Next chapter! We find out what happens with our dear Queen Raz!
Raz lay in a feverish sleep for three days. Zalim stayed there in her room, standing at her side, staring at her sleeping face. He'd healed her wounds, but she'd lost a lot of blood. Her body was weak. He wondered when she'd wake up.
Every so often her eyes would flutter open, glazed and unfocused, no life whatsoever. It was like someone had taken her soul. Like someone had sculpted a statue of her, and used dull gold for her eyes, lifeless and unfeeling, giving off his reflection when he looked into them he'd try to speak to her, but no words came. And as he struggled with what to say, how to apologize, her eyes would slip closed and she'd sink back into her deep slumber, his chance lost.
Her arms lay folded on her chest, the Sapphire Scepter still clutched in her paws. He couldn't get her grip to surrender; he knew it was some kind of magic possessing her limbs. He was reluctant to use his own magic to release it, but that might only make it worse, perhaps contribute energy to the strange other sorcery, maybe jumpstart it. The last thing he needed was to make her full-on possessed. While tampering with another's magic was by no means impossible, it was very difficult. Even for someone as experienced as he- he'd only done it once, a long, long time ago. Before the ice age set in, just after…
"Mm…" it was late night when Raz moaned sleepily. Zalim's interested peaked- she hadn't make a single sound. He inched closer, reaching out hesitantly, before quickly deciding against it and drawing his hand. Better let her wake up on her own, and besides; if she found his hand on her when she woke up… well, he didn't want to make her angry should she get the wrong idea… with that powerful weapon clutched in her hands, who knew what she'd do to him?
"Oh…" this sounded more like a word, and after a moment her expression changed to a troubled frown. After a moment, her eyes fluttered open. Immediately he knew she was awake this time- her golden orbs were as sharp as always. "Wh- wha…?" her eyes drifted lazily to him; she looked exhausted, like she hadn't just taken a three day nap.
"Are you alright?" he asked, his voice surprisingly soft to Raz's ears. "Have you any pain?"
She shifted a little, sitting up. Everything was sore and stiff, but she said "Nope."
"You lie." He said flatly.
"So whatif Ah do?" she snapped, sitting up all the way. "And whadda you c-" then she looked down. And she screamed.
Zalim could almost see her color drain away from her face as she found what was still in her hands. She tried to throw it, but her hands wouldn't obey. "G- Get ridda it!" She shrieked. "Get ridda it! Get th's devil's toy 'way from me!" an invisible force clamped over her mouth and she could scream no more. Though he could see the stress build on her face, her eyes wild with fear, ears twitching, face muscles tightening into a sneer that was anything but pleased.
"Raz, calm down…" He sat on the bed beside her. "I know you're scared, but struggling will not help. You are only feeding the magic that possesses your arms." A strangled terrified shriek emitted from her throat from behind her invisible silence clamp. "It feeds on negative energy and emotions- such as fear. So I need you to calm down." He caught her eyes to focus her attention. "And breathe. Deep and slow, calm and steady. Try to calm yourself down."
"H-" she choked. "H-How?! Ah'm pract'lly holdin demon's toy! And Ah can' let go!"
"Calm yourself Raz" his voice was cool and comforting. "You mustn't get worked up. Think about something happy- a pleasant memory perhaps- and I will try to remove it. But you must stay calm."
She gulped, nodded, and took in a deep breath. "O- Ok." She agreed shakily. Then she closed her eyes.
Raz was excited, as excited as any bouncy, energetic two-year-old would be when her big brother told her of a surprise. He promised it would be very special, and that she'd love it. He promised wonder that her mind had never experience, and amazement that would blow her young mind. She couldn't wait! She was happily flitting about the forest trail, smelling the flowering bushes, letting the leaves tickle her. Her innocent child-like giggling was the happiest sound in all the world.
"Where we's goin?" she chimed to her older brother, keeping an eye on her as she lunged toward a bright pink flower and took a deep smell of it's tropical scent.
"Somewhere special."
"Where?" this time she took a handful of purple lilacs that matched her fur and threw them into the air so they rained down on her, the sweet scent giving her bliss.
"Like I said squirt" Squint rolled his eyes teasingly. "Somewhere special."
"Bu' where?"
"Well if I toldja" she hopped back over to him, before getting distracted by a ladybug crawling on a leaf. "It wouldn't be a surprise."
She pouted and stuck out her finger, watching as the red and black bug crawled onto her tiny finger. "Still. Teeeell me!"
"Nope."
They continued on, Squint scolding her once for getting too close to a fuzzy caterpillar. 'It was poisonous!' he'd argued when she claimed him mean for not letting her pet it.
After a while, they arrived at their destination. Raz, however, was far from impressed. "There's nothing 'ere!" she complained. "Iss' empty!"
It seemed to be true. A sudden break in the trees, a grassy meadow. But that was it. Just grass. And trees making a dome that hid it from the world. Had you not squeezed under that one branch that hung so crookedly and pushed past the thorny bush, you'd never find it. "But that's what you think." Squint looked around for a moment before bending down, picking up a stone bigger than his hands. He heaved it forward into the clearing, holding up a finger when nothing happened. "Wait for it…"
An explosion. That's all it could be described as. An explosion of color- every one of them! there were more than Raz could count! Reds, blues, gree and yellow, pink and purple! Black with white stripes, or brown with polka dots! So many colors. The joey gasped as she realized what they were. "Butterflies!" Hundreds, thousands. Thousands of butterflies! Of every color, shape and size. They flocked into the air, swirling around the two siblings, a wave of color and impossible beauty surrounding them. "Iss' so pwetty…" she murmured, sticking out one finger. An insect landed on it within a few seconds, a little blue butterfly with purple criss-cross designs on it's wings. Another perched on her head. When she rolled her eyes up to look at it, a third landed on her nose. She giggled, and the trio took off again.
With a happy squeal she flopped down into the soft grass and watched the butterflies, all taking the time to perch on her, if only for a moment, tickling her tummy and giving her arms little tingles. "…Squint?"
He still stood beside her, but kneeled down to stroke her ears affectionately. "Yeah baby sis?"
"Whaddaya call this place?"
He smiled. "I call it Razzie's Glade."
Her concentration broke. Her eyes snapped open, and she realized they were wet. She snapped out of her memories when a loud crash, like thunder, suddenly resonated through the room, and the scepter flew from her hands. It banged against the far wall so hard it cracked, then fell to the floor.
She looked up, quickly swiping her eyes on her wrists, overjoyed that they obeyed her again… until the noticed Zalim on the floor. Not moving. Not blinking.
Not breathing.
There you go! Please review! A special thanks to KaylaDestroyer and eightybooksand60cats for reviewing last time! I hope they will do it again!