Bladeshire 8
By David C. Daoust
Minutes turned to hours for the two denizens of Bladeshire trapped within the temporal bubble with the two wild denizens of the Darwood… There was no way to know how long, exactly, they were trapped. Although Khadory, absolutely, had the time to think about it. Nothing but time, really.
The sun was low in the sky; the day was close to being spent. He’d missed daily prayers. Several of them in fact, which could be quite a big deal in the Abbey. He definitely missed supper; his stomach was surely protesting. He was positive most of the village was heading off to bed. Or at least, he would be if he was not busy crouching oddly before the still form of Chantilles.
The girl was frozen in freefall to the ground, though what still held his gaze was the massive boar attempting to charge directly at him. Largely because neither man nor beast could move even the tiniest bit, and that included their eyes.
He’d never really thought he would see a live boar quite in this way. They were locked eye to eye, he could only wonder what was going through the animal’s mind.
Suddenly, abruptly, and, despite being the only thing he could hope for, the entire time he was frozen in place, amazingly surprising– the bubble popped.
The spell broke!
It was like the world restarted; they could move— so could the wild boar!
Chantilles called out a warning about something behind him just as she struck the ground.
Amazingly to Khadory, a bobcat hurled over his shoulder to land just in front of him. Notably where the boar may have been had it continued its charge. It did not continue its charge. The boar halted, oddly robbed of its motivation.
Chantilles scurried back hurriedly, clearing the path. Her back to a tree she turned her head to find a wild animal behind her as well. Surprised she yelled, “A boar!”
The mix-matched group all just stopped for a moment.
Khadory was still waiting to see what moved first. He had had ample time to think about his next action. He was ready to lead the beast away if it came after him; or protect Chantilles if it turned to charge her. He was fully prepared to lose. Though at no time did he factor a bobcat into his calculations.
Unexpectedly, the boar rolled to the ground and lazily laid on its side. It snorted a few times as it writhed a bit in the dirt.
In a million years Khadory never would have expected it to act in such a way. Boars never stopped their charge, never stopped fighting, and rarely ran away. Such animals were known to keep pressing forward even with a spear jammed into them, at times skewering themselves even worse. Yet, there the stubborn beast was, rolling in the dirt. The boar came to a rest and just laid there, wheezing.
The bobcat bowed a bit, stretched paws before itself, drawing its body long as it raised its rump high into the air before laying down on the ground fully. Relaxed, it lapped at its front legs proving its indifference.
Such cats did not hunt humans; such animals were once called ‘children of the forest.’ Once upon a time, when what is now considered ‘pagan rites’ ruled these lands, these animals were revered. They did not forget their ways as easily as the humans. Although, Khadory supposed, such an oversized bobcat normally hunted boar, amongst other creatures. Now the forest hunter lounged with the volatile forager.
They were all collecting themselves after an odd day of standing stock still.
Khadory had no idea where the cat even came from. Almost felt as though it had materialized from thin air. He turned to Chantilles– between magic snails, possessed girls, screaming shadows, charging wild boars, and materializing forest cats, the buildup of questions did not want to stand in an orderly line, so he just blew out his cheeks in exasperation and flopped down to join the rest on the ground.
“I think it’s become accustomed to us,” Chantilles said as she gestured to the lazy boar in their midst. “I don’t know. ‘Never seen anything like it.”
Khadory laughed. He thought maybe she was right. The boar certainly was not angry or scared. The fight must have left it at some point; he could only imagine when acceptance came over the volatile animal.
“We did spend most the day staring into each other’s eyes,” Khadory confessed snarkily.
“Ida Mae, hovered over us- midleap,” Chantilles expressed cryptically, with a nod to the bobcat.
“Ida Mae?” Khadory asked with a chuckle.
“We had a bit of time…” Chantilles explained. “I named her. You telling me you didn’t name the boar?”
“Brigham,” Khadory confessed after a beat. “Ida Mae and Brigham, what a pair.”
Chantilles laughed but did not say anything, instead picked at her boot.
“What do you remember?” Khadory asked, trying to edge his way to what happened without hurling accusations or stifling the girl.
Chantilles lost her smile, the two were somber as she said, “I remember a spiral of stairs into darkness, windows to far-off cities, all of which suddenly snapped away by the light of day, and a shadow screaming into oblivion,” she paused, knowing it sounded like nonsense. “And then you in front of me… Ida Mae above.”
“You don’t remember the snail?” Khadory asked.
“I figured it was a snail,” Chantilles eyes lit up when she realized her guess was right. “But no, I don’t remember seeing one, or even how I came to be here.” She continued, explained briefly about the blackouts, about the lost time, and her fear of telling anyone about it.
Khadory explained some of what she missed, gave her a better idea of what had happened with the snail… and her ability to still move despite the spell that held him. He gestured to the snail headed staff on the ground. She must have dropped it when the spell broke, scurried past it, maybe. He explained how ‘it’ had used magic to transform the creature into the stick.
“Whatever it is, or was,” Khadory explained “It threatened to change my memories… I believe it surely would have killed me. The only reason it didn’t was that it still needed you. At least, that is what it said.”
“I was going to kill you!” she was appalled. “It was not me Khadory, please… I would never.”
“No, I know! I know it was not you,” Khadory pressed trying to ease her concerns. “It was something wrong, something evil. I could tell right away it was not you. The question is what did it need you for? What was it trying to accomplish with your body?”
“The last time I lost time like this, I awoke in Redcap Creep,” she said evenly. “But I don’t know why I was there, or what –it- might have been after. This was yesterday, I think.” She explained her doubt, “Sometimes it is hard to say how long the blackouts last. I was with Braidon, though… we got in trouble.”
“Braidon was missing all morning,” Khadory cut in. “Possibly all day.”
“The Baron took him,” Chantilles informed. “He ordered Abe put down, but the old hound’d already runoff with one of his dogs…”
“Lord Elaris took Braidon?” Khadory was surprised. “And wanted your dog killed?”
“Braidon spoke out in Abe’s defense,” Chantilles realized she was ahead of herself started over, “The baron thought Abe had runoff to die because I said I chased him into the swamp. Because I lied, really,” She admitted the truth of it. “Braidon told the Baron that he couldn’t do that…” Chantilles rolled her eyes. “I’m sorry Khadory, I don’t know much more.”
This was new information. Khadory thought he was covering for Braidon, giving him a chance to show up for his chores. He had no idea that Braidon was taken… He did not know why the Abbey would not be informed. Maybe it was just him; This was his own fault. He should have checked in before he covered for Braidon. He should of went to the Abbey right away. Then he would know where Braidon was.
“We’ll go to Brommus,” Khadory stated. “He’ll know what’s going on.”
“The priest?” Chantilles asked. “Your father?”
“He’s not my father,” Khadory corrected. “But yes, the priest. We’ll bring it to him. All of it. The blackouts, the shadow thing… all of it. He’ll know. We can trust him.”
Chantilles looked apprehensive for only a moment. She nodded quickly and said simply, “Okay,” then bit her lip in thought.
The two fell back into silence.
Brigham writhed about a bit more in the dirt, sniffed and snorted. Popped back up onto its hooved feet and staggered off into the forest. Like an old drunk leaving the alehouse- not so much as a goodbye. As if the meeting had ended, Ida Mae rolled to her feet as well, taking a moment to put on airs the feline languished, before she hopped back up into a tree and vanished.
Left only Khadory and Chantilles sitting on the ground. The sun threatened to go down; the forest would become too dark. It would become a totally different environment, with all new dangers.
Khadory helped Chantilles to her feet, planned to escort her home. They heard movement in the woods, they heard someone calling their names… heard several people, in fact, calling their names… It would seem the village had noticed their absence.