Blood & Besiegement

by Jeremy Dwyer

  Fallavakara was horribly offended by this insult and wanted to kill Portia immediately. However, she sensed something about the spirit of this librarian: the woman was so filled with hatred it was like she was possessed by a demon. Fallavakara became afraid that the librarian was the minion of a demon and that was a conflict she could not afford to enter merely to repay the insult.

  “My injuries are only to my skin, dear girl. My heart still beats strong, so I have some years remaining. Please give me your guidance in this place,” Fallavakara said.

  “If you insist, I will give you some direction. What information do you seek?” Portia asked.

  “I’m looking for some relatives of mine…long lost relatives. I need to find people of the same blood as mine,” Fallavakara said.

  “The records of birth, death and marriage are in the Fifteenth (15th) Hall, not here. I would hope that a woman so disfigured and unattractive would at least be intelligent enough to select the proper hall to begin searching for information, but you failed even at that. You have little in your favor in this life. I doubt your relatives would even want to see you,” Portia said.

  Fallavakara grew angrier at this latest insult – so much so that she imagined several terrible forms of harm she wanted to inflict upon this arrogant and vicious young librarian, including slow and painful mutilation. Still, the fear that the hate-filled woman was in league with demonic powers deterred her – the hate was stunningly vibrant. Fallavakara even peered into the librarian’s spirit – using the powers of the waters of the Zovvin Ocean – and saw emanations of pure loathing. Had she been a drinker of the waters of the Elanatin Ocean – which granted telepathic and empathic senses – she realized that the feelings of hatred would be detectable along that channel, but the reason for them might also be revealed, because they were likely in the librarian’s thoughts. Instead, the waters of the Zovvin Ocean granted Fallavakara only the spiritual insight into the frightening magnitude of the librarian’s hatred without an indication of its cause.

  “But I need to know of their blood,” Fallavakara said.

  “This is the Eighth (8th) Hall – which you must know if you can read numbers, but I won’t assume even that much. The meaning of blood, insofar as familial ties are concerned, is not the meaning that is associated with the writings in this hall, which include blood rites, religion and human sacrifice rituals. You do look as if you narrowly escaped such a ritual, so you might gain some perspective by studying here. The knowledge in the Tenth (10th) Hall is hematological, meaning health and diseases of the blood. Insofar as that concerns causes of death, you will find its information interrelated with the genealogical information in the Fifteenth (15th) Hall,” Portia said and began to walk away.

  “But I need to know about blood,” Fallavakara said.

  “What particular topic is of interest? Perhaps I can guide you, if only so you depart from me,” Portia said.

  “The energy within it…is precious and has power. The soul can be found in the blood, and it’s the soul that leads me to my family,” Fallavakara said.

  “You will not find information about your family here,” Portia said.

  “I need to find them in blood and spirit, as both blood and spirit tie a family together. Where can I find the knowledge?” Fallavakara asked.

  Portia concluded that the woman was an idiot, an insane person or some sort of would-be sorceress of blood magic. Portia was not inclined to assist in folly or evil, so she said: “Nothing that you could find here could assist you. It would be a disservice for me to do lead you down its halls.” This was true, in that it would be a disservice to sane and good people, and Portia played games with words without actually lying. She had been advised against this before, and did so when she doubted the motives – rightly or wrongly – of those seeking information. In this case, however, she was right to be suspicious. Portia’s hateful speech toward the disfigured woman was meant as discouragement from learning any dangerous secrets, and Emeth held a great many, and so many visitors sought them. It was better, Portia believed, that no one should find anything than to have anyone find something dangerous.

  “You couldn’t help an old woman find something in such an enormous place as this? There are too many writings here, and I am small and alone,” Fallavakara asked.

  “To mislead you in here would not help you in any meaningful way. You need rest, and you need to carefully consider what it is that you seek. Perhaps you should take residence in the Scholar’s Hall, and reflect upon your needs. If you don’t succumb to your injuries while you sleep, you can resume your search tomorrow,” Portia said.

  “Have the young no care for the old? I waste my time with you,” Fallavakara said, angry, but not knowing what to ask for. She could try to curse this woman, but it wasn’t as if she could make the librarian get something when she didn’t know what to tell her to get. The old witch left and wandered the City of Emeth for a while, trying to overhear conversations and learn what was going on.

  ~~~

  Fallavakara left the Eighth (8th) Hall and followed some people into the Sixteenth (16th) Hall, which contained the land surveys and records of commerce and resources. This hall held information related to geography, along with great maps of all the continents and the oceans that separated them, including the mountainous land bridges that divided the oceans. She was able to peruse the first section and find general information, so that she learned things that others had learned in their childhood. For one, she learned of the existence and location of the continent of Javanda, which was heavily forested and rich in wildlife. This continent was no mystery, unless one lived life in a state of drunken unawareness – which Fallavakara did, only it was drunkenness on blood rather than alcohol. She considered the feast of blood she could enjoy by dining on that of the animals in the forests of Javanda. This would renew her strength and energy, and the refreshment just might give her the clarity she needed, if she could ever be said to have clarity. She left the hall and returned to the captain of the ship who had brought her here.

  Fallavakara drank anew of the waters of the Zovvin Ocean from her dagger-tipped vial to become energized. She then summoned a spirit to frighten the captain, and he became afraid, but did not know why. “You seem afraid to be here, captain. Take me to Javanda and the cause of your fright will be far away,” Fallavakara said.

  The captain sailed away from the land bridge containing the City of Emeth, heading northwest over the Medathero Ocean, until he reached the Glivoran Trail land bridge. He converted the ship to an airship, traveled northwest over the land bridge and returned to sea level in the Kazofen Ocean. From there, he sailed west until reaching the Road of Kovoxotu land bridge. He again converted the ship to an airship and traveled northwest over the land bridge and returned to sea level in the Zovvin Ocean. He then sailed north until reaching the Jeshirinko Barrier land bridge. Then, he converted the ship back to an airship, sailed north over the land bridge and returned to sea level in the Lujladia Ocean.

  The waters of the Lujladia Ocean held the powers of light, and the energy within them was so massive that it emanated upwards, causing distortions in the light above the water that met their eyes, even though neither the captain nor Fallavakara drank a drop of it. Navigation was thus deceptive and difficult, so the captain slowly sailed northeast toward the Wandering of Shadows land bridge, and remained close to its western coast. He sailed northeast along that coast until reaching the continent of Nataloridivu and the juncture where it met with the Wandering of Shadows land bridge. He then converted the ship to an airship once again, sailing northeast over the intersection of land and returning to sea level in the Ikkith Tar Ocean. Like the Lujladia Ocean, its waters presented distortions in the light that met their eyes, albeit from emanations of darkness. Again, navigation was thereby made deceptive and difficult – this was the reason that the term “maze waters” was used to describe both oceans. To mitigate the difficulties of navigation, the captain sailed close to the eastern co
ast of the Wandering of Shadows land bridge until reaching the southern coast of the continent of Javanda. He sailed east until reaching a major port in the continent’s southwestern territory that was near a heavily forested area.

  Fallavakara left the ship and traveled into the woods and went on for days. She found the forest to be eerily familiar, even though it was not. She had spent much time in Ihalik in the forests and swamps, and one forest looked like another forest, and one swamp looked like another swamp. She took small animals and slaughtered them and drank of their blood mixed with the waters of the Zovvin Ocean that she kept in a vial. Upon doing this, she felt a familiar pleasure. However, this forest had something of far greater value, as she soon discovered.

  She heard the crackle of flames and saw there was a great forest fire in the distance. The witch saw the fire coming closer as she made her way through the forest. She became afraid – not of the fire, but of having a large tree fall upon her – so she turned to leave, and then realized that it was moving too quickly, and she had no chance of escaping it. The fire quickly overtook her, and she was surrounded in flames, and the pain was not there. Rather, she felt the return of the fire inside of her, and the joy. And she saw a man, made of flames, standing before her.

  “I am Prince Kirdothet. The very suns of the sky obey me. You stand in these flames and you are not burned by them. Of what are you made, creature?” Kirdothet asked. He was worried about what she might be, as he had recently suffered a defeat by the man who sang and called up the waters, which far exceeded his own powers of fire.

  “I am just an old woman of the forest,” Fallavakara said.

  “You are more than an old woman. You have power to withstand fire,” Kirdothet said.

  “My power is meager. Yours is clearly much greater, so you are my superior,” Fallavakara said, hoping to prevent an angry outburst by a creature made of fire. She feared that he could do other things that she might not be able to withstand.

  “Yes, I am your superior. Still, I can make your power greater than it is…if you agree to serve me,” Kirdothet said.

  “How?” Fallavakara asked.

  “If the fire does not burn you, then you can hold it within you. I will give you a fire that does not burn out,” Kirdothet said.

  “If you would give such a gift to your servant, she would be ever grateful,” Fallavakara said.

  “Then you must show your gratitude by your service,” Kirdothet said.

  “How would I best serve you?” Fallavakara asked.

  “You must strike at my enemies. There is a man named Joshua who holds a luminescent sword whose blade is blue. Strike him dead and cast the sword into the sea. He is of the Jenaldej Empire,” Kirdothet said.

  “I will strike him dead, and cast the sword into the sea,” Fallavakara said.

  “Good. Yet, when this is done, I have still other enemies, and so you shall serve me yet again,” Kirdothet said.

  “How may I further serve you?” Fallavakara asked.

  “There is a man named Daven with a voice that commands the sea. Strike him dead, and burn his body,” Kirdothet said.

  “I will strike him dead and burn his body,” Fallavakara said.

  “According to your promises to serve me and fulfill these tasks, I will now grant you a power to assist you, so that you will have no excuse for failure. Have this fire within, my servant,” Kirdothet said. At this, he threw massive fireballs at Fallavakara…flames that should have incinerated her. However, the animal blood that she drank – and that was mixed with the waters of the Zovvin Ocean – had formed a powerful potion that contained the fire and let her control it. She was filled with incredible energy, as there was now a burning flame within her that would not go out.

  “Feel the fire within. It will never go out,” Kirdothet said.

  Fallavakara flexed her powers, and felt her body change in response. She could not throw fire, the way that Kirdothet did. Rather, she could move blood, and shape it. She changed her own appearance just by moving the blood within herself, using the energy of the fire.

  “Good. You have changed yourself. You have a new appearance, like that of a younger woman, who can seduce, betray and destroy,” Kirdothet said, looking at her. He found this interesting, as he did not know how she did it. He gave the woman fire, but she shaped it in a way that he had never seen. Kirdothet actually expected that the woman’s demonstrated ability to withstand fire meant that she would be able to carry the flames which he sent at her and later project them against his enemies. Thus, his own understanding of the combination of water and fire was not thorough, and he did not know that blood was also involved in the mixture. Kirdothet did not, however, reveal his surprise, but acted as if he knew what would happen.

  “With your powers, you can alter your appearance and deceive others. Now, go forth and strike dead my enemies,” Kirdothet said. He hoped that the woman would be able to face the danger for him, as he was now weaker from his earlier defeats.

  “I will hunt them and kill them as promised,” Fallavakara said.

  ~~~

  After this, Fallavakara left the forest and was completely unscathed by the fire that tore through its trees. She returned to the ship which brought her to this place, and spoke to the captain who sailed it. She said: “Take me to the Jenaldej Empire.”

  The man saw a beautiful young woman standing before him, not knowing it was the same woman as before. He was under a curse by a frightening spirit that the old woman placed on him, but this woman was young and desirable. He felt desire for her, and said: “I’ll take you anywhere you ask.”

  “As it should be,” Fallavakara said.

  The man, still under the curse, only felt a compulsion to obey the old woman, hoping that the sensation of fear would leave. However, he felt no compulsion to obey the young woman: he only felt attraction.

  “Let me prepare myself, in private, for the voyage,” Fallavakara said.

  Fallavakara entered a private cabin on board the ship and looked into a mirror there. She saw that her own appearance was once again beautiful, and began to more fully understand what had occurred. She exercised her power again, and altered her appearance to be ugly again, this time even more so. By moving the blood within her body – using the inner fire she had been given as the source of energy – she gave herself a burned appearance, and a misshapen eye, and scars and bruises. The appearance was hideous, and possibly useful. Then, she reversed this, to return to her former beautiful appearance, once again using the blood and fire within her to control the transformation. She left the private cabin and approached the captain, hoping to manipulate him in some other ways.

  “Perhaps you could tell me a little bit about the Jenaldej Empire,” Fallavakara said.

  The man, who was forty-four (44) and still had the inclinations of a not-too-old-man, was more than happy to spend his time talking to her. He had no family, only a hunger to search the world and find his fortune, in whatever form it took. “They’re in the continent of Revod. They’re rich there. Really rich and really stingy. They mine for diamonds, and hoard them, and have some sort of way that they decide who gets them. They have lots of rules for how things get done, and they count everything. You have to do it their way, or get out. You can’t even complain, or they throw you out. I’d never live there,” the captain said.

  “That’s very interesting. Who makes these rules?” Fallavakara asked.

  “They have princes and generals and other people who do that,” the captain said.

  “Do you know any of their names?” Fallavakara asked.

  “There’s somebody called Prince Emerond,” the captain said.

  “Did you ever meet him?” Fallavakara asked.

  “No, but his name comes up from time to time. There’s another one, somebody called General Joshua, who was in a war a few years ago, against some Prince Octavian and his castle,” the captain said. He gained this knowledge from his travels and when speaking to other captains and listening to
their stories. Occasionally, he went to the City of Emeth to learn of reports from the Chroniclers.

  “Will Joshua be there, in Revod?” Fallavakara asked.

  “I suppose so, if he’s not in some other war,” the captain said.

  “What else do you know?” Fallavakara asked.

  “I know it’s getting late and I need to rest…and relax,” the captain said.

  She was a woman, and knew what this meant, and she had no intention of letting a piece of peasant filth like this get any satisfaction out of her. “Then you should rest. And then you will take me to Revod very soon, won’t you?” Fallavakara asked.

  “Yes. Why don’t you get some rest, too? The seas are calm,” the captain said.

  “I have things on my mind, private things, and I need to be alone,” Fallavakara said.

  “A young woman should relax on a long journey and enjoy the sights,” the captain said.

  “A man should give a woman peace and know his place,” Fallavakara said. She didn’t want to kill him until they reached Revod. Instead, she used her powers to reach out and manipulate his blood flow, calming it, relaxing him, and he became very tired.

  “I’ll get some rest now,” the captain said.

  The captain then returned to his own cabin. After several hours, he awoke and sailed the ship westward over the Ikkith Tar Ocean along the southern coast of Javanda until reaching the Wandering of Shadows land bridge. He then sailed southwest, staying close to the eastern coast of the land bridge – traveling along the coastlines gave him a reference point during the difficult navigation on the dark waters. The captain continued sailing until reaching the northwestern corner of the continent of Revod. He then converted the ship to an airship and traveled east over Revod until finding a suitable location for airship landing.

  CHAPTER 18: Dreams of Fear

  Taesa had a terrible dream of a dark room filled with smoke, filled with people she could only see in silhouette. She heard their murmurs. One person said: “It’s going to get worse, beyond anything ever seen.” Another said: “The evil ones are there, and they can’t be stopped. We’ll be devoured.” There was a great door inscribed with writings and faces of terrible creatures having horns on their heads. The door opened, revealing that the room inside was darker, and she could see actual terrible faces with the horns and glowing red eyes. The red eyes seemed to want to say something to her, and her soul was filled with fright.