Chapter X: The Predicament

This is utterly impossible, she decided. What with sandstorms, the heat of the sun, and the plain monotony of looking at the same color for how ever many hours she had been searching thus far, she felt as if she were truly going insane.

In reality, she had been on her 'quest' for no more than seven hours. Landing for a moment to rest her wings, the Sorceress looked around her sullenly. What a desolate place this is, she thought absently to herself. Why would Lady Moria want to live here? There is nothing to look at, nothing to see or smell or touch. Why would anyone want to spend his or her entire day in a seemingly endless dessert? she asked no one.

*For that matter, why would someone would want to spend his or her entire life locked up in a colorless fortress?* came an answer of sorts voiced within her mind.

The Sorceress was unsurprised to hear the Dereskian Queen's voice within her mind. In fact, she had almost been expecting the older woman to show up in her head for some time.

Even though she had been expecting the questioner, the Sorceress did not bother to answer. Instead, she took to the skies, full in her search once more. She knew that the Dereskian Queen continued to dwell in her mind, but she paid the elder woman no heed.

After a time, Lady Moria laughed at the futile efforts being made by the woman-turned-hawk. *Are you having fun, dear?* she asked, amused.

The Sorceress answered in time to her beating wings. *This would be a lot easier if I wasn't currently a bird, Moria,* she commented dryly. She flew over the remains of what had once been a building, and dropped down to look at what was left of it.

*No, not there, dear,* the elder woman chuckled. *Keep looking,* A light laugh echoed within the mind of the younger woman. *You find your current form restricting, Teelina?* she asked, amused.

The Sorceress took flight, not knowing why she trusted Moria when she said to keep looking. *It's a bit cumbersome, yes,* she commented dryly, trying to find a position in the sky that would enable her to see without having sand blown into her eyes.

*Aa,* the elder woman observed quietly, and then fell silent.

The Sorceress fumed at her lack of reply. That woman was so aggravating at times! Did she honestly expect for her to find a particular spot in all of this sand? It was infeasible!

A terrible voice from within echoed in the back of her mind. And yet you accepted this offer, knowing how difficult it would be. What does that say of you?

She did not bother to answer her own mind voice.

The next few hours passed uneventfully by. Though continuing in her search, the Sorceress gradually began to feel the strain take its toll upon her falcon form. She was growing weary, and the sometimes-fierce winds began to push her to and fro while she was helpless to prevent it. She could only beat her little wings harder and try to refrain from hitting the updrafts and thermals she normally would have welcomed.

From out of nowhere, a rather powerful gust sprang up, throwing sand directly into the eyes of the Sorceress. Blinded, she flopped around in the sky helplessly, falling steadily towards the ground. By the time she had regained her sight enough to realize what was happening, she had lost quite a bit of altitude, and was now on an almost direct path for a collision with one of the marble columns she had just been observing. Panicking slightly, she tried to move her wings to gain height, but another burst of wind racked itself through her, painfully. It pushed her down even farther, wrenching her muscles and sending her wing tendons into new levels of painful existence.

She shrieked loudly, free-falling down, her head aiming straight at the pillar, powerless to stop her descent and imminent crash. She closed her eyes and waited for the sickening thud of her skull shattering against the marble.

The pain was unbearable as she hit, as she was denied the blissful oblivion of unconsciousness. A dull smack thundered through her already throbbing body. The collision, hard as it was, snapped the brittle and ancient pillar into two pieces. The higher portion toppled, falling by chance onto the broken form of the Sorceress.

The guardian of Grayskull was not instantly killed by the impact, though whether this was a blessing or a curse was impossible for her to tell. Her crumpled bird body lay crushed beneath the pillar. She felt the ribs of her current form pressing into her lungs, and could already hear the blood pooling there when she tried to breathe. Her entire being throbbed with merciless pain, which was getting gradually harder and harder to bear. Her vision was clouding, thinking became unfeasible, and her eyelids grew heavy. She took in a shuddering breath through her ruined lungs, and excruciating bursts of pain shot through her. A hollow sounding thought came into her mind. So Moria has killed me after all. I hope she's happy.

Her mind was becoming fuzzy, and she knew then.

She was dying.

Teela. she thought as darkness crept over her eyelids and overcame them. ......

A thundering jolt of what felt like warm electricity ran suddenly through her, extending her throbbing muscles and tendons, lengthening the bones and tissues of her body. Pained wings became painless human arms, her taloned feet transformed into human calves and thighs, and her entire body suddenly became that of her human form. Her throbbing body slowly, gradually lost its damage, and then her blue eyes regained their focus. The pillar was still above her, but it no longer hurt her. It now simply held her, preventing her from any movement.

And only then, after all danger of her death had been dissipated, Lady Moria Vadorian appeared above her. She looked at the younger woman curiously, her head cocked to one side. The white-haired woman made a 'tsk'ing sound with her tongue. "Teelina, Teelina, Teelina," she chastised teasingly, shaking her from side to side. "However do you find yourself in such awkward positions?"

The Sorceress' breathing was heavy, and speech was difficult. "Why. did you bother. to save me?" she asked brokenly, her lungs still mildly throbbing, what with the column lying atop them.

Not bothering to answer, Moria gently placed a slender hand against the marble, and it lifted ever so slowly. Instead of casting it aside, the elder woman removed her hand from its surface, and the column rejoined its lower half, until it was once again standing upright. The carved rock fused together again.

Only then did the white-haired woman turn back towards the somewhat banged up redhead. She smiled and bent down at the knee, bringing her hand down to caress the younger woman's face. The Sorceress flinched but did not have the energy to withdraw.

"What. do you want. from me?" she asked, panting, her lungs still burning from the sensation of having a rib or two penetrate them.

Lady Moria looked at her quizzically for a moment, her eyes lowered. "I want nothing from you, Teelina," she answered softly.

A shallow laugh escaped from the younger woman, intermixed with coughing fits. "Of course," she said as sarcastically as possible. "You just. torment everyone. you see, every day of their lives."

The elder woman looked somewhat amused. She sat down next to the redhead, her knees folded beneath her. A small strand of hair had escaped the headdress and had come across the younger woman's face. Lady Moria looked at it thoughtfully and gently replaced it, her hand lingering a bit longer than necessary. "Do you hear me every day, Teelina?" she asked gently. "Does my voice haunt your waking thoughts and plague your dreams every moment? Do you see me in the back of your thoughts and wish for me to disappear?"

Teelina moved her head slowly to the side and focused on something other than the brilliant amethyst eyes before her. "Not anymore," she whispered, barely audible. She could hardly realize whether or not she had even spoken aloud.

Lady Moria was somewhat surprised, not by the response, but by the way it was said. She regarded the younger woman with a queer sort of smile upon her face. "My intervention is no longer completely unwelcome?" she questioned.

The Sorceress regarded her almost skeptically, her eyes somewhat sad. "You just saved my life, when you have had every reason to want my death in the past. Who else would do that? Who else would care enough to talk to me every day for two centuries and not get tired of listening to me?"

A faint smile came across the elder woman's lips. "Teelina," she said softly. "I could never tire of listening to you."

Not for the first time, the Sorceress looked up at her and asked simply, "Why? What makes me so special?"

The Dereskian Queen was silent for a long moment. "There is an answer for that question, Teelina. But the time for me to tell you has not yet come," she finally said.

Teelina slowly sat up and looked deeply into the older woman's eyes. "Why must you always speak in riddles?" she asked desperately. "I think I should deserve to decide what information I receive when, Lady Moria."

"No," the older woman replied immediately, her tone allowing no refusal. Teelina glared at her. Moria stood suddenly, and the Sorceress had to strain her neck to look at her.

"Why?!" the younger woman demanded angrily, a sort of fire coming into her blue eyes as she stood as well.

The Dereskian Queen looked away in refusal to answer. She turned and headed for the column, ready to depart again. "You have a quest to complete," she stated, passing her hand through the stone.

Faster than she would have thought likely, Teelina was coming towards the elder woman as she was leaving. "No," she said simply, her tone commanding.

The elder woman's hand faltered. She pulled it back through and turned, ever so slowly, to look at the redhead.

Teelina looked straight on into the amethyst eyes that haunted her every moment, both dreaming and waking. "It's impossible to find your place of residency in all this mess of sand and wind," she stated factually. "I yield."

Lady Moria's eyes whirled suddenly, widening in what the Sorceress would have termed sheer shock. "You yield? You relinquish your quest and give yourself to me?" she asked, unbelieving. "Think very carefully, Teelina. If you do so, you will be mine for twelve hours. I can, and will, do whatever I wish to you in that time. Are you certain you simply want to let that happen?" She began to slowly walk towards the younger woman until she was less than two feet from her.

A blink. "You'd have won anyway," the Sorceress answered after a moment. "Why not get it over with?"

Moria, who after all was still a bit taller than the redhead, tilted her head down to look deep into the blue orbs. She brought her hand up to cup the younger woman's cheek, smiling when Teelina did not flinch. The hand traveled lower, resting just beneath the collarbone. The Dereskian Queen's front and middle fingers rested upon the throat, and she could feel the Sorceress' pulse increase. Teelina did not move.

She moved her hand lower, and gently cupped the younger woman's breast. Only then did the redhead stir. She stiffened visibly, and her eyes widened. She closed them and willed herself to be expressionless.

The elder woman had expected such a response, and she nodded. "Alright then," she smiled. "You yield.. Fine." The last word was drawn out, and Moria grinned after it, causing the Sorceress to almost shiver at the sight of such uncontained glee. The taller woman winked happily. "Let us adjourn to a more. familiar surrounding, hmm?" Lady Moria brought her hand upward and set it on the younger woman's shoulder. They immediately began to sink into the ground.

Oh Elders.Teelina thought as she viewed their new surroundings, the ones she would occupy while in Moria's 'company.' She looked up at the woman beside her, and the reality of what she had agreed to do sunk in as she looked around her. Please. Forgive me. She closed her eyes and hung her head in despair.

Lady Moria noticed her companion's shrinkage and grinned widely. She regarded their setting with enthusiasm. This would do wonderfully for what she had in mind. Moria laughed silently.

To her, Grayskull had never looked better.