Col. Tavington followed Sephardim down the hallway towards the lord general's quarters. They had met up with Gen. O'Hara down on the grounds of Middleton Place, and he insisted on leading them in.
As Tavington watched Sephardim walk, he realized how graceful her stride was, and for a moment, he couldn't tell if she was walking on air or the ground as they made their way into the Middleton Place estate.
"In here." O'Hara said, ushering them into Cornwallis' quarters.
He seemed very happy about something; it was most likely because Col. Tavington had captured a real Briquet De Vie.
"Milord, Col. Tavington has captured what you deem to be a myth." Gen. O'Hara announced triumphantly.
Cornwallis raised an eyebrow and then began laughing when Sephardim came to a halt in front of him.
"Is something wrong, sir?" Tavington asked.
"Tell me, young lady," Cornwallis drawled, "how much did the colonel pay you to do this?"
Sephardim raised an eyebrow to him.
"I was not paid to do anything, sir." she replied cooly. "Your men purposely killed a man, and I came to retrieve him. That is when the colonel took me away and brought me here."
The lord general stared hard at her and then suddenly burst out laughing.
"You've memorized your lines, I see. That's very amusing, Colonel. Very, very-"
CRASH!
A porcelain plate flew across the room and smashed against the wall, just inches from the lord general's head.
"How dare you mock her!" a low, yet sharp female voice hissed. "Imbecilic, foolish mortal!"
Another plate flew across the room and smashed in the same spot and some of the candles that Cornwallis had lit went out.
"Imbecilic, foolish mortal!" the voice hissed again.
"What is going on?" the lord general demanded in a raised voice.
"Estartae..." Sephardim whispered softly. "Vie Maudite."
A black mist swirled around the room, and began whirling together. Soon there was an outline of a female body, and then facial features and clothing. As the figure continued to evolve from the midst, Tavington began to recognize her. The long ebony hair; the black cloak; the black dress and silver seams; the scar on the right side of her face, and the jagged scar that shone on her forearm as she thrust it out before her threateningly, holding her hand out palm-up as black cords began coiling like snakes around it. This particular Briquet De Vie was present the night that Tavington's father had died.
"How dare you mock my fellow leader!" she yelled suddenly, her red eye gleaming brightly in rage, while her black eye remained cold and emotionless.
"Estartae don't." Sephardim warned.
Estartae's face twisted in rage and from the coils of black around her hand, she produced a knife and pointed it at Cornwallis.
"He mocks you so!" she hissed. "He has mocked us both!"
Glaring at Cornwallis with her red eye, Estartae threw the knife at the lord general. There was a sudden flash like lightning and the next thing anyone knew, Sephardim was holding the knife by the blade. Cornwallis' jaw dropped.
"Estartae, do not cause trouble." she said cooly, trying to mask the anxiety she was feeling. "Can you not see that I may already be in trouble now?"
"How can you be in trouble now?" Estartae demanded. "He's the one who kidnapped you!"
Angrily, she picked up an ink bottle and hurled it at Col. Tavington.
"Estartae leave!" Sephardim ordered. "This is my problem. Let me deal with it as I see fit."
Estartae glanced over at Col. Tavington who had his hand on the butt of his pistol.
"Don't think I don't remember you." she spat at him. "It's your bloody father's fault I'm like this! Yes, I enjoyed disposing of his despicable soul. I have been punished for it of course, but I don't care a damn anymore. I have a new goal. For when you die, I will be the first to find you, and when I do, I will send you straight to where he is n-"
The room was engulfed in white light once again, and Cornwallis and Tavington had to cover their eyes for a short second.
"You know better than to threaten the fate of a mortal!" Sephardim said harshly. "Estartae, I am asking you as a friend and fellow leader to please leave."
Estartae didn't move.
"Because you are my friend and fellow leader, I will leave and they will not be harmed." Estartae whispered quietly, her eyes burning brightly with rage.
Quickly, she turned to Tavington and said in a low, threatening voice, "You will free her after this. If you don't, I promise I will see you again."
With that, she left in a gust of wind and black mist, knocking over a tall wooden bookshelf which Col. Tavington had to dodge, as her cruel evil laughter lingered in the room and then disappeared with a final cloud of black mist.
Cornwallis stared stared at Sephardim, his mouth opening and closing.
"I ask that you forgive her." Sephardim said humbly. "It's not her fault that she is the way she is."
Cornwallis continued to open and close his mouth. Col. Tavington smirked.
"You're really one of them." Cornwallis said slowly. "You really are.."
"Yes." Sephardim replied. "I am."
"What do you want with her?" Tavington asked.
"You heard what the other one said." Cornwallis answered in a slightly higher voice than usual. "let her go."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Col. Tavington led Sephardim back outside.
"Please forgive me," he said, "forgive me for the inconvenience. You have my word that it won't happen again."
"No, I suppose it won't." Sephardim replied. "I must be getting back now. I don't think we need another war to occur."
"Sephardim," Tavington said suddenly, "will I see you again?"
"would you like to?" Sephardim asked.
"You seem to have wisdom and valuable information." the colonel said. "It may be useful to me..."
"if you wish to contact me, you must be very careful of what you think of." Sephardim replied. "Think of death. Be aware though, if you think of it in the wrong way, you will most likely have another run-in with Estartae."
Before Tavington could say a word, Sephardim became translucent and soon disappeared, leaving nothing but a cloud of white mist in her wake.
Don't think of it in the wrong way.. Tavington thought, Don't think of death in the wrong way...
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" he asked out loud.
You'll see.. a female voice echoed in his head. You'll see...