Castlewarming Chapters 551-560
by Hercules Forum Collective
Chapter 551
by ~Wikewike
The sky was starting to change colors.
There was an orange-yellowish glow about it.
It would be sunset soon.
And still no answers.
Aquillea still lay in her almost death-like sleep, Lyrical was slowly
slipping away also. And now greenie was missing.......
"How did I get here anyway?" Wike asked herself with an ironic shake of her
head.
When she had come upon the castle and seen all the people coming and going,
as if they were getting ready for something or someone of importance, she
decided to go see what all the excitement was about. And hopefully get a
hot meal and a cold glass of ale. She'd been traveling for days with little
more to eat than nuts and berries and what ever game she'd been able to
find.
So it was with thoughts of a feast that she entered this world of the
Amazons.
And here she was, worrying about people she'd just meet, but who had made
her feel like family.
She had sworn to herself that she would never let herself be that
vulnerable again.
"When you care, you get hurt", She'd learned that lesson the hard way. She
hadn't let herself get close to anybody since her family had been killed.
Ever since that b**** goddess......
No!
She couldn't think about that now. She had to keep her mind on what was
happening now.
And What was happening now she wasn't sure of.
But, she had a good idea as to Who was really behind the poison that was
slowly killing Lyrical.
When Arkie had turned in the contaminated waterskins to some members of the
Antianos council, she happily went off to join her sister Amazons, Shana
and Wikewike, in battle. Members of the the city council and Corinthian
army officers were making plans for moving prisoners and returning the main
force of the army to Corinth. King Iphicles seemed to want to leave for
Corinth as soon as possible. He was anxious to have the warlords safely put
away. There were a few of the warlords' men who were left to round up but
the situation seemed to be under control.
After Arkie left, Shambalayogi went to the room where she and Ioannes had
stored their packs and gear. To her surprise, she found Ioannes and the God
of War running off with her prized copy of the Kama Sutra. Ares promised to
return Ioannes and her sutra safely in a while. How long was a while for a
god of war?
"You better have a good explanation for all of this," Shamba told Ioannes
in her own mind. "Ares won't be here this time to distract me from an
explanation."
She really wanted to know what had happened to all the Amazons during the
fighting. The last she'd seen of the Amazons, hunters and heroes was when
the battle plans were being made in the council chambers. She had heard
nothing of the group including Gabrielle and Aquillea that had gone off on
a special mission of some kind. Arkie had said something about it being
more dangerous than the battle outside Antianos.
Not know what to do next, she realized that it had been four days at least
since she had done any kind of yoga and she felt it all over. Four days of
completely unexpected, wildly changing events had been exhilarating and
draining.
Before she did anything else, Shamba had to do some yoga and have a clearer
head than she had right now. This was not meditative yoga but a series of
gracefully moving poses for flexibility and strength. She could feel the
energy the poses created flow through her balancing and centering all her
energies. When she was done, the kink in her neck was gone, the knot
between her shoulder blades was loosened and her right hip bone no longer
pressed on a nerve in her leg.
"That's, soooo much better," she said to herself as she sat quietly for a
few moments. Then she gathered up some things and went out to find out what
had happened to everyone.
Ioannes found himself standing on the edge of the public square in front of
the Antianos city council chambers.
"This is where I must leave you, Lord Ioannes," Ares told the Corinthian
merchant. "I told your lady I would return you and her property safely and
I have kept my word."
"I had no doubt that you would keep your word," Ioannes said to the GOW.
"But I am not so sure that Lady Shambala believed me, even after I gave her
my oath," Ares reminded him.
Ioannes sighed and then smiled.
"You're right, of course. And she may not be as in an agreeable mood now as
she was when we left her earlier."
"Then I am sure that you will know exactly what to say and do that will put
her in an agreeable mood," Ares referred to the contents of the protective
box Ioannes carried under his arm. "Thank her for the use of the ...." he
gestured at the box.
"I think I will check in on you from time to time in the future,
Corinthian. You might even find that to be an advantage one day." Ares
paused then spoke again before he departed. "I ... have to ...thank you
...for an ... interesting afternoon. What is it that you called it again
... a sootah?"
"It is called a sutra; this one is named the Kama Sutra," Ioannes answered
him.
"Sutra ... kama ... I have to remember this," Ares muttered to himself.
Before the GOW left in a flash of light, the two males, one a god and one a
mortal couldn't help but smile at each other. And the smiles widened into
ear-to-ear grins, and then Lord Ares was gone. Ioannes was left grinning
and quite sure he would see Ares again sometime.
The two of them continued to stare at the face of Aka, because...
Murlock knew that flame in the young man's eyes. It was the one fire he
didn't play with, but why would she send someone after him? She had seemed
very happy when he last left her. He and Hera had always been ‘close'. Did
she know what he was up to now? He would not challenge the irritating
blade, not with her on his side.
Eeyoraus stood, mouth gaping, in her own wonder. She barely noticed the
inferno in the young fellow's soul. It was his face, his hair, his build.
It couldn't be. He was dead. Murlock had killed him so long ago. He had
made her listen to all the hideous details.
She had spent so long trying to forget, even denying to herself that he
ever existed. Denying it so well that she no longer had believed and had
shared the lie with her new family.
For a moment she was swept away again. This time to another place, another
time. They had been so happy, but they had, also, known all along he would
find them. The young lovers weren't afraid though. Nothing could stop the
power of their love. Together they could defeat him and rid world of the
horrors of Murlock once and for all.
So he had waited…waited and watched…for the first moment they were not
together. Seth had gone to find herbs to ease her pain. The baby was coming
early, anxious to be part of their joy. She had known something was
dreadfully wrong when he didn't return and she gave their child birth all
alone in the little cabin they had built together.
Then Murlock had come. He told her Seth would never return. He told her
details of his death until she screamed. Then he tore her newborn daughter
from her arms and left her wailing on the ground… ‘Amora! Amora…'. The baby
cried and turned her tiny reddened face towards her sobbing mother… and
then she was, forever, gone.
Coming abruptly back to here and now, she barely whispered the only word
she could, "Seth."
Turning to Murlock she returned to her fighting stance and screamed, "You
lied to me! Of course it was a lie! How could I be so stupid? The truth
isn't in you. You lied to them too, didn't you? Your evil could never
defeat his good! He's alive!"
She had been thinking of her mother, her father, Granny ‘Dite who had kept
her secrets so long and so well, Michael, and her new family to gain the
power of good verses evil. But now the power of love ripped away, the same
violent strength that fueled the new arrival, Aka, was hers too.
Seth, Amora, Seth...Michael...Seth...another time. She shook that
unpleasant certainty from her head.
She looked over her shoulder to Aka. It was him. That's why he could see
Murlock. And he still looked so young. He did look very young. Why?
"Seth? Don't you recognize me?
Aka stepped away from the crazy lady. Hera had told him of her insanity. It
was why she had done it and why she had to die. The old guy was a little
bit unsettling too, but he knew he had the ultimate power. Hera had
promised.
"You fool! Don't you think I'd know my own brother? He does bare a striking
resemblance to Seth when he was yo…um…with us…but…" Murlock bellowed then
stumbled over his words.
"Younger! You started to say younger! He is alive. This may not be him
but he is alive! Who's the fool, Murlock? Who's the fool? Eeyoraus
countered in a voice that alarmed both men.
"Can't we just all get along?" Aka said with an odd yet charming drawl.
" 'scuse me. I will be with you shortly." The stormy redhead softly said
with almost a smile.
"This time your foolishness has saved you. I can not eliminate you now, as
much as I will enjoy it, not until you take me to them." She informed the
wizard.
Both the beast and the boy were happy with this opportunity to go along
with her until she gave them both what they wanted. For Murlock she held
the culmination of his life's dream. For Aka, it was to lead him to the
other one to gain his retribution…and Hera's favor.
But she had a pretty good idea as to Who was really behind the poison
that was slowly
killing Lyrical.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I gotta get outta here" Wike thought as she tossed another twig into the
fire.
It was time to check on Lyrical. And to tell The Goddess of Love what she
suspected.
As she walked into Lyrical's tent she didn't see Aphrodite, but Lyrical was
still laying there,
not moving, and barely breathing.
"It's not fair!" Wike said with such bitterness it was painful to hear. She
sat down on the stool
next to Lyri's cot and picked up her friend's cold limp hand and held it in
her own strong warm
one, hoping to give this loving Amazon some of her own strength.
"This wasn't meant to be. Not to you. It was meant for someone else. Just
like with my family.
You are just another one of her random victims. A victim of her rage and
hatred for another."
Wike sat there, feeling rage, the same rage she had felt when her family
had died. And the helplessness. By the gods! The helplessness was just
powerful as the rage. It threatened to overcome her. To swallow her
whole.It was a feeling she had told herself she'd never feel again.
Not until she had found the one responsible for her family's death.
All of a sudden she felt a calmness come over her. A calm she hadn't felt a
moment ago. And
then there was a soft hand on her shoulder, as she looked up, she saw the
most beautiful
woman she had ever seen.
Aphrodite was standing there, with a look of understanding and love. A look
that she hadn't
seen in anyone's eyes since she'd held her mother as she lay slowly dying.
The beautiful goddess held out a cloth to the troubled Amazon, "Dry your
eyes and tell me
what you know about what and who is killing her" She asked with a nod of
her golden head
towards the loved one on the cot. For she knew that this one had an answer
as to who was
behind this.
And she knew she wasn't going to like what she heard.
Aka was just thrilled with himself. Well, most of it. He had the trust of
Eeyoraus and Murlock, but he still needed to act quickly before anything
else decided to go wrong. He wasn't quite sure where to start.
"So, you are a wizard," he directed to Murlock, not thinking before he
spoke. The wizard just sat there, then turned and looked at the wall of
flame behind him.
"Yeah, I guess you could say that," came from the dark man.
"That's pretty amazing. You know, back in my village," Aka started to say,
but hesitated. "Well, there, when I was younger, the place was small. So
small, in fact, we didn't have a witch doctor in the whole village!! Nope,
all we had was a witch nurse!" He waited for roaring laughter, but instead
was silence. "I guess you had to be there."
"So, is there a point to this besides just boring us to death," quipped the
wizard.
"Well, yes, eh-hem, I was taught a little bit of the craft. It's not really
magic, but I have the elements at my side. It used to be pretty weak stuff,
things you would only do as a prank on someone or something like that." He
outreached his hand, put his thumb under his finger, and then flicked it
up. A small flame danced atop his thumb, impressing Eeyoraus. "But recently
the power has gotten a lot stro..."
Aka was interrupted by bellowing laughter. "You call that FIRE?" With one
wave of his hand, the wall of fire transformed into a ball, and roared
towards the three people. Eeyoraus staggered backwards, Murlock continued
to laugh, but Aka just looked at it like it was harmless. Seconds before it
would singe the trio, it stopped, and took the form of a dragon. It stared
at Aka with it's red eyes. Murlock stopped laughing to watch the young
man's reaction. Nothing but silence. Eeyoraus was tempted to run away.
Finally, a smile came upon Aka's face, followed by a small, but definite,
laughter. This outraged the wizard, and the dragon of fire followed threw
with it's master's emotions. It reared it's head, and breathed fire. It
then raised it's claw, preparing to strike Aka.
"Didn't your mother ever teach you not to interrupt people," Aka questioned
the wizard. Then, with both arms sweeping upwards towards the air, a
rumbling sound came from the earth. There was a small crack underneath the
dragon, and all the moisture and dew rose up into the dragon. It roared,
hissed, then started to whimper. It rose it's head and breathed fire again,
while roaring it's last breath. Then smoke and steam filled the forest.
After it had cleared, Murlock stood there in amazement, his jaw wide open.
No mortal had ever even come close to matching his power, much less being
able to beat it.
"As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, recently, the powers
have gotten stronger. I guess being a small part-time mage adds another
feather in my cap of abilities."
"What...what else are you," Eeyoraus barely got out.
"Well, I was raised as many things: a mage, a dragon slayer, a user of
herbs, swordsmanship, a bit of this, a bit of that, you know, the usual. I
guess I was the only true Black Night out of my birth place, Claytown."
"Claytown, wasn't it burned to the ground a few years ago," Murlock asked.
"Yes, *IT WAS*," Aka said with his mind now back on his quest. "But ever
since then, all my powers have been slowly growing, until a few months ago.
Then they started soaring. It was then that I met my new, close, personal
friend."
"And,...who was that," Eeyoraus asked quietly.
Before Aka could answer, Murlock spoke up, "I know, and trust me, it is
someone you don't personally know, nor do you want to know..."
Wike slumped down on the fallen tree trunk and heaved a long sigh of
relief. At least she and her fellow Amazons could take a break for awhile
since the fighting had relented. Shana plopped down beside her and
stretched her legs out before her, flexing the muscles several times in her
limbs in an effort to relieve the earlier tension caused by her fighting
stance. Arkie simply crumpled to the soft grass in front of the two Amazons
and proceeded to fling out her arms and legs in total exhaustion. They had
held off the forces at this point in the outer perimeter successfully.
"I suppose it's too much to hope that we've seen the end of Maloran and
Stygnos' men," Wike grumbled.
Her eyes still closed, Arkie moaned, "I don't think I can snap this whip
one more time today. I've found muscles I haven't used since 1960."
"Arkie, remember where you are and what century this is," Shana chuckled.
Giggling, Arkie nodded, her eyes still shut. "Okay, muscles I haven't even
been born with yet, and if they're gonna be this sore, I'd just as soon I
never got them."
"Well, guess I better patrol the perimeter of our little area here," Wike
sighed as she slowly rose from her perch.
"I'll catch the next round," Shana offered.
"And I'll take the third," Arkie mumbled, still refusing to open her eyes.
"Have either one of you seen Timmy or Rob lately?" Wike asked in concern.
As Shana nodded negatively, Arkie's eyes popped open as a small tree branch
dropped on her forehead. Scowling she squinted up at the tree and then
growled in annoyance.
"Heads up," Arkie snapped as she jumped to her feet and stared upward, her
whip coiled for action. "We've got company," she added quietly.
"Heads up?" Wike asked in confusion. "Don't you mean off-with-their-heads?"
Wike drawled as she took up a battle stance next to the now upright Shana.
"Up there," Arkie pointed to the dense foliage of the tree shading their
resting area.
All three stood frozen,listening...watching... waiting. Finally a
frightened cry met their ears.
"Help!"
The three looked at each other in bewilderment.
"I can't get down!" the voice squealed in fear.
"Come on, Mr. Tapert, you can do it!" Timmy encouraged.
"I'm scared of heights, you moron, and if you tell anybody on the set..."
"Mr. Tapert, you're not in New Zealand anymore... you're not even in the
20th century anymore," Timmy reminded him in disgust. "And at this rate,
you're gonna spend Y2K in this tree."
"Figures," Shana snorted. "Arkie, loan me your whip and I'll tie the
goofball off with it and Timmy and I can lower him down."
"Scratch that," Timmy called loudly from above. "We've got company coming.
Looks like about 20 soldiers and they're wearing Maloran's colors."
Dixie sat there a few minutes quietly, trying to figure out how she could
find her mother. Donkey or not she wanted to see her. Oh, yes. She suddenly
remembered to herself what she was doing before Seth revealed the truth.
"Seth, help me find the spell book I need. Murlock may be watching my
mother. I must find her."
Seth looked surprised at the excitement in her voice. She sounded like a
child tasting that new chocolate stuff for the first time. "Dixie," he
replied, "you know I can do that spell without the book."
She looked insulted. "How can you say that? I want to do the spell. You
know I don't get to do spells very often, and it's....well, I guess it's in
my blood."
"Alright, alright, but why don't you let me tell you how, instead of
wasting time looking for a book. He's got them all. You could be here all
night, and he will probably be home soon."
Dixie pretended to need to think about it, although she knew he was right.
She couldn't let him know that. He knew what she was doing. He chuckled to
himself, as he watched her act, her mother used to do the same thing.
"Well, I suppose you're right. Let's get to work. Here's the water whole I
want to change." She pointed to the corner.
"Now, come sit by the whole," Seth began, "First you stretch you arm out
over the whole. Then you must say...And say it with feeling. You must feel
it, or it won't work. Okay, say, ‘Water to looking glass be our guide. Show
us now where Murlock hides.'"
Dixie did as he said, and they both waited. It happened!! There in the
water was Murlock. Dixie squealed with delight at her success and Seth
beamed with fatherly pride. Not everyone has the power, and you can't just
get. Seth took a few steps up to watch Murlock. He then took a deep breath,
and almost fell backwards.
"That's her isn't it. I don't understand, you told me she was still a
donkey. Seth, why did you lie again?"
Seth gasped for air. He chest ached as if he'd just been knocked down, and
the breath taken from him. He didn't understand it either. He was supposed
to know if Eeyoraus came back. Why didn't he know? Was that really her? He
tried to move. He had to look again.
"Oh my gods, it is her. I'm sorry Dixie. I didn't know. I can't believe
this. How? Oh my precious, beautiful Eeyoraus, why didn't I know?" The pain
was so evident in his voice.
"Who is the guy with her? He looks like you." Dixie said, almost
accusingly. If he didn't tell her about a brother she was going to be angry
again.
"I don't know, but he does have a resemblance to me. He's very handsome,
don't you think? He's not my son. I know you would think I have a lot of
children, but facts are you are it. I have had children in the past, but
they didn't have my abilities, and they were mortal. They are all gone now.
You my dear are my one and only. And so is she." He still had a sadness
Dixie had never seen before. His radiance was dim. It was as if he was
losing her for the first time. She could tell his memories were that vivid,
as he watched her mother again after twenty years.
At the camp, Murlock felt eyes on him. Distant, eyes, not of the two
mortals in front of him. He looked piercingly at Eeyoraus and cackled, "I
promise I'll be back." With that he disappeared.
Just then Seth reversed the spell and said, " I will be listening," and he
was gone.
She turned around and Murlock was there. She shrunk in fear, as she always
did when he entered the room.
"What were you doing?" he hissed, at her. "I felt your eyes on me. Do you
know? *Yes, you do.* That was your mother. I told her I'd be back and I
will. Maybe I'll have her daughter's dead body in my arms." He laughed.
"I don't think so, Brother." Seth spoke up. Dixie turned to look at her
father, for what seemed like the first time. He looked stronger, empowered.
She felt safe.
"Ah, Seth you are here. I thought you might be. What I can't play a little,
with this child of yours? You can't take her. You know that. I could strike
her dead right here and you'd just watch."
"No, Murlock, this time you are wrong. She is coming with me and you aren't
going to stop us." Before Murlock could say anything else, they vanished.
Eeyoraus stood watching the two men and wondering how she always managed to
get into situations that would confuse the most logical of people. Why on
earth did Murlock not just swat away this gnat, Aka. She couldn't
understand that and then as suddenly as he had appeared he vanished. No
conclusions, he was simply gone.
He was gone. Eeyoraus heart sank. She looked at the handsome young man who
had helped reveal the truth about her family with a look that would have
pierced amour.
"What did you do? Where did he go? What the hell is going on? Who are you?
How will I find them now?"
Aka stammered not knowing which question to answer first, not know if he
should even attempt to answer…especially since he had no idea of the answer
to some of her questions…or should he run.
He was beginning to doubt if even Hera was as powerful as the insanity he
was witnessing before him. This was a scary lady. Aka had sensed that
even the proud wizard had feared her…something about her. And where the
heck did he go? He was just here, just speaking to him, and then he got
the even more angry look and just vanished.
"What's going on…..how should I know?"
Eeyoraus' pain was full. Her daughter and Seth were alive. She knew that
and they were in Murlock's castle or near by, she knew that too. But where
was that. Another realm, an unseen place, a evil place. Only Murlock knew
and he had run from her. The pain was weakening the emotionally charged
Amazon and she couldn't afford that,not now. Her head began to pound again.
"All this and Aquillea lays dying." she thought "Oh, no! How long have I
been here…it seems like weeks! Is she still alive? Where's Michael? Oh,
Gods! Michael!"
She loved him so much. A feeling that was so new to her , to loved and be
loved in return. How could it have felt so new? How could she have beat
down the painful memory so far as to have forgotten? Did she forget or was
she truly the queen of denial? Cleopatra…watch out! How would she explain
Seth to Michael, Michael to Seth?
Would she ever need to? Was all hope lost? Murlock would be back. Was her
dearest friend lost?
Without another word to the confused young warrior she turned toward the
lean-to to face what it may hold and find one love she could trust now…her
friend.
