by Des Pensable
Darkmantle seemed to be behind the attacks on the Llanllean villages and falsely incriminating his people for the attacks on other villages. Llalorax would have to get even with Darkmantle for that.
The real problem was what Darkmantle was planning to do now. He was acting too confident. Perhaps it was because he had temporarily captured Snowbelle’s gate world. Perhaps it was about the return of the sceptre. There was to be an announcement at the ball tonight. That would upset some of the Lords. How would they react? Perhaps he could assist one or more of them to move against Darkmantle.
What about Miranda, the Princess of Argenta? She hated Darkmantle with a vengeance. How could he use her passion against Darkmantle? He had her sent her off with Yllandril so that his people, her people, would get to know her. She had acted like visiting royalty, she was friendly, greeted everyone cordially, cuddled babies, and was generally agreeable. They were impressed. Allalanllea had been an excellent tutor. Miranda had learnt the role of projecting regal power perfectly from Snowbelle.
He sent her off to deliver a few healing potions to the Trixies as contingency supplies and predictably she made herself a heroine by killing the two headed wolf creature that he had conjured. That would give him some extra leverage with the trixies if required.
Llalorax watched and waited. It was almost like waiting for food to get caught in your web. Llanlleans knew how to be patient. It was part of their nature.
**
Once all the Lords and their male entourage had entered and taken a seat, it was the turn of the Queen. This was her moment with all eyes upon her. She was magnificent. On her face she wore a golden mask with spikes radiating out like rays of the sun.
Her hair was golden and crimped into fine waves that stood out beyond the spikes of her mask and glowed like to the Mudrun sun.
Her glamour covered her perfect body from the chin down to her ankles with an open mesh of gold like a fishing net but studded with a multitude of different sized emeralds. Sliding over and around her body was a golden snake inlaid with emeralds. Nothing was left to the imagination.
She was followed by the ladies who were not searched for weapons or magic items as it wasn’t necessary, they wore only their glamours and a golden animal mask to the ball. This was where they showed their power of imagination as well as everything else. All the Elendari women were elegant, graceful and beautiful beyond Newman imagination. It was the quality, beauty, ingenuity and detail of their glamour that made them different. Here vanity in its extreme was a virtue.
The women drew lots to establish the order of entry and given a random golden mask to hide their identity. It was considered best to enter later rather that earlier as each creation seemed better than the last and the winner was most often near the end of the parade.
The parade of dress creations was spectacular. Never in his wildest imagination could Aquitain have come up with some of the glamours. They varied from pronounced geometric patterns to extravagant animal, flower and even elemental inspired masterpieces. They flashed, shone and shimmered in a myriad of colours, tones and hues. Some looked silky, others metallic, organic, course or fine and diaphanous. The complexity and detail in some of them was awe-inspiring. He was staggered at how much effort and time these women must have put into their creations.
The winner was a simple but elegant design that looked a little like a bell shaped flower that had been grown over the contours of the woman wearing it, hiding her features but leaving enough to tease the imagination with lurid thoughts. The texture was smooth and organic and sparkled with dewdrops. The colour was a fresh white with purple edgings.
With the dress competition over the musicians changed the style of the music to a racier format. One could visualize a pack of howling hunting hounds racing across the dark countryside by the dim light of the distant sun. A lone black flying coarser with cool sweat trickling down its flanks as the leather clad hunter spurred it on zigzagging close above the pack all senses straining for the first glimpse of the fleeing prey.
A spotlight lit up the wooden dance floor as if it were a curtain on a stage then a dark gap appeared across its centre slowly widening as the two parts of the floor separated to reveal a stone walled and floored arena below.
When the wooden floor had fully disappeared, a glowing Elendari Lord walked out to the centre of the arena and levitated up to a height just above the seated Lords and their Ladies and announced that the games would soon begin.
He stated that the first game was entered both in the entertainment and food sections of the competition by one of the northern Lords. He explained that there was a plague of moth radiants, locally called mothras, in the west at the moment and every animal around had tried eating them.
The westerners had sampled some and found them exciting suggesting several ways they could be eaten. There was however a problem. If roused the mothras could fight back so before trying them it was appropriate to examine some of their defence tactics.
A team of trixies rolled out and stood up a sturdy pole with a circular loop on the top and a heavy base on the bottom in the middle of the games arena and then dragged in sections of a Fireberry bush into the area placing it around the pole.
The bush was something like a blackberry bush found in Mudrun. It had a jumble of tough rope-like wandering branches covered with thorns and small dark leaves. On the ends of new shoots were small red berries that glowed red in the dark giving it its name. Fireberry bushes grew wildly in the west near the volcanoes. The mothras and the bushes had some sort of symbiotic relationship as they were always found together.
The westerners found the mothras had a similar sweet fiery taste to the Fireberry leaving a pleasant numbness in the mouth for a while which slowly dissipated giving a mild narcotic disorientation. They were also considerably less toxic than Fireberries. They cautioned about eating too many as the disorientation could get quite severe, possibly lasting a day or two.
Llalorax rubbed his hands together with glee. ‘This should be very interesting’ he said to Miranda. ‘Everything in our world must have a natural defence or die. Many of the eastern Lords won’t have seen these small purple radiants. Watch and learn.’
‘What’s a radiant?’ asked Miranda.
‘Of course.’ replied Llalorax. ‘I’m sorry you are an offworlder. You won’t have seen them. Radiants are like tiny Mudrun butterflies with roughly Newman shaped bodies about the size of one of your fingers. Newman slaves from Mudrun call them fairies but they are considered insects here. They breed like blood flies and can be quite a nuisance at times. They are favourites of my people, however, they can be dangerous to capture as you will see.’
Miranda watched the Lord seal off the top of the games arena with a wall of force. This was the standard safety precaution. A wall of force was impenetrable for several minutes and completely transparent giving both perfect protection and visibility to guests watching the events.
First a zapper lizard about as long as an arm was released into the area. It quickly ran to the pole in the centre of the Fireberry bush and climbed half way up then camouflaged itself to look like a broken branch.
Next a black fox that was local to the area was released. It had a luminous spot painted on its back so that its location could be seen. It prowled in circles around the Fireberry bush. Finally, a small insectivorous bat that had a glowing pattern on its back was released. It flew around the games area several times then landed on the loop on the top of the pole and hung upside down.
The stage was set. The audience hushed waiting for the show. A panel in the wall slid open and into the arena flew a group of about twenty mothras that immediately scattered in different directions. From the viewpoint in either the dragon eye or through the scrying orb they appeared as a cloud of small red lights shining brightly. As soon as they entered the fox stopped dead and crouched in the shadows along the edge of the wall and the bat started flying.
It took only seconds for the bat to catch one of the mo
thra then another, almost immediately all the remaining mothra headed into the safety of the Fireberry bush tangle where the bat couldn’t fly. However as soon as some got close to the centre pole there was a small arc of energy like a small lightning bolt and two of the mothra fell to the ground stunned.
The lizard appeared and headed down the pole for a snack, but the fox was faster darting under the bush to steal the two mothra. It managed to get one but as it closed in on the other the lizard zapped it with a small lightning bolt. The fox yelped and scurried off.
The lizard casually walked over ate the other mothra then shot off another lightning bolt stunning another couple of mothras that fell to the ground. It seemed a no win situation for the mothras. If they stayed in the Fireberry bush the lizard would get them if they ventured out the bat would get them. Suddenly the red light given off by one started pulsing and then others joined in.
When all the remaining mothras were pulsing in synchrony one started to get brighter and the others dimmer until there was only one very brightly glowing mothra visible. It waited until the lizard was happily chewing up another mothra lying stunned on the ground then flew straight at the lizard exploding in a ball of flame an arm span wide. When the smoke had cleared a charred dead lizard lay at the base of the bush that didn’t seem harmed by the fire at all.
‘An interesting defence mechanism wouldn’t you say.’ said Terrin to Aquitain.
‘One absorbed magic energy from all the others then sacrificed itself for the benefit of the others. Not many creatures would do that. Makes you think doesn’t it?’
Some of the Elendari cheered while others just sat amazed. How could such harmless looking little radiants create a fireball that would incinerate their enemy? The excited conversation continued for several minutes until some noticed that something else was happening and the audience hushed to watch.
While they stayed in the bush they were safe but the bat was still flying around outside watching and waiting for any mothra to stray away from the bush. This seemed to be annoying the mothra as they congregated in a tight cloud as if having a conference. A minute or two later the light emanating from each individual mothra changed colour from red to blue. They then began pulsing in rhythm and the cloud moved out of the protection of the Fireberry bush.
This is what the bat was waiting for. It headed straight for the cloud but as it approached it got a very nasty surprise. A small lightning bolt arced from the cloud of mothra directly at the bat stunning it and it fell to the ground. The fox didn’t wait, it raced over for a meal of bat and the cloud of mothra broke up and flew around separately having eliminated the two most dangerous predators.
‘Now that’s interesting.’ said Llalorax to the others.
‘I never knew that mothras could change the type of energy they used from fire to lightning. I always assumed that the red mothra were a different species from the blue ones.’
‘Maybe they learnt the trick from the Zapper lizard.’ suggested Miranda thoughtfully.
‘No. They’re not that intelligent.’ replied Llalorax.
‘They looked pretty smart to me.’ argued Yllandril.
Back on the dragon’s head Aquitain and Terrin were discussing the same thing.
‘They switched energy forms. I wonder how they did that?’ queried Aquitain now quite interested.
‘They have a form of group knowledge.’ said Terrin.
‘Individually none of them can do anything out of the ordinary but when the group is threatened they can combine their small intellects to act with surprising cunning and pool their meagre amounts of magic together to provide a useful deterrent.’
The western Lord appeared and began addressing the audience again.
‘As you can see, the mothra have some interesting defence mechanisms. If you are careful you can sample this delicacy and thrill at its unusual new taste. We are going to dim the lights and release a hundred mothra.
On your tables you will find small candles which when lit will attract the mothra. I suggest you sit very still and wait until a mothra flies to your candle. Any small immobilization or stun effect should allow you to catch it. For those interested in something less mobile the servants will be bringing a selection of pastries soaked in some of the famous northern honey which has a mild aphrodisiac property.’
While the guests tried catching and eating mothra, Aquitain was curious about where they might fit in the scheme of nature.
‘I would have thought that they were fey but I’ve always been told that fey creatures rarely use the elements preferring illusions, charms and similar types of magic.’
‘You’re quite correct. These creatures seem to be a hybrid between fey and elementals. Their bodies are made of a fleshy material but their skins are covered with fine mineral scales giving them the insect like exterior. They eat plant food like fey to grow but they can absorb magic essence into their bodies like an elemental.’
‘If you looked closely you would see they are like small female newmans but they reproduce like elementals. When there is an abundance of Fireberries, they fly to the ground; their body shape melts into a ball, which divides into two and then reforms into two smaller mothra.’
‘I would have thought that a hybrid between a fey and an elemental was impossible. How could such a thing happen?’ asked Aquitain.
‘Now that is a difficult question, one that I can’t answer.’ replied Terrin.
‘Don’t worry Terrin. I don’t mind a few impossible things running around in my dream. It makes it more fun.’
Terrin was quite again and definitely worried. How was he going to get Aquitain out of this stupid idea that he was in a dream.
After about half the mothra had been consumed by guests they finally realized that something was wrong and all congregated into a cloud near the ceiling and began pulsing blue.
Rather than risk any damage to the palace or guests, the young duty wizard quickly opened some skylights and created a light over them pointing the way out for the remaining mothra who took the hint and left.
This proved quite unpopular as many of the guests wanted to see how the mothra would retaliate. Some had already cast protections upon themselves in preparation for the fun and others complained as they had missed out on tasting a mothra.
Chapter 32 Furry Fear
Lord Darkmantle levitated up from his table and created the illusion of a small green wyvern that flew in circles around him puffing out little clouds of green smoke to capture everyone’s attention.
‘Your Majesty, Fellow Lords and Ladies, with Her Majesty’s approval I would like to introduce my entry in the entertainment competition this year. I wish to introduce a new game that I call ‘Furry Fear’ that I’m sure will stimulate your imaginations for the rest of the night and perhaps well into the future.’
‘Imagine you are a rodent. You are hungry. You venture out of the safety of your hole at night looking for some tasty lichen or moss to eat but knowing full well that there is a fox around, watching and waiting to eat you. Imagine the insecurity you feel at every little sound you hear. Every shadow hides the enemy. Imagine what it must be like when you hear the rapid approach of paws, the fear as you run full stretch back to the safety of your hole, the terror as you feel the jaws close around your neck, the agony as the jaw snaps your neck.’
‘Now imagine you’re the fox, you’re hungry, your stomach aches, you haven’t eaten for three days. You suddenly smell rodent, your favourite food. Your heart pounds, you begin salivating, all your senses try to detect the prize. You must make this kill if you are to survive. You carefully, soundlessly edge forward. Your muscles are taunt. You’re afraid to breathe. You see it. It’s nervous and skittish. You’re close enough. You run, it runs, you snatch a quick breath, you’re faster, you reach it and just as you close your jaws around it, something hits you from the side, knocking you over.
Dazed, you quickly look around. It’s a leer cat. They eat foxes. Your elation at catching the rodent sud
denly turns to fear. You are now the meal. You scramble up and try to run. It’s on your back, jaws biting through your neck trying to cut off your breathing and choke you to death. You struggle, it’s too heavy, you can’t break its grip. You’re suffocating. Your muscles weaken. Your vision darkens.’
‘Now imagine that we could feel the feelings of those animals, the fear, and terror of the victim, the elation of the victor. In this new game you can, and for some of you tonight the experience might well add a new thrill to your life.’
‘I earlier asked for six volunteers from amongst my friends to try out this thrilling new game. You may witness its effect on them then others may try it if they wish. I can assure you that there is just as much fun watching the players as the animals.’
‘There are three main components in the game, the arena, the animals and the players. The arena consists of the flat playing area you can see below with a few obstacles and a small transparent bee hive shaped safe area in the centre that will fit two rabbits, or a single fox but is too small for a leer cat.
In the arena we have six Newman slaves each with a different coloured patch painted on their backs and wearing an amulet of polymorph. These are the animals. When the game starts each ten seconds these slaves are sequentially shape changed into one of three animal types, the rodent, the fox and the leer cat in that order.’
‘We might for instance start with one fox and five rabbits, then ten seconds later, the fox turns into a leer cat and the five rabbits to foxes, then a further ten seconds later the single leer cat turns into a rabbit and the five foxes turn into leer cats.’
‘Now the players are six members of the audience. They each wear a bracelet of emotions that allows them to feel the emotions of one of the animals. On each bracelet are two buttons. The red one allows the player to instantly change his animal to the next in sequence and the green one to make his animal invisible for two seconds. After pressing either button there will be a ten second delay before the buttons can be pressed again to allow time for the amulet to recharge.’
