The Enchantress of Ingley Ch. 12

The towering, ancient trunks conspired with the looming branches overhead to devour the sound of her quarry. For long stretches, Marissa was left with only the hiss of her own breath and the creaking and cracking of the shambling things she had instinctively called forth. The canopy above filtered out most of the stars and moonlight, so limiting her vision that it was a wonder she hadn't collided with a tree yet. Every time she was about to give up in frustration, however, she heard the distant crash of footsteps through underbrush, or the call of one woman to another.

Marissa was certain those voices belonged to the bandit woman and her lieutenant. She hadn't heard Jenrea or her boyfriend in some time, but assumed they were just keeping quiet in an attempt to lose her. They might indeed escape, but there was little chance of all of her prey slipping away, with how loud the lanky blonde was.

When the crash of a body hurtling through leaves came from just ahead, Marissa grinned at her luck. The red tressed noble grasped onto one of the woody protrusions that served to lend structure to the leafy shamblers. Hoisting herself up off the ground and onto the creature's bulk, she pointed in the direction she'd heard that crash. Marissa hardly had time to brace herself before the mound lurched off to obey her command.

She wasn't certain just what the creatures were, only that she had somehow created them in her rage. It was as if the very land had responded to her fear and anger, and provided her with the means to lash out at those who had tormented her. Now, her anger merely simmered under the surface, not enough to call forth other creations, and barely enough to keep control of the pair that remained.

The longer it took to find who she was looking for, the harder it was to maintain the emotions needed for whatever powers that had awakened within her. Marissa would settle for anyone at that moment. With any luck, she would run across the torturous bitch that was the bandit lieutenant, but that idiotic Jenrea would do in a pinch. Ending the smith's apprentice Hafred or the blonde bandit wouldn't be nearly as satisfying, but it would at least be something.

When another shout echoed from the forest ahead, Marissa urged her monstrous minions forward. They redoubled their pace, and as the leafy creatures burst from the trees, the tall blonde came into view, lazily standing atop a rocky outcropping, as if awaiting a tardy acquaintance.

There was neither concern nor fear in her bearing, and her casual demeanor aggravated Marissa. Did the woman not realize the powers at her command? The blonde bandit had to have seen what had happened to her underlings. Yet the tall blonde simply watched her and the amorphous plant creatures as they rapidly closed in.

As rage once more swelled within Marissa's chest, the crackle of power danced visibly at her fingertips. The noblewoman's fiery hair rose in a frizzy halo, as electricity built up about her. Marissa lifted one hand, intending to unleash an arc of blue lightning toward Zara. Only then did she see the narrow gorge which loomed amidst the craggy rock floor. In an instant, what had appeared a solid path was revealed as a deadly drop.

The sudden collapse of the conjured creature beneath her tore a shriek from her lips. With a resounding crack and a flash, the pent up lightning at Marissa's fingertips arched into a tree trunk far beyond the toppled stones about her. Her aim was ruined as she leapt from the back of the falling plant-monster. With a desperate grab, she managed to catch hold of the rough, sharp edged lip of the gorge, grunting as her body hit the side of the stony descent.

Her other leafy servant managed to arrest its charge before toppling over the edge, but now simply lurked on the far side of the gorge, seeming confused. With her burning rage now replaced with a pit of icy fear, Marissa found she couldn't exert control over the creature, at least not enough to urge it to save her.

The steady crunch of gravel and loose stone under heavy boots approached from above, and Marissa was helpless to do much more than dangle there, the bottom of the narrow drop easily thirty feet below her. For longer than she dared acknowledge, Marissa stared downward, past her feet and at the broken mass of plants strewn across the jagged rocks below. There was no way the remnants of her creation would be thick enough to break her fall, so she finally turned her gaze upward.

The grim-faced blonde looming confidently above appeared every bit as dangerous as the fall below. Although the shock of nearly plummeting to her death was fading, the noblewoman could no longer feel the pulse of magic within herself. Could she only wield those awesome powers while in a rage? Frozen with doubt and indecision, Marissa simply clung to the lip of the gorge and prayed her strength would hold.

"I should let you fall," Zara's tone was hushed, yet cold. "But I told Jenrea I would try not to kill you. Don't make me regret that." The bandit queen shifted fluidly to one knee, and as one hand tightened about the grip of her long sword, she offered the other to Marissa.

Zara's words sparked a faint ember of the crimson haired vixen's earlier anger. As humiliating as it would be to accept the mercy of a common bandit, at least the blonde woman was a competent warrior, and a leader of men, however ragtag her band was. But to be spared on the wish of a stupid bar wench, and one that had so stymied her own efforts these past days was something she couldn't bear contemplating.

Dark jade eyes fixed upon that tanned, corded hand. It was as strong as any man's that she had seen, and fit with Marissa's impression of the blonde as a lumbering brute of a woman. Still, she was sturdy enough to lift Marissa with ease, so the young noble risked it. She boosted herself up with one foot against the rock, and lunged upward, to grab at Zara's extended hand.

Zara caught her wrist with a startling speed, and with a firm grip and powerful tug, the blonde woman hauled Marissa back to safety. Marissa winced as she was dragged up onto the rough rocks, but was just thankful she wasn't in danger of taking a tumble. She ended up on her knees in front of the tall blonde, a position she most certainly despised, before managing to regain her feet.

As much as the battered noblewoman hated the situation she found herself in, the spark of magic which had flared within her soul before was just a faint, intermittent flicker, not enough to unleash the hell she wished upon the woman who had just saved her. Being at the mercy of a commoner did not suit her, not one bit.

Furtively, Marissa's gaze darted here and there, surveying her options. Behind her, the chasm she had nearly tumbled into separated her from her remaining creature. Before her, beyond the bandit queen, lay an expanse of broken rock, dotted here and there with the occasional twisted tree sprouting from the scattered cracks and crevices. There was perhaps thirty feet of this terrain between herself and the edge of the clearing, rough enough to slow her, to make her an easy target, should she brave a sprint for the woods.

Zara had picked her ambush site well.

Marissa's hope faded. She would have surrendered then and there, but for the voice which called out at that very moment.

"Lady Zara? Do you have her under control?"

It was the other redhead. The hateful lieutenant who had so delighted in her misery and humiliation. Her voice did more than merely fan the embers of Marissa's rage. Hatred and anger flared as if someone had thrown grease onto the fire in her heart.

The young noble shrieked as she abandoned herself to her temper, and the very wind responded in kind. A near deafening roar accompanied the sudden, violent eruption of a whirlwind, with her at the very center.

Marissa's hair and skirt were whipped about, but the majority of the wind's power radiated outward. Zara lost her footing, and was very nearly swept off the edge of the ravine before she caught herself.

As the swirling walls of the vortex rushed outward from Marissa, Cordelia cried out, and rushed toward them. Finally able to get her bearings, Marissa glanced over her shoulder to spot the lieutenant dashing toward the edge of the ravine which separated them.

Raising one hand, Marissa let the magics surge through her body. The power was intoxicating, she felt more alive than she'd ever felt. With a thought, she sent the remaining shambler after Cordelia. Twisted, wooden limbs mimicked Marissa's gesture, then long, leafy green vines erupted from the animated mound. They arced and reached for the copper haired lieutenant, but just as they would have bound about her lithe form, she drew those strange daggers. The glowing blades cut through the shambler's snaring vines in the same motion which carried them from their sheathes.

Still, the hesitation, the turn of her attentions kept Cordelia on the other side of the ravine, safely away from Marissa and Zara. As the newly minted sorceress turned her gaze back to Zara herself, the blonde was just recovering her feet. That vortex of wind had died down and away, dissipated without Marissa's concentration giving it form.

This time, Zara had her blade out and bared. The length of long, naked steel and the tall woman's stature and stance gave her an impressive reach. Even without martial training, Marissa knew she had to give the woman a wide berth, and so she began to scoot toward the trees.

At any other time, the thought of facing off against an armed assailant of any stripe would have given her pause. The power at her fingertips gave Marissa a new confidence, even if she hardly understood the nature of it.

In a contest between muscle and steel versus the raw elements of nature at her command, she felt she had the upper hand.

Across the gap, her shambler had engaged Cordelia, though the swift movements of the lieutenant and her cursed blades seemed more than a match for the creature. It would not delay her for long.

Marissa raised her palms toward Zara, as if her merest touch were a deadly weapon. She still wasn't certain what manner of power she could call forth, but the very threat of it seemed to put the tall blonde on guard.

Zara's powerful frame lowered into an almost crouching stance, the long blade held in both her hands. Her eyes fixed upon Marissa, a panther watching her prey. The sleek lines of her tanned frame glistened with perspiration, at least where her dark leathers didn't fully cover her.

Marissa had to admit, her opponent was a fearsome sight. If not for her absolute confidence and certainty, she would have run in terror. Zara was beautiful in her deadly potential.

A burning blush swept her cheeks as she shook her head, dispelling such thoughts. Her palms burned, as if the heat of her rage had focused into flames, yet none spilled forth. Waves of heat nonetheless radiated outward, distorting the air about her hands. Perhaps she would have to make contact for this new power to have any impact. Getting past Zara's reach and the length of her blade was a daunting prospect.

She so wished that she could figure out how she had called lightning from her hands before.

Zara's sudden lunge forward sent Marissa dancing back a few steps. Long skirts, torn and ripped from the night's efforts, swirled about her legs as she avoided the stab and sweep of the sharp steel. Another thrust and cut sent the noblewoman further back.

Marissa wasn't skilled in a fight, no, but she understood what was happening. The bandit queen was testing her, finding out her reactions, her defenses. Her heart raced as she watched the tip of Zara's sword. It felt like she was playing with a scorpion. Perhaps she could somehow reach out and touch the blade itself?

With another lunging thrust, Marissa was forced back again. This time, she only barely managed to avoid being cut. The fabric of her dress caught on the tip of the blade, and sliced open, exposing a bit of her midriff, a hint of the curve of one hip.

She would have to try to touch the blade on the next swipe. If she could just push her hand against the flat of it, perhaps she could heat the weapon to the point Zara would have to drop it. Marissa shifted her own footing, opening her stance so she could react to the next thrust.

Her delicate foot slipped off the edge of the cracked and broken rocks about them, and plunged into a crevice. Marissa tumbled to one knee, and looked back to see her ankle disappearing into a small gap in the stone. She was lucky she hadn't broken it.

The whisper of steel through the air had the noblewoman lurching backward instinctively. Zara's blade grazed her cheek, drawing a shallow scratch across her fair skin and neatly slicing a lock of her hair away, as it cut through its swipe. As Marissa slipped backward toward her trapped foot, it disappeared further into the gap, but found no purchase. Her calf and skin scraped against the rock, leaving her foot unsupported.

With one leg trapped, there was almost nothing Marissa could do to ward off Zara's approach. The blonde casually straightened, and advanced, sword still held at the ready.

Across the gorge, Cordelia had just finished reducing Marissa's summoned guardian to a useless pile of leaves and wood. She backed up from the edge of the ravine, and sheathed her blades, before beginning a charge toward it, no doubt to jump the treacherous gap.

With a frustrated scream, Marissa balled both her hands into fists, and slammed them down painfully on the rocky ground. The cut at her cheek burned, as her own warm blood oozed down her cheek. her leg ached, bruised to the bone, and the more she struggled to free it, the more the sharp edges of stone dug into her flesh, cutting her stocking to ribbons.

When her fists impacted the ground, however, the burst of pain was followed by a sudden tremor of the ground. For just a moment, her leg was freed, and she pulled it out, losing her shoe in the process.

As she tumbled back onto the cracked stone, her eyes widened at the sight before her. Cordelia hit the ground hard, and rolled as her feet gave way beneath her, while Zara wheeled her own arms about, in a mad attempt to remain balanced on the trembling ground.

More terrifying, even to Marissa, was the craggy figure of stone rising from the rock surface between Zara and Cordelia. Its crumbling facade was only vaguely human, though it stood perhaps a head taller than a man might.

Had she summoned the thing?

Its eyes burned red for a moment, then with a crack and grind, the rock figure swung one fist out toward Zara, catching her full across the back. The blonde tumbled forward with a pained grunt, and her sword point struck sparks from the stone ground, just a few inches from where Marissa lay.

There was no sense of control of the creature, no instinctive guide to making the beast obey, as had happened when things had appeared before. Marissa raised her hands toward the rocky creature, and it merely turned those burning eyes toward her.

Whether she had called the thing forth or not, it clearly bore no loyalty toward her. With a cry, Marissa rolled to her hands and knees, then began to lurch off toward the trees, half crawling, half limping. The smash of massive stone hands against the rocky ground where she had been but moments before told of just how close she had come to doom.

Perhaps her newfound abilities were not all she had hoped. Without control, she could clearly put herself in as much danger as her enemies.

Aching and terrified, Marissa scrambled into what she hoped was the relative safety of the trees. Behind her, the grating movements of the stone man and the ringing of steel echoed, as the two bandit women focused on the beast she had unleashed. With her heart hammering in her chest, the noblewoman fled a bit deeper into the forest, until she finally braced herself against the thick trunk of a tree.

She ripped a sleeve from her dress, wadded it roughly, then held the dark fabric up against her cheek to stem the bleeding. If the cut left a scar, she'd have the blonde woman flayed alive. That is, if she survived herself. As the cries and clash of battle continued to echo through the looming trees, Marissa just leaned back against the rough bark, letting her heart and mind slow.

An intense exhaustion crept into every limb. As active as she had been that night, the sheer fatigue that threatened to overwhelm her was still surprising. Maybe using the magic she'd discovered took more of a toll on her than she had at first thought. For a moment, just a moment, she thought she might not make it out alive.

Out of the corner of her eye, a shadow seemed to dart from tree to tree. Despite her weariness, Marissa tensed, rigid against the solid wood behind her. Soon, another fleeting figure crossed the darkness.

Certain of impending doom, she forced herself onward, moving leaden limbs to trudge away from the mysterious watcher in the woods, away from the fading sounds of melee as well. As she struggled to put more ground between herself and the bandit women, a terrible crash of falling stone marked the end of the stone man she had let loose, as well as any distraction it might have provided.

With one hand held to her burning cheek, and with her strength sapped by the exhaustion of the day, her going was quite slow. Still, at first no pursuit seemed evident. Marissa cursed the ignominity of it all, but was grateful for her life. She would worry about finding her way back to the village after she was far enough from the scene.

Her flight would not be so simple, though. With each limping step, Marissa felt more hunted, and the sensation of being watched set in. She glanced over her shoulder, searching the gloom with strained eyes, but no matter how she tried, there was no sign of the bandit women. On the cusp of assuming the feeling was just a hint of paranoia, she finally caught a glimpse of a figure. It was the very same shadowy being she had seen moments before.

Even when Marissa was certain she'd seen it, she wasn't clear on just who or what she'd seen. The figure was humanoid, with the curves of a slender woman barely distinguishable between the trunks of two trees. Whoever she was, whatever she was, her body seemed made of shadow, her clothing woven of a slightly darker shade of nothingness. Her nature made it difficult for Marissa to focus upon her.

The shadowy woman took a step forward, and Marissa recoiled. "Stay back," she croaked out, her throat dry from her earlier fear and panic.

At the noblewoman's request, the shadow woman seemed to hesitate. It was only a moment's pause, before the dusky woman continued her advance, stepping out into a shaft of moonlight piercing the treetops above. The shine of that moonlight on her dark skin provided a contrast that allowed more detail to be seen. Marissa gasped softly, almost shocked by the woman's unnatural poise and beauty. Skin that was more a fragment of night given flesh, hair of inky silk, even her eyes appeared to echo the faint gleam of the night's stars.

She was certainly no human. Marissa began to stumble backward, away from her. The pained look on the shadow woman's features puzzled the wounded noblewoman for a moment, but the sound of two others approaching through the trees brought the reality of her situation back into focus.

"Mistress?" The shadow-clad woman's voice was soft and lyrical, tentative and curious.

Marissa frowned at the term. She'd never seen the strange woman in her life, and yet there was some sense of connection there. Just as she was about to answer the nymph, Zara and Cordelia burst forth from the trees, blades drawn and rage in their eyes. Marissa turned, and forced her sore and weary legs into motion. She fled again, into the trees.