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admiralla
Seductive Temptress of Enchantment
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In search of the cure...
With its young inhabitant gone, Serena's farmhouse was now a dark and spooky place. Aside from leaves fluttering in the wind, nothing moved. Selena rode up in front of the house and Jo'har came to a halt. She looked carefully around before getting off. She felt a little creeped out by the sheer feeling of desertion of the place but felt compelled to check it out anyway.
As her eyes searched the grounds and the exterior of the house, she withdrew the pendant from around her neck and let it fall outside her traveling cloak in plain view. If Auntie Greysilks was around anywhere, hopefully she’d see the pendant and know she was looking for her.
As she approached the house, a growling sound came from the doorway. A pair of eyes looked out at her from the shadows, yellow and glowing slightly in the fading light of dusk. Selena stopped dead in her tracks and looked at the pair of eyes. She lowered her stance slightly in defense should the creature attack as she tried to get a better look at what it was. The animal took a step a little further into the light and she could see it was a mid-sized dog, obviously gone feral in the vast forest.
Selena bent her knees and crouched to the ground, letting one hand steady herself on the ground while holding out the other in greeting to the dog. She kept eye contact with the dog, and lowered her head submissively so the animal wouldn't view her as a threat.
“Hey there,” she said softly, “it's okay... I won't hurt you...”
The dog however had other ideas and took a step forward, snapping at her hand and continuing to bare its teeth and growl menacingly. Selena recoiled slightly and withdrew her hand. She slowly came to her feet and whispered back over her shoulder.
“Jo'har, move closer to me... slowly. I need to get at my saddle bag. I think there's some food in there I can use to tempt him with.”
Her horse took two or three careful steps forward as Selena carefully reached into her bag to produce some dried rabbit and pheasant meat. She carefully laid them on the ground a few feet from the dog and stepped back.
“You may as well leave him be.” came a soft voice on the wind, “You can't save every soul...”
While the dog lurched forward and grabbed the meat, Selena looked around for the source of the voice. She barely glimpsed the dog retreating back into the house before she answered it.
“Well, I can try can't I?” she said looking around, “Auntie Greysilks? Is that you?”
She didn't see anyone right away but
after a few moments she spotted a shadowy nook between a pair of bushes and a skirted figure sitting on a bench. She headed for the figure who gestured to the empty bench seat next to her.
“Come, sit...” she replied, “How is little Serena doing?”
Selena, feeling a little more confident that it was who she thought, moved to sit next to her smiling.
“She's doing wonderfully.” she told her, “A family has adopted her and she's learning to read and write now. She even has a few little friends I've seen her playing with in the village. She seems to be really happy.”
Even though the light of the day was failing, the figure was indeed a woman in a grey silk dress with a gauzy veil hanging down over her face.
“I'm glad to hear it that.” she said, “She was always a sweet child, too sweet for the world we now live in.”
Selena nodded sadly, “Yes, that's for sure.
She paused for a moment before eyeing the grey lady carefully, “I'm glad I found you, actually. I need your help if you can give it.”
She nodded understandingly, “You wouldn't come all this way for a social visit.”
Selena smiled.
“Well, its not that I wouldn't visit. I'd love to come see you if it weren't such a long way from my home...” her smile faded somewhat, “There is a Blood Child. He goes by the name of Damien. I'm sure you know of him...”
Selena knew that this ghost, or whatever she was, knew just about everything that was going on in the world. As she expected, the lady nodded.
“Yes, I'm afraid so. He's a cruel one, even for a Blood Child. Perhaps it's because he still has living family to remind him of what he's lost...”
Selena frowned and nodded, “He's even gone so far as to threaten the life of one of his family members. Our Captain and head of La Lanterne, Cpt. Rois et Reines is hovering on the edge of life because of one of his poisonous spiders. One of our patrol members tried to save him, but now he's not far from death either...”
“It's a corrupted poison, isn't it?”
“Yes.. corrupted with an evil that I can't even imagine.” Selena nodded before turning to her imploringly, “I've been sent on this quest to find the shaman that we encountered near Tamis, on our last trip here. I didn't find him, but found his cousin instead and he told me to find you. He said you could help me find a cure to help these dying men.”
The grey lady nodded, “Yes, I can... At least I can give you part of the cure.”
Selena blinked, “Only part?”
She hardly wanted to sound ungrateful, but she couldn’t understand how there could only be part of a cure. The grey lady pulled a crystal flask from one of the folds of her dress.
“This is a draught of purification, effective against spiritual corruption.” she explained, “But for it to cleanse the body, it must have a special physical component as well, the blood of one touched by the Sidhe...”
Selena eyed the flask of misty white, smoke-like liquid. She knew who the Sidhe were, powerfully magical creatures that kept to themselves mostly.
“The Sidhe? I don't know of anyone touched by them. But I’ll ask around. I might be able to find someone.”
“There is one in the heart of your home, white in raiment and shining in nature...”
Selena reached for the flask, “And one drop will make the cure whole? So it can save them from death?”
“All it needs is a link between the physical and spiritual.” The lady nodded, “The Dreaming is very powerful in this form.”
The very thought of curing Etjole and the Captain would mean so much to the people of Phenix and Bascone. She knew that so many
would be eternally grateful for this.
“Thank you so much, Auntie Greysilks.” she said as she secured the flask in her waist pouch. “I knew you would be the one to help me.”
The figure laughed, “Young lady, Auntie Greysilks is merely the face we wear. There were several of us in the Dreaming who watched over little Serena. She reminded us why we become what we are...”
Selena smiled, “So do you have a real name, then?”
“Yes.”
“What is it..?”
Selena got the impression the woman was smiling, “It's a secret.”
Jo’har gave her mane a little flick. Oh of course....
“I understand,” Selena said glancing at Jo’har. She chuckled softly and looked at the figure next to her again. “It's getting late... do you know where I can get a few hours rest before the sky lightens enough for me to head back with this?”
“There is a hill half a mile to the west of here, with several blackberry bushes growing on top of it.” The figure told her, “It will be slightly overgrown, but there is a way inside them, and enough room inside their circle for you and your horse.”
They both stood getting ready to part ways once again. Selena took a step toward her horse and the lady spoke again.
“There is one thing more I should give you.” she said producing something else from the folds of her dress.”If you should meet someone whose dreams are overpowering their waking, give this to them...”
Selena looked down at the palm of the lady’s hand. It was an oval of stone that seemed to swirl in her hand.
“What does this do?” she asked as she carefully took the stone.
“It is a dream opal,” she explained, “it will either quiet their sleep......or lead them to the Dreaming.”
Selena nodded and pocketed the stone, looking at the grey figure, “Thank you again. For everything. If you ever need of my help be sure to come and find me in Phenix...”
The grey lady nodded, “We know where to find you. The Dreaming Eye sees everything it wishes to.”
Selena watched as the figure began to fade away into nothingness. For a moment she stared at the spot where the figure was before turning to climb onto Jo’har’s back. As she sat there for a few seconds, a feeling of somnolence came over her. Both she and Jo’har had been up very early today and traveled a long way. They were both physically and mentally exhausted.
“Come on. Let's go get some sleep.” she said with a yawn as Jo'har trotted in the direction of the blackberry hill.
---
Why are you worried about "You know who?" .... You should be worried about You No Poo! -- The constipation sensation that's gripping the nation!
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11/May/06, 7:38 pm
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RonSWEF
Overly Evil Overlord
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Where the River Meets the Sea
The Bishop gently laid his head on Miette's chest and listened, cupping a hand over his other ear to hear better. "She is breathing, but not well. The water has left her lungs, but it has left behind an illness," he said at length.
Martin frowned. "What kind of illness?"
"My order is still studying it, but we have observed coughing, fever, chills, aches, and expulsion of the stomach as common symptoms. She must rest, and drink whatever liquids she will take."
"Is it serious, your excellency?"
The Bishop looked sadly down at the bed. "It can be. Among the old, or the weak, it is often fatal. This woman is young, but she shows signs of great fatigue in addition to her experience in the river."
Martin hesitated. "Can she be moved?"
"Are you mad, Corporal?" the inquisitor asked incredulously. "She must rest, not be carried around like a sack of grain."
"I'm afraid she may have to be, your excellency. Captain Velasquez has declared our agreement fulfilled in good measure, and while I am not certain I may speak of what is to come, I think it is time my people and I return north. Snow may be flying soon, and we don't wish to be caught away from our home."
"I must insist that she stay here and rest. The ...young woman you brought me before is not fit to travel either."
Martin helds up his hands to try and pacify the red-robed priest. "Your excellency, I am not doing this on a whim. Last night, we came back across the river with people we rescued from the Locusts, people with vital information. The sentries at the docks fired at us, and Miette nearly drowned as a result. My people are furious, and while Captain Velasquez has pulled the sentries from the front to put them on punishment detail, I think I had best take my people and go before an incident happens. To do that, Miette and Gabriella must be able to travel." Martin hoped the priest wouldn't spot the white lies, the Outriders were more than a little angry, but aside from keeping Nic by Miette's side he doubted any of them were going to cause any further incidents.
The Bishop sighed. "I must repeat once more, these women should not travel..."
Miette coughed, and both men snapped their heads around to face her. "I want to go home..." she gasped out between coughs. "Take me to Luc..."
"Her husband," Martin supplied at the Bishop's questioning look.
The priest frowned, but sighed. "Alright... Both women will need to be conveyed in stretchers, but we can rig a pair on poles, carried by horses. And if either of them suffer for this voyage, you will answer to Theus for it."
Martin rolled his eyes. "I'll answer to the men in their lives first..."
---
"Define interesting."
"Oh God, oh God, we're all gonna die?"
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8/Nov/06, 11:30 pm
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