Sword and Sorcery Chapter 11 by D.Fire phongb9@idt.net Blinking her bleary eyes, Uerris woke up in bed. She remembered collapsing, nearly hysterical, into her mother's arms the night before, but she had no recollection of being carried upstairs to her room. As far as she could recall, only Momma had been in the house last night, during and after that fiasco with the stranger. She had felt so comforted, spilling out her fears to her mother about the stranger ... and her magic. Unwilling to rise from her bed, she snuggled deeply back into her blankets. It was not the slight chill remaining from the night that bothered her; it was the chill of magic. Uerris was honest enough to admit that to herself. She had feared the mystic arts ever since ... then. That fateful night six years ago. Her last memories of her teacher, Old Miri. *** Six years ago. A young girl sits facing toward a raging fire, her body taut in concentration as she focuses on the fire and her surroundings, just as her teacher has instructed her. She forms an eerie silhouette against the fire, casting a dancing shadow into the woods. As she shifts, the figure is revealed to be a young Uerris. Directly opposite from her, an older woman sits in the fire, her features barely discernible through the flames. Though she is in obvious contact with the fires, they fail to burn her as she sits serenely in a cross-legged position. Her hands are folded before her, forming a cup in which ... water, perhaps, or possibly some esoteric liquid, can be found. Although the woman appears to be quite young, with her face almost free of the lines of age, her hair betrays the fact that this woman clearly has lived in the world for quite some time. Her hair, normally the purest white, is a bright orange-red, reflecting perfectly the colors of the fire. Her eyes are closed, but her lips move as she silently chants. Suddenly, the woman opens up her eyes and smiles. She slowly gets to her feet, apparently unbothered by the raging inferno at her feet. Letting her hands separate and fall free, she moves out of the fire, the grace in her action almost forming a dance. Whatever liquid had been previously cupped within her hands falls in to the fire, but rather than hissing and steaming, the liquid simply sublimates, turning to fine mist without a sound. Coming over to the girl, the woman lays a hand on the girl's shoulder, gently shaking and breaking her from her trance. The woman asks, "Did you see, Uerris? Did you feel the magic and the earth?" Uerris, turning to her mentor with a great smile, replies, "Yes, Mistress. I saw everything. I was watching from the moment you entered the fire, and I saw how your magic formed a shield around you and protected you from the flames." Shaking her head slightly, Old Miri says, "I'm sorry, little one. That wasn't what happened." Quietly, she rises from her knees and moves to the opposite side of the fire, settling down once again. "The magic didn't protect me. The earth did." "What?" Uerris wears a puzzled expression on her face. "But I clearly saw ..." Old Miri explains patiently, "What little magic you saw in your trance did not come directly from me. It came from the earth and all nature." She bows her head as she traces her hand on the rough ground. Picking up a handful of dirt, she continues, "See the soil in my hand? Before I went into the flames, I asked Nature to protect me. And She did." The puzzled expression did not clear from Uerris face. "I still don't ..." Sighing in response, the woman just gently smiles and soothingly replies, "That's all right, Uerris. Think on it, but don't forget what you saw. I see that perhaps it is too soon for you to understand the intricacies of this ... communion." In truth, that Uerris could see magical ley forces so easily amazes her. She has only been teaching Uerris for the past six months, and a novice shouldn't have been able to do that much yet. "But tonight," she continues before Uerris mind could wander off, "I brought you out here for two reasons. The first, I have already done. I have shown you that Nature can be called on to protect. Although you do not understand it yet, I expect that you won't forget it." She arches an eyebrow at her pupil sitting before her. The girl nods solemnly in reply. "The second reason is that I have brought you out here to witness the Fall Dance." Uerris perks up upon hearing that statement. Rumors and legends in the village speak of the Fall Dance. It is a great honor for her to be here when the sorceress casts the Dance of Protection. The Dance, as the townspeople whisper, uses Nature to ward away ill omens and bad luck. In the past sixty years that Old Miri had Danced, no major misfortune has roosted at their doorsteps. Uerris' eyes begin to shine brightly in anticipation of the Dance. Old Miri broadly smiles as she sees the excitement in her student's eyes. "Although I don't expect you to learn it immediately, it would be nice if, someday, you could carry along the tradition in my place." Standing, Old Miri gestures to a spot twenty feet away. "I need you to stand over there. I'll need the space around the fire." Jumping up at the command, Uerris races over the spot indicated, eager for the Dance to start. She immediately sits and ceases all movement, barely breathing and making no sound. Seeing her protégé settled, Miri begins the Dance. Slowly at first, she walks around the fire, taking measured steps, as though marking an area. Although no magic is visible to Uerris' sight, she feels the tingling that approaches whenever someone casts a spell around her. Not wanting to miss any aspect of the Dance, she allows herself to fall into the trance-like state she was in before and turns her attention back to the Dance. What Uerris sees awes her. With the few initial steps taken by Old Miri, a scintillating aura of dancing greens and blues surrounds the old sorceress. As she watches, the aura contracts, glowing more intense as it shrinks until her magic sense is almost blinded. When the aura compresses to be almost a second skin, it explodes in silent shower of sparks, dazzling her inner eyes. The effect spills over into the physical world as a flash of bright green light. When the sparks die, Old Miri is revealed to be wearing a diaphanous gown. Although the fire still rages, none of its color touches the beautiful, silky gown. Of purest white, the gown glitters unnaturally, reflecting off sources of light unseen. To the naked eye, the gown seems to glow and swirl of a life all its own. The sorceress's shapely body is easily seen despite the gown. With a start, Uerris realizes why no others are allowed to witness this magnificent dance. Although the gown covers all, it conceals nothing. She wonders if, had she been a boy, she would have been allowed this, despite her talent and her pupil status. Seeing the slow blush rising on Uerris' face, Old Miri smiles knowingly and nods as an indication that she is about to continue. Uerris brings her attention back to her teacher, pushing aside her slight embarrassment. Since her mentor had not seemed abashed, there is no reason for her to be. Old Miri begins again with a simple cadence. Left foot forward, right foot forward, spin. Her arms spin out, and as she swings back to face the fire, she pulls her arms back to her body. Then she slowly repeats her action. On each repeat of this beginning pattern, Uerris sees something happening with her magical sight. As Old Miri pulls in her arms, the natural energy of the earth is pulled inward toward the sorceress and the fire. Each time the pattern completes, more energy is pulled in, at a greater rate. As time passes, the sorceress steps up the tempo and more and more energy gathers in the fire. Soon, the magical glow encompasses the whole of the physical size of the bonfire, and soon after that it spills over the boundaries of the natural fire, though still retaining flame shape. Here and there, streaks of blood-red energy join the blues and greens dancing within the flames. Full minutes pass as Uerris sits there entranced by the beauty of the Dance and by the beauty her magical sight reveals, although the red energy disturbs her from her full enjoyment. But, since her teacher doesn't react, the young girl assumes that it is natural. As the Dance progresses, Old Miri moves out of the first pattern and goes into a series of different dance patterns, some repeated for a time, some only followed once, but none duplicated again. As one pattern turns into the next, the tempo speeds up ever so slightly, until she seems like a whirling dervish, but her steps are precise and measured. Although the pace is frantic, the beauty of the Dance still shines through. Time blurs for Uerris. Had it been an hour or perhaps two, since the Dance had begun? The magical bonfire, once predominantly blue and green, now glows with an ugly blood-red. The color still makes Uerris feel uneasy, but she puts her trust in her mentor's experience. After the Dance speeds up to a point where Uerris can only see her mistress as a blur, Old Miri begins to slow down. In relief, Uerris sees the energy of the magical bonfire slowly diminish, leached out and dispersed in an even flow to the immediate area. Without warning, Old Miri stumbles to halt, her rhythm shattered, and she drops to her knees and collapses. Seeing her teacher drop, Uerris finally realizes that something has gone terribly wrong. Lurching to her feet she tries to approach the fallen woman, but she is thrown back by an unknown force. Struggling against the mystic power, she pushes her way back to her mentor's side. Her back to the fire, she cradles Old Miri's head in her lap, trying to wake her. Having no success, she desperately begins dragging the sorceress away. With her own not inconsiderable strength, Uerris manages to pull the unconscious woman back to where she had sat watching. Once again, she tries to wake the sorceress. With her full attention on the unconscious woman, she is unaware of the malevolent forces building in the fire until a little voice in the back of her mind tells her to look up. When she does, she immediately regrets it. There, in the fire, a pair of glowing eyes had formed within the dancing flames. This she can see, even without her mage sight, and it frightens her. She freezes like a deer caught in a hunter's light and a scream slowly builds in the back of her throat. Uerris watches, fascinated, as a tendril of fire forms into an 'arm' and lashes out at her, seemingly in slow-motion. She watches as it approaches closer and closer until it finally reaches her side and grabs hold onto her arm. For a moment, nothing seems to happen, but then pain washes over her. Finally, the scream, once caught in her throat, breaks free and she lets out a shriek of pain and terror. Uerris' scream, with its close proximity, causes Miri to wake. Coming to immediate alertness, the older woman grabs onto Uerris and gives a great yank, tearing the girl free from the fire's grasp. "Stay back!" she commands as the sorceress places herself between the demonic fire and the hapless girl. Uerris can only cower behind her mistress, cradling a badly burned arm. She scrabbles in an effort to crawl away from the flames. The fire, in retaliation, sprouts many more tendrils, all of them aiming for the girl behind the sorceress. As each comes to attack the girl, Miri interposes herself between it and Uerris, taking the blows meant for her apprentice. Ignoring the pain caused by the limbs of fire, she concentrates. Her intention becomes clear as the fire diminishes in size as the flames are drawn through the extended limbs and into Miri, wreathing her in a blood-red glow. Throwing an arm into the air, she channels the fire's energy away from her and the girl, leeching it from the demonic flame and thrusting it away in the dark night. In a final, desperate move, the force controlling the raging fire forms a spear of flame from the remaining energy and lofts it at the sorceress in its way. Unable to move because of the tendrils, Miri takes the spear full on, and Uerris looks on in horror as the spear pierces into and through her teacher. With the last of its magical energy spent, the fire returns to normal, losing its eyes and its blood-red color. The woods remain silent for what seems like an eternity to Uerris, until Old Miri, Witch of the Iron Woods, crumples quietly to the ground. A young girl's wail soon fills the forest with a keening note of pain and loss. *** Present time. When Old Miri died, Uerris had lain abed for a full two days, shocked into a catatonic state. She had not even been to the funeral. The location of the failed spell had become over the years known as Witch's Doom, and for the first several years after her teacher's death, misfortune had plagued Gasenheart. Only recently, over the past year or so, had the ill-luck abated. Now, Gasenheart was like any other town, only somewhat prospering. Ever since that night, Uerris had balked from all magic. She even avoided the entertainers that came to town with their minor magics and totally refused to be taught by another mage. And now a stranger had come to town, almost bursting with magic. The first time she had met the strange girl, her anger had overwhelmed her fear, the tingling from her magic senses completely ignored. The second time, the magic was more evident, bringing her fear to the fore, and she had groveled at the sorceress' feet. Even when sitting here, safe in her room, her fear did not abate when she thought of the magics so casually wielded the previous night. She had felt the depth of power radiating from the seemingly young woman. Looks could be deceiving, she knew, because magic users tended to physically age very slowly and some even managed to extend their lives through their magic. The vitality from the girl last night was unmistakable, though. Fear was foremost in Uerris' mind, without a doubt, but another emotion waited at the back of her mind. When she had first seen the girl clearly, Uerris, for a moment, had felt a faint tugging at her heart. Not quite affection, but ... something lurked deep in her soul. 'Attraction perhaps?' She blushed at the thought. Although she had heard of town gossip where two women had fallen in love, or in rarer cases, two men, she had not paid much heed. What others did, that did not bother her, but she had never thought of herself that way, and while some boys did come to court her, she had steadfastly refused their advances. All this time, she had just thought they didn't match with her ideas of what a husband should be. Being the daughter of a town noble gave her the right to pick and choose. Besides, she had her father wrapped around her little finger, so could do pretty much as she pleased. She was in no hurry to get married. 'But attraction to a complete stranger? And a young woman magic-wielder, too,' she wondered. It made no sense. Uerris was distracted from her thoughts as she heard her brother noisily entering the house from below. His unmistakable grumble greeted her ears as the door banged shut behind him. 'Where is the stranger?' she wondered. No other footsteps or sounds accompanied her brother's tread. 'No one is that silent.' She reconsidered after reviewing her memory of the previous night. 'That girl might be, if she is levitating,' she reluctantly admitted to herself. Bracing herself for the shock she expected upon viewing the sorceress, Uerris slowly rose from the bed and tiptoed over to the door to her room and cracked it slowly open. She expected the unknown girl to be waiting by the front door or perhaps in the main room, so she stole a peek over the railing of the stairs leading below. To her surprise, she found no one. Her brother, it seemed, had failed in finding the stranger. Although the girl was nowhere to be seen, Errin should at least be downstairs. She paused in silence, as she wondered where he had gone. Uerris heard two muffled voices coming from the kitchen. They seemed to be arguing, or at least raised in protest. Curious as ever, she crept down the stairs and moved up to the thick kitchen door to eavesdrop. She barely made out her mother's and her brother's voices through the dense wood. "... Destiny? I hear from a complete stranger that my sister isn't my sister, and I come back and you confirm it?!" her brother nearly shouted. "Will you calm down, Errin? The reason you don't know is that you didn't need to!" her mother commanded. "You don't know what's involved here." "But she's my sister, or at least that's what you led me to believe. Why the lies?" her brother vociferously demanded. "Or am I not your son either?" Uerris heard the sound of flesh striking flesh, the slap resounding even through the door. Wincing in sympathy, she put her ear once more to the door. She knew the answer, but she was surprised her brother even knew to ask. Then it connected in her mind. The STRANGER had told him! 'That's impossible! Only Mother, Father, and the Priest of Gaved next door knew about that,' she thought frantically. 'I'm sure none of them told anyone else, and I certainly didn't!' Unable to restrain her surprise, she burst through the door to confront her family, allowing it to swing closed behind her. As Uerris entered the room, she saw her brother sitting on the floor with his hand to his face, covering a red hand print, obviously from her mother's slap. 'Odd,' she thought, 'Where did that other hand print come from?' Another mark adorned his face on the opposite cheek from the red one. 'I only heard one slap.' The second print was less obvious, more of a shadow than anything else. Her mother, though, was furious, still glaring down at her brother. Before her mother could say a thing, Uerris burst out with, "That stranger told you? That can't be right. Only Mother and Father know." The hurt expression that flashed across Errin's eyes made her recoil from his accusatory gaze. "You knew! And you didn't even tell me!" her brother screamed at her. Without another word, he jumped to his feet and fled out the door. "Wait, Errin! Come back! Let me explain!" she yelled behind him. She began to follow him, but was pulled short when her mother put a restraining hand on her shoulder. Her mother shook her head, saying, "You should let him go, Uerris -- Or should I call you Ukyou? He'll be back after he's had some time to calm down." She ruefully added, "Besides, at the rate you two move, he's probably out of town by now. You won't be able to find him if he doesn't want to be found. You and I need to talk." "Ukyou? What's that? Is that my name?" wondered Uerris. The name had a familiar feel. The feeling began at the bottom of her stomach, slowly welling up to encompass her heart. It was as though a piece of her soul had been miraculous returned. "I don't know, Momma. It feels right. But who told you? I thought you didn't know who I was before I came here." "I didn't tell you last night, but the stranger mistook me for someone else she called 'Ukyou' when she first awoke. I didn't make the connection until now, when your brother asked me about you not being his sister. That you came to us by a miracle has long passed from the townspeople's mind, so no one aside from your father and I should remember that." 'Or at least, it's old enough gossip that people don't care about it,' Keili thought. Sighing, she continued, "I know you remember what we told you two years ago. And it looks like time has finally caught up to you. For whatever reason, you were given to us for ten years. But I think your time with us here has ended." She spoke with a finality that brought tears to Uerris' eyes. Hugging her mother with emotion, Uerris clung to her as tears finally breached the dam and spilled down her face. "Momma, I don't know what to say. I don't know if I am ready to leave, and especially not with HER." The emphasis on 'her' made it clear to whom she was referring. They were locked in an embrace when a knock sounded at the kitchen door. "Goodness, who could that be?" Uerris' mother regained her composure, and, wiping tears from her own eyes, she headed toward the door. Blocking her mother's way, Uerris suggested, "I think I should get that. I believe I know who it is." She slid over to the door and, pulling on it, slowly swung it open. As expected, the red-haired stranger stood in the doorway with the panther tamely sitting down by the stranger's feet. For some unknown reason, despite Uerris' fear of magic, her heart still leapt to her throat at the sight of the stranger. The giant cat seemed out of place, though. "Ano, did I come at a bad time? I just saw Errin almost run over me as he ran out," the stranger asked as she pointed toward the front door. "I knocked at the door he left open, but no one answered. I hope you don't mind me coming in," she apologetically asked. "I'm Raeni." Turning back to Uerris, without any forewarning except for a slight twinkle in her eye, she swept a surprised Uerris into her arms and swung her around in a circle, a big grin pasted on her face. Whispering so that only Uerris could hear, she added, "I'm so happy to have found you, my friend." Then she playfully threatened in a loud voice, "If you hurt me or my familiar again, I'm going to have to punish you!" Her smile remained on her face. "But I forgive you." Almost too surprised to react, Uerris could only pound weakly on the figure whirling her around like a rag doll. Finally, the redhead released Uerris, setting her gently back on her feet. As the redhead stepped back, the insane grin still on her face, Uerris stared at the girl dumbfounded. "I'm sorry. I think you mistake me for someone you once knew." "No mistake at all. You don't remember me, but I'll make sure you will. I'm sure I'm in there somewhere," Raeni said as she tapped a finger on the bewildered Uerris' head. "But only if you want me to," she added quickly when the bewildered expression changed to acute alarm. The girl did not seem as fierce as last night when she had hovered over Uerris. The magic still surrounded her, and her mere proximity caused all sorts of alarms to go off in Uerris' head, but Uerris did not find her as threatening despite her delivered warning and her rough ... offer. "Mayhaps, Mistress," she replied with tiny smile of her own. Uerris found herself liking the girl, despite the magic and their brief, but tumultuous, shared past. "But my name, for now, will remain Uerris."