A/N, my apology for the lateness. Been spending most of my time playing a certain BioWare game since its release, plus a recent overseas trip, it took me a while. :)
Thanks for those who''s following the story and hope you enjoy it.
The Beast Within
Chapter Thirty-Nine – Ancestor's Fury
The presence within Leela once again stirred and become agitated, struggling to fight through her steel frame of mind. Around her was the whole pack of telthor bears. Each was seething and hissing in warning as they circled around the traveling party like preys, seizing chances to attack. They already fended off two of them, and it looked like the spirit animals were about to give up soon.
"Didn't you just say these Wells are filled with scents of your clan, Okku?" Said the air genasi through the gritted teeth. She thrust her blade backward, between her arm and her upper body, and smiled slightly as the spirit animal behind her evaporated into thin air.
"Yes indeed." Okku slapped one of the telthor spirits and sent it sliding across the ground and hit the nearby rock surface of the cliff: "However, why those spirits continued to attack us is beyond me.."
"You mean they are not under your command?" Safiya send a crackling icy cold wind toward the telthor bear near him and blasted it away.
"Not every spirit animal in Rashemen is under my command, Thayan Wizard." Okku sneered. Its huge paw waved again and smacked away another bear spirit
"How comforting of you notifying us just now!" Gannayev mocked, summoning two air elementals to join the battle.
"More coming!" Kaelyn the Dove alerted, pointing her quarterstaff at the telthor spirits materialized from the rock wall.
"Oh, charming." Leela muttered a not so elegant curse under her breath.
"I heard that." The blue hagspawn shouted.
"A Knight Captain no more!" The air genasi knotted her Drow bow and began to fire at the spirit enemies in front of her.
"Sure thing!" The dreamwalker winked, before turning his head around and joined his summoned elementals.
It took them a little while to settle with several waves of telthor animal's attack. When Leela's blade drove into the skull of the last telthor wolf spirit, it was way past the midnight.
"Safiya." The druid murmured in an inaudible tone, barley able to utter more words. Too exhausted, her body was trembling, half because of fatigue, half because of something else…
"Yes, Lee?" The Red Wizard could hardly stand as well. Leaning against her magic staff, she cast her friend a side-glance with a tattooed eyebrow arched quizzically.
"Sssss…spells…" With all the excitement of having been surrounded by such a large number of spirits, the air genasi could not hold the surging presence within her body. She had to use all her remaining strength to press it down. Her face turned white, her hands tightened into fists, and her eyes became unfocused, any word coming out of her mouth seemed draining more energy. She swayed, and struggled to even stand still. Temperature around them began to drop. Distinctive shadows started to gather behind her. Immediately the Thayan wizard gasped, tossed the staff away and stumbled forward, her hand busied digging out scroll that they had obtained since Ashenwood.
"Damn, where the hell is that thing?" Safiya's hands were shaking as she pulled out the useless potion vials, blank scrolls, essences and finally found it at the bottom of her bag. She turned and hastily recited the spell out loud. The silver light beamed out of her outstretched hands and quickly croaked the staggering druid, who was barely conscious. The druid's knees buckled and finally gave in. Like a string-less puppet, she slumped onto the ground.
"I'm here." Gannayev also rushed forward, his hands slipped under her arms and caught Leela before her body hit the ground. Her skin was now pale to almost white. Heart on throat, he watched as the spell began to work almost straight away. Shimmering light walked along her elegant body and the air genasi let out a long sigh of relief, visibly relaxed.
"…Thank you." Eyes half closed, Leela sighed, still too tired to speak out loud. Her short white hair was now damp and plastered along her elegant face.
The blue hagspawn gave the druid a slight nod. His face seemed visibly relieved and thick with hidden emotions. He gently propped the air genasi against a rock bolder and slumped back to the ground, watching Kaelyn and Safiya busied themselves with feeding the former Knight Captain more healing potions. He turned his head around and looked at Okku, who was leaning against a large boulder, trying to catch some breath.
"I will take none of those bears are your ancestors, grandpa bear?" Asked the dreamwalker.
"No." Grunted Okku: "Or they wouldn't attack me at all."
"Before today I thought no spirit would attack you." Gannayev smirked: "So forgive me if I sound a little suspicious on those minor matters."
The telthor god did not reply, instead he turned his head toward the entrance for another chasm and frowned: "…It's there…they are all in there. I can feel it."
"Are you certain?" Leela turned her head slightly and glanced at the bear.
"I am certain."
The air genasi managed to get back to her feet and tilted her head, also staring at the entrance, weighing her options.
"Lead the way, Okku." After a while, she said.
Slightly hesitant, the bear god walked toward the entrance, followed by the rest of them. The passage was narrow, and the rock was dampened with moist. At some corner, the cool stone was pushed against their shoulders. In the distance, they could hear water running. There was something tickling in the air, something Leela could not pinpoint.
"It's getting near." Okku breathed: "We are getting very close…"
The passage soon widened. Soon the cliff opened up and revealed another small glade. Surrounded by springs, a small island situated in the middle of the opening. Mist draped heavily in the air here, even more so then the Hill Tribe village they had just been through. The air genasi smacked her lips together, tasting the spray in the air. This might be the deepest part of the Wells, as there were no human tracks around them.
"Over there." The telthor bear god tilted his head sideway, toward the center of the island. There stood three very faint, almost transparent figures. Shimmering in silver light, the bear spirits were a lot bigger than traveling companion.
And they did not seem pleased to see their descendent, not one bit.
"Chat-chat" One of the bear spirits spotted them first, his motionless face turning sarcastic: "Noble Kuma…venerable Wotomo… shake off your dreams, and look who has come, with his head hung low in shame."
Okku was moved beyond words: "Ancestors…"
"Bah!" The bear growled: "Do not claim us as kin. Our blood ran thin in your veins. And now it does not run at all."
"Okku, son of Koju…" The bear spirit named Wotomo strode forward and glared at them: "Do you remember this place as well? Enough to understand the ruin you had made?"
"Right…non clan member here?" Leela cleared her throat: "Some introduction, please?"
"They were…my ancestors" The telthor bear sighed: "Elders of my kind. And Wotomo is—"
"His grandfather," Wotomo grunted displeasingly: "In truth. I am the one who sired Okku's father... though my son's spirit has passed to Bhalla's golden woods, and he bathes in these pools no more. Better that your father is gone, Okku... " His eyes were glowing with fury: "That way he does not know how you led your race to ruin!"
The other bear spirit who spoke to them with such a despise earlier pushed Wotomo aside slightly and growled at them: "Have you not looked for your kin? Have you not wondered where they've gone? Or does this monster who holds your leash not permit you such thoughts?"
"What—" Leela cast a glance at Okku, who had shock and disbelief written all over his face, before drew a deep breath: "…Honoured ancestors…let me put it this way...if Okku here has committed some crime, at least allow him to defend himself."
"Well said. " Safiya nodded.
"Indeed." Kaelyn agreed.
"It's only fair." Gannayev folded his arms.
"You see?" Okku turned to his ancestors: "She is no monster. We will end this curse, and—"
His words once again were cut short by the elder bear's thunderous roar: "Do you remember the right on the ice, grandson? How you led your clan against the eater of spirits?"
"The frozen lake?" The telthor spirit frowned: "Yes, I dreamed of this. Those memories were strong in my mind, when I laid down in my barrow to die."
"Humph…I believe Okku told me once," Leela rubbed her chin: "he fought the previous spirit-eater, and the man spared his life."
"My grandson's wounds were deep." Wotomo sighed: " His spirit bled... and faded..."
"He should have come to the Wells to die, venerable Wotomo!" The other elder bear growled again: "Just as our law commands! The Queen of Talking Beasts would have judged his soul, and freed him from his oath. But Okku chose his oath above our law. He brought the monster to our sacred barrow... to the chamber that was meant for him!"
"When was this?" The air genasi frowned: "When was this event taken place, Okku?"
"Before your time, little one." The telthor bear god sighed: "I remembered how spirit-eater traced runes upon the stones—the same runes you saw when you were awoke…when he died, the hunger fled his corpse…"
"The skeleton," Safiya nudged the druid's arm: "there were this skeleton in the runes circle, next to you when you woke up…."
"That was the…the spirit-eater before me?" Leela raised her snowy eyebrow.
"Yes, the curse was trapped by the runes. Our theory was as long as it was trapped, the hunger could not pass to another. For a while, it seemed to work…" Okku nodded his head.
"Yeah, little did they expected there would be someone who placed our lovely lady here straight in to those runes." Gannayev smirked.
"My grandson would have you think that he made a noble sacrifice, spirit-eater." Wotomo opened his mouth again: "But he knew that he would doom his race. Our barrow is a sacred place... a wellspring of dreams. It was poisoned by the monster that was trapped within... and our entire race went mad. They perished as wild, slavering brutes."
"Wait…" The air genasi tabbed her temple: "Let me get this straight, Okku, your descendant here, did something to end the curse, and you lot reckoned he disgraced the race?"
"Do not waste our time to those dusted bones, Leela." Okku snorted: "I do not need to explain my reason to petty, vengeful ghosts. They lured me here, lying in wait, no better than mortal men in the skins of beasts—."
"Whatever your reasons" Wotomo's thundering voice echoed through the glade again: "Okku, son of Koju… you must answer for the death of our race. So say all the elders." And with that, all three elder spirits around them hunched their back, readied to lash out at any moment.
"Wait." The druid raised her hand: "This is a bit…unfair. Don't you think? What would you have done?"
"What?" Wotomo's face puzzled.
"What would you have done, should you in his shoes?" Leela arched her eyebrow and demanded: "You'd rather allow the curse to continue existing and devour more innocent spirits? All that for your race? How noble of you."
"How dare you! We…we would not…" Okku's great grandfather stuttered.
"Don't waste your breath, Leela." Okku snorted: "They are old. Once they dreamed of wind, blood, and sky. Now all they do was chatter like apes, and bicker over laws."
Somehow the telthor bear god's words seemed shaken the elders. They gaped at him in totally astonishment and did not speak any word for quite some time. At one stage, one of them stepped forward, attempting to say something, but the other two immediately pulled him back.
"I think…" After another long pause, Wotomo approached Leela again and tilted his head sideways thoughtfully. He seemed to be weighing his words with great caution: " My grandson is correct… I…we…we have lingered too long without flesh or fur. Our minds are full of words instead of dreams. I suggest letting Okku find peace in his own way, if he can."
The telthor god seemed greatly relieved by the announcement.
"However," His grandfather looked at them sternly, as the other two elder bears' transparent bodies began to fade: " do not look for us again, son of my son. Your decision doomed our race, and so, your race must be lost to you. Now and always."
And with that, he was gone, too.
"Farewell, my ancestors…" Okku looked at the stars above and murmured.
They decided to camp there for the night. As Kaelyn and Safiya prepared their supper, Leela cautiously approached the pools and inspected them. Mists lingered in the openings still. Under the clear blue moon, the surface shimmered like black glass. Soft whispers of ripples and splashes filled her ears. Yet somehow there were others. Other voices, hidden behind it all, threatening to burst through. Baying of a great bear? Howling of the wolf? She could never decide. She leaned closer to the water, but was still unable to tell.
"Intriguing, isn't it?" Gannayev's lilting voice almost made the air genasi jump: "I suppose you can sense it, too?"
"What are…What are those?" Asked the druid.
She turned her head around and met the blue hagspawn's eyes directly. Suddenly the image of them kissing in the snow flashed through her mind so vividly, she nearly cried out in surprise. Her hand quietly rolled into fist. She steadied her breath and watched as the dreamwalker strode across the distance between them, while trying her best to keep her expression and stirring emotions neutral. His lean and toned figure stopped at the small edge next to her, tilting his head and also studying the pools.
"Those elders wouldn't pick it for no reason." Said Gannayev thoughtfully, rubbing his chin. The nearby firelight illuminated his handsome face: "This place is ancient and sacred, to beast that possesses awareness of themselves and their consciousness…like some human do. They are gone now, of course, but their spirits and memories remain. These memories, these fragments of their waking dreams can still be seen, like ripples on the surface of the water... while others swim deep in the undertow of the pools here."
"Wha—what kind of memories?" Leela cleared her throat.
"Battle, blood, death…sleep, comfort, life… mating." Whether the dreamwalker saw her uneasiness or not, Leela couldn't tell: "Their dreams were not different from yours or mine, though some of their senses were keener."
"Oh." Said the air genasi.
"They bathed in these wells, and as it smoothed them, it also mirrored their feelings and thoughts." Gannayev's gazed fell back to the rippling waters again.
"Their feelings and thoughts." The druid arched her eyebrow: "What are they?"
"You can't see them." Replid the blue hagspawn: "Not with the eyes with which you see the world—but the Dreamer's Eye, perhaps. You would have to drink from the pools, however. And they will not show you only the memories of beasts—it may cut into your subconscious as well, though that may serve as an improvement..." He looked up and toward Leela again: "You are thinking of going?"
"Yes." Nodded the druid.
"Reckon you can find some answers to that curse of yours?" The dreamwalker tilted his head: "Perhaps, if you wish, I can come with you? As well as here and in your dreams, I can help you sort and channel any rush of images that occur. Like an Anchor, if you will."
The air genasi looked back at him, and for a while, she said nothing. A thousand thoughts flickered through her mind. In one hand, she craved to be alone with him, on the other, she was afraid should the situation in Ashenwood happen again, if she had the strength to resist him…
"I won't do anything rash, if that's why you are hesitating." As if reading her thought, Gannayev smiled, a bit sadly: "Wander around in the dreamscape is a serious matter. Should anything go wrong, your soul may not return as a whole. I just offer my assistance, as I am a dreamwalker, after all."
Leela stared down at the pools again. Other than the sound of babbling water and distance chatter of her companions, it was a quiet night. The blue hagspawn was correct. It was indeed quite dangerous in dreams, judging by the only experience she had so far…
"Alright." After a while, she looked up into the night sky and sighed deeply: "I'd like you to come with me into the dreamscape."