by Daniel Olarnick, Joel Weichs Levy and Janice Jackson
(continued)
The Omniscient Voice: The record is incomplete as to what has occurred over time. I call this The Void:
Elvira and Hellebore went to John Traveler’s room to contemplate the bodily paralysis that had taken Lamas in its grip, as he appeared to be worsening.
“Your servant stole the wrong urn,” John told Elvira. I am sorry to say that poor Lamas will die a most horrible death, morphing into a blood-sucking creature, lacking the mental ability to understand his condition or the personal resolve to end his own existence.
“Unfortunately,” he continued, “there is no known antidote. The process is irreversible.
“As to his servant, perhaps, his madness will pass. Lady Elvira, you will have to make the decision to end Lamas’ life or watch him mutate into a creature whose life is worthless. The choice is yours,” stated Traveler, in his usual perfunctory manner.
*
Hellebore took up her watch, half-dozing in front of Elvira’s door. Her lycan senses were not at their highest, yet she sensed the presence of another nearby, but she dozed on, her human side demanding rest.
*
"Karl, I swear you move more silently than a spider spinning a web." Hellebore said, smiling at her long-time friend and lover.
"A trait that can save your life," said Karl, as he embraced Hellbore and brought a kiss to her lips.
"There is trouble in Talos. One of your kind has been slaying young children and pregnant women. The term Werewolf is being bantered about loosely, so I want you to keep your eyes open, Hellebore."
"Let me guess, is that she-bitch Elvira spreading the alarm, " Hellebore said, clutching her knives, "You should have let me engage her in a contest of skills and end her miserable existence."
"All are safe within the Black Dragon Inn." Karl reminded her.
Hellebore gave an exaggerated sigh, and then added her promise not to harm Elvira the assassin. “No, there were other ways to deal with her type,” she thought, but that would have to wait until a later time.
"Be wise, my friend. Keep your eyes and ears alert and open.”
Hellebore's eyes narrowed as she pondered Karl's warning. He did not often dwell on her safety for he knew she was more than able to care for herself. Something more was going on so she would be wise to take Karl's words of warning.
*
"So, it begins!" Hellebore cried aloud in relief as she shed the last vestiges of her human form. Her body totally naked and covered with a fine red fur, she raced from the safety of the Black Dragon Inn and vanished into the surrounding forests, calling for her pack to lead the way. Her call was answered, and she found herself in the middle of the pack, surrounded on all sides, as she ran with wild freedom that no human could truly understand.
The mountains and valleys surrounding the Inn always supplied the needs of the pack, the slaying of humans was forbidden, and yet, an outsider had clearly violated their rule.
*
The dawn was breaking, as Hellbore shifted back into her human form.
"There, Look and see,” a voice from a search party screamed aloud. "She is covered with the blood of an innocent. Hellbore did not have to turn around to recognize the voice of her accuser, Elvira, the assassin.
Hellebore stared hard at Elvira, "Elvira, best find your friend Dvorak, before you point your accusing finger towards me or you’ll find yourself with only nine fingers left. I am certain that there will be questions about his whereabouts last night."
Hellebore smiled as sweetly as she could manage at the moment. She had promised Karl that she would not harm Elvira within the Black Dragon Inn, but outside of the inn, no promise had been made. She gripped her twin sabers and awaited Elvira’s next move. The crowd disbursed, now seeking Dvorak, his whereabouts unknown, as Hellbore returned the refuge of the forest.
*
Sounds of giggling came from the overhead branches of the trees, as Hellebore reached over her head and stroked away some of the fine silvery webs away from her face.
"Welcome, Hellebore Reid." A soft voice sang out in greeting. "It has been a long time since we last spoke."
"Whisper," said Hellebore, and smiled as she watched a large black and silver spider slid down her slender silken rope of webbing. Before Hellebore’s very eyes, a spider shifted into the form of a human woman. Her hair was black as the darkest night with twin silvery strands that framed her face. Her skin was white as the purest snow, eyes blackened by her heritage. She was a princess of her race and feared nor answered to few.
The Omniscient Voice: Soon, unless the legends were wrong, Whisper would challenge her mother, Arachnia in deadly combat, but that time was far in the future, and few knew of the coming event. Would Whisper defeat her mother, Queen Arachnia, and then face down her murderous sister, Vespoisonia.
"Come, friend of days gone past. Let us share like memories and a laugh or two to lighten out sorrows." Whisper motioned toward a thick patch of webbing that covered her cave. The webbing parted, and Hellebore saw a well set table and a pot of steaming tea and a try of meat cookies.
“I guess I do not move as silently as I thought,” smiled Hellbore.
“The webs sing of the troubles of Karl Strange, and the legend of the coming of the scribe. All written in blood. But let us share our time together, as we dwell on the past, the present and the ever changing future.”
The two old friends refreshed themselves and then shared secrets, as only friends can do. It was a strange and satisfying rest on a weary road, as Hellebore returned to the Black Dragon Inn refreshed and ready for whatever the future brings, and whatever the future brings, there will always be a nighttime of forbidden pleasures.
*
LOVE AND LOSS IN TALOS VALLEY
The sun had warmed the morning air. In the courtyard of the Black Dragon Inn, the sound of faint drumbeats reached those people gathered there to bid farewell to Ellen Carter, the tiny child slain in her bed the night of the fading moons.
Hellebore carried the body of Ellen Carter, bound tightly with leather stringing encasing the small bundle of dragon-skin blankets. Her strong arms trembled, not by the weight of the dead child, but by her anger over the death of an innocent. She silently vowed revenge.
The ground around the courtyard thundered under the weight of the Treacherons, as each beast, gathered in a great circle around the group of mourners; ceremonial drummers began their march of the dead, honoring those who died before their time.
Ellen's mother, her head covered in a black veil donated by Whisper of the Spider Weavers, came forward, an obsidian knife in her hands.
She motioned to Hellebore, to come forward.
Hellebore brought the bundle forward and laid it upon a blackened pedestal. She carefully untied the bundle, exposing the corpse of tiny Ellen.
Hellebore gave a silent prayer to the ancient dragon gods, leaned down and kissed the child on the cheek. Hot tears of deep sorrow were filled with revenge as they flowed down Hellebore's face.
She motioned for Ellen's mother to come forward. Hellebore put her arms around the grieving mother's shoulders, gave her a squeeze of reassurance, and then stepped back into the crowd.
Ellen's mother, her face heavily veiled with the black silken scarf, raised her hands into the air and intoned, "As it was in the days of the ancients, my daughter shall live on in the bodies and minds of friends and families that share her flesh; by the sharing of the flesh Ellen shall live on forever in our hearts and her slayer shall become known to us."
Karl Strange stepped forward and lead the grieving mother into the gentle arms of Dora and Hellebore.
Taking the obsidian knife from the woman's hands, he began an ancient enchantment, as the unnamed scribe came forward, holding ancient fire stones. Karl took the stones and placed them upon the alter, stepping back both he and the scribe, almost silently, said the prayer of the dead, as the small body burst into flames, leaving nothing of her mortal remains, except for that of crystallized stones. Each stone passed on to those in attendance. And with each stone shared and swallowed, they swore aloud, “I take your stone and pledge retribution.”
The great wolves of Hellebore's pack were heard mourning in the background, even though the sun was high in the sky.
"Ellen shall be forever remembered by all of Talos Valley," Karl said, as he turned to scatter the rest of the crystals into the air, and they vanished before the eyes of the gathered crowd. “So it is done,” he said.
*
“A mourners’ feast is necessary. Dora, I would like to pay homage to all by a feast of whole hog, a side of beef and a brace of rabbits, perhaps, some wild boar. Can this be done on such short notice?"
"Karl Strange, how can you dare to question my abilities in producing a fine meal for the staff and any guests we have? We shall have the meal at six of the clock."
Dora swept her large body around and swayed into her kitchen. Soon eight kitchen lads were out digging three trenches for the pit cooking and her ovens were soon smoking in preparation of a massive amount of baking.
*
As she entered the Great Room, Hellebore, caught sight of Elvira whispering to the guests of the inn. Hellebore did not have to hear Elvira’s words to know that the assassin was still spreading rumors about her. The guests were as discreet as sledgehammers, as they stared directly at her as she entered the room and turned to whisper in the ear of their fellow companions, “There she is. She’s the one.”
The Omniscient Voice: Our tale digresses:
The common room was much less boisterous than usual after dinner in comparison to the conversations taking place in hushed silence in the Great Room.
Guests talked in low voices about the strange creatures that now haunted the valley, hunting down innocents.
A hunt was organized for the following night.
John Traveler, had come down for dinner along with Elvira, Hellebore glared at the sight of them.
[The Omniscient Voice: “Lamas and Mudden, still alive, were soon to be forgotten entities, whose existence would be driven from memory, never to be mentioned aloud, except in the records of an unnamed scribe.]
The antagonism and hatred between the two red headed woman was obvious to all.
Some bets were quietly laid upon the outcome of a duel between the two should it come to that.
The servants at the inn generally bet on Hellebore, they had known her for a long time and knew how deadly she could be.
The guests laid their wagers on Elvira. Her six-foot tall frame, plus her assassin’s skill with her halberd were known throughout the lands and were spoken of with deadly impressive tones.
Ginger Sadowa, who had trained in a monastery, becoming a master of Shaolin Monkey Fist, placed her silver wagers on Hellebore, for Ginger Sadowa recognized a death merchant when she saw one.
*
Screaming from the guest quarters brought Karl and the guards rushing upstairs followed by most of the guests from the dining hall.
The cries were coming from the locked suite rented by Lamas and Elvira.
Karl ordered the door broken open.
John Traveler got up slowly, finished his drink, and sauntered upstairs.
Lamas, seated by the writing table, clutched his throat and tried to speak in vain.
Mudden had his short sword out and was swinging wildly at something within the room, pointing in the direction of the open funeral urn that lay fallen on the floor.
Karl disarmed Mudden, and called aloud for a healer.
Elvira, next into the room, lunged for her halberd propped up in the corner of the room.
“Restrain that woman,” Karl ordered.
“Lady Elvira attend to your husband while I sort out what has occurred here.”
John Traveler entered the suite and picked up the funeral urn, replacing the top. “It appears that one of my funeral urns was stolen from my quarters. Perhaps Lamas found the urn or recovered it from the thieves and brought it to his room for safe-keeping. No harm has been done. I have my urn back and the precious little creature it contains appears to be unharmed and resting safely within it. No further action need be taken regarding the theft.”
“We have a guest severely injured and the theft of property to investigate an invasion of the Black Dragon Inn, and the rules of safety for all that reside within it,” said Karl, anger etched into his handsome face.
”It appears, on the surface, that Lamas and Mudden are the thieves. The safety of my guests and of their property requires that we confine them pending action by the magistrates. If I am wrong, I shall apologize, but for now they will both be chained in the cellars.”
*
The twin moons of Odessa rose over Talos Valley.
Hellebore had disappeared into the night.
Elvira came to John Traveler’s suite, to receive the word regarding her husband’s fate.
“Lamas and Mudden stole the wrong urn. Lamas has been bitten by the coffin creature that lives in the urn. There is no antidote. Your husband will quickly degenerate into a worm-like creature, unable to understand his condition or even end his own suffering. You should make arrangements to end his life, as an act of mercy.
“By the way, you had best silence Mudden. I doubt he can withstand the rigorous questioning and torture he will endure at the hands of the magistrates. My guess is that he will break down, and in his confession will betray all our secrets.”
Having Elvira shown out from his room, a malevolent grin began to light up his face. “The evil ones will begin to kill each other off now,” and he smiled at the thought.
*
When the healer came to check on Lamas in the morning, she found the body of Mudden, still chained on the opposite wall, his throat ripped out, and his heart removed.
Lamas beheaded, his head placed within his hands, his eyes staring out in wonder at what had gone wrong.
***
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