11.13.2017

Thomelisa Taken Pt XIII

Ofrse’s son did not try to run- or to swim- but I had not really expected him to.  With a witch for a mother, he knew what I was capable of.  Or at least he thought he did, although with Ofrse for a mother he really only knew the half of what I was capable of.  Still, it was enough to keep him in one place while I pondered how best to craft- and charge- the spell I needed.

I decided the newly emptied bell would be the best vessel for my needs.  A summoning is a kind of message, and a message is meant to be understood.  It would work nicely.  To charge it I was tempted to use Ofrse herself- she was about the right size for it, but I was curious about whether or not she might contain the energy of a full-sized witch in her tinier form.  Her aura indicated that she might, in which case I’d rather store it, and save it for later.  So I decided to drain one of the crystals I’d stored energy in many years ago.

It took time, but not nearly as much time as it might have taken, had I not had energy at hand, and a pre-used vessel to work with.  Because I was right; the similarity in purposes was close enough to ease the crafting, which sped things up considerably.  The sun hadn’t moved more than a finger’s-breadth by the time I finished, and I felt confident the spell, improvised as it might be,  would achieve my purpose.

I rang the bell, and said the proper words.  This time it was a lower, almost croaking ring, which made sense: I’d spelled it specifically to let me understand toad, which took far less power than if I’d wanted a more general understanding of animal tongues.  For that I’d have certainly needed the blood of at least two bears- and what a waste of meat that would be.

“Now,” I eyed Ofrse’s son, “Say again what you were trying to tell me.”

His throat swelled up, and he began to croak- but this I heard only dimly, as though music were being played in a distant room.  Above that, over that, I heard him speak.

“I didn’t want to marry her- I certainly didn’t want to- to do that to her!  But Mother didn’t care, she was determined to break the curse, which isn’t even a curse, but she-”

“Back to the point, child,” I said, for his voice put me in mind of a youth, not a man.  “What were you trying to tell me about the movement in the water?”

“Oh!” he gave a little hop, then shook himself.  “I was trying to tell you that they did it- the little fish.  They nibbled her free.  Or at least, it was probably them, because I heard them talking about what a shame it was for such a beautiful maiden to be married to such an ugly thing as me.”

This came across matter-of-factly, with no trace of sadness or anger.  I raised an eyebrow, and he made a movement that I somehow understood as a shrug.

“I don’t care what they say: fish are deeply stupid, and anyway the lady toads think I look just fine.”

I frowned.  I would need to talk to the fish- but I didn’t have time to craft another spell and this one would only work on toads.  And only for another hour or so.

“Can you call them up for me?”  I said, “And tell me what they say?”

“I can call- they might not come,” he said.  “Like I said, fish are deeply stupid, and they might not realize that making a witch angry is a lot worse than talking to a potential predator.”

No comments:

Post a Comment