Devil in her Heart
Chapter Three, All Together Now
Kithan examined his fingernails absently, bored out of his mind. So this was what it was like to be king? He snorted. Big deal.
Suddenly, the doors to the throne room burst open loudly, and Kithan jumped in surprise. "Don't ever do that!" he screamed, and the guards that had entered cowered in fear.
"Oh great king, we apologize most humbly for disturbing you when you have such important matters to deal with!" one groveled.
Kithan suppressed the urge to laugh hysterically.
"This man was caught stealing a loaf of bread form the royal storehouse," The other announced as if this were the highest crime one could commit. An elderly peasant was thrown at his feet, and Kithan sneered.
"I told you not to bring such filth to this castle! Take him out and execute him!" Kithan returned to examining his fingernails, ignoring the pitiful pleading of the old peasant as he was dragged from the room. Such a dull day…
"Kithan."
A grin slowly spread across his handsome face. "My dear," he said softly, turning in his chair to address the shadowy figure, silhouetted against the crimson curtains.
"You do your job well," she said smoothly, hands on her slim hips.
He grinned. "All for you, darling." Standing up, he held out his arms. The dark figure slunk forward like a serpent, her obsidian eyes glimmering in the dim lamplight. They embraced briefly, and she smiled, revealing her two sharp, protruding canine teeth.
"Such loyalty is to be rewarded," she whispered, and Kithan grinned, pulling her closer.
"I suspect so, my dear," he smiled, and kissed her fiercely.
"My lord!"
Kithan whirled angrily, enraged at being interrupted. "Who dares disturb me?" he roared, and the knight before him barely flinched.
"The apprentice of the Master-"
"You are never to mention that name in my presence!" Kithan screamed, and the dark queen hissed, retreating into the shadows. Kithan snarled. "Continue."
"My lord, she has escaped through the Window."
"How?" he spat, glancing over his shoulder at the figure in the shadows.
"We're not entirely sure, but we assume she drugged the guards, or used hypnotism, as she has been known to."
Kithan stroked his chin, deep in thought. "This - what was her name?"
"Liryl, my lord."
"This Liryl could be quite an asset to our cause." Coming to an obvious conclusion, he motioned for the nearest page. "Boy, get me the old wizard." As the boy ran off, Kithan dismissed the knight, then turned to his queen. "She should cause little trouble, my love," he said smoothly, and the woman stepped forward again, her black hair shimmering.
"I remember her well," she sneered. "The whore of the wolf-man."
"Let's forget about them, my dear," Kithan insisted, pulling her close again. "We have more…important…things to address."
****
A soft smile spread across Liryl's face, and she leaned forward, kissing George lightly. "Fantastic. Shall we?"
Paying for their coffee and leaving the café, George was aware of the coming sunrise. "We should hurry," he said seriously, motioning to the reddening sky. "I'll get the others. We tried digging up the charms, but-"
"The charms! You cannot use those!" She burst out suddenly, and George jumped.
"What? Why not?"
"They haven't been used for too long! There is no telling what they might do!" she insisted frantically. "George, promise me you haven't used the charms."
"We haven't, but-"
"But nothing. There's nothing we can do about them."
"But how will we fight without our powers?" he asked, confused. "We're as good as dead against Mystique, if she's half as dangerous as Karine!"
"More dangerous, but that's not the point."
"WHAT?"
"Just calm down!" Liryl insisted, putting her hands on his flushed cheeks. "Let's find your friends, and we'll figure out how the charms will be changed."
"You can do that?"
Liryl shrugged. "I can try. It will take time, which unfortunately, we do not have."
****
John awoke to the phone ringing, and, cursing and rubbing his eyes, answered with a gruff, "What??"
"John, it's George," the voice said. "I've found someone you might be interested in seeing. She's going to help us get the charms. Come to the tree, soon as you can."
"Who-" There was a soft click, and John swore; he'd hung up. Quickly pulling on some warm clothes and his large wool coat, he stepped out into the icy night.
****
Paul pulled his scarf tighter, wrapping it around the bottom half of his face to block out the freezing wind. The snow swirled in misty patterns in the rosy light of the rising sun, and he thought to himself how he'd much rather be in bed.
Squinting through the snow, he could see three forms under the tree; George, John, and a young woman he hadn't seen for quite some time.
"Liryl!" Leaping forward, he hugged her tightly, and Liryl laughed.
"Hi, Paul." She stepped back, smiling and brushing away the blonde hair that the wind tossed into her face.
"But I thought…" he started.
"Me too," John chimed in, confused.
Liryl laughed lightly. "I'll explain when there's time. Until then, gentlemen, we should get to work, no?"
Without waiting for a response, Liryl knelt at the base of the tree, brushing the snow aside with her bare hands. The other were silent as they watched in confusion as she placed her palms on the ground and began to chant, her eyes closed and her face serene. The words that reached their ears were clearly not English, and nothing they recognized to be from earth, anyway.
The wind picked up, if at all possible, and started howling through the trees, making the branches of the old oak creak and sway, snow swirling in the gale. Beneath Liryl's hands the earth began to glow a light pink, and the snow around instantly began melting. Slowly, her hands began to sink into the earth as if into mud, swallowing them up the deeper she plunged her arms in.
In up to her shoulders, Liryl took a deep breath and plunged her head in as well, reaching deep into the earth, the ground rippling surreally. After a moment, she began to withdraw, pulling out her shoulders, her elbows, and her hands, in which she held the small metal box. The ground regained it's natural tint, and the wind subsided to the stiff breeze it had been.
Astonished, George shook his head; they'd have to get used to all this wizardry and strange occurrences again.
Standing up, Liryl smiled at their shocked faces, holding the box close to her chest. "Now," she raised her voice slightly to be heard over the wind. "Back to the Window."
"The what?"
"It's how I got here. It's heavily guarded, but if I can bang these charms back into shape, we should have no problems. Shall we?"
Liryl led the way, leaving the park and walking a few blocks through the city to an old, abandoned warehouse. Shutting the doors tightly against the wind, she shook the snow deftly from her hair, then pulled the box from inside her coat. Walking amongst the rows of empty metal shelves to the back wall, she stopped, taking a deep breath.
"This is it; the window. But first…" She turned, sitting on the floor cross-legged and motioning for her three companions to do the same; George to her left, John across, and Paul to her right.
Gently opening the slightly rusty box, Liryl extracted the first charm; John's scarab. The insect fluttered feebly as he took it in his hands, and he couldn't help but smile; it was like an old friend.
"Don't do anything yet, John," Liryl said warningly. "I have to make sure the charms are still uncorrupted."
"Uncorrupted?"
"If left in disuse too long, the charms deteriorate and can have harmful effects, completely different from their original use. I can try to pinpoint if these are corrupted, but I must point out that I can't be entirely sure, so using them could still be a big risk," she warned, her voice completely serious.
Paul nodded solemnly. "Anything to get Ringo back." The other two agreed, and Liryl smiled; such loyalty was rare, but precious.
"All right then." John returned the scarab to Liryl, and she took it in her hands, locking them tightly together with the charm in the middle. Humming softly, her hands began to glow, the light a brilliant green, identical to that of John's magic. Liryl smiled. "It's all right."
"Yes!" John cheered, taking it from her.
"But remember, there is still risk!" she added, and John nodded. Liryl sighed, then pulled out Paul's charm, the ladybug in amber. She repeated the ritual, and again the jewel checked out as being all right; same for George's.
"Right then!" John said cheerfully, standing up and putting the charm around his neck; the familiar feel of the leather was strangely comforting. "Let's go!" Putting his hand over the warm, pulsating amber, he said, "Jai guru deva om."
He felt a strange tingling in his mind, and with a feeling of overwhelming warmth, he could feel his mind powers returning. A grin spread across John's face, and le laughed out loud. "It worked!"
Paul jumped up eagerly, securing his own charm around his neck. "Jai guru deva om!" Instantly, his features elongated, his arms and legs shortened, and he hunched over, sprouting fur. Within seconds, a large, intimidating wolf was in Paul's place.
YES!!!
John winced. Keep it down, will you? he said, but couldn't help smiling.
Paul's tail wagged. Sorry!
All eyes turned to George, who was examining his own charm thoughtfully.
"Not having second thoughts, are you, George?" John asked guardedly, trying to read George's expression.
George immediately shook his head. "No, not about getting Ringo back. Only…if these aren't safe, like Liryl said…"
"Well, she said they were most likely safe," John pointed out, and Liryl nodded.
"With the test I performed, there is only a slight chance that the charm is corrupted," Liryl added, and George looked up skeptically.
"What could happen if it is corrupted?"
Liryl shrugged. "There's no way to tell. It could be bad, but it could even be an asset; it's rare, but occasionally the mutation is helpful. You could end up with a power that you weren't intended to have."
George's eyebrows raised slightly. "Well, it's worth a try." With a deep breath, he fastened the leather strap around his neck. As an afterthought, he took off his coat and shirt, hoping it was summer in Valeth.
"It might be," John said, unable to suppress a grin.
George frowned. "Don't do that!"
John laughed. "Sorry."
"Jai guru deva om."
George began to feel the familiar dull pain that he'd gotten used to, and slowly, his leathery wings unfolded, ten feet in either direction. As his wings spread, so did the serene smile on his face, and he sighed, closing his eyes; oh, to have his wings back! He beat them gently, the soft breeze tossing his hair about his shoulders.
George's eyes opened slowly, and he smiled. "I almost forgot how much I missed these."
Paul barked, and John laughed. "He says me too, and I agree."
Liryl smiled, stepping closer to George, and he pulled her into his arms. George saw John giving him looks, but he didn't care; it was obvious John was thinking of Patti, but…his feelings were too mixed up too care any more.
"We'd better get going," Liryl said somewhat distractedly, gazing into George's eyes. She tore herself away, stepping over to the wall, where the Window supposedly was. She began running her hands gently over the walls, closing her eyes; there was no way to see it, only to feel it. Suddenly, she felt her fingers catch, like on the edge of a fine piece of gauze, and she held them there, smiling. "Found it." Pulling to the right gently, it split, tearing a wider and wider hole. Opening her eyes, she looked over to John, Paul, and George. "Who's first?"
On to Chapter Four!
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