"Stands of Cypress 01" by Amy ´the Ames´ Perkins

Stands of Cypress

I sat quietly next to Elgin as we observed the dark castle looming on the cliff above us.  We had been sent here to help the local people rescue their children who had been disappearing.  Local sources suggested that the children were being taken by a strange wizard.  So Elgin and I were here, ready to enter the wizard’s castle, free the children and strip the wizard of his powers.  At least that was what we had planned.

            I nodded to Elgin and we crept through the tropical forest and up a narrow, winding path to the top of the cliff.  We stood still for a moment, listening and feeling to determine if our approach had been noticed.  It hadn’t.  I cast my mind out and began a quick search of the castle to determine exactly where the children were being kept.  Luck was kind, they were close, being kept in a cell on the outer perimeter of the castle wall.  But their essence churned my stomach. 

            “Where are they Tara?”  Elgin’s soul glow was a beacon in darkness as I returned to my body.

            “The children are being kept in a room just on the other side of the stone wall over there.  We can pass through and free them first, then deal with the wizard.”  Elgin nodded in agreement.  We linked powers and condensed the stone molecules, making a passage into the cell the children were being held in.  We walked in and I saw immediately why their essence was so tainted.

            “Every one of them has been mutated!”  Elgin’s horrified words echoed my thoughts.

            “We must heal them quickly, before the wizard learns of our presence.”  I reached out my hand and Elgin again clasped it in his.  Our perfect complement of talent reached out, amplified by the other’s presence, creating harmonics of magic that only increased the power being used.  The process of purifying the children began.  Gradually, as our magic took effect the horns, claws and fangs disappeared.  Finally, the children were returned to normal.  They huddled together, in frightened shock.  I took a step forward and kneeled down, trying to make myself less imposing.

            “We are here to help you little ones.  Your parents are so worried.”  I quickly made a portal out to the town to quickly transfer the children home.  Elgin and I ushered the children through the portal, comforting each one as they walked through.  That being done, we set off through the castle to find the wizard responsible for the horrors.

            The castle was dank and a distant dripping sound echoed constantly.  Both Elgin and I kept a constant cast out, feeling subtlety for the wizard.  The hallway we were in came to an end; our only path was up a winding staircase.  I went up first and was surprised to find the staircase end in what seemed like an open hall.  It was pitch black and I motioned for Elgin to stay low on the staircase.  I reached out again with my mind, trying to sense the dimensions of the room.  I did not feel any presence other than that of Elgin’s or my own.  I moved away from the stairs and stood upright, all of my senses on alert.  A bright light suddenly shone down, blinding me, while at the same time, illuminating me for any hidden watcher.  Thankfully, Elgin remained hidden, even as an invisible speaker started talking.

            “You are a fool to think you can come here and defeat me.  Many have tried.  Many regret that decision.”  The voice echoed through the hall.  I could not see the speaker, not even a dark outline of a figure.

            “You will not harm or change those children anymore wizard.”  I took a defensive stance, mentally readying my shields for any possible attack, magical or physical.

            “No.”  If darkness could have smiled, it did then.  “It is you, Tara, that will be changed.”  As it spoke my name, the dark wizard was suddenly illuminated and I drew in a short gasp.  It was Kaie, someone who I thought I had defeated.  Before I could collect myself, a thin, red, crackling strand of light shot out at me and enveloped my body.  I stood there, unsure of what was happening because nothing felt wrong.  I could sense Elgin’s unhappiness at not being in the middle of the fight.

~Stay calm~ I told him ~I will call if I need help~

            “Why is it not working?”  Kaie’s face twisted in fury and frustration at his inability to harm me.  Then he became calm.  An eerie calm that left me quaking.  “No, not you perhaps, but he’ll do nicely.  Suddenly Elgin was raised out of the stairwell and the red, crackling light enveloped him.  He started screaming, the piercing noise causing me to double over in pain of my own as it echoed in my mind.

            Without thinking I started throwing my protective shields around Elgin but none would latch.  I felt as though I were trying to grasp a bar of soap in a pool.

            “Stop it!”  Frustrated by my inability to protect the love of my life, I instead began attacking Kaie.  As my first spell snaked its way ever closer to him, it seemed to be drawn in, like light into a black hole.  When the spell finally reached him, the energy of the spell would not disengage from me.  Panic welled up in my throat as I watched my own magic feed the destruction that was pulsing into Elgin with Kaie as the conduit.

            Elgin.

            I wrenched my gaze away from Kaie’s malicious smile and laugh, to Elgin, and nearly fainted.  His body was contorted and twisted in pain as the magic disfigured his features.  I collapsed to the ground as I weakened, watching as wave after wave of agony washed over his body.  In a sudden spasm his arms and hands stiffened and fingernails became claws.  Bony spurs grew in seconds on his knuckles, ripping through skin and becoming spines.  He doubled over and I heard cloth ripping as the same happened along his spine.  Thick black hair grew from all parts of his body.  The last thing I remember was watching his eyes, his beautiful green eyes, filled with suffering and frustration, turn blood-red and consumed with hatred.  Just as the last of my magic was drawn from my body to feed the terror before my eyes, I realized the scream that was still echoing in my mind was my own.