Chapter 25 - Collapse
Squee. Squeak.
The sound of a swinging shutter punctuated the eerie feel of the town. Howl, magically sensitive to the moods of his environment, shivered.
"Hmm. Something is very wrong here, Sophie," he said, only to realize he was talking to empty air. The sound of the slamming castle door startled him, and he whirled around to face it.
"Stupid love spell," he muttered as he walked to the door.
"Bewaarrreee..." a creepy voice intoned, stopping the wizard in his tracks. It sounded like drowning hyenas fighting their way through a bucket of phlegm.
"Who's there?"
"Bewaarrreee ... I have a word of warning for theeee ..."
Howl used magic and vision to scan his surroundings. He focused on an aura of prophetic warning partially hidden behind the corner of a building. A figure, shrouded in darkness, peered around the edge and watched him intently. Its eyes gleamed.
"What is this warning?" Howl asked in the ancient voice of a dangerous wizard.
"I have been sent to warn thee of thy doom. With some caution and wisdom thou may yet avoid it ... buuuuttt," the creature chuckled evilly, "I sincerely doubt that you will."
Less words were better with these characters, Howl knew, so he just repeated his original question. "What is this warning?"
It drew a wheezing breath, then cleared its throat in preparation. A cloud of noxious smoke billowed from its corner. "Some saaaay the world will end in fiiiire, some say in ice. Hear the words of the frosty prophet. Thy doom will take the form ooooof ..."
"Oh no! Sophie!" Calcifer's horrified cry abruptly cut the creature off mid-word.
Perturbed, the dark figure glared at the castle. Interrupting a minion of darkness mid-prophecy was extremely bad taste, in its opinion.
"Where was I? Oh yes. Thy doooooommm. It will be in the form oof ..." Again, it stopped mid-word, but not due to any sudden yells. Its audience was conspicuously absent. The castle door slammed, affirming its total isolation in the road.
It crossed its smoky limbs with a miffed hmph.
"Wizzaaards these days ..."
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Howl rushed up the stairs, all thoughts of impending doom, dark creatures, and the state of his hair flying from his mind.
Only thoughts of Sophie could overshadow his selfishness.
The sight of his love collapsed over a sink of dirty dishes stopped him for just one second. Then his concern galvanized him into action. With fiery energy, he rushed to her side.
He slipped his arm around her waist, ducking his head under her arm.
"Calcifer - what happened?" Howl asked as he slowly maneuvered to the cubby room under the stairs.
"Sophie! Sophie! Can ya hear me? Sophie!"
"Calcifer. Snap out of it!"
The fire demon calmed down enough to update Howl, though he continued to glance anxiously at the unconscious woman. "Aw, youse know Sophie. She's exhausted, mad, confused ... she should have gone to bed, but what does she do? She cleans. Crazy woman."
"It must have been too much for her," Howl mused as he tucked the comforter around her. He took the sponge out of her hands and threw it towards the kitchen. "Sophie has super-human strength and endurance, but the emotional tax from the love spell and resulting events would have exhausted a mammoth in half the time."
"A what?" Calcifer asked.
Howl just shook his head, not bothering to describe the creature. His mind was already bent on remembering the best remedies for magical fatigue. Wizard training often involved experimentation, meaning the after-effects of a spell gone wrong were as familiar to Howl as his own profile.
Sophie, cradled in the arms of blissful unconsciousness, dreamed of spiders and soap as Howl started the task of rejuvenating his poorly used love.