by B. W. Catt
Lingering Fate
Silver Ones Curse
B.W. Catt
Published by B.W. Catt, 2021.
This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.
LINGERING FATE
First edition. January 26, 2021.
Copyright © 2021 B.W. Catt.
Written by B.W. Catt.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
One
Within walls of captivity, her cries went unheard. The smell of decay slipped through the cracks in the floor. Her death was inevitable. Eventually, suffocation would take her life.
Sebial thought about the days leading up to her imprisonment.
I wish I wouldn’t have run off. Master Woldiniar was right about staying put, just like that time at the festival when I was young... but... I just wanted to be alone for a while. To have some time to practice without his persistent taunting.
She grew angry at him and herself. Sebial slammed her hands down on the ground and began to cry. Her mind trailed off to what has happened since being taken.
The taunting of her silver hair. The men, toying with her body whether she was shackled or held down. She ran her hands along her arms, feeling the cuts and missing chunks of skin. She shuttered when her fingers accidentally graced over her ribs, causing her to gasp in pain. The bones cracked from the repeated lashes of a whip being brought down on her as punishment for injuring one of the capturers.
It was worth it. Every piece of his ripped body was worth it. I would bite and claw him a thousand more times if it meant my freedom in return.
Lying on the floor she curled up into a ball hopelessly waiting for a miracle. She could hear the men play with their new toys as they cried out in pain.
They should learn to be silent and save their strength; that is what I did. Now I just need to escape. If only they hadn’t taken my bracelet, if I had that, I could have killed them all; I’d be back home right now with him.
She envisioned Woldiniar; tall with broad shoulders. Wearing his tattered gray robe at all times with a silver belt adorned with random trinkets from his travels. His long wavy black hair beginning to gray.
As mean as he was, I miss him. I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you. I would trade a thousand days of your rude obnoxious inappropriate behavior in order to safely leave this place.
She wiped the tears from her eyes.
Carefully, she stretched out on the floor. Looking up into the darkness, she let out a small sigh.
I wish I could see the sky above again. Vibrant blue, white clouds quickly passing by as the grass would sway around me.
Closing her eyes, she envisioned the beauty of her former freedom. Her eyes widened from a breeze hitting her heel.
Was that a draft?
Sebial jumped up. She quickly ran her hands along the wood where her feet just were.
She found the hole. Quickly placing her face against the hole, she took a deep breath in. It smelled of human decay, yet, there was the smell of fresh rain barely lingering. Tears began to stream down her face as she laid near the hole.
Soon, I will be a part of that decay they have hidden beneath the floor. But until that happens, I will enjoy the smell of the rain kissing the earth.
Placing her arms carefully around the hole as to not cover it; she fell asleep.
Two
A man with graying long hair looked upon a rundown house in an opening of the woods. His robe tattered and worn with dust and dirt splattered in random places. “This appears to be a place of shady happenings.”
He ran his fingers through his hair as he walked towards the door.
I should wait a little while longer. It is too early to get started just yet.
He looked up at the night sky, the sun slowly beginning to rise. He glanced at the house and walked around it. He covered his mouth.
Death, too much death. If I smell anymore of this, I might be joining them.
He walked away and sat under a tree that faced the door to the house.
I wonder what she will do when she sees me? Will she cry with joy? Maybe she killed them all and now she is enjoying a life of crime?
He laughed to himself.
That is something I would do. Not Sebial.
The sun was over the trees now. Standing up he straightened his robe and then tightened his belt. He gave a devious smile as he happily walked towards the house.
He placed his hand on the door, green mist raised from his hand causing the door to fly inwards. The men inside looked at him in fear; startled by what he did. The girls screamed.
“Was that door supposed to do something?” He smiled as he walked in.
“Get out of here you old drunk! This is our home and we will do as we please within it!” shouted one of the men inside.
He laughed “Old you say? Drunk you say? I am just here in search of my runaway student whose presence I feel from behind the wall you stand in front of!”
Two of the men near the door charged at him. He laughed at them. He let out a whistle, snapping their necks.
What is going on? Are they moving the girls again? Sebial thought to herself.
She listened to the sounds of yelling and banging coming from the other side of the wall.
I doubt I will be brought with... they said they have placed me in my forever home as they boarded the wall.
“Die you unholy creatures! May the flame never spare your souls in her undying revenge!” A man yelled out. His deep voice filled with anger.
Sebial jumped up.
Did I just hear Master Woldiniar?
She shook her head, blaming it on the lack of air. She put her face back against the hole to breathe in more of the air. It now smelled of sweet dew on a crisp spring morning with the still lingering smell of death.
Woldiniar called out. “SEBIAL! I KNOW YOU ARE HERE! JUST WAIT A LITTLE LONGER!” He walked towards a chair in the corner. “I AM IN NEED OF A REFRESHING DRINK BEFORE I GET TO WORK! MY WHISTLE IS A LITTLE DRY.”
“Get him out of here!” A man sitting against the back wall holding a girl by her hair yelled.
Three of the men looked at him. Fear filled their eyes. One of the three yelled back. “I am not going near him! Look what he just did?! They’re dead! You go after him!”
He sat down, reaching for the bottle on the table beside him.
“I am overjoyed by the lot of you giving me so much attention but since I am just here for my student, could you all please be so kind and fetch her for me? She is in need of some scolding. Maybe you know her? Oh, what am I saying? Of course, you know her! She has long silver hair. Her eyes glow a vibrant green.”
The men walked towards him in anger. Their swords drawn and ready to slay him where he sat.
Woldiniar paid them no mind. He opened the bottle and swirled it a few times before taking a sip. He glared at the men while he carefully thought about the liquid he just sipped. He spit it out, spraying it across their faces. Woldiniar slammed the bottle down; he stood up in rage.
“What type of liquid is this?! It’s too young to be a good ale but too dirty to be clean water! That’s it! I am done with you fools!”
He pointed at the
three men standing in front of him. Letting out a quick high-pitched whistle, the men flew through the side of the building, their bodies ripping to shreds as the wall crumbled. He glared at the man who called him an old drunk.
“For you my foolish friend, let me sing you a softer tune!”
The man let go of the girls hair. Pulling his dagger from his sheath he aimed it at Woldiniar. “You do not intimidate me!”
Woldiniar laughed. “There is your problem, your sword is unbefitting of a man! I would be angry with myself if I were you too!”
Woldiniar grinned and began to whistle in a low tone. The whistling sounded of waves crashing onto the shore. As each tune hit its crash, the man let out a scream as his bones broke. Woldiniar dropped him onto the floor in front of his feet.
“Now, before I break your skull, shall you kindly tell me where the key to her room is?”
The man began to bite his tongue. Blood slowly dripped from his mouth as he writhed in pain.
Woldiniar sighed, he let out one long whistle. The man's skull caved in, his eyes bleeding. His tongue fell from his mouth onto the floor.
Three
Woldiniar stepped over the body, walking to the wall he sensed Sebial behind earlier. Gently pressing his hand on the wall it began to shake and crumble.
Woldiniar walked over the debris approaching Sebial, curled up in a ball on the floor.
“Now Sebial, what have I told you about running off?! This is not how you greet your old drunken rescuer!” He laughed at the thought of being old and drunk while reaching down to touch her on the shoulder.
She looked up to see him standing there with a smile on his face. Sebial went to jump up but her legs were too weak. Woldiniar grabbed her, picking her up into his embrace. She looked up at him, his smile filled with sadness. He looked like he had aged years in such a short time.
“Sebial, don't you know better than to run away? Did you already forget what happened that night many years ago?”
She shook her head, her eyes filled with sorrow.
“I am behind on many tasks that could have been accomplished these past few weeks!”
It’s been a few weeks? It has felt like months.
Her voice cracked into a mix of whisper and yelling “I cannot return! They stole my bracelet before leaving me with these lowlife humans!”
She looked at him while reaching down to her wrist; covering it in shame. Where her silver bracelet once laid was now barren. He placed his free hand over hers.
“Well, Sebial, I guess we should go retrieve it. You can not live for long without it. When did they take it?” Woldiniar’s voice filled with concern.
“In the beginning. I was out walking in the woods shortly after leaving the cabin. I do not know how long I was out without it on me.”
He shook his head in disappointment. “When this is done, you will owe me a drink! And not one like this place had.” he laughed “Now, shall we get going?”
“How do we find them? I do not know who they were.” Tears streamed down her face.
“Do not worry about such things, Sebial. I will find your bracelet and condemn those in no time.” He smiled as he picked her up, cradling her in his arms.
He walked towards the door he had broken earlier, stepping over the bodies as they went. Sebial noticed a few girls balled up in the corner crying.
“Master Woldiniar, we cannot leave them here like this.”
“Sebial we can’t go taking in every single stray you find. Especially ones that have been so badly mistreated. It would be best if we just set them free of the pain they have went through.”
He looked over at them. “I could make it fast and painless.
Sebial smacked him across the face.
He chuckled. “You are much weaker without that bracelet. Curse the flame. You should know me better, for I am just joking my dear student. There is a village half a day walk from here. We can leave them there.”
Sebial smiled. “Please allow me to approach them. They will be less fearful of me than you.”
Woldiniar put Sebial down. Carefully she headed to the girls with the help of Woldiniar, her legs wobbling. She held her hand out to the youngest in the group as she smiled.
“Are you ready to leave this place?”
The little girl had short golden hair matted with dried blood and dirt. She grabbed Sebial’s hand while nodding uncontrollably. Her eyes filled with tears; her clothes tattered from the men ripping them off.
She will never be the same; we will never be the same. But we must stay alive, that is our greatest weapon. I swear I will make this world right.
Sebial nodded to herself. Looking at the other girls she gestured for them to follow. They stepped outside for the first time in days since their horrid lives here had begun.
Woldiniar stopped walking to look back at the house.
“I cannot allow this building to remain for what it has done and the pain it has caused. I think I need to do some remodeling here!”
He smiled and began to whistle. The house began to smolder and shake. Taking in a quick breath, he whistled two shorter notes and the house collapsed to a pile of ash. Dust shot into the air before being carried off by the southern winds.
Woldiniar smiled at his handy work. “Ah the gift of my voice. Wouldn’t you agree Sebial, my dear darling student?”
She rolled her eyes and turned to face the direction of the town. “Let us leave this place before you do anything else."
“I wouldn’t dream of it! Or maybe I would?” They broke out in laughter. Woldiniar winked at Sebial.
“I would destroy villages for you.”
Sebial slowly hobbled behind Woldiniar and the other girls as they walked through dense forest. The youngest one still holding tightly onto Sebial's hand.
She gazed up at the tree line staring as sunlight flickered through the leaves. She took in a deep breath of the fresh air.
It smells sweeter than anything else in the world.
She caught herself smiling, the little girl watched Sebial as they fell further behind the rest.
“Isn’t this wonderful? We are free.”
The little girl nodded.
“How old are you?”
The little girl didn’t respond. She began to cry. Sebial placed her arm around the girl.
“You will be ok now little one.”
Woldiniar looked back to see Sebial struggling to keep a decent pace with them. He stopped and waited for her to get closer.
“That’s it for now my dear student. You need to save your strength,” he swooped her up.
“Hold onto my neck so I don’t bare all the weight of you in my arms.”
Sebial kept her hand intertwined with the little girls.
“I can walk! And I am not heavy,” Sebial’s voice cracked again.
Woldiniar whispered into Sebial’s ear. “Stop talking Sebial, just enjoy being treated as a princess for once. And also, we both know you cannot live for much longer if you exert the remaining bit of your power from just walking,” he smiled and looked ahead.
“Shall I sing a song on our way to town? It will make our time go by faster since we are almost there after all!” Woldiniar said with a smile on his face.
The girls looked at him with fear.
“Master, I believe they have heard enough of your tunes for one day.”
“They, and not even you, have heard this one though Sebial. Just enjoy it.”
“I have heard many today that I haven’t heard before. I assume they are done with you, just as am I!"
He cleared his throat, ignoring her words while grinning widely.
“The path in which the old man lays,
you’ll find a piece of history.
There lies his body,
amongst the field of fairies.
They’ve turned his bones to catacombs
to make themselves a home!
As he decay,
the ground made way,
the fairies
planted seeds of lily.
For centuries unbeknown to man,
they lay within the dragon king...”
As he sung, the barren hill in front of them began to change, lilies sprouted everywhere. The girls stopped to stare in awe. Sebial glanced up at Woldiniar with a huge smile on her face.
He stopped singing to look at her. “See Sebial? This is a wonderful song to sing!”
“I enjoy the outcome of your magic. Was the song of death necessary in order to make that happen?”
“That song was made to teach us! If you know the battle in which the dragon king fell, then you will know the home of the last remaining fairies!”
“Why must we know that though?”
“Fairies come in handy from time to time. They mainly keep to themselves but they will always help one blessed by the flame.”
Sebial looked at the lilies. “Why haven’t we sought their help in the past?”
Woldiniar placed his hand on Sebial’s shoulder. She looked up at him. “Just because you didn’t see them, didn’t me they were not there. They have helped many times since you were born.”
One of the girls ahead of the group yelled back to them. “I see a town!”
Sebial and Woldiniar looked up to see the other girls running towards the one who called out. Two of the girls began to jump up and down in excitement. They ran back to hug Sebial and Woldiniar. They ran off towards the town waving back to everyone.
“THANK YOU! WE’RE HOME!” Their voices filled with joy as they yelled.
Woldiniar sat Sebial down. He crossed his arms and laughed. “Two down, a few more to go. But we will not get to see them excited like this.”
“What do you mean by that?” Sebial looked up at him.
Woldiniar walked forward, ignoring her question. His voice turned stern. “Sebial, we will turn the other few girls over to the inn. There they can get cleaned up and get a safe place to rest. Please escort the girls to the inn, take it easy on your way there. I am going to the guards’ tower to inform them of what has just taken place. I will come to get you later so we may depart before dusk.”
