Oblivion's Queen

by M. H. Johnson

  Jess nodded. “We both know that Jera and Alex are gifted with some measure of our talents, budding and fragile as those shoots still are. Yet this place still drains them, they still feel the elements, and whatever potential our Alex and Jera have, this terrible place will eventually crush them. Already they are unable to leave this rift at all. Trapped, in fact.”

  Malek sighed, closing his eyes, and they stopped, knowing that going any further toward the town risked another battle, and lingering here too long would mean their friends might end up like the twisted creatures they had fought. “What the hell do we do, Jess?”

  “Well, here’s an idea to start with, why not find shelter and protect your friends?” quipped a comforting voice even as Jess's beloved familiar settled once more upon his favorite perch.

  “Twilight! I see you!” Malek's eyes brightened as he gazed at the sleek form of Twilight, rain gliding off his silky dark fur even as his sapphire eyes gazed intently at the young adventurers before him.

  Malek grinned. “Damn, I remember!” With a triumphant laugh, he removed the mysterious little box Jess had seen him puzzling over for the last several days of their journey, only then realizing how odd her own lack of curiosity had been. Jess gave a surprised gasp as Malek pricked himself, placing a single drop of blood upon the dark shiny wood surface. Strangely, the drop was not instantly washed off by the pouring rain, but rather appeared to be absorbed by the box. It took on a faint red hue even as it clicked open, revealing two silvery orbs, each a bit wider than the top joint of Jess's thumb, both slowly taking on a dark crimson hue before vibrating madly in the center of the felt lined box. With a single whisper and a further drop of blood upon each orb, Malek gave a sigh of sweet release, even as the two balls began to lazily spin about his head. “Blood magic! I had completely forgotten that I could do this, that I even had these orbs with me!”

  Jess blinked. “Wait, I remember, now. You had them in use at that Lord Fal's place, even when we fought to reclaim diOnni's manor.”

  Twilight raised a jaded brow. “You remembered how to prick yourself, Hound. Wonderful. It will no doubt serve you well in the battles to come. In the meantime, why don’t you and Jess find your friends appropriate shelter, lest they die of exposure before even this twisted realm can warp and destroy them?”

  “Yes, we know, Twilight!" Jess snapped, fear for her friends trapped in a realm of nightmare slowly sinking ever deeper into Shadow leaving her feeling short tempered and surly. "What do you suggest, Twilight? Those creatures could stumble upon Alex and Jera, wherever we go. How can we keep them safe if we are off exploring the depths of this Regio?"

  Jess shivered in sudden horror. “Ye gods! Abe! I remember! He tried to follow us, that first time Malek and I entered the Dreamrealms together. And… and he was torn. Torn to shreds!” In a flash, she remembered Abe’s last horrific moments, screaming endlessly as his body was obliterated, flesh crushed by unimaginable pressures, streaming out in a thousand directions and dimensions, so terrible had been the pull of Regio rupturing his fragile body, even as his soul was stretched and torn before spinning away into a chasm of absolute blackness below. A horror beyond comprehension, for even then she had felt Abe's shrieks vibrating through the ether. Jess shuddered in sickened remembrance.

  “No! There is no way we can risk taking them further in with us!”

  “Damn it, Jess, you're not thinking!" Twilight snapped. "They both have more of the gift than Abe, he only granted enough by mercurial fate to rush to his own doom. Now remember your abilities! Remember what you can do!"

  Jess just shuddered, numb with horror and creeping doubt, even as Alex gazed in awe at Twilight. “By the spirit of Justice, I can see you! This is your familiar, isn’t it Jess?” Even shivering in the terrible downpour Alex summoned a happy smile, seeing such a potent symbol of magic, the validation of everything Jess had said. No longer would he doubt that Jess was half delusional. Instead he gazed at his friend with renewed wonder. All this Jess could tell with a single glimpse at her exhausted friend.

  Jess forced herself to calm her panic, and think. Gazing all about her. At the desolate town in the gloom, from which even now she half-imagined seeing the pale glimmer of sickly glowing eyes bobbing slowly in the darkness, before taking in the gloomy forest a short distance from the mud-slicked road.

  “That’s it!” Jess cried, in a sudden flash of hope. “Thank you, Twilight!”

  Her familiar shrugged. “I did nothing save remind you of that which you already knew.”

  Jess nodded, picking up her pace to a fast stroll indeed, gently leading Alex, half carrying him even as Malek gently hunkered down, carefully picking up Jera and following Jess's lead.

  “Mind telling me where were going, Jess?" Malek asked even as they made for the tree line. Immediately, the torrential downpour lessened, the force of the drops muted by the foliage overhead. "Well, I guess this is better. Jess, slow down. I don't want to lose you!"

  Jess slowed her steps only slightly, trusting her gut, following her instincts. At last she sighed with a certain amount of relief as she caught sight of what she immediately knew to be her destination, a large oak tucked away in the midst of the pine. Where most of the trees looked sickly and wilted, as if surviving a terrible long winter, the oak looked somewhat better. Strong green leaves were as prevalent as the red and gold leaves of fall. The thick bowers of the tree almost seemed to beckon them forward.

  With a contented hum, Jess approached the tree, gently placing Alex against the trunk, even as she took off her gauntlets and gently stroked the ancient oak, hands resting against its surface as she closed her eyes and breathed deep. Lost in wordless meditation with the tree.

  Gently, slowly, the crisp dry leaves of fall fell about them, untouched by the rain that poured endlessly down past the thick bowers overhead. Jess smiled. “Thank you, great Oak,” she whispered, even as she wordlessly took a shivering, now silent Jera from Malek’s arms, gazing with infinite pity and sadness into her friend's terrified eyes.

  “It will be all right,” Jess whispered, kissing Jera's forehead before placing her in Alex’s arms, both of them now resting comfortably against the tree. She caught Malek’s gaze, and as one they gathered all the fresh dry leaves of autumn. “Take off your clothes, Alex. You and Jera both.”

  Wordlessly, Alex just stared at them both for an endless moment before blinking and nodding resolutely. “Of course. The water steals our heat. Come, Jera, we must undress and dry ourselves with the leaves.” Ignoring her gentle whimpers, he carefully undressed first his lover, then himself, even as Jess and Malek covered them both in a thick bed of leaves. Only then did they hang their friend’s gear on a conveniently low hanging branch.

  “Thank you for your bounty," Jess whispered softly, kissing its trunk even as she bent down to stroke the foreheads of both her friends. "Rest here. The tree is strong. It will ward you against the cold and wet that would drain the strength from your bodies."

  Alex shook his head in wonder. “Jess. How did you know this tree was here?” He blinked, staring at the leaves, noting his own sudden greater comfort, as if the gentle forest was warming him directly. “How are you doing this?” His voice was filled with awe. “All the times you have used these ancient druidic arts for our benefit, and only now do I feel like I understand how precious your gifts truly are, Jess.”

  Jess smiled. “I'm no Druid, Alex. I just have a green thumb, remember? We are, after all, in the realm of dreams, and I’ve always felt a close kinship with the forest.” She closed her eyes then, still caressing the thick bark of the ancient tree, smiling for a carefree moment, bothered not at all by the chill rainwater that drenched her from head to toe. Jess's smile, however, soon turned grim. “But there is another step I have to take to protect you from those who might wish you harm. Things far more malevolent than the elements.”

  With that, walking a few ceremonial steps away from the life-giving tree, Jess methodically cut her arm, the slice care
ful and shallow, injuring no muscle or tendon, yet allowing the blood to flow freely, at least for a few moments. Carefully and quickly she circled the great tree, allowing a faint patter of her crimson drops to stain the forest floor.

  Though she had been able to master no conventional magic at Highrock, some things were instinctive to her. She had no talent for manipulating the gentle weave of silver blue strands that permeated all the mundane realm, and her diligent yet fruitless attempts to learn the arts of summoning it and gathering it into brilliant constructs of magical power commonly referred to as spells had only resulted in laughable failure. Yet she had always felt a fierce furnace of energy within her. It was of bitter solace to think that her own potency had kept her from embracing the magics that made Alex such an apt pupil, able to master spell and storms alike. At least, such was true in the land of mundus, the realm of the living. Here, in the realm of the dreams, she felt more in tune with her inner essence, that hot fiery furnace of her will and passion, than she ever had in the waking realm.

  With a grim smile, Jess recalled and uttered words of power never spoken in her lifetime, hearing Alex gasp, even as the very air seemed to crack, the ground to lurch. And her blood began to blaze with a brilliant crimson flame. Faint, almost ephemeral, it flickered gently, burning nothing.

  Alex cried out, staring wide-eyed, even as Jera dozed softly in her lover's embrace, too exhausted to focus on anything but the comfort of his arms. "Jess, by all the saints, what did you do? Tell me you haven't fallen to diabolism."

  Jess burst out laughing, so ridiculous was Alex’s jest. “No, silly. I’m just using the power of my blood! Think about it. The creatures of the Dreamrealm are malleable to those with the gift of Delving. We have power over our dreams, Alex. And blood is the key to that power. It is an arcane connection to ourselves; an extension of our will! Just think of that creature in the stables that we faced. At first my strikes did nothing but make it laugh! The minute it felt the sting of my blood, what happened? Its flesh ruptured before my blade like black pudding burst from its casing!”

  Alex just gazed at Jess. “Yeah. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that. The realm of dreams, it doesn’t really work that way. Your blood… it shouldn’t be able to do that.”

  Jess couldn’t help chuckling at that. “Alex, you have to trust that the so-called scholars don’t always get it right! Theories can’t be used to disclaim facts! You see the reality before you. It is for the scholars to explain the facts with their theories, not force me to justify my reality with how they want things to be!” Jess grinned. “Face it, my friend. Adventurers are a potent breed indeed.”

  Alex managed a week laugh. “Perhaps you are right at that, Jess. Gods know I owe you my life. However you pulled it off, I am grateful. So, your blood, it will protect us?”

  Jess nodded happily. “I think it shall. The blood is a reflection of my will, after all, and I am willing it to burn to a crisp any creature bound by chords of infernal power.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I know my blood can cut through the mystic chords of power that inhabit dreams, and if you recall Rens's lab exploding, I know my blood can slice through the silver blue chords of the mortal realm as well.”

  Alex eyes lightened. “Ah yes, I recall how that wave of destruction didn’t touch you or Malek. Your dagger was bloody… by justice, you parted that magic wave like a breakwater parting a stormy sea! Impressive, Jess. Damn impressive. But are you sure it will cleave infernal chords of power as well as mortal?”

  Jess flashed a bleak smile, filled with a dark certainty. “Count on it.”

  Alex flinched.

  Jess gave a satisfied nod. “For someone who failed every attempt to master magic at Highrock, I’m pretty useful here in the realm of dreams, hey?”

  Alex laughed. "More like nightmares. But honestly, Jess, the more I learn about you, the more I'm inclined to change the formal definition of magic. You may not be one for constructing webs of power or casting spells in the elementalist tradition, but I honestly think you're one of the most magical people I've ever met!"

  Jess playfully bowed. "Thank you for the compliment, dear Alex." Her expression quickly turned serious. "My circle should protect you against the fell creatures of dream. Against humans, even if twisted, I can't say. Are your spells ready? I am counting on you to protect Jera. And even if you have to slap her. Or kiss her. You can't let her fall any deeper asleep, even the light doze she slips into is dangerous."

  Alex nodded solemnly, even as he shook a whimpering Jera back to wakefulness. Alex absently stroked her hair. "You can trust me, Jess. I will stay strong. It's not something I brag about these days, since I find myself increasingly interested in studying under Master Rens and thus no longer want to catch the eyes of the royal recruiters quite so much as I did before, but the truth of the matter is that I’m probably as strong as all but the most adept of battlemages serving the Royal House itself. I have more than a dozen spellwebs ready to unleash, in addition to the word of power I've already mastered, should enemies make their way this close to us.”

  Jess nodded grimly. “Make your spells count, my friend. And hopefully it won’t come to that. And of course, don’t let terror compel you to flee, no matter how horrific the creatures that might stalk you. I don’t know if your spells could hurt infernal horrors, but I do know that my ward will.”

  Alex nodded. “I am no fool, Jess. I will save my magics only for those who can pass your circle. Anything else, anyone else, I will ignore.”

  Malek clasped hands with Alex. “Be safe, battlebrother. We will be back for you as soon as we can.”

  Jess nodded. "I have faith in your abilities, Alex." She gave both of her friends a gentle kiss on the forehead, stroking the tree trunk one last time in farewell. "Thank you, great tree."

  With a final wave, Jess and Malek left their companions under the protection of the ancient oak, turning to follow a path Jess felt as much as sensed through the thick scrub pines, making their way steadily onward, Malek’s shimmering balls circling his forehead, faint tails of red streaming behind them.

  “So where the hell are we headed anyway?" Malek asked as he stumbled for the fourth time, following Jess through the tree-shrouded hills to a destination only she could intuit. Somehow, she always managed to avoid even a single misplaced foot as they wound about treacherous root strewn forest trails, a grumbling Malek not faring quite so well.

  “Not too much farther,” she replied. “I see you managed to bring at least one pack before we fled that cursed stable. You have anything useful?”

  Malek nodded curtly. “Silk rope, pinions, rations, water, oil, rogue's lantern. Glad I thought to bring my pack with us when we entered that cursed inn, or we’d really be screwed,” he chuckled.

  Jess nodded, checking Malek’s straps, making sure his small pack was secured tightly and wouldn’t affect his maneuverability. “Very good call, my friend. The rest of us should have been so smart.” She looked upwards as the lighting flashed once again. “I’ve been meaning to ask. I know that all college mages have a thing for the weather…”

  “Ah. Good point, Jess, I apologize. One of the few silent conversations the rest of us had we didn’t think to inform you of. I’m sure you recall from Alex’s lectures back during first year that mages can form weather webs almost on the fly, a strong mage being able to channel a whole storm rather easily if they are well trained, getting it to ease to a drizzle, morph into a strong crop nurturing rain, or fade entirely to brilliant sunny skies.”

  Malek shrugged. "Actually, Jess, the entire elementalist tradition is grandfathered from the talents of weather mages. It is through their paradigm that our entire discipline of gathering strands of magic into spell webs is based. Originally they were called clouds of power, and not webs at all." Malek grinned. "Since storm magics were the origins of our discipline and, for most of us, where our ancestral gifts for manipulating the arcane come from, those magics come easiest to us. It's our strength, and controlling
wind and water the most natural of all manifestations of our art. It is also why any magical enchantments that do not make use of the four elements are extremely difficult for us; why magics to manipulate the mind, for example, are almost unheard of in Erovering and the rest of the known continent, for all that Duke diOnni admitted that some traders, at least, had developed talents of their own in that regard." He grinned. "But I'm boring you, aren't I? The point is, Jess, we all knew with a single shared glance that these weren't normal clouds. And when we tried to lighten the storm's brooding weight, we had no effect on it at all. Not even Alex. Even combining our powers with Alex." He sighed. "I should have known right then, before we had even entered Pomell proper, that crossing the boundary of this cursed town meant sliding into the realm of dreams."

  Jess nodded, gently gripping his arm and stopping him as the forest cover abruptly petered out to a field of damp grass and what Jess intuitively knew to be their destination. “Look at that!”

  Malek gasped as he caught a glimpse of the brilliantly polished limestone tower suddenly looming before them, its bricks seeming to glow with an odd reflected light, as if it shimmered from the hellfires of a world but a heartbeat from their own. Lightning flashed and Jess made out just how massive the tower truly was, reaching ever upwards, as if to claw open the leaden sky, thunder rumbling through the land with all the fury of Shadow.

  Jess nodded to herself. “Just like in my vision.”

  Malek flashed a nervous grin. "You're having visions, now? Why am I not surprised?"

  Jess shrugged. “Is it my fault Alex has a monotone speaking voice? I was just resting my eyes when he was going on about Pomell and I just sort of saw this very scene play out in my head.” Jess blinked with a sudden sense of deja vu, noting the silhouette of the town hugging the very bottom of the hill below. “See? Look at that. Pomell lies at the base of the hill. You can see it just to the left of the tower before us, just like in my dream!”