Chapter
38
Tolian was ready. For six days, she had prepared and
planned. At first, she had no idea what
to expect. She had experimented,
slipping out furtively for a few moments here and there when neither Mesdor nor
Gredalon were about. For those few
moments, she felt powerful. Not
physically strong, but inwardly powerful and capable of amazing things. She could not lift the table on the balcony,
but she could make it levitate with her mind.
Only a few feet, but that was only the second time she went out into the
moonlight. Now, she could do much more
than that. Unfortunately, the power did
not last long once she went back inside.
She had only a few moments to show Kreel the smallest demonstrations of
her powers, before they left her. She
had managed to break herself of the habit of smoking the faerie pipeweed,
though it had not been easy. She wasn’t
hiding from her feelings anymore. The
pain from her wound was much more noticeable, of course, especially when she
stood for more than a few minutes. It
wasn’t unbearable; she was capable of enduring it. She also watched the tapestries again, both
to face her guilt head on and to prepare herself for what she would find once
she had escaped the tower. It was hard
to watch the scenes of twisted horror that the tapestries revealed. Faerie had been reformed in the chaotic and
nightmarish image of the Demon’s horrific imagination. Lush forest had become places of gray and
gnarled vegetation filled with hideous monsters, creatures of unspeakable
horror. Buildings even, took on more
forbidding appearances. One castle,
which had previously appeared a bustling, inviting household, was now a lonely
place of malefic aspect. Drabness had
infiltrated every stone and the once welcoming gateway now resembled a gaping,
fanged mouth. Everything in Faerie had
changed to some degree. The people had
undergone the most drastic transformation.
Most of the once proud faeries were now snarling, shuffling things, bent
and corrupted. She cried as she watched,
for she knew all of it was her fault.
She should have tried to escape sooner; she should have risked
sacrificing Brythia and herself. As hard
as she was on herself, she knew that the love magick that bound them would have
prevented her from doing anything that could result in Brythia’s death. What she saw in the tapestries made her
entertain thoughts of remaining safe in the tower. She quickly shrugged off such thoughts. That was fear talking. It was apparent that the Demon would soon no
longer require her presence to hold full sway over Faerie. It was nearly all his already. No doubt he would have her killed, probably
Dowbreth, too, for what use were they, once the Kingdom of the Fay was the
Demon’s own country? Every day she felt
with greater certainty that that day was quickly approaching.
Now was the time. She sneaked out to the balcony for what she
knew would be the last time. The Full
Moon was already in the sky. She felt
its energy pouring into her. She opened
herself to its silver rays, visualizing herself absorbing all the lunar power
she could. She made certain to hold on
to as much as possible. She did nothing
that would cause her to discharge the energy.
She could not test the power for she needed every ounce of it for her
plan.
She breathed in deeply. The cool air was invigorating. She had considered trying to fly down from
there. Several things dissuaded her from
this plan. She would be unable to take
Kreel, and there was no way she was going to leave her best friend at the mercy
of Dowbreth. Never. In addition, such a dramatic escape would
attract much more attention than she would like. On top of that, she had no way to know for
sure she could, in fact, manage the vast distance safely. No, her plan was the best way, and she was
ready. Now to put it to the test.
She went back inside and secured the
door and curtains behind her. Kreel,
dressed in a pink nightgown, was pacing nervously across the bedroom, holding
her sword. It was clear that she was
afraid. Tolian couldn’t blame her. There was every chance that her plan would
not work, that they would be caught and killed or, more likely, worse. She was frightened too, but for the first
time since she found herself simply a woman without supernatural powers, she
did not let her fear control her. She
had found a place beyond fear. So what
if she was essentially a mortal woman, not a powerful male warrior, or a
goddess? Many women overcame nearly
impossible obstacles. How else could
they live their lives with the physical weaknesses of their gender, save by another
strength, the strength of character?
True strength in the face of real fear, pervasive fear men could not
even imagine. That was the power of
woman. It was extraordinary. To try anyway, in spite of everything.
“You look so frightened,” she said
to her faerie friend. “Repeat this
quietly in your mind, it helps: I will
hold no fear. Fear is defeat and the
forerunner of defeat. Fear is for my
enemy.”
“I’ll try that,” Kreel said with an
anxious chuckle.
“Good, let’s get going. Mesdor will be back from the bathroom any
minute,” Tolian said. She smiled
encouragingly.
Kreel smiled darkly.
“You’re certain this will work?” the
faerie asked.
“Oh no, I’m not guaranteeing
anything,” Tolian said, leading her to the door.
They had about two more minutes
before Delotti returned with their mulled wine and Mesdor trotted back in about
a minute after that. Their ritual had
not changed in more than a month. The
obligatory warm wine to send her off to a dreamless slumber and Mesdor’s eleven
o’clock urination. Small occurrences,
seemingly of no consequence, but they were chinks in Dowbreth’s armor. For only for those few moments, when everyone
thought that Tolian was finishing off her evening with some diversion with
Kreel and preparing for bed, they were alone.
Those were the only times, for Mesdor and Gredalon trusted Kreel less
and less it seemed as they looked on her with resentment, no doubt for her
beauty and her friendship with Tolian.
This was the time. Gredalon was
asleep, having spent most of the day keeping an eye on her, covering her with
suspicious looks from her ruined visage.
Now.
Tolian opened the door and walked as
nonchalantly as she could down the corridor.
Kreel followed, appearing far too agitated. No one would think twice to see them. They were doing nothing wrong. Uiyrlpi, one of the kitchen staff entered the
hallway from the parlor. She curtsied
and Tolian smiled and wished her a good night.
It took only a few moments to walk
the distance from her room to the door to the garden. The closer they got to the door, the more
nervous she became. Not panicked. No, she would not allow herself to get
overwrought. She had resolve if not
courage, and that would have to do. She
took Kreel’s hand in hers to lend her strength.
She could hear the faerie whispering under her breath, “Fear is defeat
and the forerunner of defeat. I will
hold no fear.”
Tolian did not need the mantra, for
she had become it. Kreel squeezed her
head.
“This is the best way, right?” the
faerie asked.
“Yes, no one will be out there at
this time of night; it’s the perfect place to sneak out,” Tolian responded.
“Tolian, you’ve seen it. Faerie has gone mad. It’s a nightmare out there,” Kreel
fretted. “I doubt the garden’s going to
be any better.”
“Yeah, give me your sword.” She took the faerie blade. She closed her fingers around the hilt. It felt good to grip a sword again. She had not touched a weapon in over two
years. She looked down at her wrist and
the black bracelet that adorned it.
Kreel must have caught her look.
“Now, remember, you promised that
you would only do that in case of extreme emergency. You promised,” the faerie reminded her.
“I know,” mumbled Tolian. She regarded the door for a moment. As she did so, something amusing flashed
across her mind. She looked down at
herself, her own white silky nightie shimmering in the lamplight of the
hallway, Kreel looking positively cute in her own feminine sleepwear.
“What do you think,” asked Tolian,
“our old selves would think if they could see us now?”
“Hmmm,” pondered the Elven maiden,
“I don’t think they would believe it was us.”
“Probably not,” Tolian agreed.
The door. A magick door. Of course, it didn’t look like a magick door;
it looked like a regular door. Heavy
wood, strong iron hinges. She put her
hand up to it. She let the power come
out of her. She imagined herself (and
Kreel) walking right through the door.
The door wasn’t real. It was all
constructed of the astral. The astral
was under her sway. It was subject to
her whim. She pushed her hand
tentatively and gently through the door.
Her hand seemed to end right at the wrist. She pulled her hand back out and looked at
it. It was perfectly fine.
“Okay,” she said with
determination. “Let’s go.”
She walked through
the door, pulling Kreel behind her.
Copyright 2004, 2015 Diana Hignutt
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