by Des Pensable
To destroy the deranged dragon spirit that had been the bane of her life elevated him to a champion of legendary proportions. When she heard from Llalorax that he was named Warden of Moonmist, she knew he deserved it but she was afraid for him.
In saving her and destroying the spirit he would draw attention to himself. That was incredibly dangerous in this world. A lot of dark and powerful eyes would now see him as a threat. He would need lots of help and she would see he got it.
She was now walking relatively easily around the periphery of the prison bottle. She looked across to the grassy area outside the hut where Dragonfly had been asleep and noticed her sitting in meditation. That was a positive sign. The rest had healed her body, but what of the mental damage? That might take much longer to heal. Then she noticed her spirit aura. It was not the spirit aura of an Elendari. Then she noticed a second spirit aura and called Llalorax using mindspeak.
She casually strolled over to the meditating girl stopping directly in front of her. It was time for some answers. She waited patiently for Dragonfly to open her eyes. She could hear Dragonfly faintly mouthing a prayer of some description.
The language was strange nothing like any of the Moonmist languages and different from Mudrun common. She had heard something like it before a long time ago. Then she remembered. It was the language that Sindel used to chant when meditating and she was a druid. This girl was a Newman druid! What was she doing here? She was covered with Crin blood. Did the malign spirit go to Mudrun and bring her back here? If so, why?
Miranda opened her eyes really refreshed and feeling powered up. The Lady had answered her prayers and she felt ready to fight.
‘Hello Dragonfly, my name is Yllandril.’
‘How are you feeling after your rest?’
‘Good thank you.’ replied Miranda ‘Where am I?’
‘We are in a magic bottle which has shrunk us to the size of a fly in the outside world.’
‘What type of spider are you? I’ve never seen or heard of one made out of rock before.’
‘And you won’t again. I’m unique. The body was made by a friend for me.’
‘Am I free to leave?’
‘Perhaps, but that decision is not up to me, it’s up to the Queen’s wizard, Llalorax. He’s the one who released you from the horrible spirit’s cage.’
‘Did he kill it?’ asked Miranda hoping that it wasn’t still around.
‘No he didn’t but another did. He was a Newman like yourself. He is like no other I have ever met. He has strength, power and greatness yet he is gentle, humble and ordinary. I have been closer to him than anyone alive. We have touched souls. He has been given a burden like none other in hundreds of years. He has to root out the chaos that is destroying this land. I fervently hope that he is strong enough.’
‘What was his name?’ asked Miranda. ‘If he has been to Mudrun I may have heard of him.’
‘He calls himself Aquitain. Have you heard of him?’
Miranda was shocked into silence. A hundred questions stormed into her mind and fought for attention.
‘Where is he now?’ she said holding her breath in anticipation.
‘Why do you want to know?’
‘Because he probably came here to find me.’ replied Miranda.
‘He’s the bravest and most wonderful person in the world. He’s a shape shifter that was once a Newman. He’s the Champion of the little people, a wizard Captain of Mudrun and my chosen.’
Aquitain had told Yllandril stories of his adventures as a Newman, a Logicon, a spirit bear and a Llanllean. She had thought at the time that he was making a lot of it up to entertain her. Was it true? Did he actually do all the stuff that he talked about? Was he already a hero when he came here? He also told her about a druid girl that had found her way into his heart. Was this her? She was really ugly. Could he look past physical beauty? If so he was a rarity among males.
If Yllandril had emotions in her stone body she would have been jealous but she didn’t, so she wasn’t. However, she was now very curious about this strange ugly girl.
‘He’s none of those things.’ said Yllandril watching for a response.
‘That wouldn’t surprise me. He could be anything. He’s such a wonderful shape changer. Wait I remember now. That terrible spirit said he had stolen Aquitain’s Llanllean body so he must now have a new one. What is it?’
‘It’s true.’ thought Yllandril.
‘What he said was true. No wonder he was made our Warden.’
‘What is your real name girl?’ asked Yllandril.
Miranda was suddenly more serious.
‘I am Miranda a druidess of Mudrun. Aquitain is my chosen and my true love. You must tell me where he is?’
‘Just a moment’ said Yllandril.
‘I want to fix a small problem first.’
Llalorax in his Elendari form had casually walked behind Miranda was closely examining her back. Suddenly he used a word of stunning on Slivver and pulled it off her back and dropped it into a bottle.
‘What did you do?’ asked Miranda standing and turning to look at Llalorax.
‘You had a mind parasite on your back. Have you heard any strange voices lately.’ asked Llalorax.
‘Yes there was another voice. It told me I didn’t do some of the bad things that the vile spirit told me I did. It said to keep positive. It kept me sane when I was really feeling low. It said it would watch over me while I rested.’ replied Miranda.
‘Really?’ said Yllandril.
‘It was only trying to keep you alive for purely selfish motives.’ stated Llalorax.
‘I will destroy it. They are malevolent creatures that control people. They live on people’s emotions and eavesdrop on their minds. They are spies and assassins. They are just as bad as that malign spirit that possessed you.’
‘No I can’t believe that.’ cried Miranda.
‘This one was tender and caring. It could have done nothing and just enjoyed my pain and sorrow. It pulled me back from despair. I thought Aquitain was dead. I wanted to die. I won’t let you kill it. Put it back on me. I want to talk to it.’
‘That’s madness!’ growled Llalorax.
‘I wouldn’t recommend it.’ repeated Yllandril calmly.
‘I am a druid. We care for all of The Lady’s creations as she loves them all. They are all special in her eyes and mine. Please put it back.’
‘All right but if you start acting strangely then I will have to restrain you.’ stated Llalorax seriously and he placed Slivver back on Miranda’s back.
Miranda sat and began singing a strange but haunting song then suddenly went quiet and appeared to be in some sort of trance. Slivver was charmed. Miranda was no threat in fact she was a lovely friend who he would share his deepest secrets with. She would love and care for him and he would care for her.
‘Hello my dear little friend, tell me when you joined me and what you have seen and heard while you have been with me.’ she said and Slivver was only too happy to tell her everything.
She was surprised when he mentioned Aquitain. So she asked him about Aquitain and was even more surprised when he told her about Llanlorian using him as a minder for Aquitain. He told her everything that had happened from leaving Astaria to when the malign chaotic Schlum had removed Aquitain’s spirit from his Llanllean body and placed it in the soul crystal.
Miranda lost track of time listening to Slivver’s story when Yllandril interrupted.
‘Are you okay? We’re worried. You’ve been in a trance for hours?’
Miranda sighed. ‘Yes. I guess we can talk some more later.’
‘You’ve been talking with that creature? How do you know it’s not telling lies? How can you trust it?’ asked Yllandril a little worried.
‘It’s quite simple.’ replied Miranda.
‘The Lady allows us to choose a creature friend much like wizards have familiars. I have never had one before and this creature kept me from despair when I was at my lowest ebb. I
have chosen it to be my friend. It has never had someone to love and care for it. It now has me.’
Yllandril was lost for words.
‘Now where is Aquitain?’ asked Miranda firmly.
‘Aquitain is not far from here, he’s doing some scouting. Perhaps you could tell us a little more about yourself. If you’re a friend of Aquitain’s then you’re a friend of ours.’
Miranda thought to herself. If these were his friends then perhaps she should be a little restrained. Perhaps she should find out a bit more about them.
Chapter 29 Secret of the Throne
When a tiny green crystal man wearing a crude trixie illusion suddenly teleported into a room full of Moonmist trixies you might expect that they would be a little surprised but not in the kitchen in the Queen’s Palace. They had seen many strange and wondrous things over the years and another appearing two days before the Spring Ball was no real surprise.
They looked, smiled fleetingly and simply walked around him. When he sent out a mindspeak message asking for Bellen, the chief organizer they simply pointed down the corridor and continued with their jobs.
Aquitain was excited; he had found where the brown-scaled little people had vanished to. He was among dozens of them. He expected to see them as happy as their coloured cousins were on Mudrun. That’s not what he saw. He was in a room about twenty paces wide with a ceiling lower than the height of an average Newman. He saw a multitude of drably dressed, greasy, unkempt trixies of widely varying sizes wearing dirty aprons grumbling as they tended rows of bubbling pots and small ovens.
There was little joy on their faces, many of which were malformed. Some of the poor little reptilian looking people had one leg or arm shorter than the other and some had spines that bent them over at tortuous angles. This was obviously the hidden side of the beautiful Elendari society.
He adjusted the illusion around him to look like those here then set off down the corridor horrified at what he saw. He followed the narrow, poorly lit stone passageway designed especially for the little people, passing several unhappy looking ones returning empty food trays to the kitchen.
He passed two intersections and noticed that some of the trixies going down side corridors were carrying dirty linen and other goods. After asking for Bellen several times he finally ran into him at the next intersection. This trixie was more what he had expected. He stood taller than all the others. He wore a bright green and yellow silken suit, an olive green belt with matching boots.
‘Yer looking fer me?’ he askd in some local language. Aquitain was unsure what he said.
‘Well what do yer want? Yer lost yer voice or somtin?’
‘I’ve been sent by Yllandril and Llalorax.’ said Aquitain in low Draconic using mindspeak.
Bellen looked a little more closely at him and realized it was an illusion. He muttered a few words in high Draconic and then seemed quite surprised to see a little green crystal statue talking to him. He changed to Draconic speaking it as fluently as a little person.
‘Now I know yer mad. Yllandril bless her spirit is dead and Llalorax is in prison somewhere.’
‘Yllandril is no more dead than you are.’ replied Aquitain. ‘and Llalorax is free.’
‘What proof do yer have?’ asked Bellen suspiciously.
‘I have a mindlink with her and him right now. If you’re prepared to link with me you can talk to them directly.’
Bellen considered this for a few seconds and then agreed. Aquitain formed the link and immediately noticed the change in Bellen’s face. He became surprised, happy then joyful as you might expect when meeting a friend you thought long dead. They talked for about five minutes while Aquitain stood watching an unhappy looking procession of trixies pass by.
Finally, Bellen cut off the mindlink. He looked very happy. He bowed to Aquitain and said.
‘It’s surely a great honour to meet yer Lord Warden. When we saw the red sign of doom we knew that trouble would soon find us. To have yer with us is a blessing none could have imagined. Yer in me debt for saving Yllandril who has saved and helped many o’ me people over the years. The lies about her and her death was a source of great distress to us. Yer appearance and her return will ignite hope and cheer in countless hearts.’
‘Her Ladyship has asked me to guide yer around so that yer may seek the malign illness in the palace. The getting around shouldn’t be too much trouble providing yer stay in the service corridors. Yer main danger is being spotted by one o’ the wizards’ familiars. Place is crawling wid ‘em. They come down the service corridors sometimes to annoy me fellows but go back pretty fast if I catch ‘em.’ he said with a smile.
‘I was thinking that you might be one o them. Unfortunately, I can’t spend too much time wid yer. We’ve got a ball to get ready fer. However, I’ll show you around a bit and spread the word so’s all me people watches out fer ya’.’
Bellen took him on a short tour around then teleported to a hidden room deep within the foundations of the palace.
‘It is with great sadness that I brings yer here to see the shame of me people. This is the room of faces. It is here we make faces for our people. We were the first to be affected by the curse on our land. Many of our children are born malformed both in body and face although not yet in spirit. Here we equip the worst of them with faces that allow them some dignity in the presence of others and hopefully stop them from turning to the outcasts. The faces are carved out of a special wood and imbued with a glamour that gives them a normal looking face which changes with their mood.’
‘Please Milord I beg of yer. Find out what has caused this cursed disease and fix the problem or I’m afraid before long us trixies will only be found among the outcasts.’
‘Now tell me where I’m not allowed to go. That’s where I’ll find some answers.’
Bellen had the look of one who was trapped.
‘Oh. I was afraid you’d say that Milord. Please understand that it happened a long time ago and we tried to fix the problem but we weren’t allowed and now we can’t fix it.’
‘I’m sorry but I didn’t understand a word you said. You better start from the beginning.’ said Aquitain.
‘Well it happened 47 years ago. Augustus a second cousin of mine on me mother’s side was leader of the team directed to clean up the throne before the Spring Ball. I bumped into him at the time and he said he was excited, as the Queen had suggested that he might like to brighten up the throne. It was a secret surprise for everyone at the ball.’
‘Now during the ball the throne would sometimes talk into people’s minds. It even talked to me one time asking about Mudrun. Somehow it knew I had come from there a year or two earlier. Anyhow everyone was surprised that year when the throne was silent. It had happened on several occasions over the centuries so no one was too alarmed. The trouble was that it happened the following year as well.’
‘Augustus was terribly worried but wouldn’t tell me why. Eventually he went to see the Queen and we never saw him again. In fact everyone in Augustus’s team disappeared. A new team was formed and they cleaned the throne as we always have done but still the throne wouldn’t talk. After five years the Queen decided that instead of cleaning the throne every year they would put a golden cloak over it and she cancelled the annual cleaning altogether. She also banned everyone from going near the throne and put in four bronze statues as guards.’
‘What did the other Elendari say about this. It must have affected them as well.’ asked Aquitain.
‘Some complained to Queen but she said that it was out of her hands. At first she said it was normal for it not to talk every year then later she blamed my kin for not maintaining it correctly. Eventually after a few years people stopped asking about it.’
‘So you think that you and your people have been cursed by the throne.’
‘Yes Milord. Many believe the malformations started when the throne stopped talking to us although some of the older ones of my kin say that the problem started much earlier.
>
‘Do they have the problem elsewhere on Moonmist?’
‘I don’t know Milord. We’re not allowed to travel too far from here and we don’t hear much as the Queen and the Lords are only here for a month a year. The rest of the time they’re at one of her other palaces. However, last year I heard two Lords talking about the problem to the west. They said the Queen had stopped going to her western palace because the storms were getting too bad.’
‘What sort of storms?’ asked Aquitain.
‘I don’t know Milord. It’s dangerous these days to ask about anything.’
‘Okay, let’s check out the throne.’ replied Aquitain suddenly curious.
**
Aquitain and Bellen teleported to a service corridor near the throne room and the trixie left Aquitain briefly to see whether the throne room was in use.
Aquitain had been there before. He briefly wondered who had stunned him when he had noticed the Queen was dominated. There was another wizard around for sure and he or she was the real danger. With luck he or she wouldn’t be around until the ball, but he or she would definitely be there.
He had a strong feeling that this throne was sentient. Some fancy type of construct. He had seen them before in Panmagica. Statues that acted as travel guides to the city; doors that asked your name and business before letting you enter; chests of drawers that walked; swords that talked to their owners and tried to persuade their owners to pick fights and many other benign and sometimes nasty things.
Bellen returned and said that it didn’t appear that there was any one around and now was as safe a time as any so they both walked out into the room. It was a large circular room at least a hundred Newman paces wide with a smooth marble floor.
The grey stone walls were clearly visible this time and he noticed that there was a circular second floor balcony most of the way around the room. Here and there on the walls were small tapestries but he was too far away to see what they depicted.
In the centre of the room was a circular area of wooden parquetry that was probably a dance floor considering the Elendari love for the arts.
