Chapter 19: The Right Question?

The irises of Yovra’s eyes were as mirrors, but Koolah, being a brew-witch had seen far too many unsettling sights, she was not fazed. Of course, part of this was that she had encountered Yovra once before. She did however, make sure to look at those eyes without gazing into them. A magician who does not keep their awareness of the unusual is one who dies quickly.

As one arch-mage put it, ‘It is best to have some small part of a mundane hick-farmer’s mind, personally I keep mine asleep in amulets’. It should be noted that while the essence can be correct, the execution can to put it mildly leave a lot to be desired.

So, Koolah without the mindfragment of some unfortunate bumpkin, made sure there wasn’t anything amiss about Yovra. The sword-maiden herself smiled. Koolah was shocked. Never had she seen a face so utterly transformed. Yovra’s face was normally cold as ice and just as emotionless, a smile gave it a kind of smothering cute innocence. Koolah’s mind could not decided whether she despised the face or was enchanted by the purity of it.

“Thank you…” Yovra began.

Koolah decided that it was better to just not look at her. She concluded that the desire of dragons are terrifying.

“…this mirror, you healed me and through that I experienced a love I may never feel again, it cannot replace what you have lost, but take it.” Yorva said.

Not being one for ceremony, when Koolah heard the words ‘take it’ it was snatched and hidden away inside her hat.

“I don’t suppose you know what it does?” Koolah asked.

Yovra began to do stretches on her mirror-sword, alarming cracking sounds coming from her limbs.

“I’m terribly sorry, but I haven’t the foggiest, I’d imagine corrupt beings wouldn’t like it one bit though”

“How helpful, a mirror made of tears that might cause nasty things to react badly, I must say, I am thrilled. Well, as riveting as talking about this is, I believe you know why I am here”

“Something went wrong” Yovra said.

She sniffed the air, staring at Koolah, her forked tongue flicked out.

“You died? More than once?”

“That much I know, I met the Wanderer and it just gave me a bunch of cyptic nonsense before saying that I was asking the wrong question, which was who killed my sisters and I?”

Pacing back and forth on her hovering sword, Yovra considered Koolah’s situation.

“I saw an explosion, I can remember that, I didn’t dare come near to your cottage, I have trouble enough keeping myself together in this place. Milord Judge sent me only to observe.”

“What went wrong? Who caused it? That kind of question?” Koolah asked.

“Perhaps, but I think I can help with that other question of yours… you got a good long look at that wound of mine, did you not”

Koolah nodded.

“You were attacked by something that…”

She paused, struck by a thought.

“Yes, you work with plants don’t you? In some of your brews I imagine” Yovra said.

“It probably isn’t a coincidence…”

“I’m afraid that I couldn’t see what attacked me, it ambushed and then fled as soon as it found that it couldn’t break my skin or scales. I had wandered out from this lair, since something kept destroying the mirrors I sent out to observe this realm, it was then that it struck”

“Do you have any more ideas as to what it was?”

“Cowardly, chlanic, connected heavily with plants and highly disturbing to spirits, I can’t think of anything other than that… but, if this being is your creation, how did it come to be… what have you been brewing in your cottage? Why did you sisters come here?”

Koolah thought about it for a bit, before silently taking out a broom made from the frozen crowleaf trees and slipping away, too prideful to admit she had damaged memories. Yovra would have liked some answers herself, but she was not a being that was ungrateful. Even her mighty master knew when to press on and when to retreat, how could she not do the same.

Besides… the most important thing was recovering her full strength, especially with something vile stalking the fallen realm.

Yovra in her cold heart, wished Koolah well.

[Started another course, updates will be Mondays and Wednesdays, until such a time as my workload becomes too weighty, then it will just be Wednesdays.]