The Druid and the Igniad Ch. 03

Messengers were sent far and wide to spread the call for a Moot within the Glyphwood. Once again, the warriors of the tribes and nations would be tested against the tyranny and ambition of the witch-queen. There were some northern tribes within her territory that sided with her and her followers, either by ambition or fear, but all liberty-loving peoples openly decried her.

After many days, the first warchief arrived. He was Chief Gartham, from the Crown Spire Mountains. He was an important ally, and Gern made sure he was comfortable while they waited for more leaders to arrive so that a marshal for their armies could be elected. Lu accompanied Gern while he directed his tribe to prepare for war. She got to see the whole settlement, and admired the artwork painted or carved on the buildings. Some of it was crude, while other work was impressive, though Lu thought it was all lovely, as she had never seen such things before.

Lu quickly became weary invoking her full dress of flames, so that as the day went on, the hard light of her flame wrappings shrank, covering less and less. Gern brought her to his forge, where he shaped a supportive bra out of copper and light chain. She put it on, and only had to focus on a short skirt of flame that licked her thighs with orange light.

She attended meditation with Gern and the other druids every morning in the sacred grove of the settlement, and learned about "color breathing", a technique of envisioning one's breath as specific colors to affect one's mind in certain ways, depending on the need. It helped her feel more refreshed and relaxed.

She helped him in the forge, her manipulation of fire helping greatly with the production of armor and weapons. She would have never imagined herself helping create tools of war, but it was the only way she could see to save her crystal grove. She was a fast learner, and also participated in combat training with the warriors, who were eager to see what she could do. She was a wondrous spectacle who drew many onlookers, and as more and more warriors arrived from neighboring tribes, she helped spread enthusiasm about joining the cause.

Lu scorched footprints onto floorboards wherever she walked on them, which caused some grumbling across the town, and soon enough, she was seeing her footprints everywhere. She tried to subdue her elemental power, which was getting easier with practice, but every time a new thought crossed her mind, she forgot to hold her concentration, and charred something.

Gern saw what was happening and forged shoes of iron for Lu. They were made from pieces of a retired knight's armor, and he crafted them with comfort in mind. Lu was happy to try them, but she found it clumsy and ungraceful to clomp about in the things, tromping from heel to toe. She was used to walking on the balls of her feet, since most of her life she jumped, skipped, or ran if she was going anywhere. She explained this to Gern, whereupon he consulted with the town's cobbler and modified the shape to accommodate her walking style. He remembered seeing her spectacular kicks in battle, so he forged the heels of the shoes with strong cleats. Lu found them much more comfortable and supportive to walk in, and had fun playing with the extra traction and shock protection they offered, bounding and flipping around the cliffs above, the steel sparking on the stone.

One night, she was playing about the standing stones by moonlight with her shoes off. She liked wearing her supportive bra, but she missed her direct connection with the earth when she wore the shoes. She could feel the memory of Gaia in the refined metal they were made from, but her magical link to her mother was easier when she could touch the ground with the bottoms of her feet.

Gern had shared dinner with her earlier in the evening, and they made love before he left. He needed to get an early start the next day, and felt pulled to his own bed. Lu liked to sleep in the shallows of a particular hot spring pool which was just the right temperature for her. Her ebony skin did not prune like Gern's did when he lingered in water. She did not even thirst for it, as she always quenched her thirst with the spicy oil of lava guavas. Since the scaly trees only grew around volcanoes, she accepted pots of vegetable and nut oils as a substitute.

Without any notion of shame, she squatted in the moonlight and let a gemstone drop from her rear, as she periodically did to be rid of waste minerals from her body. She looked down at it amidst the other small stones littering the area in the moonlight. A ruby, this time.

She missed her crystal trees. The plants and animals of the Glyphwood were ravishing and beautiful, but they did not sing with her like her grove had. She sang a song she used to sing with her trees, and wove between the standing stones. Suddenly, a rush of wind hit her, accompanied by the sound of mighty wings. She hid behind one of the stones, startled. She peeked around the stone to see naught but a settling cloud of dust within the circle, as if something had just landed there.

"Lu," a husky male voice said from behind her.

Lu whirled around to see Labolas, in his form of a heavily-muscled winged man with bronze-colored skin and feathers. She drew a sharp breath to scream, but Labolas threw up his hand.

"Zichrya," Labolas spoke as swiftly as the motion of his hand, and Lu found her throat voiceless, as if a silence had been cast upon her that she could not bear to break. "I am not here to harm thee, Igniad," Labolas announced calmly. "Nor am I here at the behest of Evalyn. I came of my own accord. Dost thou not remember hearing my voice as thou fled the mountain? I told thee to run. I helped thy trees grow, to impede the path of thy captor. Do you remember?"

Lu cautiously nodded, leaning against the stone behind her. She still felt herself cloven to silence.

"Speak," Labolas said. Lu felt the proverbial frog in her throat vanish, and she straightened her posture.

"I remember. Why did you help me?"

"I am bound to do as Evalyn asks by our contract, but I do not wish to see her succeed. My contract with her ends when you are sacrificed to me, which would indeed bring me great power. But her power grows, also, and by the time of the sacrifice, she may be powerful enough to threaten even me. Therefore, I have betrayed her."

"By helping me get away?"

"I did what I could. I could not act directly, as the bounds of my bond to her forbid it. There are loopholes, however."

"...What are you?" She scrutinized him, stealing an unabashed glance at his crotch. His large testicles were nearly completely hidden behind his fascinating penis, strange in its shape. She remembered what it had looked like erect, and she couldn't help but feel a tingle of excitement in her loins at the primeval power of it. She had to tear her focus away.

"I am a magical being," he said, "caught between the depths of the earth and the boundless sky. Humans call me a demon."

Lu remembered the knight from so long ago that had called her a demon. She was a magical being who dwelled upon the earth, so did that make her and Labolas the same, she wondered?

"Will you help me get my mountain back?" She asked hopefully.

"I cannot oppose Evalyn directly," he answered. "But I can prepare thee for what is to come. My contract is void if Evalyn dies before thy sacrifice. You must face her thyself. Thus, if either of you dies, I shall benefit."

"How very gracious of you," Lu remarked temperamentally. "How do I know you won't lead me into a trap?"

"Because I speak the truth."

"Yeah, well, how can I know that? You expect me to believe you?"

"I do not like the witch. She does not let me corrupt her."

"What?" Lu asked, confused.

"She does not let me climax during her ceremonies, using me only to further her own energies. I resent her hold over me. I resent it greatly." His feathers bristled for a moment before smoothing once more.

"Alright, I believe you. But I don't think Gern will."

"You must not tell the druid of my involvement."

"Why not?!"

"Because as you say, he will not believe the truth, and I will be unable to teach you what you must know, and you shall be doomed to fail."

"So tell me, then! What do I need to know?"

"It will take nightly practice until the time comes to fight her. I shall teach thee magic."

"What magic?"

"Arcane knowledge. You shall be able to cast spells as Evalyn does."

Lu fell back against the stone again, her eyes widening.

"I don't want magic like her's! It's vile!"

"The magic of the universe is both vile and beautiful, creative and destructive. Thy own self embodies all the aspects of magic, and so does each and every soul. If you wish to defeat Evalyn, you must understand her power."

Lu looked down at the stony ground, contemplating Labolas' words. She had already learned and helped with the smithing of metal into weapons, something she never thought she would do. Perhaps what Labolas said was true.

"Alright," she said. "Teach me."

Labolas stepped into the dusty center of the standing stones. He drew a circle, then a smaller circle within it. He kept adding circles until they intersected with one another, seemingly haphazardly, but certain patterns started to emerge...a pentagram, formed of crescents amidst the dance of circle intersections.

When the circles were lain, he began to label them with strange symbols.

He explained the symbols as he drew them: Unity, Polarity, Synthesis, Association, Personification, Invocation, Evocation, Contagion, Karma, Knowledge, Names, and a slew of smaller symbols labeling smaller regions, such as "Words of Power" within the region of "Names".

"What is 'synthesis'?"

"Synthesis reconciles."

"What does that mean?"

"That which is sent, returns, but it will be something new."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"Every concept contains its opposite. Harmony is reflexive. The pendulum swings in all directions, inside and out. Every movement is an expression of dancing forces. All things move around a center, a singularity, representing every possible interaction they could have with the energy they possess. This is true from the smallest speck of existence, to the whole of the universe."

"...I like the part about dancing."

He narrowed his eyes at her. She cleared her throat.

"I think I understand," she said. "But how does knowing that help me?"

"You must incorporate into yourself an opposing archetype to the one that you are drawing power from. That is your best defense against the power of your adversary. Knowledge is power. Know thyself. Knowing thyself gives power over thyself, enabling you to do things you might have doubted, otherwise."

"What is an 'archetype'?

Labolas groaned and bunched his wings against his back.

"I will explain so that you will understand..."

After a couple hours of teaching Lu to better think conceptually, she began to look at the array of intersecting circles in a new light.

The more he talked, the more it made sense. She did not have an empathic link with him, and yet the ideas took shape in her mind effortlessly, as if they were being transmitted to her from his thoughts.

"Commonality controls," was all he had to say, and from that Lu knew that if two or more patterns had elements in common, the patterns interacted through those common elements, and thus control of one pattern enabled a degree of control over the other. When she asked what 'personification' was, he said: "Anything can be a person," and she knew what he meant.

"To survive," he said, "let alone to become powerful, you must keep every aspect of yourself in a state of dynamic balance."

"Dance to the music," Lu said in understanding.

"Now thou art getting it," Labolas smiled strangely, as if aroused by the acquisition of knowledge or power. "The music of the spheres can empower thy spell, providing thou canst hear that music, and if thou sings with the right words, in the right tune."

"Is that why the spells sound so funny?"

"Indeed." He pointed to the circle bearing the symbol for "Words of Power", within the sphere of "Names".

"There exist certain words," he began, "that are more able to alter the internal and external realities of those speaking them; words that project on the astral plane, creating a powerful thought-form fueled by the strength of its connection to its corresponding region of the Universal Mind."

"All you need is the words?"

"No, you need more than mere words. I can show thou the words, but thou must find thy own voice. Each word must be charged with intent, and the more potent thy visualization of that intent, the more potent the magic."

"So, I use my imagination?"

"In a way, yes. And if you also use your body, the power is greater, still."

"Use my body? How?"

"There is magic in your body even now. The wave of a hand, the snap of fingers, these are symbolic acts that can affect the astral plane as much as any physical act affects the material world. The most potent magic is that which uses the whole of thy being. The most advanced and most difficult to master is sex magic."

"Sex?" She asked dubiously.

"Sex aligns one's power with the ray of creation. Creation is a powerful region of the Universal Mind. It releases its own form of power, which can be used in magic to reinforce or propel thy spell. It is a method Evalyn uses often."

"I noticed," Lu commented sardonically. "She seems to enjoy herself."

"Evalyn regards the sexual pleasure of her rituals as subordinate to their magical purpose."

"That is so...cold."

Labolas said nothing, and regarded Lu with an expression that Lu found unreadable. Without her empathic link, the anxiety of not knowing what his expression meant frustrated her.

"What?" She said, which was both a demand and a question. "What is that look? What are you feeling?"

"I am not obligated to reveal to you my inner thoughts!" Labolas boomed, his wings ruffling. Lu wavered back like a flame yielding to a sudden breeze. Labolas turned away and regained an aura of brooding calm, resettling his wings. "Your innocence," he said at last, "is something I have not seen for an age. I deal with those who have dirtied their hands, who are ambitious....such are those who summon the likes of me. I deal with those who are single-minded in their goals, and thus have the skill and confidence necessary to deal with me."

Lu took a small step back, betraying her fear. She regarded the demon warily, as if he might change into his dog form and bite her at the breaking of a moment.

"Rest now," he said, and as he said it, Lu realized how tired she was. It was as if her awareness of her fatigue had been numbed, and the sensation of it retrieved by his command. "Meet me here each midnight, and we shall proceed with your lessons."

With a mighty beat of his wings, he launched into the night sky, as swiftly and easily as if gravity had reversed. She looked up, but he had already dissolved into the darkness between the stars.

***********

After one month of nightly lessons from Labolas, Lu was gaining in confidence of her magical ability. She had also been learning much about metalworking, as she had become an indispensable part of the smithy during the day. She was getting better at focusing her elemental power, and got to spend time with Gern as well. Even so, she felt Gern's frustration that he did not get to spend more private time with her more often, and when he did, she was achey, moody, and sometimes endured bouts of nausea. She felt guilty that she often did not want to have sex whenever he did. She felt his pent-up urges and suppressed desires, but explained that she needed to rest. Gern was not happy about it, but he understood.

"Is there anything I can do for you, my love?" Gern asked her at the hot spring.

"No, thank you, Gern. I am not used to spending most of my time with so many people. I just need some time to myself. Please understand."

"It is fine," he resigned. He stepped forward and kissed her. "Sleep well, Lu."

In actuality, Lu had felt a rising tide in her libido that day, but it was almost midnight. She wanted to make love to Gern, but she could not skip her lesson with Labolas. Once Gern had gone, she bounded up to the meeting place amidst the standing stones.

"Your body is changing," Labolas remarked as he stepped out of the shadows. "Your daughter is now the size of a small apple."

Lu smiled and placed a hand over her belly, which had a noticeable swell, but only just.

"It felt like a girl from the first moment I knew I was pregnant."

"All nymphs and their like give birth to females," he said. "Gaia is especially fond of them, for some reason."

"Are you admitting to something you don't know, Labolas?" Lu asked with a smile.

"I am prepared to teach you a very powerful spell," he announced with a beat of his wings, ignoring Lu's tease. "If you are successful in casting it upon someone, they will be bound to your instruction, so that they must obey your will, or die."

"You mean it is a spell to make someone my slave?" She asked in a tone of disgust.

"Yes, but only in a specific way. Thy instruction is given immediately, and they will carry it out, no matter how long it takes. But impose too many restrictions, and the binding will break."

"I don't want slaves! People should be free."

"Broaden your perspective, Lu. Do thee not already influence the feelings of others with thy empathic link? You manipulate them to suit your needs and desires with hardly trying to do so. You learned a charm spell three days ago, but it only lasts for as long as you can hold your concentration. Think of how potent the magic would be if you learned how to shackle minds. Thy battles would be won before they began."

"But that's terrible!" Lu protested.

"Yes, it is," Labolas agreed plainly. "But if thou dost not learn it, thy adversary will more effectively wield it against thee, and thy allies."

"Labolas?" Lu asked tentatively. "Did Evalyn use this spell on you?"

The moonlight shone against Labolas' bronze skin, and for a moment, he said nothing.

"It is called a geas," he said at last. "It is what binds me to Evalyn."

"So that's what you were talking about before, about not being able to oppose her directly. Your contract."

"Yes. Evalyn might have used the spell against thee, as well, but the little life attached to thee complicates things. The magic involved cannot touch pure innocence. Neither can Evalyn sacrifice you to me while you are pregnant."

"Because she wants my daughter's body for her own."

"It seemed a reasonable arrangement, though there was some risk."

"What's to stop me from casting a geas upon you once you teach me?" She narrowed her eyes at him.

"You do not possess the skill to cast it upon me successfully. It would rebound upon you with...unsavory consequences. Now, focus your incessant curiosity and listen."

Lu hopped up twelve cords high onto the nearest standing stone and sat upon it, her legs dangling over the edge of the carved monolith.

"The spell requires you to be holding a strand of spider's silk and a strand of hair of the one you cast the spell upon. You would speak thusly: 'Mnaez maaq qae xnael, bindu esaeu rael.'" As he spoke, he gestured toward the middle of the circle, and the words appeared to be scribed into the sandy dust. Over the past month, Lu had learned to read and write, as it was essential for her studies. She mouthed the words as she read them. Suddenly, she heard a masculine voice that was not Labolas.

"Someone's learning witchcraft, I see," the voice said. It was familiar to her, but she could not find a face to the sound either in her mind or with her eyes. She leapt to her feet on top of the stone.

"He is invisible," Labolas reported, his lustrous eyes fixating on a particular shadow. Lu followed his gaze and found the shadow, which appeared to be a man's shadow in the moonlight, but she could see no one.