pain as it was held suspended by the raging flames for
what seemed to it to be an eternity, before being thrown back to the
center, and there it lay, moaning piteously.
Raeni had no sympathy for it, however. Her demeanor was
greatly changed from just a few seconds before. Gone was the flippant
tone, the childish games. The young mage no longer smiled or laughed.
The demon slowly and painfully got to all fours and crouched
fearfully, trying to blot out the unpleasant sensations from the ward
burns.
"How does it feel, Diamandranthus?"
The demon winced at its True name. And it knew for a
certainty that it had been defeated.
"How well do you like feeling helpless? Surely it's not so
bad as being held helpless within your own body while being forced to
watch your own hands slaying, killing, without the ability to stop.
It must be nothing compared to feeling that your fate is not your
own."
Raeni waved the book she held in front of its face. "I know
how to banish you." With a casual flip, she tossed the book away, and
it too disappeared like all the ones previous. "But I ain't feeling
merciful."
The beast actually shivered in fear at her tone, and she
reveled in it. Reaching backwards, she drew forth a spear from her
collection of weapons. It glowed a pale blue when in came into
proximity with the shadow-demon. "See my little toy? It knows what
you are. It hungers to taste your blood."
She laughed lightly. "I'm told this is a +5 spear vs. Demons.
Please do tell me if I've been gypped."
Diamandranthus cowered against the far boundary of the
pentagram, unheedful of the burns it received on its back side.
Finally it spoke to her. <No, Mistress,> it begged. <Please don't
kill me!> Its touch on her mind caused her to shudder in revulsion.
Ignoring its pleas, she snarled, "Have fun being the lowest of
the low for a couple centuries, beast. Give Hades my regards!" Raeni
stepped across the edge of the circle, breaking it. The creature had
half-turned in preparation to flee, but before it's paws could leave
the circle, she stepped up to it, the spear poised before her. She
yelled out, "Die!", and plunged her weapon into its exposed back,
snapping its spine with the first blow.
Withdrawing the spear, she rammed it repeatedly into its
flesh. Whispering softly, she laughed, "Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken,
indeed," and sped up her attacks. Soon, the head of the blade was
just a blur as she landed a hundred blows in just a few seconds.
The monster tried to defend itself, or at least it did
initially. But soon, it was so much a lump of flesh. Seeing that her
work was finished, Raeni stepped back at view her handiwork. Nothing
was spared, that much was apparent from the first glance. Only a
slight twitching betrayed the fact that this unrecognizable lump once
lived, and eventually, that, too, stopped.
Satisfied, the mage turned away and headed toward Aarun.
Behind her, what had once been Diamandranthus dissolved into its base
components, becoming a soup of acid and noxious elements.
Casting a glance over her shoulder, she viewed her handiwork,
and turning back, she stated the obvious, "It's over."
But it wasn't quite yet, as Raeni found after making her way
over to slowly dispersing fog. Still, running off a battle high, she
took in the situation with a glance. As she drew closer, she
discerned the shape of Uerris lying wreathed within a bed of fog. A
wispy fog shape stood over her, beside which Aarun stood. Almost
without conscious thought she began drawing in energy from the
surrounding area in preparation, but she was stopped as the ranger
stepped between her and her target.
"Wait, Raeni!" he demanded. "She isn't a threat! Miri's
keeping Uerris alive!"
Suspicion remained in her eyes, but powering down the chi, she
allowed it to dissipate back from where it came. Tersely, she
commanded, "Explain. Now."
***
Usually, the most ghosts or other beings who were once mortal
can do once they have passed over to their new existence can do when
confronted with odd happenings was to 'gaze dispassionately.' After
all, what is left to wow someone when they've literally been dead and
back. But what Miri had just seen made her stare. Had she a physical
mouth, no doubt she would have gaped. She couldn't appropriately show
her amazement. The girl in the clearing had ruthlessly decimated her
opponent, fighting with a prowess way beyond her years and using such
a potent weapon, although the once-mage wondered if the spear had been
necessary at all.
Miri wanted very much to meet this mysterious girl and Aarun
hadn't said much, but the look she was given by the fire-haired girl
as the girl approached sent cold chills up her figurative spine.
This, from a being made up of primarily cold chills. From her
Othersight, she watched as energy seemed to flow from the surroundings
and gather in the girl's tiny hand. That was patently impossible!
This came from her lifetime of experience as an earth sorceress.
For the first time in her ethereal existence, Miri was scared.
Not much should be able to harm a ghost, aside from magical weapons,
spells, or beings. Although the girl had one such dangerous weapon
slung casually over her shoulder, it wasn't being wielded with any
obvious threat. Still, why was she so nervous. The gathering energy
couldn't be a spell. It didn't conform to any known magics, but the
feeling of danger was steadily increasing. Was the girl some sort of
non-human? Aura-checking showed otherwise. She was human, but still
what was that? Miri found herself to be sweating fog, though in her
condition it was hard to determine.
She was therefore unreasoningly relieved when Aarun stepped
between her and the young girl. She almost missed the introductions
as she sighed silently, grateful without knowing why.
Aarun was saying to the girl, "Raeni, this is Miri. She's an
old friend from town. She would never harm Uerris. In fact, Uerris
used to be her apprentice." Turning towards her, he continued, "Miri,
this is Raeni, a girl that was trapped with me by the demon she just
fought."
Miri nodded politely, hoping her shaking was too evident.
<Ah, yes. Hariule's apprentice. Azure told me about you.> She was
glad that her fear didn't spill over into her mindspeech. It would
have been embarrassing to be afraid of such a small thing, even though
the girl had proven herself to be even more dangerous than a demon.
"Azure, huh? What's that furball been doing this whole time?"
Raeni extended her hand out in greeting. The distrust in her eyes
didn't completely disappear, but her stance relaxed somewhat.
Miri looked helplessly at Aarun. Shrugging, she put forth her
own hand to complete the handshake.
Aarun, seeing that Raeni was about to make a mistake, tried to
warn Raeni, "Uh. Raeni. Miri's a spirit. And you know, people
can't... touch.... ghosts..." His voice trailed off as he watched the
girl, well, shaking the hand of a ghost. It didn't look like Miri was
humoring the young mage. Her hand was too firmly following the
motions made by Raeni. Again, the thought crossed his mind, 'Just
what is she?'
Miri was just as surprised as Aarun. She had expected her
hand to fall through the grasp, just like all of her other umpteenth
tries to influence the real world. Near the end of the shake, Raeni's
hand seemed to lose substantiality and her grip came up empty.
The young mage just looked at her hand and shrugged,
dismissing it as unimportant. She asked, "What's wrong with Uerris?"
The girl was concerned and seemed to have already development any
attachment to Aarun's daughter.
<She was attacked by that beast, and it wounded her, both
physically and within her spirit.> Miri turned to the fallen girl.
<The physical wound isn't much. It looks like it's already healing.
Uerris was always a fast healer.> Her hand trailed lovingly following
the young ranger's cheek line. <But there is a soul wound. I've
slowed its spread, but we need to move her back to my grove. I think
I can heal her there. Some healing magics still work for me.>
Raeni shrugged again. The young mage's own healing abilities
amounted to nearly nothing, so in this she was out of her league.
Bending to greater wisdom, as loathe as she was to do it, she said,
"Sounds good to me. Lead the way." She picked up her sick friend and
carried the burden as though carrying a light load of books. "Just go
and slow down if you see me lagging," she directed.
Aarun nodded his agreement to Miri. "I trust you with Uerris.
She'll be in good hands. I need to talk to Balek and Gihari. We need
to deal with this problem and then I need to prepare the town for the
news." He waved them off and watched, unsurprised as Raeni took to
the trees. It figured that she traveled the same way his children
did.
***
A short time later, Miri, Raeni, and Azure surrounded Uerris,
who lay on a convenient bedroll pulled from Raeni's not-space. They
were in the middle of Witch's Doom, with the prisoners moved off to
one side of the clearing.
Azure had almost bowled his mistress over when she appeared
following the ghostly Miri. Only by sheer expertise in martial arts
had kept the burden she carried safe from the beast's overenthusiastic
greetings. She had laughed at the undignified way Azure licked her,
but inside she had been relieved to see him well.
Greetings laid aside, the trio focused on the problem at hand.
Raeni and Azure would be mostly watching, though. The familiar knew
little of medicines aside from a small assortment of herbal teas that
Master Hariule had used for his joints, and his mistress wasn't really
much better.
It was all up to Miri. Now that they were in her home base,
so to speak, the spirit's form seemed much more well-defined and she
exuded a force of being which could be felt by all in the area. The
captives, no longer incoherent from fear, still eyed the ghost with
some trepidation.
At least Uerris seemed a little better when they had finally
got here. Raeni had breathed a sigh of relief when Uerris' breathing
steadied when the mage had stepped within the perimeter of the grove.
Ghostly hands lay atop the unconscious ranger's chest and the
mist that Miri was composed of shimmered with her unknown effort. At
first the fluctuations were erratic, but soon they beat in a steady
rhythm. Curious, Raeni surreptitiously sought out her friend's hand
and measured the pulse. Unsurprisingly, it matched the variations in
Miri's pulsating aura.
A thick layer of fog still ringed the clearing and there
seemed to be movement within its cloudy composition. It, too, dimmed
and pulsed in time with Miri. Even the subtle action seemed somehow
choreographed with whatever the ghost was doing.
Minutes passed without much change but then, slowly, the light
in the clearing increased. Initially it was only one dot of light.
'A faerie,' thought Raeni. When she narrowed her eyes she could
barely make out its faint outline hidden by the light of its being.
Soon, another appeared. And then another and another. Throughout
the fog more faeries winked into existence.
It was a beautiful sight. Colors she didn't know existed
bobbed and weaved, each dancing to its own separate melody. On some
unheard signal, the surrounding faeries streamed inwards and converged
on Uerris. Reaching the unconscious girl, they entered her body,
passing through her flesh with ease. More and more appeared to join
the gathering until it seemed that Uerris contained a universe of
stars.
Now, Raeni could see her friend's problem. A core of
blackness, surrounded by rippling pool of light. Even as she watched,
the dark was being broken up and carried out, exiting where Miri
touched her apprentice and flowing up the spirit's arms. Raeni
couldn't tell what happened beyond that point, but as the lights left
the ghostly body, they winked out existence, probably returning from
whence they came.
The clump of black grew smaller and smaller until it
disappeared entirely. The remaining faeries swirled inside Uerris for
a moment more, and in a flurry of action, they exploded outward
leaving trails of light in their wake. For just a few short seconds,
the clearing was brighter than day, then just as suddenly, they were
gone, leaving Raeni blinking.
***
Uerris dreamed. Wherever it was, it wasn't Gasenheart. As
she wandered the streets, she wondered where she was. As far as she
could recall, she hadn't ever been outside her hometown. Where was
this place with the ugly square buildings, packed closer together than
the shops in the middle of town.
Everywhere she looked, people roamed. More people than the
number that lived in town passed her just as she stood there.
Suddenly, her wanderings ended and she was in front of shop. Its
shape was familiar, but she didn't know from where. Looking upwards,
she saw the strange script of this city. To her surprise, she found
herself reading it aloud, "Ucchan's."
Ucchan. Wasn't that what Raeni called her... called her...
back then. She frowned but for the life of her couldn't recall when
'then' had been. She reached forth her hand and tugged open the front
door, entering the little store. Tables and benches greeted her.
Another familiar sight. In the back sat a counter with a cooking
grill on top. Tending the grill was a girl. 'No... a boy,' she
immediately rethought. Konatsu. The name came from seemingly
nowhere, but as sure as anything else, that was her -- his name.
Another boy sat on a stool at the back counter, his dark hair
tied in a tight pig-tail. Upon her entrance the boy turned to her and
flashed a smile. At that time, her heart leapt to her throat.
Suddenly, the boy seemed to shimmer and now it was Raeni who sat there
grinning at her. She shook her head, taking her eyes off her friend
for just a second. When she looked back, the boy was back, that
confident grin still in place.
She was about to ask who he was, but as she reached out and
moved forward, the entire scene dissolved into a foggy whiteness.
"No!" she yelled and collapsed to her knees sobbing. She had
to know who that boy was. Was he connected to Raeni? It was the same
feeling of recognition she had received from seeing Raeni. He was
important to her, but she didn't know why.
Suddenly, someone stood over her and comforting arms
surrounded her, cuddling her in warm embrace and holding her until her
tears ran out. Sniffling she looked up into the benign face of her
mentor, Old Miri. She knew she should be feeling fear, but that smile
face would not allow it.
"My dear child," her old teacher began, "it is so good to see
you again."
"M-mistress, is that really you?" Uerris timidly asked. "I-I
am *so* sorry!" she wailed as the tears came anew. She buried her
head into the older lady's bosom, clinging to her mentor like a lost
child. "I-I failed you!"
"No," came the soothing reply. "You have nothing to apologize
for." Miri softly stroked the girl's head, trying to calm her. "If
anything, I failed you."
"B-but. The fire, it killed you and I couldn't do anything to
stop it."
As the unpleasant memory surfaced, Old Miri frowned and shook
her head sadly. "There was nothing you could do. What happened was
unexpected -- and not your fault. If anything, I shouldn't have left
my defenses down like that. But you child, I failed you."
"N-no, mistress. You s-saved me!" Uerris protested.
"I failed you by not surviving," the sorceress clarified, "to
teach you what you needed to learn. That's why I'm here now."
"T-teach m-me?" This time, the stutter wasn't caused by her
crying but by something else. Uerris shrank back from her teacher.
She didn't know if she wanted to learn magic. Her brush with death by
mystic fire made her loathe to ever be around magic again. "But I
don't--" Then it hit her. Memories of her immediate past came
flooding into her mind. The assassin and Raeni. Her friend
disappearing into a cloak and then the fight on her own. And her
wishing to have learned something, enough to rescue her friend.
Still... she didn't know.
Suddenly, she stiffened in fear. Where was she? If she had
just been battling an assassin and from her last conscious memories,
she was losing. "The assassin," she blurted out, "what happened?"
Her teacher's calm demeanor in turned soothed the girl's
trouble soul. "It's all right, Uerris. Raeni and Aarun are both
safe. They managed to defeat the demon. You are safe. When you
wake, everything will be all right."
Only because it was Old Miri, did she believe. Uerris slowed
her beating heart and pondered her dilemma. The offer still stood.
Old Miri was here, and she was willing to teach. How long that would
take she didn't know, but she trusted that if her mentor offered, then
it was doable. She remembered about her promise to learn from Raeni
and the fact that she would be leaving with the girl very soon to go
on a trip that even her mother wanted her to go on. She couldn't be a
burden to her friend, and half-trained as she was would surely be
dangerous and would slow them both down. Gathering her resolve, she
stared into Old Miri's eyes and spoke a single word, "Yes."
At her agreement, Old Miri smiled gratefully. She instructed,
"Let's both stand up."
Expecting a lesson right there and then, Uerris stood and
closed her eyes in meditation. They snapped open at Old Miri's soft
laugh.
With a smile, the older lady said, "I don't think I'll have
time to teach you that way. That would take years." Extending a
hand, she continued, "Just take my hand."
Unhesitatingly, Uerris did. And woke.
***
Relief flooded through her system as Raeni finally managed to
get some response from her injured friend. She had shaken the
unconscious girl for quite some time before Uerris finally opened her
eyes. Happy, she supported the ranger in her arms, saying, "I'm glad
you're okay."
At first, Uerris just continued blinking but then sat up
quickly. Too quickly, it seemed. The shakiness she displayed
convinced Raeni that her friend wasn't completely healed yet. Still,
being awake was enough for her.
Seeing that her friend wanted to get up, Raeni obliged by
helping the woozy girl to her feet, ready to catch if Uerris seemed
ready to buckle. She managed and both were vertical.
Uerris didn't seem fully awake and blinked owlishly as she
peered around the dead clearing. Not seeing what she sought, she
sadly whispered, "It was just a dream, wasn't it? It wasn't Old
Miri." She looked at the mage but seeing the morose face brought her
back a step.
Raeni couldn't formulate the words to tell her friend. Words
alone couldn't describe what had transpired and in truth, she wasn't
sure what had happened. But she tried. She slowly shook her head,
saying, "No. It was Miri. She saved you." The young mage looked at
the ground in regret. "But after that, she sorta... faded away." How
could she describe her feelings of panic after the ghost had
disappeared and Uerris still hadn't awoken? How could she now say to
the ranger that she now thought that a sacrifice had been made? Her
mystic senses told her that Miri no longer resided in the grove, and
yet, gone too was the twisty unnaturalness that once cohabited here
with the spirit. Miri was well and truly gone.
'It wasn't a dream, then,' thought Uerris. To have regained
and then to have lost again or to have never regained at all, she
didn't know which was worse. Old Miri had been there, and even as she
thought of her old teacher, there came a pressure on her mind.
Fearful at first, she tried pushing it away, but even as she
struggled, a dam burst within her, and suddenly she knew. She knew
more than she had a right to know as jumbles of Earth magic lore
tumbled and swirled. She swayed, losing her balance. Raeni was there
to catch her.
Concern colored her friend's voice as the girl suggested, "You
aren't completely okay. We should get back to the town. Your
father's probably already there."
Steadying herself, Uerris shook her head slightly. "No, it's
all right, Raeni. I can accept it. But Old Miri left me a gift
before she went away." For the first time that night, Uerris smiled.
"I'll be fine. But we should go," she agreed.
***
Two figures stood watching the brief reunion of friends. One
turned to the other and asked, "I couldn't at least say good-bye?"
The boyish elf just grimly shook his head and replied, "No."
With sympathy, he added, "Your task is over and it's time to move on
to your reward. Uerris knows who helped her, and it's better if you
don't come into their lives again."
'Better for whom,' Miri wondered. She had the distinct
feeling that somehow, she'd been suckered. The healing had gone
better than she expected, the faeries she had summoned finished their
task, drawing the 'poisons' from her apprentice's body. She herself
completed the final step, delving into Uerris' mind to bring her back
to consciousness.
Miri had seen an opportunity to remedy her previous failure,
so she had taken it, transferring most of her knowledge to the girl,
after the reluctant acceptance. She had intended to withdraw and be
there to greet her pupil in the flesh (fog) so to speak, but something
had gone wrong.
When she divided herself from Uerris, she found that she no
longer retained her ethereal existence. Technically, she hadn't died
because she had already, but it was like death. Reborn into yet
another level of reality, the real world one step further removed from
where she lived. And he was there.
Devon was waiting for her, as solid as he was before.
Evidently, he was a being on this plane of reality as well. He had
calmly informed her that her fated task had been accomplished and that
she was free to pass on to her reward. The emotionless content of
that little speech, delivered with an unwavering smile, would have
raised her hackles had she had any.
It was just too coincidental. She demanded suspiciously,
"What of the grove? I was to be bound to contain the spread of
contamination."
"The darkness, you ask." Devon looked around and considered
it. "That's easily taken care of." With a snap of his fingers, the
evil taint of the grove disappeared, fading away even as she watched.
The parody of trees and plantlife still remained of course. It would
take years for Witch's Doom to return to what it had been, but the
cause of unnatural twisting had been removed.
She spluttered, "But... what... you?" She had been bound here
for six years for nothing?
"No. Not nothing." The smile dropped off Devon's face.
"Raeni and the others are my charge and my responsibility. They
needed you to be here, so I made sure you were."
Such a point-blank answer so shocked her that she didn't know
how to reply. If he had the power to do that, to suspend her from
death, what was he? Who was he working for?
"That, you don't need to know," came the unasked reply. With
another snap of his fingers, Devon faded from view.
Feeling a tingling, Miri looked down and found that she, too,
was disappearing. She had to warn them, Raeni and Uerris, so she
summoned the last of her strength.
***
Azure managed to get the captives to the feet and Raeni
formulated a marching order. The prisoners would go first with Azure
to play shepherd, with Uerris and Raeni following closely behind.
Raeni sighed. It looked to be a long trip back to town. With
the prisoner's feet hobbled, they wouldn't go very fast. Maybe
someone would think to meet them partway with a wagon or something.
She doubted it, though.
Still, Raeni was happy. Uerris seemed okay, and they managed
to rescue Aarun and a few others. One demon had been banished for a
couple centuries and one being freed from the former's control. All
in all, it had been a good day's work.
So that was the plan. The captives unwillingly led the way,
Azure prodding them in the general direction of the town. Right
behind him, Raeni helped Uerris along, the red-haired mage supporting
her taller friend.
None of them saw the shifting leaves back in the center of the
grove. From chaos, words formed. "Beware Devon."
A few seconds later, single gust in the windless day blew into
the clearing scattering the leaves and their message to the four
winds.