Title: Book One of the Chosen of Shannara
Authors: DracoStarbo ( dracostarbo@yahoo.com ) and Lunablue ( deadredsocks@yahoo.com )
Disclaimer: The Shannara universe belongs to Terry Brooks and affiliated companies.
Alone, was written by Edgar Allan Poe and belongs to him. We stake no claim of ownership, we simply borrowed it for this chapter. Don't sue. Please. Trickle Drops, was written by Walt Whitman and belongs to him. We stake no claim of ownership, we simply borrowed it for this chapter.
Warnings: This story contains language and ideas that can be found offensive.
Authors Notes:
For the record, I (Lunablue) would like to make it clear that I have read exactly * one * Shannara book. Yes, shame on me. Thankfully for the rest of you, DragonStarbo has read the entire series, absorbed it, dreamed it, breathed it, ate it, and slept with it. I depend on her for the accuracy and she depends on me for the insanity. That and my terrific beta abilities.
Oh, and ' baka ' is Japanese for idiot or moron.
Reviewers Response:
DragonStarbo: *looks around frantically* What? Just one review this time?! Ah, c'mon, that's not fair!
Lunablue: Shut up, Baka. At least we HAVE a review.
DragonStarbo: *whines* But, I'm bored!
Lunablue: *sighs* Then go dangle off a tree by your ankles.
DragonStarbo: *perks up, runs off to the closest tree with a piece of rope*
Lunablue: O_o;; Anyhow . . . Thank you, Terra, for your review. Even though my friend didn't seem appreciative, she is.
DragonStarbo: *dangling from the tree with a rope attached to her ankle and a limb of the tree* Hehehehe, the asparagus are funny, aren't they?
Lunablue: . . . . How much sugar did you have this morning, Starbo?
DragonStarbo: Um . . . *starts to swing back and forth* Well, there wasn't any milk, so I ate a few of the Thin Mint cookies and then someone brought donuts to school and I had some Starburst from yesterday . . . I think that's it, for now.
Lunablue: Yep, you're too hyper to answer the review.
DragonStarbo: *gasp!* Am not! *dissolves into a fit of giggles*
Lunablue: Ignore her. *walks a few steps away* Terra, you should suppress Pan like that. Voices in the head are entertaining. Isn't that right, Ash?
::Go away, I'm still sulking.::
Lunablue: Awe, but you're so cute when you're mad!
:: . . . I'm going to kill you one of these days.::
DragonStarbo: Not before you and her -
Lunablue: Say it and I'll choke you with that rope!
::What? What was she going to say?::
DragonStarbo: *giggles* The rope isn't long enough.
Lunablue: *glares* I'll make it long enough.
DragonStarbo: *stops laughing and stares* . . . . . . . You know, in the story, you're the crazy and I'm the sane one. Did we switch roles today or something?
Lunablue: No, you're just hyper. I still have the voices in my head.
::I am NOT a voice in your head!::
DragonStarbo: Hey, Terra, please forgive us for killing Par and Coll. I'm really sad that they had to go, but Lunablue would've left them for the Vultures if given her way. At least they got some kind of a funeral! . . . Oh! And I'm nearly done with the Voyage of Jerle Shannara: the Morgawr! After that, all I have to do is read the First King of Shannara and I'll have read them all! Yay me!
Lunablue: I think that's all we have to say-
DragonStarbo: Nope-nope! Let all those who hate Terry Brooks die a squealing death as maggots feed on their flesh while all of the five-year- old, half-baked songs play in the back ground! Whahahahahahahahahahaha- *rope comes undone, falls flat on face* Owe!
Lunablue: While I take my friend to the mental ward at the hospitable, please review and tell us what you think.
Chapter Eight: Deidre's got a stick and we're Twenty Three Batteries short of a Two pack.
* * * *
Hundreds of miles away from the resting figures of our hero's stood Ash Midnight in a circle of power, deep in the dungeons of his keep. His eyes, green like a cats, glowed with an inner fire as his hands traced arcane symbols in the air, fresh blood from the dead infant at his feet still dripping warm from his fingertips.
" Ashnaca. Sahlaygah. Gorshi. " His dry voice hissed.
An invisible wind moved his rich blonde hair.
"Fly to them, my servants, fly to them, my Vo'galth. Race to them, my pets, race to them, my Blood Wolves. Bring them to me!"
With a primal scream he let lose the power of his blood circle, summoning his minions from the dead earth surrounding his keep, sending them forth to do his bidding. His blood raced with them through the night, towards the unsuspecting teens, towards Jez.
As if the very thought of her was a summoning spell, Ash's head was filled with the heady smell of warm vanilla and green apples, Jez's thoughts whispering through his mind. Apparently , the infuriating puzzle was laying on the ground, staring at the stars and thinking, of all the absurd things, about a poem.
From childhood's hour I have not been
As others were - I have not seen As others saw - I could not bring My passions from a common spring. From the same source I have not taken My sorrow; I could not awaken My heart to joy at the same tune; And all I lov'd, I lov'd alone. Then - In my childhood - In the dawn Of a most stormy life- was drawn From ev'ry depth of good and ill The mystery which binds me still: From the torrent, or the fountain, From the red cliff of the mountain, From the sun that 'round me roll'd In its autumn tint of gold -
From the lightning in the sky
As it pass'd me flying by - From the thunder and the storm, And the cloud that took the form (When the rest of Heaven was blue) Of a demon in my view.
:: Beautiful. Who wrote it?::
Instead of making a fuss about his being in her head and not letting her know it she just responded as if it was normal for strange voices to pop up in her skull, which for her, it might have been.
// Edgar Allan Poe. He's one of my favorite poets. That poem was titled ' Alone '. //
:: Ah, I've never heard of him. But then, he's from your time, so how could I have?::
For a few moments a comfortable silence fell between them.
// So what has you up at this lovely dark hour? //
:: Just the usual, summoning evil minions to do my dastardly deeds, casting dark arcane magick spells. You get the drift. ::
// I see, and I don't suppose you would be oh so kind enough to warn me if any of those evil minions, dark spells or dastardly deeds is going to be directly effecting my sleep? //
:: Well I suppose I could warm you about the five Vo'galth and three Blood Wolves I've sent to capture your party, but then what kind of evil overlord would I be? ::
// The kind whose smart enough to know his health and my happiness are directly proportional to one another? //
:: Exactly. Not that I care, because you know, I'm your master and all that. ::
// Exactly, us slaves are defiantly not on your 'need to know about evil deeds committed' list. //
:: Defiantly. ::
//So, how long before I can start expecting these minions of yours, you know, the ones I know nothing about? //
:: They aren't due to arrive for at least an hour, maybe two. But in the mean time, I don't suppose you've memorized any other poems by this Edgar Allan Poe? ::
// No, but if you care to hear them, I know some other good ones. //
:: I would like that, very much::
// Well, there's this one called ' Trickle Drops ' by Walt Whitman . . . / /
* * *
The earth shook and quivered as five, glowing green henchmen of doom landed from the heavens, carrying darkness on their wings and blotting out the moons light. Howls ripped through the air as three Blood Wolves raced across the ground, circling the campsite, obeying their winged masters silent commands.
Deidre was the first to awake, screaming. "They're here! They're attacking! Beware the Potatoes!"
Jumping up, wide awake with adrenaline, Memial saw the Vo'galth and Blood Wolves. "Idiot! It's the Vo'galth, not the Potatoes! Run!"
By now Brinn, Gok, Lukc and Jez were awake as well.
And then there was no time for anything else for the Vo'galth were upon them and the Blood Wolves were circling the campsite, making sure no prey escaped. Their empty eye sockets starring strait towards their masters kill, seeing but not seeing. Their burgundy color fur was sleeked back smooth over their huge, bear sized bodies.
"What are those!?" Brinn and Memial shouted at the same time.
One of the Blood Wolves bit at a fallen tree limb playfully, but its teeth pierced straight threw the double-arm sized branch, splitting it in two. It gave off a deformed whine and opened its thin-line mouth in a twisted smile.
"They're dangerous," Lukc answered. "What else do you want to know?"
"If they fear fire," Gok mumbled and sung a song he had learned as a little boy, one that was for protection against the wild animals.
It started out as just a thin trail of smoke in some bushes, but soon a little spark was seen from it. Not before long, there was a flame that grew into the fire, surrounding the Blood Wolves and Vo'galth. The creatures hissed at the heat and orange light flickering in front of them like Rover dancers.
"I thought Gok couldn't make things real," Brinn whispered to Lukc, who stood next to him with a hopeful glint in his eyes.
"No, but he can make the illusion that it is real," Lukc smiled almost proudly at his brother.
However, this momentary peace was ended abruptly as one of the impatient Blood Wolves leaped threw the fire with a howl. Gok missed his next note in surprise and the fire disappeared, giving way for the Vo'galth to come attack.
"C'mon, guys, we can take them!" Brinn reassured. "There was at least twenty last time!"
"Yeah . . . but last time Memial had use her power-water-thingy . . ." Deidre pointed out and edged away from the purposely-slow advancing Vo'galth.
"Hey, she's not the only one with powers," Brinn scoffed. He gave his own song of fire, a lower pitch than Gok's. Once more, fire was dancing a fierce dance, but this time it was only around the Blood Wolf that had jumped forward.
The wolf grinned almost giddy-like and ju - and screamed in rage and pain as it caught fire. This fire was real, as the burning alive Blood Wolf soon found out. Rolling around in pain and anguish, it tried to save itself, but the flames in closed him, towering walls of intense heat.
In the final scream of life, Brinn ended his song, taking away the fire. The Blood Wolf's body was mangled and brunt to black, some peaces of the skin missing to show twitching muscles and black bones. Its eyeless sockets, mouth, and any other openings upon its body were pumping green blood with the last shaking breaths of this creatures life. It gave a insignificant whine with its last exhaust of breath.
The Vo'galth had stopped. The Blood Wolves had stopped. The teenagers had stopped. Everything was frozen in a timeless moment, to be forever remembered in the minds of all that lived through this battle. Every sound, taste, and smell was engraved into their memories, clear as glass.
The moment ended when the Blood Wolf disappeared from the earth. One moment it was there, the next there was nothing but the charred earth. The Vo'galth and Blood Wolves screamed together incoherently, though they all seemed to say one thing: Revenge. "Shades!" was all that could be said from Brinn as the creatures came flying towards them, enraged and claws extended like cats ready to strike.
They spread out, taking one or the other teenager on. A Blood Wolf seemed to be very intent on carrying out the revenge on Brinn. Brinn gulped down some air of defiance and started his song again. But no sooner than did he get the first note out that he found blood spewing from his jaw. The Blood Wolf had "scraped" the left side of his jaw; it felt more like knives were taken to it, causing waves of pain and blood to flow through it.
Brinn clenched his teeth in refusal to scream, stumbling away, unable to bring up his magical voice - probably the only thing that stood a chance against this creature. Dizzy in pain, Brinn hadn't realized where he was headed; his primal instincts overriding him and telling him to run as far and fast as he could.
"Die!" Memial shouted as she pulled the sword out of her diagonal, spine sheath and swung it at the beast who was about to slaughter Brinn. The sword that she carried was from the alehouse, though she didn't know who it used to belong to. She just thought it would be useful in their travels, if she had time to learn how to use it. Right now, swinging it wildly at the toothy wolf (or whatever other thing she wanted to butcher) she wanted to attack seemed to work.
Gok and Lukc stood back to back, swords at the read, as two particularly ugly Vo'galth circled them menacingly. Knowing they were both out numbered but desperate to not go down with out a fight, they raised their swords and gave the loudest screams they could muster while charging strait towards the surprised Vo'galths. The Vo'galths was so surprised that they just stood there in shock as Gok and Lukc slammed their swords into their bodies, Lukc taking the one on the left and Brinn taking the one on the right.
Deidre stood there, still semi convinced that it was the potatoes attacking, not the Vo'galth. The remaining two Blood Wolves sat in front of her, growling but not making any overt movies of attack. So she stood there, trembling, forced to watch as Gok and Lukc got their asses kicked, Brinn bleed to death and Memial whack her sword on the Vo'galth that hurt Brinn. ' Hey, where's Aiken and Jez? ' Turning to her right Deidre saw the remaining two Vo'galth circle something that lay still as death between them, something still as death that looked suspiciously like Aiken. ' Oh god, they've hurt him! They've hurt him!!! THEY'VE HURT HIM!!!!!!'
The thought of her dearest friend being harmed by the foul monsters made Deidre tremble, with rage. The anger washed through her like a tidal wave, an anger she'd never felt before, stronger than the one that over took her when she had killed the Vo'galth. Deidre saw red, the color of the blood she wanted to spill. Her anger grew, to unimagined heights, the screams of pain, fear and battle lust being ripped from her friends throats the background music to the dance of death growing in her veins. The furry grew until her eyesight disappeared, replaced by a strange, soothing cream white. Almost like whip cream or abalone shell.
Her body seemed to become unreal, like mist, and out of the depths of her soul a tornado of wind ripped outwards taking her skin with it. For one shinning moment the she was nowhere and everywhere, then the tornado came tearing back inside her. Deidre see again and what had felt like an eternity, the change must have taken only a few precious seconds. Her skin felt different though, instead of the tornado disappearing it was very much there, being held back only by her flesh. She could feel with a sense she had never known existed before. She felt the creamy smooth skin of Aikens cheeks, she felt the warm red blood poor down from Brinn's jaw, she felt the clouds above her racing along, she felt the feathers of a falcon hundreds of miles away as it flew to it's mate, she felt the leaves on the tree's and the hairy spiders on the ground. And she felt sticks. She felt everything everywhere and suddenly knew, just knew, how to save her Aiken. ' How ironic. ' was her last sane thought before the magick over rode her conscious mind and instinct took over.
Thrusting her hands up she clenched them into fists, as her mind find every stray stick and twig and piece of wood in the a one mile radius. Her mind 'solidified' the air around the sticks somehow, using the very wind to grab them and throw them, racing towards her enemies. Thousands of pieces of wood, ranging from splinters to 15 foot long logs, streamed towards the Vo'galth and Blood Wolves, slamming into them with like smooth knives. It only took a minute to riddle the Blood Wolves and Vo'galth with sticks. Then the lifeless monsters collapsed to the ground, the inky darkness fading away to normal night darkness as they collapsed, the blood wolves fading into the earth and the Vo'galth just laying there like so much dead meat.
Deidre followed them to the ground, unconscious.
* * *
As the last Vo'galth collapsed Memial saw her new friend drop to the ground in a heap.
"Deidre!"
She was running towards the smaller girl before being aware of making the decision, frantic with worry over her friends health. Lukc and Gok raced towards Brinn, whose body lay on the ground surrounded by blood.
:: You know, you should try raising more efficient minions next time. ::
// I'll take it under consideration. //
' Oh not another one, please I * can't * lose another one, please, oh please, oh not another one * please * ' Gok prayed desperately as he and his brother ran towards their cousin. Collapsing on their knees on either side of Brinn, they barely noticed their hands get sticky with blood as they struggled to turn Brinn's bulky form onto his back.
Brinn's should length, rust brown hair was matted down in his own blood and knotted beyond belief. With a final ' omf ' Lukc was able to push Brinn onto his back, where he and Gok were treated to the sight of their life. There wasn't a scratch on him. All the blood lay around him, so much that Gok just knew Brinn's main artery had to have been pierced, but there wasn't a single mark on him.
Blinking his grass green eyes, Brinn let out a moan and slowly sat up as Lukc and Gok stared at him in shock. Placing one large hand on the back of his head, he moaned again as his surroundings slowly came into focus. "Oh, my poor head. I haven't had a headache like this since, never."
That was when Brinn got pounced upon by Gok. " Your alive! Your ALIVE! I thought I was going to lose you like mum and dad and aunt and uncle but I didn't 'cause YOUR ALIVE!!"
Gok clung to his cousin with fervor, even when Lukc tried to pull him off and Brinn started turning a lovely shade of black blue. "Gok - cant' - breathe - stop - chocking - me!"
"Oh, sorry," Gok said as he reluctantly pulled back from his cousin. "but your alive!" Only Lukc's arms kept Gok back as he once again tried to launch himself at Brinn.
Slowly standing up, Brinn looked around at all the dead Vo'galth before his eyes landed on Memial and Deidre. "The girls!" All headaches disappeared with the a rush of adrenaline as he ran towards his two new friends, Gok and Lukc right behind.
When they got there Memial was helping Deidre into a standing position. "Are you girls," pant, pant , pant, " alright? Did you get hurt?" Gok asked.
"Don't worry," Memial responded "we're fine. Nice to see the three of you are alive. And nice healing powers Brinn! But. . ." Just then Deidre interrupted Memial with a scream and then it was her turn to dash off in worry. "Aiken!"
"Here we go again." Mumbled Lukc as they all took off after Deidre. They arrived just in time to pull a screaming Deidre off a confused Aiken who was currently getting his ribs kicked in.
"You bastard!" she was screaming with anger. "You absolute asshole! You had me so worried you stupid idiot! I'm going to kill you!" Deidre was desperately clawing the air, trying to get out of Memial and Brinn's strong arms. " I thought you were DEAD! Oh, I'm gong to make you wish you were! I'm going to rip out your spleen and feed it to the flies! I'm going to. . ."
"Hey!" interrupted Aiken. " Where did all the dead creepy crawlies come from?"
That one innocent question seemed to take the wind out of Deidre's sails and she half collapsed, half slid to the ground, laughing and sobbing at the same time. "Asleep! He slept through out the whole bloody fight!" And then she just kind of huddled there shaking as a concerned and bewildered Aiken stood there, alternating looking at Deidre to looking at his new companions. "There was a fight?"
Everyone just stood there, and stared. "You idiot." Brinn finally whispered with a shake of his head. Memial who was helping Deidre to calm down and stand up, commented. "You know Aiken-baka, if this was a manga or anime, we'd have all drowned in sweet drops right now."
A bright red blush was creeping across Aikens face, making him glow like a tomato. Hesitantly, he turned towards Deidre. "Did you get hurt?" Deidre just shook her head rapidly and said, "I'm not talking to you asshole." Before turning her back to him and crossing her arms stubbornly. Not that it did much except increase her image as pixyish. That was when Gok noticed it. "Deidre, um, have I gotten taller, or are you shorter?"
Turning around in outrage, Deidre went to poke a finger in Gok's chest for daring to make fun of her at time like this, when she to noticed it. Were as before her head came up to his shoulders, she was now at eye level with his belly button. Turning slowly she stared at everyone. "Oh my god, you've all grown like, a foot!"
"No," Memial said "you've shrunk, majorly. You can't be more than four foot five now. Wait a minute! I've got it! You know how when I did that magick thing with the water? And this time you did that magick thing with the sticks flying, and when I did it my hair turned this really weird read color, and now you've done some weird magickal thing and then you shrank. Maybe having something physical happen to you is like, a side effect of the magick!" Memial was practically jumping up and down with excitement at how smart she'd just been. "It makes sense." Agreed Lukc.
"But that's now fair! Memial gets a cool new hair color and I shrink?!"
"Hey, that's the digs, besides, how am I going to explain my new hair color to my Dad when we get back? But don't worry, being short makes you look more innocent, and the more innocent you look the more lenient the bad guys are going to be with you. I'd have preferred going short to the new candy cherry hair color thing any day."
"Yeah, well, your new hair color can be explained away with hair dye. How am I supposed to explain to Uncle Bo losing five inches!?"
A new voice joined the conversation, coming from above them in the tree they were standing under. "Don't worry Deidre, most likely you'll be dead by the time the rest of us get to go home, so you'll not have to worry about explaining the dwarf problem to your Uncle Bo. But hey, if by some miracle you do make it home, he'll just be ever so happy you don't have to get on your knees to give him head anymore, that he wont care how it occurred. Though the height difference will make missionary position a bit more uncomfortable for you now. . .but hey! All's fair in incest and war!"
Deidre just stared up at Jez in shock, her mouth opening and closing like a fish. "You are a real god damned bitch Jez, you know that?" Memial said up to the blonde girl, who was sitting in a tree branch above them.
"God damned? Honey, the state of my immortal soul is between the darkness and myself, I highly doubt you would know anything about how or who or why it was damned. Now, if all you dumb shits are done jabbering away I would suggest we get out of here before scavengers come for the free dead meat, and the big scary predators come to eat the scavengers." Then Jez jumped down from her branch. "Unless, of course, Aiken would like to go back to sleep?"
Brinn took a threatening step towards Jez, but stopped when Memial placed her arm into his chest. "As much as it pains me to admit it, Jez is right. We need to get out of here before the free meat starts attracting more attention than we want at the moment." Then, turning to said blonde, Memial stepped up close until their noses were almost touching. "But don't even think this is over, got that?"
Instead of responding Jez stood there and stared a moment, before cocking her head to the side and closing her eyes, as if listening to things no one else could hear. When her eyes opened again Memial got a brief glimpse of blackness as it swirled back into Jez's pupils. "Got, get, grabbed. Memial is just a little lamb whose teeth were sharp as knifes. Beware or she shall eat you." Then Jez smiled the smile of innocent children and cotton candy and Christmas morning before walking away, her travel pack already strung over one shoulder.
A look of confusion mixed with fear was etched on Memial's face as she turned to look at the others. The six of them stood there just starting at each other until Aiken broke the silence. "She's nuts."
"Definitely." "Oh yeah." "Insane." "What was your first hint?" "Twenty Three batteries short of a Two pack."
At that last comment everyone turned to Deidre.
"What?!"
"Uh," stuttered Deidre. "That's what my Uncle Bo says whenever I'm acting crazy. Though I don't see how he could say that I act crazy 'cause I am definitely not as crazy as Jez. Yeah, compared to her I look sane as a cookie, not that, cookies are sane you know, 'cause then the cookie would have to be a sentient being and cookies cant be sentient beings. What if cookies are sentient though? What if this whole time we've been eating them and now we've just discovered that they have feelings just like us? What if. . ."
"Lets go catch up with Jez before a mountain lion or something comes along." Memial interjected in a desperate attempt to shut Deidre up. Then they were all walking forward, away from the dead enemies, battered, bruised, scared, rambling and shorter than ever before. But alive. Then Aiken had an idea that he knew would have to make everyone pause and think for a second.
"Am I the only one that's noticed we're playing follow the leader, and the leaders a anonymously agreed psychotic? What does that say about the rest of our intellects"
Authors: DracoStarbo ( dracostarbo@yahoo.com ) and Lunablue ( deadredsocks@yahoo.com )
Disclaimer: The Shannara universe belongs to Terry Brooks and affiliated companies.
Alone, was written by Edgar Allan Poe and belongs to him. We stake no claim of ownership, we simply borrowed it for this chapter. Don't sue. Please. Trickle Drops, was written by Walt Whitman and belongs to him. We stake no claim of ownership, we simply borrowed it for this chapter.
Warnings: This story contains language and ideas that can be found offensive.
Authors Notes:
For the record, I (Lunablue) would like to make it clear that I have read exactly * one * Shannara book. Yes, shame on me. Thankfully for the rest of you, DragonStarbo has read the entire series, absorbed it, dreamed it, breathed it, ate it, and slept with it. I depend on her for the accuracy and she depends on me for the insanity. That and my terrific beta abilities.
Oh, and ' baka ' is Japanese for idiot or moron.
Reviewers Response:
DragonStarbo: *looks around frantically* What? Just one review this time?! Ah, c'mon, that's not fair!
Lunablue: Shut up, Baka. At least we HAVE a review.
DragonStarbo: *whines* But, I'm bored!
Lunablue: *sighs* Then go dangle off a tree by your ankles.
DragonStarbo: *perks up, runs off to the closest tree with a piece of rope*
Lunablue: O_o;; Anyhow . . . Thank you, Terra, for your review. Even though my friend didn't seem appreciative, she is.
DragonStarbo: *dangling from the tree with a rope attached to her ankle and a limb of the tree* Hehehehe, the asparagus are funny, aren't they?
Lunablue: . . . . How much sugar did you have this morning, Starbo?
DragonStarbo: Um . . . *starts to swing back and forth* Well, there wasn't any milk, so I ate a few of the Thin Mint cookies and then someone brought donuts to school and I had some Starburst from yesterday . . . I think that's it, for now.
Lunablue: Yep, you're too hyper to answer the review.
DragonStarbo: *gasp!* Am not! *dissolves into a fit of giggles*
Lunablue: Ignore her. *walks a few steps away* Terra, you should suppress Pan like that. Voices in the head are entertaining. Isn't that right, Ash?
::Go away, I'm still sulking.::
Lunablue: Awe, but you're so cute when you're mad!
:: . . . I'm going to kill you one of these days.::
DragonStarbo: Not before you and her -
Lunablue: Say it and I'll choke you with that rope!
::What? What was she going to say?::
DragonStarbo: *giggles* The rope isn't long enough.
Lunablue: *glares* I'll make it long enough.
DragonStarbo: *stops laughing and stares* . . . . . . . You know, in the story, you're the crazy and I'm the sane one. Did we switch roles today or something?
Lunablue: No, you're just hyper. I still have the voices in my head.
::I am NOT a voice in your head!::
DragonStarbo: Hey, Terra, please forgive us for killing Par and Coll. I'm really sad that they had to go, but Lunablue would've left them for the Vultures if given her way. At least they got some kind of a funeral! . . . Oh! And I'm nearly done with the Voyage of Jerle Shannara: the Morgawr! After that, all I have to do is read the First King of Shannara and I'll have read them all! Yay me!
Lunablue: I think that's all we have to say-
DragonStarbo: Nope-nope! Let all those who hate Terry Brooks die a squealing death as maggots feed on their flesh while all of the five-year- old, half-baked songs play in the back ground! Whahahahahahahahahahaha- *rope comes undone, falls flat on face* Owe!
Lunablue: While I take my friend to the mental ward at the hospitable, please review and tell us what you think.
Chapter Eight: Deidre's got a stick and we're Twenty Three Batteries short of a Two pack.
* * * *
Hundreds of miles away from the resting figures of our hero's stood Ash Midnight in a circle of power, deep in the dungeons of his keep. His eyes, green like a cats, glowed with an inner fire as his hands traced arcane symbols in the air, fresh blood from the dead infant at his feet still dripping warm from his fingertips.
" Ashnaca. Sahlaygah. Gorshi. " His dry voice hissed.
An invisible wind moved his rich blonde hair.
"Fly to them, my servants, fly to them, my Vo'galth. Race to them, my pets, race to them, my Blood Wolves. Bring them to me!"
With a primal scream he let lose the power of his blood circle, summoning his minions from the dead earth surrounding his keep, sending them forth to do his bidding. His blood raced with them through the night, towards the unsuspecting teens, towards Jez.
As if the very thought of her was a summoning spell, Ash's head was filled with the heady smell of warm vanilla and green apples, Jez's thoughts whispering through his mind. Apparently , the infuriating puzzle was laying on the ground, staring at the stars and thinking, of all the absurd things, about a poem.
From childhood's hour I have not been
As others were - I have not seen As others saw - I could not bring My passions from a common spring. From the same source I have not taken My sorrow; I could not awaken My heart to joy at the same tune; And all I lov'd, I lov'd alone. Then - In my childhood - In the dawn Of a most stormy life- was drawn From ev'ry depth of good and ill The mystery which binds me still: From the torrent, or the fountain, From the red cliff of the mountain, From the sun that 'round me roll'd In its autumn tint of gold -
From the lightning in the sky
As it pass'd me flying by - From the thunder and the storm, And the cloud that took the form (When the rest of Heaven was blue) Of a demon in my view.
:: Beautiful. Who wrote it?::
Instead of making a fuss about his being in her head and not letting her know it she just responded as if it was normal for strange voices to pop up in her skull, which for her, it might have been.
// Edgar Allan Poe. He's one of my favorite poets. That poem was titled ' Alone '. //
:: Ah, I've never heard of him. But then, he's from your time, so how could I have?::
For a few moments a comfortable silence fell between them.
// So what has you up at this lovely dark hour? //
:: Just the usual, summoning evil minions to do my dastardly deeds, casting dark arcane magick spells. You get the drift. ::
// I see, and I don't suppose you would be oh so kind enough to warn me if any of those evil minions, dark spells or dastardly deeds is going to be directly effecting my sleep? //
:: Well I suppose I could warm you about the five Vo'galth and three Blood Wolves I've sent to capture your party, but then what kind of evil overlord would I be? ::
// The kind whose smart enough to know his health and my happiness are directly proportional to one another? //
:: Exactly. Not that I care, because you know, I'm your master and all that. ::
// Exactly, us slaves are defiantly not on your 'need to know about evil deeds committed' list. //
:: Defiantly. ::
//So, how long before I can start expecting these minions of yours, you know, the ones I know nothing about? //
:: They aren't due to arrive for at least an hour, maybe two. But in the mean time, I don't suppose you've memorized any other poems by this Edgar Allan Poe? ::
// No, but if you care to hear them, I know some other good ones. //
:: I would like that, very much::
// Well, there's this one called ' Trickle Drops ' by Walt Whitman . . . / /
* * *
The earth shook and quivered as five, glowing green henchmen of doom landed from the heavens, carrying darkness on their wings and blotting out the moons light. Howls ripped through the air as three Blood Wolves raced across the ground, circling the campsite, obeying their winged masters silent commands.
Deidre was the first to awake, screaming. "They're here! They're attacking! Beware the Potatoes!"
Jumping up, wide awake with adrenaline, Memial saw the Vo'galth and Blood Wolves. "Idiot! It's the Vo'galth, not the Potatoes! Run!"
By now Brinn, Gok, Lukc and Jez were awake as well.
And then there was no time for anything else for the Vo'galth were upon them and the Blood Wolves were circling the campsite, making sure no prey escaped. Their empty eye sockets starring strait towards their masters kill, seeing but not seeing. Their burgundy color fur was sleeked back smooth over their huge, bear sized bodies.
"What are those!?" Brinn and Memial shouted at the same time.
One of the Blood Wolves bit at a fallen tree limb playfully, but its teeth pierced straight threw the double-arm sized branch, splitting it in two. It gave off a deformed whine and opened its thin-line mouth in a twisted smile.
"They're dangerous," Lukc answered. "What else do you want to know?"
"If they fear fire," Gok mumbled and sung a song he had learned as a little boy, one that was for protection against the wild animals.
It started out as just a thin trail of smoke in some bushes, but soon a little spark was seen from it. Not before long, there was a flame that grew into the fire, surrounding the Blood Wolves and Vo'galth. The creatures hissed at the heat and orange light flickering in front of them like Rover dancers.
"I thought Gok couldn't make things real," Brinn whispered to Lukc, who stood next to him with a hopeful glint in his eyes.
"No, but he can make the illusion that it is real," Lukc smiled almost proudly at his brother.
However, this momentary peace was ended abruptly as one of the impatient Blood Wolves leaped threw the fire with a howl. Gok missed his next note in surprise and the fire disappeared, giving way for the Vo'galth to come attack.
"C'mon, guys, we can take them!" Brinn reassured. "There was at least twenty last time!"
"Yeah . . . but last time Memial had use her power-water-thingy . . ." Deidre pointed out and edged away from the purposely-slow advancing Vo'galth.
"Hey, she's not the only one with powers," Brinn scoffed. He gave his own song of fire, a lower pitch than Gok's. Once more, fire was dancing a fierce dance, but this time it was only around the Blood Wolf that had jumped forward.
The wolf grinned almost giddy-like and ju - and screamed in rage and pain as it caught fire. This fire was real, as the burning alive Blood Wolf soon found out. Rolling around in pain and anguish, it tried to save itself, but the flames in closed him, towering walls of intense heat.
In the final scream of life, Brinn ended his song, taking away the fire. The Blood Wolf's body was mangled and brunt to black, some peaces of the skin missing to show twitching muscles and black bones. Its eyeless sockets, mouth, and any other openings upon its body were pumping green blood with the last shaking breaths of this creatures life. It gave a insignificant whine with its last exhaust of breath.
The Vo'galth had stopped. The Blood Wolves had stopped. The teenagers had stopped. Everything was frozen in a timeless moment, to be forever remembered in the minds of all that lived through this battle. Every sound, taste, and smell was engraved into their memories, clear as glass.
The moment ended when the Blood Wolf disappeared from the earth. One moment it was there, the next there was nothing but the charred earth. The Vo'galth and Blood Wolves screamed together incoherently, though they all seemed to say one thing: Revenge. "Shades!" was all that could be said from Brinn as the creatures came flying towards them, enraged and claws extended like cats ready to strike.
They spread out, taking one or the other teenager on. A Blood Wolf seemed to be very intent on carrying out the revenge on Brinn. Brinn gulped down some air of defiance and started his song again. But no sooner than did he get the first note out that he found blood spewing from his jaw. The Blood Wolf had "scraped" the left side of his jaw; it felt more like knives were taken to it, causing waves of pain and blood to flow through it.
Brinn clenched his teeth in refusal to scream, stumbling away, unable to bring up his magical voice - probably the only thing that stood a chance against this creature. Dizzy in pain, Brinn hadn't realized where he was headed; his primal instincts overriding him and telling him to run as far and fast as he could.
"Die!" Memial shouted as she pulled the sword out of her diagonal, spine sheath and swung it at the beast who was about to slaughter Brinn. The sword that she carried was from the alehouse, though she didn't know who it used to belong to. She just thought it would be useful in their travels, if she had time to learn how to use it. Right now, swinging it wildly at the toothy wolf (or whatever other thing she wanted to butcher) she wanted to attack seemed to work.
Gok and Lukc stood back to back, swords at the read, as two particularly ugly Vo'galth circled them menacingly. Knowing they were both out numbered but desperate to not go down with out a fight, they raised their swords and gave the loudest screams they could muster while charging strait towards the surprised Vo'galths. The Vo'galths was so surprised that they just stood there in shock as Gok and Lukc slammed their swords into their bodies, Lukc taking the one on the left and Brinn taking the one on the right.
Deidre stood there, still semi convinced that it was the potatoes attacking, not the Vo'galth. The remaining two Blood Wolves sat in front of her, growling but not making any overt movies of attack. So she stood there, trembling, forced to watch as Gok and Lukc got their asses kicked, Brinn bleed to death and Memial whack her sword on the Vo'galth that hurt Brinn. ' Hey, where's Aiken and Jez? ' Turning to her right Deidre saw the remaining two Vo'galth circle something that lay still as death between them, something still as death that looked suspiciously like Aiken. ' Oh god, they've hurt him! They've hurt him!!! THEY'VE HURT HIM!!!!!!'
The thought of her dearest friend being harmed by the foul monsters made Deidre tremble, with rage. The anger washed through her like a tidal wave, an anger she'd never felt before, stronger than the one that over took her when she had killed the Vo'galth. Deidre saw red, the color of the blood she wanted to spill. Her anger grew, to unimagined heights, the screams of pain, fear and battle lust being ripped from her friends throats the background music to the dance of death growing in her veins. The furry grew until her eyesight disappeared, replaced by a strange, soothing cream white. Almost like whip cream or abalone shell.
Her body seemed to become unreal, like mist, and out of the depths of her soul a tornado of wind ripped outwards taking her skin with it. For one shinning moment the she was nowhere and everywhere, then the tornado came tearing back inside her. Deidre see again and what had felt like an eternity, the change must have taken only a few precious seconds. Her skin felt different though, instead of the tornado disappearing it was very much there, being held back only by her flesh. She could feel with a sense she had never known existed before. She felt the creamy smooth skin of Aikens cheeks, she felt the warm red blood poor down from Brinn's jaw, she felt the clouds above her racing along, she felt the feathers of a falcon hundreds of miles away as it flew to it's mate, she felt the leaves on the tree's and the hairy spiders on the ground. And she felt sticks. She felt everything everywhere and suddenly knew, just knew, how to save her Aiken. ' How ironic. ' was her last sane thought before the magick over rode her conscious mind and instinct took over.
Thrusting her hands up she clenched them into fists, as her mind find every stray stick and twig and piece of wood in the a one mile radius. Her mind 'solidified' the air around the sticks somehow, using the very wind to grab them and throw them, racing towards her enemies. Thousands of pieces of wood, ranging from splinters to 15 foot long logs, streamed towards the Vo'galth and Blood Wolves, slamming into them with like smooth knives. It only took a minute to riddle the Blood Wolves and Vo'galth with sticks. Then the lifeless monsters collapsed to the ground, the inky darkness fading away to normal night darkness as they collapsed, the blood wolves fading into the earth and the Vo'galth just laying there like so much dead meat.
Deidre followed them to the ground, unconscious.
* * *
As the last Vo'galth collapsed Memial saw her new friend drop to the ground in a heap.
"Deidre!"
She was running towards the smaller girl before being aware of making the decision, frantic with worry over her friends health. Lukc and Gok raced towards Brinn, whose body lay on the ground surrounded by blood.
:: You know, you should try raising more efficient minions next time. ::
// I'll take it under consideration. //
' Oh not another one, please I * can't * lose another one, please, oh please, oh not another one * please * ' Gok prayed desperately as he and his brother ran towards their cousin. Collapsing on their knees on either side of Brinn, they barely noticed their hands get sticky with blood as they struggled to turn Brinn's bulky form onto his back.
Brinn's should length, rust brown hair was matted down in his own blood and knotted beyond belief. With a final ' omf ' Lukc was able to push Brinn onto his back, where he and Gok were treated to the sight of their life. There wasn't a scratch on him. All the blood lay around him, so much that Gok just knew Brinn's main artery had to have been pierced, but there wasn't a single mark on him.
Blinking his grass green eyes, Brinn let out a moan and slowly sat up as Lukc and Gok stared at him in shock. Placing one large hand on the back of his head, he moaned again as his surroundings slowly came into focus. "Oh, my poor head. I haven't had a headache like this since, never."
That was when Brinn got pounced upon by Gok. " Your alive! Your ALIVE! I thought I was going to lose you like mum and dad and aunt and uncle but I didn't 'cause YOUR ALIVE!!"
Gok clung to his cousin with fervor, even when Lukc tried to pull him off and Brinn started turning a lovely shade of black blue. "Gok - cant' - breathe - stop - chocking - me!"
"Oh, sorry," Gok said as he reluctantly pulled back from his cousin. "but your alive!" Only Lukc's arms kept Gok back as he once again tried to launch himself at Brinn.
Slowly standing up, Brinn looked around at all the dead Vo'galth before his eyes landed on Memial and Deidre. "The girls!" All headaches disappeared with the a rush of adrenaline as he ran towards his two new friends, Gok and Lukc right behind.
When they got there Memial was helping Deidre into a standing position. "Are you girls," pant, pant , pant, " alright? Did you get hurt?" Gok asked.
"Don't worry," Memial responded "we're fine. Nice to see the three of you are alive. And nice healing powers Brinn! But. . ." Just then Deidre interrupted Memial with a scream and then it was her turn to dash off in worry. "Aiken!"
"Here we go again." Mumbled Lukc as they all took off after Deidre. They arrived just in time to pull a screaming Deidre off a confused Aiken who was currently getting his ribs kicked in.
"You bastard!" she was screaming with anger. "You absolute asshole! You had me so worried you stupid idiot! I'm going to kill you!" Deidre was desperately clawing the air, trying to get out of Memial and Brinn's strong arms. " I thought you were DEAD! Oh, I'm gong to make you wish you were! I'm going to rip out your spleen and feed it to the flies! I'm going to. . ."
"Hey!" interrupted Aiken. " Where did all the dead creepy crawlies come from?"
That one innocent question seemed to take the wind out of Deidre's sails and she half collapsed, half slid to the ground, laughing and sobbing at the same time. "Asleep! He slept through out the whole bloody fight!" And then she just kind of huddled there shaking as a concerned and bewildered Aiken stood there, alternating looking at Deidre to looking at his new companions. "There was a fight?"
Everyone just stood there, and stared. "You idiot." Brinn finally whispered with a shake of his head. Memial who was helping Deidre to calm down and stand up, commented. "You know Aiken-baka, if this was a manga or anime, we'd have all drowned in sweet drops right now."
A bright red blush was creeping across Aikens face, making him glow like a tomato. Hesitantly, he turned towards Deidre. "Did you get hurt?" Deidre just shook her head rapidly and said, "I'm not talking to you asshole." Before turning her back to him and crossing her arms stubbornly. Not that it did much except increase her image as pixyish. That was when Gok noticed it. "Deidre, um, have I gotten taller, or are you shorter?"
Turning around in outrage, Deidre went to poke a finger in Gok's chest for daring to make fun of her at time like this, when she to noticed it. Were as before her head came up to his shoulders, she was now at eye level with his belly button. Turning slowly she stared at everyone. "Oh my god, you've all grown like, a foot!"
"No," Memial said "you've shrunk, majorly. You can't be more than four foot five now. Wait a minute! I've got it! You know how when I did that magick thing with the water? And this time you did that magick thing with the sticks flying, and when I did it my hair turned this really weird read color, and now you've done some weird magickal thing and then you shrank. Maybe having something physical happen to you is like, a side effect of the magick!" Memial was practically jumping up and down with excitement at how smart she'd just been. "It makes sense." Agreed Lukc.
"But that's now fair! Memial gets a cool new hair color and I shrink?!"
"Hey, that's the digs, besides, how am I going to explain my new hair color to my Dad when we get back? But don't worry, being short makes you look more innocent, and the more innocent you look the more lenient the bad guys are going to be with you. I'd have preferred going short to the new candy cherry hair color thing any day."
"Yeah, well, your new hair color can be explained away with hair dye. How am I supposed to explain to Uncle Bo losing five inches!?"
A new voice joined the conversation, coming from above them in the tree they were standing under. "Don't worry Deidre, most likely you'll be dead by the time the rest of us get to go home, so you'll not have to worry about explaining the dwarf problem to your Uncle Bo. But hey, if by some miracle you do make it home, he'll just be ever so happy you don't have to get on your knees to give him head anymore, that he wont care how it occurred. Though the height difference will make missionary position a bit more uncomfortable for you now. . .but hey! All's fair in incest and war!"
Deidre just stared up at Jez in shock, her mouth opening and closing like a fish. "You are a real god damned bitch Jez, you know that?" Memial said up to the blonde girl, who was sitting in a tree branch above them.
"God damned? Honey, the state of my immortal soul is between the darkness and myself, I highly doubt you would know anything about how or who or why it was damned. Now, if all you dumb shits are done jabbering away I would suggest we get out of here before scavengers come for the free dead meat, and the big scary predators come to eat the scavengers." Then Jez jumped down from her branch. "Unless, of course, Aiken would like to go back to sleep?"
Brinn took a threatening step towards Jez, but stopped when Memial placed her arm into his chest. "As much as it pains me to admit it, Jez is right. We need to get out of here before the free meat starts attracting more attention than we want at the moment." Then, turning to said blonde, Memial stepped up close until their noses were almost touching. "But don't even think this is over, got that?"
Instead of responding Jez stood there and stared a moment, before cocking her head to the side and closing her eyes, as if listening to things no one else could hear. When her eyes opened again Memial got a brief glimpse of blackness as it swirled back into Jez's pupils. "Got, get, grabbed. Memial is just a little lamb whose teeth were sharp as knifes. Beware or she shall eat you." Then Jez smiled the smile of innocent children and cotton candy and Christmas morning before walking away, her travel pack already strung over one shoulder.
A look of confusion mixed with fear was etched on Memial's face as she turned to look at the others. The six of them stood there just starting at each other until Aiken broke the silence. "She's nuts."
"Definitely." "Oh yeah." "Insane." "What was your first hint?" "Twenty Three batteries short of a Two pack."
At that last comment everyone turned to Deidre.
"What?!"
"Uh," stuttered Deidre. "That's what my Uncle Bo says whenever I'm acting crazy. Though I don't see how he could say that I act crazy 'cause I am definitely not as crazy as Jez. Yeah, compared to her I look sane as a cookie, not that, cookies are sane you know, 'cause then the cookie would have to be a sentient being and cookies cant be sentient beings. What if cookies are sentient though? What if this whole time we've been eating them and now we've just discovered that they have feelings just like us? What if. . ."
"Lets go catch up with Jez before a mountain lion or something comes along." Memial interjected in a desperate attempt to shut Deidre up. Then they were all walking forward, away from the dead enemies, battered, bruised, scared, rambling and shorter than ever before. But alive. Then Aiken had an idea that he knew would have to make everyone pause and think for a second.
"Am I the only one that's noticed we're playing follow the leader, and the leaders a anonymously agreed psychotic? What does that say about the rest of our intellects"