Fall of the Toi-Migg

Aaron and Lysa receive a ghostly history lesson.

18.

Fall of the Toi-Migg

 

Though they heard no sounds, the story was very clear to both of them.   First they saw a great army, consisting of humans with the same types of eyes as the Hutcaiah, wearing armor very similiar to Hutcaiah armor, marching forward to meet an unseen foe.

Somehow they knew it was the Toi-Migg army, led by the last of the Toi-Migg Emperors, Moiz-han-zhu.    They marched toward a great forest, and the Emperor’s wizard advisors pleaded with him not to go within.

But the proud Toi-Migg ruler did not listen and they approached the forest, where a patch perhaps 20 feet wide led deep into the trees.    The army broke its ranks and marched in, seven soldiers abreast, with their cavalry following behind them.

For hours they marched and it grew dark.     Aaron and Lysa knew they were searching for the Hutcaiah, who  had once interbred with the Toi-Migg before they began worshiping the moon-goddess and rebelled against the rulers of the great Empire.  

Two centuries of warfare between the two races had weakened them both, but now the king of the Hutcaiah and the remains of his army were hiding within the Forest of the Witches (as the Toi-Migg called it) and Moiz-han-zhu burned to exterminate them and end the long war.   Then he could restore the greatness of the Toi-Migg Empire again.

As darkness fell over the forest, the full moon preceeding the summer solstice rose high in the sky.     The Toi-Migg men pleaded with their Lord to let them camp for the night and as the moonlight shined down from above, they crested a large hill and found a wide open place.     Moiz-han-zhu ordered them to make camp there for the night.     His army filled the clearing and sentries were posted all around the perimeter of the camp.      Quickly the vast army fell into an exhausted sleep, confident that their vast size, so tightly packed together in the camp, would ensure their safety from any surprise attack.

Yet it came, in the very middle of the night.    Arrows filled the night sky and fell like hail upon the sleeping Toi-Migg soldiers.    They jumped to their feet in time to experience devistation from the Hutcaiah wizards.    A silvery fog crept across the clearing and whoever it touched began to gasp and suffocate from it.   Panic struck the Toi-Migg, and though they had their own wizards who could have dispelled the magic, the soldiers of the Toi-Migg became hysterical in the eerie forest clearing and in a beserk panic ran from the fog toward the east of the clearing.    There a group of five Hutcaiah wizards flung fireballs at them.    The entire Toi-Migg army burned or suffocated, and the trees around the clearing were black and singed, though the Elves prevented the fire from consuming the trees.

Yet this victory was not enough for the Hutcaiah.    One of their High Priestesses - the first with the blue eyes of a Mesen-gongzu-Yu - brought down a curse upon them as they were dying.

Laughing cruelly at their plight, she cursed them in song.   Aaron and Lysa heard the song in their head, the words of the tune in their own language; though they knew it had not been chanted this way.

‘Moonlight and fog, fire and smoke,

You shall cough and burn and choke,

But as your lives ebb away,

You shall not find rest today,

For the crimes upon your head,

You shall haunt this place though dead,

Appearing as a point of light,

When the full moon shines so bright,

Seeking freedom from your plight,

Begging travelers in the night,

But release shall evade you,

‘Til dispelled by Mesen-gongzu-Yu’

 

After the curse was placed upon the Toi-Migg army, the Hutcaiah watched them die. Then they gathered all of their corpses, including their armor and weapons - even the magic items that were undamaged by the fire- and buried them in a great mound as an offering for the Moon Goddess who gave the Hutcaiah victory.

Stunted, twisted trees began to grow on the mound soon afterwards and the Hutcaiah shunned the place, for they said that the trees are the souls of those buried in the mound.     Fear of the forest - especially at night- grew among the Hutcaiah until none would journey there.      “The Forest of the Damned” they renamed it and soon the paths into the forest were overgrown and wild as the Hutcaiah took charge of the lands of the Toi-Migg.

 

***

 

As the scene faded away, Aaron and Lysa stared blankly at the mound that was covered with the tiny lights.

“Mercy…”  a whispered voice seemed to say again and again.

“What can we do to help you?”   Aaron asked the lights, “Can we remove the curse?”

“Help… you… remove… curse.”   The voice replied.

“But how?”   Aaron asked turning to Lysa who shrugged.    She was as confused as he was about their ability to help them.

Then the lights began to slowly move away from the stunted trees.    Slowly, almost shyly, they came toward them, and Aaron pulled Lysa backwards when they approached.

“Remove… curse… Moon…” The voice said softly.

Suddenly the lights seemed to jump forward, swarming around Lysa like moths around a torch.

The girl looked alarmed, but held up her hand to keep Aaron from pulling her away from them.

“Wait, Lord, I think they are trying to tell us something.    They’re not hurting me, but they clearly want me to do something for them.”

“It’s because they think you are a Mesen-gongzu-Yu.”

“But can they actually see me at all?”

“I don’t know, but for some reason they think you are a Moon Priestess, so they seem to be asking you to remove the curse upon them.”

“But I can’t, because I’m not actually a priestess!”

“No, but you are a Paladin.   Who knows?   Give it a try.”

“What if I fail and make them mad?”

“It might make them mad if you don’t try!”

“Well, I guess I don’t have much of a choice.    Here it goes.   Um… I hereby remove the curse placed upon you.   In Yesh’s name, go to your rest in peace.”    Lysa spoke the words rather nervously, but as soon as she had finished, there was a soft popping sound and the lights vanished.

“They’re gone!”  She exclaimed, glancing all about without finding any of the ghostly lights.

“It must have worked.”   Aaron managed to respond before the sound of crackling brought their attention to the dwarf trees on the burial mound.

“The trees are on fire!”    Lysa shouted, “Those stunted trees are on fire!”

They both stepped back in alarm, shocked to see that every tree on the burial mound was entirely engulfed in flame.     In a short time they had all burned down to ashes, and then a mysterious breeze came up and blew the ashes all around.   The air filled with swirling grey ash, causing Aaron and Lysa to shield their faces.

But it only lasted a few moments and then, abruptly, it simply vanished, leaving no trace of the trees or ash.

“Wow,”  Aaron said to Lysa as they stood there gaping at the mound.

“Did that all actually happen?”   Lysa asked, “It was so strange - like some sort of a nightmare or vision.”

“This whole forest is enchanted and especially this clearing.”

“Do you think it actually worked?    Did what I say to them set them free?”

“It would appear that it did.   I guess they were ghosts or something like that.”   

Lysa looked around uncomfortably, “It’s not a great place to be at night.”

“Yeah, but I doubt anyone will bother us here.   I’ll wager the Hutcaiah won’t come anywhere near here.”

“We need to rest - we’ve walked for hours.   Are you tired?”

“Extremely tired.     They never let me out of my cell for the entire length of my imprisonment.”

Lysa gave Aaron a sympathetic look, “Then perhaps we should make camp here.  Well, maybe not right here, but somewhere close.”

Aaron nodded, “We probably should find some place out of sight, for if there are any Hutcaiah patrols brave enough to wander around, they might be encouraged if they saw us sleeping out in the open.”

“I think I hear water flowing - not far away.    Maybe there is a stream nearby.”

“Probably at the foot of this hill.    Let’s go see if we can find it.”

They walked a distance, until they reached the far edge of the clearing.   The ground sloped gently downward here, and through the trees could be seen a restless stream of clear water, glimmering in the moonlight.

“Shall we?” Lysa suggested, and they carefully made their way down the slope, using the trees and each other for support.

 

The brook was not deep and they found a large rock next to the edge of the water, where they sat down, removed their sandals and dangled their feet in the water.

“It’s surprisingly cold for this time of year.”   Lysa exclaimed as she flexed her tired toes in the stream, “My feet are so sore.     I never walked so far in sandals as I did today.   And those odd sandals!    They are just pieces of wood with a cord around a toe!   Have you ever seen such crazy things?”

Aaron grinned a bit sadly, loving her presence and hearing a friendly voice.   He just smiled as he looked at her in the moonlight, and, as his mind continued to clear, he really saw how much she’d changed..

She had been lovely as an Orc, but now she was exotic and intoxicating in her graceful form.   

“Are you alright, Lord?”   She asked, noticing that he looked at her with a strange expression in his eyes.

“Huh?” He blinked away his thoughts.

“Are you alright?    You have a dazed expression on your face.”   Her crystal blue eyes sparkled in the moonlight.   

“Yes… I’m alright.   Sorry, I was just looking at you.    My mind is clearing up now and I recall what you looked like before.    It’s quite a change.”

“For the better?”  She wondered.

“Lysa, you were lovely to begin with.    You are lovely now; but either way, you are beautiful.”    He felt utterly foolish as soon as he said this and blushed in embarrassment, “Forgive me, Lysa, I’m still trying to get everything straight in my mind again, so I might say or do foolish things.”

Lysa chuckled, “Well, if complimenting me is ‘foolish’, then I don’t mind your confusion, Lord.”

“I didn’t mean it like that!   I meant what I said… I just… I guess I just… I should have known what to say and when, that’s all.”   He turned away from her, frustrated at sounding so juvenile around her.   Why was he stumbling over his words so much?   Aaron closed his eyes and began rubbing his forehead.

“My Lord?”   Lysa said after a few moments.

“Lysa, just call me by my name, I’m certainly not a ‘Lord’ right now.”

“Well, you’re my Lord, and I’m still your squire, so I will continue to show respect… Lord Aaron.”   She teased him gently and slid closer to him on the rock, “I’m so sorry for what you went through.    To use dreams to torture someone… how horrible!”

Aaron nodded, “Yeah, it does jumble you up inside.   I feel somewhat paranoid.    A voice deep inside keeps whispering that all the events that happened this afternoon were just parts of another dream.    You are going to suddenly turn into a demon, vampire or the moon goddess and savagely kill me.”

“What?”

“That is what the voice keeps whispering.     It’s because that was the type of nightmares they tortured me with.    There would be dreams that seemed very real, and many times they would last a long time and start off ‘normal’ (more or less) and then suddenly turn terrible.     I had betrayal dreams frequently.”

“Did you ever dream of me betraying you?”  She asked softly, meekly touching his arm.

“Yes, a few times, I did dream of that.    Those were some of the worst… because I trust you so much.     I guess that is the nature of the torture.    They were magically induced and I felt like I was going insane.”

“They were shaking your faith in your family and friends.”

“Yes, and even my faith in God.    I began to doubt that Yesh even cared, Lysa.    I know now that he certainly does care, but after weeks of never-ending nightmares, you can’t think clearly and paranoia overwhelms your better judgment.”

He felt his body tense up as the memories of the days of mental torture came to him.    He fought to calm down and drive the memories away, but they overwhelmed his weary body.   Unknowingly, he sat with his fists tightly clenched, staring blankly into the babbling brook.

A hand on his back made him flinch, glancing over at Lysa.   Her deep blue eyes hypnotized him for a moment.    She smiled shyly as her hand massaged his neck muscles.      Though she was being gentle, the pain was almost unbearable.    

“Shh!”  She silenced him as he opened his mouth to say something.

“Lord, I know it hurts, but you need to relax.”

“I’m alright, Lysa… really.”

“No you’re not… but you will be soon.   Just sit still, Lord.”   She got to her feet and went around the rock to stand behind him.

“What are you doing?”

“Shh!   Close your eyes and listen to the brook.    Relax, Lord and let me take care of you.”    Her hands began to work on his knotted shoulder muscles.

Aaron yelped in pain, but she continued the massage, determined to help him.

For a crazy moment, he wondered if she would suddenly grab him around the neck and strangle him.   He had dreamed that scenario once in the past few weeks.    For that moment, he fought the urge to simply jump up and run away, by forcing himself to take a deep breath and sit still.   Her hands returned to his neck to work out the tightness there.   For a long time she kneaded his neck in silence.

 

He felt his anxiety began to wane.     Aaron suddenly felt very sleepy.     Lysa continued to rub his neck, but moved one of her hands to softly stroke his hair.    It was so relaxing that he didn’t even wonder if it was proper for her to do that.

“I wish we had soap and clean clothes, so we could bathe.    Are you cold?”

“My feet are, but they’ve been soaking in the water for a while.”

“Well, I’m rather chilled too.    Apparently the Hutcaiah’s moon goddess lives in a very warm place, or she’d wear heavier clothes.   What I’d give for some woolen clothes and some blankets.”

“We could build a fire, but it might attract search parties looking for us.    Since we’re not on the haunted hill now, they might be brave enough to grab us.”

“If we could just find a shallow cave, we might be able to build a fire just inside the entrance.   Maybe that would be safe.” Lysa suggested.

“That’s a good idea.    Sometimes there are caves near streams, or at least some overhanging rock that might pass for shelter.”

“Well, I think I see some large rocks downstream a short distance.”    She pointed into the dark, but though he strained, he could not see what she saw.

“I don’t see it.”

“My eyesight is so sensitive now!   Come on, I’ll show you.”

 

She took his hand and led him beside the river, following the bank about a bowshot.   Sure enough, a series of limestone cliffs appeared on each side of the river.     After only a brief search, they found a slight cave that seemed perfect.     It was only about twenty feet deep and perhaps as wide, but the entrance faced away from the Hutcaiah capital, so a fire would be concealed from search parties coming from that direction.

“Do you think there will be any bats in this cave?”   Lysa asked as they peered into the darkness.

“I’d guess that the bats are all out doing what bats do at night.    Bears would be a bigger worry for me.” 

“I’d rather deal with a bear than a bunch of bats.”   Lysa shivered at the mention of them, causing Aaron to smile at her feminine aversion of them.

“Can you see anything moving around inside?”   Aaron asked her.    His vision was typical of most Half-Elves, which was better than a human’s eyesight, but only about half as good as a full-blooded Elf.

Careful not to leave his side, Lysa looked into the gloom.

“I don’t see anything moving around.”

“Good.   Now if we can gather enough dry wood, maybe we can stoke a fire.”

 

There were plenty of branches and bark littering the forest floor, and in no time they had a pile of wood and leaves to burn.

“I’d say it is about two or three hours before dawn.”   Aaron estimated as they selected some exceptionally dry pieces with which to start the campfire.

A distant rumble made them both glance to up toward the north.    A faint flash of light hinted that rainy weather would probably arrive before dawn.

“That might keep search parties from going out.”   Lysa said hopefully, shivering due to the dampness of her clothes.    She had slipped on a rock while gathering firewood and though she had gracefully slid down the bank of the stream instead of falling headfirst into it, she still threw up enough water to soak her moon goddess costume.

“If we’re lucky, search parties will stay away.”   Aaron replied, squatting in front of the wood they’d arranged to burn.    He put a small mound of dried leaves next to the wood and then took a fairly straight branch and began to quickly spin it back and forth with his hands, in the middle of the leaves.

“Too bad we don’t have flint and steel.”  Lysa said as she watched him laboring to produce a spark by friction.

“Yes, or a fire cantrip.   Wait a moment… yes…I think I have fire going!”    Lysa quickly added more leaves to the smoldering pile and to their relief, flames formed quickly.

“Masterfully done, Lord… um… Lord Aaron.”   She complimented him as they added twigs and smaller branches to the fire.

“Thank you; my father showed me how to do that.    He would have been proud.”

Lysa touched his arm, “I’m going to try to clear a sleeping area and see if I can figure out something we can use as pillows.”

Aaron nodded, “I’ll keep working on this, so we’ll at least stay warm and dry.”