Ogres and Ogresses Ch. 31

Nymare chuckled and waved a hand over the water. Zyra saw the image and turned her head away in disgust.

"Ugh Maker! Turn that off! He's a child!"

"He is of age."

"Not to me! He's Kail's little brother for Maker's sake!"

Nymare smiled, her teeth dark and evil. "And he's having the time of his life." She waved a hand and amplified the image, Zyra cringing at the green skin that created a mix of feelings.

"Look at those hips jut...his betrothed will be child blessed many times over."

She closed her eyes and ears until the moans from River stopped and she dared look up again. Nymare was shaking under the water, having a laugh at her expense.

"Well then, it seems I have to go. Can you please care for this ogress or should I restrain you?"

"No need," Nymare chided. "Your green suitor knows where he is and is in pursuit. He will have the boy shortly."

She cringed. Great, she had almost forgotten that once Medean or Scallen caught up to River, she would be forced to choose.

"Go for the green one," Nymare chided. "He's got two cocks."

Zyra scoffed. She felt uncomfortable with Medean and Scallen's attentions. Medean...well he'd comforted her and she had appreciated that, but he was so determined to care for her that she felt stifled by him. And Scallen...well, he'd always been a conundrum. He claimed to want her, but what did really want? What did she want?

"No," Zyra said. "Scallen flirts but he does not desire me. Not truly, his obsession with me is a reflection of his obsession of self. He calls me Green Eyes. He wants my eyeballs more than my flesh."

"Liar."

"I am not lying."

"Then you are a fool."

"More foolish than a haggardly Selkie?"

Nymare shrugged. "We were getting on so well keromedio. It is a terrible shame my dear. Why, if you want my assistance, the wisdom my years as a haggardly Selkie gives as it were, you should learn to play nice."

Zyra rolled her eyes and walked back toward Mourabet. "I thank you for your regard in River's stead. There is nothing more I want from you so I'll take my leave."

"Are you so sure?" Nymare swam to the edge, kicking her feet and the pool began to glow once more.

"The witches would never tell you this but my pool is the greatest mirror of them all. The witches can see the happenings of the valley, but I can see the happenings of anything near any body of water that runs in this expanse of land. That means pools and buckets of water. That means cups of water and rivers."

Nymare stepped out of the pool, her body soaked, and her form soft and dripping down the elegant lines of her limbs. She gestured toward the pool.

"Care to see what occurred by this river?"

Zyra put a hand on her sword. Her heart hitched when she saw a lone green shape walking through the forest. She'd know those shoulders anywhere. Her heart clenching, she walked up towards the edge. Nymare stepped beside her.

"Look deeply, see what your heart desires. Seek your answer..."

Did she dare hope? Was it worth running from anymore?

"What do you want to see?"

"Show me Kail."

---

Paj turned and glanced at the river and the water calmed, the flowers dissipating with a hiss, like a horde of insects scuttling away.

Paj turned back to her, emotionless. It was then that Henna saw there was a black rose growing out the back of her neck.

"Don't tell me," Henna said wetly. "You're the rose?"

Paj said nothing, her gaze forward and dull.

"Are you the rose?" Henna tried again. She pulled herself to her feet.

Paj once again said nothing.

"I must be dreaming." She wiped her eyes with her arm and inched forward towards her former huntress. Gently she put a hand to her cheek. She was cold. No. She was dead. How was it that she moved about like the living?

"This is magic," Henna said to herself. "But what magic could pull a creature from the Maker himself? Or did you...did you never get there?"

Nothing was said by Paj, and Henna began to feel that nothing would ever be said by Paj again. Who Paj was, who Paj had been

was gone. Standing in front of her was not a Rovian huntress. It was a shell.

Henna thought about what Creedon was capable of and felt ill. What if she was wrong? What if he was—

No one knows you like I do.

She froze. Paj was dead. Dead because of her. If she hadn't given Creedon those animals to regain his strength, he never would have been able to take Paj or Nima. They would never forgive her, not after seeing what Paj had become.

If you ever want to feel such delights again, you will obey me without question...

Didn't she have a good thing? With Creedon? Wasn't it enough to feel needed and loved? If she went back to the Rovian's she'd be an outcast. Her life would be hell. No, worse than hell. For she would fear everything, every person, every animal, knowing that upon her death there would be no one to light the arrows for her. They would never want her back.

You will obey me without question, or I will toss you back to the Rovians and to your dull useless life so you can live out your days in self-hatred and pity.

No.

"No...I won't go back. I won't go back..." Henna scrubbed her face with her fists and ignored the heaviness in her soul.

"Come."

The creature who was Paj followed her into the forest towards Lord Creedon. When she arrived he was making a bed for it, beside Henna's. It was a sleep setting, but it was entirely composed of dirt, patted up carefully into a cushion for Paj to lie on.

"Come in dear, you must be tired," he said warmly. "It was a long trip."

"Thank you my lord. But why would you—"

She paused when Paj stepped forward into Creedon's arms and he stroked her hair.

"Yes, you must be exhausted. Poor thing."

He grazed a finger over the petals of her flower and to Henna's surprise she moaned.

Creedon chuckled. "First thing's first. Paj

was it? Well, I don't like that name. Very hard to remember. Let's call you something more appropriate hm?"

He tapped her chin and turned her face to the side. In the dark Henna hadn't been able to see, but under Paj's chin was a long black vine with thorns curled under her skin. It encircled both sides, forming a ring that met at the flower on the back of her neck.

"I like Thorn."

Paj's black eyes shimmered and she blinked before turning back to him.

"She won't respond to Paj anymore," Creedon said, for the first time looking at Henna. "She's Thorn now. I hope my two leading ladies will get along. You'll be seeing a lot of each other."

"I don't understand," Henna said softly. "Is this what you meant by giving me a friend?"

"Well she's a friend and fellow servant. I imagine you'll do most of the talking, but Thorn here is a great listener."

He led Thorn by the hand and settled her down on her dirt bed. Henna's eyes watered as she watched her lay face down, and the flower on her neck shivered and drooped.

"She's asleep," Creedon laughed. "The trip from the afterlife is a trying one, trust me."

"Why... why would you do this Master?"

Creedon's green eyes took on a dark glow that filled Henna with fear. He stalked forward, body rigid, hands behind his back.

"You doubt me, Henna?"

"She was at peace," Henna sobbed. "She...she wasn't my friend, and I know what we had to do, but we...we-we desecrated her body..."

"She doesn't need her body," Creedon growled. "Her soul has passed on. What resides in her now is a spark, a piece we captured to tether her to this world, that you captured, when you threw that rose on her."

"Master please..." Henna begged, falling to her knees. "This isn't right. I..I-I don't know what to do."

"You do what I tell you."

Creedon stepped in front of her and she winced from the violence in his eyes.

"Hush, my dear," he cooed. How could his voice and face contrast so much? It was terrifying.

"Paj was worthless. You were worthless. But I found you both, and made you better. I made you a promise which I intend to keep, I will take care of Zyra. I will give you your revenge, and you will obey me, which you have done. But I think you're forgetting something..."

He bent to her level and she closed her eyes. Creedon's lips grazed her ear and she jumped.

His hot breath, his cold soul, his warm words.

What was she to make of this man?

No.

That had been her mistake. She had considered him a man.

"You don't have to like what I do, but you will obey it. Remember what I can do for you. I can give you anything, everything. You can be upset, you can be afraid."

He squeezed her face and she cried out, her eyes shooting open to see the ageless, mad, pools that sucked her in and told her there was no escape.

"But you will obey."

She would have done anything to avoid those eyes, to stay on the side of this force that could destroy everything, build anything, and bring a dead girl back to life.

"Y-yes...master."

"Do you love your master?"

"I l-love you Master."

"Prove it."

He released her and Henna threw her arms around him.

"I love you master."

She peppered his face, his hands, his shoulders with kisses, chanting it over and over.

"Iloveyoumaster...Iloveyoumaster...Iloveyoumaster..."

Creedon's eyes became kind again as he sat back and observed his servant.

"Iloveyoumaster...Iloveyoumaster...Iloveyoumaster..."

Henna said it over and over, over and over.

Until suddenly she believed it, and Paj didn't matter.

---

"Wait!"

Zyra's heart quickened when a small pretty female entered the frame. Kail turned toward her as the gasping woman threw herself in front of him.

"Don't go."

Kail growled and the sound brought tears to her eyes. "I already offered to take you to the Rovians, there was no need to follow me in this manner."

"I am not here for the Rovians."

The woman walked forward and took his hand.

"Leaf—"

"Hear me out. Please."

Zyra swallowed, then swallowed again, and again, but the lump in her chest, the weight in her heart would not pass. This is what she had been searching for at the village of Shashanen Shyla. This is what she had hoped for, to truly know where Kail's heart was. To know if she was giving up too easily. To know if despite his cruel words and actions, he did still love her. Because she...

"I...I just wanted to let you know that when she breaks your heart in the end..."

"Leaf."

"If she does, I want you to return to me. I want us to live a life together. I...I love—"

"No!"

Zyra watched as Kail wrenched himself from the clawing woman's arms and felt hope flutter inside her. He was rejecting her. He did not love her. He loved—

"I am not going back for love."

All the breath that Zyra didn't realize she'd been holding exited her chest at once.

"No..."

"I am going back to finish this. I have been running my entire life Leaf. I have done things that would make your pretty skin peel to hear of it. There is a war coming, and I intend to fight it."

Her tears fell and they could not be stopped. They streamed down her cheeks in a path that became more and more traveled with every breath and every silent tear inside of her. Because, though she told herself it was an illusion, that what she saw was a lie from Nymare and she would be pushed to her watery death and her suffering would be over, she knew it was true. What she saw was not an illusion, and the woman's voice, brought form to the desperation she felt, and floated up to her like a sad song.

"And after?"

Zyra couldn't bear to look anymore. She turned from the pool, startled to see a stone-faced Mourabet staring resolutely at the pool.

"There is no after. I will not survive this."

"Stay! ...Stay."

"He won't stay," Mourabet said softly. "He never will." The green woman's somber face looked war-torn. "He never could."

"Leaf just come with me."

Zyra fell to her knees, hating herself for this pain that she swore she'd overcome. Her tears streamed down her face and she gripped her sword tightly.

"No! I will not pretend to be nothing. You will ignore me. I will see her."

The woman began crying in earnest until Kail's soft words interrupted her blubbering.

"I will make you a deal."

A deal.

Zyra summoned the strength to stand, wiped away her blurred vision, focused on the still glowing pool before her. Even Nymare dared not speak, startled into pity for a creature she thought too haughty to truly love let alone shed tears.

"When this is over, no matter the outcome, I will come back for you."

The woman paused mid-sob. "Truth?"

Her Kail, her one and only, nodded.

"If I am alive I will come, if I am not alive you will never see me again. But heed me, you may not like the person I am when I return."

"But you will come back?"

"Yes."

"Forever?"

"Leaf, please just come with me."

Mourabet scoffed and spit on the ground, a low growl rising out of her that had Nymare standing an inch closer to Zyra.

"Forever."

Mourabet clenched her teeth and Nymare could see her fangs, frightened she dove into the pond disrupting the vision.

Zyra didn't know what to say. She wasn't numb. It wasn't like before. Instead, she felt tired. Tired of trying, tired of holding out hope. A type of tired that one felt in the bones, that one felt in the soul.

It was over.

Not just for her but for him as well. It was finally over.

Mourabet walked to her side and they watched the Selkie sink into the bottom of the pond, no doubt expecting violent retribution.

Mourabet nudged her. "You think she's lying?"

Zyra shook her head. "If she was she wouldn't have shown me...us this."

Mourabet put a hand on her shoulder and Zyra looked at her in disbelief. She could see it now. The ogress had tiny tears in her eyes as well. She looked at the water like she could still see them.

"Look at how he begs to that tiny pink meat sack. What does she have that we don't?"

Zyra shrugged. "Location."

Mourabet let out a hearty chuckle. "That's it! Location. It's all about location for that scatga. I told you didn't I? Kail Shashanen Shyla cannot love."

Zyra sighed. "Then, I suppose my searching is over."

"You were hoping to find out his past to discover if he truly loved you?" Mourabet inquired. She snorted. "And instead you found me? A scorned firespitta?"

"What does that mean?"

"So they do call me that."

Zyra laughed bitterly. "It doesn't matter. I was looking for answers. Now I have them."

She put her hand on top of Mourabet and saw the woman wince before relaxing. "I suppose I have them now because of this meeting. Looking for the kinkind of a scorned firespitta."

Mourabet scoffed and pulled her hand away but without disgust. Zyra nodded towards Nymare who cowered under the water.

"Thank you."

The Selkie did not move until Mourabet and Zyra walked away, together heading out of the woods.

In a comfortable silence, they spoke of a common hurt. The ogress was the first to speak.

"Kail never loved me," Mourabet said softly. "Not physically, not emotionally. He never touched me and he was untouchable. After what happened to Valor, nothing ever could. I remember when..."

The ogress' voice rose and fell like a gentle wind. Zyra listened without judgement or scorn. Mourabet kept talking.

When they reached the clearing, Mourabet looked at her with a new level of tolerance, perhaps even admiration. Zyra felt the sentiment mirrored.

"Where are you staying?"

Zyra shrugged. "One of two places."

"Ah. It is indeed time for male company. I myself have a few lovers who talk little and rut a lot. "

"No," Zyra said. "I've rutted enough. Actually, I'd rather be alone. Unfortunately for me my choices are limited."

Mourabet tilted her head. "Indeed?"

She nudged Zyra and began to walk forward. "Are you certain?"

Zyra nodded. "More certain than I have been in a while."

Mourabet cracked a small smile. "Then come with me meat bag. It's time I repay you."

Zyra took a deep breath. "We have to go somewhere first. It's time I resolve this. Once and for all."

---

Ginger jumped down from her huntress net and fell hard to the ground. Luckily she'd become accustomed to falling, and so did not mind it. She gathered up her tent, and rolled it into her pack, kicked dust into the fire and ate of the fruit she had brought.

When she was replenished she set out again, hoping she would reach the valley by the afternoon. The sun was low in the sky and the air was crisp, making it a rather pleasant journey. All she had to do was—

Azmaria...

That voice. Her heart fluttered with the forbidden feeling of hope, joy, and gladness.

"Lu—"

Go back Azmaria.

Her heart crunched. She whipped around trying to find the source of the voice.

"Show yourself!"

"It isn't time Azmaria. Dark forces approach...

"Show yourself you coward!"

Azmaria.

"Where are you hiding?"

Ginger felt hot tears clouding her vision as the reality that Luneh didn't want to see her crashed over her. She spun around and tore through the forest until she fell to the ground and it was then she knew, Luneh wasn't there. He was far away, speaking to her from a place only he could see, or she was going mad. She covered her ears, cowering on the forest floor.

"Go away, go away, go away, I don't need you!"

"Azmaria it is not safe."

Ginger scrambled to her feet.

"I don't need you!"

She bolted, sprinting as far as she could, the twigs snapping against her tender skin, the wind yanking her hair out of the braid, out of her scalp as the tendrils whipped wildly around her. His voice echoed from within her and she ignored it, she had to.

Ginger pushed herself past the trees and did not stop when she passed the clearing. Time had no meaning.

He had no meaning.

AZMARIA!

Her burst of frantic energy abandoned her when she neared another patch of trees. She fell to the ground hard, dizzy, the world spinning around her. Her eyes forced themselves shut and she breathed in the peaceful dark.

Luneh walked out of the trees, his glittering form casting a shadow on everything behind him. He bent beside her, his black eyes taking in her form. She was still as lovely as ever, perhaps less plump and hopeful.

He fingered a piece of her wild chestnut hair and sighed.

"Oh, Azmaria. What have you done?"

He put a hand on her and chanted a protection spell under his breath. Then he walked back from whence he came.

Moments later blue faces peered out from behind trees, sensing the new presence that was kindred and yet strange. Talia who had just left the ogre River was first to find her.

She inched towards her, eyeing her strange clothes.

"A human?"

Talia turned her onto her back and put a finger on her head. The girl shuddered and slowly began to turn a light blue.

She gasped. "One of us..."

The message carried through the link that a strange nymph had arrived, and others surrounded her. Gently they lifted her up, and took her to the Mother Tree.

"Let us see," Talia said softly. "Let us see if she is our sister."

She gestured to her fellow nymphs and slowly they pressed the girl against the tree. All was still and eventless until her foot slowly disappeared inside. Then the other foot, her arms, until she was fully absorbed into the warmth of the Mother Tree, a place within a place, the mother of us all.

---

"What do we do now, my lord?"

Creedon looked behind him. Henna had recovered from her bout of morality in record time. She was dressed, and eager for his orders. Besde her Thorn woke herself up.