Summoning the Incubus Ch. 08

In a tall gilded cage -- as in which you might keep a songbird -- was a desolate young woman. She had a sickly pallor and was slumped on her side against the bars of the cage. Gold chains bound her wrists together. Her eyes were blank of emotion, but her soul was screaming to me.

And once I had seen her cage; I could suddenly see all of them. Seven all together. Women of many shapes, sizes and hues. Sleeping through nightmares with their eyes wide open.

I reached between the bars and placed a nervous hand against her forehead. Uncontainable pain! I snatched my fingers away. But my head was swimming with her memories. Her botched summoning. Her kidnap. Her endless suffering every moment since.

My good friend anger returned to me. Her righteous talons sharp in my heart. I filled my hand with a globe of fire and set to work on melting the padlock that held the cage door closed. My rage made it quick work. With the padlock mangled, I easily pulled the door open, heaved the girl's arm about my shoulders and dragged her as carefully as I could out into the room. My head pounded with pain every time I touched her. She didn't rouse.

I have regretted my temper many a time in my life -- but for all the suffering that it would cause me - I have never admonished myself for these actions.

I laid her, unconscious and unblinking, on the bed. I didn't know what the nature of her malady was nor how best to be of help to her. I tried shaking her and splashing a little water on her face to no avail. Her breath was shallow and a little too slow.

I could free the others too - but then what next? Twelve immobile women stacked on a bed? I couldn't well risk staying there any longer as the King might return at any moment. I didn't know a way to make a person invisible, but it was the only ember of an idea I had in my aggravated state.

I planned that I would get the girl past the guards and back to Lazuren's chambers. He would have some knowledge of what action to take to cure her and rescue the others. I was certain of it.

It took a few failed spells as I panicked my way through the little I knew of levitating objects. (One of the greatest frustrations of being a practitioner of magic, is that you can be expert in the arts of flame or thunder, and bereft in the fields of air and ocean.) Eventually, I had her float just a few inches off the bed.

Then I realised with complete self-disgust over my own stupidity that I would not be able to move her through the doorway, as I had no control over her own will. I swore a lot under my breath. Then had an awful and equally stupid idea.

I opened the window.

I leant out and looked in all directions. There were guards of course. But they were posted mainly on the castle walls and mainly facing outwards towards the desert. On the look out for intruders rather than internal saboteurs. If I was fast it could be done.

I pulled a white silken sheet from a drawer and draped it over the girl. I shuddered to notice how much it looked like a shroud. But it numbed the pain of touching her enough to be able to pick her up and heave her onto my shoulder.

For an incubus, the stained glass windows would probably have been described as fairly small, they were in the slim vaulted shape favoured by archers. But for a pair of petite human women they weren't too difficult to get out of.

Perched on the window ledge, I took a deep breath to steady myself. None of the guards seemed at all interested in our direction. I kicked off and, keeping close to the wall, flew directly to the balcony of what had once been my own chamber. I landed remarkably quietly on the yellow stone flags. I anxiously looked back to see if anyone had noticed my unusual flight. Nobody had. I felt sick with relief!

I still had the keys to the room, so it was easy to bring my unfortunate charge indoors and lay her down on my own bed. She still stared blankly from ebony lashed eyes. Seemingly completely unaware of either her flight or her freedom. The only thing ruffled was her sleek black hair.

My plan was changing again. On the one hand, I could go and find Lazuren now, but there were still six girls up there. I ought to go back for them all. It had been much easier than I expected to get this girl here. No distracting guards or invisibility spells involved.

Besides. It was just unfair. I couldn't just only save the girl I'd seen first.

And so I took to the air once more to repeat the whole terrifying process. The next to be liberated was more ample in her womanhood and heavier, the weight being no trouble for me, but her shape more awkward to manoeuvre through the windows and doors. I laid her beside the first girl and wondered if they had ever known one another. They had the same map-parchment coloured skin and dark silky hair. They could have been sisters.

My next several rescues were done with a little too much confidence as the light changed and dusk drew in. Rather than light many lamps, the incubi preferred the light of their own eyes; so the darker it became, the easier it was to see where they were looking. I sheltered in the shadows - my heart still thumping - but better assured that I went unnoticed.

And so by this process, I was able to deliver a freckled girl with rust coloured hair to my bathing tub. A woman with deep brown skin and a globe of blonde spiralled hair my reading chair. A muscular woman with Maya's complexion and cherry painted nails, and a girl with beautiful patchwork skin and a chubby, cherub-like face, both to the woven rug on the room's floor.

I had run out of respectful places to put everyone, but there wasn't much to be done about it. It was fully dark now, which meant it was heading towards being late enough for the King to make a drunken return. Time had always been of the essence, but now that the high of my early successes had worn off, I was feeling the stress set in once again.

The last lady I lifted through the window was likely the eldest there. She had crow's feet at her eyes and silver bands in her otherwise dark hair. What was truly different about her though was her gold chain; while the other women were bound at their wrists, she seemed to have been spared this and wore her chain in neat loops around her neck as if it were any other costume necklace. I propped her up awkwardly on the floor with her back against the foot of the bed.

I made my final flight back to the King's room. This was important for a few vital reasons; firstly I would need to close the window as not to raise any suspicions from the outside, secondly I would need to remove the melted locks so that "magic user" wouldn't be the first words on the King's lips on discovery of the missing women, and thirdly, I would need to be seen walking back past the guards, so that they would be left under the impression that I had spent the evening visiting Nicklas as I had told Lazuren I was doing.

And what is most remarkable and spectacular about this whole section of my plan is this: I pulled it off without a hitch.

I closed the window. I put the melted locks into a pillowcase. I transported myself through the door (bringing the pillowcase and its contents with me, this is possible to do in much the same way that walking directly through an object doesn't leave your clothing behind on the other side). I walked past the guards without being foolish enough to give them an incriminating casual nod. I returned to the chambers I shared with Lazuren and Maya. And I stuffed the makeshift bag of padlocks under my own pillow on the bed next to Maya's.

"Greta, what are you doing in here?" Maya emerged through the curtain that separated our sleeping quarters. "Please don't tell me you've had a fight with Laz and are moving back in here with me. You sleep-talk so much."

"Oh Maya, I couldn't be happier to see you," I found myself sobbing and flinging my arms about her. "Something awful has happened - is happening -- it's hard to explain, will you please come with me?"

"Of course," my friend frowned and patted my back, "Lead the way-"

I smiled an anxious smile and gripped Maya's hand. Her skin was warm and delicate, fragile in the way that comes with age. Without another word, my friend and I set off towards the emergency.

***

Author's Note:
Thank you so much for reading!
Feedback and wild speculation is welcome as always.

Love, Betty xxx