by Demetri Grim
“You can't be serious! I’ll never!” Her voice cut off instantly as her body went rigid, the chill of pain coursing through her as she fought her own muscles from moving. The command’s manifesting fully and blinding her with pain as she fought against them. Slowly they floated into the corner of her vision. Her eyes unfocusing as her attention was drawn to the odd glow only she could see, and the tingle of pain in her heart as she read the commands he gave her.
Return home immediately and find the filigree letter from the Emissary.
Select a weapon from the Smithy to incapacitate the master smith.
Stage an accidental fire at the smithy, insure the smith is caught within.
Safely return the letter to your master.
The elf laughed and leaned in close to her face. As her eyes came back into focus he sneered at her arrogantly.
“Oh I am serious. You have no choice in this matter Mongrel.” His hand ruffled her hair. A spike of pain shot through her mind as she fought to slap at his hand. The Calm command flaring brightly once more. Her treacherous body instead refused to move. She felt her legs quiver as anxiety filled her chest with nervous energy. The urge to leave the room began growing almost unbearable. But she fought against the commands. The words in her vision flashed brightly and pulsed with an angry light that pounded in her temples in time with her heart. As the command lines filled her vision.
“I will never do as you command!” Her body ached from all the pain of holding herself still. The daggers of ice behind her eyes threatening to knock her back into unconsciousness. She gritted her teeth and snarled at him, her legs trembling as she took a step back away from the door. The mage’s eyes narrowed into a slit, giving his thin face the look of a viper.
“So full of fire. Your resistance is a remarkable display of will. You’re more trouble than you're worth Mongrel. I don't have the time to break you properly. You’re going to have to die. Sooner than I planned, at least... such a pity.” His command array for her flashed to light once more in the mage’s palm. “Now then... I said leave!” The sigil for Obey flashed into her sight. The cold pain around her chest clenched so hard it felt like her heart was going to stop, tendrils of frozen spider webs coated over her skin as his magic flooded into her. Her knees locked up for only a second and then she took off like a bolt, rushing out of the cell and a good way down the hall before her mind unclouded from the pain and her pace slowed. She shook her head trying to clear it and cast a glance back over her shoulder. Kindredstar slowly emerged from the door of the alcove she had been in. Watching her with his vile smile splitting his face, he closed his fingers around her array. Dispelling it as he left her to follow the commands on her own, or suffer by trying to resist.
Chapter 24: The Will to Obey
Rushing past the two guards at the entry to the Menagerie she stopped atop the Colosseum stairs overlooking the road to the market. The street was empty this late at night. The flicker of lamps lining the street heading away from the Colosseum illuminated a patrol of guards as they walked the road, keeping watch for trouble. She watched the guards move away and sighed as her headache started to fade. The rune for Obey flickering out of her vision like melting snow. She felt her muscles relax as she regained control of herself.
“Crap, what the hell am I going to do?” She muttered to herself, grasping at her head with both hands and groaning. She glanced to the commands floating in the corner of her vision. Shaking her head she tried to focus. It was so strange to see words in her vision, hoving at the corner of her eye, it was distracting as hell. “No wonder mages are all irritable and distracted,” she grumbled before re-reading the tiny words of magic that were controlling her. “Lets see, Red told me to do only what the words say. I have to try and stop this. I have to save my uncle, and my home... but how?” Bringing the commands up directly into her vision she tentatively reached out a hand. As her fingers touched the words she felt another spike of cold stab into her mind and she jerked her hand away. “If only I knew more about how spells worked I might be able to fix this, or stop it.” She sighed and dropped her head. “But Lavets would know how to stop it and he’s under the Master’s control.” Her voice came to a halt and she felt her eye twitch. “Master? Master! Grr…! Why the hell can’t I call him anything but that! Gods damn you Master!” She shouted, her voice echoing down the road causing a patrolling guard to glance back. She flinched away, slapped her hands over her mouth and ducked behind a column. Her breath coming fast and ragged. She could not risk the guards being under the master’s control and sending her back to him. She felt her temper flare. “I can't even think of him as anything but as my master!” She ground her teeth together and kicked at the column. She gasped as a spike of frost once again started to build behind her eyes. The command line coming into the center of her vision with a flash of blue light that made her duck, looking around to see if the light alerted the guards only to realize no one else could see it. “All just in my head,” she grumbled at herself before focusing on the command that was flashing before her.
Return home immediately and find the filigree letter from the Emissary.
Every flash of the cold blue magic caused the pain in her head to grow. She shook her head and took a step towards home, watching the light and pain fade as she followed the command. “Well I guess just delaying until Uncle finds me is not going to work.” Setting off slowly she wove back and forth down the street, dodging between lampposts. Keeping to the shadows and watching for the guards as she slipped from the Colosseum to the market row. Pausing as she moved under a lamp she eyed the few people that were still mulling about. The sounds of laughing echoing down the alleyways as people moved to head home from the taverns in the nearby poor quarter. “If I’m lucky Uncle went out drinking. Hopefully he’s still looking for information on where I went. That means he might not be home! I can’t obey his command if he’s not there and I can’t disobey his others by delaying to wait for him!” A spark of hope ignited in her chest and she jogged forward. Trying to make her half jog out as if she was simply anxious to return home and not that she was up to something. She did not want the market row guards involved. She doubted the master would have his hooks in the guards all the way to the market. But the fact her brother—a kingsguard—was under his sway she decided it was best to not try her luck. The market’s guards had always given her trouble even in the best of times anyway. Tonight she could not afford a delay. She had to cling onto the hope her uncle had gone out drinking after poking around at the mages.
As the front of the Silverlight smithy came into view her heart leapt into her throat. The front of the shop was dark, the shutters pulled over the large windows. No smoke drifted from the stacks. That meant the forge was cold and not in use. It was completely silent and appeared empty, a good sign that her uncle had in fact left for the night. Sprinting the last few yards she ran headlong into the door, which creaked as the lock stuck. Working to find her house key she shoved it inside and let herself in. Slamming the door behind her she called out into the darkened room. “Uncle! Please don’t be here!” She screamed and trembled as she locked the door behind her. Clenching her eyes as she waited for an answer. Trying to calm her pounding heart and rasping breath. No response came after several moments and she sighed, letting herself relax.
Moving into the shop proper she ducked behind the desk. Withdrawing the box her uncle kept all the work orders and important letters in, she dug through the stacks of paper looking for the embroidered envelope. Within moments she had the letter gripped in her hand. She glanced at the glittering blue words and willed them larger.
Return home immediately and find the filigree letter from the Emissary.
The letters flared brighter in her vision before the words melted away. Signaling she completed her first task. A heartbeat later another command blasted into her vision with a spike of pain behind her eyes.
Safely return the letter to your master.
She grit her teeth and willed th
e command to go smaller again. It gave her another spike of pain and shrunk away to her periphery. Rubbing at her eyes she tried to ignore the distracting flicker of light the magic left at the edges of her vision. “That is so damn distracting, how do mages ever get anything done with crap popping up in there vision all the time.” Tucking the envelope into her pocket she shoved the box back into its place. Moving back to the door her knees buckled as ice filled her body and spiderwebs of frost shot out over her skin. Another command flooding her senses with pain.
Stage an accidental fire at the smithy.
“No damn it! I have your letter just let me go!” She screamed at no one. “How the hell am I going to burn down a smithy! Bloody hell Master! It’s a gods be damn smithy! It’s built to be ward against fire!” She stomped her foot and willed the command away from her vision. Moving into the forge she glanced around looking for some way to follow the command. “Damn we used up most of the coal, and all of the iron wood.” She tapped her finger against her chin and pouted. “Grr, why am I trying so hard to do this? He wants a fire? Fine... I’ll give him a fire. Not my fault if it doesn't burn anything down.” Dragging the mannequin from the corner she shoved it into the forge, its body just large enough to push into the opening. A flicker of red coals sparked hotly as the top of the mannequin pushed into the ash. A thick ember of coal crackling back into a tiny flame. “Guess there is still some ironwood left after all.” The thick wood of the mannequin immediately began to smolder as flames licked at its edges.
Turning from the open forge door she cast about the room. Her eyes falling to the glowing words of command. Nothing changed. She frowned. “So not enough of a fire to count as an accident. Looking to the list of commands her eyes caught another of her orders.
Select a weapon from the Smithy to incapacitate the Master Smith.
Thinking of Red’s advice she turned to the center anvil. “A hammer is a weapon, it makes weapons. And if Uncle does not have it. It prevents him from working. That’s incapacitating him as a smith. Literal to what the command says right?” She nodded to herself, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She smiled. “Words have power Master.” She snarled the last word, pushing at the central anvil until it clicked and slid on the hidden track beneath it, revealing the enchanted box below.
Running her hands over the emblem of her family she could not recall what it meant. The name just seemed to be missing, only a dull throbbing ache in her temple that grew sharper the longer she fought to remember. “Is that what you took from me? My memories of who I am?” She shook her head “No, don't be an idiot, he took who I am. That's why I can’t think of what my family's name is. He stole my name. All of it.” She glowered at the box in her hands. “How does that give him power to do this to me? It’s just a name.” She sighed and moved from the room. The blue glow of her commands flashing as she left the fire, as if dissatisfied with her efforts. “Piss off Master, I’ll get to it.” She stomped up the stairs and into her room, box in hand.
Quickly lighting her lantern she pulled open her clothes chest and dug down to the bottom. Finding the small box she kept there she took in a deep breath and opened it. A small silver key on a delicate chain fell out into her palm. The key her father had given to her so many years ago when she became the heir to the smithy. “At least that much I remember,” she grumbled. She wiped at her face and sniffed back a tear at the thought. All she could remember of his name was that it was Thomas.
A glint of red gold from within the small box glittered in the lantern light, bringing her back to the present. “I forgot that's where I put it.” She shook the box in her hand, making the small coil of Etherium rattle inside. “I wonder what would happen if I touched it with Master’s spells in effect. I almost don't want to think of it. If it doubles the magic commanding me, would it break the effects? Or make it impossible to avoid them more than it already is? Gah! Why is magic such a pain in the ass!” She clutched her head in her hands and sagged a bit. Carefully closing the small box with the etherium and tucking it into her pocket. “I can ask Red later if I get the chance. If not then it really doesn't matter.” Looking back to the enchanted silver chest she lifted the key. She had already wasted too much time.
“I’m sorry Uncle better this than the alternative.” Fitting the key into the lock she opened the enchanted box. The hammer glittered within, reflecting the lantern light about her small room in an eerie red glow. Running her fingers over the golden arcs and spirals of its filigree she withdrew the hammer. “This will be my weapon.” A flash of blue light from her commands appeared and blocked her vision once more.
Select a weapon from the Smithy to incapacitate the master smith.
The command dimmed as it drained away.
“Are ya here!” Her uncle’s voice suddenly called out from downstairs, the creak of the floorboards shifting as he charged into the smithy. The front door slamming open followed by the forge door as he ran to check inside the back room. “What in the hell!” his voice was cut off by her own shriek of fear and pain as the commands in her vision flaired back to life. The letters of the commands flashed and began merging into a single rune.
Incapacitate the Master Smith.
Stage an accidental fire at the smithy, insure the smith is caught within.
“Where are you?! What’s wrong!” His worry and fear was clear in his voice. She could do nothing but scream, as the single bright command rune finished forming and flashed into her sight.
Kill
Every fiber of her will turned to disobey. Her mind screamed in pain as she did. The rune flashed again, brighter than ever, blotting out all the other commands as the hidden rune within the command lines flared to life brighter in her vision. The spider webs of frost began to creep down her arms.
Kill
“NO! Uncle! You’re not supposed to be here!” She screamed. Her body shook harder as she tried to resist. Blood slowing beginning to seep from the many small cuts that were reopening all over her body from the master’s attack on her earlier that day. The cold spiderwebs of the master’s commands weaving over her entire body this time as frost lined her skin in a cold sheen. Her breath coming out in white puffs as the magic fought against her will.
Ever so slowly the magic was winning. Her hand reaching out to clasp around the handle of the hammer.
“Run Uncle! You have to- Ahh! ” She screamed as more pain lanced into her mind and her vision dimmed, ceasing her attempts to call out. Heavy footfalls of her uncle pounded up the stairs as she felt herself rise on its own. Her motions jerky and unnatural as she struggled against her own body. Even as her vision darkened from pain and the power of the commands driving her, she resisted. The top of her uncle’s head crested the landing to the second story.
Kill
She felt herself dart forward. She screamed, unable to form words as tears ran down her face. She cried in grief and pain. She cried in terror and anger. She cried in hopeless defeat as her arm swung the hammer out hard. It connected with a sickening crunch to the side of her uncle’s head, right across his temple. Something warm and wet sprayed across her face and arms. Montgomery Galten staggered backwards on the step, a look of shock and disbelief flickering over his features. His eyes locking on hers for only a moment as blood seeped from his temple and bulging eye. His eyes looked past her—through her— to the real culprit, before they rolled into the back of his head. His legs giving out. Her vision burned as her tears blinded her. Still not in full control she felt herself reach out for him. But she was moving so slowly. Everything wreathed in darkness, everything but the lines of red dripping down the wall, and the leathery blood covered face of her uncle. His heavy frame crumpled backwards on itself, thudding and breaking down the stairs before colliding with the table at the bottom. Splinters and blood spraying in all directions. A clash of sound was almost defining as the bucket of chain links launched into the air. Spilling out all over the store and rebounding off the smithy’s armor and weapons loudly.
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br /> She could only stand at the top of the steps trembling. Sobbing and wailing as her own legs gave out and she crumpled onto her knees. She sobbed. Messy overwhelming tears as her body racked not with pain but with a sense of completion. The magic of her commands rewarding her for obeying. The rune to Kill fading at last. The other commands returning in its place.
Select a weapon from the Smithy to incapacitate the Master Smith.
The glowing command melted away as she cried in a heap atop the stairs. Even with her eyes closed, tears and snot running down her face, the commands were clear as day in her vision, glowing with their cold uncaring light.
Stage an accidental fire at the smithy, insure the smith is caught within.
Safely return the letter to your master.
She sobbed louder and wiped at her eyes grinding her fingers into skin, digging her nails as hard as she could. She wanted to simply rip the words from her vision. To pull out the commands with her own eyes and bleed out so she would be unable to complete her master’s commands. But as she cried she knew... her will was broken. The command for her to return the letter safely preventing her from harming herself in any way that would prevent its completion. She banged her head against the floor trying to knock herself out, but no matter how hard she tried her body would tense and hold herself back. Ultimately she could do nothing more than give herself another headache.