A/N: Enter my favourite character! The title says it all.
Yrael
In the morning, Tirelle and King Berillan crossed the threshold of the Wallmaker's home. The Clayr smiled when she saw Abhorsen asleep in his chair. He was sprawled most ungracefully, mouth slightly open, and snored softly. Where was a painter when you needed one?
The Wallmaker Felio was cleaning equipment, and nodded in welcome. "The sword is finished", he told them in an undertone so as not to wake the young Lord. "The Wallmaker is putting some last protective spells on it."
As if summoned, Ghidreth came through a door that led into one of the back rooms. Something wrapped in a blue cloth was tucked under her arm. Tirelle froze at the sight, and a shivering wave of premonition swept over her. The King gently shook Abhorsen, who sat up, rubbing sleep from his eyes. He got to his feet, tugging at his blue and silver surcoat in an attempt to make himself look more presentable.
Nobody spoke as Ghidreth put the bundle down on her workbench and drew aside the cloth. She turned, and lying across her calloused brown palms was the magnificent sword from Tirelle's dream. The innumerable Charter symbols that were etched along the blade flickered into life, golden light catching on the emerald in the pommel and making it sparkle.
Abhorsen reached out tentatively with his pale hand and grasped the handle. He tilted the sword, and Tirelle could see a flash of writing on the shining blade. "The Clayr Saw me", the young lord read slowly. "The Wallmaker made me. The King quenched me. Abhorsen wields me." He reached out with his bandaged hand, white fingers lightly brushing the words before they faded. "It is beautiful", he said softly.
Felio stepped forward, and offered the tooled sword-belt and scabbard with a slight bow. Abhorsen removed his patched old belt and brown leather scabbard, which held his chipped and rusty sword, and buckled on the new one. He sheathed the Charter blade smoothly, and Tirelle had to admit that the weapon really did belong at his side.
A sudden banging sound caused everyone to jump about a foot into the air. "What was that?" Tirelle demanded, eyes turning automatically to a small door in the back of the room.
"That?" Ghidreth asked in an innocent tone that fooled no one. "That was the sound of a… a guest of mine, I suppose."
The King tilted an eyebrow, a smile twitching his lips. "You keep your guests locked up, do you?" he asked, laughter in his voice.
The Wallmaker sighed irritably and threw up her hands. "All right, come along." She strode over to the door and wrenched it open with a flourish, bowing them all through with exaggerated courtesy.
Tirelle followed the King into the small room. The first thing she noticed was that it was quite dark, and was lit by a bluish-white light. She blinked, and realized that the light was coming from a strange man-like figure sitting inside a large square cage against the wall. But this cage was unlike any other that Tirelle had seen. For one, it was made completely of bronze. For another, it was saturated with Charter marks. The ones that she could identify were strong spells of binding and shielding.
She felt the King place a hand on her shoulder to draw her away from the cage. Whatever the thing was inside, it was very dangerous.
Lord Abhorsen broke the silence. "Who are you?" he demanded, addressing the shining figure directly.
The thing tilted its head up, and Tirelle found herself looking into a pair of flashing green eyes. It opened its mouth and hissed, but said nothing.
Ghidreth moved to stand beside the cage. "This is a Free Magic creature", she explained. "A prisoner of the Seven. They kept him bound with their own strength, but when they chose to start to leave this world they put him in my care. Before he was known as Yrael, but his old name carries power, and we have to call him something else."
"My niece named him Mogget when she saw him", Felio remarked dryly from the doorway. "She thought he was some sort of pet. Of course, he was in a different form, then."
"You mean he can change shape?" Tirelle gasped.
The thing – Mogget, she supposed he must be called – looked up at her, and suddenly an enormous white tiger was standing within the cage. It opened its mouth, dagger-like fangs bared, and roared, and Tirelle stumbled back across the room.
"Mogget!" the Wallmaker said sharply. The tiger turned its green gaze on the other woman before deliberately turning his back in what was a blatantly dismissive gesture. "He can be difficult", Ghidreth explained with a sigh. "I have created spells to control him, but it would involve binding him to a person. As you can imagine, there haven't been many volunteers."
The Wallmaker continued to speak, but Tirelle found that Ghidreth's voice was fading. Images sprang unbidden into her mind. She saw flashes of moments – countless moments with this creature in a bound form, serving a multitude of different people. And these various people all wore the blue and silver of Lord Abhorsen's bloodline. She saw Mogget as a falcon alighting on the arm of a handsome young man. She saw Mogget as a dwarf fighting beside an aged Abhorsen against a necromancer. She saw Mogget as a cat sitting with a woman in a strange flying device. She saw Mogget, unbound, advancing upon a girl with a bloody nose…
"Lady Clayr? Tirelle?"
The Seer opened her eyes, and found herself sprawled on the ground surrounded by concerned faces. "I saw him", she breathed. Ignoring the murmurs of bewilderment and concern, she sat up. "I saw that Mogget creature. He was serving the descendents of Lord Abhorsen."
Everyone turned their eyes to the young necromancer, who appeared to be just as baffled as the rest of them. He looked from Tirelle to the tiger pacing restlessly in its cage, and back to the Seer again.
Ghidreth was the first to recover. "If bound to your blood, he could make a valuable servant", the Wallmaker said neutrally, as if this sort of thing happened all the time. "Will you take him, Lord Abhorsen?"
The young lord gulped. "Lady Clayr Saw this sword", he whispered, placing a white hand on the pommel stone. "I will trust her visions in this."
"Very well." The Wallmaker walked over to the cage. "Mogget", she said clearly, "Lord Abhorsen has agreed to take you into his service. Will you accept?"
"I will not!" the creature replied, flesh swirling back into his Free Magic form.
Ghidreth leaned her head closer to the bronze bars. "If you do not volunteer", she said sweetly, "We will need to bind you."
"Of course I will not volunteer!" the Mogget grated. "Who would volunteer to serve a thoughtless young half-wit?"
Abhorsen frowned and opened his mouth to say something, but King Berillan stopped him with a hand on his arm.
From her finger, the Wallmaker removed a silver ring. Tirelle admired its sparkling diamond. She watched as Ghidreth drew her dagger, and extended it for the second time in two days to Abhorsen. The young lord did not wait for instructions, and pricked his finger on the tip. Ghidreth allowed a single drop to drip onto the diamond. When the liquid dribbled away Tirelle saw that the gem had absorbed the colour, and was now the deep red of a ruby.
The Wallmaker extended the ring towards Mogget, who was looking at it suspiciously. "Yrael", Ghidreth said loudly. "I bind you, with this ring, and by the Charter, to serve Lord Abhorsen. You are forced into flesh, and are to take no form capable of overpowering the Abhorsen while bound." So saying, the woman slipped the ring, which had somehow grown to the size of a dinner plate, deftly over the creature's head. As the metal slipped over the crackling blue and white body, the creature opened his mouth in an indignant scream. "Quick!" Ghidreth hissed to Abhorsen. "Bind him!"
With a practiced hand, the young man drew one of his bells and rang it. A low booming sound filled the room and Tirelle felt herself frozen in place. The ring tightened around the creature's middle, and it shrieked even louder.
"You bind me with Saraneth?" the Mogget spat venomously. But he was swirling into a column of white fire, growing more solid before becoming a small bearded man dressed in gleaming white. The silver ring soaked up the leaking colour of the ruby, and became a red leather belt. A miniature bell hung from where the buckle would be.
The dwarf doubled up in a sudden coughing fit, and spat out a silver ring which rolled between the bars and bumped into Abhorsen's boot. The young man bent to pick it up, and slipped it onto his finger.
Ghidreth opened the door of the cage, and the white dwarf stepped out, glaring in impotent fury up at them all. "It is a temporary binding", the Wallmaker said offhandedly to Abhorsen. "It requires a last bit of spellwork to become permanent. Until then, he will serve you faithfully, should you decide to go back on your decision."
"I'm not sure that it was the right one", King Berillan remarked, looking down at the still-glowering dwarf.
Abhorsen grinned. "Oh, I don't know", he said. "I've always wondered what it was like to have a servant."
In answer, the dwarf bared his sharp little teeth.
A/N: Ah, good old Mogget. Now – due to the binding – he is not many things, only several. Reviews and questions make me happy!