SkekEkt whimpered. His whole body shook in fear at the sight before him. The Necromancer. The one who made him transform into a hideous creature. The one who made him attack Ghost. His mind began to race back the things that happened at the wretched castle. The jeers. The taunts. Claws, teeth, whips and blades tearing at his clothes. Grueling pain. He covered his eyes.
"Ah…" If the Necromancer was smirking, his mask hid it well. "There's my pet." He raised a hand. A dark aura appeared but disappeared the moment a flash of light appeared on SkekEkt's body. A strange symbol that resembled a shield with Ram horns. "Interesting...A protection rune."
"Protection rune?" Rian whispered. He looked at Ordon with confusion.
"What do you want?" Ghost growled. It was beginning to sound more feral than normal. Her eyes focused on SkekMal. Her body stayed in place. The word "protect" dancing in her mind.
"I simply want the Blue Haze." The Necromancer held up SkekMal. "A trade if you will."
"Blue Haze?" Ghost asked.
"He means me." The Djinn answered. He began to crawl around until he was on top of Ghost's chest. A blue eye emotionlessly staring at the enemy. "I have chosen my mistress. I'm obligated to do as she commands. You have no power over me."
"Oh Thra," Gurjin mutters. "This night keeps getting weirder."
"Actually…" The Necromancer pulled out a box. "You were supposed to be guarding these. Remember. The hearts."
SkekTek gasped. "Ghost! I just remembered." He lowered himself down to whisper in Ghost's ear. "Back at King Neco's castle, one brute made a mention of sparing others of their pain."
Ghost froze in place. Her mind goes back to what King Neco said about emotions. A large knot in her throat. "Y-you don't think...those stones are actually…"
"Yes." The Blue Haze said. "Those 'stones' are actually hearts that I helped remove for the sake of sparing the burden of emotions."
Ghost looked about in pure horror. Her hands shook. Her mouth went dry. Her stomach churning. She looked at SkekEkt. Were they trying to take his heart too? Ghost thought. Then, she glanced over to SkekMal. The Hunter thrashing to break free of the iron grip on his tail. Will they steal his? "Let him go."
"I don't take orders from the likes of you, Gelfling." The Necromancer spoke. He tightened his grip on SkekMal's tail until there were a few cracking sounds heard. "The Blue Haze has great power over hearts and you have no control over him. You may have made a statement with the Shadow Madness but the little charade is done." He extended his claws. "The Blue Haze."
Ghost gripped a little tighter. "He doesn't want to go with you." Even, Orchid, who still perched on her shoulder, clung tightly. She couldn't explain why, but her whole body began to tingle with a strange energy as she said those words.
The Necromancer tucked the box away. He snapped his fingers. A howl vibrated throughout the forest. In a flash, bony creatures appeared. Some of them being long dead Landstriders and Fizzgigs. Others were from creatures of an unknown world. Their hollow eyes are targeting the group. A circle of white surrounding them.
Deet gasped. Her spine went cold at the sight of them. Her memory of her vision returned to her. She shivered. She reached out for Ghost only for Hup to hold her back. She noticed SkekEkt give a soundless screech and ran over to the group that hid underneath the blue Starbird.
Suddenly, The Blue Haze eye began to glow. A light blue mist exploded. The air turned cool around them. A thickness that can't be seen through the regular eye. Even the glowing light of the Starbirds feathers could be barely seen. Shouts of shock were heard. Growls were soon met by screeches. A grunt from the Hunter followed by a crack in the chaos.
Ghost could see the shadow of the Hunter heading toward her. A gleam of metal briefly seen. Her heart thundered loudly. Fear crept over her heart. She didn't want anyone hurt, but...She was very hurt by the Skeksis. They took her in. Became the only family she's ever known. Now...It felt like she barely knew them. Did they care about her? She looked at SkekTek. He possibly did...She thought. After all, Tek was always afraid of the Emperor. He went as far as punching SkekSo. She turned to the form of the Necromancer. Some of the mist began to fade and more boney features were seen. That Necromancer won't stop. If only I had something to fight him with! A sword, A bow and arrow- A flash of light blinded her. Her fingers began to feel something changing. Smooth skin turned into something hard and firm.
"Mistress…" The Blue Haze said. "When a Djinn is bonded, they can take on the form of anything based on the heart of the master. I still do not truly understand why I was attracted to you. Emotions weaken our kind. Make us vulnerable. Perhaps...you and the Skeksis are an oddity to me."
"Oddity?"
"In my time, I've had hearts that store one emotion. Mostly fear and sorrow. However, there's a cumbersome mix. You're angry at them for making you keep a secret that heavily affected this...Thra. As well as being their servant and pet." The Djinn's eye lowered slightly. "However, you see them as...family? What is 'family'?"
"They took me in when no one could at the time." Ghost explained. Her fingers tightened. "I want to protect them and I want to protect my friends. Rian...Gurjin...Deet...Hup...Orchid...Shield….Ordon...They all deserve so much."
"What is your wish, Mistress?"
"I want to protect should be home to everyone." As she said those words, the glow faded. In her hand was a bow. A large eye set up on the knotch. Arms arranged as a six pointed star. Ghost looked up as the mist began to fade.
Bones were scattered around. Some with a few complete skeletons. Rian raised his sword. His arm was bleeding. Gurjin next to him, breathing hard. Ordon stood on top of a skull. Hup waved his broken spoon around. Razz circled around the house, letting out a few screeches. Deet comforted SkekEkt and the other individuals that huddled beneath a very angry Starbird. The white Starbird was with the group, hissing. SkekMal and SkekTek were behind Ghost. The Hunter holding the box in his claws. Both Skeksis stared in horror.
In front of them was a more skeletal Necromancer. A lemur creature with red eyes that burned with a strange emptiness. A long tail arched. A spike at the end. Each time he breathed, a whistling sound vibrated in the Dark Forest. "Give...me...The Djinn!" He screeched. He reached out toward Ghost.
Without thinking, Ghost grabbed the bowstring. She muttered something that crawled into her head. An arrow of pure light appeared. She gasped. In one fluid movement, she released the arrow. It flew. The light suddenly transformed into a bird and struck the center of the Necromancer's ribcage. Ghost shielded her eyes as a bright light exploded. Her body pulled close to SkekTek.
The Necromancer roared. The bones turned to stone. Flowers sprouted beneath him. He clawed and bit but nothing worked. He glanced at them one last time. "Impossible! Only those with strong magic can do this! You may have beaten me but you will never destroy the rest of the Bone Court. Death shall rule over all!" Soon, there was nothing but a statue that crumbled into dust.
Gurjin stood there. His jaw dropped. "What….just happened?"
"Star magic…" Razz answered. He soon perched on SkekMal, who was too stunned to even notice. "Star magic happened."
"Razz…" SkekTek said. "You have some serious explaining to do."
Orchid shivered. She inched herself closer to Ghost's neck. The Threader had never seen anything like it. A strange calm during all that chaos. The strange language that her friend muttered. It was almost as if Ghost was calling out to the light.
Ghost let out a shaky breath. She looked down at the bow. Slowly, it warped back into the Blue Haze. She allowed the creature to crawl onto her back. Her gaze went to SkekMal. Ghost took a moment to open the box and stare at the hearts. They all glittered and pulsed. Life...Emotion...All of it inside these stones. Ghost reached out. Tears in her eyes. "Is...Is there any way to reverse this?"
The Blue Haze's eye began to droop. "That isn't my intended purpose. Do you really wish to bring the burden of emotion to them all?"
"Emotion isn't a burden…"Ghost said. She could already feel the exhaustion take a toll on her. She shut the lid of the box. "It's part of being alive. All creatures need it. Be it Gelfling, Podling, Djinn, Skeksis…" She found herself looking at SkekMal. Her hearts fluttered slightly. "If you don't say it's impossible….Then I wish to try."
The Blue Haze closed his eye. "Very well. I shall use all my power to help fulfill that desire."
Ghost looked over her shoulder. She wasn't sure how the Djinn would help her, but she should take a few steps at a time. Her body felt tired, yet her mind screamed to start her journey. The Necromancer may be gone, but the threat is far from over. She gave a small smile and stroked one of the arms that held on to her. "Perhaps...I should give you a new name. I want to call you something aside from Blue Haze."
"What name do you inquire about?" The Blue Haze asked. His eye opened.
Ghost thought for a moment. She began to take note for the first time how blue the Djinn is. The pattern of the arm having to be armor. Jewel-like armor. She remembered SkekShod, the Treasurer. He once showed her gemstones and gave their names. One of her favorites was the Lapis Lazuli. The deep blue that had golden flecks as if it was trying to mimic the sky. She also remembered that one part of the stones name means "From the Heavens" in another language. "Lazul…" She said. "Your name will be Lazul."
That's it for this chapter. Review. Lazul is going to be an interesting character to work with.
