work to do, part 4 of 4

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“I’m going to set you free now.”

Dahlia’s violent green eyes narrowed alarmingly.  “Don’t tease me like that.”

Sofia smiled softly.  “I’m not joking.  You’ve proved your faithfulness.  I trust you, Dahlia.  I’m going to release you from the spell that binds you to me.”

The creature uncoiled and swiftly crossed the room.  It kept its eyes level with Sofia and asked, “Are you sure that’s wise?”

Sofia ignored the hint of laughter.  She had decided months ago that it wasn’t important.  It was just part of Dahlia’s personality and didn’t mean anything good or anything bad. 

Answering Dahlia, she said, “We’ve worked together for more than a year now and you have helped me achieve more than I imagined was possible.  With your help I have learned so much more about our worlds than I would have if I could live for several lifetimes.”

“Do you know why I chose this form?”

“I do, yes.”  While not entirely certain, Sofia had a guess she believed to be correct.  In the moment between worlds, Dahlia could have chosen to be a falcon, which might have made escape easier, or it could have chosen to be a bull, which would have given it ample strength to either fight of flee if it chose, but it chose to be a snake.  In their time together, Sofia had come to the conclusion that Dahlia chose the form of a snake because it was the most frightening and arguably the most lethal.

“And you aren’t worried about what’s going to happen when you set me free?”

“I trust you,” Sofia repeated.

“Then do it.”  For the first time, Dahlia’s words weren’t a whisper.  Her words came out as a resounding demand, a shout that filled the room with slithering echoes.

Sofia closed her eyes, gathering the energy she needed for the spell and focusing on the words.  Then, opening her eyes, with a flick of her wrist she indicated that Dahlia needed to move into position, over a rune that had begun to pulse with an orange light. 

Dahlia moved quickly.  Its eyes glittering in the strange light coming up from beneath it.  Its jaws lifted in what could only be described as a smile.

“We’ve fought.  We’ve learned.  We’ve grown together.  And now, Dahlia, it is time for you to be free.”

Sofia spoke the words to the spell in a ringing voice, her hands moving in intricate patterns.  The orange light stopped pulsing and grew in intensity.  Sofia’s voice grew louder and louder until it became a scream.  A sharp ripping sound drowned her out and then her scream ebbed away.

Panting, her hands on her knees, she looked up to watch as Dahlia slid away from the rune, now just a smudge of dull chalk on the floor.  This was the moment of truth.  The creature was free of her control and could do as it pleased.  Dahlia’s tongue tasted the air.  Once.  Twice. 

Then it asked, “We’ve still got work to do?”

Sofia smiled broadly, “We’ve only just begun.”

work to do, part 3 of 4

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It had been six months since Sofia had called Dahlia into her world.  They had procured many fascinating, and powerful, items in the intervening time.  Sofia had spent every free moment either pouring over those items and enhancing her knowledge or working on her relationship with Dahlia.  She could tell that Dahlia didn’t see her as an equal yet.  It seemed like she was nearly there, though.  They were more comfortable with each other and while Sofia hadn’t yet told Dahlia the reason for all their little gathering ventures, Dahlia had guessed it.  The creature hadn’t seemed upset, either. 

Sofia was coming to understand that while Dahlia was bound to her, Dahlia was more free in this world than she had been in her slumber in the darkness of the other world.  To be trapped in dreams certainly didn’t sound appealing to Sofia, anyway.  Sure, some dreams were fun but part of that fun was knowing you were going to wake up.  If you never woke up?  If the dream wasn’t fun?  And endless swirling of nightmares?  Or, worse, endless nothingness?  Sofia didn’t like to think about that. 

Besides, Sofia was still hoping and working towards giving Dahlia complete freedom.  She just had a little more to learn, a learn more to understand.

Chief among that, she needed to know why Dahlia had chosen the shape of a snake.  She had been looking for clues but had not yet come across any.  But once she had that key piece of information she was sure she could release Dahlia without fear.

She was hoping to do that before she had completed the task she had summoned Dahlia to help with.  That particular hurdle would be better if Dahlia acted in support on its own.  But, if not, so be it.  One way or the other Dahlia would help her achieve her goals.  Every day of the last six months was a step in that direction.

Closing the tome she’d been studying, Sofia turned to gaze at Dahlia.  The creature was watching her from the opposite side of the room.  The link between them was strong enough that Dahlia would understand that Sofia had just learned an important piece of information but not so strong that it would know exactly what the information was.  Dahlia waited patiently, it’s tongue lazily tasting the air and it’s eyes glinting with equal measures of humor and curiosity.  

Not for the first time, Sofia wondered if she was wasting her time and should just ask Dahlia all her questions.  She knew there was value in doing the research herself, but it was very likely that Dahlia could tell her everything she needed to know if she would just ask.  It was tempting.

Dahlia laughed, that same unnerving sound that Sofia had grown certain she would never get used to.  “You know that you’ll only be able to trust me fully when I can trust you fully.”

Sofia’s lips twitched upwards and she nodded.  “Yes, of course.”  Crossing the room she began to caress the shiny scales behind Dahlia’s head.  The laughing sound switched to the purring one.  There was no need for Sofia or Dahlia to expand on that brief conversation.  They both understood the consequences of that trust.  If fulfilled and then broken, it could be devastating for both of them.  Dahlia could be banished back to the darkness.  Sofia could easily be killed, or suffer a much worse fate depending on how Dahlia retaliated. 

“Do you want to hear what I just learned?”

Dahlia whispered, “Yes,” without breaking its purr.

work to do, part 2 of 4

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“Where are we going?”

Dahlia’s question was little more than a whisper.  For its size, the snake-like creature had an unsettling soft voice, sometimes hissing, sometimes purring.  The creature never seemed to raise its voice.  At least, Sofia had never heard it if it had.

Walking next to Dahlia, as the creature slithered through the dark tunnels, Sofia patted it gently on its head, “We’re nearly there.”

“That didn’t answer my question,” Dahlia replied, with a hint of laughter.

She wasn’t sure if the laughter was a good sign or a bad, but Sofia let her hand rest on Dahlia’s head rather than respond.  It wasn’t that she couldn’t trust the creature.  It had proved its loyalty in the past couple months.  Their bond had strengthened quickly and Dahlia had never attempted to break free of her control.  By all accounts they had turned into quite the formidable team.  However, Sofia didn’t think it would be wise to let the creature know all her plans.  Knowledge is power and Dahlia was already far more powerful than Sofia.  If not for the spells it was under, the one that had brought it into this world and the one that held it captive to Sofia’s whims, Dahlia could easily destroy the witch.  They both knew this. 

In time, perhaps, their bond would grow strong enough that Sofia could trust Dahlia completely.  That would only happen if Dahlia saw Sofia as a true equal, and Sofia had a lot to learn before then.  She wasn’t a novice but it takes a special depth of learning to match the knowledge of a creature that lived outside the normal confines of time.  Sofia was very interested in reaching those depths, and some of their excursions had been in search of knowledge she needed to further that effort, raiding enchanted libraries, stealing secrets from more learned mages, and so on. 

The tunnel began to climb slightly and Sofia signaled for Dahlia to stop.  She drew a rune of divination in the dirt next and spoke the word that sparked it to life.  The rune glowed red and then spun slowly in one full circle before sliding in the dirt a pace forward and slightly to the left.  There it faded from red to orange to yellow to green, pulsed three times and disappeared.  Sofia stepped to that spotted and pointed upward.

“Our target is above our heads.”

“What would you have me do?”

“There is an artifact I need,” with that she touched the snake again and sent it a mental picture of what she wanted.  “If you can take it unseen, great.  If you are seen…”

Dahlia finished the thought, “Then none shall live to speak of what they saw.”

The creature pushed its head into the soil of the tunnel roof and slithered upwards, using its powerful magic to carve through the earth without disturbing the ground itself, until the tip of its tail disappeared and Sofia couldn’t tell that it had passed at all despite knowing exactly the spot it had gone.  She closed her eyes and used her link with Dahlia to see through the creatures eyes.  She wasn’t in charge, just a passenger watching Dahlia’s progress.

Sofia felt Dahlia’s whispering voice in her head, “You don’t trust me to run this errand on my own?”

“I do trust you, I just want to see if there’s anything else that catches my fancy while you are there.”

Again the sound of something like laughter came from Dahlia.  Again, Sofia wasn’t sure if the laughter was good or bad.

work to do, part 1 of 4

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The wall split open with a sharp ripping sound and the dark creature slipped through the crack, hissing and spitting, furious at being dragged from its long slumber.  It gathered itself on the floor, coiled, and raised its head up.  Its long forked tongue tasted the air, once, twice, and then it’s violent green eyes found their target.  The witch held her ground and held the gaze of the beast she had summoned.  Then she carefully lifted her right hand aloft and snapped her fingers twice.  The monster blinked, shook its head slightly, almost a shudder but not quite, and then lowered its head back to its coiled body.

“Good,” the witch cooed.  “Very good.”

With her right hand she reached out and stroked the glittering, midnight scales.  There seemed to be twinkles of scattered light hidden beneath the surface, like thousands of stars hidden behind a veil of clouds in a moonless sky.  You didn’t know if you were really seeing the stars or if your brain just made you think you were because you knew they were supposed to be there.  She brought her right hand in front of the snakelike being’s jaws and, using all her considerable self-control to suppress a shudder, she let the snake’s tongue whip out and wrap around her wrist.

It wasn’t really a snake, of course, that was just the shape the summoned creature had chosen as it slid into this world.  It could have taken two other shapes, that of a bull or that of a falcon.  In time she would learn why it had chosen this form instead of the others but for now she needed it to taste her power and learn to trust her.  They would have time for the rest once this ritual was completed and her new pet had accepted her.

The crack in the wall began to disappear even as the snake’s tongue released her wrist.  She had passed the test.  It would submit to her command willingly. 

Smiling, she took her right hand and once again stroked the magnificent scales behind its head.  “My name is Sofia.”

In a whispering hiss, the creature replied, “I’m Dahlia.”

Sofia continued to lovingly caress the snake.  The wall sealed off.  Dahlia began to make a sound that make Sofia think of a cat purring.  It was not a natural sound to be coming from a snake, but Dahlia wasn’t a snake and wasn’t what most people would consider natural either. 

“We’re going to do great things together, Dahlia,” Sofia said.

where there’s smoke

The demon rose from her shadow and plucked the arrow from the air moments before it would have hit her outermost magical shields.  The shaft broke in two as the massive hand in the darkness crushed the missile in its grip.  Then feathers and stone sharpened head followed the split shaft into oblivion as the demon swallowed the weapon into its depths.  While the sorceress had sensed the projectile coming towards her, and had no doubts that her own spells would have protected her from harm, she was still fascinated to finally get to see her guardian in action.

Pulling her gaze away from the demon, she followed the flight of the arrow to see if she could locate her attacker.  The celebrations were still swinging wildly around her and when no immediate threat showed itself she began to suppose it could have been an accident, a celebratory firing into the sky that went errant.  She didn’t actually think that was the case, but it had already been a strange day and wouldn’t discount any theories until she was certain what had happened.  She also wanted to make certain it had been a deliberate attack before she alerted the dragon to it, but sensing its presence in her mind she turned back to see the beast staring at her.

Its snout rose in a sneer and its voice filled her head, “Go find out if it was deliberate.”

She nodded in deference to the dragon’s request and went to find where the arrow had been fired from.  The demon, pulling free from her shadow again, stalked in front of her, sniffing the air to pinpoint the projectile’s path.

The King, noticing the sudden reversal of the dragon’s mood, while shying away from the tremendous amount of heat pouring off the beast’s scales, stammered, “Is everything alright?”

“I doubt it,” the dragon growled, digging its claws into the stone floor and tearing boulder sized chunks free with ease.

A small tendril of smoke escaped the beast’s maw and rose to collect in the domed ceiling of the grand hall.  The dragon had fit through their modified opening after it used its magic to shrink to a quarter of its normal size, which it had done only after circling the King’s castle four times so he, and all his citizens, could see its true form.  And, much as the sorceress had predicted, the King had fumbled over his words of greeting and deference until the dragon had shrunk to a more manageable size for his tiny brain to comprehend.  Even after the festivities had kicked off without a hitch, the King had continued to tremble and cower next to the might beast.  It had pleased the dragon greatly.

The whole day, up until it had felt the arrow’s vibrations cutting through the air as the projectile approached the witch, had pleased the dragon.  It had enjoyed stretching its wings for the flight down from its cave.  It had enjoyed feeling the fear wash over the citizens of the kingdom as it roared overhead.  It had relished the scents of the various dishes that had been cooked and served just for it and the glint of the sunlight casting rainbows around the jeweled offerings.  But then someone had fired an arrow at the witch…

The beast had sensed the witches hope that it had been an accident, but it knew better.  There had been too much velocity, and too much accuracy in the shot for it to have been anything but a direct attack.  The dragon knew what she would find, knew the archer’s death would be quick, if not painless, and knew how much he would enjoy razing this kingdom to ash in his wrath.  The fire swirling within the beast began to ratchet up to an inferno.