by Sue Lyndon
The creature wasn’t a Holon shapeshifter after all. It wasn’t a rolabear, but a strange creature of the Cold Top unfamiliar to her.
It moved closer, its large nose rippling as it drew in her scent. Her bottom lip quivered and her throat burned. There was nowhere to run and she would soon die. Since she was the last descendant of the House of Wansin, there would be no way for her grandmother’s debt to be repaid to Edwin, no matter what Edwin wished. Those she loved most would suffer for her foolishness.
The green creature bared its jagged teeth and growled loud enough to rattle the windows in the cabin. She closed her eyes and tensed for the attack. When moments passed and the attack never came, she thought perhaps she was already dead. Perhaps the creature had killed her that quickly.
Rhiannon slowly opened her eyes, but creature was dead on the floor, its neck snapped and its tongue hanging loose from between vicious teeth.
Edwin was there, standing above the beast and panting. She looked at him with wide eyes. She hadn’t even heard the struggle, yet her Crigon husband had apparently killed this beast with his bare hands.
“Are you all right?”
Too petrified to speak yet, Rhiannon only nodded.
Edwin tugged the creature outside and closed the door. From the window, she saw him dragging it toward the woods. She longed for his return, yet her anticipation was fearful. She had been foolish and blatantly disobedient of his strictest rule.
There would be consequences, and they would be harsh. Edwin always made sure the punishment fit the offense, and that knowledge left her blood running cold.
She thought of pulling out the tall chair and taking her clothes off in preparation for the inevitable punishment, but she was shaking too much to move from the window. When Edwin emerged from the edge of the woods, he was walking quickly toward the short tree near the side of the cabin. She watched him pull a thin branch from the tree and use a knife to smooth the leaves from it.
Her stomach turned to water and she almost crumpled to the floor.
A switch. Edwin was going to switch her.
“Rhiannon,” Edwin began, “I don’t even know what to say to you.” His voice was dangerously low with a chill as frigid as the peaks of the Cold Top at the height of winter.
“Edwin, please let me explain,” she said through her sobs. Edwin was looming over her, the frightening switch held tight in his hand.
“No!” he shouted, and he snapped the switch against the window sill, causing her to jump.
“Aren’t you going to allow me to explain myself? I can’t believe you would take a switch to me without even listening to my side of the story.”
“Let me guess,” he drawled. “You thought this yemblaboch was the Holon shapeshifter? You thought you could open the door and lure it inside so that it would turn to ash?”
Rhiannon felt faint. Edwin obviously understood her better than she imagined. Yet he still held the switch, and his eyes were on fire with the promise of a harsh thrashing. She gulped and wiped the tears from her face. “Yes, Edwin. That’s what happened.”
Edwin’s face briefly flickered with compassion. “You did a very foolish thing, Rhiannon. But surely you must know there are strange creatures on the Cold Top that you’ve never heard of before? I have warned you many times.”
“Yes, Edwin, I know now.”
His eyes darkened and he gripped her arm. “After this punishment, I doubt you will think twice of opening the door for anything other than me.”
It was all Rhiannon could do to force her body toward the tall chair with Edwin. He’d left the switch on the table along the way. Would he spank her with his hand first? Or would he start out with the switch?
With trembling fingers, she slid her dress down and stood naked before her livid husband.
The spanking began as soon as Rhiannon was over Edwin’s lap, pinned securely in place. He pelted her cheeks and thighs with stinging slaps, never once pausing or caressing her mounds, but at least he hadn’t picked the switch up yet. She cried out several times, especially when he concentrated two or three slaps repeatedly upon the same tender area.
The pain was as great as the shame she felt for having disobeyed her husband. Of all the punishments he’d given her before, this one was definitely the most deserved. Again and again his hand came down sharply across her bottom, and Rhiannon sobbed freely, now laying limp across his lap.
Just as his hand came to rest upon her blistered buttocks, Rhiannon began to whimper “I’m sorry” over and over again. Her heart was breaking under the realization of how stupid her actions had been. She could have been killed.
Edwin’s hand remained resting upon her bottom, but he didn’t caress her stinging flesh or give any indication that he would. This punishment was much different than all the previous ones had been. This time her disobedience had almost cost her her life and ruined their plans to enter Stretta as husband and wife, not to mention the impact upon Rhiannon’s grandmother’s soul being lost forever in the Caves of Terr.
Finally, Edwin sat her up on his lap and allowed her to cry against him for a while. “I’m so sorry, Edwin,” she sobbed. “I was so stupid!”
“Shh,” Edwin soothed, his voice much calmer. “Your punishment is almost over.”
The switch. Oh, Retta.
Rhiannon had almost forgotten about the awful switch on the table. “Oh, please, Edwin, not the switch!” she begged. “I learned my lesson, I swear it. I’ll never open the door again.” Her eyes turned toward the switch fearfully, and her heart sank when Edwin led her to the table.
With a trembling body and a burning bottom, Rhiannon reluctantly bent over the table to hide her face in her palms. She lifted her head just as Edwin retrieved the switch, bracing for the pain that would soon follow.
For a while, Edwin’s footsteps were the only noise in the room, and Rhiannon realized she’d been holding her breath in dreadful expectation. He seemed to be pacing behind her, prolonging her fear of experiencing this new method of punishment. Though she’d never been switched before, she imagined the sting would be far greater than that of the belt.
The switch grazed across her thighs and quivering behind. Edwin finally took position. She whimpered and covered her face again.
“The most important rule for you to survive the Cold Top is to remain inside the cabin. I’ve told you a thousand times to never open the front door, for any reason.” His voice was thunderous and icy at the same time, a tone that sent shivers down her spine.
When the switch finally came down swiftly across her bottom cheeks, Rhiannon gasped and dug her nails into the wood of the table. Her suspicions had been correct. It was ten times worse than the belt. Over and over the switch swooshed through the air and landed upon her punished thighs and cheeks. Each blow left a thin welt in its place, and Rhiannon was soon sobbing uncontrollably across the table. When she was far past the point of bearing further pain, Edwin placed the switch down.
“It’s over, Rhiannon,” he finally said, helping her to rise up. She collapsed into his arms and he carried her to the bearskin bed, laying her gently down.
“Shh,” he soothed, rubbing her back through her hiccups.
Rhiannon felt Edwin’s hand move down to gently rub the tender flesh on her bottom and upper thighs. “Oh, Edwin,” she said, “I’m truly sorry.”
He leaned down to kiss her forehead. “I know you are, lass.”
She looked up into the blue eyes offset by his dark face. “Do you forgive me?” Her voice was a broken whimper and hot tears still flowed from her burning eyes.
“Yes, Rhiannon,” he said, “I forgive you. I know I was hard on you, but if I hadn’t come home when I did…” Edwin left that sentence unfinished and embraced Rhiannon as if he never intended to let her go.
“No,” she said. “I deserved that punishment. I deserved the switch.”
Edwin brushed a strand of matted hair away from her tear streaked face. “I hope I never have to use that switch on you
again, Rhiannon.”
They remained entwined upon the bearskin rug until it was time for Rhiannon to start dinner. Her backside still stung something awful, and her movements were slow. But Edwin remained inside the cabin, helping her set the table and prepare soup with the fresh herbs that now grew abundantly in the surrounding woods.
When dinner was finished, Edwin helped Rhiannon lower herself into the chair and pushed her toward the table. His gentleness touched her heart as much as his forgiveness had, and she looked forward to falling asleep wrapped in his arms. He hadn’t taken her as he normally did after a punishment, and she doubted he would tonight. Yes, this punishment had been different, but she reminded herself yet again just how badly she’d deserved it.
“The Holon shapeshifter is no more,” Edwin suddenly said.
Rhiannon looked up from her soup, startled by his unexpected words. “What do you mean?”
“I found him lurking in the woods in the form of a Crigon. Actually, he’d taken on my form and was nearing the cabin. I suspect he was going to attempt to enter the cabin posing as me, which is precisely why I planted the flaggarock.”
“Oh, Edwin! That’s wonderful!” Rhiannon’s heart soared. It was now safe to leave the Cold Top.
“We’ll be leaving in three days’ time to the secret passage that leads to the lands near Etrolleli and Strellia.”
“Why three days? Why not now?” Rhiannon was impatient to reach warmer lands, and she was dying to see the Whispering Forest and the Palace of Lights.
“After I killed the Holon shapeshifter, I meditated in the woods and made contact with my dream spirits. They advised me that an extended family of rolabears is roaming the path we must travel, but in three days’ time they will be a safe distance away.”
Rhiannon smiled. “Very well, spirit man,” she teased. “If you say so.”
Edwin shot her a mock warning look, but he soon joined in her laughter. Their banter was a cure for the tension between them.
“I will help you pack the necessities. The journey to the secret path will take us three days,” said Edwin. “Once we make it off the Cold Top, it will take us another two days to reach the edge of the Whispering Forest.”
“And the Palace of Lights?” she asked. “How long will it take to reach it?”
“According to my dream spirits, it will take us another two days to reach the Palace of Lights.”
Rhiannon added up the days in her head and felt a stab of annoyance, though she didn’t let it show. She would have to be patient during the seven day journey to the Palace of Lights.
That night as they lay together on the bearskin bed, Rhiannon felt something hard and fleshy across Edwin’s back. “What’s this?” she asked, struggling to see through the glow of fire.
“Just a scar. It will be completely healed by the morning,” replied Edwin.
Rhiannon gasped when she saw the scarred flesh, a row of four frightening marks across Edwin’s muscular back. “I don’t understand,” she said. “You didn’t have these last night, but they look like they’ve been tended by a healer.”
Edwin laughed. “No healer. I’m immortal, remember?”
“Yes, but, I thought you were mortal as long as you were outside the walls of Strellia.”
“I am mortal at the moment, but it takes a lot more to kill me than it would a mortal man. I heal rapidly, even from most life threatening injuries.”
Rhiannon looked thoughtful for a moment. “You’re a Crigon, yet you look very much like a man from the Land of Zertrin, albeit much larger than most men. Did Crigons and those from the Land of Zertrin once live peacefully together?”
Edwin smiled. “I’m surprised you never asked me this question before. Yes, Crigons once coexisted peacefully with those from the Land of Zertrin, long before the Land of Holon existed.”
“So, what happened then?” Rhiannon felt foolish for not having asked this question sooner. She loved to read, but had yet to open all the history books from her birthday. Most of her reading time had been spent furthering her studies as a healer.
“Once, there was no Land of Zertrin or any division at all between the peoples of Earth. There were two races upon the lands, Crigon and man. Crigons were mostly hunters and preferred to live as nomads across the vast lands. Man preferred the comfort of settlements and farming. But Crigons and man traded and sometimes intermarried. It was this way for thousands of years, long before the Land of Holon was established by terrible manlike creatures from the southernmost regions of the planet.
“Stetta and Retta were our sister goddesses, worshipped equally among all peoples. There came a time when the Crigons wished to leave mortal life behind, and journey to the gates of the Land of After, which is what Strellia and Ettonelli were once called as one. There was a nasty plague upon the Crigons, one which had caused men to shun them and led to the great war. Stretta and Retta decided to split their duties between Crigons and man but leave windows between the two afterlifes. All Crigons entered Strellia where they live as immortals, a chosen few leaving in pairs every hundred years to conceive children in the mortal world, though these children may be born and grow to the median age within the walls of Strellia.”
Rhiannon laced her fingers beneath Edwin’s dark hair. “I wish there was a way for all in the Land of Zertrin to know these things. All those poor people living in the woods as outcasts…”
“Ah, but most of those people are murderers, Rhiannon. Very few of the outcasts are innocents touched by Crigons. Most who are touched by a roaming Crigon never report the incident and live among men in the Land of Zertrin, just as your grandmother did.”
“Those from the Land of Holon, I know they are men, but they are evil, aren’t they?” asked Rhiannon.
“Yes. Those from the Land of Holon are souls damned for eternity in the Caves of Terr. Every ten years, the tormented spirits in the Caves of Terr fly free through the forests in the Land of Zertrin.”
“The Week of Solitude!” Rhiannon exclaimed. “I remember this, when I was eight and then again when I was eighteen. We observed the Week of Solitude. Everyone in the village was forbidden to leave their homes. We remained silent for an entire week, and then on the seventh day there was a huge party that lasted for two days.”
“Very good,” Edwin mused. “Yes, this occurs during the Week of Solitude. The damned souls from the Caves of Terr fly through the forests and inhabit the bodies of the living, usually finding only outcasts—criminals who are damned to the Caves of Terr upon death anyway.”
“So those from the Land of Holon, they are the outcasts inhabited by the evil spirits from the Caves of Terr?”
“Precisely. The five that I killed were riding horses toward a village in the Land of Zertrin. I vowed that while I searched for your grandmother’s descendants, I would kill any of them I came across.”
They were both silent for a while, Edwin seemingly as lost in contemplation as Rhiannon was.
“What was your wife’s name?” she suddenly asked. She had always treaded lightly around this subject, but curiosity was getting the better of her.
“I do not know,” answered Edwin with a tinge of sadness in his voice.
“What do you mean? How can you not know?”
“When an immortal Crigon loses a mate, all memory of that mate is erased.”
“But, why?”
Edwin gazed into the fire. “By Stretta’s decree, memories of a lost mate are erased from the living mate’s mind upon death. It is done so that an immortal Crigon may find a new mate without sorrow hindering the rest of their days.”
“So, you don’t remember anything about your wife?” asked Rhiannon.
“I remember leaving the walls of Strellia with someone by my side. And after that, I remember seeing a dead Crigon woman on the floor below your grandmother.”
“Why did you not kill my grandmother on the spot?”
“Because I considered taking your grandmother as my mate, forcing her into the walls of Strelli
a with me. But she disappeared from her village while I buried my mate in the Whispering Forest, covering her scent with a medicine spell so I could not follow.”
“But you knew the moment she died? You could detect her then?”
“Yes, her spell was broken the moment she died. My dream spirits were no longer blocked and I ran into the men that brought you to the Cold Top on my way to your village.” Edwin kissed the top of her head and pulled her closer.
“I was terrified of you that first day,” Rhiannon confessed. “I had never been more frightened in my life.”
“Ah wife, but you love me now, don’t you?” he teased.
“Yes, I love you with all my mortal human heart.” They laughed and Edwin gently patted her ever stinging bottom. She imagined it would hurt to sit down for a week, possibly longer. She melted against him and they both fell fast asleep, her heart filled with contentment.
*
“We’ll reach the secret passage off the Cold Top by nightfall. As the stars shine down, the path will be illuminated and carry us down to the outskirts of the Land of Zertrin,” said Edwin.
“Sounds perfect. I can’t wait to see the Palace of Lights in a few days,” said Rhiannon as she wiped sweat from her brow. The air was much warmer as they neared the edge of the Cold Top, and the walk wasn’t so bad, even with her sore bottom.
They held hands as they traveled through the thinning forest, each of them carrying a light pack. It hadn’t been necessary to bring a lot of supplies, since the forest provided plenty of food in between the animals Edwin hunted and the fruiting trees.
When twilight gathered and the stars were still invisible but the forest dark, Edwin lit a lantern to light the way. Rhiannon gasped when she saw a wide stream of sparkling white light up ahead. It curved down from the Cold Top in a glittering arc.
“We’ll step on together and the light will carry us to the land below. Hold my hand and do not be afraid,” Edwin instructed when they reached the edge of the Cold Top and the illuminated path rested at their feet.