Author's Notes: I'm on a roll. Sorta. Oh, yeah. That reminds me. As I may have said before, the scenes in this fiction do not match up perfectly with those of The Curse of the Mercale. Live with it. I prefer these scenes and I will eventually be rewriting parts of that original part at one point or another.
Chapter 8: Guardian's (Crysil's POV)
The sword was laying by my hands now. With a sharp whistle I called the black stallion to me. The horse was Drewel's before he was taken, and was the colt of his teenaged steed. Nobomena whinnied lightly as I carefully lifted Drewel, dead, to her saddle. Another whistle and she carefully moved to where Forsaken was. Leaning against the great horn of the serpent is the one who calls himself Nysil. When Corin and Greiven came again to me, telling me that I needed to slay Xera, they had brought Nysil to me, and had Rein'ly, Lord of Winds, return Nobomena to my care. And this, this is what I got for it.
As the mare moved towards the serpent angel, I lifted the sword covered in my lover's blood. The metal was almost as red as my clothes. Normally I would clean the blade, for blood can cause rust in the metal and tarnish the silver coating, yet now… I want her to die and let him, beyond the world of life, to feel it too. I will avenge my love.
"Crysil," came the pure voice of the divine water spirit, "If you face her…"
"Shut-up," I growled out, thick tears falling from my eyes. "You said if I came he would be freed. You said that I would stop her with his help. You said that we would be happy together."
"He has been freed, you will stop her with his help, and you will be happy together. But all things come in their own time," he whispered, his voice like the gentle waves upon the beach.
"Damn you Nysil. Damn you!" I shouted.
"True my daughter of spirit. True. Now go. Fate calls to you. And your son will suffer if you fail in your last mission."
"Damn you forever Nysil. Damn you ALL!" I practically screamed. With that I lifted the sword to my shoulder, and headed towards the dark tower, and my fate.
"Well Crysil, nice to see you again," Xera purred, amused visibly by the crimson staining my outfit and sword.
"Xera…" I couldn't help but snarl. Call me Lady Death.
"Seems our common bond is gone by his own hand," she continued in that purr.
I lunged forward, cutting the bodies of her guards in half. Soon I had the blade pressed against her delicate neck. As the woman chuckled, my body became as stone: stiff; unyielding; cold. The Red Lady turns away from me, and still the paralysis keeps my eyes on her.
"Crysil, dear, look at me. I am the Queen of the Universe, despite what your royalty may say. You simply cannot kill me, even when I lack a knight."
My eyes wandered over her, the command in her voice impossible to resist. Her hair was red like my shirt was now, and the wavy locks crowned her head in a bun that was held in place by silver and gold pins set with diamonds. Against her pale forehead was a thing gold circlet, whose ends curled to a spiral which suspended a large teardrop shaped ruby almost perfectly between her eyes, as if by magic. Those golden eyes betrayed something her posture and words did not, raw hatred and fear. Upon her body was a red gown of rather simple cut. The collar, encrusted with rubies, placed her cleavage upon display, the effect like a siren's voice when it came to men. Three tear dropped shaped pieces of gold hung down from this collar, and when they struck together it sounded like a summer rain. Three long black chains crossed her wait as belts, both thing and deceptively weak in appearance. Similar chains to these adorned her wrists to reach the floor, as well as came from the large ruby studded clasps of her great cape. A small triangle of flesh was bare on her body just around her midriff, and a long slit climbed up the right of her dress, ending just short of her lower hip.
I know that my eyes cursed her since my lips could not do so for me. This angered her even more, and with a wave of her hand I was flung back against the wall.
"You little slut," she growled, all overtures of kindness gone.
"Some to you, you old hag," I hiss out through my teeth, suppressing the pain.
Xera growled even louder, and I admit that I trembled at the sound. With unearthly grace she whipped off her cape and three it over her throne. The cape itself was the real marvel here. It was said to have been made by the hands of Hyne himself. The cloth of the cape was the purest sable that mortals had ever seen, except for the void that is the realm of darkness. All along the inside and all over the back are sewn diamonds that burn with their own internal light and represent the stars of the universe. The very bottom of the long train was decorated with rubies and gold pieces, and even diamonds.
Yet this alone was not the fully glory of the cape, called the Cloth of Eternity. Upon it was stitched three other celestial bodies in threads made from gems, precious metals and the very fire of life. The largest of these three was a red sun upon the bottom, actually hot to the touch and shining of not only its own accord, but also reflecting the light of the 'stars'. Then there was the smallest, a moon as red as blood, and this was said to have been sewn of brimstone, magma and blood. Finally, nearly in the center of the twelve foot masterpiece was a ringed planet. The rings were much like those of our Saturn, but the colors were like that of Jupiter, and yet its great red spot was not a storm, but a sea of blood.
"I will take care of you myself girl," the sorceress said, quickly wrapping her black chains around her wrist. She would use them like whips I assume, probably due to the unbalance in her magic caused by the recent loss of her knight. Yet since she could still enchant them to move as if they were alive, I would have to act fast.
When she swung the chain at me, I forced my body to move, to duck under the attack that would have wrapped the chains of enchanted with death magic around my neck. Instead the chain smashed into the wall, and bits of black marble flew everywhere. There was a shock upon the face of Xera, but only for a moment. Because after that moment the body fell before me, lacking its head. Yet the blade in my hand was barely wet with the blood of the sorceress.
Slowly I step away from the bitch, and collect the Cloth of Eternity. No use letting it go to waste I guess. The four will be glad that I have retrieved it for them.