[ IP ] [ TT ] Dragon Fae

`` You sure this is a good idea?'' 
 
 I look over at Han. He has worry in his eyes, as usual. Seems like it's been years since he laughed, even though we've only been traveling a week. 15 years old and he already sounds like he should have wrinkles. Still, he has n't backed down despite all the talking. 
 
 `` Of course it is n't. But we're going to do it anyways.'' Sometimes I wonder why I'm so confident. I should be running in the other direction as fast as I can, but all I can think of is my goal. *Lydia*. 
 
 `` You know Rain, just cause you're named after some ancient hero does n't mean you need to die fighting something bigger than you. Your sis is probably dead already...'' Han trails off. He saw something in my eyes there, even though I held myself back. They say you can see someone's soul if you look in their eyes while you talk. There are stories of wise old men besting skilled young MindShapers like that. I do n't believe the stories, but Han saw *something*. 
 
 `` If you want to flee, you can. But you've come this far, and the Counters are probably hunting us now. Not my problem though.'' I put some steel in my voice there. Han's actually paled, like he's more afraid of me than of the *thing* in the castle. I turn away, and at the same time reach out cautiously, brushing his mind. He jumps with a shriek, and I laugh. So does Bannon, who's kept silent so far. 
 
 `` Not funny!'' 
 
 `` Yes it was. You sounded like a pig!'' Bannon compares Han to a pig every chance he gets. Everyone else stopped finding it funny years ago, but he keeps at it. 
 
 `` Well, I thought it was-'' 
 
 `` If it was the Owner you would n't have had time to scream. And we've been practicing Shaping like that every day for the past week. You're just tense.'' Han turns red now, and I head off the inevitable pig joke from Bannon. `` Come on. You try and get into my head now, and I'll keep you out.'' 
 
 I keep the three of us sparring until sunset. Various combinations and goals. Bannon can fight off both of us at once, and Han's slippery. Like a muddy pig, apparently. I ca n't keep either of them out if they get close, so I end up focusing on just slapping them away. It works all right, but one of *Them* will be able to attack faster than I can parry. No that they'd be able to keep one out either though. We're mostly practicing for the sake of it. Just to defy the laws against it, since we're breaking bigger ones anyways. Eventually, I call a halt. No point keeping watch, we're dead if we get spotted anyways. Better to just all get a good sleep. Tomorrow is big. Tomorrow is when we'll all probably die, and it still does n't seem real to me. 
 
 ***** 
 
 Bannon's up first, which is unusual. Does n't take long to find out why. He's cooking bacon. Han acts annoyed, but I know he's just as glad for one last joke as I am. We ca n't delay too long though. It seems like no time has passed before it's mid-morning and we're standing at the gates to the castle. 
 
 `` Well, lets go.'' There was probably an inspiring speech I could have given, but I do n't feel up to it. Maybe Han's right about me taking my namesake too seriously. Too late to worry now though. We're being watched, I can feel it somehow. 
 
 We pick our way up the path in silence, crunching over the fallen leaves. I wince every time a twig snaps, as though it's the difference between life and death. We reach the keep without incident, and I break the silence. 
 
 `` Well, last chance to back out!'' I look over at Han, and smile to show I'm joking. He smiles back. For all our misunderstandings, we're together here. 
 
 `` Forget about me?'' I smile at Bannon too. As one, we step inside. 
 
 The bowels of the keep are lit, surprisingly, by small balls of light that shine without flickering. I do n't spend much time inspecting them though, as I gaze on what centuries of habitation by an Owner have made this place into. 
 
 Water pools on the floor in puddles so large they have small fish swimming about. Not just tree roots, but entire trees have grown in here, struggling to claim the meager light from the spheres and the windows, most of which are just empty frames. The buzz of insects is everywhere, as are the lizards. 
 
 Or, at least they look like lizards. Lizards with wings on their backs. Leathery wings, like those of bats, sprout from the back of the lizards' necks. As I watch, one jumps of its perch and glides unsteadily over a pool, it's mouth open to devour insects that ca n't get out of the way in time. As I turn my head to follow its glide, I find myself picking out shadows, waiting for one to move. Then it lands at Her feet, and I forget about caution. 
 
 `` LYDIA'' I scream, rushing through a puddle which fortunately is n't very deep. It is n't until she turns her head to face me that I realize something is wrong. Lydia is wearing a black sleeveless dress which reaches down to the round, contrasting with her pale arm. Far more pale than she had been a week ago. As pale as a corpse. She is wearing an iron tiara, adorned with long spikes that reach up over her head. Except for a few streaks, her blond hair has become black. It's longer than it was before, flowing down over her back. And over her wings. Somehow, in my joy at seeing my sister I had missed the thin wings, like those of the lizards, that protruded from below her shoulders. And her eyes. My sister has black eyes now. I stumble placing my hand against a twisted root for support, still ankle deep in dark water. she does n't smile at me. 
 
 `` You should not have come, little brother.'' That does n't sound like her voice, it's cold and distant, like she's just an uninterested observer rather than my sister as of a week ago when she was taken. I open my mouth, then close it again. I do n't know what to say, how can I tell her that I rushed out after her, to save her, despite all our arguments and teasing? How can I be sure this is even my sister? Then I hear the screams. 
 
 I spin, and see Han running in my direction. Bannon is n't behind him. Bannon is thrashing in the grip of a tendril of water that is reaching up from a puddle. He pounds against it but it does n't give, it just keeps squeezing. I start running towards him, but the puddle feels like mud, and I almost fall as my feet are trapped. I reach down, and pound against the water but only get my fist trapped too. Han sees what has happened too late, he puts one foot in the water, tries to pull the other back, and falls flat on his face. He's held fast, unable to even thrash. And there was no sound, the only sound in the keep is Bannon's screams as he struggles with the tendril trying to suffocate him. I twist my neck to look at sister, or the thing that was my sister. She is watching, but not impassively. There's a small glint in the corner of one of her eyes. Like a single tear. Maybe there's still some bit of Lydia in there. Maybe... 
 
 I stop looking at the world, and start looking at the Precursor. I see the Owner, and it's everywhere. The main body is in the center of the room, and tendrils stretch into the water pools, animating them. I saw an octopus once, a small one brought in by a trader, and that's what this reminds me of. A bunch of tentacles and a body. But only one body. I look over at Lydia, and gasp, The young woman I had thought of as my sister is still there. Just... changed. She stands at the center of a web of Precursor, and I can see her soul. It's not a human soul, not anymore, but it's not an Owner either. It's something else. 
 
 Straining myself, I reach out towards her. It's further than I've reached before while sparring with Han and Bannon, but not too much further. I reach, reach, reach... and make contact. I do n't know how to push a thought, but I do n't need to. I've got her attention, so she hears me call. 
 
 `` Help us!'' 
 
 And she responds. She reaches down, behind one of the legs of an arch, and pulls out a sword. She throws it to me. 
 
 `` Help yourself.'' 
 
 I do n't know how I'm supposed to fight an Owner using a sword, but I do n't know the metal. I catch it with my free hand and it feels lighter than I would expect, maybe it can hurt them somehow? With nothing to lose, I swing it at the water that holds me. the Owner shrieks. 
 
 It's not a shriek like that of a bird diving in for the kill. It's not the shriek of a sheep in pain. It's a single sound, unwavering and without character. But it manages to convey pain nevertheless. the Owner pulls back its wounded tentacle, and i can move again. I rush towards it, swinging the sword wildly, but there are more and more tentacles. Before I've gone halfway, I find myself driven back. The Owner was playing with us before, now it's mad. The tentacles are sharpened, seeking my mind. If it catches me it will tear my soul out of my body so it can spend more time torturing it. I find myself backing away, but before I reach the puddle I was trapped in, I feel a hand on my shoulder. 
 
 ***** 
 
 Continued in reply... 
 

