Heir of Galena
A little disturbing imagery...
A Dark Hour
"You had better be worth every moment." Dimestico grunted out of breath as he dropped a sopping wet Jason down on the soggy ground between them, shaking off the excess water that he could, trying to lighten his own weight.
Some potion!
The damn bitch!
She could have gotten him killed along with her prize. Knocking Sam out had been surprisingly easy, throwing the potion of water wall was even easier and knowing that the pipes led to a spillway that emptied into the swamp, well that was careful planning.
He'd been communicating with the evil Queen via a singing rock of Antawn. The rocks were renowned for their relay of messages over long distance so long as the recipient had a rock tuned to the same frequency. She fed him the directions to get them all towards the armies closest camp so that he could bring her the corpse of her most feared enemy.
Ronnie looked down at the body still trying to catch his breath. He needed to make sure. Had to. Ronnie leaned down and stripped the shirt of the dead man at his feet giving a huff of a scoff as he smiled brightly at the brilliant maroon dragon that adorned most of Jason' back.
"Definitely the right guy." He smirked with a low chuckle in pride. Ronnie could hear the camp a bit away, but he wanted to make sure before he paraded this asshole on his shoulder in to see the Queen. He wasn't about to end up some victim of her desire for suffering. Ronnie took a breath and hurriedly gathered Jason's limp form over his shoulder and slowly began to make his way to see the Queen.
Ronnie sauntered into the camp, the guards giving him a wide berth as they were expecting him. They didn't want to get caught up in some dispute over reacting to an intruder who was obviously not one. The Queens tent was set up in a protective corner of the camp, the front flap closed in warning of no visitors, but as soon as Ronnie flopped the body out before the door the wind stirred them open.
Ronnie took to his knee in an instant, fear replacing respect as he bowed low, trying to keep his life long enough to collect on the reward. "You're dead nemesis, as requested, milady." Ronnie waved his arm over Jason to emphasize the point.
Elizabeth stepped out of her tent with a gleam in her eye and growing smile that couldn't be hidden as she slowly savored the victory, eyes drinking in the tattoo that covered her adversary's back. She took her foot and kicked him hard enough to send him rolling onto his back so that she could see his face, the very face that his mother's spirit had warned her she would never seen until just before he killed her. "You've done well, Dimestico." She purred it out, unable to take her eyes from the man that lay before her. "Come see me in the morrow for you payment." She knelt down, gently sweeping the sandy locks from Jason's forehead.
"But Ma'am..." Ronnie started but was soon silenced with a single glare from the Queen in disbelief that he would question her decree. "Y...yes, your highness." He stuttered out quickly and then made his way into the camp – away from her.
Elizabeth looked to her left to Frost who had met back up with the troops following the fall of Delmar so that he could help her with the plundering of the Swamps. "A simple pirate, did what you couldn't." Elizabeth growled out at him, rising to see him shivering in the growing moonlight. She would have gone on but she looked up to see that it was a delirium moon on the rise. "Skin the tattoo from his back and burn the body on the marsh. Bring me the ash in the morning." She commanded unable to catch the relief in Frost's eyes as she made haste into her tent to weather the madness to come.
Some hours later Frost peered up at the skin that hung on a large wooden plaque grimacing as the flesh weavers lacquered it into place as a trophy. Gods that he could leave this wretched army and all the horrors of Elizabeth's reign behind him.
ZZZZZZZZZZZ
Nikolas looked up at the moon in worry as he heard Sam's cries from makeshift shelter they set up on the edge of the pool of water that served as Jason's burial ground, him and Lorenzo's man Dimestico. Sam had spoken her worries that Dimestico was up to no good before the moon delirium took her from them for the night and those not so blessed with magical abilities not sat in conjecture over the matter as she thrashed about, fighting the magical binds that she set for herself before her decline.
He was glad that she saw the issue coming and had protected herself from hurting herself or anyone else. It gave him hope that she wasn't losing it yet over Jason's apparent demise. And then there was the dismal attitude of the group who had partially hung all their hopes in Jason's ability to pull off this mission to empower himself to fight off Elizabeth.
"How long do you think they're going to try and pretend that they aren't happy to be out in the open?" Jasper Jax asked as she watched Johnny and Claudia watching the multitude of fireflies all around them, fighting the urge to chase them like a couple of fun deprived children.
"Does it matter?" Lorenzo leaned back against a log on the edge of the clearing they had set up.
"I think someone should point out the obvious." Michael spoke up as he watched Maxie consoling Spinelli who as absolutely beside himself in grief to lose Jason. Michael didn't know the man that well, but he had saved his mother, and he was a good man, and Sam was in love with him...
"What's that?" Lorenzo asked worried that he already knew what it was as he looked past Carly to Michael. Carly was literally in between them both physically and caught.
"One of your men betrayed us." Michael replied as he peered at Lorenzo in loath.
"We don't know that." Nikolas spoke up trying to fend off a fight in the night as they were all out of sorts and reeling from what had happened.
"Oh come on!" Michael rose to his feet, raising his voice. "Sam said she was hit on the back of the head and he was the only one behind her!"
"Was that before or after she was already falling into delirium?" Nik prodded matching his tone. "We're not going to railroad one of our own because we're counting on maybes. I'm in charge now and we'll get to the bottom of this in the morning, when Sam is in her right mind." Nikolas warned them all. "Now lets get some sleep."
ZZZZZZZZZZZ
A pyre of woven reeds floating through the swamp blazed in the heart of night while Elizabeth and Sam both fought the effects of the moon delirium, the soldiers that were crazed enough to enjoy the conquest toasted the King of Galena's demise. Frost crossed his arms over his chest watching the fire as his mouth twisted in disgust. He hadn't realized just how much he was wishing that there was hope until now, when he felt it was dashed.
He didn't see the teaming otters under the surface that followed the raft out of the sight of humans just long enough to pull the charring body into the water with them.
ZZZZZZZZZZZ
"Someone sang your name today...and a stranger saw me crumble...haul my broken heart and shell away...begging bury me beside you..."
A flash of light lit the grimy water as the husk of the still steaming body of Jason was pulled through the water by the throngs of otters, his skin flaking off in blackened bits that the fish popped up to nibble on. Another flash had the fish swimming away.
The lifeless form was pulled through the muck and mire, down deeper and deeper despite his current crispy state, fish and aquatic life watching in wonder as he passed them one by one...
"The devil popped around today...selling promises and potions...could take our memory away...and forget I ever met you...tell me...can you please...kindly take away the misery...give me a bakers dozen please...wrap me up to go away..."
Morning came with a vengeance, leaving Sam feeling as if she was fighting the hangover from hell as she a little too calmly exited her make shift shelter that the others had made for her in order to weather the moon delirium alone. Nik was the first up and thus the only one of the group that caught her waking and exit in a worried jump, pushing himself to his feet after her, the guards around the perimeter taking note.
"Sam..."
"Not now." She tossed back at him like a slap to the face as she made her way to a secluded edge of the water...
"But I want you...and I need you...forget you.. .don't want to...but I need to let you go..."
"Jason..." Another flash of light lit the darkened safety of the cave under the murky water. The charred figure jumped, scarring away throngs of fish and wildlife.
"Jason..." Another whisper and the charred man opened his eyes, brisk blue as the water suddenly cleared and a heavy glow lit the whole place. The charred figure craned his head as the glowing figure came closer, her angelic hand lightly stroking his cheek. "I've followed you as far as I can...it's your father's time to watch over you..." She smiled.
The charred figure arched where his eyebrows should have been in wonder as she leaned in and kissed his cheek lovingly. "It is his life that sustains you now." She explained.
"The devil bent my ear today...by his magical elixir...that would make the sorrow go away...help me forget I'd ever met you...give me a baker's dozen please...wrap me up to go away..."
Nik stood at the edge of the clearing watching as Sam approached the water wishing there was something that he could do to alleviate her pain. He turned seeing Lorenzo approaching to his side and looked back to Sam, knowing that he was safe under his guards watchful eyes.
"You're still under suspicion." Nik told him softly.
"And yet we both care that she is so very lost." Lorenzo whispered. Lorenzo hadn't forgotten about Carly or how deeply he felt about her, but Sam was someone he'd connected with on a fundamental level, thus making her his friend and he couldn't just watch as she fell apart. "Her whole life she'd been told to protect one man and he's dead." Lorenzo pointed out. "How would you fair?"
Nik swallowed the knot forming in his throat as she sniffed back the emotion swarming under the surface, trying his hand as stoicism.
"But I want you...and I need you...forget you...don't want to...but I need to let you go..."
Jason felt sand trying to invade his nostrils as he drew in a sudden breath, the first since his death...he coughed hard, expelling water and sand as she rolled in agony the char flaking off to give way to new and beautiful skin beneath...
"It's about time..." He heard the chuckle as she forced his azure eyes open just in time to see the old woman looking down at him in amusement. "I thought you'd lost your way..." She smiled brilliantly.
Last song "Potions" by Puscifer