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Sangrelysia
by Vivian Darkbloom
Sapphire
Clarissa stood alone at the crest of the hill, listening as
Elwrong orated to her zombied throng from the raised stage at the
heart of the semi-circular amphitheatre. Glancing up, the
white-clad minister spotted the little girl, maybe seven years of
age, watching so curiously from above.
Smiles played on the lips of armed soldiers who stood in clumps
around the perimeter of the crowd, and they nodded congenially at
the sweet innocent.
"A young child," cried out Elwrong from the pulpit. "I simply
adore children! Oh, won't you come down here, dear? No need to be
frightened."
Clarissa looked behind her, feigning surprise that it was she who
was the center of attention, then pluckily made her way down the
hill. The crowd parted, forming a center aisle for her to walk
down. Elwrong knelt down to be intimate with the adorable little
creature.
"Would you like to join us, my sweet? You can be our new mascot.
We're learning to clear our minds." Elwrong was all twitters and
candy. The snow queen, dressed in white from head to toe. The
crowd cooed and awwed.
"I was wondering," said Clarissa innocently, in her best
little-girl voice, "What about the egg?"
"Egg? What ever are you talking about, my little one?"
"You know. The dragon's egg. Where did it go?"
Rage leapt across Elwrong's face, but momentarily she brought it
under control. "And why on earth would you be asking about a
silly old egg?"
"A man told me to."
"And where might this man be?"
Slowly, silently, Clarissa turned and pointed to the crest of the
hill, where I stood with Sylvia, looking down at the gathering.
The crowd gasped. The world surged into sharp focus as soldiers
all around stirred and began to draw weapons.
"At ease, guards. Let them pass," ordered Elwrong. George had sat
up, and his usual goofy grin was shaded with a tinge of
indignation. His evil nephew Karl sat with a gloating teflon
smile, unfazed.
"Generous of you to allow the princess to pass into her own
realm," I said.
"You'll forgive them for their suspicious bearing, but you've
been condemned to death, you see. . ."
". . .For kidnapping the princess, yes I heard." My heart
pounded. Blood rang in my ears from the rage. I should not have
let the false accusation get to me, but there was something about
it that dug in the wrong way.
I reached out my trembling hand to Sylvia, who took mine in her
little one, and we strolled together down the center aisle as the
crowd once again parted. From the hissing on either side, I
gathered that they maintained their distance out of fear rather
than respect.
I met Elwrong's glare with a smile. "Been having a nice stay?" I
asked cheerily.
She cleared her throat. "Now that you mention it," Elwrong said,
"Since there's no entrance to the wizard's tower. . ."
"Should've locked me out too," chimed in Gwendolyn from behind.
"Place was a pigsty!"
"What!?" raged Elwrong, then regaining her composure continued
icily: "You've been banished from the kingdom for kidnapping the
princess. I suppose you know what that means."
"It means yet another rancid lie, dripping from your foul
diseased mind. How many thousands have you told so far? Can you
even remember the truth any more? It would be a wonder. And now I
see you stealing from the poor to feed your lust for power. Like
slaking your insane thirst with brine. So where do you think it's
going to end? How many more must bleed and die to fill your
insatiable craving for control? How many more will you trample in
your mad obsessive quest for greed? How much--"
"Oh, shut up," shouted Elwrong angrily. "I'm up to here with your
tedious political twattle!"
She murmured to the empty space beside her, and a dreadful
slurping sound accompanied a thick, mucous trail which spread
sickeningly across the ground, rapidly coming toward us, clumping
heavily.
Sylvia reached into a pouch around her belt, and grabbed a
fistful of white powder, which she threw in the direction of the
disgusting noise. The granules clung to a surface in midair, only
inches in front of her face.
There was a terrible cry. Again and again, Sylvia threw handfuls
of the white grains. The mucigenous trail of disgusting thick
whitish slime ceased to progress, and we could hear the anguished
form collapse in front of us. Sylvia poured a huge stream of the
powder over the invisible form at the end of the hideously
slippery trail, and soon there was nothing but eerie quiet.
Elwrong was distraught, horrified. "My little Mimi!" she
shrieked. "What have you done to her?!"
"Salt," said Sylvia, shrugging.
The evil nephew Karl was looking pale over in the corner. George
sat next to him, agog, looking dumber than a goat.
"You'll pay for that!" snarled Elwrong, then savagely whispered
something in a harsh foreign tongue, waving her hands at me an
the Princess. I felt, rather than saw, Sylvia raise her hand in
response.
With a loud crack, an explosion burst forth amid a cloud of
sparks, reflected back at Elwrong by the protective spell that
surrounded us, helped out by the counter spell Sylvia threw in.
There was a puff of thick ash-grey smoke, and I looked up to see
Elwrong picking herself up off the ground, her formerly pristine
white outfit now charred and layered in dark black soot. She
staggered to standing, then reeled back a step, blinded by the
cinders and carbon dust.
My pulse raced even harder. "Now!" I said, glancing at Sylvia and
Clarissa. The three of us each drew a deep blue sapphire from
within our garments, holding up the three gemstones as we closed
in, forming a triangle around Elwrong. We joined in chanting
together rapidly the incantation. The crystalline gemstones all
began to glow, and beams of light connected them, creating a
force-field around Elwrong that pulsated as it grew rapidly in
strength.
There was a moment of hushed silence, then what felt like the
release of a heavy weight. Looking up, I could see the sky turn
perceptibly lighter, more vividly colored. The whole world around
threw off an oppressive gloom.
The gold UFO landed with a thud, and then with enormous clatter
burst into a million pieces, as the jewelry and bracelets and
crowns and so on from which the saucer had been magically melted
all resumed their original forms. In the middle of the crowd now
stood an impressive mountain of treasure. I could recognize
numerous items as having been pilfered from the royal vault.
The force-field dispelled, and Elwrong fell to her knees,
dropping a small oblong packet which lay on the ground between
her and King George as she shrank back with the haunted
expression of one pursued by shadows, flitting darkness that grew
blacker and more menacing with each moment.
"It is done," I pronounced solemnly. "Elwrong's connection to the
dimension of pure evil has been severed. Her spells have lost
their power."
"What have you done with her?" demanded a nasty-looking woman in
the front row.
"Hm," I said. "One cannot escape the consequences of facing the
power of magic with an impure heart. The magic from the dimension
of evil was shielding her, but now she has to face the truth of
her foolish choices."
A cheer rose from the back of the crowd, where our supporters
were gathering.
Nearer by, angry voices called out.
A loud clattering commotion arose over the ridge, the crackling
of dried leaves being trampled, snapping of twigs and cracking of
branches. It sounded like a herd of elephants crashing through
the trees.
Chapter 28
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