New Old Hell
Chapter 7
by Rondabunny
When horses started to run down the hill away from the destroying haunted house Cara noticed Dena losing consciousness out of the corner of her eye. The queen jockeyed at a full speed and jumped behind the falling down Mord'Sith just in time to take the reign from Denna's already unclasping fists. She held the woman tight to her body preventing her to fall down from the horse. Cara realized that they had spent much more time in the house than she expected. Lazy light was making its way from leaden clouds that covered the sky until the horizon. Near the tavern she jumped from the horse pulling the unconscious Mord'Sith down and laying her on the ground.
"I speak on behalf of Lord Rahl open the door or I smash this tavern to pieces!" barked the queen.
"I don't know who are you and I don't care! Go away. I won't open anything until the sun is up!" responded a sleepy voice behind the door.
Cara knocked at the door with such power that it shook a little on the hinge straps.
"The queen is talking to you, you moron! Open right now or when I come I swear I'll shove my agiel down your chicken throat!" she cursed.
The last phrase made the slowcoach think. After some seconds the door opened. At the same minute Cara dragged the man out of the building and pushed him down the porch.
"Lift her up and put her in bed. Send somebody for the healer!" she ordered the man turning to the woman who was standing in the doorway staring at the newcomers with terror in her eyes. "Move, or I use this to make you do the job!" Without modesty Cara showed her agiel and came into the tavern after the owner.
"Can you help her?" she asked the old woman who practiced healing.
Denna didn't show any signs of coming to her senses.
"I'm sorry, your majesty. I'm not a magician just a herbalist. As you say she was struck by a powerful magic. I'm afraid I cannot do anything about her condition," said the woman.
"It's not your fault. Thank you. You may go," Cara dismissed the healer.
She looked for a while at her sister of the agiel. Denna seemed so peaceful but her skin was burning as if a battle was going inside her body.
"I should try one thing, Denna. I don't know much about magic. This won't do you any harm, I promise you."
The Mord'Sith took her weapon and touched Denna's chest at the place where the woman's heart had to be. A single convulsion ran down woman's body and then it simmered down. Cara bent down sharing the Breath of Life with her sister of the agiel. Denna opened her eyes.
"Mistress, don't leave me to burn there! Don't let them tear me apart! Please, mistress! Help me!" she cried and again fainted.
"You'll be fine, Denna. I won't leave you." Cara squeezed Denna's hand to show the Mord'Sith that she wasn't there alone.
"Lady Rahl, I am at your disposal. Any other orders?" the owner of the tavern bowed.
"Yes, Friedrich. I would like some hot meal and maybe a bath. I still smell rot from those stupid ghosts on my clothes," Cara's tone was more an order than a request.
"Anything you want, my queen," the man bowed again.
"And stop using titles. I'm on a mission, I don't want rumors spreading right ahead."
"As you wish, my…" He didn't know how to proceed. "Mistress, is your friend alright?"
A shade of a smile touched Cara's lips when this huge man was trying to pick up some appropriate words for her.
"She will be fine. Fever is gone but I would like to fasten her to bed. She's jerking sometimes in her sleep. I don't want her hurt herself."
"Yes, Mistress Cara, I'll send a maiden to take care of her. She will be here immediately, so you don't have to worry about your friend."
"Thanks, Friedrich. She was the one who helped me destroy that damn haunted mansion. How did it appear here in the first place?" she asked.
"When the prophecy came true and Lord Dracul was defeated by his own child. A lot of dark magic was released into the world of living. This house appeared out of nowhere one and a half years ago. That time our nightmares began. We invited magicians, witches and sisters of light but nobody could help us. Many of them disappeared in that hollow mansion. Every time in the evening a stranger came to our streets and took somebody to the house. That's why we protected ourselves by locking doors and blowing out the lights at night. These creatures couldn't go inside if the door was locked. They tried entering the windows as well, so we took precautions. It's a miracle that you left it alive. We are infinitely grateful for your help, Mistress Cara," he sincerely thanked the woman.
"Are there any other places like this?" Cara asked curiously.
She read a lot of reports every day, but none of them mentioned anything about unresolved magical enigmas.
"I'm sure there are. I heard of a naked creature, which can suddenly appear and disappear at any place. He steals women and rips off their hearts. People say he eats them."
Suddenly Denna began convulsing again moaning something odd. Cara stood up and pressed her tightly to the bed stopping Mord'Sith's arms from moving, because Denna surely wanted to tear down skin from her face.
"Please, bring the ropes. She is still unstable."
The man left immediately rushing to fulfill the queen's order.
"Come on, Denna. I'm with you. You're safe. Fight them. You can do it!" Cara whispered in woman's ear.
After Lady Rahl made sure that Denna was under a vigilant surveillance of the maiden, she had her bath and breakfast and went to talk to the people of this small place. She listened to citizens' complaints, made order to the local elder who had to take care about such cases, though did nothing at all. Cara dismissed him at once making another younger man do this relevant work. It reminded her the times when she travelled with Richard, Kahkan and Zedd. She missed them so much. Only now she realized how she missed boldness of the Seeker, justice of the Mother Confessor and witness of the wizard. Her sisters of the agiel, with whom Cara grew up, were gone approximately all except Denna. She didn't know what happened to Verna or other sisters of the light. There were no reports about them and Cara didn't want to reveal the information to her husband because even with his wild attraction for her, she didn't trust him. Rahl was violent no matter if he has been fighting for good.
In the evening almost exhausted she came to the room where Denna was fighting with whatever evil spirits tormented her soul. The moment Cara made a step inside the room she noticed a wild expression on the maiden's face. The young woman was scared, not just scared, frightened to death. She nearly jumped when the door opened.
"Celesta, how are you? You're as white as a sheet. What's happened?" Cara asked with concern in her voice.
"Sometimes she starts talking. She's saying so horrible things," mumbled the girl nearly bursting into tears. "Did she do all these things she's telling about to all the people? What a monster is she?" Celeste's jaw trembled, tears ran down her cheeks.
"I don't know exactly what she talked about, but if she spoke about ways of torturing people when it's true. Though, don't make hasty conclusions. Mord'Siths are broken from childhood to control the power of the agiel. Everything she said she had done, had also been done to her. If not for her, you would have been staying at home by now with closed doors begging for the creature not to enter your house."
The girl nodded with hesitation.
"You may go, thank you for keeping an eye on her."
Tiredly Cara took off her boots, jacket, corset and pants remaining only in the shirt. She slipped under the blanket on the opposite from Denna bed and blew out the candle. Lady Rahl fell asleep the second her head touched the pillow. She hasn't slept for 32 hours. She needed a rest.
Noise woke her up in the middle of the night. Denna was struggling with ropes that tightly tied her form under the blanket to the bed. When Cara jumped out of her bed to stop the Mord'Sith, Denna has already freed one of her hands and started to undo the knot. The queen made a hasty move towards the Mord'Sith and was greeted with a hard smack at her jaw. She hissed dodging another blow and put a block at the following attack.
"Denna, it's me, Cara!" she roared evading a blow and hitting the blonde woman in the shoulder.
Her agiel was too far at the bedside table near her bed. She wanted to prevent Denna from escaping her artificial prison.
"I will kill you!" answered a strange, sepulchral voice.
Cara saw that Denna's eyes were black like two holes, no soul in them, no mercy just emptiness. Denna has loosened the rope, she kicked the queen with her leg hard in the solar plexus that made Cara's breathing shallow for a while.
"Denna, fight whatever spirit that is holding you. You can do that!" she shouted attacking the woman and preventing her from taking the agiel from the table.
"I don't wanna fight it. It showed me who you really are, a filthy, worthless bitch. You took everything that I wanted, my man, my glory, my hope to be the first of our kind!" yelled the strident voice.
"You know it wasn't my choice as it wasn't yours either! That's why I want to influence Rahl's decisions at least now, maybe this world can be a better place for the girls that we used to be!"
While shouting at Denna in order to convince her Cara blocked a great amount of blows and kicks coming from the possessed woman.
"I'll make you suffer. I tell my Lord what you were plotting against him after I kill you!"
Denna shoved Cara back. Lady Rahl hit the night table with her hip grabbing two agiels. Denna stroke her sister of the agiel with the rope. Cara deflected and pressed one of the weapons to woman's shoulder, that made Denna flinch. She tried to disarm the queen but Cara's moves were unexpected because while travelling with Richard and Kahlen she picked up some new styles of martial arts. Cara caught Denna's leg when she wanted to kick her again and jabbed the agiel at the Morrd'Sith's chest. She screw it a little to make the heart of her opponent stop for eternity. Denna's body was out of balance when Cara quit hold of woman's leg. The Mord'Sith fell on the floor hitting her head on the way. Lady Rahl took a deep breath looking at the damage she caused. Her companion was dead again.
"Not a very nice method to become friends," she thought to herself.
Not putting away her agiels Cara has given the Breath of Life for the second time that day or was it the next one? She didn't care. Denna opened her eyes wearily.
"It is gone," she whispered.
"Can you stand up?"
Denna sat up too fast and moaned when everything began spinning in front of her eyes.
"It's so cold." Shiver swept over her body. "Thank you for not giving up on me."
Cara didn't answer. She hugged the Mord'Sith when a single tear escaped Denna's eye.
"Can you share my bed tonight? I'm not sure if it's gone for long," Denna asked trembling in Cara's embrace.
"Yes, I will, but not the way you wish I were."
Gently she put Denna back in bed and lied next to her.
To be continued…
My interest in the Legend of the Seeker is back. I wish real producers and directors had the same feelings. I'm looking forward for your comments