Sorry about the delay in posting and the short chapter. I had a
flu/sleeping sickness for a week. I will warn you, some of this was written
was I was under the influence of cough syrup and a fever. Of course, the
location and some of the characters belong to Tamora Pierce.
Pinecone turned slowly, his footsteps loud in the still air, so that he was facing the same direction as Stella. She reached out a grateful hand and steadied herself on his withers. Her legs were wobbling and she felt as though unseen hostile eyes were staring at her-which they probably were.
The demon turned slowly and began walking away. After about 20 paces he suddenly vanished. Stella shivered and shuffled her feet slightly. At least by the time I see them they won't surprise me, she thought.
Stella waited for what seemed like a long time, but was in actuality a few minutes. Time moved differently in the devastated area. She looked down and noticed that she seemed to be going thin and grey, fading away as though she too were about to disappear.
"No," she shouted and cast her will out to Pinecone, Tomcat, Lord Lucas, the trees, anything and everything that was alive and living. She clung to life with her Wild Magic, refusing to let them drain her this way. Abruptly, they stopped trying to drain her. She gasped for air but she didn't retract her grip from the living beings around her.
"WE CANNOT DESTROY YOU THAT WAY. SO BE IT. IT MATTERS LITTLE TO US. YOU ARE NOTHING BUT AN INSECT BUZZING AROUND US."
Despite the peril she was in, Stella had to bite back a laugh. She remembered a story one of the Riders had told her that summer. His friend had been dashing through the woods on horseback and had been so distracted by a biting fly that he was knocked off his horse and nearly killed by a spidren. A surge of mirth threatened to fill her heart; they were underestimating her.
She felt rather than saw herself being surrounded. The Night Wizards were approaching, circling, closing in. Pinecone shifted uneasily. They tried to drain her life away again, but Stella was braced and ready for them, she clung to her life and did not let herself fade away.
"WHY DO YOU STRUGGLE SO? YOU ARE ONLY PROLONGING THE INEVITABLE. THERE IS NO NEED TO FIGHT US. YOU ARE HURTING YOURSELF. WHY DO YOU BOTHER?"
Again, words fell from Stella before she could stop them. Words whose origin she couldn't guess. The words brought vivid images into her mind as though there was some power hidden in them that made them more real than the barren land. Tears springing into her eyes, she struggled to keep her voice even and steady.
"I stand against you because I am for life. You are only for power and so power hungry that you are afraid to die. You are dead and yet you have "lived" for hundreds of years. I am alive; I work hard and I get hurt sometimes and I know that one day I will die but I accept that because living is worth it. There is pain in life but there is also joy. I stand against you because there is sunshine that warms my shoulders, because there are barn cats without tails who melt like warm butter in my arms, because there are horses who run across fields for no reason other than the wind against their backs, there are fathers who tell their children bedtime stories, there are mothers who sing lullabies, there are dogs who chase their tails. I stand against you because apples taste like freedom and hens lay eggs. And you would put an end to all this, not so that you could live forever but so that you could exist forever. You are weak and cowardly you have not the courage to accept life."
As she spoke a cloud was laboriously pushed away from the sun and a weak ray of light fell across her face. Stella felt encouraged; she saw her destiny stretched out before, a path she must take to the very end. She smiled faintly for the first time in ages because she realized the truth in the words she had spoken. Life was not painless but it was worth living. And death was merely the end of life so she could accept it when her life was at an end.
"You must choose life or power. You cannot have both; it is forbidden. You can have life or the ability to drain it from others but not both. You once loved life long ago; you helped a city to flourish and healed those who were crippled. It was your love of life that made you wish to be immortal. You must choose now. None save the gods are granted immortality. Choose life and accept the end of your own lives to make way for the lives of others. Remember love and joy and accept the bad with the good, as the world has accepted your evil when you should have been rejected."
Stella took a moment to stop and breathe, causing the terrible power of the moment to dissipate. She decided that attempting to fulfill her destiny was exhausting. Stella stared into the gloom around her, trying to determine whether on not her words had any effect. It will be quite the anti-climax if nothing happens, she thought.
For moments that seemed to last centuries to Stella nothing happens. The world grew silent and motionless. Stella wondered briefly if people far away in other places were frozen and soundless as well.
Final a deep rumbling voice answered her. The voice resounded with anger and weariness. "VERY WELL." There was a flashing a blinding white light and Stella passed out; Pinecone shifted his footing so that he could shield her body as thunder shook the earth.
"Good luck you can never know until the last minute." - Solomon The Price Arthur Miller Thank you for reading and please review.
Pinecone turned slowly, his footsteps loud in the still air, so that he was facing the same direction as Stella. She reached out a grateful hand and steadied herself on his withers. Her legs were wobbling and she felt as though unseen hostile eyes were staring at her-which they probably were.
The demon turned slowly and began walking away. After about 20 paces he suddenly vanished. Stella shivered and shuffled her feet slightly. At least by the time I see them they won't surprise me, she thought.
Stella waited for what seemed like a long time, but was in actuality a few minutes. Time moved differently in the devastated area. She looked down and noticed that she seemed to be going thin and grey, fading away as though she too were about to disappear.
"No," she shouted and cast her will out to Pinecone, Tomcat, Lord Lucas, the trees, anything and everything that was alive and living. She clung to life with her Wild Magic, refusing to let them drain her this way. Abruptly, they stopped trying to drain her. She gasped for air but she didn't retract her grip from the living beings around her.
"WE CANNOT DESTROY YOU THAT WAY. SO BE IT. IT MATTERS LITTLE TO US. YOU ARE NOTHING BUT AN INSECT BUZZING AROUND US."
Despite the peril she was in, Stella had to bite back a laugh. She remembered a story one of the Riders had told her that summer. His friend had been dashing through the woods on horseback and had been so distracted by a biting fly that he was knocked off his horse and nearly killed by a spidren. A surge of mirth threatened to fill her heart; they were underestimating her.
She felt rather than saw herself being surrounded. The Night Wizards were approaching, circling, closing in. Pinecone shifted uneasily. They tried to drain her life away again, but Stella was braced and ready for them, she clung to her life and did not let herself fade away.
"WHY DO YOU STRUGGLE SO? YOU ARE ONLY PROLONGING THE INEVITABLE. THERE IS NO NEED TO FIGHT US. YOU ARE HURTING YOURSELF. WHY DO YOU BOTHER?"
Again, words fell from Stella before she could stop them. Words whose origin she couldn't guess. The words brought vivid images into her mind as though there was some power hidden in them that made them more real than the barren land. Tears springing into her eyes, she struggled to keep her voice even and steady.
"I stand against you because I am for life. You are only for power and so power hungry that you are afraid to die. You are dead and yet you have "lived" for hundreds of years. I am alive; I work hard and I get hurt sometimes and I know that one day I will die but I accept that because living is worth it. There is pain in life but there is also joy. I stand against you because there is sunshine that warms my shoulders, because there are barn cats without tails who melt like warm butter in my arms, because there are horses who run across fields for no reason other than the wind against their backs, there are fathers who tell their children bedtime stories, there are mothers who sing lullabies, there are dogs who chase their tails. I stand against you because apples taste like freedom and hens lay eggs. And you would put an end to all this, not so that you could live forever but so that you could exist forever. You are weak and cowardly you have not the courage to accept life."
As she spoke a cloud was laboriously pushed away from the sun and a weak ray of light fell across her face. Stella felt encouraged; she saw her destiny stretched out before, a path she must take to the very end. She smiled faintly for the first time in ages because she realized the truth in the words she had spoken. Life was not painless but it was worth living. And death was merely the end of life so she could accept it when her life was at an end.
"You must choose life or power. You cannot have both; it is forbidden. You can have life or the ability to drain it from others but not both. You once loved life long ago; you helped a city to flourish and healed those who were crippled. It was your love of life that made you wish to be immortal. You must choose now. None save the gods are granted immortality. Choose life and accept the end of your own lives to make way for the lives of others. Remember love and joy and accept the bad with the good, as the world has accepted your evil when you should have been rejected."
Stella took a moment to stop and breathe, causing the terrible power of the moment to dissipate. She decided that attempting to fulfill her destiny was exhausting. Stella stared into the gloom around her, trying to determine whether on not her words had any effect. It will be quite the anti-climax if nothing happens, she thought.
For moments that seemed to last centuries to Stella nothing happens. The world grew silent and motionless. Stella wondered briefly if people far away in other places were frozen and soundless as well.
Final a deep rumbling voice answered her. The voice resounded with anger and weariness. "VERY WELL." There was a flashing a blinding white light and Stella passed out; Pinecone shifted his footing so that he could shield her body as thunder shook the earth.
"Good luck you can never know until the last minute." - Solomon The Price Arthur Miller Thank you for reading and please review.