It's nice to be back writing this story again and getting feedback on it too. As I've said in the other notes I've been working on it for a while off and on, but it's nice to have input on the story as well. I got a note about the trents. I thought I'd mention here what Trents are, for those of you who don't know. Trents are tree-people, literally. They are walking, breathing trees. (Treebeard from the Lord of the Rings would be a Trent). That's the simple explanation at any rate.
Thanks to everyone who's e-mailed me. I'm really happy to hear from you guys. Special thanks go out to Kenitra (I'm not a cadaver yet), Shade, Aeoros, Hamado, Aphrodite, Matt and a number of others. And thanks for sending me that wonderful e-mail Dax. If you want to drop me a note, a letter, a biography or whatever, you can send it to Mist_dark@yahoo.ca or Mist_dark@hotmail.com. I'll answer both.
This story is in no way supposed to reflect the sexuality of the members of the group Nsync. If they're gay it's their business, not mine. If you're too young or it's illegal in your area to read this, please leave. If homosexual themes offend you leave as well. Parts of this story are based off the RPG Rifts. All trademarks belong to Kevin Siembieda and Palladium books.
I hope that you enjoy this installment. I've got to start writing the next one, but this is the last of the backlogged ones I have.
Until next time, Rune
PART ELEVEN
"You've certainly been busy the last while," Maria said.
The four of them sat in a circle around a small fire that Chris had started for the evening meal. Mala was making it. They'd quickly discovered that, though Chris could make fire, he couldn't cook over one.
Chris shrugged. "Well you know how it is." He grinned. "Besides if I hadn't gotten myself into all of that trouble I never would have met Mala. And she's been pretty good at putting up with me."
Maria arched an eyebrow. "Are you two?" She left the question hanging.
Chris blushed and looked away. Mala looked at the vampire and smiled slightly. "Not exactly, but that's only because Chris hasn't been paying attention."
The vampire laughed. "You do have to watch him for that."
"Ahem," Chris coughed. "Now that we've finished discussing my inability to notice things, what have you been up to Maria?"
"Running mostly," Maria admitted. "I've sent all of the vampires that were serving me away. They'll be safer that way. It's just me and Brian." She indicated the man sitting next to her.
"Wouldn't it be safer for you though?" Chris asked. "If you had your vampires with you that is."
"Yes," she said. "But the other masters don't want my vampires, they want me. I'll keep avoiding them until they give up and leave me alone."
"That'll take a while," Mala commented. "Vampires don't die of old age, do they?"
Brain grinned. "No, but we'll live just as long as they will. Assuming we don't suffer some accident."
"How do you tie into this?" Chris asked. "That didn't come out the way I wanted it to."
Maria laughed. "Don't worry we know what you meant. Brian is my human servant. He'll aid me wherever he can."
Chris nodded. "Gottcha. You picked a good one then Maria. I mean a guy who shoots arrows of light has to be useful when fighting vampires."
"Actually I got that ability by linking with Maria," Brian told him. "I was just a regular person before that." He grinned at Maria. "Got a few other things out of the deal too."
Mala gave him a questioning look. "Such as?"
"I'll live as long as she does. I'm faster, stronger and more agile then a normal human and I heal about five times as quickly. There are a few other bonuses, but we're still exploring the extent of the bond."
"What do you get out of this?" Chris asked Maria. "I mean it makes sense why Brian joined up, at least just from the power point of view."
"I get a person who can walk in the sunlight. It makes securing me during the day a lot easier." Maria told him. "That and the fact I know have a warrior that will always protect me."
"Sounds like a pretty good deal," Chris said. He looked around the cave for a moment and then back at the fire. "So where are you two headed?"
"No where in particular," Brian said. "We'll have to leave here shortly. They probably won't like the fact we killed one of their masters."
"That boy was a master vampire?" Mala asked in surprise. "I wouldn't have put him so high on the scale."
Maria nodded. "Not a very powerful one. I don't think he was more then twenty years old, but he was a master."
"Well I guess we have to give another point to the vampires for surprising me again," Chris said. "You guys are just full of surprises, aren't you?"
"We try," Maria shrugged. "Anyway, where are you two going? After the hailstorm."
"England," Mala told her. "At least that's where Chris wants to go. He says his friends are there."
"I hope that they've gotten JC back by the time we get there," Chris muttered.
"Gotten him back from who?" Mala asked sharply.
"I don't know," Chris said. "Some vampires took him. When that woman sent me here Justin and Joey had gone to get Pyre. Pyre should have been able to get JC back without too much trouble. Or if there was trouble it was for the vampires."
Brian whispered something in Maria's ear. "Do you think it's her?"
Maria nodded. "Most likely. I can't think of anyone else that would be able to pull that off."
Mala arched an eyebrow. "What?"
"Sorry," Maria apologized. "It was probably Yesena that kidnapped Josh. She's the only master in the area that could have survived that sort of thing. The Faerie folk would have destroyed any other vampire."
"So we have a name," Chris said. "She's still not going to like it when any of us get our hands on her."
"I think we'll accompany you to England," Maria said. "You've no idea what Yesena can do."
"Justin," Pyre called. "Come back to bed. We've been through a lot today and you need your rest." The dragon walked to where his lover was standing on the balcony that overlooked the courtyard. Justin's blue night-robe flapped slightly in the night wind.
"In a little bit," Justin said softly.
Pyre wrapped his arms around the blonde's waist and rested his head on Justin's shoulder. "What's wrong boy?"
"Everything I guess," Justin sighed. "One of my best friends is laying in the room across the hall and hasn't woken up in who knows how long. Next to him lies some woman that's probably in the same situation. When they do wake up they attack us both for no reason we can find. Then Evelyn shows up and Joey's recently developed healing abilities fix whatever's wrong with her. She won't tell us anything about Josh and the woman. To top it all of both Chris and Lance are missing and we don't know where they are."
"I know," Pyre said. "But there's more then that."
Justin nodded. "I feel so damn helpless. I just want to march over to Yesena's house and rip her to pieces. To make her hurt for what she did to Josh. But I can't do it. I want to, but she'd kill me. I wouldn't even be able to get to her because of all of her vampires, and even if I could she'd have no problem kicking my ass."
"She's a master vampire," Pyre told him. "That's as high as a vampire can go. They're supposed to be incredibly powerful. If it's any help she'd hurt me a lot too. I might win, but she'd take almost everything I have to defeat."
"Then what are we going to do about her?" Justin asked. He turned around and hugged Pyre tightly. "How are we supposed to be able to kill her if she can trash me without even trying. If you hadn't shown up when you did I'd be dead. And until you threatened Richard she didn't even bat an eye. She's not afraid of us."
"We'll have help when we take her on next," Pyre assured him. "We'll have all of our friends and we'll be able to take her out."
"But what if we don't find them?" Justin asked. "Chris and Lance I mean. What if they've been killed? You said a dragon probably took them."
"They're alive," Pyre said firmly. "If they aren't then nothing matters. You five are supposed to help find the new Guardian. If one of you is dead then nothing matters."
"You certainly know how to make a guy feel better," Justin said sarcastically.
"I'm serious," Pyre said. "If Chris or Lance is dead then everything would have gone to hell. Since it hasn't, they're alive."
"I hadn't looked at it that way," Justin admitted. "I guess we just have to hope for the best. I mean I did find you after all that time."
"Yes you did," the dragon said. "And you found your friends after almost a year of being in this world. Everything will turn out for the best. And if the Fates don't want to give us good luck, we'll just have to make do with what we have."
"Come Lance," Lachesis said. "My time with you is not nearly long enough." She raised her candle to her lips. He noticed that her candle was burned down further then Clotho's had been. The flames flared outward when she blew on it. A moment after the flames obscured his view Lance could see again.
They were standing on a plane in the center of a valley. The edge of the valley could bee seen on the horizon. Grass covered most of the land with the odd tree growing here and there.
"I don't suppose you're going to tell me what I'm suppose to see here?" Lance asked.
Lachesis smiled. "Sorry. That would defeat the purpose. But it should be obvious fairly quickly."
The ground shook violently and Lance almost lost his footing. Lachesis was completely unaffected by the quake. Another tremor followed the first almost immediately. A column of smoke rose from the ground about a mile to the east. Lance watched as lava boiled out of the ground searing everything it touched. The molten rock moved its way outward for a couple hundred feet and then started to lose heat. A small hill formed and then it gradually grew larger. They watched the volcano form for a few hours. It towered into the sky and the pair had to move back several times to avoid touching the still searing rock.
"Is that it?" Lance asked. "Or is there more to come. I never thought I'd get to see a volcano form up close and personal."
"There's more," Lachesis told him. "You'll want to put your hood up."
Lance gave her a questioning look but put his hood up. In a moment he was glad he'd done it. The earth rumbled again and a cloud of ash spewed into the air. It rained down on them and blanketed the land in gray.
Another tremor shook the newly formed volcano and more lava began boiling out of the top. Unlike the previous lava this batch had more force behind it. It was running down the sides. It was being thrown into the air. Bits of super-heated rock rained down along with the molten rock. Whatever it touched burst into flames and was burned to ash in seconds.
The eruption only lasted a few minutes, but the effects were devastating. The valley had changed from fertile to dead. The grass had been seared away and many of the trees had been burned to stumps. Ash covered everything.
"I've something else to show you here Lance," Lachesis. She led him across the valley and stopped next to one of the trees. This one had been almost completely burned but he could make out that it had been a coniferous. Sprinkled around the base were cones that had opened because of the heat.
"You're not going to tell me what this means," Lance said. "Are you?"
"You're the Seeker Lance," Lachesis said. "You have to figure this one out for yourself. But it will make sense." She raised her candle to her lips. "We've more to see yet."
When the flames cleared they were standing in the center of an empty city. Great stone buildings stood empty on either side of them. The streets were paved with large stone sheets that were taken from the same source as the stone blocks for the buildings. Blankets and carts stood unattended in the city-square. Wherever they went the city was deserted. Not a single person could be found anywhere. From the state of the city it appeared that they'd left very recently and that they had left in great haste. Very few things had been taken with them.
"I wonder why they've all left," Lance murmured to himself.
His question was answered when they got to the edge of the city. The ring that would have separated the city from the surrounding jungle was gone. The jungle butted right up against the stones. As he watched vines and other small plants worked their way into the cracks in the city walls. When the vines had broken the stone into pieces the larger plant life encroached on the city.
A process that should have taken decades was happening in mere minutes. Creepers attached themselves to the walls and pulled them done, breaking them into rubble. Trees grew over the broken walls and entered the city itself. Smaller plants shattered the street stones and covered the walkways with green.
Lachesis sidestepped a statue that was pulled down by a few flowering vines. "I think you know enough to know what will happen eventually."
Lance nodded. "The jungle will completely retake this city. Though it shouldn't be happening this quickly. This should take centuries to complete. I don't think it'll be much after sunset before you couldn't tell a city stood here."
"If it takes that long," Lachesis agreed. "Do you know why this is happening?"
"Well this happens naturally," Lance said. "If it's left alone nature will retake whatever's taken from her. But it's happening this quickly because the balance is out of whack."
Lachesis smiled. "You are learning quickly."
Neva flew in lazy circles over the city walls. Her natural form terrified the city's defenders, and rightfully it should. It was rare for a dragon to demand anything of humans, and when they couldn't comply with the dragon's demands it made them worried. Neva knew they couldn't do what she'd asked of them, but didn't care. Sayer had ordered her to destroy this city. And for once she was willing to do as he asked completely. She didn't like that she had to do it because he said so, but she'd take out her frustration at her imprisonment on the city.
When the sun had moved to signal that half the afternoon was gone she attacked. With a roar she dove down on the walls and the hapless humans below. A wave of frost issued from her mouth. A layer of ice covered everything that the frost touched. An archer took aim and was frozen in the action of letting the arrow loose. One of his companions stumbled into him and he and the frozen archer fell to the ground below. The archer shattered while his companion broke his neck.
The dragon flew toward the main tower in the city. When she was almost on top of it she swerved. Her claws ripped out huge sections of the tower's walls. The structure gave a groan and toppled into the square below. Neva breathed frost over every building on the main street. When everything glistened in the sun she flew back down the street. She spread her wings to their fullest extent and dove through the buildings. Everything shattered in her wake.
A number of the city's defenders had rallied themselves enough to form some sort of opposition. A few archers peppered her with arrows while a knight gave directions from horseback. Her jaws cleaved through both horse and rider with snap. A sweep of her tail sent the archers scattering or else killed them outright.
Deciding to have some fun the dragon landed next to the broken tower in the square. She threw her head back and roared at the sky while breathing cold into the air. Swinging her foreleg, she removed a huge portion of the tower's base. She shoved herself sideways into the tower. The structure screeched in protest, but finally toppled over completely.
Lashing out the dragon snatched up a wagon and threw it at an aged priestess as she attempted to lead some children to safety. The priestess tried to shove the children out of the wagon's flight, but failed. She and half the children were crushed against a wall by the wagon. The remaining children were destroyed by a wave of frost.
A tiny sensation of warmth came from her hindquarters. She slowly turned her head to see what was causing the annoyance. A group of mages stood off to one side throwing fireballs at her. She fixed them with an icy gaze before laughing outright at them. Neva began to cast a spell herself. A moment later a pillar of fire consumed the annoyances.
The dragon launched herself into the air again. Her wings sweeping up huge clouds of frozen debris. She slowly circled the city again and destroyed anything that offended her. Living offenders faired no better then the inanimate ones. Within an hour of the attack the entire city lay in a frozen heap. Nothing moved.
"There," the Duke said to himself. He leaned back to examine the drawing that he had been working on. It had taken him some time to complete it. Several days of carefully adding lines and shading in areas. Now it was finished.
"Not my normal style, but it's still a good piece. Wouldn't you agree?" He asked the painting of his late wife. "I know it's not as good as your works, but I was always better with colours then shading. I do like it though." He mused to himself.
He shoved himself away from the desk and stood. "Anyway, I have business to attend to. I'll figure out what to do with this later." He left the drawing on the desk as he exited.
The drawing itself was beautifully done. It looked like the people on the page were truly alive and would at any moment leave the paper. There were two of them. The one on the right side of the page was the taller of the two men. Long dark hair blended with his dark flowing robes. He held a scythe in one hand while his other was clenched in a fist.
Standing opposite to him was the shorter of the two. Dressed in light flowing robes, this man held an open book in one hand and held his other hand closed with two fingers point upward. Above his head was a cross with an inverted teardrop resting at the top. Above the other man's head was an identical symbol, except that it was reversed. Both men's faces were locked in serenity as if they were listening to something only they could hear.
Pain flared through JC's mind as he woke from a deep sleep. His entire body hurt, but his head and his throat worst of all. Very carefully he opened his eyes and immediately regretted it. The room was lit only by candles, but it felt like they were the sun to his eyes. He quickly pinched his eyes closed. After a few minutes he tried to open them again. This time the pain was greatly reduced.
"I see you've decided to join us," Evelyn said calmly. The older woman was tending to the fire.
JC sat up. "Evelyn? How did you get here?" His voice barely came out as a whisper, and a hoarse on at that.
"Don't strain your voice," she admonished. "I've been told you've been using it a lot lately." She left the fireside and poured some water into a cup. As she walked over to the bed she poured the contents of a pouch into the water and stirred it. "This should help some. Drink it all and don't give me any fuss about it being bitter."
He took the cup from her outstretched hand and looked at it a moment. He'd learned from Chris and Joey that when Evelyn said something was going to be unpleasant, it was going to be. He also knew from personal experience that when she wanted you to do something, nothing short of death was going to stop her. Taking a deep breath he drank the entire cup in two gulps. Shuddering he handed the cup back to her. She'd been wrong, it hadn't been bitter. It had been absolutely vile.
The brunette shuddered again before attempting to speak. "How did you get here? It's good to see you again."
"I've been..travelling," Evelyn said evasively. "I just recently got back. It's a rather long and boring story." She bustled around the room for a few minutes before returning with another cup of bitter water.
"I don't need another one do I?" JC asked worriedly.
"Not for the moment," she told him. "But you may later on. We'll see how quickly you recover. This is for your lady friend." JC jumped in the bed. He'd forgotten about Calypso. The shapeshifter lay next to him still asleep. "Though this is a slightly different combination of herbs. She doesn't have to worry about her voice."
JC arched an eyebrow. "What will that do for her?"
"It'll speed up her tissue regeneration. I believe that Pyre said she was a shapeshifter. She took a bit of a bruising from what I've been told." She touched Calypso's shoulder and gently shook the woman. "Wake up dear."
Calypso slowly roused from her slumber. "Wha?"
"Wake up dear," Evelyn repeated. "You need to drink this. It will help you."
"Who are you?" Calypso said. She sat up in the bed and wrapped the blankets around her. "Where am I?"
"Calm down child," Evelyn said gently. "I've no intentions of hurting you, Joshua can tell you that. My name is Evelyn and for the time being know that you are safe." She took one of Calypso's hands and wrapped it around the cup she'd been holding. "Now drink this."
"What is it?" She asked doubtfully.
"Vile?" Josh said. "What?" He asked defensively when Evelyn shot him a dirty look. "It is. But it'll help Calypso. Trust me on that. Evelyn knows what she's doing when it comes to healing. I'd drink that as quickly as possible. That way it won't give you time to back out."
"If you say so," Calypso told him. She eyed him out of the corner of her eye while she drank the contents of the cup. When she was finished she gasped for air and turned a sickly shade of green. She made a gagging sound before returning to her normal skin colour. "That was horrid."
Evelyn smiled sweetly. "Of course, medicine shouldn't taste good. It speeds recovery." She took the cup away from Calypso who seemed to be contemplating on how best to destroy the offender. "Now I have a few things that I want you to do for me. You've both been through a great deal and will no doubt suffer from nightmares for the next while. These are completely natural and I want you to come and get me if you have one. I don't care what time it is." She held up her hand to cut off protest from Calypso. "Child, I'm aware that you don't know me very well, but I will not allow you to become ill again. I plan to see you to full recovery, both physically and mentally. You've already had one incident where these memories have taken control away from you."
"What?" JC asked.
"A few days ago you were brought back from the master vampire's lair," Evelyn told them. "You woke up at one point after your wounds had been tended to. You attacked Pyre and Justin."
"We did what?" Calypso asked sharply.
"You weren't in complete control of yourselves," Evelyn said. "The vampire implanted a few ideas into your minds. You woke up physically, but you weren't completely awake. Your minds saw Pyre and Justin as the creatures that hurt you. Joseph and I have already searched your minds for any other implanted ideas. We've removed them."
"Are they alright?" JC asked.
"They're fine," Evelyn assured him. "It's very difficult to hurt a dragon and Justin's combination of abilities makes him difficult to hurt as well. Though you both gave them a challenge." She waved off any more of the questions they had. "Back to business. In addition to reporting to me any of the dreams you've had you will follow any medical advice I give. You are recovering quickly, but you both need rest. And I intend to see that you get it. You will not leave this bed until I say so. I want you both to rest her for the rest of the day. Tomorrow I think, weather permitting, you'll be able to move about for a little while. But you'll be resting for most of tomorrow as well. You'll also eat and drink what I tell you. Understand?" She waited for both of them to agree with her. When she'd gotten the desired response she continued. "Good. Now I've some cooking to do, so I'll leave you two alone. I'll let the others know you're awake. Don't talk too long."
"Is she always like that?" Calypso asked Josh when the other woman had left the room.
"So motherly?" He asked. "Yeah she is. She's a great woman, but she can be a tad overbearing now and again. You get used to it though. She's a fantastic cook though."
"I like her," Calypso said after a moment. "She didn't even bat an eye at the fact we're both naked under these blankets."
"We are?" JC asked. He turned a few shades of red and swatted at Calypso's hand when she tried to lift the sheets. "Stop that."
"What?" She asked. "You've seen me naked. Why can't I see you?"
"But I didn't go looking to see you naked. It sort of happened," he said in his defense." He was cut off when Calypso pressed her lips to his. He returned the kiss briefly before giving a squawk of surprise when cold air rushed around his legs. "No fair."
Calypso grinned and folded the blankets back around his waist. "Impressive Siren."
TBC
That's it for now. Let me know what you think.
Rune