Falias, Finias Chapter Twenty-Four
Blaaxa's last living memory of Melinoë was at her tower. It was on the eve of the Festival of Cold Flames with the city at its coldest for the year. She finished cleaning Ustrinor's Cathedral after a rowdy funeral for the Metals Guild and was freed to return home. Her flat happened to be near Chaor's Castle, and she wanted to look at something other than the cobblestone and rats shivering at the influx of cold. She looked up and saw her. Melinoë was on the balcony of the Queen's Tower. The wind, so vicious around that time of year, blew hard enough for Blaaxa to feel the chill it carried. Melinoë's long, white hair whipped behind her like a magnificent cape made from corpses of moon stranglers. She wore a thick, black dress that hid her altered figure, but Blaaxa still saw the swell of her belly. Iaen informed her of Melinoë's pregnancy months ago; he thought it prudent to prepare for the inevitable funerals. And for a moment, she pitied her.
But then Melinoë looked down at her. Her dark eyes burn with such fury that Blaaxa squirmed under its intensity. Her thin mouth twisted into a snarl like she was ready to jump off the balcony and fight the Ethereal herself. Blaaxa only figured out a moment after earning such ire why Melinoë was so angry. She knew that Blaaxa was the one who prepared the funerals for Chaor's unfortunate lovers and their equally unfortunate offspring. She knew that Iaen told her about the pregnancy. She knew that Blaaxa would be full of pity for her like she was for all the other Creatures before her.
And she refused to put up with it.
It's been nearly a year since she last saw Melinoë on the balcony. Blaaxa has finished her duties rather late since her assistant was out with the Fire Hen Flu. She journeys down the cobblestone street and looks up at the Queen's Tower, not expecting anyone up there. She halts when she sees a human up there. A human with reddish-orange hair and brown eyes standing in the very same spot that she stood. She finally recognizes the human as the one who stole her code for his stupid game. He doesn't see her at first, clearly looking at the cityscape, a smile nearly gracing his lips. And then, he looks down at her with a look that sends chills throughout her form.
She squirms for a moment and then hurries down the street without looking back. Panic fills her entire being like when Mommark and his OverWorld cronies hunted her down until she escaped here. It's only when she's inside her apartment and bars the door that she feels safe. It still takes her a while before she can figure out why the human frightened her so much with just a look.
It was the same look that Melinoë gave her.
She's back and took the human over! And she's going to exact her vengeance upon us all!
She will not show up for work tomorrow or the next day.
Iaen shuts the door to Chaor's room firmly. He listens momentarily as a chair clatter to the hard floor, most likely from Chaor's angry tail lashing. Iaen thinks about returning to the Queen's Tower and checking on the human, but he feels very drained from his long conversation with Lord Chaor. He descends the stairs and winds his way through the halls until he's in the kitchen. His plan is to get a sniff of lava whiskey and then just return to his home.
Unfortunately, he finds Dairus there emptying half of the whiskey into a goblet.
"Is that for Lord Chaor?" he wrote onto his pad.
"No, this is for me!" She then takes a swig of it, and he hopes that she won't use the entire bottle.
"What happened? Has Isolor become a picky eater?"
"If he did, then he better get his own food!" she scowled. "No, Brimflame's fiancée decided to be difficult and demanded new menus for each of the feasts! I just got all the ingredients assembled, and now most of them are useless!" she groaned.
"Brimflame has a fiancée?"
"Iaen, I know you pride yourself being above gossip, but I have the receipts to prove that the wedding is very real!" She then pours the rest of the bottle into the goblet, dashing his hopes. He leans against the doorway and resigns himself to sobriety.
"Who is the lucky bride?"
"Discordia."
"Discordia? Isn't she the youngest daughter of the Metal Guild's leader? Cothica, Brimflame is going to be a rich Creature!"
"Yeah, but it's Brimflame. He prefers earning his own money, so I hope his bride is prepared for a more ascetic life."
"Maybe it did hit her, and she decided to find a way out of the wedding."
"Considering how much money her family has sunk into her dresses, I think nothing short of financial ruin would stop the wedding."
"Poor Tomugar, he's good with Mugic but poor with money. Has he paid you back yet?"
"He's two payments away from doing so," she sighed. "How is Kazdan?"
"The human is conscious but unstable."
"He's gone mad, has he? He's always been nervous, but I thought he wouldn't crack. What happened?"
"I'm not sure. I'm hoping he'll be more coherent tomorrow."
"It would explain Isolor's huffiness. He's been waiting for his Caretaker to wake up and now he's nutty."
"I believe Kazdan will get better; he just needs time."
"I hope so."
Iso's sleep is interrupted by the loud, semi-drunk thoughts of Dairus. Putting a pillow over his head does nothing to muffle them. He can only hope that she'll pass out soon. Unfortunately, he hears Iaen's annoyed thoughts, so Dairus will be chatting the healer's nonexistent ear off for a while. He turns on his side and comes face-to-face with the miniature of Chaor. His broken horn lies at his feet.
Kazdan promised he'll fix it when got the time and found some glue, but that won't happen now. Maybe Chaor can?
He wonders briefly if he should go to Chaor. He has a feeling from the exasperation in Iaen's mind that the conversation about Melinoë's return didn't go so well. Chaor is most likely upset by the news, possibly hurling things in his room. Or maybe the Supreme Ruler is sad. Not crying because Chaor never cries, but he might just be dwelling on the past with Melinoë. He's curious about what she meant to him, and Chaor's thoughts on her return.
He takes the statue with him and quietly makes his way to Chaor's room. The door is closed and pushing on it doesn't change a thing. He sighs and then pounds on it with his free hand. The door opens, and Iso comes face-to-face with a scowling Chaor.
"What do you want?"
"Fix this," Iso demanded as he held out the broken statue.
"I know Agitos taught you manners, kid," Chaor growled.
"O Your Terrible Magnificence, will you please repair my humble toy?" he imitated Agitos's groveling, but Chaor wasn't amused. His scowl remains strong on his gargoyle-like face.
"Your acting skills could use a lot of work." Not a natural at all like her. Iso gleamed from Chaor before that indomitable will closed him off.
"I don't want to be an actor," he grumbled. "I just want you fixed."
"I have glue, but it won't dry anytime soon."
"I'll wait," Iso declared. He crosses his arms and looks defiantly into Chaor's eyes.
"You should be sleeping."
"I can't. Too much noise in the kitchen."
"You're going to," Chaor warned and picked him up easily with one hand. He then drops him on the bed, and Iso wishes that the bed was less firm. He then rolls onto his stomach and watches Chaor from the bed. Chaor puts the statue carefully onto his desk, not wanting to break any more of it. Unfortunately, the massive red back prevents him from seeing inside the desk's drawers, but he knows that the stones are somewhere there. Little stones that represented his possible brothers and sisters. He remembers Kazdan crying about it, but he can't summon tears for them, even though they were his family. He does feel sad that he'll never get to know them.
"Get to sleep, Iso," Chaor ordered softly without looking back. Iso thinks about refusing, but he suddenly finds himself feeling very tired. And it's so quiet with Chaor.
"Okay, Chaor."
It takes all of her will to get out of the bed and shamble to the balcony. She leans over the crumbling banister and sees the head-splitting drop below. She then gazes at the city stretched before her. Though plenty of homes are made from scraps, the oldest homes were hollowed out from the stone natural to the city. Even the fire geysers couldn't destroy those homes completely like it does to whole neighborhoods. She knows firsthand because her home was one of them.
I didn't leave a will behind, so I'd imagine that Chaor, or rather Agitos, was the executor of my estate. Did he sell it off for a fat profit to one of my loyal followers? Did he keep it for himself? No, Chaor wouldn't allow that. At best, he'd be allowed to caretake the property until Chaor had use for it. Or maybe it'll be given to Iso when he comes of age. At the rate he was growing, it would've been only a few solons. Now, I think he wants his childhood more than some piece of property.
She almost smiles when she imagines Iso entering her home one day. But then her hope for the future is interrupted by the appearance of an Ethereal shaped like inky smoke. Blaaxa is her name.
Always pity in her amorphous face! She presumed that I was doomed like all that came before me, but I succeeded! Iso is still alive, and now I am too. She's scurrying back to whatever hole she calls home. Honestly, her cowardice is ruining this moment.
Iaen's drug finally wins out, and she falls to her knees. She feels the human's eyes close. She thinks about fighting for more time, but she is tired too. She sleeps.
When she wakes, she'll enjoy this view again.
Author's Comments- Here is the link:
Here is an image of Tomugar. He's an UnderWorld Minion Muge who has no flavor text to his card, so I had to come up with some backstory for him. Is he going to show up soon? Not planning to, but maybe he'll pop up when I write that chapter about Brimflame's wedding: a href=" . "Link/a
Thanks to all those who stick around even after my months-long hiatuses with this story. Hopefully, the next one will be out before Halloween, but we'll see.
Next chapter: Kazdan gets a little history on the Queen's Tower.