Child of Releeshahn
Chapter Seven
Messulah howled from within his prison--the prison of gold. At first, he had been overjoyed to be with such riches, but when he realized he could not get out and that it was only this one tiny room, his anger reached the boiling point. That girl, Anna, had double-crossed him on more than one occasion. When he got out of here, her suffering would be worse than his by a thousand-fold.
He wasn't sure what happened, but suddenly he was out, standing in a room of even greater wealth. Looking back at the book, he saw that a cat had knocked it over, and the poor creature was now in the Prison Age. He chuckled at his good fortune and took in his surroundings. It appeared to be a lady's bedchamber, and the sounds of a feast wafted up from downstairs with the delicious smells of food. His stomach growled incessantly.
"By Allah," he said, rubbing at his noisy abdomen, "I hope they have enough to spare me." He made his way out the door and down the hall, following his senses. He came to the head of a large green marble staircase and looked down on the people in the massive dining hall. They were laughing and enjoying themselves, but he recognized none of them. Though, he heard one voice that sounded a trifle familiar.
He stepped closer to the banister and saw a sight that made a smirk crawl across his sun-browned unshaven face. It was the girl, Anna, dancing gaily with a very handsome young man. She looked happy. …Though, not for long.
Messulah pulled a long, slim dagger from somewhere in his black robes and silently made his way down the steps and through the crowd. No one paid him any heed. Such a thing was typical for him. He crept silently into the shadows of a large pillar near his quarry and waited. Waited until she was done dancing when he could strike.
The music soon ended, and Anna was still nearby. The trader lashed out with blinding speed, grabbing the girl up in a painful headlock. She cried out and, her dancing partner stared wide-eyed only for a second before he started to come after Messulah in a mad rage.
"Back!" the desert man shouted so all could hear him, his razor sharp dagger at Anna's throat. Thaylan stopped in his tracks, fear overcoming his anger. "Back or the girl dies!" His D'ni was flawless. The magic was affecting him as it did everyone else.
"What is the meaning of this?" Fehrahn exclaimed coming up next to Thaylan. Damyen, Yeesha and Tanya were right there with her. "How dare you intrude upon my household and take one of my guests captive! You dog! How did you get in here?"
Messulah grinned. "Why, the girl brought me," he said slyly, nuzzling Anna's slim throat. "Such a pretty thing, too. Too bad that she has to die for her crimes." He gave Thaylan an evil grin, relishing in the torment he was causing. The other guests kept a safe distance. They had no idea as to what was going on.
"Get off me, scum," Anna hissed through her teeth. "You were in a Prison Age."
"Indeed. Unjustly so. Fortunately, a fine white cat got me out. Smart creature. It's a shame it had to stay there." He paid no heed to the grey mass of fur that scurried across the floor towards Thaylan.
"Let the child go," Fehrahn demanded. "She would have done nothing to you without reason. And from where I'm standing, she should have burned that book after she captured you."
"You know nothing!" Messulah cried. "You know nothing about her! She is a stranger! A stranger! Ahrotahn!" He spat the last word out with venom.
Fehrahn's eyes went from violet to crimson faster than one could blink. Her face was contorted with rage as she raised her hands above her head. "Fehrrokh ahlath bahgaro!" she shouted up to the ceiling. There was a slight rumbling and guests moved hurriedly against the walls as a large dragon-like creature crashed through the roof, landing heavily. Its massive body was covered in glinting ruby-like scales, and its wings of a similar hue were next to translucent. The rest of its fearsome body was beyond comprehensible description. It shrieked and pawed the tiled floor before coming up next to Fehrahn. "Let the girl go, fool, or suffer by Mahnshooth." She gestured to the beast she had summoned. "He is not so forgiving as I."
Messulah would not release his grip. In fact, he only held on tighter. "Unleash your creature and the girl goes with me," he snarled.
Anna was afraid at this point. The man's dagger began to dig into her neck and she felt something wet trickle along her skin. She couldn't swallow or cry out for fear of making the wound worse. She looked over at Thaylan and the others helplessly…until she noticed Boogin. Using her one free hand, she motioned for Thaylan to set him on the floor. He did so, and the squee looked up at Anna with its tiny head cocked to the side. She dug into the pocket of her dress and pulled out some dried berries and dropped them onto the floor near Messulah's sandaled foot. She prayed to the Maker that her plan would work. She looked back up at Fehrahn as Boogin scampered to the fruit.
The woman's face was a mask of no emotion. She merely stared with pure, raw hatred at Messulah. "How dare you think that we would allow such crimes to be committed within my household," she said, her voice dangerously low. "Release Anna at once. I assure you, even if Mahnshooth breaths out his poisonous fire, she will remain unscathed."
The trader laughed insanely. "You cannot think that such a thing is possible! You'd need magic to do that!"
Tanya whispered something in Fehrahn's ear. "So," she continued, "you do not believe in magic. Well," she cracked her knuckles with a grin, "we'll see how long that belief will last. Guards!" Instantaneously, hundreds of blue-clad men stormed out from…within the walls. Anna's eyes opened wide at the sight, but she wished that they would just get this over with. She was in serious pain.
"Shooth, mahnot!" the army of men shouted once they were situated in fast ranks. Fehrahn nodded in satisfaction and began to circle a now quaking Messulah like a hawk over its prey.
"Now, where were we?" she asked in feigned sweetness as she folded her hands in front of her scarlet red gown. "Ah, yes. Letting the girl go."
"Never!" he responded, a lot braver sounding than he looked. Suddenly, he let out a yelp and dropped his blade, not before giving Anna an even deeper gash.
As the man hopped around, holding his foot due to the pain of an ugly squee bite, Anna collapsed to the floor, holding her neck and gasping for breath. Blood ran freely from between her fingers. Thaylan rushed over and caught her up in his arms.
"Move your hand," he said gently. "Not all of our powers produce illusions." As she lowered her bloody hand, he placed his on the wound and closed his eyes. There was a shimmer of light that, when it left, took the blood and all traces of the gash away with it.
"No!" Messulah cried as he got over the burning pain in his foot. Squees, those harmless little creatures, could do many things that no one would expect of them. "This cannot be! She was to die! I wanted her to die!" He rushed at Thaylan, but the young man held up a hand. The desert man was stopped in mid-stride.
"Perhaps there is something that you did not gather from Lady Ro'Shir," he said loudly as he helped Anna to her feet. He strode up to the man, towering over him, and gave him a level look. "Never cross a M'Jah if you value your life," he said darkly, barely audible to anyone save those nearby.
He looked up at Fehrahn, and she gave him a solemn nod. Then, he reached out his hands and placed one on Messulah's heart and the other on the man's forehead.
"What are you doing?" the trader asked with a quivering bottom lip.
"Trust me, fool," Thaylan said with an ugly grin. "You don't want to know." That was the last thing Messulah ever heard before the darkness consumed him for all time.
~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~
"Tell me more about this Guild of Surveyors," Thaylan said to Anna as he and Damyen and Fehrahn helped them gather up their things.
Anna laughed. "When we get to Releeshahn, then I can actually show you everything. It'll make it so much easier." Since the founding of Releeshahn, the Guilds had re-established themselves in their new home and were doing nicely. Thaylan, it seemed, loved working with rock and other geological activities as much as Grandfather Aitrus had. Damyen was considering the Guild of Writers. Even though they were a little old to start out, Anna and Yeesha were certain that the Masters would be more than happy to take in more Guildsmen.
"Do we have everything?" Tanya asked as she checked through all the packs. "I think so." She pulled out the linking book to go home. "You said you could get your cat out of the Prison book, didn't you, my lady?"
It was Fehrahn's turn to laugh. "Indeed, indeed, Tanya. It will be no problem."
"And we'll be sure to talk to my father about letting your people come and live on Releeshahn," Yeesha said happily. "Imagine, all three branches together for the first time in millennia."
"That's what the books were sent to accomplish…though, no one expected it to be quite like this." She smiled.
Anna mirrored the woman's expression. "It may be a while before everyone can link, however. There is a huge populace here that we have to make ready for."
Fehrahn nodded in understanding. "That is to be expected. Just be sure to visit now and again."
"We will," Tanya said. "Thank you for what you have done for us. We were expecting hostility, in all honesty."
"From what you've told me over the past few days about all your experiences, I can see where you would come to expect that. You are very welcome." She turned to Damyen and Thaylan. "You two behave yourselves and do everything that is expected of you. Your fathers will have my head if anything should happen."
"Don't worry, Aunt Fehrahn," Damyen said lightly. "Thaylan and I have yet to break any rules."
The woman kissed their foreheads. "You aren't there yet, that's why. Just keep your wits about you and look after Yeesha and Anna. I'm counting on you to be the perfect examples of the M'Jah."
"We'll be alright," Thaylan said as he pulled his pack on over a set of rich looking clothes that were real in every essence. Lady Ro'Shir didn't want them going anywhere looking like paupers. "Shall we link?" he asked as he and Damyen came over to where the other three women were.
Tanya nodded. "Hide the linking book for us once we're through, will you, my lady?"
"Of course."
With no time wasted, the five vanished one by one into the page back to Tomahna.