Chapter 29: Oath Arrow’s Flight, Spirit’s Fright
Olice could hardly believe the effect her words were having on the other. If nothing else, it was quite clear it wasn’t her, twisted up in its crimson cloak, it barely looked humanoid anymore. It fell on all fours, legs no longer able to support its body.
It seemed to be in considerable pain, there was even wisps of smoke rising from it, as if it was burning, but there was no smell to join that.
“I-I’m not you, yess, but you can’t reject me, I’m at least part of you, I know what you know, I’m your mirror! You have to accept me! You want to turn your eyes to your own wickedness child, but you can’t!” It croaked desperately.
Olice paused, she tried to remember what she could about beings that copied others like this. Her mind was muggy again though. She could have recalled that tampering with people’s awareness and perceptions were two of the most basic things that Chlan do to people. There was a huge difference between a warrior that regularly slew chlan and one that did not. A child has some natural innocence, but the protection of that doesn’t go so far as to escape a chlan’s nousfog.
Not that chlan were the only things to produce a nousfog, many beings addled the mind. The main issue with chlan was that they always wished you harm. How could a walking wound desire anything else?
So, Olice almost considered the other’s words, but she had grabbed hold of a simple truth, one she wasn’t going to let go of so easily.
“No, I’m me, and you aren’t a part of me, if I’m wicked, then I’m wicked! It’d be my problem! You are just an impostor! Fake! Everything about you is fake!” Olice pressed.
There was a loud crack, and jagged lines appeared all over the writhing other.
“Tried to be merciful, you could have been part of me, or just given your place!” It lied.
“Kill!” It muttered, dragging itself toward Olice.
Olice jerked back in fear as a pair of yellow eyes glared at her. She had never seen anything look at her with such hatred and loathing, there was no mind there, only coiling clawing hate. Olice felt her very heartflame shudder at the wrongness of that level of spite. It was not something that should be.
“You, how are you real?” Olice said involuntarily.
Gander though he could not speak swept up in front of her, blocking Olice’s line of sight. It wasn’t healthy to look at such a being, it could taint the observer.
“I’ll eat you and take your place by force!” It screamed.
It shouldn’t have been able to move, it had a crumbling form, something that didn’t join up right. Thankfully, it didn’t even reach Gander, it suddenly froze in mid air. The curse was acting!
A white pattern in the shape of a hook thrust upwards from the mockery of a body the other had, and the one that had entered into Olice shot out and impaled the chlan other too.
“WELL THERE IS YOUR RESULT LOYAL SUBJECTS!” The bard’s magic announced.
There was a rumble of cheers.
“BUT THAT SEEMED A BIT SMALL OF A TRIAL, HOW ABOUT WE ROLL AND SEE WHAT ELSE WE’LL DO?”
As soon as the cursehooks finished carving the other into nothingness, Olice’s familiars burst into action.
“I give my power, my sssself over to you, bring vengeance for our missstressss, I sssswear this oath!” Gander hissed.
“I give power, self to you, bring her vengeance, I swear oath!” Ka cried.
Susasov appeared before her, All three forms, cat on head, mouse on cat head, an ominous heavy flow was around him. It was one familiar to Susasov, and thus, somewhat familiar to the flow of magic. It carried an ancient sentiment.
Vengeance!
Ka flowed over Olice and onto Susasov, Gander twisted around and into his bodies.
Then, the melding occurred. Spirit melding was not something at all simple to do, but Susasov had once been a being considered a god and had three bodies! Truthfully, what allowed this to happen was how the three familiars were connected to Olice, how they were of one mind about this course of action and the power of an oath.
Susasov took on a shadowy appearance and his mouths sported teeth like Gander’s, not only that but his strange blue grass-like hair was shimmering red.
Susasov had not even regained enough power to surpass Ka, but with Gander and Ka melding with him, his power was greater than the three were apart. He gripped the cursehooks that were already breaking apart.
One of the other terrifying things about curses was how easily they turn back upon their caster, this was especially true of an unjust or malicious curse, a curse laid justly was a different kind of existence completely. With the oath of vengeance stirring the flow around Susasov, there was only one reasonably possible outcome.
Those cloud like eyes rumbled darkly.
“You dare” His voice overlapped with Ka and Gander’s.
“YOU DARE! YOU LAY HAND UPON OUR MISTRESS! KNOW YOUR PLACE, FABRICATIONS!”
The only reply was the rolling of the core-heads.
The cursehooks shuddered. White turning dark red that crackled with pale blue and dripped with shadow. The patterns that made them twisted and churned, changing. One of the more obvious changes was that the cursehook that had been inside the other cracked and burst into a bow-like form.
The bow had no string, but Susasov pressed a finger to one end and then brought the finger to the other end, a ruby thread followed.
He took up the other curse hook and set it as an arrow. As he pulled back the bow, the flow boiled around him. His face was a mask of rage.
He loosed the arrow, not even aiming. Aiming was not needed.
The bolt of vengeance tore through the air before anyone knew what was happening. The ironbird’s core-head was pierced.
Normally it was a more powerful spirit than Gander, but the ironbirds curse allowed the familiars to make a plan, they had not been idle while robbed of their speech. With this, the greatest threat to Olice was done for.
A shriek went up from the spirit of fortune, but it stopped in mid shriek, completely frozen.
The cursehook sunk fully in, dissolving throughout the spirit’s existence. First, its eyes vanished, then the core-head crumbled apart like someone had lifted a clod of earth and let go. Then the ringbody shone white, cracking noises coming from it, finally, quite dramatically it exploded, shards flying everywhere.
“The oath is fulfilled, the curse returned” Susasov said, slumping and the bow shattering into mice that ran off until they vanished.
Ka painfully ripped away from him and Gander slipped out. They were drained and weaken by that action. Gander had not even been sure that it would even work, he had only gone through with it because the flow of magic would be on their side and it was likely the only chance they would have to take out the ironbird king.
Wails went up and cries like “A second Silver Bane!” were heard. The bard of fortune may have been their ruler, but the ironbird king had been their power.
Ka quickly rested back on Olice’s small shoulders and Susasov, his bodies barely holding together, went back to the safety of Olice’s amulet.
Gander as much as he wanted to just hide back in Olice’s shadow, knew the spirits of fortune would need another push.
He pulled on what shadows he could find, quickly devouring them. He briefly thought about how easy air aligned spirits had it.
He unleashed his presence upon the spirits of fortune. It was an unfortunate thing about spirits, but a lower rank spirit would have a hard time resisting the will of a higher ranked spirit, coupled with what had just happened. The spirits of fortune felt the presence of Gander constrict around them.
“INSSSOLENT WRETCHESSSS! BEG FOR MERCY FROM MY MISSSTRESSSS AND SSSHE MAY RELENT! SSSSILVER BANE WASSSS BUT A PALE COPY OF MY MISSSSTRESSSSS!” Gander hissed.
Olice was quite taken aback by her familiar’s actions, but she knew they were protecting her, protecting her and opening a path.
The bard of fortune, floated over on its sphere-throne to Olice. It slipped off and prostrated itself before her.
“Please, spare us all! We beg your forgiveness! We’ll do whatever you command! We’ll repay the insult we have given!” It said, quivering.
It was a bluff. Neither Olice nor the familiars could resist if all the soldiers and the bard attacked, but those spirits couldn’t know that, not while gripped with fear.
-I hope you don’t think you can bind all of them as servants, Mistress- Susasov joked.
Olice almost let out a laugh. She knew that she should probably act the part that Gander had set up but instead, she just tiredly spoke.
“I want to see the oracle”