Mockeries: An Introduction

The mockery is a terrible beast that is most commonly found in the deep jungles of Conan. However, there have been accounts of some of the species leaving their usual habitat and entering civilization. When this happens, they bring widespread panic and disaster. No one knows a mockery's true form as they are always shifting between stolen identities. It is difficult to get rid of a mockery for many reasons. The first of which being their mimicry of other species is absolute and flawless in its detail. In the wild, they mock other beasts. Once they reach humanity they are able to perfectly mimic humans and even find specific persons to turn into the mocked. They are also extremely difficult to kill once they find someone to turn into the mocked. On rare occasions, they are known to strike deals with humans. Do not enter into an agreement with a mockery. Mockeries are treacherous beasts and while they are loyal to their word, they often manipulate the agreement to suit their own purposes. There are no known cases of a deal between a mockery and a human where there was not mass bloodshed. Once a mockery has been unleashed on a town it is difficult to stop.

Mockeries: Diet

Mockeries can eat nearly anything they come across. There is no way to starve a mockery as it can sustain itself for weeks on the smallest morsel of food. Their favorite meal is meat. It is easy to track a mockery through the jungle by the trail of carnage it leaves behind. A single mockery has been known to devour an entire herd of black fanged elephants. They cannot be killed by traditional means and this makes them almost unstoppable in the wild. If a mockery's bloodlust becomes too much for the jungle and it ventures into a city or town the best thing to do is to evacuate until the beast can be dealt with by trained hunters.

Mockeries: The Mocked

A mockery can only hold its shape for a few minutes at most generally. The only way for a mockery to mock something for longer than that time is if they have a mocked one. A person becomes mocked when a mockery comes into possession of a personal item belonging to their target. As long as a mockery has a personal item, it can mock that person for as long as desired. One of the ways they acquire the behaviors of the mocked is by bloodletting. The mockery can see memories of the mocked if it has access to fresh blood from the person. Once it knows the memories, it can blend in more seamlessly into society as it impersonates the mocked. The mocked and the mockery become linked through the item. A mocked one can feel some of the more potent sensations of the mockery. Pain is something that is transferred from mockery to mocked. This is one of the problems encountered when fighting a mockery. In order to kill the mockery but not the mocked, the link has to be severed. While only silver can harm a mockery, every wound it suffers will harm the mocked. However the mocked can also weaken the mockery if they are close to each other. While the mocked and the mockery are near each other the mockery loses its incredible speed and agility. In every known case, the mocked has been hunted and killed by the mockery. Once the mocked is killed, the mockery can use their shape whenever they want for extended periods of time.

Mockeries: Weaknesses

Silver is the only known substance that can harm a mockery. If a mockery comes into contact with silver, its skin will burn and blister. When battling a mockery, only silver weapons will do any damage. Any wound the mockery receives that is not caused by silver will instantly heal. If the mockery has a mocked one then you must weigh the cost. If the mocked is in the presence of the mockery it will be weaker, but it will also focus solely on the mocked and once the mocked is dead the mockery regains all its power. In order to kill a mockery that has a mocked one, the link between the two must be broken by destroying the item that holds it in place. If the item is not destroyed both mockery and mocked will be killed. While highly unadvised, if a mockery is to be imprisoned, the cage must be made out of pure silver all the way around or else the mockery will escape. They are cunning and able to learn the behaviors of the people they mock quickly. If one wants to battle a mockery they need a good supply of silver to even slow the beast enough to kill it.

Kol put down the papers of notes they had written from the books. He had read quite enough. Ebb had obviously been chosen as the mocked one and was in terrible danger. He had to find the mockery and kill it before it could come for her. For now she was safe up in his room with Caligo and Umbra. He hoped that mockery would not be able to find her here and would not come looking for her yet. He needed time to prepare. After he had tucked Ebony into his bed, he had returned to the library. He was too restless to sleep and wanted to find out more about the beast Giselle had unleashed on the city. The more he found out was not comforting. Kol would not risk Ebb's life by bringing her near the mockery even if it did slow the monster down.

Kol checked his father's weapon room for anything that was made of silver. The only thing he found was a small decorative dagger that would not be much help in fighting anything. He would need to find silver weapons somewhere. He returned to his room and went to stand on the balcony. The sun was rising as Kol watched. As light broke across the horizon, he looked back at the beautiful woman in his bed. He wanted to keep her there forever where he could protect her and hold her and be with her. Maybe if he had not been so jealous and stupid he might have been able to figure out it was Giselle behind all this before she had a chance to free the mockery. If he had only been more attentive, Ebb would not be in so much trouble. Kol sighed. He would do better now. As soon as he could saddle Lady, he would ride for the Scrolldart. If anyone had any silver weapons, it would be Argie. He frowned, he would also go and find Ebb's knight. Surely he would want to know about his lady love and her situation. The knight was new to the town because Kol had not recognized him, but his father must have some list or schedule of the patrols that were due to come into Pharyss. It shouldn't be too hard to find out who this man was and which barracks he was staying at.

With the sun behind him, Kol left his balcony and went to his father's study. Before leaving, he made sure to write a note to Ebb should she wake telling where he had gone. The study was across the house near his parent's bedroom. If he was quiet, they would not wake. Kol knew where his father kept the ledgers and that was where he went first. He found the most recent entry. A patrol had come in from the north. It was Captain Gradley's force. They had come to see Commander Mordris about one of their men moving up in the ranks. Kol was sure that the man that was being promoted was the man he saw with Ebb. He must have already gotten his new status because Kol had seen the mark of rank on his uniform. As he was flipping through the other pages to find something more informative, a folded paper fell from the book. Kol laid the big leather volume aside and picked up the letter. It was to his father from Captain Gradley. Gradley was writing to inform father about a spectacularly brave knight under his command named Andrew. The knight had almost singlehandedly fought of a pine drake near Eroban. The letter was nothing but praise for Andrew and Kol could not help but be impressed. It seemed that Ebb had found her perfect knight in shining armor. Compared to the picture of Andrew the Gradley painted, Kol felt he could not compare. This man was brave enough to fight off dragons, smart enough to know how to heal almost any would, courageous enough to lead men into battle, and kind enough to train even the most foolhardy of recruits. If the accounts were true, Kol knew this Andrew would quickly rise through the ranks.

When he was done reading the letter, Kol carefully put it back in the book and slid it back with the others on the shelf. For some reason it was easier to hate the man who Ebb loved when he knew nothing about him. Now that he knew more about Andrew, he wished he had never read the letter. How could he think ill of a man who could elicit such praise from the hard Captain Gradley?

Kol found out which barracks Andrew was staying at. He took longer than necessary to get there because he wanted to delay his meeting with Andrew. He had to be sure not to fall into another fit of jealous anger. Andrew was a good man and Ebony was lucky. He pushed his thougths aside as he entered the courtyard. The men were already up and training around the open area. No one paid much attention to him as he entered. Andrew was easy enough to find. He was helping a younger soldier with the proper sword thrust.

Andrew was the perfect image of a soldier. Where Kol was tall and lean, this man was broad and muscular. His dark hair was cut short and the angry red lines that marred his face made him look threatening. Still he spoke patiently to the man he was training when he continued to thrust wrong. For the third time he demonstrated the proper maneuver.

"Andrew?" Kol asked as he came up on the two.

Andrew sheathed his sword but kept one hand on the hilt. He was cautious. "I am Andrew. Who are you?"

Kol stared levelly at the bigger man. He would not appear weak to him. "My name is Nikolaus Rydell. I come with news of a mutual friend."

Andrew took his hand off the hilt of his sword and started walking to a less crowded corner of the training yard and Kol fell in step beside him. "Then you are Captain Rydell's son. It is an honor to meet you, but I don't know what mutual friends we might have. Perhaps you have the wrong man. There are many other Andrews in the patrols."

They stopped and Kol turned to face Andrew. "No, I am sure that it is you I am looking for. I come with news about Ebony."

Her name made Andrew perk up considerably. "What about Ebony? Is she alright?" Kol shook his head and the bigger man looked ready to jump on him for an explanation. "Where is she? If she is in danger I need to go to her."

Kol tried to think of a way he could explain everything. "It's a long story," He began.

Andrew's hand went back to his sword and his eyes narrowed. "Tell me." He growled. He must have thought that Kol had done something to hurt Ebb.

"She is safe for now. I have her back at my home, she is sleeping now." Kol stepped back. That was the wrong place to begin.

Andrew had drawn his sword and leveled it at Kol's throat. "I swear I will end you right here and now if you have done anything to hurt her. I don't care whose son you are."

Kol smiled. Ebb would be well protected with this man. His smile only caused the blade to be pressed harder against his skin. Calmly he pushed it away as he explained. "It is not me that is a danger to Ebb. Her stepsister, Giselle, is the danger. I think she had gone to see a witch and those visits never end well. Now she has gone completely mad and unleashed the mockery that was being kept in the royal menagerie. The beast is impersonating Ebb."

Andrew kept his sword in hand and glared at the man before him. "Ebb? Who is Ebb? I saw Ebony only a few days ago. You're lying."

"The thing you saw a few days ago was the mockery. The real Ebb was chained up in some dungeon."

"Oh, and I suppose you went and rescued her then?" Andrew scoffed.

Now Kol was glaring at Andrew. "Yes, I did because unlike you I could tell it was not the real Ebb right off. Now if you don't want to help me defeat this monster then you can go back to playing soldier with the others."

"Why don't you tell your daddy all of this and he can kill the mockery for you?"

Kol sneered at the jibe. "Do you really want my father to go in and kill the wrong Ebony? How is he to know the difference? If I tell my father what the mockery looks like and he sees Ebb first, he won't hesitate. I'm not just going to keep her hidden away and wait for the mockery to come. I'm going to do something about it. I didn't need to come here and tell you about all of this. I could have gone on by myself, but I thought you had a right to know."

"Then what would you have me do?"

Kol had told Andrew to stay in the barracks and wait for him to return. Andrew did not like that idea and insisted on staying with Kol. Neither man trusted the other so the ride to the Scrolldart was long and filled with tense silence between the two. Kol didn't particularly want to speak to Andrew at all; he didn't even want the knight to tag along with him to the Scrolldart. Now he would have to be careful not to reveal too much about himself while they were there. Andrew was the type to report anything out of the ordinary to his commanding officer. It would be an annoying act of pretending that he did not know Argie and only heard from other people about the tavern. Hopefully at this early hour, no one would be inebriated enough to give anything away. Kol wanted to get rid of Andrew as soon as possible, but he knew that would be difficult. As soon as he made the mistake of saying he was keeping Ebb at his house, Andrew would not leave his side.

"Where are we going? Some back alley shack?" Andrew asked.

He was trying to get a rise out of Kol and Kol knew it. So instead of giving some smart answer, he bit his tongue and did not answer at all.

"Do you even know where we are going? This is the lower city. Your people don't normally traverse in these streets. Who told you about this place again?"

"My people?" Kol ground out between clenched teeth.

"You know the type - spoiled, rich boys who are used to living in the lap of luxury without a care in the world. You might want to be careful or you might scuff your fancy leathers. It can get a bit dirty in this part of town. Don't worry; I'll protect you if anything should go wrong, pretty boy. You never did tell me how you knew Ebony. I thought she had better taste than to hang around with someone like you." Andrew prodded.

"Maybe you don't know her as well as you think you do. Turn there."

Andrew followed Kol's direction and turned into the narrow alleyway that led to the entrance of the Scrolldart. "I highly doubt that. I've known her much longer than you have," Andrew laughed. "Are you sure this is where you meant to take us?"

Kol did not answer. He was done talking to this arrogant knight who acted as if he knew everything about Ebb. He must have been from Lyscos as well. Kol guessed some childhood friend that Ebb had grown up with. Without a word, Kol dismounted Lady and climbed the steps to the door. Andrew followed behind still making irritating comments. The tavern was mostly empty except for a few men slumped over tables in a drunken stupor. Argie was where she always was – behind the bar. She looked up to see Kol enter with Andrew. She gave Kol a puzzled glance before falling into character.

"What can I do for you two gentlemen? It's not often we see the likes of you in this here fine establishment. Would you like some cream cider?"

Kol shook his head. The question had a double meaning. Accepting cream cider would signal that there was immediate trouble. Andrew was annoying, but he was not dangerous yet as far as Kol could tell. They both had the same goal after all: save Ebony. "We come looking for something quite specific. I was told you might be able to help us."

Argie leaned over the bar and scrutinized Andrew. "I might have something you are interested in, but I will only deal with one of you. Blondie, you can follow me; your big friend will have to wait here."

Andrew made a rumbling noise of protest, but did not speak out. Argie knew how to deal with rough customers and the look she shot the big man quieted him enough for now. Kol followed her behind the counter and into the back room. It was not until they were in Argie's workshop that she turned on Kol with a smack to his cheek. "What were you thinking, boy? Bert and Addie were worried sick about you! I feared you had been caught out on the streets alone with no one to help you and were lying in the gutter somewhere. What could have possibly made you do such an idiotic thing like going and getting yourself blackout drunk? You promised me two annuals ago that you were done with all that. I never took you for a liar, Nikolaus. I had to hear that you were still alive from Bert and you didn't even come by yourself so I couldn't be sure. Then you show up here days later with this random knight following you. This is not like you and I want you to tell me right now what is going on!"

Kol knew he deserved the slap. It was idiotic to go off like he did, but he still thought being drunk felt better than this searing ache. "Ebb is in trouble," was all he could think to say.

"You are in trouble if you don't explain what is going on with you."

"Someone has freed the mockery to impersonate Ebb. They locked her in a dungeon." Kol said quietly.

Argie slammed her gloved hand on a table and all the odds and ends clattered. "I don't give two figs about that girl right now. I want to know what made you go off like you did."

"I love her!" Kol thundered furiously. Argie was being impossible. How dare she not care about the danger Ebb was in? "Now are you going to help me or not?"

"Then what is the problem?" Argie thundered back. "Go and tell her that you love her. Don't turn petulant and drown your feelings in alcohol!"

"She doesn't love me!" Kol's voice broke halfway through his sentence. It was the first time he had said it out loud and all the feelings he had been carefully avoiding washed over him. "Ebony doesn't love me," He repeated, this time it was barely a whisper. "She loves him."

Argie's face softened and she patted Kol's hand with her gloved one. "There now, that's been said. Now did she tell you this?"

Kol didn't even look up from where he was staring at the floor. "She didn't need to."

"So what are you going to do about it?" Argie asked sternly. "You are just a good a man as that one up there. Why shouldn't Ebb love you? You need to fight for her if you truly love her. You can't just give up at the first little problem. Maybe there's more to it all than you think and you just need to talk to Ebb to know it."

"She'll be happy with him," Kol mumbled. "She deserves better than me."

Argie slammed her fist into the table again and this time a few things clattered to the floor. "Nikolaus, I don't ever want to hear you say such a thing again. You are a hero to the people in the lower city and any woman would be damn lucky to have you. And what about you, hm? Will you be happy if she goes off with this knight? I think she would be happy with you too, if given the chance. Is she worth fighting for?"

"Of course she is, Argie; but what if Andrew can make her happier than I can?" The question earned Kol a light smack to the side of his head.

"What if you can make her happier than Andrew? What if Old Tim decides he loves her and marries her? What if she sprouts wings and flies away? Now is not the time for silly 'what if' questions. I think you should let Ebony decide for herself. Now stop lying down and fight for the woman you love. If you don't, you will regret it for the rest of your life."

Kol nodded. He felt slightly better after verbalizing all his thoughts, but the doubt still swirled within his mind. Andrew was a knight in shining armor and he could make Ebony smile so brightly she rivaled the sun. Kol did not want to rob her of those smiles. Argie was right though, Ebb was worth fighting for. When the mockery was defeated and she was safe, Kol would fight for her. He couldn't live with himself knowing that he hadn't even tried, but for now he had to make sure she was safe from the mockery first.

"Now that I have gotten your stupid old head on straight, what did you come here to get?" Argie asked. She stepped off deeper into her workshop where all manner of interesting doodads whirled and hummed.

"Mockeries can only be killed by silver so I need any silver weapons you might have on hand." Kol explained. He forcefully shoved all thoughts that did not pertain to defeating the mockery from his mind.

Argie went over to a large wooden chest that was under one of the tables. It was covered in dust and when she pulled it out the shape of it was left on the floor as if it had not been moved in many annuals. She opened the lid and began rummaging in the assortment of weapons that were inside. "I think I have a few old silver swords in here. Never really knew what they were for because silver is rubbish against traditional swords. It is much too soft. I suppose they were used for mockeries or other such beasts. I think they should be…ah here's one."

A thin black sheathed sword was pulled from the tangle of other blades. Argie tossed it to Kol and he deftly caught it. The grip sported an intricate twist of silver to form a basket hilt. It was a light weight rapier with good balance. Kol attached it to his belt and waited for the next sword Argie would pull out. She found a heavy broadsword in the bottom of the trunk and was having trouble pulling it out. Kol helped and held the beautiful blade aloft once it was pulled free. The silver blade was not tarnished by annuals of disuse and the sturdy leather hilt was topped with a sapphire blue pommel stone. It was much heavier than Kol was used to, but Andrew's sword was of similar make. The last silver blade Argie pulled out was a small dagger in a white sheath. That one would be for Ebb and he prayed she never had to use it.

Andrew was leaning back against the bar when Kol and Argie returned to the main room of the tavern. He stood when Kol put the heavy broadsword before him. Reverently, he examined the blade. At least he can appreciate craftsmanship, Kol thought wryly. "We will have to stop the mockery soon."

Andrew looked up from the blade. "And how do you propose we do that?"

"We attack it somewhere we know it will be. We will have to get it off by itself to minimize the damage."

"And how will we do such a thing? Just wait until we get a copy of the beast's schedule and plan accordingly? We cannot wait until we find out where the mockery is. It might come for Ebony before then." Andrew argued.

Kol's mouth was set in a hard line and his eyes blazed. Andrew was a warrior, but he didn't know anything about Kol or Pharyss and Kol was getting sick of it. "There is a royal ball tonight – the last one of the celebration. The mockery will be there. My father has already planned to post extra guards at the ball, but he does not know the mockery will be attending as Ebb. If we can get the mockery away from everyone, I can get the guards to help us fight it, but it is imperative that we keep Ebb as far away from the monster as possible while we fight it."

Andrew chuckled. "She won't like that."

The corner of Kol's mouth curled up a fraction. "No, no she won't."

This was originally going to be two chapters but then I decided I wanted the story to end with an even number. I also found out endings are hard to write so this one might not be very well written unless I find a guide or something to writing endings.