Wizard of the Wood

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15

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Fields. Endless fields. There were flowers. Why were the edges fuzzy? Why were the flowers swaying like that?

She was motionless. She was completely stationary, but the fields were passing by as though she were walking. There was a breeze coming from somewhere. It was a lovely spring breeze. There was no scent in the air, which she thought was weird.

There should have been smell. There were far too many flowers for there to be absolutely no scent lingering in the air.

Finally, the motion stopped. The endless fields of flowers were all around her of all different colors. Greens and the pinks and the blues and the brilliant violets created a beautiful scene. It was completely breathtaking. There were no trees in sight. No mountains as far as the eye could see. Everything was tranquil and untouched.

Why was this, of all places, untouched? These flowers were not even the ones she liked. Besides. There was something off. There was something wrong. The closer she looked at these flowers, the more uneasy she felt. They looked so soft. They looked so delicate. Still, something else was wrong about them.

But what was it?

She knelt down and reached for the pedals to touch them, but the moment her fingers touched the edges of the pedals the color faded. The plants instantly withered and died at her touch. The effect cascaded, one flower decaying after the next and after the next, radiating from her as the central point.

Horrified.

Absolutely mortified.

Sheer terror seized her heart as she stood and watched the horror unfold before her eyes.

Then…

Something dripped off of her fingers.

It was warm.

It was slick.

She dared not look, but the visions before her eyes refused to relent. Her hand raised and revealed the nightmarish sight.

Blood.

Her hand was coated in blood. Her hands began to shake and tremble. When did this happen? Why did this happen?

Then…

It started happening…

The veins…

The crimson veins began crawling up her arm starting from her fingertips. They burned and crackled, splitting open the skin and erupting crimson lightening. She screamed in agony, but the exhilaration was mind numbing. She gasped for air.

Breathe.

Breathe.

The crimson lightening crackled and burned, but it was under control. She had it all under her control.

Until she heard it…

“Good. What a good little soldier. Now, try again. Aim. Aim at the target. Destroy. Fixate and eliminate!” That cold, female voice coaxed her forward. She felt like her voice was in her head, whispering directly into her brain.

Why?

Why couldn’t she just be left alone?

But…

The horrible truth was that she had no control over her actions. Her hand raised as the scene before her changed. It melted away before her eyes like wax dripping from a candle until it left a different scene – an even more terrifying one than the miles of decaying flowers before her eyes.

It was a town.

It was a small town.

There were little cottages and fields with little fences around them. There were several windmills turning round and round in the afternoon breeze. It was small. Everything was little. The people. The families. There were sounds, but she could not tell what they were or what they were saying.

It was beautiful.

Why did everything beautiful have to die around her? Why did such terrible things always have to happen around her?

“Do it.”

She didn’t want to, but her hand raised toward the town.

“This is what you were trained for.”

No. It wasn’t. She didn’t want this. The electric sparks of lightening swelled in her arm. Everything in her body trembled, fingers pointing toward the town as though her arm were a lethal arrow.

“You need this.”

No. This is what they needed. This is what they wanted her to do. She didn’t want this. She didn’t need this. She wanted the beautiful things to stay. Why couldn’t they just let her be free?

“This is why you were created.”

“NO!” She wrenched her hand upward and shot the crimson lightening into the sky. The thunder roared around her as she shrieked. The sky illuminated with the beams of light charged with energy ripped from her body and shot harmlessly into the sky.

It was then, only then, that she realized that she, for the first time in her life, had done it.

It was the first time she made a choice and succeeded, overpowering their will with her own.

The ground fell away – melted away – and thick, leather chains grappled her arms, dragging her beneath the ground. No matter how hard she thrashed, it was not going to be enough. Her one, short-lived victory would have to be enough as she was dragged into the chair.

The sourceless hands loomed over her. That wicked voice curled its way back into her ear. She was clicking her tongue and muttering the same phrase over and over.

“Naughty naughty. You’ll have to try again next time.”

“NO!” she shrieked again as that all-too-familiar leather strap snaked its way around her mouth.

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Essie jolted upright, her entire body in a feverish sweat. Her lungs sucked in deep breath after deep breath as her heart thundered against her ribs.

Curses! Why wasn’t the juniper working? What was causing this? Surely there had to be a reason, right?

“Essie?” Her blood ran cold in her veins, coming to a complete standstill. Her head whipped over to see Rylir standing there on the ledge of his bookshelf. He was very much awake and his eyes were wide with worry and surprise. Dryly, she nodded and turned her head away.

“I’m alright,” she muttered quietly. She closed her eyes and began calming her breathing and her heartrate. As she did, she heard the familiar sounds of Rylir’s footsteps against the rickety wooden bridge she made and the sound of his feet tapping against the wall as he belayed down.

“This is alright for you?” asked Rylir as he approached Essie. “I’d hate to see what you on a bad day looks like then.” Essie glanced over to see Rylir on her bedside table. His hair was slightly disheveled, like he had just woken up.

“Really, it’s alright,” she stated.

“No, I don’t think so,” pressed Rylir. “I woke up to you shouting. You were saying ‘no.’ Do you remember why?” Essie shook her head slowly and looked down at her hands, which were trembling.

Had her veins always been so pronounced first thing in the morning?

“And… and your… hands…? Do they look okay?” asked Rylir. Essie turned around to look at Rylir, who was standing on the very edge of the table now, craning his neck to see what was going on.

“Why do you ask?” she muttered, trying to read his expressions quickly.

“Because they…” Rylir wasn’t even sure what to say or how to describe what he saw. From where he was, he could tell that Essie’s veins had grown darker before he heard a crackle like that of a lightening storm. “Your arms. It looked like your veins were branching out like…”

“Lightening?” finished Essie.

“Exactly! So, you…” but Rylir stopped himself short as Essie’s expression suddenly changed. Her entire body seized, and her hand flew up to her forehead, clutching it as though she had a headache. She winced and gritted her teeth, grinding them as she hunched over. Beads of sweat gathered on her temple and her neck.

“Essie!” shouted Rylir.

Essie, on the other hand, was barely clutching to consciousness. There was an agonizing jab to the middle of her brain, and behind that veil of darkness which she had left untouched for so long allowed something to sneak through.

Crimson lightening. Surging energy. An unbelievable swell of power in her chest. Then… a single phrase… from a bone chilling, wicked voice that she knew but could not name.

“What untapped potential.”

“ESSIE!”

Essie ripped her hand away from her forehead and looked down to see Rylir had leapt from the table onto her bed and was now wrapped completely around her thumb, squeezing has hard as he could.

“Essie, I’m here. Okay? Breathe. You need to breathe. Got it? I’ve got you. I’ve got you.” Essie nodded and slowly brought her right hand over to press her fingers against his back.

“I know. I’m here. You… you’ve got me,” she breathed, chest heaving. As she glanced at the hand Rylir clung to desperately, she saw the remnant of dark crimson veins beginning to fade. “I… don’t know… what that was…”

“It’s okay. You don’t have to. We’ll figure it out later. Just… breathe for now. Okay?”

Essie nodded and closed her eyes, letting the subtle warmth and pressure of Rylir’s frame against her palm sooth her.

Whatever happened just now… she didn’t like it, but something told her that it was important.

She would worry about that later though. For now, she focused on the courageous small man who helped snap her out of her trance.

Maybe… maybe he was the key… maybe he could help her through that veil of darkness.

Not today though; but maybe one day…