‘TARASQUE!’ A FAMILIAR VOICE SCREAMED. I saw the ghost of Verity hurry to her side and cradle her betrothed in her arms. ‘You can’t die. I won’t allow it.’
Then I heard a hissing behind me, ‘What have mew done to me? Saria!’ Mitztail called out to me. I realised there was no use for my thorny vine anymore and placed my hand on the earth to withdraw them from battle. The tabaxi was flipped up into the air but luckily landed on his four paws.
Mitztail threw me a glance, unimpressed that I’d grappled him to the ground, yet tipped his hardee in thanks, knowing well there was a reason for everything I did.
He glanced over his shoulder to see our comrade lying there motionless and drew his hat over his face. ‘Tara,’ he said softly.
I hurried to Tarasque’s side, where Verity was desperately trying to find a pulse. She looked up, almost staring right through me and begged me to assist.
‘You have to help,’ she pleaded.
I knelt beside her and placed a hand on my comrade’s forearm, ‘I will do all I can.’
All the years I’d spent training as a Seer and not once did I ever use it in practice. Minor scratches and scraps were dealt with using tonics, and I was never within reach when my brother returned from battle. He’d let the Elders cure any wound apologising for causing them to fuss.
I drew in a breath and moved my hands to the open inky wound on Tarasque’s stomach. Her breathing shallow and her fiery tresses dwindling. My fingertips began to glow with a faint green hue as I attempted to extract the ink from the wound. Not a second later, the fire genasi writhed in agony, screaming out to the heavens yet her eyes stayed closed.
‘Barcius,’ I called out to my comrade. ‘What do you make of this?’
He was by my side in an instant, knelt beside me. ‘I’ve never seen anything quite like this,’ he said, his tone unusually calm. He produced his spellbook and leafed through the pages. ‘Mitztail can you lend a hand.’
‘No,’ he replied, removing his lute from his back. ‘I can, however, lend a paw.’
Barcius drew in a breath and I sensed he was holding back some choice words.
Mitztail circled around our small huddle, strumming his paws on the strings and humming a sweet melody to himself. As he sang the notes danced off the strings becoming tiny wisps shaped like kittens. The purple wisps tumbled with the symphony, down and around Tarasque’s head, lulling her back to sleep.
Her screams silenced and her breathing returned to a shallow tide. Verity watched our every move, begging us to cause her beloved no more harm. Just like the ghost, we desired only the safe return of our comrade.
‘We could apparate into her mind,’ Barcius said.
‘Is that not dangerous?’
The tiefling shrugged, his expression unreadable, ‘I’ve never tried, but I have a theory.’
We’d no choice but to believe in his theory, we needed to save our friend and if that meant going inside her mind and freeing her from whatever was preventing her from waking, we would.
Barcius glanced at the tabaxi and said, ‘I need you to keep Verity company while we do.’
Mitztail tipped his head, agreeing with his plan and continued to strum on his lute.
The tiefling took my hand, muttering foreign words under his breath that I couldn’t quite make out. A surge of midnight energy swarmed around us and when I blinked away the particles, we were transported somewhere else entirely.
I opened my eyes and was greeted by an endless expanse of fiery hues, like the interior of a volcano. There was no mistaking, this was the realm where Tarasque’s soul dwelled.
‘Make haste, my magic won’t last long,’ Barcius said.
I pursed my lips, ‘What will happen if we cannot save her?’
The tiefling averted his gaze, ‘I’d rather not think about it but if we fail, there may be a chance Tarasque might be lost to us forever.’
‘I suppose we should get looking.’
We hunted around the open space, looking for anything that would lead us to our fallen comrade. Barcius hadn’t explained what exactly we were looking for, but said we’d know when we found it. As we ventured further inside her mind, the ground changed beneath my hooves. From solid tiles to a shallow pool of water lapping at my ankles. As we moved further into the pool, the deeper and thicker the water became, inky blood rippled through the pool.
‘Barcius,’ I said, turning to my comrade.
Ahead of us, I saw a body suspended in the centre. Limbs held in place by inky tendrils slinking out of the water. The fiery tresses were unmistakably Tarasque’s signature look, yet the embers on the tips were dwindling fast.
The tiefling was in front, wading through the water to reach our comrade. The inky tendrils attempted to haul him back but Barcius fought his way through, using only a dagger in his hand. I stayed back, waiting for my opportunity to advance once a safe path had been cleared.
‘Tarasque,’ Barcius called out to the barely breathing figure. Inky curled themselves around his limbs, but he never once flinched from their touch.
He produced a sparking energy ball in his hands and cast his power to those suspending the fire genasi above the water. They writhed in agony and fizzled back to where once they came.
Barcius hauled Tarasque into his arms, after fumbling a few times he made his way over to me at the water’s edge. A dark simmer of raspy voices and the threat of the inky tendrils returning hastened his steps, despite his struggle hauling our comrade back to safety.
Then his grey orbs were then on me, ‘Saria, I require your assistance.’ When I followed his gesture to the ink swarming at his knees and around his forearms. Tendrils appearing from the water and viciously swiping at him like a thousand daggers.
I held out my hand towards him, ‘You’re almost there.’ I said, beckoning him to me. With my other hand, I grasped my staff and pounded into the ground, sending a wave of ripples through the water. I’d hoped it would ease the pressure of the creatures swarming around him but they barely flinched.
I suppose I should use more forceful tactics.
Withdrawing my hand away, I placed both hands on my staff and held it before me. I closed my eyes and drew in the energy around me, detecting the natural elements that were still present in this realm. Fire certainly dominated, but there was a chance I could still turn the tides.
The tide. Now there's an idea.
‘May Melora guide me,’ I muttered aloud.
While I’d never attempted the spell I was about to conjure, I had to at least try, for my comrade’s sake. I opened my eyes, the tip of my staff glowed with an iridescent light. I lifted it above my head with one hand, twirling it in a circle before driving it into the ground before me.
The dark waters parted, every particle rose into the air and swirled into a vortex. There I held it for as long as it could take my comrades to be free. But when I glanced back, Barcius was pinned to the ground and Tarasque laid beside him covered with the same inky tendrils we believed we were free from. I raised my hand, but the tiefling ripped himself from their hold, sparking energy swarmed around his body, cutting through the demon spawn. Once free of them Barcius hauled himself off the ground, dragging the fallen fire genasi close to his side.
‘Please hurry,’ I called out to him, ‘I don’t know how much longer I can hold this for.’ My body ached in places I’d never ached before.
Barcius gave a single nod and quickened his pace. As he came within inches of me, he flicked his wrist and hauled the sparking energy towards the suspended vortex. When the two forces clashed, the inky demons fizzled out of existence, hissing as they went. Their shrieks would certainly haunt my dreams for years to come.
I let go of my power, collapsing to my knees and clung on to my staff for support, just as water crashed around me, completely sapped of my strength. Fumbling, I shuffled over to where my comrades laid and set about assessing Tarasque’s condition.
Barcius knelt beside us and asked, ‘Can you help her?’
I noted his furrowed brows and the dark sigils that embossed his blue skin, ‘I’ll do my best.’ I said, and closed my eyes to focus on my prognosis but my mind continued to wonder about the sigils. ‘Those markings. Are they a product of your magic or a remnant of the Raven Queen?’
The tiefling shrugged off the question, unwilling to indulge in conversation.
After what felt like hours, Tarasque’s eyes opened. ‘Where am I?’ she asked, her voice hoarse. But as she tried to sit up she doubled over, clutching her side.
‘I don’t know,’ I replied and looked up at Barcius for the answers.
He narrowed his eyes at her, looking through her like she was a ghost. ‘We’re inside your subconscious. Come, we cannot stay much longer.’ he said, helping the fire genasi to her feet. He offered to support Taraque’s weight on his shoulder but she pushed him off.
‘I can take it from here.’
But Tarasque had no armour or any weapon strapped to her hip, only dressed in a black attire with combat boots. The embers of her hair had finally cooled off and she looked just like the woman we knew outside of this realm.
She looked around, drinking in her surroundings then turned back to Barcius, ‘Can you get us out of here, and swiftly?’ she asked. The tiefling raised his brow, almost ready to question her. ‘I sense something amiss here.’
As soon as the words left her lips, the sky erupted into a blinding light. A towering figure stood before Tarasque. Much like her, he bore a muscular figure with curled copper tresses yet was cloaked in an off-white toga. His arms were coated in golden armour with a lion sigil hammered into the metal.
‘It can’t be,’ the fire genasi muttered. She was looking up at the figure and I caught sight of a bewildered expression. Tarasque knew this man, yet she appeared unsettled by his sudden presence.
The figure looked directly at her, and only her, a golden light like a halo around his head, ‘Child forged in the flames of war,’ he bellowed, ‘Kneel before thee.’
Tarasque hung on his every word and did as he commanded.
Behind me Barcius perked up, ‘Is that who I think it is?’ He directed his question to no one in particular and adjusted his glasses. ‘Hercules. Deity of the sun, the tempest and courage.’
‘Who?’ I asked him in a whispered tone.
‘Melora is to you, as Hercules is to Tarasque.’
The pieces of the puzzle slotted together in my mind and I watched as the golden deity produced an flaming axe before him, the centre emblazoned with a lion sigil.
‘Tarasque Pyris, daughter of fire,’ Hercules continued to bellow and thrusted his axe towards the fire genasi. ‘You have proven yourself worthy of thine power. I bestow upon thee the ability to command the tempest as thy own.’ He tapped the tip of his blade on each of her shoulders.
The tips of Tarasque’s fiery tresses ignited. Once knighted she rose and bowed her head before the deity, silently thanking him for the gift.
But Hercules wasn’t finished, with a snap of his fingers a golden shield appeared and landed at her feet. Tarasque picked up the piece, admiring the detail.
‘I bestow to thee the shield of courage, may it fuel thy flames and guide thee in battle.’ As he spoke his last words, he disappeared in a flash of light and the realm returned to its original state.
Barcius was still clicking his fingers beside me and had been throughout the meeting, trying to break through the barrier that was keeping him from using his magic. But on his next attempt a spark clicked.
‘It’s time,’ he said and Tarasque hurried over, the lion shield strapped to her back.
Both the fire genasi and I held onto our comrade while he tried to enact the same magic that brought us to the realm. Shades of midnight swirled around us and transported back to the land of the living. We returned to our own bodies, a tingling sensation went through me.
Mitztail’s strumming stopped suddenly and the tiny wispy kittens disappeared from existence, ‘Did mew succeed?’ he asked.
But it wasn’t just the tabaxi who appeared concerned. Verity was still sitting beside the fire genasi, clutching tightly onto her hand. We all watched, sitting on tender hooks waiting for our comrade to awake. Once the spirit squeaked, we knew Tarasque was amongst us once more.
The wound on her side was devoid of all remnants of the Raven Queen and seemed to be healing nicely. Tarasque opened her eyes, she lifted her hand up and cupped Verity’s cheek. I averted my gaze, allowing them to steal precious few moments together.
Tarasque was back onto her feet in no time. A portal appeared on the other side of the room where the throne once sat and an inky puddle at its base.
Cogsworth poked his head out from Barcius’s pack and emitted a clicking noise paired with his bulbs flashing.
‘I believe it’s time for us to move on,’ the tiefling said, patting the automaton on the head as he walked over to the portal.
All of us followed.
‘I wish I could say it’s been a pleasure.’ he added grimacing, seemingly referring to our battle with the Raven Queen and Verity’s ghost-like state.
Mitztail tipped his hardee before both he and I joined our tiefling companion. We all looked back at Tarasque, yet she seemed rooted in her spot, holding hands with the ghost.
‘You don’t belong in this realm, you must go,’ I heard Verity say.
The fire genasi refused to meet her eye, ‘Doesn’t mean I want to.’
‘I know.’
They held each for a moment, until the spirit, ‘We’ll be together again.’
‘I’ll hold you to that promise.’
As they embraced, the ghost of Verity transformed into pale butterflies and disappeared into the light that flooded the windows. Tarasque then joined us, enveloping her arms around us. She never once looked back nor did she hesitate, instead she simply said as we walked into the portal together.
‘Until we meet again.’
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