Disclaimer: I am poor and own nothing. And because I'm poor, this is my only source of entertainment, so please do not sue.
Authors Note: Enjoy you guys! Sorry about the last chapter but it was a necessary evil. PLEASE READ: The spell used in this chapter has been altered and comes from Dorothy Morrison's "Everyday Magic: Spells & Rituals for Modern Living."
TriGemini – It's been my experience that just when life is looking up, bad shit happens. And while bad shit is happening, even worse shit happens at the same time, which makes me a firm believer in the phrase, "shit happens." The Saxons are a hearty bunch that never give up and they were hoping to gain control of Britain, now that Arthur defeated them with Mariska's help, they want revenge. So this does not benefit them anyway except to have that thirst quenched. I feel bad doing this to Mariska as she is my character, but it is the price you pay for being a work of my own creation, and it will lead to better things. It's just going to be a rough couple of chapters. Thanks for reviewing.
Sorceress Misha – Oh good neither did I! He was just so slimy looking so he fit for this part perfectly. Thanks for reviewing.
Tracy137 – Maybe you should have gone with that gut instinct not to read it…LOL! Your poor dogs. Max is pretty smart and so is my little Guido. Lucy can be a bit slow sometimes and the sad thing is she rules the roost. It is a lovely ceremony isn't it? I think it's the kind I want, now all I need is a man who is understanding or stupid enough to love me and I've got it made! And I can't believe you'd ask me that! I would NEVER hurt Van! That's like some sort of sacrilege. This is for the best…just keep that in mind. She'll get past it, really she will and it will lead to better things. It's a plot twist, keep that in mind. And she's kicking some butt in this chapter so it might help. Okay onto the chapter now or else I might apologize again and I don't need my adopted sister yelling at me for it! ;o)
Cardeia – That's what the saying means to a lot of people. There was a ring around the moon last night, and we didn't get any rain (sadly), so I wish it were right. I am glad it was able to bring back a good memory for you. I used little flower since that's what he calls her after she slaps him in the movie, and he's too worried right now to call her a wench or anything like that. Yes, she would miss that dagger since it holds so much for her. I'm glad you caught up on that as well as why I'm doing what I'm doing with the story right now. It's a little hard to handle and intense but it's going to help move the story along. I always enjoy reading your reviews (as well as your stories) because you seem to grasp at the deeper meaning behind some of the things I do. I appreciate your reviews a great deal and must once again thank you for them. You are one of the few people who could criticize this story to the bone and I wouldn't become angry about it. Your writing is that good and I just wanted you to know that. (I am glad you haven't found anything to criticize yet though!)
Greenday11 – Sorry but it's a little late for that request. And there are several good reasons for it. This is just a bend in the road, they'll all get round it but it is a necessary evil. Considering the time period, rape is an easy choice, and sorry I took the easy choice this time. Thanks for reviewing, please continue to do so.
Snape's Opera Rose – Thank you you're so sweet! And I'm glad you still liked it despite what's happened. Thanks for reviewing and I will take that advice.
Lunawolf – Don't worry, do I ever let evil men go unpunished? And as for them dieing horribly…well they're going to be answering to Tristan so is that horrible enough? Well I'm glad you enjoyed the violence, there is more to come. And if she hadn't been dragged off there couldn't be. She had to be since the story was getting too happy go lucky even for me. Thanks for reviewing as always Luna!
Lilstrummrgrl527 – Thank you for the song! Everyone's focusing on Mariska and forgetting the joyous news of Dagonet's upcoming bundle, so thank you for that. And Tris drunk is hard to imagine, so the way I pictured it was regular Tristan with a grin and a bit more clingy (just for the fun of Tristan being clingy) and not really that much different. The others though, they just had to sing! I'm glad you still enjoyed the ambush scene. I get what you mean. And you NEVER have to worry about me killing Vanora. That would just be sacrilege of some sort. Well thank you for such a wonderful compliment. It means a lot that I can make you get that involved with the characters. I never cared for Stephan King (that is a very funny and true observation btw) so I never read his books. His movies were enough to turn me off except of course for the Green Mile. Loved that one, but I digress. Thanks again for your kind words and your review!
HyperSquishy – What an interesting name. And cliffhangers seem to be my specialty, has no one mentioned that? I try to update quickly when I write them though. Thanks for reviewing.
The Priestesses of Avalon
Chapter Seventeen: Pain and Anger
Mariska awoke with a groan, stretching her arms out to her sides, enjoying the feel of the bear hide against her skin. Smiling she opened her eyes slowly to find herself in the middle of her room back at the Temple, a nagging feeling at the back of her mind that she quickly brushed off. She was home.
"Best hurry or Master Woo's going to be very cross with you!" Esmeralda called from the doorway, her thirteen-year-old face shining in the morning light.
"Coming!" Mariska called, ignoring the fact that her friend was so much younger than she had been the day before…or was she? Brushing off her confusion she leapt from the bed and pulled on her training clothing, which consisted of loose fitting pants and shirt, all in a soft white fabric, and running out the door, pulling her hair up into a high ponytail as she did. She could not be late again. As she ran the halls around her faded in and out, causing her to become even more confused, but that confusion immediately melted away and was replaced by another feeling as she came out into the large clearing to see Duncan standing there next to Eric and the Master, smirking at her as she ran.
She blushed and smiled, falling into place quickly with the other girls, all anxious to start the day. It would be long and painful training as it was everyday, but it was worth it in the end, they all knew this.
Master Woo was an old man, old as the Earth some speculated, with a long thin white beard going down to his knees in a point, a white mustache coming down to the middle of his chest on either side of his lips and equally long white hair all unnaturally straight. His skin was a deep tan in color and his eyes, slanted and aged, missed nothing. He wore long white robes, which moved as if they were a part of him, and it was said he could hear a rabbit shift in the underbrush from over a hundred miles away. And while most of the girls themselves were as tall as him, some even taller, no one would ever dare say he was short.
He eyed them all before singling Mariska out, calling her forward and watching her closely. "Mariska….one of my best," he said after a moment, walking a half circle around her, stroking his beard and causing a small smile of satisfaction to grace her lips. "Your technique is flawless. Your delivery deadly."
"Thank you Master Woo," she said proudly, her head held up a bit higher.
"And yet you will never make it to master," he added sadly causing her face to fall.
"I do not understand," she turned and looked at him then, her entire being diminishing with those words. He was strong and smart, as her father had been, and incredibly kind with his students, which made his revelation affect her twice as much.
"You embrace that which makes you weak and bury that which could make you strong!" he said flipping his beard away and looking at her in almost disgust.
Mariska looked at him in confusion, tears welling in her eyes and that nagging feeling growing stronger. Why was he saying these things to her? This hadn't been what happened that day… he had told her these things in private, not before the others.
"Your anger weakens you! Makes you careless child! Leaves your back exposed," as he spoke the girls as well as Duncan and Eric faded from around her and Mariska stood alone with him in the clearing, although it barely registered for her as he continued on.
"Your pain, that you run from as a dog runs from an abusive master, gives you strength. Makes you fight against it to be free of it, and yet you do not! You bury it same as you always did and hide behind false anger!"
"Why do you tell me this?" she asked, her voice near tears. This was not right, she could feel that more and more now as the nagging grew to be almost deafening and the air around her grew colder.
"Because instead of fighting against those who would do you harm you live in a fantasy!" he yelled at her. "Because you have made yourself a hypocrite by forcing me to come here, when just days ago you told this very lesson to the Scout who is your lover!"
Mariska went rigid then. Master Woo had never yelled in his entire life. And he had died even before she and Duncan had come together. So how could he know of Tristan? And how could she know that things were not happening as they were supposed to be…
Suddenly, Mariska was watching as a copy of herself sat on the floor, her head in Tristan's lap in their quarters as he ran his fingers through her hair almost a fortnight earlier. It had taken her some time to get him to return to speak with her, after she had let something slip that morning as they had been riding. "What are you afraid of?" she asked him sadly, looking into the flames burning in the hearth.
"Loss," he answered, his hand massaging her scalp. "Pain."
"So that is what you run from? That is why you act so when I tell you that I love you? You are afraid that you will loose me as you did Miranda?" she looked up at him then, understanding in his eyes.
"Aye," he held her gaze, his eyes saddened more than she had ever seen them.
"A wise man once told me that to embrace our pain and our fear makes us stronger," she said after a moment, bringing her head up to look at him. "To misplace our anger and deny the other only distracts us from our true purpose. I cannot promise you I will never leave you, but I can promise I will do everything in my power to avoid it."
He regarded her for a long moment before leaning over, whispering I love you against her lips before capturing them in an intense kiss.
Mariska spoke then, as she watched all of this, a feeling of unease settling over her as the nagging grew ever stronger. "You surprise me Master Woo. I never took you as the kind to wish to mind fuck with people," she knew the language was vulgar, even by her standards, but she could not care at the moment.
"And I never took you for the kind to speak to your elders so," Master Woo chided her, not as angry as she would have thought him to be for her obvious sign of disrespect.
"Well, when my elders are dead, it makes me dare more than usual," she replied coolly.
The image changed then and she was now standing in the middle of Master Woo's quarters, watching as he lay sleeping in his bed. Only he was not sleeping. She looked to her right to see him standing there, watching the scene with her, sadness in his eyes.
"I am dead," she said after a moment, somewhat confused. This was not the Elysia she was used to and Master Woo had been to good a man to end up in Hades.
"Not yet, but you may as well be," he answered, turning with a huff and walking from the room and out into the clear open air. "Walking through your memories with an old man instead of fighting."
"You are dead though. I found you. Why are you here?" she followed after him, ignoring his last comment, her mind not ready to see what was right in front of her.
"To make you see what you do not wish to see," he stopped and turned on his heel to face her. "Embrace your pain my child. Let it give you the strength you need," he cupped her cheek. "Before it is too late. Embrace that which you avoid and release that which hinders you."
"I released my anger! I have forgiven him!" she yelled pushing him away, thinking to her Grandfather.
"It is not your anger for Merlin of which I speak! Nor your anger at Duncan for dying or the anger that will surely grow in you towards Tristan for not keeping what is happening to you now from happening! The anger that you have forever had at yourself! I tell you now, as you should have been told then and perhaps you may listen! You did not kill your mother nor your father nor anyone else for that matter that you have loved! And you are not responsible for what is happening now!"
She looked at him in shock for a long moment. No one had ever spoken to her so in her life and now, as the truth of his words sank in she looked at him with a child's innocence. "What shall I do now?"
"Embrace it child," he stepped forward and took her face into his hands. "And get angry at the right person this time. You were my finest student Mariska, but that does not keep you safe from the hardships of life. All you can do now is face them, and come out the stronger for it. I see it in you now, everyday, as I walk by your side, and as I saw it in you then. Be as strong as I, Sonia, your sisters and these knights you have come to love know you can be."
He leaned over and kissed her forehead before slowly fading from before her, as did the bright cheerful scene about her, sending her into darkness and towards the horrors that awaited her upon wakening.
xoxoxoxoxoxox
The knights and ladies rode quickly away from the fort, the sun now coming up over the horizon. The women could recognizing the workings of a spell, as Mariska's captures could not have made it so far ahead without one's aid. Vigdis, now joined by Saoirse, flew high in the sky above them, hooting down periodically with news.
"Can you see her yet Jasmine?" Gawain shouted as they moved fast over the land, struggling to keep up with Tristan, who was focused on any little indication he could find in the dirt of where they went.
"Nay, they are still to far yet," she replied, worry and frustration thick in her voice. "I still cannot see…"
"We will find her," Arthur assured her, bringing his horse astride with her own. "Trust us." He took her hand and gave it a quick reassuring squeeze as they rode on.
Suddenly a group of Woads emerged from the darkness, a tall man with swirling lines tattooed about his eyes leading them. Tristan kept on while the others slowed. Nothing would distract him from finding her.
"Merlin has sent us," the man spoke to Arthur, bowing his head in respect to his King. "He searches for her with the stones and prepares the infirmary, just in case."
Arthur nodded, his face stern as they quickened their pace. "Fall in and keep up then," he said, as they rode harder, worry beginning to enter his heart.
xoxoxoxoxoxox
Coming back to consciousness this time was unlike anything Mariska had ever experienced. Her head began to throb and bits and pieces of light began to filter through her eyelids. She felt a pressure on her and dreaded opening her eyes, having a growing fear in her heart of what she would find when she did; what the nerves in her body were already telling her was being done. Master Woo's words came back to her then. Embrace your pain.
So she did.
Her eyes opened, and she kept back the scream and the bile that built in her throat as she looked up into the filthy Saxon's face as he raped her. Pain flashed across her body then, but she did not ignore it. Instead she soaked it all in; the bruising she could feel forming all over her face and body; the shortness of breath she felt as her broken rib pushed against her lung; the dried blood at the back of her head the knot with it throbbing in tune with the beat of her heart; and the pain between her thighs. She glared at him then, catching every inch of his face, his eyes closed in pleasure, his friends laughing as they watched on the rage and hurt and fear building inside her into something she had aught experienced before. A power she had never known she had…a power that she let take over.
Suddenly, feeling her gaze his eyes opened, and his face contorted in fear as he looked down at her own face in horror, his body freezing in terror. Her eyes, were completely black. No whites, no greens or blues, just black, from one corner to the other. And the rage that glowed there was unlike any that he had ever seen in his lifetime and it caused his blood to run cold.
Before he could move she brought her head up fast, shattering his nose. This caused him to cry out, blood pouring into his hand, and pull away from her, leaving her body so that she could bring her knees up into his exposed groin, causing him to cry out once more as he tried to decide which part of his body needed the most protection. As all the men watched awestruck she twisted back and reached into her boot, pulling free the dagger they had missed and slitting the bindings about her wrists and feet before slamming it home into his eye, her face contorted with rage and a feral growl escaping her lips.
The men all watched as their comrade fell, and a few, shaking themselves from their stupor went to move forward, only to have her look at them, her eyes stopping them in their tracks.
"You dared touch me?" she asked, her voice quiet, raging flowing off her in waves. Outside, where Merlin's lieutenant stood with the now Saxon leader, the clouds began to roll in unnaturally fast, thunder echoing across the sky. They watched in horror as the sky turned blacker than night.
"What magic is this?" the Saxon asked, looking around, fear gripping him for a moment.
"The witch is awake!" the Woad spoke, fear clear in his voice as they both turned quickly running into the cave.
xoxoxoxoxoxox
Meanwhile, the knights noticed the change in weather as well and turned to Hayley, who sat wide-eyed on her horse. "This is no natural thing," she whispered, feeling the magic and rage and pain flowing through the air chilling her to her very core.
"Jas can you see her now?" Esmeralda asked
Jasmine was rooted to her saddle, a horrific scene playing before her minds eye. Mariska had finally listened to Master Woo, and those who had touched her today were about to pay dearly. "Oh yes, I can," she whispered before pointing towards a mountain in the distance. "A cave there I think."
"You think?" Lancelot asked slightly irritated.
"It is unclear the path ahead," she replied a bit agitated. "A sign is forth coming, but we must wait for it."
"It is over a half day journey there," Tristan growled. "We cannot wait."
"Patience is a virtue," Jasmine replied her voice annoyed but her heart agreeing with him more than he would ever know.
xoxoxoxoxoxox
The lieutenant and Saxon leader entered in time to see the dagger being pulled from the man's eye, dripping in blood as he slumped to the floor. She looked up and caught their eyes and they froze in terror as the rest of the men had. "You dared to touch a PRIESTESS OF AVALON!" she bellowed, the thunder crashing across the sky, a bolt of lightening shooting through a hole at the tope of the cave they were hiding in, striking the man's dead body at her feet.
Mariska stood unaffected as the men took a collective gasp, a few stepping back and running for the opening of the cave, only to find some unseen force keeping them from exiting. "And you helped them," her voice was quieter than before as she locked her tar like eyes on the Woad, contempt lacing her every word. "You will regret that," she added softly, her hand coming up before her, fingers outspread. That was when the lightening struck again, ripping through the ceiling and straight into his body, causing him to scream in agony.
xoxoxoxoxoxox
As soon as the second bolt struck in the same area, the knights new where she was.
"We'll never make it in time," Galahad said, as the horses reared in anxiety. "It's half days journey!"
Esmeralda looked at them all then, the fear, anger and worry that had settled over the entire group eating at her. One thought coming to her mind. Mariska would do even more for her. "Lancelot, I must be on your horse!" she said, riding up to her lover.
"Is now the time for that really?" Lance asked confused.
"I will need my concentration for what I am about to do. Please, just allow me to ride with you!" her voice was urgent as she spoke and the other two women looked at her knowingly.
Without a word he scooted back in the saddle, bringing her before him and wrapping his arms about her waist. With a deep breath she took a sundial from her saddlebag before looking at her horse closely. "Keep up will you?"
The large stallion nodded and gave a snort of agreement before she cupped the sundial in her hands, closing her eyes and taking another deep breath, she leaned back against Lancelot so that she need focus on nothing save the spell while the others all looked on at her in shock as she began to weave the magic.
"Time, stand still, I command you!
No minutes pass until we are through
Doing what we must do.
Time, stand still, I command you!"
She began to chant, the Woads all watching in awe as around them the very breeze began to slow.
"Wot is this?" Bors asked, watching in shock as Esmeralda's eyes rolled back into her head, her voice droning on.
"She's frozen time," Hayley explained, already spurring her horse along with Tristan, Dagonet and Arthur.
"It should affect all but us and buy us some time!" Jasmine yelled, spurring her own steed as they all took off at a fast gallop, towards the hill where the lightening bolt was still frozen across the sky.
xoxoxoxoxoxox
For those who magic is their life, spells affect them differently. And while the Saxon's and the Woad in the cave did not realize that there had been any affect on time, Mariska did. She noticed first that the lightening stopped pulsing as it struck him, and his screaming seemed to slow. Even the water that had been rolling down the walls of the cave halted, instead falling drop by agonizing drop and by the time that one drop had splashed down on the rock floor and she could blink her eyes once, the horses could be heard coming up outside.
She forced her gaze towards the opening of the cave, and as Tristan and then Gawain's horses came into sight, the magic ended, time resuming as it was before. The lieutenant's screams became even louder before they silenced all together, the lightening disappearing as quickly as it had come and his burnt corpse fell with a loud thud upon the floor.
Outside, Esmeralda collapsed exhaustedly against Lancelot, her head lolling to the side as he caught his arms about her. "Arthur!" he called to his friend, looking worriedly down at his lover.
"Stay with her," Arthur said, already dismounting with the rest, watching as Jasmine knocked an arrow into her bow.
"You stupid little witch!" the Saxon leader seethed in his native tongue, taking a step towards Mariska, his arm poised to strike her only to pause, his eyes crossing to look up at the arrowhead jutting from the front of his forehead, blood dripping of the tip before he fell unceremoniously to the ground.
Mariska looked up, expecting to thank Jasmine, only to see Tristan standing there, his bowstring still vibrating from the release of the arrow. Jasmine's arrow flew then, striking the Saxon that had been coming up behind Mariska in the eye, sending him to the ground. Mariska and Tristan's eyes locked, the black quickly draining and being replaced by the normal green, tears streaming down her face. Before she could not submit to the pain this way, for it would mean her death. Now, with her friends and those she thought of as family pouring into the cave, taking heads as they went, she was able to sink to the ground, sobbing in relief, exhaustion and pain.
Tristan and Hayley were at her side in an instant, Tristan taking her about the shoulders to steady her while Hayley examined the wound about the back of her head.
"What did they do to you?" Tristan asked, his voice low as he gazed at her, reaching up to wipe away the tears that were falling. She could only look at him, the tears falling faster. "Did they touch you?" he finally ground out, his voice laced with anger and hatred.
All she could do was nod dumbly before burying her head in Hayley's shoulder, sobbing uncontrollably. Hayley looked down at her friend, anger and grief on her own normally peaceful features before looking back up to Tristan, locking eyes with the scout. "Leave none breathing," she growled, clutching Mariska tighter to her, rocking her gently.
Tristan nodded, capturing all the pain and anger in his heart and using it. When he stood, the room actually fell silent, and everyone in it paused to look at him. It was as if the room were almost possessed, and his sword leaving it's scabbard echoed about it. The knights all backed off then, as did Jasmine, holding out her hand in front of her which Arthur immediately took, leading her back towards the exit, blocking it with the others.
Tristan's eyes raked over the remaining Saxon's, around thirty in total, his face cold with hatred. For a moment all their breaths caught before one decided he was brave enough, or rather stupid enough, to face the scout. He fell quickly, his head flying to one wall while his body sank to a heap on the floor. Tristan kept with the motion, moving fluidly through the group, leaving none alive in his wake.
The knights watched on in a mixture of shock and a bit of fear. They had not seen him cut such a path of death since Miranda had died, and then there had not been as many. Arthur clutched Jasmine's hand tighter, thanking his God that she was blind and could not see what was going on before them, although saddened that he could not protect her from the sounds of their agonized screams, echoing off the walls around them.
When Tristan was finished, the floor was thick with blood and his breathing was only slightly labored. Dagonet stepped forward then, saying his name softly and placing a hand gently on his shoulder. Tristan whirled on him, dropping his blade as soon as he realized who it was, the rage and anger subsiding a little as he re-sheathed his sword. He cast a glance over at the other men before strolling towards Mariska, taking her up into his arms, hers flying about his neck, clinging desperately to him as he carried her silently out of the cave, her sobs the only noise left to be heard.
"Knights, lets go home," Arthur said after a moment, the others following him out of the cave, Jasmine on his arm while Hayley clung to Dagonet, her face emotionless, leaving the bodies to rot.
Authors Note: Wow that was an intense chapter to write. But it's amazing how strong we can be until someone we view as stronger than us shows up. I know when I'm faced with hard challenges I do pretty good until my mom or dad show up, and then I feel it's okay to break down, and that was what I was trying to relay with Mariska. She looks at Tristan and her sisters and the other knights as stronger than her, while the others look the same way towards her. So she crashed as soon as they got there, knowing that it was okay then because they could protect her. Hope I got that point across. The spell in this chapter, like the one used to raise the dragon, does not exactly work as I've used it but just thought it would add to the story. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter better than the last one. We got yet an even deeper look into Mariska's past, as well as a glimpse of her true inner power. R&R and no flames please.
Oh and please go check out Duo Quadim, a joint project written by Tracy137 and myself. Let us know what you think. It's under the name A Tracy-Calliann Production and we're both rather proud of it.