[Continuing the theme of my Epic Fantasy,
‘The Daighacaer’ (“Day-gar-care”); Extract from Book I, Escape from Mount
Vilipend]
[Pronunciations: Jodia (Joe dee ah); Nica (Nee kah)
Background: Weda’Sel
and Urus believe that Tirǽche was ‘abducted’ by The Order of The Watchers. This is partly true but the ‘abduction’ is
not what it appears to be and Tirǽche has been working with The Watchers on a
mission of immense significance. She has
also been discovering things of great importance to the survival of the group
of escapees from Vilipend.
Prior
to this segment, Tirǽche appeared to Weda’Sel and Urus to tell them that their
journey will take them past a darzim stronghold and they will need to do battle
with the darzim as there is no other way forward. The Watchers also require their assistance to
retrieve young girls from the stronghold.
A senior darzim, who is the Pretender to the position of Darknighte
which Caliginor held until his fall, has spent aeons abducting baby and adolescent
girls to impregnate them in order to produce a half-mortal/half-darzim creature
of immense power. The young girls are
instructed from as soon as they are able, to perform special tasks for ‘The
Master’ alone. In this way and, through
a crystal which he has imbedded in them, the girls fanatically do anything he
wants them to do. Jodia’s task is to
fetch water for The Master from The Wellspring.
“Stop! Who are you?
What are you doing here?” The
question was barked from somewhere to her right and Jodia jumped.
“I… I am Jodia and … I… was sent to d… draw w…
water f…for The Master” she stuttered.
“You have one vessel only and that
is not a vessel of The Master. You
lie!” This time the guard approached
menacingly. Jodia stood still, not
knowing whether to set down her vessel and risk spilling even one drop of water
or to turn and take flight and spill even more water.
“I don’t. I don’t lie, G… Good Comm… Commander. This is the vessel I was given.” She shyly handed the vessel to him as he put
his hands out to take it. He wrested the
vessel from her hands, spilling some of the precious water as he did so. Jodia gasped.
The guard turned the vessel around
and then, seemingly confused, tipped it up to look at the base and the rest of
the water fell to the thirsty ground and disappeared. The guard didn’t seem to notice the loss of
the water. He would have thrown the
vessel on to the floor but he saw the horror on the maid’s face and, not taking
his eyes off her, he placed the vessel on the ground.
Jodia turned her eyes downward so
that she would not have to look into the guard’s eyes and an involuntary shiver
rushed through her like a reeling rudder.
He had spilled all her water.
What was she to do?
The guard reached for her before she
could think any further. He took hold of
her arm, although not ungently and drew her sleeve up and across her body to
expose her left breast. He stared for so
long that Jodia started itching from the scrutiny but she didn’t move a muscle and
kept her eyes down.
Jodia knew that it was useless to
try to run but she didn’t understand the guard’s inspection. Guards were not allowed to lay hands on The
Master’s maids and yet this one had not only touched her person, he had moved
her clothing to expose her breast and he was still staring at it, making no
attempt to replace her clothing.
She was not to know it, because it
was something which she had had for all her memory and it was also something
which every one of her companions also had, but the guard was concentrating on
the telltale scarab-shaped scar which indicated that a crystal of The Master
was embedded within her breast a little to the right above her heart.
The guard slowly let her sleeve fall
back over her arm and said “This looks to be not a vessel of The Master, yet it
looks also to be one. Where came you
upon it? Speak, maid!”
“Good Comm…mander, this is the
vessel which I have used since the very day I was instructed to the t… task of
retrieving water from The Wellspring. I know
not of what you speak.”
“Is that your sole task, maid? To retrieve water from The Source?” Jodia heard the guard’s voice break and
puzzled at that.
“Yes, Good Commander. I have not yet reached the age to be moved to
The Master’s quarters although I was told this very day that I will be moving
there in the next ten-day. I am looking
forward to it. I hear the other girls
talking about their beautiful clothes and jewellery and how proud they all
are.” Jodia could have sworn that the
guard growled. She saw that he was
clenching and unclenching his fist and wondered what was really happening. She was beginning to get scared. She hadn’t noticed that she’d spoken a full
long sentence without once stuttering.
That would have surprised her more than anything else.
“Come” said the guard as he bent to
retrieve the vessel. “I’ll help you to
get more water from The Source. I know
it can be difficult once you’ve already drawn from it.”
“How do you know that, Good
Commander?” asked Jodia. “No one except maids
are allowed to approach The Wellspring or they will die. That is why we alone are permitted to draw
water for The Master. You call it The
Source but it is The Wellspring.”
The guard sighed as he spoke to
Jodia but did not answer her question.
“You have been told that you alone are entitled to approach. Yet this is not the truth. No. It most certainly is not the truth. I drank long and deep from The Source before
I saw you.”
The girl stopped dead in her
tracks. “You… You… dispute what The
Master has decreed?
Before he could say anything, Jodia
continued in a state of shock as she realised what he’d said “You… You… Drank
from The Wellspring? You… You… couldn’t
have! If only one drop of the water
touches anyone but The Master they will die.
We are protected if we accidently spill a drop or two but that is only
because of the special clothes The Master provides to us. Our open skin never touches the water or we
will die. Why are you lying to me?”
Jodia’s voice was rising and the
guard put his hand in the small of her back and, still considerately but
forcibly at the same time, propelled her towards the rock which housed The
Wellspring. He started pushing her
urgently when she almost shouted “Who… Who… are you? What do you… you… want with me?”
“Maid! Be quiet!”
The well-understood command as well as the authority in the guard’s
voice automatically quieted the girl but with all her strength she still
resisted the increasing pressure on her back.
The guard retained his hold on her
and continued to propel her in the direction of The Wellspring. Jodia was beginning to experience real
fear. Not the anxious frights she
experienced when she was told that The Master had summoned her to stand before
him so that he could measure her growth in the special clothes she was to wear
when she reached her age and she was fit finally to be summoned to The Master’s
rooms. This was a deep stomach-churning
fear of the unknown.
“The Master… The Master will want
his water” she mumbled. “I have been
away too long already.”
“I am taking you to refill your
vessel, child” replied the guard. “The
Master is occupied with other things right now.
He will not miss you for the time it takes to get back to The Source and
to refill your vessel. You are safe,
child. Safe from The Master’s anger and
safe with me. I know you will find this
hard to believe, but you can trust me.”
“You don’t under… stand. I don’t take the water to The Master. It is P… P… P…redico who does. I never take the water directly to The Master. You don’t under… stand.”
Tears sprang into Jodia’s eyes but
she would not allow them to fall. She
would not cry. She had long ago learned
that to cry led to punishment. She would
not cry.
“P… P…redico will punish me s… s…
s…so m… much for being late. He knows
how to hurt me without leaving any marks because The Master does not like us to
have marks. P… P… P…redico will hurt me
so much, s… so m… m… m… much.” Jodia’s
teeth were chattering as she stuttered in her attempt to prevent herself from
crying.
The guard didn’t say a word but his
teeth ground their fury and he pushed the girl harder and faster towards The
Wellspring.
*
Jodia stopped in her tracks and
gasped as she rounded the corner and saw The Wellspring. It seemed to be filled to overflowing and
breathing with more men than she’d seen for as far back as she could remember
and the men were all laughing and joking and pushing each other into and out of
the precious water.
“H… How is this possible? They should all be dead; they should all be
d… d… dead. The Wellspring water k…
k…kills anyone other than The Master.”
Jodia shook her head to clear the image but when she turned back to The
Wellspring, the men were still cavorting and appeared to be having a thoroughly
good time splashing water at each other.
The guard took Jodia by the
hand. He led her to one of the men and
said quite sharply “Look after her.
She’s terrified of someone called Predico. I’m going hunting and when I find that which
I hunt, he’ll understand what it is to be terrified.”
“Wait” said the man who held
Jodia. “You can’t do it on your
own. Before any of us goes off on our
own tangent, remember the plan; always remember the plan and that following it
is the best means of getting us the result we want and also stopping us from
getting killed.”
“I know, Nica. It’s just that the thought of …
Nevermind. I’ll stay. So now, we wait. It won’t be too long before they miss Jodia
and send someone or many someones to search for her. If we’re lucky, The Wellspring will be the
first place they search. Nica, will you
take Jodia with you? I don’t want there
to be even a hint of her presence and I want all traces of her essence erased. Get her to the healers immediately to have
that crystal removed and ground to dust or whatever is necessary to ensure that
he will never be able to use it again.”
The guard looked at Jodia who was
cowering into herself in shock. “Jodia,
I know you’re scared by all that you are seeing here. Nica is going to take you to some people who
will look after you until we finish what we have to do here. Then, we’ll all have something nice to eat
and drink. You won’t have to be afraid
ever again. I promise you. You’ll like the people who are going to look
after you.”
Jodia shook her head and her whole
body started quivering. “Now, Nica!”
commanded the guard.
Nica held out his hand to the
girl. She ignored it. He gestured to her to take his arm, still she
ignored him. The guard, who was watching
the whole affair, chuckled. “Last
resort, Nica, enjoy your trip.”
Nica then took one step closer to
Jodia who was looking up at him with big scared eyes; he lifted her with utmost
ease and he threw her over his shoulder as if she were simply a wrap of
sorts. Nica then all but ran from The
Wellspring in the opposite direction from The Master.
Jodia started to struggle but the
man called Nica held her more tightly and continued to move quickly and
silently further and further away from The Master.
Jodia wondered helplessly what was
going to happen to her if she ever managed to escape and get back to The Master. She quickly turned her thoughts away from
that time. She would make The Master
understand. She was sure that she could
do it. What would The Master do to
her? She had heard so many stories of
girls disappearing and never been seen again.
Would she be one of those too?
Jodia slumped against Nica’s shoulder and tears now ran unchecked down
her face and formed wet puddles on Nica’s shirt.
My poem for Jodia and
all the other girls who have been abducted by this agent of The Darke
The Rending
I
have been rent
To
the depths of my being
I
have been rent
I
exist
Within
Yet
Devoid
of self
Complete
A
tempest of tears
Flowing
To
sense
Splendour
To
sense
Fulfilment
In
pain
In
gloom
In
identity
In
truth
Power
In
sanctity
Sanctity
In
power
Release
In
all
Alert
to
Gossamer
rustlings
Fine
shiverings
Lightning
flashes
A
depth of joy
In
a flood of light
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