Far to the north and deep underground, Urnalda sat with her head
leaning on one hand. The shells dangling from her ears were silent as the
squat dwarf standing before her squirmed under her piercing gaze.
"And so, que-Queen Urnalda, we were hoping you would b-be gracious enough-"
"Your men can not handle such a simple thing as this, this is what you say?" Her eyes narrowed at him, and he swallowed hard. When he did not answer she snorted disdainfully. "Then do it I shall."
The guard scuttled backwards with his head bowed respectfully as she half- stepped half-hopped down from her tall throne to the lightly textured stone floor with a tinkle of shells and a thud of her staff on the floor.
She waved a dismissive hand at the guard and muttered something under her breath as she strode out of the room. She was rewarded by the surprised yelp of the guard as he discovered he was now completely bald except for his beard.
"Urnalda? What would Urnalda want with Merlin?"
"I don't know, but it worries me." Rhia and Sha'n were on the move again, eating breakfast as they walked. Nisto was out hunting, they assumed, but not with them at any rate. "The last time she needed help like this he was almost killed by Wings of Fire. The only good things to come from that particular experience were Gywennia and what little respect for Merlin Urnalda now has."
"Gywennia?" Sha'n asked puzzled. Rhia smiled.
"The last of the Dragon's children. Merlin found her mostly dead and healed her with herbs he had mixed in his boot. His boot of all places." She chuckled. "She ate that boot later, mind you. Why exactly it didn't make her ill, I'll never understand."
"Well then what happened to Wings of Fire?"
"Killed, by kreelixes. One bite from a kreelix will kill any creature wielding magic, and they feed off the magical powers of others from a distance." She grew serious as she spoke.
"Oh." They walked close together in silence for a time, until Nisto swooped down between the, and alighted on Sha'n's shoulder. Rhia was next to speak.
"You've no memory of your parents, Sha'n?"
"I have one or two, but nothing tangible, only emotions, smells, feelings. . . my mother always seems warm and kind, and my father is tall and smells like the outdoors. I can kind of picture him having dark hair and a scraggly beard and my mother with long light hair and a friendly smile. I'm sure it's nothing like how they actually look, and I'm sure I sound foolish to you," He blushed charmingly, "but it's hard to stop me once I get started."
Rhia grinned at him. "I understand. I'm the same way sometimes." They walked together in silence again.
Later that night Rhia lay on the opposite side of the dead fire from Sha'n. She was asleep, but Sha'n was awake, lying with his eyes closed, wrestling with his troubled conscience.
I should tell her.
No. I've been given a job, and I have to do it.
But she trusts me. To break someone's trust is-
"Your job."
Sha'n realized that he wasn't just thinking to himself anymore, he was dreaming. Shapeless mist drifted around him and materialized suddenly into his childhood home as a single male figure formed itself out of mist and stepped to the floor.
He had no face; just it's shape under a well-trimmed shock of black hair. He was tall and pale, dressed in loose clothing. His voice seemed to come from the walls, the floor, the very air, whispering in his ears,
"It's your job to trick, to deceive, and to betray in the final moments." Thin tendrils of mist danced near the tips of the man's fingers, one moment writhing and swaying like snakes, the next it spun in slow majestic curls like smoke. The man himself was as shifting as the mists. His face stretched and pulled, caved and bulged; forming into grotesque and beautiful featureless faces while his body remained unchanged.
Sha'n stared straight ahead and into space as the voice continued in mildly scolding tones.
"Sha'n, why do you bother with these feelings? You know this must be done. . . that is, unless you wish your parents to have died in vain, and you unable to avenge them."
"No!" Sha'n said tightly, clenching his jaw until his temples throbbed and maintaining his blank stare.
"No?" the shifting man began to walk towards him. The voice was amused. Sha'n did not acknowledge the strange man's presence, but knew that the shifting man was the physical semblance the voice had chosen to take. "It must not be done? Well well, Sha'n, I thought even a lowly orphan-boy like you would have more pride than that."
Any objection to the voice's twisting of his words died on his lips. Lowly orphan-boy. The biting insult cut him deep and brought the gentle prickle of tears to his unyielding eyes.
"I'm sorry, Sha'n," the cruel voice cooed in mock sympathy, "did I say something mean?" It became cold and blunt. "Well, you'll have to be stronger than that to do what I've told you to. Do you need a reminder of why you are what you are? Another dream, perhaps, Sha'n?"
This broke the young man. His blank gaze shattered and he turned to the shifting man, pleading,
"No. . .please. . ."
The voice seemed to smile.
"Oh, I think that would do nicely." The shifting man's face and body began to melt away into mist, as did the room.
"No. . .no, no, please, not again. . ." Sha'n knelt and clutched his fists to his temples, "No, no, no. . ."
Rhia awoke to Sha'n's pitiful cries. Nightmares again, she thought dismissively, but I'm sure they'll go away soon. She turned onto her side and drifted back into sleep.
"And so, que-Queen Urnalda, we were hoping you would b-be gracious enough-"
"Your men can not handle such a simple thing as this, this is what you say?" Her eyes narrowed at him, and he swallowed hard. When he did not answer she snorted disdainfully. "Then do it I shall."
The guard scuttled backwards with his head bowed respectfully as she half- stepped half-hopped down from her tall throne to the lightly textured stone floor with a tinkle of shells and a thud of her staff on the floor.
She waved a dismissive hand at the guard and muttered something under her breath as she strode out of the room. She was rewarded by the surprised yelp of the guard as he discovered he was now completely bald except for his beard.
"Urnalda? What would Urnalda want with Merlin?"
"I don't know, but it worries me." Rhia and Sha'n were on the move again, eating breakfast as they walked. Nisto was out hunting, they assumed, but not with them at any rate. "The last time she needed help like this he was almost killed by Wings of Fire. The only good things to come from that particular experience were Gywennia and what little respect for Merlin Urnalda now has."
"Gywennia?" Sha'n asked puzzled. Rhia smiled.
"The last of the Dragon's children. Merlin found her mostly dead and healed her with herbs he had mixed in his boot. His boot of all places." She chuckled. "She ate that boot later, mind you. Why exactly it didn't make her ill, I'll never understand."
"Well then what happened to Wings of Fire?"
"Killed, by kreelixes. One bite from a kreelix will kill any creature wielding magic, and they feed off the magical powers of others from a distance." She grew serious as she spoke.
"Oh." They walked close together in silence for a time, until Nisto swooped down between the, and alighted on Sha'n's shoulder. Rhia was next to speak.
"You've no memory of your parents, Sha'n?"
"I have one or two, but nothing tangible, only emotions, smells, feelings. . . my mother always seems warm and kind, and my father is tall and smells like the outdoors. I can kind of picture him having dark hair and a scraggly beard and my mother with long light hair and a friendly smile. I'm sure it's nothing like how they actually look, and I'm sure I sound foolish to you," He blushed charmingly, "but it's hard to stop me once I get started."
Rhia grinned at him. "I understand. I'm the same way sometimes." They walked together in silence again.
Later that night Rhia lay on the opposite side of the dead fire from Sha'n. She was asleep, but Sha'n was awake, lying with his eyes closed, wrestling with his troubled conscience.
I should tell her.
No. I've been given a job, and I have to do it.
But she trusts me. To break someone's trust is-
"Your job."
Sha'n realized that he wasn't just thinking to himself anymore, he was dreaming. Shapeless mist drifted around him and materialized suddenly into his childhood home as a single male figure formed itself out of mist and stepped to the floor.
He had no face; just it's shape under a well-trimmed shock of black hair. He was tall and pale, dressed in loose clothing. His voice seemed to come from the walls, the floor, the very air, whispering in his ears,
"It's your job to trick, to deceive, and to betray in the final moments." Thin tendrils of mist danced near the tips of the man's fingers, one moment writhing and swaying like snakes, the next it spun in slow majestic curls like smoke. The man himself was as shifting as the mists. His face stretched and pulled, caved and bulged; forming into grotesque and beautiful featureless faces while his body remained unchanged.
Sha'n stared straight ahead and into space as the voice continued in mildly scolding tones.
"Sha'n, why do you bother with these feelings? You know this must be done. . . that is, unless you wish your parents to have died in vain, and you unable to avenge them."
"No!" Sha'n said tightly, clenching his jaw until his temples throbbed and maintaining his blank stare.
"No?" the shifting man began to walk towards him. The voice was amused. Sha'n did not acknowledge the strange man's presence, but knew that the shifting man was the physical semblance the voice had chosen to take. "It must not be done? Well well, Sha'n, I thought even a lowly orphan-boy like you would have more pride than that."
Any objection to the voice's twisting of his words died on his lips. Lowly orphan-boy. The biting insult cut him deep and brought the gentle prickle of tears to his unyielding eyes.
"I'm sorry, Sha'n," the cruel voice cooed in mock sympathy, "did I say something mean?" It became cold and blunt. "Well, you'll have to be stronger than that to do what I've told you to. Do you need a reminder of why you are what you are? Another dream, perhaps, Sha'n?"
This broke the young man. His blank gaze shattered and he turned to the shifting man, pleading,
"No. . .please. . ."
The voice seemed to smile.
"Oh, I think that would do nicely." The shifting man's face and body began to melt away into mist, as did the room.
"No. . .no, no, please, not again. . ." Sha'n knelt and clutched his fists to his temples, "No, no, no. . ."
Rhia awoke to Sha'n's pitiful cries. Nightmares again, she thought dismissively, but I'm sure they'll go away soon. She turned onto her side and drifted back into sleep.