********** IV - Like Mother Like Daughter **********


Nara and Thoram had decided to retrace their steps, for the bloody river filled them with dread. But they hadn't gone ten steps, when they heard the rush of water, and then they were thrown into the awaiting torrent below.

The boy had the clarity of mind to grab his companion, so they wouldn't get separated. His incredible strength allowed them to remain together, and they were scooped along, choking and fighting to remain afloat.

They had one terrible moment of pure fear, when they approached a mean looking vortex, but it suddenly closed, and they were thrown on a ledge by the surge of water produced.

Badly shaken, they remained there, holding each other for comfort, but they soon realized that the level of the river was steadily rising, and they were thus forced to climb.

After reaching a tunnel, they pushed on, unable to figure what else to do. They passed a huge chamber, where several tunnels seemed to originate, but they were all closed, or out of reach high above. Holding hands tightly, staying as close to each other as possible, they walked towards the only aperture visible, which lead to a well-illuminated passage, of a pinkish color reminiscent of living flesh.

They walked for a short distance, and suddenly Nara froze.

"What is it?" Inquired the boy.

"Someone is talking to me, and he is in great pain. We have to help him Thoram." Answered Nara.

"I don't hear anything." Said the brown-eyed boy, puzzled.

Nara had a determined look on her features, "It's in my head, and I know that somehow we are kinfolk, family."

The chamber they came into was huge, and very well lighted, letting them see the horror before them in great detail.

Picture a purple and red octopus, as big as a house, with glassy eyes, sitting in the middle of the chamber. It's numerous tentacles, as big as logs, held several cupules, inside of which could be seen human forms, at different stages of development.

Come closer, I have been awaiting you, Heiress to Conkram's legacy!

The voice, inside Nara's mind, sounded like it came from a dry, rough throat, and it was commanding, and insidiously evil.

"Who are you?" Replied the girl.

Your kind names me a Sim-Seru. Your own blood, little one, spawned me, and together we will rule the World. So come, step closer, and meet your destiny.

Thoram got really concerned, for Nara's eyes were glazed, and unfocussed. He tried to shake her, but received no response.

His green-eyed companion suddenly startled him, when she yelled, "NO! YOU ARE MEAN! I FEEL IT!"

It is in the eye of the beholder, as all things. Your kin proved weak, are you weak, little one?

{NARA! Don't listen to it! It will enslave you, as it did with me...No, stop it, stop the pain, just stop it, please...}

Then, shut up, weakling! - Now, Nara, is it? Get closer, I can give you great power, none will ever tell you what to do, or order you around again, ever again.

"What about Thoram?" Said the girl dreamily.

He is not useful, and we will feed on him, and on those that follow you. You are better than them, my sweet, much better.

Nara fought desperately against the voice, but couldn't resist the will of such a strong being. She felt, with rising panic, her feet moving forward, towards an awaiting maw in the center of the cavern.

Thoram tried to stop her, but a tentacle hit him, making the boy go careening away from his friend. He groggily stood up, and heard the sound of fighting in the tunnel they had just come from.


********* ********** **********


They weren't joined to their Ra-Serus anymore, but they still had the experience of countless battles. While Gala crushed the beast's muzzle, with his calloused fist, Noa spilled its innards with her metal claw, on the right side, and Vahn did the same with his sword, on the left side.

To Trevor's amazement, the monster lay dead in a matter of seconds. He then heard his son's voice, and ran to a tunnel, chopping with rage at the diaphragm closing the passage at the end of it.

"Thoram! Nara! We're coming!" Shouted the blond giant.

The boy's reply came muffled, "Father, Nara is in danger!"

The three other adults soon arrived, and they all rushed into the chamber, freezing in their tracks for a heartbeat at the appalling sight.

While Trevor was holding his son, Noa and Vahn ran to their daughter, intent on saving her from the awaiting jaws, knowing that they only had seconds to spare. But it was Nara's own will which saved her.

She revolted from the horrendous mind, her brain was overwhelmed by its cruelty, but she managed to hold on to what she was, to what she felt was right, and broke the spell, shouting with surprising strength, and jumping back into her mother's arms.

The cry of frustration, coming from the monster, was deafening. Smaller tentacles, branching from the main ones, attacked them, but Nara's parents hacked at them and cleared a path towards Gala and the others.

The monk had a small battle-axe in his hand, he told Trevor to remain behind with Thoram, and ran to his friends' help. But the monster knew about them, and was prepared, so it threw even more appendages to herd them to its awaiting mouth.

Give it up, you are mine, Princesses of Conkram, join me, become one with me. Ordered the abomination.

Mother and daughter heard the calling, but did not obey, which confused the Sim-Seru. It did not comprehend how the two Princesses could resist it when the Prince, who had created it, had fallen into its control, prey to his own ambitions.

This hesitation on the monster's part, allowed its prisoner to gather what little will he had left, and he lashed at his tormentor.

{The eye, Noa! Break the eye!} Came the warning in the red-haired woman's mind, and she communicated the information to her companions.

The Sim-Seru renewed its efforts to capture the attackers, and it might just have succeeded, but there were too many things, in its arrogance, that it had forgotten to take into consideration.

First of all, Nara was also fighting, with great speed and agility, always staying one step ahead of the monster's appendages. Noa had given her a fighter's knife, and the girl used it with great skill.

Then, the big blond man, and his son, joined the battle, their lack of speed and fighting skills more than compensated by their strength and determination. The six of them soon opened a trail, of squirming pieces of tentacles, to the beast's main body.

Trevor finally reached the man-sized eye, lifted the heavy axe high, and brought it with colossal strength down on the glazed surface. To his amazement, he only managed to scratch it a little.

The voice boomed inside the two redheads brains {Noa, Nara, only those of the blood of Conkram can hurt it}.

Noa didn't waste time in explanations, and grabbed the weapon from the blond man's hands. Her muscles bulging from the effort, she raised the axe, and shattered the oily-looking orb.

There were three smaller eyes, beside the main one, and Nara destroyed them in a few well-placed strokes. The two women were the only ones that heard the monster's death throes, and felt its rage, and hatred. And then, all fell silent, and several of the pods, alongside the remaining tentacles, opened.

The bodies inside ranged in age from newborn to late adulthood, but they were all mummified, or simply dead. Noa and Nara heard a very faint voice, weak but relieved, expressing its gratitude.

{Noa, you have delivered me, I can die in peace now.}

"Cort, no, isn't there a way to save you?"

{No, my sister, for I am part of this Sim-Seru. The one you fought, seven years ago, was just a part of it too. It is good that you have come, before it could get too strong.}

"But I took you as a baby, after the battle, and you died..."

{Then again, it was just a part of the whole, and it perished once detached from the main body. Now, go to the base of the biggest appendage, hurry for I have little time left.}

Noa obeyed, and found a pod that had not opened, inside was a baby boy, about a year old by the looks of it.

"Is this you, Cort?" Inquired the emerald-eyed woman.

{Yes, it has most of my essence, and none of my horrible creation's. I managed to grow him, without my captor finding out. Take him, and care for him, he is me in body, so please give him a chance, and maybe he will undo some of the wrongs I brought upon.}

They looked at the baby in wonder, and Noa vowed, "We will care for him, I promise."

{Good, now go, I will use the last of my strength to open a path for you. And one last thing, tell the world that I was a fool, and that I am sorry...}

"We will, my brother, we will..." Answered Noa, tears in her eyes.

It took them several hours to reach the surface, and none too soon, for the baby had been crying from hunger. Fortunately, the soldiers had been waiting, and they had milk among their supplies.

It was late afternoon, when they made a remarked entrance into the village, and they managed to forestall questions and inquiries. Explanations would have to be given, but it could wait.

To explain the baby's presence, they pretended that it had been abandoned and that Vahn and Noa had decided to care for him. Not many were brought into the confidence of what truly had happened, for obvious reasons.


And so, life resumed in Rim Elm.


********** ********** **********