So sorry it's late! And, yes, those 20 minutes kind of extended into a few days....I'm so sorry!
Nimue
I examined myself in the mirror. My usual pointed chin was now more rounded, adding a little more flesh to my face. My eyes were now almost black, more angled and small. It made for a passable disguise. I pulled off my blue silk robes and slipped into peasant's clothing. I used a kerchief to cover my brilliant red hair and then walked out of the hut, into the sunlit city. With my diguise, I would fit right in with the passing people and could make my way easily to the library, without hassle by guards or other sorcerers and sorceresses. I stepped out from the small hut into the busy dirt road infested with smelly folk and people doing their dailies.
For a moment, I simply stood at the threshold of the hut, observing the passers-by, then I snuck into the crowd. I didn't mind being pushed along, but I was careful nothing would untie the cloth around my head or else my hair would cause an uproar. None in this dusty land had red hair as bright as mine.
Soon I made it to the ancient library. It's height was that of three large elephants standing on each other and the width as wide an oak laid on its side. If you stood at the side of the library, you would see the building continued for more than two acres. The front was engraved in mysterious runes and depicted religious wars and events. There were no doors, only wide openings that people walked in an out at all times of the day.
I slowly made my way up the small stairs and hussled through the open doorway with a crowd to still stay unseen by the guards who stood at the opening. Inside, I was astounded. The carpets were a rich crimson velvet, the walls adorned with artwork in gilded frames. Upon the mahogany shelves lay many old manuscripts and parchment papers and left-over quills from past researchers. I took a glance around before I snatched up a black quill and went to find a specific manuscript I'd put away for safekeeping.
I almost lost my way to the Hallway of Safekeeping, but after asking directions, I made it to the dark corridor soon enough. The lighting was dimmer here except for the fireplace at the very end. I strode over to a table covered in manuscripts and a little person at the other side sorting through them.
"I need Manuscript for Safekeeping number seven," I said. The little man looked up, his eyes barely seeing over the desk.
"Over there." He pointed to the desk in the far corner, closest to the fire. I nodded a thank you and hurried over. I excitedly looked over at the script, reading the title.
"Ithy! Hurry uuuup!" Aegis whined to his blind friend as they stalked the sorceress.
"Can't you tell I'm going as fast as I can?" Ithycus Burns replied sarcastically as he walked slowly towards Aegis.
Aegis pouted, "I'll get Jake to attack Toki and then we'll see how fast you can walk!"
Aegis and Ithycus had only met a couple of days before when they both realised they were shadowing the same person. Nimue.
She was too concentrated on her own findings of the Lamirghetta to even notice the two evil sorcerers trailing her. Incidentally, the two of them literally ran into each other as Nimue slipped from both of their attentions while going to the bathroom.
The shock of running head-first into someone caused Aegis to accidentally replicate Ithycus's power while still in contact with him. They were teleported directly 20 metres behind the hurrying Nimue, on their bottoms. Aegis grinned wickedly as he popped upwards, helping a hand to Ithycus which he grabbed. Jake slivered down to taste the stranger, his tongue flickering in and out of the stranger's hand. Satisfied that his h'orderve was on their side, the snake crept back into Aegis' sleeve. Aegis helped the sorcerer up, "So, I've been looking for this book..."
Ithycus instantly understood and smiled back, "I'm a book-lover myself, you know."
Aegis smiled as they began to shadow Nimue together, "Aegis, you are?"
"Call me Ithycus," he replied.
Ithycus rolled his eyes, "You have as much control over Jake as I have over the weather."
Aegis scowled and then a twisted smile formed on his face, "Yeah, but if I throw him at you he'll be angry... and he's poisonous."
Ithycus sighed and then his eyes widened focusing on something not of this realm, "Did you feel the shift in magic?"
Aegis tilted his head and closed his eyes to focus on the invisible layer of magic which covered the world. His blue eyes flashed open in shock, "You think?"
"I know. Come on, we've got to get the Lamirghetta!" Ithycus almost shouted, gripping Aegis' shoulder tightly in his hand, as they teleported in the Hallway of Safekeeping.
I grit my teeth as Aegis whines at me. I like him, truth be told, but he can really get on one's nerves. I play the blind card, but he's not fooled.
When he threatens him, Loki's head pops out of my pocket. I click at him reassuringly, and he disappears again.
As I walk through the gate, pretending to feel my way with a cane, but really just hearing my way along, I pick out different conversations,
"Oi! Did you drop that, you little snot?" I hear a shop owner say to his prentice, "Pick it up, and next time, it'll be a beating!" There is a thump as of someone being kicked, and a cry of pain. The kid couldn't have been more than 10.
I shake my head at this. As I pass the business district, I hear more voices.
"Bump into me, would you?" A man snarls, "I'll teach you!"
"No, you won't," The other man replies calmly. I hear a knife being drawn and the gasp from the first man.
I change my direction, and brush lightly against the drawn blade. Instantly, it disappears.
"Sorry," I grunt, turning away, leaving the men gaping at the spot where the knife had been. Aegis sniffs and spits on the ground, "You're going to get us discovered."
I shrug and grin to myself. This was why I needed it. To stop all this violence and disrespect. To wipe the slate clean. Start over. Take everything away from them so that they would have to work together to get it back. Then, the world would be happy. As if reading my thoughts, Loki chitters from my pocket.
"Hush," I whisper. That's when the feeling hits me. Great magic. Connected, I know, to our prey.
"You think?" says Aegis quietly.
"I know. Come on! We've got to get the Lamirghetta!" I say in my excitement, grabbing Aegis, and popping into non-existence. When we reappear, we're standing in a huge, dimly lit room. Unfortunately, we're also directly in front of a scared-looking little scribe, who is sitting behind a desk. I whirl around. Yes. There, on the other side of the room is Nimue.
And she is holding a scroll. A scroll that has all of the information that I need to possess the Lamirghetta. Aegis sees it too.
And remember...A portkey can be any sort of harmless object...A football...or a dolphin. ~Snape, AVPM
"You are the egg, you are the chrysalis, you are the progeny. You are the rot that falls from stars." ~Will Henry, on Typhoeus magnificum
I sit in the back alleys of the city, cross legged. My lovely cards are spread out on the ground in front of me. I can tell what each card is just by feeling it's backside, I've held them for so long. What would I ever do without my babies?
Someone walks in front of the entrance to the alley, a rather well-off looking man, and I shout at him. "Sir, would you like to test your luck?" I put on my best business face as I speak.
He looks all over the alleyway before finally noticing me on the ground. "Well, today has been going rather well for me, so...why not?" He walks into the alley and kneels down on the ground in front of my cards. I gather them all together and shuffl them gently but thoroughly. One by one I take certain cards and place them back on the ground in front of me.
The man glances at me, then back at the cards. "Aren't you supposed to read my palm first or something?"
I chuckle. "Not for THIS game!"
"Game?! You told me you were testing my luck!"
I keep flipping cards over. "That's exactly what I'm doing. I flip more cards over, timing them with my next words. "Your-" flip "luck-" flip "is-" flip "...I'm sorry, sir. Your luck ain't that great today!" I draw a cross on the card that I had last flipped, and then tapped the center. A faint grey wisp emerges from the card, and then two arms shoot out of the card and grips the man by his trousers. He cries out, but a third arm leaps out of the card and covers his mouth so no one will hear him. The hands flip the man over and shake him up and down, dropping his loose change all over the ground. I jump up and hurriedly to pick up the change. When I finish grabbing my money, the hands drop the man on his back. He scrambles to his feet and runs away, scared speechlessly. I giggle and count my change – enough to get me through a couple more days. (And yes, I cheated the cards so I would get his money. So what? Every game has ways you can cheat.)
From the card that the hands came out of comes a voice: “Kuutran…the sssstone callssss to you…it wantsss you to hold it like you hold ussss…now isss the time...”
That is all I need to hear. I gather together my cards and place them delicately in my pocket, then walk out of the alley and into the sunlight. The time is now to go after the stone, apparently…I mean, if you can’t trust tarot cards, who can you trust?
((First time ever writing in the present tense. And gosh, I hate it. But oh well!))
Your hesitation suggests you are trying to protect my feelings. However, since I have none, I would prefer you to be honest. An artist's growth depends upon accurate feedback. — LCDR Data
Gender:
Points: 10566
Reviews: 73