Eyes Without Faces

[Hjolnai]

Sir Ordolar charged up just as Sir Walnut sunk to the ground. The orc roared in rage at seeing a companion struck down. The massive, shining sword in Sir Ordolar's hands swung down, slicing right through a fresh barrier. The barrier did serve its purpose, though, for instead of halving the Necromancer, the sword bit hardly any depth.

 

A seething morass of black lines flew from the Necromancer's hand and severed wrist to strike the orc. Plate armour glowed, and the deadly darkness faded. The wards on Sir Ordolar's armour also faded, however, leaving the orc almost defenseless. The Necromancer was still dangerous, despite mortal wounds.

 

Sir Ordolar heaved his sword back, then struck again. This time, instead of cutting, he stabbed. The Necromancer staggered with a huge weight through its lungs. Orange flames raced along the blade, forcing Sir Ordolar to drop his sword's hilt. He kicked at the Necromancer, but made a serious mistake: he glanced at the Necromancer's eyes. Eye contact was enough, and the orc staggered back, then fell to the ground with a clatter. Barely conscious, he remained on the ground.

[Kikuyu_Black_Paws]

Kikuyu wrenched her katana from the necromancer's chest, her lips drawn in a snarl. She turned her head-- the motion seemed to take decades-- to look towards Degorram.

 

The feral, twisted shape of rage that had transformed her twin's body was gone, leaving her pale. Ozy slowly settled himself on his knees, supporting Degorram's shoulders with both arms. He touched her face and brow gently, trying to illicit a response...

 

There was none.

 

Kikuyu felt her heart shift, very close to breaking in two. She had better not be dead! the ninja shrieked inside. She had better not!

 

Kikuyu turned back to the necromancer, standing bent over. A steady glimmer of gold from Ozymandias' attack still shimmered on his body, and blood dripped from the heinous wounds in throat and chest. Kikuyu strode slowly up to him and slammed both fists on his shoulders. The necromancer fell to his knees, coughing. He looked up at her slowly, eyes glazed and staring at another world. Perhaps a glimmer of Kikuyu's shape penetrated the shifting world he beheld, where his tattered, patched soul was quickly being drawn.

 

Her face contorting, Kikuyu touched her shoto and put both hands around her katana's hilt. She leveled it alongside what remained of his neck.

 

The necromancer gave a gurgling chuckle. Kikuyu paused, eyes narrowing as she looked back at his face. He leered up at her, his mouth a black crescent of blood. "She's dead, she's dead, poor thing she's dead."

 

Kikuyu steadied her grip, her heart missing another beat. "The last thing you'll hear are the bells on my blade," Kikuyu snarled, lifting her katana-- the bells chimed, loud in the sudden silence of the clearing. "The last thing you'll see is the darkness of the stars glaring down at you without warmth. Go back to Hell." She arched her arms, taking a sweeping slice.

 

The necromancer smiled up at the sky and giggled again. "I am Hell."

 

The sword connected with his neck and his head went flying. The body slumped down, motionless. The head hit the ground nearby with a sickening thud, rolling away into the forest. A crow appeared in the night and flapped down to the body.

 

Kikuyu turned away, inhaling sharply through her nose. She opened her eyes, dropped her katana, and ran to Degorram. Nearby, Sir Ordolar was slowly picking himself up, moving towards Sir Walnut and Wyvern. The Almost-Dragon still had not moved.

 

Ozymandias looked up solemnly as Kikuyu dropped to her knees beside him. "She has gone a far way," he whispered.

 

Kikuyu touched Degorram's cheek. The bright bubble was dead. Degorram's skin was cold. By all appearances, she was...

 

"Help her," Kikuyu whispered, fighting her tears. "Please."

Edited July 19, 2008 by Kikuyu Black Paws

[Ozymandias]

His brow creased in worry.

 

"I'll try." Ozymandias reached out to brush errant hair from the shifter girl's face Blood dripped onto her cheek. With a small start, the Loremaster turned his hand palm up. It was coated in red.

 

Frowning more deeply, he closed his fist.

 

 

In the keep, Ozymandias got to shaking feet. He went to the basin he had prepared, leaving a thing stream of blood across the floor. Fresh wet patches appeared on the front of his robe.

 

Slowly, haltingly, he began to wash his kidney in scented water.

 

 

Degorram, he thought, and sent from his heart. Degorram. Stay with us. Your sister is worried. The enemy is destroyed. Besides, shifters surely don't die so easily, he sent the last wryly, warmly.

 

"Ki- Kiku. Get a healer. As many- as you can. It'd hel-p," Ozymandiass forced through gritted teeth.. The other Ozymandiases, now still, went limp and vanished entirely.

[Kikuyu_Black_Paws]

Kikuyu stumbled and dropped to one knee. She panted, forcing herself up again. She could not rest-- she couldn't take a break.

 

Slung over her shoulders, Wyvern groaned once and fell silent again. Kikuyu shifted her grip, allowing herself to wipe the sweat from her forehead. Just a few more miles...just a little farther to the Keep...

 

"Ki- Kiku. Get a healer. As many- as you can. It'd hel-p," Ozymandias forced through gritted teeth. "I can't move her the way she is now."

 

Kikuyu closed her eyes against the memory of her twin's pale face. The stillness almost made her look sorrowful, not peaceful as Kikuyu had always dreamed. But despite the peace, the dreams where Degorram's face had been still in the power of death had always been nightmares.

 

The walls of the Keep rushed up before her so quickly that the ninja almost ran into Mynx. Several huge, glimmering animals looked down at her, jaws bared for another attack. Zombies lay everywhere, fallen and still. It looked like the sight of a plague.

 

Kikuyu swayed on her feet and shifted Wyvern towards the ground. She couldn't hold him upright anymore. She would fall under his weight-- perhaps she already was falling.

 

"Where are the healers?" she whispered. "Ozy says...we need many...for Dego. They're still in the forest, but the Necromancer is dead...Degorram is--"

 

Someone took Wyvern from her arms. Through blurry eyes Kikuyu saw him being carried inside.

 

"I'll find some healers," a voice said. It warped and twisted in the ninja's ears. Kikuyu shook her head and rubbed her eyes. Another invisible hand pushed a jug of water into her grip. "You stick around," the voice continued. "We'll need to find them quickly."

Edited July 20, 2008 by Kikuyu Black Paws

[Degorram]

Degorram opened her eyes and realized there was no earth.

 

All around her was empty, black space, not like the blackness of a moonless night which presses against the eyes, but the blackness of a sea. There was simply nothing.

 

She tried to turn her head but couldn't tell if she had. Her whole body was numb, and the only movement she felt was that of her eyes. She blinked against the blackness, straining for a light or a shade. There was simply nothing.

 

She tried to remember what had brought her here but could not recall. There was nothing before the emptiness. No beginnings or ends, no regrets and no appreciations. She was simply nothing.

 

She wanted to scream, but had no throat. She wanted to cry but her eyes were suddenly gone. She wanted to take one breath, just one whisper of air, but her lungs had vanished.

 

This is the black, a voice rumbled, echoing through the vastness. This is the dark. This is the road that we all must embark. A pale face swam out of the darkness and peered at her, followed by a skinny pair of shoulders and the rest of a thin body clothed in the black. His eyes were green, a shocking, meadow green that sparkled in the nothingness. You are a long way from home, child, the voice continued. Degorram felt it coming from the person in front of her, but his mouth did not move. And you have suffered much... He raised a thin hand and in it swirled a soft, pulsing strand of light. It was slowly fading, flickering at the edges. This belongs to you.

 

Immidiately Degorram became concious of fingers and an arm. She reached out for the light and his hand seemed to suddenly pull away, though she saw he had not moved. She raised her eyes to his and felt the question leave her. She saw it in his eyes.

 

I cannot simply hand it to you, he replied, face still void. You must find the answer to retrieving it yourself. At last he looked down at the light in his hand. I would suggest you hurry. The further away it goes, the harder it will become to save it and yourself. He raised his eyes and looked at her. It is not your time to rest in this place. You will return to whence you came. But if you fail to retrieve this little bit of yourself, you will return uncomplete. It is very easy to lose oneself. Don't lose it.

 

Degorram looked at the light, now small and shivering in the palm of the person's hand. She reached her hand out again, but this time let her fingertips hover directly in front of his own fingers. She stared at the light, feeling it warm her hand, and saw it cast a small glow over her fingers. As if her fingers alone were a key to a complex lock, she began to remember. She saw fields and flowers, a bright sun, and a tiny girl with curly brown locks running after butterflies. She saw the girl climbing a tree in search of a lizard while another girl who looked the same crouched on the ground, coaxing a fox kit with a piece of cake. She saw storms and darkness, the flash of a blade and blood splashed onto a wooden floor. A door was flung open and she saw the two girls running through the rain. The stars fell and time passed.

 

With every recollection she felt herself grow more full, more solid. The light from her fingers traveled up her arm and onto her shoulders until the pale blue-green glow was filling up the space in which she and the person hovered. Slowly, uncertainly, as if recognizing her for the first time, the strand of light reached out and touched her hand. Tentatively it put a questing tendril into her palm, and then all at once it slid forward and rotated like a small galaxy within her grasp. It burst with light, sending the pulse flying through the emptyness and lighting up eternity with gold.

 

The person in front of her looked around at the change. You have such a bright soul my child. He turned his face back to hers. We will meet again. Not soon, but again. And he faded away, his body becoming an emptiness that spread over the glimmer Degorram had caused. She was again surrounded by the nothingness, but this time it sparkled with little points of light. She had never seen anything so soft and peaceful.

 

She looked down at the light in her hand again and watched it swirl. Slowly she raised it up and gently pressed it to her chest. It soaked in and disappeared, leaving her in utter darkness.

 

I want to stay, she whispered in her mind. It's quiet.

 

But you can't love, the voice whispered back. She felt an invisible hand touch her cheek. Your own night sky is much more beautiful. Take a look.

 

The nothingness disappeared and she found herself looking up through a circle of trees at the most beautiful stars she had ever seen.

 

Feeling crept up her body like an army of ants and she realized she was being held by someone. Her feet lay in the grass, and one arm trailed to the ground. Her head was nestled in the person's shoulder. Looking up, she saw a pale, strained face staring up at the same stars.

 

She closed her eyes again, feeling her utter weekness. I didn't even ask your name....

Edited July 21, 2008 by Degorram

[Ozymandias]

Deg- Ozymandias began in her thoughts, then finished aloud in his surprise-"orram! You're back!!!" Wihtout a second thought,he swept her up in a fierce embrace.

 

Degorram, still somewhat befuddled, still allowed herself a small smile and an "Ouch." in reply.

 

Stricken, he immediately lowered her gently to the ground.

 

"I am so sorry!", he cried. She could only blink slowly up at him. Though so much color had drained from his face he looked almost yellow, Ozymandias' brow creased in worry and hope as he looked down at her.

 

"Is it you?", he asked quietly.

[Kikuyu_Black_Paws]

Kikuyu raced through the trees back to the clearing. Behind her, the scattered footsteps of rushing healers and other pennites from the Keep Infirmary slapped against still wet leaves. The noise was tremendous, but stealth wasn't the issue anymore. Haste was.

 

Kikuyu's shoulder slammed into a tree and she spun to the side, ignoring the lack of coordination. Her view of the forest was a vague red haze, twirling sickeningly. If Degorram was gone before she could get back...if she was gone at all...

 

Kikuyu dashed a hand across her eyes and bit her lip till it bled. She smacked into another branch, this time slipping to her knees. She scrabbled wildly, feet and hands slipping in water and slick moss, but she got to her feet and sprinted onwards. Someone next to her was breathing sharply...or maybe it was just herself.

 

The clearing burst on her eyes in a bright swamp of moonlight. She couldn't make out distinct shapes-- Ozy and Dego were a tight blob to the left, whereas Sir Walnut and Sir Ordolar were vaguely swaying blobs to her right. Kikuyu forced herself to swallow once, twice...

 

She walked slowly towards Ozy, afraid of what she would see. The Elder didn't notice her, but it didn't matter. Kikuyu looked into Degorram's open eyes, and the little bubble of light in her collarbone flared brightly. The heat was intense on her face and chest. The ninja dropped to her knees, head bowed with exhaustion, and she did not try to wipe away her tears. Weakly, as the healers gathered around, she gripped one of Degorram's fingers, determined not to let go for a very, very long time.

[Degorram]

Degorram stared out the window, watching the trees rustle in the wind. She wished she could open her window for a fresh breath of air, but the healers had forbidden it. Uncomfortably she shifted around under the massive amount of blankets on top of her, moving to a different position. The pillows under her head and supporting her back were deliciously squishy and she sank into them.

 

At her side, Kikuyu sat reading a book, absorbed in the story. Kikuyu herself had been bedridden for two days following the end of the assault, but through sheer energy and will had managed to get the healers' approval of release shortly thereafter. She had demanded to stay at her sister's side, and after the ordeal the healers had been afraid to deny her. However Degorram was tired. Conversation didn't come easily. Many times Kikuyu saw her sister slip away into another world and her eyes would be lit up by invisible stars. Thus, since her patient was a boring one, Kikuyu read a book. Occasionally she would attract Degorram's attention by reading a choice phrase, but otherwise the infirmary was gently silent.

 

Scattered about the room were a few other beds that occupied bodies. Wyvern, sporting many bandages and his right arm in a sling, lay in one of them, flipping through a magazine listlissly. Earlier he had made a great fuss about not being able to read his monthly subscription to "Fantastic Furr".

 

"How am I sssssuposssed to get better without proper entertainment?" he wailed to the unbending and highly unsympathetic healers. "I'll die of boredome before I die of a few broken ssssscalessss!!" They had supplied him with a huge stack of "Outdoorsman Weekly". Wyvern hadn't been pleased.

 

Sir Walnut and Sir Ordolar had been healed days ago, along with others who had only sustained minor damage. Though his body had been badly wrecked from fighting, Sir Walnut had been worried that others with worse injuries would need the healing powers more and had received the least amount of treatment he could get away with. Sir Ordolar would have gone untreated if he had had his way. The powerful orc knight, after much persuasion, had gone along with Sir Walnut in receiving at least rudimentary treatment. Despite great protest, Ozymandias had elected to treat himself with only minor help from the healers. It was probably best that way: none but Ozy knew the source of his mysterious but severe injury.

 

Degorram turned her head as the door to the infirmary opened and Ozymandias walked in, limping slightly and supporting himself with an ornate cane. His face was still pale from the self inflicted injury, but otherwise he seemed to be quickly on the mend. He flashed a small smile as he approached Wyvern.

 

"Greetings Wyvern. How are you mending?"

 

Kikuyu snorted softly and pretended to start sneezing. Everyone knew Wyvern was still in the infirmary not because he was seriously injured but because he was an unprecedented worry wort.

 

Wyvern sighed dramatically and closed the magazine with a flutter of pages. "Ssssslowly. They're killing me in here."

 

Ozy tried very hard to look sympathetic. "I'm sorry about that Wyvern. You know how doctors are." He glanced over at one of the healers, who gave him a death glare which clearly read "You should be in here too."

 

Turning with a regal smile Ozymandias limped over to stand next to Kikuyu. "Greetings ladies." He turned his eyes on Degorram and became solemn. "Feeling better today?" he asked quietly.

 

Degorram smiled faintly. "A little," she murmurred. "I'm still remembering the stars."

 

Ozy put a hand on her shoulder. "Do not fear. It will pass. The otherworlds have a way of capturing our minds for a little while. You'll be back in the real world soon enough."

 

Degorram turned away and watched the wind again. "I want to go outside," she said with a sigh. "I feel fine."

 

"The healers want to keep an eye on you for a few more days," Kikuyu said again, as she had said it many times. "You'll be out soon." She poured over her book, but couldn't concentrate on it.

 

"How is reconstruction coming?" Degorram asked, looking over at Ozymandias.

 

"Very well," the Elder replied. "Not much was damaged to begin with. A few broken windows and the front gate will need to be replaced, but since the creatures never breached our walls there's not really anything to repair. Wyvern's Bat-Ball caused more damage inside than they did."

 

Degorram smiled. "That's good." She lay back on her pillows and held the pendant on her necklace in one hand, sighing wearily, her eyes closed. "I'm glad it's over. I feel so old when I think back on it."

 

Ozymandias smiled and patted her feet. "Time." He fell into silence and leaned back against the wall, clozing his eyes.

 

Silence fell over the infirmary once more. Outside the wind made the trees dance.

 

 

 

 

~End~

Edited July 23, 2008 by Degorram