Arcene & the Blue Castle

by Al K. Line

  The day wore on and Arcene was shocked when some time later they came to the edge of the forest and stepped out into blistering heat that made her gasp.

  "Ugh, it's like jumping into a fire. Humid too. I feel like I've stepped into a warm bath or something. Yuck."

  Woof.

  "Yeah, I know."

  Arcene looked up through the heat-haze — it was like they hadn't made a single step since they first saw the castle. Here was the same bright meadow, and past it she could see the short grass, sheep grazing contentedly, the blue walls and castle proper in the distance behind its moat.

  A drawbridge too. That was a drawbridge wasn't it?

  "What's going on? Have we gone the wrong way Leel?" Arcene checked the sun's position. There was no mistake, they had been skirting around the castle to the east, and if she had to guess then she would say they were directly opposite the drawbridge seen earlier.

  "Why would they have two? Seems daft. Just more ways to get in, more to defend." Arcene looked up at the castle wall, almost the same as earlier, with maybe a slight difference in the stepped wall on the top. What were they called? Was it battlements or something else? It didn't matter, but it was certainly worth investigating.

  "Come on Leel, let's go see if anything is different about this side."

  Leel perked up, keen to explore something new, just like Arcene.

  We make a great team. The best.

  Arcene whistled as they battled through the poppies and the huge daisies, sneezing occasionally when pollen tickled her nose as clouds burst into the air from their passage. Bees buzzed in anger at the interruption to their work, then resumed after they'd passed.

  Soon enough they made it to the edge of the meadow once more, greeted by the pastureland like they may as well have not bothered going anywhere at all. Arcene stared up at the drawbridge — it looked just the same. Maybe a little darker, the wood even slightly rotten in places, but apart from that it was identical.

  "I wonder if the invisible shock fence is still here too. Want to go see Leel?" Arcene turned to her and Leel backed away until her behind was in the meadow. "Coward. Guess I'll do it then."

  Moving forward to where the grass changed from long to short, Arcene pushed a tentative foot forward little by little, expecting a shock at any moment. "Hmm, nothing. Looks like we're in the clear then. Ow, ow ow! Yowee!" Arcene jumped back, hopping on one foot. "Ugh. That really, really hurt. It feels worse than last time." She looked at her leg suspiciously, then sat on the grass and rubbed at her calf until the tingling passed. Leel whimpered behind her.

  "It's okay, it won't kill you Leel... I think."

  Arcene knew there was only one thing for it: if she wanted to get closer then she would have to get past the electrified perimeter, and that meant...

  "One. Two. Three. Jump." Arcene jumped as far as she could then kept moving forward as she lost all control of her body, rolling on the floor in agony. Every nerve felt like it was on fire, as if her skin had been stripped off and someone was sticking pins into flayed flesh. She couldn't move her limbs, they were no longer her own, so she did the only thing she could: roll around on the floor moaning.

  Ugh, I'm an idiot. I'm Awoken, I can stop this. Haha.

  Sometimes she forgot what she was capable of, but as soon as she looked inside at her own body, took control of nerves and nociceptors, the effect was instant: no pain, just a dull background sensation of feeling a little different to normal.

  What a relief.

  Arcene stood and dusted herself off, paying special attention to her kilt, pushing it down so the creases were right again, smacking the dirt from her socks and pulling them up over her knees.

  She shouted, "Your turn," to Leel, who stood close to the invisible boundary sniffing the ground suspiciously, whining pitifully at Arcene's antics. "Come on, it's not that bad. Not for long anyway."

  Leel stared at her, trust in her eyes, and backed up before running fast toward her.

  Leel let out an almighty yelp and crashed to the ground, rolling fast at Arcene. It was no use, there was no time to react as Leel was too quick even when out of control, and she piled into Arcene, sending them both flying back, almost slamming into a sheep that was paying them absolutely no attention.

  "Geddof, you're too heavy Leel. Shift it you big lump."

  Leel whimpered but righted herself, shaking so hard that Arcene actually got hit by her tail, almost getting knocked over again.

  "Careful."

  Arcene dusted herself off once more then said, "Sorry girl, but hopefully it will be worth it. Let's go check out this castle then."

  Arcene figured that it was best to explore the ramp first, so they walked across the short strip of stubby grass, dodging sheep droppings — at least Arcene did, Leel seemed to have acquired a taste for them.

  "Leel! That is so gross, what's wrong with you? Stupid dog."

  Leel swallowed her prize in one gulp then ran to Arcene. "No way, I'm not touching you with all that stink over you. Dirty girl. Argh. Dirty."

  Leel hung her head for all of a millisecond then bounded toward the ramp.

  "No Leel, this way first. Come on."

  Leel ran back down the beginnings of the steep slope and joined Arcene at the side. At it's height, right at the edge of the moat, the ramp must have been about fifteen feet high. The sides were just solid stone, heavy, immobile. The earth would have been piled on top, the grass growing over the years. Arcene peered over the bank into the water. It was dark, but there was no smell and nothing nasty floating so it must actually be flowing somehow — if it was static it would be stagnant and absolutely stink.

  Bending forward, careful not to slip, Arcene peered at her reflection in the still water, a black mirror, impossible to tell how deep it was. The water couldn't have been flowing fast for it to be so still — another mystery.

  She studied her reflection, pleased with what she saw.

  It had taken some time to decide on her look years ago, back when she genuinely was fifteen, not just looking it, but she was happy with the result. The socks were the perfect inky black, and the best possible length, meaning they hid her knobbly knees, the one part of her body she was less than impressed with. The kilt was exactly right, stopping just a fraction before the top of the socks.

  Arcene flexed a bicep, pleased as always with the little lump of power on her otherwise slender arm, although she did note that she was getting a little bit of color to her pale skin from being outdoors so much the last few days.

  The pigtails still hung low, but were a little lifeless, so she would have to wash her hair that evening if they could find a stream, and they definitely needed redoing, which she wasn't looking forward to. Letje always plaited them and when she did it herself she always made a mess of it, looking like an old doll she'd once found amid the rubble of a building, a ragged thing with pigtails just like hers, a forgotten companion of a young owner dead centuries ago. It had fallen apart in her hands when she'd picked it up. Shame.

  Arcene wrinkled up her nose as she studied her features. She wiped a hand across her forehead, trying to get rid of the dark stain.

  Should have packed a mirror. I look a right old mess.

  Leel's reflection interrupted her, a huge distorted creature whose head was probably twice as large as her own, powerful shoulders made impossibly large as a gentle breeze painted ripples on the water. It looked quite inviting, but it would be freezing. You could catch your death by jumping into—

  "Leel! No." Too late. Leel smacked at the glassy surface, fat circles spreading across the water, sending waves slapping against the castle's fortified outer wall, sloshing over the bank. Arcene jumped back, narrowly avoiding getting soaked. "You naughty dog, now look what you've done. You'll freeze."

  Leel acted unconcerned by the dire warning and swam around in the moat happily, tail wagging as she turned in one direction then the other, barking with pleasure as the water fought with the heat of the day and won. Steam rose fro
m her head as she cooled.

  Arcene had to admit it looked like fun. Not fun enough to jump in though — there was one clear problem Leel had failed to give due consideration.

  Arcene waited, wondering how long it would take Leel to realize the terrible mistake she'd made. It didn't take long.

  "See, now what are you going to do?" asked Arcene, as Leel tried in vain to lift her paws out of the water and gain purchase on the bank. The gap from the ground to the water was way too high for her to reach. She was stuck.

  "Come on, try harder. Leap, or... um, something like that."

  How do dogs jump from in water? What would I do? Hmm, well, I wouldn't go in for a start. Maybe.

  Leel began to panic and tire. She kept trying to reach for the bank, getting as much of her body out of the water as she could, but each time she went crashing back, coughing and spluttering as she submerged.

  Arcene was getting worried, how long could she keep it up? What would happen then? She couldn't lose her, wouldn't lose her. Not now, not ever. Could she pull her out? Arcene didn't think she would be able to, but now it seemed like she would have to at least try. How much did Leel weigh? Lots. Lots and lots.

  "Stupid dog." Sighing, Arcene unbuckled her sword and put it carefully on the ground, then picked it up again and moved it further back from the bank — better safe than sorry.

  She lay down on the ground and inched forward on her belly as far as she dared without risking being pulled in by the weight of Leel, if she even got hold of her.

  Letting her hands dangle as low as they could go, Arcene braced her shoulders for what was to come and said, "C'mon then, good girl. Here Leel."

  Leel looked at Arcene with desperation and paddled forward slowly, she was exhausted and wouldn't be able to keep going much longer. As she reached Arcene, she gave a burst of energy and propelled herself out of the water. Arcene made a grab for her and clutched a front paw in each hand.

  Oh boy, she is crazy heavy. Ugh.

  "Quick Leel, use your back legs. Come on, come on." Arcene tried to pull Leel out but it was impossible, she was a dead weight and Arcene knew she would have to let go soon. Her arms felt like they were being pulled from her sockets and her shoulders burned terribly.

  Leel seemed to understand that this was her one and only chance and even understood Arcene's instructions. She moved her back legs manically in the water, getting herself right up close to the edge, and must have found purchase on the brick-lined wall that ringed the moat.

  She kicked and kicked, searching for purchase, and in a flash she was moving up. Arcene dragged on Leel's paws for all she was worth as she inched back painfully on her belly, while Leel's claws dug deep into the palms of her hands. Leel scrabbled and splashed furiously, moving up the sheer wall. Then she bounced up high, finally getting enough grip to use her powerful hind legs, and Arcene gratefully let go.

  Leel erupted over the side, landing on Arcene's back, trampling over her before jumping to the side. Arcene rolled over onto her back and got a thorough soaking for her trouble as Leel shook for all she was worth, water flying everywhere, moaning as she did so before pouncing right on top of Arcene, landing on her belly. She sat there, licking Arcene like they'd been apart for years, soaking Arcene to the skin.

  "Haha, nice to see you too. Now get off me. I can't breathe, you big lump."

  Woof.

  "Well," said Arcene, sitting up carefully, amazed nothing was broken, half expecting to see her arms lying by the side of her, "I hope that taught you a valuable lesson?"

  Leel looked at her, cocking her head to the side, misunderstanding. She moved toward the edge fast, getting ready to jump back in.

  "No! Leel, don't you dare. It's not a game."

  Leel stopped just in time, turning to look at Arcene quizzically, as if reprimanding her for not making up her mind. The dog was very stupid at times.

  "Come on, let's take a look at the ramp. And no jumping," warned Arcene, pointing a finger at Leel who bounded over and licked it eagerly. "Well, suppose I asked for that. Come on."

  Arcene wrung out her vest as they moved to the base of the ramp, moaning to herself about how much she would ache the next day, Leel being surprisingly good and staying by her side. The sheep seemed to be of little interest to the dog, which was probably even more surprising. Maybe she could tell the difference between wild and domesticated animals? Was she really that clever? It was doubtful, but at least it was one less thing to worry about.

  It's probably because they aren't running away. Bet it would be different if they were.

  The angle of the ramp was rather steep, covered in short grass like the rest of the perimeter, but it grew a little taller the closer to the top they got, where the sheep refused to graze. There was no sign of it being used regularly, if at all. No muddy patches, no well-worn ruts or marks of vehicles passing, just a nice grassy slope, nothing more.

  At the top, Arcene lay on her belly once more and peered over the edge. It was quite a drop now.

  "Don't you dare!" Arcene shrieked, as Leel stared first at her then eagerly at the water far below.

  Woof?

  "No. Bad girl. If you jump in again you'll just have to drown. I'm not made of arms and mine hurt too much."

  Leel backed away from the edge and sniffed at the ground.

  There was little to be seen from her new vantage point, the wall opposite and the underside of the bridge looked pretty much the same — impenetrable.

  "Stupid castle."

  There was nothing for it, they would have to leave. There was no way in that Arcene could see, and much as she would have loved to explore, well, without the ability to fly then she was stuck on the wrong side of the moat.

  "Hello? Hello?" Arcene shouted at the walls. Maybe there was somebody there and they would be happy to have company. It wasn't very likely, it was only a few years since Artek, the foul man that was her abuser, biological father to her son, killer of almost every person in a country already dangerously underpopulated, had finally been stopped and although those still alive had returned to their previous lives it was still rare to meet people.

  But there were pockets of humanity — he hadn't found everyone although he had been stealing people for a long time. Some were simply too well hidden, too remote, or had been overlooked somehow, plus people had been leaving The Commorancy once Marcus knew their time there was over, so there was a glimmer of hope for the future — humanity would hopefully increase in numbers over the following centuries but it wasn't guaranteed, nothing was.

  "Let's go Leel, there's nobody home, or they don't like us. Their loss, we're lots of fun aren't we?"

  Woof.

  Arcene followed Leel down the slope then realized something. "You stupid dog, the backpack! Everything will be soaked through. My lighter! All the clothes and our blankets too. We'll freeze!"

  This was going to be a problem. The leather backpack was good at repelling water when it rained — Arcene had oiled it methodically before their trip — but nothing could stop water penetrating if it was dunked in a moat.

  Ugh, this will be a bit of a boring afternoon now.

  "Right you naughty dog, we need to go. We need to hang everything up to try to dry it before the sun sets or it's going to be a very long and cold night."

  Woof woof.

  "Hmm."

  Leel was at the border of the pasture and meadow, barking to remind Arcene that they still had to get back past the boundary.

  Well, this time I won't have to get shocked.

  As Arcene approached the invisible shock point she looked inside herself, watched via The Noise as tiny sparks traveled faster than the human eye could see from nerve endings to her brain, the signals that made sensation possible. She didn't shut them down entirely, because she got the feeling she would just collapse on the floor if she couldn't actually feel where it was, but she toned it all down, like turning a dial to low, until everything became almost, but not quite numb. More a gentle background hu
m, rather than it being acute.

  The signals from the nerves slowed, nociceptors blunted like sealing them in an invisible sheath, and she told her brain to only allow the slightest part of their message to penetrate — recognized but not given much attention — was the best she could describe it to herself.

  Arcene walked from short grass to the beginnings of the meadow.

  Cool. Wish I'd done that before. Oh yeah, and I can raise my body temperature too, so I won't actually be cold tonight, but that takes lots of energy so Ill have to eat lots if I want to do that. Better to have a nice fire and a warm blanket.

  Woof woof.

  "Sorry Leel, just thinking." Arcene's body tingled, the electric shock manifesting as little more than a vibration, a gentle buzz like the world was kind of bouncing up and down really fast — or something like that, it was hard to describe and it didn't matter. She wasn't feeling like she was on fire, that was the main thing. "Okay, just run, really fast. Or I can you know... You want me to?"

  Woof. Leel looked at her expectantly. She knew what Arcene meant, and although it wasn't something that Arcene had done more than a few times, as she respected her friends privacy, she felt it was the kind thing to do — Arcene was the one that had wanted to get close to the castle after all.

  Should have done it when we went over before, but I didn't think it would hurt as much.

  "You ready girl? Sit still then, let me concentrate."

  Although Arcene was about as curious a person as there could possibly be, she found, much to her surprise, that she didn't like entering the bodies of other creatures, taking up residence in their minds, watching what they watched, feeling and thinking what they did, allowing her own mind to be open to her host too.

  It felt too intrusive, but more than anything it felt too alien. It was hard to adjust to being another creature, and much as she had loved flying high and riding the thermals, she quickly found, just like most other Awoken that also had the gift, that it was easy to lose yourself, feel yourself drifting away from being a human being, becoming more and more like the creature you occupied.