Castlewarming Chapters 771-780
by Hercules Forum Collective
Chapter 771
by Jon.E
Anxious fingers jiggled against the key, now embedded in the lock."Well,
aren't you going to open it?" Aquillea fumed with crisp exhale through
flaring nostrils. "I haven't got all day."
"Touchy, touchy, aren't you, sis? Keep your shirt on."
"Hmph."
Niki applied pressure, and growled.
"It's not opening! Damn it! Uhn!" His fingers wrestled, with added
jiggling, hoping that the continuous would permeate success, and calm his
sister down.
"Are you sure that's not the key to the men's room at the country club?"
"Great. My sister's a comedian now." He tried to remove the key. "Uhn! It
won't come out!"
"Naturally. Did you see that coming? Boy, I sure did!"
"Will you keep a lid on it, sis? I'd like to see you do better."
"Probably could, if you hadn't of bungled it first."
Aquillea laughed. For someone to be one of Maloran's best men, his
performance rated shoddy, to say the least.
An attractive, icy blonde in Amazon attire eyed the man in the doorway with
a mixture of curiosity and hunger. Then her gaze drifted over his shoulder
to the unblinking 'sister' behind him. Her lips twisted upward in a coldly
sinister smile as she spoke in the hypnotic rhythm of evil.
"I know! It's my birthday and this is a surprise party. Really, Aquillea,
how exquisite of you to drop by like this."
"Khestrany!" the Dark Amazon exclaimed in a choked whisper. Instinctively,
she shoved her brother aside and slammed the door shut again. Aquillea
closed her eyes for a moment as she leaned her full weight against the
wooden barrier, her brother staring in wordless consternation. Shaken, the
woman turned around, careful not to diminish the force applied to the door.
Then, much to her dismay, she looked up to find her Bacchai nemesis
standing inside the cell, not 10 paces away, shaking her head in
disapproval.
"That was ... quite ... pathetic. Not to mention incredibly rude... Now,
ordinarily, I'd say it'd be my pleasure to teach you a lesson. But I mean,
honestly, if that's the best you can do... this isn't gonna be any fun at
all."
Again, the Dark Amazon's deep, brown eyes disappeared behind curls of
lashes as the woman tried to calm herself and regain her focus. 'Khestrany
is dead,' she reminded herself, inhaling deeply as her hand searched the
rough planks for the iron door ring. When her fingers found their target,
Aquillea began opening the door behind her, but this time it wasn't simply
instinct driving her. She wasn't trying to hide. The memories that thrived
in the gruesome chamber feasted on the heroine's confidence the way the
Bacchai Khestrany would have liked to gorge on her blood.
In this place, the Amazon was engulfed by treacherous, shark-infested
waters, only she hadn't had time to develop her swimming skills yet. A
change of scenery was in order.
As she felt around blindly for her brother, Aquillea tried to recollect the
details of Khestrany's death. But in her mind's eye she could see the blond
Bacchai baring her fangs with the trace of an animal snarl, her head thrust
slightly forward as if drinking in the scent of her prey.
Catching a scrap of fabric in her hand, the true Amazon backpedaled through
the doorway, pulling her brother with her.
At the same moment, Khestrany charged in a frenzy of blood-lust.
The door was pulled closed.
The iron ring vanished in Aquillea's hand.
Flickering torchlight and cold stone was replaced by a sun dappled
woodland.
As if carried on a current of air from the netherworld, a far off,
whispering thunk was followed by almost canine whimpering. It was so faint
and so brief that, at first, Aquillea wondered if she'd simply imagined it.
Then the trace of a sheepish smile crossed her face when she realized, of
course she had imagined it.
Aquillea's brother was far from impressed with the seemingly narrow escape.
"Now we're really making some progress," he commented, his voice chill with
sarcasm. "as long as you plan on rescuing your friend from an afternoon
picnic."
Wounded by the words which echoed in the cavern of her uncertainty,
Aquillea had no verbal challenge with which to defend herself. She turned
away to conceal her pained expression and Nikolos softened a bit.
"I take it that, uh... Amazon... was from one of Morpheus' dreams."
"Nightmares," came the quiet reply both in affirmation and by way of
correction.
"Quillsie, please! Will you please listen to me now?! You've gotta go back
now, before it's too late. Morpheus obviously knows you're here."
"No," came the firm reply. Still smarting, the Dark Amazon was scrutinizing
her brother as the gulf between the siblings began to widen once again, her
trust eroding like the sandy bank of a flooding stream. Was he trying to
help her or undermine her?
"No, I don't think Morpheus was responsible for that."
"So... you're saying you were responsible?" Niki asked, his brow creased
and his eyes clouded with brotherly concern.
Or maybe he was here to help. Maybe she needed an 'other' to be the
embodiment of her doubts and fears so she could concentrate on the
positive. She just didn't know.
Aquillea shrugged as she answered the question. "Apparently."
"But why would..."
The face of the Dark Amazon became stony but the emotions she was
restraining glistened in her eyes. "He would've wanted to be there. In my
experience, he's becoming more and more of a... hands on type... And
believe me, he'd never come to me as a woman."
Before she had finished speaking, Aquillea had turned her back on her
brother and was walking. Nikolos had to move briskly to catch up with her.
He strode alongside for several paces, and when she wouldn't stop or look
at him, he pulled her to a halt.
"You wanna tell me where we're supposed to be going?"
"To get Angel."
"Uh huh," Niki responded, skepticism now mixing with worry as he glanced
around the unremarkable forest. "And you know to go this way because...?"
The question appeared to take the lovely brunette completely by surprise.
She too scanned the surroundings then cocked her head and frowned a little
as if puzzling it out. Finally she looked at him and said, quite matter of
factly, "It's north." And she resumed walking.
"Oh, see... now I feel stupid that I even asked."
Aquillea sighed heavily and rolled her eyes. "The sun rises in the east,
travels across the southern sky, then sets in the west," she said as if a
bard, inventing a tale as she went along. "The sun never travels to the
north... because that is the domain of Nix, Goddess of Night. Nix likes to
keep her family close... her sons, Hypnos and Thanatos..."
"And her grandsons," Niki added in understanding.
"So, if we want to find where Mor... where that monster's keeping Angel...
we go north. I'd stake my life on it."
And the Dark Amazon was indeed staking her life on it, hers and, what was
more important to her, her dear sister's as well. So she had to be right
about this.
And so the pair traveled northward through the lush woodland and glades of
Aquillea's dreamscape. When Nikolos offered his sister a draught from his
water skin, they hadn't actually traveled all that far. Nonetheless, the
Amazon discovered she was, indeed, thirsty and accepted the water
gratefully. She closed her eyes and took a deep, satisfying gulp.
With an easy smile, Aquillea went to hand the skin back and nearly dropped
it in a cloud of distraction. The landscape had changed. The brunette stole
a glance at her traveling companion, but if Niki had noticed the
transposition, he appeared content to keep the observation to himself. The
Amazon did her best to shrug it off, making a mental note of how odd
transformations of people and places frequently occurred in her everyday
dreams and never phased her at all.
So, why was it that this time the metamorphosis unsettled her?
She had this prickly feeling that there was something familiar about the
scenery. Then Aquillea sniffed a little in self-mocking as she shook her
head with a lopsided grin. 'Why wouldn't this place feel familiar?' There
was a scintillating serenity to the waltz of light and shadow, the dance
itself begotten by the leaves overhead that sang with the voice of the
wind. Mature yet open forests such as this had always been a cradle to her
soul, even before she had been adopted as an Amazon.
It was then that Aquillea became conscious of the quiet, rhythmic coursing
of an as yet unseen river ahead, the music scoring a harmonious
underpinning for the perfect scene. A warm expression made its beginnings
only to be strangled by the recollection of perfection shattered.
Once upon a time, a young family had been camping in the woods near a
river, a small girl's heart was broken, a beloved brother was lost.
"Niki, no!" Aquillea fairly shrieked, her adult voice somehow resonating
with the terror of a five year old.
But she wasn't a defenseless child any longer, she was an Amazon warrior. A
warstaff appeared in Aquillea's hands where none had been before and,
fierce in aspect, she spun around to confront the encroaching evil.
The Amazon's every muscle strained, tense in readiness, and her breaths
came in short, irregular puffs through slightly parted lips. Dark brown
tresses bounced this way and that while her eyes darted a little wildly,
seeking out the wandering marauders that had stolen a precious piece of her
childhood.
But there was nothing to be seen save for trees and wildflowers and sundry,
scattered groundcover.
Nikolos had reacted to Aquillea's cry as both a warrior and a brother. His
sword was unsheathed in an instant as he moved to the Amazon's right and,
shoulder to shoulder, he assumed a battle-ready stance. Niki likely would
have advanced ahead of his sister, history repeating itself, had her staff
not presented itself as some small obstacle to that endeavor. He too
glanced about warily, but his expression promptly melted into perplexity
whereas Aquillea manifested a blinking, vacant stare.
"Squirrel?" Niki prodded with cautious concern.
The endearment came in conjunction with a hand placed on Aquillea's arm and
the startled woman snapped 'round to face her brother. In doing so, the end
of her staff delivered a modest blow to Nikolos' mid-section.
"Whoa-oa-oa! Take it easy there, will ya?" he exclaimed while doubling over
just a bit and backpedaling a step or two. There was a reassuring hint of
brotherly teasing in Niki's tone. "We're on the same side here, remember?"
Embarrassed, the Dark Amazon released her grip on the warstaff, extending a
hand to steady her brother before he planted his posterior in the dirt.
"I... I'm sorry," Aquillea muttered.
Nikolos shrugged it off with a half smile which faded as he jutted his chin
off behind the woman, inquiring," Trouble?"
"I... thought I heard something." The brunette turned her head a smidge to
the left so she could roll her eyes without her brother seeing. It had been
a feeble lie and she didn't need to feel the weight of Niki's scrutinizing
gaze to recognize that fact. Apparently he was not prepared to call her on
it, however, so she continued the charade, adding, "I must have been
mistaken."
A careful observer would have noticed how Aquillea faltered when she took
her first step back on their original course. The trees were all ill placed
again and the ground was flatter, she was certain. For a second time, the
Amazon tried to ignore the alteration but after a few dozen paces the air
grew chill and the trees were suddenly barren.
Nikolos drew to a halt, mumbling, "What the...."
It was the instantaneous onset of nightfall that interrupted him.
Aquillea hadn't needed the darkness to recognize the spot, but it certainly
heightened the sinister feel of a setting that she remembered all too well.
Still, for all that her eyes searched out the shadow of evil that belonged
there, no hooded figure, murderous in intent, emerged from behind any tree.
No gleaming metal blade foretold the impending death of the man she loved.
The goosebumps rising from the woman's flesh were not a result of the
winter wind, and she was almost dizzy from the relentless shifts occurring
in what temporarily constituted her reality. But foremost in Aquillea's
mind was the observation that these latest spooky visions had come without
any actual spooks.
"Enough!" the Amazon commanded as she drilled her staff an inch into the
ground. The transformation back to the original, sun-dappled and innocuous
forest was immediate. "Thank-you," Aquillea said with a brisk, satisfied
nod, fully aware that she was, herself, the responsible party.
There was a sense that something had been settled for the woman as she
resumed her northward trek, working her staff as if it were a walking
stick. Nikolos once again found himself trailing his taciturn sister,
confused and looking for answers.
"Not really, no," Aquillea replied. It wasn't so much that she was
unwilling to answer, she just wasn't quite ready. The Rational Amazon was
starting to get a handle on the situation, but she would have preferred
some quiet time to think things through.
It seemed to the warrior woman that her answer should have been sufficient,
Nikolos was a figment of her imagination after all. But her specter of a
brother wouldn't let the matter drop. "It's him... Those were more of his
dreams, weren't they?"
Aquillea walked on in silence while Niki drew up alongside.
"So tell me sis, do you suppose we're gonna revisit every old dream or
just..."
The Amazon's palm slammed against the man's breastplate. "Nightmares!" she
growled through clenched teeth. She pulled her hand back only to wave a
finger in his face for emphasis. "I really don't want t'have to keep
correcting you on this point."
Nikolos backed away, his hands raised in mock surrender. Then that
sarcastic edge crept back into his voice when he folded his arms and
commented, "It's so reassuring to see how you've got everything under
control here."
Aquillea stared for a moment then hung her head, uttering, "Point taken,"
After a small sigh she continued, "Believe it or not, until recently, I
always considered self-control to be one of my strong points." The brunette
waved off her brother's intended response, adding, "And... that was not an
invitation for further commentary... if that's what you're thinking."
For his part, Niki appeared exasperated, but he returned his sister's
tentative grin in kind. "Um, is there anything I can say without getting
myself into trouble?"
"I dunno. I'm gonna have to think on that one."
"How ‘bout just one thing? Just one?" Nikolos coaxed and Aquillea nodded
her assent.
"I don't know how you expect me to be of any help if you won't open up to
me."
The Dark Amazon stopped to gaze at her companion in thoughtful silence. On
the one hand his words seemed reasonable enough, his delivery was in every
way genuine. On the other, the words 'open up to me' reverberated
suspicious in a heart not overflowing with trust. But after some moments of
internal debate, there came the realization that this was the Dream God's
playground and his game as well. There was nothing Aquillea could say that
the Olympian wouldn't already know... if he happened to be listening.
"You want me to open up? You want honesty? Fine, let's try this for
starters: I honestly wish you would stop telling me to go back. Stop
implying that I can't do what it is I came here to do... I have to do it.
That's an absolute given... And what's more important... I can do it."
"Do what, exactly?"
Aquillea squinted at the man as if her were speaking in tongues. "Um...
Help Angel escape..."
"And that's the only objective you have?"
The brunette's shoulders stiffened and her introspection brought the world
to a momentary standstill before she came up with a reply.
The golden light of sunset flowed through the open window so thick with
color it dripped down the stucco walls. Sweat glistened on the two tan
bodies that lay upon the sueded silk sheets that were the color of old
pearls and the feel of absolute bliss. She found her self wishing she had
more skin that it could touch. Her long blazing sunset colored hair mingled
with his black as night and sparkling as the starlit sky. The only sound
was the deep breathing of total exhaustion. It was a liquid gold
dreamscape.
The room lacked furniture save the ornate brass bed and opulent pillows
scattered about on the honey hued, highly polished wood floor. It seemed
it's only purpose had just been served. It had been served well. She
shivered with the power of the beauty she was part of, a vital organ of
this heavy atmosphere.
The fact that she didn't know where she was or how she got there...or who
he was, was impossible to be concerned with. Her first memory of this day
was of him with his huge and callused hand on her satin back as he lay her
down on the bed.
Waking to this had strangely not frightened her. It was completely right
and she knew in the first of many dizzying rushes of ecstasy. She knew it
was home and she never wanted to leave.
He broke the newborn silence first when in a deep breathy voice he said, "I
love you so, my Mara Bella." He naturally emphasized the word of ownership.
Without a doubt she knew he was true; as true as the fact that her name was
Eeyoraus. The name meant bitter beauty and that settled well with her.
"I love you, too," she sighed, then added, "whoever you are," in her
thoughts. It would be her last thought before she drifted off to sleep in
the massive, firm arms of the adored husband she had never seen before
today. It would be the sleep of perfect peace and satisfaction.
She awoke alone in the room that was now white with filtered morning sun.
On the corner of the bed she found a robe, a perfect fit, of deep lavender
lenin with a yellow cord to draw the waist. A feeling of deja vu
encompassed her as she walked out of her beloved bedroom into the main room
of the house that seemed strangely detached from the castlelike feel of
where she had spent the night.
Still, it was sunny and well appointed. In the corner was a lovely lady's
writing table scattered with the finest of parchment scrolls and and a
fluffy feather quill standing with royal rigidity in a copper inkwell
shaped like the claw of a huge bird of prey. She was drawn to it, gently
fingering the feather and rubbing the wood as if it were a favorite pet.
Looking around she saw a great stone fireplace filled with a basket of
flowers. The mellow coolness of the air ,melodious symphony of the birds
and heady smell of a nearby meadow had already told her it was spring.
There was a pot close by for cooking but it was dusty and the fireplace
held no ash. Obviously the family had already taken to cooking out of doors
to save from heating the home.There was a long table for dining and
conversation, rough hewn cedar. On it was another basket of fresh meadow
flower in all the colors of the rainbow and pitchers and mugs of various
design. There where no rugs on the floor but more sitting pillows and a
fine white marble statue of the goddess Diana with even more flowers in
vessels of bronze, copper, and brass placed at her feet. One thing was
missing...he was not there.
Eeyoraus walked out the door into a glaringly sunny day to find the bucolic
view of her childhood daydreams. More importantly, in the field,several
yards away, oxen bow about his mighty shoulders, was the literal man of her
dreams.
"Good Morning," she sang.
Swiftly stopping the oxen and turning as far as he could in his restraints
he smiled at her and she swooned at the sight. What a magnificent creature
her husband was.
"Good morning to you, my sleepyhead," he shouted back, "and was the sleep
as good as it looked?"
"Better...um...er...my love."
Oh how I wish I knew your name." she mumbled under her breath. At that
moment pictures of another life flashed in her head but she quickly shook
them away. She wished to find no reason that starting a brand new life
right in the middle was not exactly the right thing to do.
"I thought you'd be writing. I mean you always seem so inspired the morning
after...a good rest." He grinned wickedly down at her as he approached from
the pasture.
"You are so tall," slipped from her lips.
"Well, you've known that for 22 years, old girl."
"I guess the light behind your back emphasized it."
"Well, you better get to you're quill if you plan to keep me the richest
farmer in the land, my little poet." He leaned and kissed her, then turned
her by the shoulders with those giant leather hands and popped her bottom
to shew her away.
'Me? A poet?' she shuddered once she got well inside, standing before the
writing table, 'I may not be able to pull this off after all.'
"Well, how can you possibly hope to help this 'Angel' escape when you can't
even escape your own nightmares?"
Niki appeared almost flabbergasted when his sister folded her arms and
smiled, albeit somewhat coolly. "Excuse me, but, uh... do I look any the
worse for wear to you?"
"Huh?"
"See, things are just a bit different this time around. I mean, think about
it. I've felt threatened, but when have I actually felt pain? ... Naw...
Khestrany's been the only real threat so far, and I'm guessing she was more
or less... you know... the embodiment of my 'doubts and fears'."
The renegade warrior frowned, unconvinced. "So doubt and fear are your
enemy; I can buy that easy enough. But you didn't exactly stand up to the
enemy and vanquish it."
Aquillea's grin only widened as she shook her head. "You're thinkin' like a
soldier, brother, not a player... Doubt and fear ...they're tools. They can
work for you or against you... it all depends... I got away, unharmed,
Khestrany's no where in sight, and... I can't explain it... but I just have
this sense that we won't be seeing her again."
There was a renewed vigor in the Dark Amazon's stride and a growing
intensity of demeanor. Her misfortune-schooled brother kept an even pace
but remained a half step behind, rather like an anchor.
"You're sounding pretty sure of yourself," Nikolos declared, the wariness
marring his unseen countenance wholly evident in his voice.
The cautious tone was enough to reinforce some of the brunette's natural
contemplative nature. "Reality here is what you make of it," she said, then
paused. "...what I make of it." As if reciting a mantra she intoned,
"Nothing here can hurt me. Nothing and no one has that power... except me."
The words elicited an unexpectedly menacing chuckle from the warlord's
elite guardsman.
"Does the word 'overconfident' mean anything to you?"
Before Aquillea realized what was happening, her phantom brother had
wrested the warstaff from her hand. Instinctively, the Amazon executed a
handspring to take her out of harm's way. She let her knees go spongy as
she landed, putting her in a crouching position, the better to grab the
collapsible spear tucked away in her boot. But confusion caused the
brunette's hand to hover an inch or two above its mark. Niki wasn't
pursuing her. In fact, he was moving in nearly the opposite direction.
With military precision, the warlord's henchman shifted his grip on the
pole so that he might grasp the end firmly with both hands. Then, as he
approached the base of a great, leafy apple tree, Nikolos let loose with a
mighty overhead swing that closely resembled a sprung catapult in arc and
velocity. Staff and branch collided with a resonating thunk and Aquillea
blinked in astonishment when she heard the tree groan as if injured.
An image of green 'fingers' chucking fruit at her flashed through the
Amazon's mind, but the little voice in her head was saying, 'Some people
may dream about talking vegetation... But not me!' With that thought, the
suspicious woman rose to full stature and, neither advancing nor
retreating, she locked her spear to the 'ready' with a flick of her wrist.
That same instant, a blur of black and purple and gold plummeted to the
ground at the foot of the massive tree. Before the colors even had a chance
to separate themselves out, Aquillea recognized the human streak, and her
jaw dropped in consternation.
After being harshly reacquainted with forest floor, the compact blonde man
deftly rolled to avoid being cracked in the skull by the downward swinging
warstaff. Kicking at the pole with his left foot, he managed to also hook
it with his right, thereby sending the staff sailing several yards away. In
the same fluidly athletic motion, the man propelled himself back to his
feet, toe to toe with the amateur woodsman who had felled him.
"Hey!" Aquillea called out in protest but the combatants were too intent on
one another to pay any heed. Like mountain goats locking horns in futile
territorialism, the fused pair stood practically motionless in an absurdly
off-balanced, wrestling stalemate. Each man knew well how to use his size
to its best advantage. Neither could leverage dominance over the other and
neither was willing to yield.
After quickly replacing the spear from whence it had come, the Dark Amazon
tried unsuccessfully to wedge herself between the men as she entreated,
"Stop it! ...Niki ...Iolaus!"
The warriors remained inseparable but they turned to look up at her in a
perfect mirror's reflection of motion. And two incredulous voices spoke in
unison, asking a single question.
