Beasts and Maidens

by M.E. Timmons

  Chapter 19

  Varla wasn’t overly tall, yet she had a commanding presence; even as no more than the silver cloud of smoke that made up her form. There was just something about her that emanated power, even though she was only a spirit. She glared at Selene, who was still holding the amulet in her hands. It was no longer hot, but it vibrated slightly with the force of its magic.

  “B-because I need your help,” Selene managed to stammer in response to Varla’s question. She couldn’t help but be frightened by her ancestor, even though Varla was essentially powerless. She searched her face for any sign of resemblance, but found little to comfort her. There was perhaps a similarity in the shape of their noses, but Varla’s features appeared longer and more stern than her own. Selene wondered what color her hair was, and only knew that it appeared dark. Perhaps it was brown, like her mother’s.

  Varla’s expression didn’t soften. She looked around briefly, studying the meadow and the village below. She didn’t recognize any of it; not only because she was from a different time, but also because she was from a different village. Spring Meadow had never been her home. “Tell me, what year is it, who are you, and why am I here? Answer in that order.” Her voice was commanding and rough, and would have seemed almost wild if not for her cultured accent.

  Selene glanced at Jenson, who looked slightly less frightened than she felt. He smiled reassuringly, and that gave her strength. She looked back at Varla, who was studying her in a way that made her feel naked.

  “It’s the year of the hornet, and it has been about nine hundred years since you died. My name is Selene Brookbank, and I am from your bloodline, which is why I have the amulet. I called you here to help me end the curse you started before you died, since it has been with us ever since. The beasts are forced to live in the forest, and aren’t allowed contact with the outside world until they become human. It’s creating a lot of problems, and it isn’t fair to the men.”

  Varla stood in silence for a moment, pondering that information. “That is a long time,” she said finally. “I thought the curse would have been broken a long time ago. I now have even less faith in humanity than I had before.”

  “Can you help us?” Jenson asked.

  Varla looked at him as if just realizing he was there. She looked him over, trying to get a sense of who he was and why he was there. “Who are you?” she demanded to know.

  “Jenson Redwing,” he answered simply, still waiting for an answer to his own question.

  Before she could answer, a cloud of black smoke appeared. Selene recognized it instantly because of the bursts of static, and her heart started racing in fear. Jenson recognized it as well, and they both stood up. Selene put the amulet in the pocket of her apron and held the box in her hands. She hardly noticed its weight.

  “I recognize that magic,” Varla said, also watching the black smoke. She looked confused, and yet curious.

  Wicesla stepped out of the cloud, which disappeared behind her. Selene was surprised to see that she was smiling, since she expected her to be angry. On Wicesla, however, the expression wasn’t pleasant, since she somehow managed to look like a snake that had just eaten a very satisfying meal.

  Selene looked at the ground beneath her feet, remembering her dream. She was almost surprised to see that the plants that surrounded Wicesla looked alive and well, instead of being dead and decaying. Perhaps she didn’t need to suck energy from the earth after all. Selene wondered why it had appeared that way in her dream.

  Wicesla’s eyes went immediately to Varla, and she laughed. The sound was low-pitched and yet penetrating.

  “Oh Varla; how powerless you are,” she said, her voice almost singing with glee at the sight of her old enemy in a weakened state. She reached out to Varla, and her hand went right through her, disturbing the silver cloud. It righted itself when she took her hand away, and her smile only grew wider.

  If Varla was shocked to see Wicesla still alive after almost a thousand years, she hid it well. She merely looked enraged instead. “Yes, I’m sure you’re happy about that,” she said, glaring at her old nemesis. “You are, after all, the one who reduced me to this state. Shall I do a dance for you, just to add to my humiliation?”

  Wicesla ignored that comment and continued smiling. She turned to Selene. “You really are desperate, aren’t you? Well, don’t think things will be so easy for you, girl. Your ancestor is naught but a wisp of smoke created by some ancient energy. She won’t be around for long, and she won’t be able to help you. Still, it’s good to see her again, as nothing but a shadow of her former self. Not that she was very impressive before.”

  Varla didn’t respond. She just continued glaring at the witch who had killed her.

  “Oh, none of you are any fun. I’ve never seen such a serious bunch in all my long years,” Wicesla said, her eyes sparkling. Selene couldn’t help but think that she was trying to point out her immortality to Varla just to upset her, not that it was working. Varla was angry, not upset.

  “What are you doing here?” Jenson asked.

  Wicesla ignored him, so Selene repeated the question.

  “I came to see my old friend, of course,” she responded, her voice sickeningly sweet. “I came as soon as I felt her presence. She should be flattered, really, that I would go through such trouble.”

  Varla knew that Wicesla was seeking a reaction from her. Her expression had gone blank and almost appeared to be carved from stone.

  Wicesla, seeing that she wasn’t going to get much more of a reaction, just chuckled. Then she turned and disappeared in a fresh cloud of black smoke that lingered for a few moments after she was gone.

  Varla spoke when all traces of Wicesla and her black smoke had left. “Had the Draught of Eternal Life, did she? Serves her right. Now she can live forever in the torment that I caused her.” There was actually a flicker of a smile on her face.

  “Did you really place a curse upon her?” Selene asked. She was suffering greatly from her curiosity.

  Varla smirked. “Of course I did. We didn’t end up in a duel because we disagreed on our favourite colours. I’m happy to see that she hasn’t been able to break it, or perhaps she hasn’t been trying to. It doesn’t surprise me at all that she didn’t bother breaking the curse on the men, though.”

  “So what happened? What curse did you put on Wicesla?”

  Varla’s expression darkened as she remembered that time, so long ago. The memories weren’t pleasant. “We were once good friends,” she told Selene. “We grew up together, and were taught magic by the same witch. We got along great back in those days, when we were young. She was the adventurer, and I was the responsible one. I always thought we balanced each other out nicely, even though we occasionally had our squabbles.

  “When I was older I got married, and I had two daughters. Wicesla was jealous, since she never had a family of her own. At least, I thought she was jealous. Then one day I found her in bed with my husband.

  “I had loved him and trusted him. We were happy together, and I had no indication that there was anything wrong in our relationship, so seeing him in the arms of my friend was quite a shock. I never trusted a man after that. That’s why I created the curse. To me, all men were nothing but beasts, and they deserved to look like them until they learned to love and be faithful. Even then I see them as questionable.” She shot a glance at Jenson.

  “That was punishment enough for the men, but Wicesla had done wrong as well. I could have gotten her arrested for adultery, but I took matters into my own hands. I put a curse on her too; one that prevented her from being able to touch any man. If she does, it causes her terrible physical pain that will kill her if the contact lasts long enough. Men were her weakness before, and after the curse they were actually dangerous to her. That’s probably why she’s eager to keep the men out of the way. That’s also why she challenged me, not that it accomplished anything. I may
have died, but both of my curses lived on.”

  “Wow,” Selene said after a minute of letting that sink in. “I had no idea that there was so much more to the story than what I was told.” She had always thought Wicesla and Varla had been enemies from the start, and that they duelled because they hated each other. Now she knew there was a reason, and it changed her beliefs. She wasn’t even sure if Wicesla was actually evil. An adulterer, sure, but evil? She had reasons for all of her actions, not that they really justified anything. Selene almost felt sorry for her.

  “There’s always more to a story, child.”

  “Is there a way to end the curse on Wicesla?” Jenson asked.

  “There’s always a way to end a curse. I certainly didn’t make it easy for her though,” Varla said. She grinned at the thought. “She has to lose her magical powers before she’ll ever be able to touch a man again. She knows that already, but she doesn’t know how to do it, and I doubt she’d be willing to make the sacrifice anyway. She enjoys her power too much.”

  “Is there a way she can do it? Lose her powers, I mean,” Selene wanted to know.

  “Yes, there is. It isn’t even a difficult spell because it requires little energy from the one who performs it. I invented it myself and wrote it in my spell book, which is hopefully long gone by now.”

  For some reason Selene felt compelled to keep the fact that her mother had the spell book a secret. Now that she knew that it could help her, she didn’t want Varla to know she had access to it. She changed the subject instead.

  “Can you tell us how to end the curse on the men?” she asked. She was nervous to ask the question, but she desperately wanted the answer. Varla could be her last hope.

  Varla thought about it. “I could tell you how, but not for free. I must ask something from you in return, and I will only tell you how if you do what I ask of you. No exceptions.”

  Selene didn’t like the sound of that. “What do you want me to do?” she asked.

  “You must kill Wicesla.”