Exorcism

The struggle with the demon Mazzikim’ruhin reaches a deadly climax.

27.

Exorcism

 

Alleania was thankful for the cool air as she pumped her bat wings across the top of the Faesidhe forest.   

But she knew something was following her.    When she had first flown up out of the smoke filled hole that had held the Faesidhe Tree, she had not sensed pursuit.    Several minutes had passed and Alleania had dared to hope that she had evaded the demon.

Then she had felt it.    It wasn’t anything that could be seen or heard, but it had risen up from below.    A baneful, powerful spirit, enraged and determined to stop her.    It swarmed around her like an invisible cloud of mosquitoes.   

She could ‘hear’ him in her head, telling her to stop and return what she had stolen.   Warning her of the agony that she faced if she didn’t comply.

But he had no power to stop her in his spirit form.    She sensed that he was scanning the land around them, looking for an animal or monster that he could possess, so he could physically attack her.

However, it was nightfall, and the hawks, eagles and falcons could not navigate well in the dark.   Their survival instinct would make it very difficult for even the great demon to overwhelm.

 

Then she heard it from somewhere beneath her.   Though she wasn’t extremely familiar with the fauna of the surface world, Alleania had spent several years on the surface with her husband Chal.   Those years were spent entirely in the darkness of night, and she had grown accustomed to the screech of an owl.

Alleania pumped her wings franticly.   Ahead she could see the edge of the forest and the walls of Westmark.   She knew the Owl would silently move down upon her and there was no hope of her outrunning it.  

She knew owls hunted bats, but she had never seen one attack a bat in flight.    Yet she was quite a bit larger than the average bat, so an owl might have an easier time knocking her out of the air.

She didn’t wait long to find out.    Just as she cleared the edge of the Faesidhe forest, she felt terrible, sharp talons hook around her body and a sharp beak stabbing at her neck where the Gem of the Oscinate rested.

There was no hope of escape, but the Vampire had an idea.   As the Owl forced her down toward the ground, she changed form to a wolf.    The change surprised the demon possessing the Owl and he loosened his grip, unsure what was happening for an instant.

Alleania fell about six feet, but landed on her feet - or rather paws- and sprinted toward the gate of the city, yelping and howling as she ran to draw attention to herself.

The Owl was upon her before she reached the gate, clawing at her eyes.   She snapped her muzzle around, ripping at the Owl’s wing.

From above, she heard shouts from the guard tower, but she could not look or run toward them.    The Owl narrowly missed poking her eye out with his beak.  She rolled suddenly, taking the Owl with her and mashing him into the snow.   He tore at her legs as she leapt up and sprinted toward the gate.    To her relief, the night guards had opened the gate slightly to see the spectacle.    They leapt out of the way with their spears lowered as she raced toward them, but she turned and ran inside, leaving the bewildered guards behind.

But she was not out of danger.   Suddenly a huge mastiff raced out at her from around a building.    The demon had found a new animal to possess.    Though injured and exhausted, Alleania ran as fast as the wolf’s legs would carry her toward the Ducal Keep.

The Mastiff was hot on her heels, growling savagely as he gave chase.

 

***

 

“Both airships are gone, King Aedric!”   General Luca told the frustrated Sylvan King as he and his group stood gasping for breath just outside of the Ducal Keep.

“General, we MUST get to the entrance to the Underdark IMMEDIATELY!”   He snapped at the man, finding himself growing angrier by the minute, “Why in Yesh’s name did you not keep an airship waiting for us, when you knew the importance of the mission we were on?!”

His words stung Luca, who stiffened and clamped down his jaw to keep from lashing back, “Your Majesty, we had an airship waiting, but it was commandeered by the Bugbear, Carn, for some reason that remains unclear.”

“Carn?” Aedric and several of the others exclaimed at the same time.

“Yes, Your Majesty.    Lady Amala then demanded the return of the Autumn Maid, which came at breakneck speed from Dullerm.   She was adamant in her desperation to go after him.”

“How long ago did all of this happen?”   Gamel asked the General.

“Several hours ago, sir.   It was late afternoon when the Autumn Maid took off with her.    It was all very strange.   We thought both of them were with you, and then they show up escorted by the Faesidhe.   Something strange occurred.    Lady Amala wore a dress and her hair was very long.”

“What?”  Snoe asked, “Her hair has never been long, General!   And she would not be caught dead in a dress!”

“I know, Your Highness; we were dumbfounded too, and she wouldn’t really explain what happened.   But both she and the Bugbear were acting very strange.   Especially Carn.”

“How?”  Mutt asked.

“It was like he was not himself or something.”

Aedric and his companions all looked at each other in alarm.

“General, you said that he left in a hurry.   Where was he heading?”   Aedric asked, as he glanced to the west.   In the rapidly dwindling twilight, he thought he could almost make out smoke in the distance, as if there was a fire deep within the Faesidhe forest.  

Perhaps it was just a trick of the fading light.

“To the rendezvous point, Your Majesty.   Lady Amala said that Carn was almost frantic to get there.   Something about having a way to stop the Dragon.”

“Carn?”   Mattleos exclaimed, “How could he possibly have a means to stop him?   He must have stumbled on to something.”

At that moment one of the ducal guards on top of the Keep called down to General Luca.

“General, there is an orange glow coming from somewhere in the west.   It looks like a forest fire, sir.”

 

They all followed General Luca into the Keep and up to the roof.   From the higher vantage point, they could all see a definite reddish-orange glow and grey smoke highlighted against the night sky.    Aedric stared anxiously at it for a long moment and turned to the others, “That is about the location of the Clearing of the Ages!”

“Are you sure?”   Aaron asked his foster brother.

“Yes.”

“Could they be under attack?”   Allea asked, and they all paled at the thought.   

“Oh no!”  Snoe whispered, “Yesh, preserve us, we’re too late!   The Goblin army!”

“No”, Aedric answered, taking his wife’s hand, “I don’t think that is it.    I doubt they would have moved that quickly.   They would have attacked Tarmard first and then marched upon Westmark.    Even with a Dragon forcing them forward, it would be too dangerous for them to invade the Faesidhe forest.    It is something else.   Perhaps an uprising by the rebels opposed to your father.”

“So what do we do?   We have to get the spellbook to the Underdark.”

“Right now that is the most important thing.”

 

From below there suddenly came the sounds of two animals savagely fighting.   Growls, snarls, yelps and whines filled the still night air and they looked down to see the commotion .    At the very foot of the Ducal Keep, a huge mastiff dog was attacking a large, injured timber wolf.   For a moment they all stared in disbelief.   But Gamel’s Drow eyes caught a reflection of light from the gem in the necklace around the wolf’s neck.

“It’s wearing a fancy necklace with a huge red gem set in it.” He told the others.

“Red?!”  Snoe exclaimed, “Isn’t the Gem of the Oscinate red?”

They all raced for the stairs, while Luca yelled for the guards to subdue the dog and wolf.

By the time they had arrived on the scene, four ducal guards were pulling off the biting dog.   It fought them fiercely, snapping and clawing, but they blocked it with their shields.

Suddenly the wolf’s form shifted and Alleania lay in the snow, covered with scratches and bites.   But she pulled herself up as they ran to her.

“The Gem!”  She said, “Quickly, take it inside!   The dog is the demon that owns it!   He can possess any animal nearby!”

As if hearing her words, abruptly the Mastiff stopped fighting the guards and began yelping in fright.   But there came a loud whiney and a scream from a mounted horseman that was bucked off his horse.   They heard it coming - a large warhorse, obviously possessed by Mazzikim’ruhin.

Aedric and Gamel pulled the Vampire lady to her feet and nearly threw her into the Ducal Keep as the others scrambled inside.

They managed to get the door barred before the horse reached them.    It threw itself against the door, desperate to get inside.

“Quickly!”   Alleania told those gathered around her as Allea unfastened the Gem from her neck.

“What do we do?”  Snoe asked her grandmother.

“The spell, child!    Find it in the book and chant the spell!”

“I can’t do it!”   Snoe exclaimed, but Allea already had the book open and began immediately to chant the spell, as Alleania held the Gem before her.   The question came to her mind whether the spell could even be cast in the presence of the Anti-magic Gem, yet she went ahead, with no other option available.

At the sound of the arcane words, the Gem seemed to tremble and some of the red color began to fade - slowly- from its facets.   They were just beginning to think that they would not be hindered in the attempt when seemingly out of nowhere, a huge black cat leapt upon Allea’s head, biting and scratching.

The girl screamed, breaking off the spell as she fought off the cat.

“Mazzikim’ruhin!”   Aedric yelled, as Aaron and Gamel grabbed at the cat.    Aaron almost got a hold on him, but it flexed out of his grasp and sprang again at the Half-Drow girl.

But Gamel caught the cat, prepared for a desperate struggle as the demon that possessed it fought for his existence in this world.    The cat lunged at him with a hiss, hoping to rip his jugular vein.   But the Drow knight moved his chin down and the cat bit him fiercely.

Yet something happened that surprised all of them.

As soon as the cat’s teeth broke the Drow Paladin’s skin, the Gem of the Oscinate shattered as if hit with a hammer.   

They all jumped back in surprise and the cat - which now seemed to be a cat again- flexed out of Gamel’s grasp and ran to hide in a corner.

“Yesh, have mercy!   What happened?”  Aaron asked as he eased an injured Allea to the floor.

“The Gem… it shattered!”   Alleania said in disbelief.

“But why?”   Aedric said.

“I don’t know, child!    It shouldn’t have happened.”

“The cat stopped attacking me at the same moment, as if the demon had left him.”   Gamel added.

“Our magic is restored too.”   Snoe said, “Look!    Allea’s autocaster ring has activated.”

It was true, a light blue glow covered the girl and the terrible scratches and bites faded away.

“Then the Gem is really gone.”  Aedric concluded, “But what about the demon?   Wasn’t he tied to the Gem of the Oscinate?”

“It was part of him.”  Alleania replied, “Part of his essence.”

“I don’t feel any evil around us.”   Aedric turned to his foster brother and his brother-in-law, “What about you?”

Both Paladins paused for a moment, but both shook their heads with amazed grins.

“That does not make sense.”   Allea told them, “I did not finish the spell.   I think I was only about halfway through it.   I wasn’t even sure if the Gem would allow the spell to work, but it seemed to be working against the Gem, before the cat attacked me.   When a spell is interrupted, it is ruined.   So how did it work?”

“I don’t know if it worked at all, child.”   Alleania said to her niece, “Something happened that cast the demon out.   It was when he bit Gamel.    I don’t think that it was due to the fact that Gamel is a Paladin.    It had to have been some reason - a geis or curse perhaps- that was activated by the bite.”

“Do you think Mazzikim’ruhin is really gone?”  Snoe asked her grandmother, “He hasn’t just teleported someplace else, has he?”

“I don’t know, child.   But judging by the destruction of the Gem, I would guess he is banished.”

“But can we be sure?”   Snoe wondered, “What happened, Alleania?   How did you get here?”

She recounted the story to them, and listened to their tale of adventure in the Valley of Helios.    They all gasped and groaned when she told them of the burning of the Faesidhe Tree.

“That is what we saw in the distance.”  Aedric said with a sigh, “Such a thing, I didn’t think was possible.   The Faesidhe will be distraught.”

“We must return to the Underdark.”   Alleania told them, “To bring up those who survived.    Much of my city was destroyed by the Dragon chasing me.    I feel I should offer help to them as well.”

“The Drow won’t want the help of surface dwellers.”   Mattleos responded.

“Desperation makes many change their minds, Lord Mattleos.”

“How will we get there?”   Allea asked her aunt, “The airships are gone and we don’t have any teleportation spells.”

Alleania thought for a moment, then looked up at them with a smile, “You said that you came back to Westmark by a Faesidhe teleportation platform?”

“Yes… why?”   Allea asked, not understanding.

“You heard the Inion Sidhe lady chant the spell, did you not?”

“Yes, but how will that help us get to the Underdark?”

  “The Faesidhe Elves have one of their teleportation platforms in the center of the Clearing of the Ages.”

“Okay, but still, that won’t get us to the Underdark.”

“Ah, but surely your mother told you of the Faesidhe trash chute that we used to come to the surface, years ago.    It should still be there, child, and it is very near the Clearing of the Ages.   We can descend into the Underdark and I know of the passage that will take us back to Hor’olorbb.”

“What about the Faesidhe, Alleania?”   Aedric asked, “They just had their tree destroyed and I don’t think they will be too favorable to us right now.    Even if those in the Clearing of the Ages are loyal to Westmark, they may not be thinking too clearly now.    The Great Tree’s loss will devastate them.     They may blame you.”

“There is another thing.”   Snoe added, “If the tree is still burning, then won’t the underground passages be filled with its smoke?   We may not be able to pass that way.”

The Vampire lady shrugged, “Children, that is the quickest way we have to return.    We must try, I would advise.    For one thing, I have left my magic jug back at the Ar’Rilla estate, and I am beginning to hunger for blood.    So I really need to return.    The Dragon is probably still down there, and they will need our help stopping him, even without the Gem’s neutralizing magic.   I also need to find the wizard Devin - or whoever he really is.   I bit him to keep him from dying, and he is now a vampire - under my control.”

They all looked at her, displeased at the news.

“He was dying, children, and there was no way to heal him with the Gem keeping any healing spells from working.   Don’t worry; I will share from my jug of blood until I can have one crafted for him.   I will take responsibility.   But if we don’t return soon, he will be very hungry and may not have the willpower to wait.”

“Wonderful, more vampires.”   Mutt said, “No offense, Matron Alleania, but I would feel much better if you were actually alive.”

The lady smiled, “I understand, Mutt.   I would like that as well.   But we must go at once and help our family and friends in the Underdark.”

Aedric and his companions quickly took a vote and they agreed to Alleania’s idea.    General Luca looked at them as if they were insane, but said nothing.

Minutes later they were hurrying through the dark toward the Faesidhe ruins to the west of Westmark to continue the adventure.

Reviews

[Elina]

"She didn’t have long to wait to find out." It may sound a little better as "She didn't have to wait long to find out." But I suppose that's probably just more of a personal preference...?
"...form shifted and Alleania lain in the snow.." I believe the "lain" ought to be "lay."

[Eddie Davis]

Thanks, Elina!