fire

The storm threw itself upon the little castle with all the sound and fury of hell itself. Elisabeth wanted to be strong but her fear for the loss of her friend and the tempest blowing outdoors sapped her resolve. She wandered about aimlessly try to find a good safe place to wait out the storm.

Finally she made her way to the throne room. It was covered floor to ceiling in paintings of a young blonde woman with eyes just like hers. On the floor in front of a throne, scattered about, were her possessions. Rings and clothing, glasses and baubles piled in a heap like offerings to this person. It all seemed pitiful and wretched to her.

She walked up to the heap slowly, looking it over and trying her best not to weep. One of the crows was setting on the back of the throne, watching carefully, as if guarding the horde.  It watched intently as she made her way around the massive pile, almost waiting it seemed for her to make a mistake, so it could strike.

Elisabeth reached out to touch the mess when the crow ruffled its feathers and flapped its wings a couple of times, to get her attention.

“That would be ill advised.” The crow choked.

“You can talk?” she said startled.

“I can do many things, but there are rules to follow, so lets just say, this is an hallucination.” It said.

“Was she his queen?”

“Yes. And more.”

“Will you tell me?”

“She was Ahzeen. She was his queen. He loved her. He loves her still.” The crow muttered.

“How did she die?” Elisabeth asked.

“Greed. Her appetites were storied. She wanted more. He said no. She became the dragon. He killed her. Ash.” Said the crow.

“He murdered her?” Her eyes were wide with fear.

“Ahzeen.” The crow coughed.

“Ahzeen are terrible. Greed only for themselves. Kill lands, people, food. Speak curse. Master gone. Ogre now. You see.”

“The ogre is the master of this place. I think I understand. He wasn’t an ogre at all, but his wife turned him into an ogre and he killed her for it.”

“Close.” The crow cawed.

“Close. Touch nothing. Go no near. Run from this room. Unsafe.”

Elisabeth’s eyes settled on a small gold vile poking out of the mound. Her gaze was transfixed on it. The thing seemed to call to her. The lure of it beckoned her to pick it up and she was unable to resist the call.

The crow began to screech and flap its wings, doing all it could to snap her out of it. It flew towards her passing very close to her head, yet nothing could break her concentration.

Picking the little vile off the ground, Elisabeth stood staring at it in childlike wonder. She polished the vile until it shone bright, until she could see her reflection in it.

Her eyes lit with the reflection of the vile. She could almost hear the whisper of a word in her mind, “Open”, as her hand, trembling reached out for the cork on the top of it. With a slight greedy smile, she opened the vile.

Nothing happened. She blinked as absolutely nothing happened. She looked inside the vile but there was nothing there save for a small amount of ash. She brought the vile up to her nose, to smell it.

As soon as the vile was close enough, the dust inside popped out and covered her face. Elisabeth rocked backwards dropping the vile. The crow screamed and lifted itself out the room. And in slow motion, as Elisabeth’s eyes closed, she drifted to the floor.

Justyn sat up slowly and in great pain. The storm had blown him nearly out of his kingdom. Gingerly he inspected himself. Feeling grateful for being an ogre he found no external damage.

“That’s broken!” he snorted holding his ribs as he tried to get to his feet.

“I’m going to rupture something someday.” He said as he slumped to the ground.

In the distance he heard the storm raging on. He had to get to Elisabeth. He needed her. She was the only creature that seemed to tolerate him enough to speak to him. She had spent more time in his kingdom than anyone else.

His mind was fixed on her. Fixed on her face and the way her eyes shined when she laughed. Something stirred inside him. There was a warmth in the pit of his stomach. It felt odd and wonderful. When he thought of her, the hair on his neck stood up and his chest tingled. He had felt this a long time ago, it was familiar to him… was this, love? Did he find a way to love again?

His musings were cut short when the sound of a crow shrieking in the distance snapped him to reality.

“Oh no.” He sighed as he got to his feet.

“Elisabeth, no.”

He bolted for his home. For the woman he loved. For the hope they may share, and to rescue her from the danger she was now in.