Ch. 28 A Falcon Flies Alone
From: Libitine
To: Arwen17
Posted: Sun Jun 5, 2011 11:25pm
Mab did not hate, she thought herself too sophisticated. Most fae creatures did not hate. It was simply a waste of energy, which was very precious. Magical creatures, such as the fae queene, thrived on energy. It was her lifeblood and the root of her magic. To sit as stew and breed negative thoughts toward others was a waste of energy Mab could not afford and it angered her how easily the concept of hate was tossed about by mortals. Every move Mab made was assigned to hate by Leah; it was the mortal in her. Mortals were endowed with energy, such was their power, so they did not understand the taxation that comes with Love and Hate. It was exhausting.
But, even as Mab sat in her crystal throne and analyzed the very concept and the long metaphorical meaning of it all, the queen decided she hated children. Every child she could think of was hateful. Magical children. Mortal children. Rich children. Poor children. Orphan children. Royal children. City children. Small children. Greedy children. Quiet children. Her children.
Children were the dumbest creatures on the planet. Mab typically avoided labeling a body simply as "dumb" but it appeared to be the best way to describe a child. Children have not read or seen or listened to enough to understand anything of the world or have any knowledge as to what they are to even understand. Furthermore, children invent wants and needs for themselves that are especially ironic considering their ignorance. And even more ironic is the sense of entitlement every child has and the sense of purpose they parade around with. They lift their chins and turn their noses up to the adults who have existed for centuries and claimed their rights as living beings in this world.
Leah was the worst of the children and Mab hated her.
"I should have killed her when I had the chance . . ." Mab mused, running her fingers through her hair. She would punish her, that was for sure, for what she was doing and all the time that she was wasting. Moira should be focused on returning to strength. Mab should be focused on Camelot and her next plan of action. Leah should either be silent or nonexistent and Mab saw it no other way.
Silence, would be fruitless though because she would simply stomp her feet and cry and appear like a bat out of the underworld in Mab's kingdom, throwing things and demanding for her speech. All of Mab's worst nightmares were that she herself had lost her voice and too much thought about taking even Leah's away made her shiver.
Mab couldn't realistically kill her either. Another limitation put on magical creatures is the inability to kill outright. Only Idath could kill outright; Nature had reserved that power for him. Anyone with Mab's magic also could not kill outright. Now, Mab was not completely powerless in the realm of destroying life. She could absolutely kill, just not with her hands or with the simple flexation of her powers. She had to be clever about it. A death could certainly be assigned to Mab and she could certainly have blood on her hands, but at the cost of hours spent devising a plan and finding people to do the messy portion for her. That was too tedious for Leah. Besides, negative dealings with Moira would begin all over again and if Mab was worried about conserving her energy, that was definitely the wrong route.
So, she would do what the Queen of the Pagan Ways could do without doubt. She would eliminate Leah's powers.
Now, magic cannot simply be terminated. It is an energy beyond Mab's control. Magic cannot also be directly transferred to the queen herself. Not only would it be cheating, but it would make Mab's life surprisingly difficult. See, if she were to give herself Leah's power, not only is she greatly increasing the amount of energy she goes through, but she is also removing a great amount of power she could draw from in a magical follower. She would have to acquire even more praises than at the current moment and that certainly did not work. Mab would have to transfer Leah's powers, but to whom?
The easy answer was Moira, but was it too easy? Moira was weakened already and adding to her powers again adds to the amount of energy her body needs and that could only weaken her more. If Moira is weakened more than the power would have to be transferred all over again and then where would Mab put it?
On the other hand, though, if Mab held Leah's power inside a crystal and slowly distributed it to Moira over the course of time, her daughter could gain a strength she had never had. Perhaps she could even tap into some of the endowments Mab knew existed inside Moira from Idath's blood, but had never been shown. Perhaps Moira would have a new found confidence. That confidence could even lead to an appreciation for Mab that could bring Moria to Mab's aid. They could be the pair Mab had always dreamed for them to be.
Mab looked at Moira for a moment, carefully taking note of the dark circles under her eyes and the labored breath. The way her veins bulged from underneath her parchment skin . . . Moira needed the power, but she did not need Mab's sass.
"No matter," Mab said simply. "I do not need that book anymore. I think the way you have handled the situation with Leah is spot on, Moira. I would not have gone about it any other manner. Just don't let Leah gain the upper hand. She must think now that living with Merlin gives her some sort of power over us, but she is mistaken. She does not have any power over you or I."
Mab took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment.
"You are much stronger than she."
That evening, in the depths of her cavern, Mab prepared a hollowed out crystal.
Merlin had not upgraded from his dirt-floored cabin. How disappointing.
She appeared like a black smoke and dove inside Leah's sleepy form, gathering every remnant of magic from her bones. It should not have been painful, but it was. The queen exited the child's mouth, her form plump with new energy, new power.
And that was that.
Mab returned to her land and traveled through her chosen crystal, depositing all of Leah's power safely inside, for none but she could enter this, her most sacred chamber.
From: Arwen17
To: Libitine
Posted: Mon Jun 5, 2011 3:40pm
Leah cried out in her sleep as it felt as though her soul was ripped from her body.
One day you might need me and I won't be there.
Leah burst into tears, realizing what had been taken from her. She knew Mab could be cruel, but how could her own mother have agreed to this?
Deep under the hill, Moira shuttered as she felt her magical connection with her daughter severed. How would she know now if Leah was ok? Scrying would work, but she would no longer have a constant connection to Leah's state of being. Moira hadn't agreed to this. She was in shock that Mab had done this. It brought back terrifying memories of her own time long ago when Mab had taken her powers from her. Her hand brushed the non-existent scars on her shoulder, a phantom memory. She hadn't been able to defend herself without her powers. Would Leah be safe?
Merlin had taken her riding to get her mind off things. After a reckless downhill gallop, she finally slowed her horse to a stop. Merlin rode up next to her. "Merlin..." she sighed and then continued, "what am I supposed to do now?"
"Live." he answered simply.
"huh?" was her eloquent response.
"Live. Be happy. Stay here with Sky, Dustin, and... with me. I'll protect you."
He reached over and grasped her hand. She looked at his hand for a moment and then squeezed it.
They were at war. Vortigern's saxons were raiding the countryside once again. The death of their king had not stopped a new leader rising to power. Ambrosius they called him and he was an even fiercer warrior than Vortigern. Dustin and Sky were working together to protect Camelot and the rest of the country from Ambrosius' savagery. Merlin would have kept Leah in Avalon to protect her, but Nimue had refused to shelter the girl due to her appearance.
"I'm sorry Merlin, but if I take that girl in, they'll think I'm protecting Queen Mab herself." Nimue argued. "Just look at the girl Merlin. You wouldn't mistake her for anyone else."
So Merlin was forced to keep Leah in Camelot.
Though Leah didn't like it, Dustin and Sky had decided to marry. In order to face Ambrosius and gain supporters, they needed a king.
Leah couldn't stand it. She watched Dustin and Sky flirt with each other in the next room. The closer Sky got to Dustin the further she was from Leah. Her hands curled into fists at her side as jealously boiled through her. Here both of them were, oh so happy, and what was left for her?
Was there something she could do? Could she make Sky jealous and force her to remember her Leah?
Leah and Merlin were surrounded by rowdy soldiers.
One of the soldiers made to grab Leah. "Hands off!" Merlin threatened.
"Why?" the soldier grinned.
"She's my wife." Merlin said, putting an arm aggressively around Leah's waist and pulling her against his body.
Silently, he hoped they wouldn't see through his charade. He could feel Leah's heartbeat thudding rapidly against his skin.
Dustin ordered the soldiers away. But Leah was distracted by Sky's look of jealously and anger. Sky looked pointedly at Merlin's arm around Leah.
Leah realized instantly Sky had jumped to the wrong conclusion, but at least Leah finally had Sky's attention. That's why she couldn't resist taunting her further by placing a subtle kiss on Merlin's neck.
"I wish you wouldn't use me in your games." Merlin whispered to her.
-A couple months later-
They were losing the war. Ambrosius had pierced Camelot's walls. Leah ran down the halls trying to escape the soldiers as chaos reigned around her. People ran in all different directions screaming and crying, no one knew where to run to safety. Dustin had left to fight a battle. Ambrosius had tricked him and attacked Camelot while he was away.
Leah didn't know where Sky was. She hoped Sky was safe. All of their childish, selfish games seemed so stupid now in the face of the death and destruction of their world.
A sword sliced into her back and her concentration was broken.
She blinked and then was hit by the most excruciation pain she had ever experienced. She fell to the ground hard as blood poured from her back onto the dusty earth. Coughing, she looked up through a blood-filled haze at the man standing above her.
He let her run away. Maybe he was too squeamish to strike the killing blow himself. She left a blatant trail of blood as she agonizingly, blindly stumbled through the castle. She had no idea where she was going, the only thing she could think of was to escape.
Just as she heard the sound of following soldiers, she reached one of the ramparts of the castle.
Braced against the wall, she looked out across the distant landscape, her vision still flickering in and out. Leah glanced behind her and then down at the blood that soaked her dress.
There was no choice. She would die either way. The only decision within her power now was how she wanted to die.
Moira shrieked as she felt her daughter struck down by a sword. She couldn't save her. She wasn't strong enough. As her scream continued to echo over and over again in her head, she felt a new side of her awake. Death. Idath, her father, was master of death and time. He held sway over it. Moira's body fell to the ground as her spirit left it.
Leah forced herself over the edge and she screamed as she fell down, down, the sound of the wind's howling fury all around her.
I'm going to die. Leah's thoughts screeched and she clenched her eyes shut for the final impact. Leah had been told that in her final moments her whole life would flash before her eyes in a split second. But only one memory appeared in Leah's mind. It was that beautiful image of a falcon she had seen diving toward the ground early that morning.
Fly! Leah's thoughts screamed. But nothing happened, she didn't have magic.
Wham! Moira's spirit slammed into Leah's body and Leah screamed again.
But then Leah felt a sudden warmth at her core and it spread rapidly through her entire body. She opened her eyes in shock at the strange feeling. She found herself staring directly at the fast approaching earth below her and somehow Leah understood instinctively what she needed to do. She gracefully stretched and pulled out of the death fall with ease. Leah noticed a feeling of complete freedom swell up inside her and she forgot about everything else. That is until an arrow suddenly whizzed past half an inch from her flight feathers. The falcon shrieked in alarm and flew away from the cursing archers on the battlements. The hawk flew and flew until it no longer knew where it was going or who it was running from.
Battered by strong weather and wearied from flying so long, the falcon soared lower hoping for a safe spot to perch. It's piercing eyes took in every detail of the landscape far below until it spotted clear shape of a person standing at the edge of a wood. The falcon slowly circled lower and lower mysteriously drawn to the person. Finally, the person seemed to notice the bird and lifted up an arm. The falcon settled heavily upon the perch, eyes tired and wary. The bird's wings shook from exhaustion. With a small popping noise, the falcon seemed to faint and fell to the earth. Just as it hit the ground, Leah regained her human form. She lay curled up among the dead tree leaves tired, dirty, and naked, trembling from cold. Her eyes, still wild and inhuman, stared with no recognition as of yet to the person standing over her.
Her thoughts were scattered, broken as the great blackness clouded her mind. She tried to fight off the suffocating darkness, but to no avail. Outside the boundaries of her mind, she was aware of a pain so great it threatened to overcome her very life. But something was holding it back...
She continued to struggle fruitlessly against the darkness as she pulled what was left of her strength in around her core.
Leah.
The sound of her name fueled her strength, but she balked as she felt the brush of another consciousness. It swept away the darkness effortlessly as if it were an unwanted cobweb. This was the person blocking the pain, as she tentatively brushed her mind against the other's.
Awake.
She twisted slightly, disliking the idea of leaving the comfortable warmth.
You must wake up now.
Leah reluctantly dragged her eyes open.
She was wrapped in warm blankets as she gazed up with confusion at the dark ceiling.
"It's about time." a voice commented dryly.
Then she noticed Mab was with her and clutching her hand.
Leah pulled away, slightly embarrassed, as Mab's eyes seemed to darken. "You almost died."
Memories from before flooded Leah's mind and in a panic she reached for her back. Mab grabbed her wrist to stop her, but Leah shook her off and let her fingers trail down her back.
Horror flooded her face as her fingers followed a raised scar down her back that stretched from her right shoulder to her left hip. She was disfigured.
At random intervals while awake, Leah would reach out with her mind to brush against Mab's as though she needed to assure herself she was still close by.
Mab's only response was a slight mental touch in return and then she would focus her attention back to whatever she had been doing.
She would have thought after several days of this Mab would have told her to stop it. But so far nothing. Mab didn't seem to mind, even though Leah herself thought her actions were desperately clingy and Mab had every right to tell her to stop.
Leah knew her mental connection with Mab was shielding her from something dreadful, something she didn't want to think about.
Moira's spirit was still inside Leah. Is she unable to return to her own body? Mab thought as she examined Moira's body. Maybe Idath knew something about this?
