Ben's NaNoWriMo Log

Chapter 21 added Sep 23, 2005
Sarah poked her head out into the bright sunlight. She took a bite from the ripe peach she had brought with her, letting the juice run down her chin as she chewed the sweet fruit. She swept her eyes over the undulating meadow. She had grown used to being able to find what she was looking for with little effort, but she actually had to search for Molly amid the swaying grass. Finally she spotted her, down by the stream. She emerged fully from the trees and trotted down to meet her. "Guess what?" said Sarah as she stopped near Molly. The brunette said nothing, inspecting a long willow switch that she was busy stripping of leaves. Undaunted, Sarah continued. "I found winter!" Molly nodded. "That's nice." She swung the switch sharply back and forth, cutting through the air with a whistle. "Weren't you cold?" she asked, nodding at Sarah's clothes. Sarah looked down at the flowing shift she had gotten from Chloe. The fine cloth felt as soft as a kitten on the bare skin beneath. "You'd be surprised how warm it is," she said. "Especially if you help it along by believing it's warm. It's certainly more comfortable than that old stuff of yours." Molly was still clad in her old doublet and breeches. She had been washing her clothes in the stream, even though Sarah had shown her several times how to simply shake dirt off of them. Molly held the willow switch before her, taking a low fencer's stance. She faced off against a nonplussed deer, which simply glanced at her and turned away to search for the greenest grass. Sarah sighed. "What are you doing, Molly?" "Just staying in shape," replied the swordswoman as she lunged with her makeshift weapon. "Don't want to let this place make me soft." "Bah." Sarah dismissed the thought with a wave of her hand. "No one's going to find us here; there's not going to be anyone to fight. If it makes you happy, that's fine. Just don't expect me to play with you." "Ha," Molly grunted. "I doubt you'd be much better than my friend the deer, here. You just go do... whatever it is you do." Sarah's eyes narrowed. She looked around for a switch to match Molly's, finding one lying in the grass next to her. She picked it up and pointed it at Molly. "Is that so?" She rushed forward, stabbing the point of her switch at Molly's heart. Molly stepped back slightly and guided Sarah's attack harmlessly off to the side with a casual parry. She flicked her own weapon down and around Sarah's guard, slapping her lightly on the elbow. Sarah grimaced and took her stance again. She willed speed into her hands, and grace into her feet. Her next attack came whistling in toward Molly, who had to make an actual effort to defend against the flurry of blows. When her counter attack came, it was a broad slash that Sarah caught easily, their wooden blades bound up just above their imaginary quillions. They each held their ground for a heartbeat. Molly stepped closer, still holding her weapon against Sarah's. Sarah was prepared to resist a push from Molly's coiled arm, but she was not ready for the foot that Molly had slipped behind hers. As she tried to step back with the force of Molly's rush, she fell onto her back with a heavy thump. Enraged by the trick, she leaped up to attack again, drawing more of the faerie realm's power into her limbs. Molly twisted her switch quickly around Sarah's, then jerked sharply to yank it out of her grip. She planted her other hand in the center of Sarah's chest and pushed her down again. She looked down at Sarah, an expression of disgust on her face. "You may have figured out how to control this place, but you have no power over me." Sarah looked up from where was sitting in the tall grass. "Why can't you just be happy?" She gestured toward the idyllic scene around them. "Everything is perfect and beautiful here. We have anything we could want, anything we could possibly imagine. Why do you have to ruin everything?" "It's only a dream, Sarah. It's not real. None of this: the grass, the animals, even the sun. It's all..." she waved her hands around, "just so much faerie glamour." "I don't care," said Sarah, folding her arms over her chest. "It's real to me, and it makes me happy. I'm not freezing on a mountain or hiding under a bush or running from people who want to put my head on a pike." Molly tossed her switch away. "Of course. Why not save them the trouble?" Sarah cocked her head to one side, confused. "What do you mean?" "Don't you see? You're as good as dead as far as the king of Jal Kufri is concerned. Whether you're in a grave or sitting in this dream world doesn't make a bit of difference to the real world." "I don't care what the rest of the world thinks." She leaned forward, looking up seriously at Molly. "Don't you want to live forever?" Molly looked around at the fragrant meadow, with its ever-blossoming flowers and twittering birds. She turned back to Sarah and shook her head. "Not like this." She sighed. " I guess I can't change your mind. That's too bad, but I give up. I'll miss you, Sarah." Sarah sat up straight. "You're leaving?" "Haven't you been listening to me?" Molly sighed. "I don't know what I'm going to do when I get back to the real world, but at least I won't end up like you." She turned and started walking back toward the path that led back to the moonlit clearing. After a few steps, she turned back to look at Sarah again. "You know, I'm glad Syphar didn't live to see this." Sarah's stomach clenched as she heard that name. She wanted to lash out at Molly for reminding her of what happened, but she found herself unable to move. Her hands balled into fists at her sides. Molly's expression softened as she saw Sarah's reaction. "Have you even thought about him since we got here?" When Sarah said nothing, Molly took a few small steps back toward her. "That' what this is all about," said Molly quietly. "You're trying to forget what happened to Syphar." Tears rolled down Sarah's cheeks as she hung her head. "It's all my fault," she whispered. As her tears struck the ground, slender black vines began to spring up around her, waving back and forth. "He put himself in danger because of me." The vines grew more quickly, twining themselves around Sarah where she sat on the ground. As they grew, they sprouted barbed thorns that cut into Sarah's flesh. "He helped me, protected me. He loved me, and I repaid him with ingratitude and death." Blood flowed freely now from her arms and legs, streaking her flesh crimson and spreading across the filmy material of her shift. "I should be dead. I didn't deserve him. Or you." Crouching down next to Sarah, Molly shook her head. "Syphar did what he did of his own free will, just like we all do. He loved you enough to give you the greatest gift he could. If you don't think you're worthy of his love, then become worthy. Don't waste the gift he gave you by giving up on yourself." Sarah raised her head slightly. "But... what will I do?" "I don't know yet," said Molly, "But we'll think of something. I won't give up on you if you don't." "I sense that you will be leaving us soon." Chloe stood nearby, appearing just as she had when they first saw her. She waved her hand, and the black briars wound around Sarah withered and fell to dust. The wounds they had caused healed, but the blood remained. "I think you will need new clothes," said the faerie. She stepped aside, revealing a broad tree stump behind her. The two owls were perched on its edge. Sarah's clothes sat in a neatly folded pile next to their two rapiers. Sarah rose and began to change back into her old clothes. The fabric felt like sand on her skin, but the sensation served to draw her further out of the trance she had been in. The heavy weight of the sword on her hip was at once reassuring and oppressive. Molly retrieved her own weapon as though welcoming back an old friend. Sarah wiped the last of the tears from her face. She turned to face Chloe. "Thank you for your hospitality. We surely would have perished without your aid." The faerie nodded. "I wish that you could have stayed longer, but it is the way of mortals to return to their own world." She held out her hand, from which flowed a pair of scarves cut from the same floating material as her own gown. "Take these with you to remember your stay. They are woven of the stuff of Faerie itself: eternal, yet ever changing." They accepted Chloe's gifts gratefully. When they finally made their way through a break in the trees and down a narrow forest path, Sarah knew that she would never be able to retrace her steps.
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