Episode 70
We like to think that places don’t change
Mountains are fixed and valleys stay the same
So the towns that we love can be left with their culture
Frozen in time like a painting or sculpture
But mountains do move on magma plates
Valleys are carved at glacial pace
And so do towns change in their way
Moulded by them that leave and those who come to stay
On the north side of Benlunar, at the base of a great cliff, under the watchful eye of a giant painted cow Lilian Lausanne is fighting. At the crashing sound of metal on metal a cloud of starlings jump into the sky from a nearby tree. They circle the area assessing the threat and the sounds, they see Lilian dressed in silver armour duck and dodge out of the way of Tourmaline’s heavy mace. She is keeping her breathing steady and biding her time until she sees some kind of opening, making sure not to get baited into attacking too soon.
Inside Lilian’s mind she is back in the temple in Zandt. Mistress Eleyna is going over and over the list of the thirteen stances along with their associated movements. Lilian is shifting her body into each one making sure to get them exactly correct down to the tension and elevation of her little fingers. She is employing all these skills now and more as Tourmaline is a most impressive opponent. Somewhere in the back of her mind Lilian wished she could train with someone like her, she would have much to learn. But now was not the time for learning, now was the time to put everything she’d learned into action.
Tourmaline compensated for the weight of her weapon by having a wide and balanced stance. She would kick out at Lilian’s base, jut the butt of her mace out in quick movements all hoping to catch Lilian off guard or off balance. She would follow any successful attack with a big swipe of her mace. It was these that Lilian had to make particular effort to avoid. One clean hit from the large spiked metal ball and her fight would be over.
Lilian kept her distance, swiping at Tourmaline’s extremities whenever she could. She would dodge a hit and then strike Tourmaline’s arm or knee. Or she would stomp her foot or kick her ankle. Most of her attacks were dodged or parried but occasionally one got through. And that was how she would win. She would use speed and patience, she would wear down the fortress over time rather than try to go all out in one strike.
Soon after the fight began Lilian caught sight of movement behind Tourmaline. As she had expected, the second sister, Hematite, was coming into play. It was all Lilian could do to focus on not getting hit but thankfully she caught sight of a flash of light above her. It was the sun reflecting off a glass bottle. Lilina took it as her signal to retreat. She planted her feet and shoved Tourmaline as hard as she could before jumping back several steps. Fritha followed her and they both looked up to watch Hematite’s thrown bottle make its descent onto the rock floor between them and Tourmaline. Lilian had hoped that Tourmaline would have been thrown off balance and fallen over but instead she had accepted the shove and rolled backwards before springing out of the way of the falling bottle. Lilian cursed under her breath as she watched the object fall. She expected it to smash against the rock but instead the spherical green bottle bounced up with a clink and continued its trajectory towards Lilian. It bounced again, and again seemingly higher each time. Lilian had to run backwards in order to avoid it. She counted four bounces in total before the bottle burst in mid air with a loud crack. Glass flew out and around like shrapnel and Lilian only narrowly avoided being blinded by turning and ducking at the last second. She shielded Fritha’s head as she did so and made a mental note to check her fur for glass shards later on. Once the glass had settled Lilian turned to look back. Her eyes widened and her heart sank as she looked up to see six or seven more bottles reaching the top of their arc in the air.
Lilian acted quickly. This kind of attack was intended to weaken her and shift her position on the battlefield. It would also give Tourmaline and Spinel time to prepare for their next move. Lilian looked quickly back at Tourmaline and confirmed her suspicion. The head bodyguard was busy reaching down for something near the caravan. She moved quickly but she wasn’t so far as to not be within throwing distance. And so Lilian made up her mind. Instead of running from the bottles she ran towards them. She caught the first one before its first bounce. She brought it close to her body and then hurled it back up into the sky towards Tourmaline. The second she allowed to bounce once, the third and fourth bounced twice. The fifth bounced three times before being redirected but the seventh was going to be just out of reach. And so instead of catching it after the third bounce Lilian crossed her fingers that the bottle would hold and kicked it up and away. It worked. Tourmaline was forced to take cover, Spinel was nowhere to be seen and Lilian wished she could have a portrait of Hematite’s horrified face as the final bottle sped towards her in a wide arc. All of them exploded far away from Lilian and Fritha but the potion wielding sister was not so fortunate. She raised her cloak in an effort to protect her face but the last bottle hit the floor only a few feet from her and so when it exploded the force was such that she was knocked back two or three steps. She would have stumbled had she not seen the bottle coming. Lilian just caught sight of several streaks of red across the back of her hand, the one she’d used to draw her cloak up.
Lilian had caught the sisters off guard, but her advantage would not last long. One downside of Hematite’s bouncing bottles was the cloud of smoke and dust that now blocked Lilian’s view of the sisters. She brought her tungsten switch up for protection. She reminded herself that if she could not see the sisters, then they could not see her. Neither side had the advantage. But Lilian quickly realised how she might gain the upper hand. Taking a deep breath she tried to steady her nerves. It was only now that she realised that her heart was beating loud and high in her chest. She reached out with her left hand and found Fritha’s fur coat. Her goal was to take some power from Fritha’s fur, turn invisible and hide amongst the smoke. The process would be much easier if she could close her eyes, but she could not risk it. Try as she might, the imminent threat of deadly danger, the beating of her heart and her short sharp breaths prevented her from producing any golden heart light let alone turn invisible.
Suddenly there was a whistling, whipping sound. Lilian looked around trying to see where it was coming from. Thankfully Fritha’s ears twitched to the left and Lilian brought her weapon round just in time to block a curved, sickle-like blade attached to the end of a chain. It came out of the smoke and retreated back into it as soon as its wielder heard the sound of it connecting with Lilian’s switch. The deafening clang rang out and the reverberation followed the sickle back into the smoke from where it had come. A few seconds passed before it sprang out again, this time from Lilian’s right side. Lilian had hoped to catch or trap it but the blade moved too quickly and as soon as it connected with Lilian’s switch it was snatched back into the smoke.
Lilian focused. If she squinted she could just about make out a dark shape moving through the smoke. But it was not alone. Lilian cursed beneath her breath. She needed to gain an advantage quickly. She kept her eyes on the moving shapes in the smoke and then as soon as she saw the sickle blade appear again she sprang into action. She managed to dodge the blade and then pushed herself off the rock floor with all her might and ran in the direction it had come from. Her hope was to get to Tourmaline before she could retract the blade. The shadow in the smoke became a shape and then then outline of a woman. Lilian launched herself at the body hoping to catch Tourmaline off guard. It worked. Her switch connected with the person at the end of the chain producing a sickening crunch from their raised wrist. Lilian was close enough to see them now, she wanted to see the look of surprise on Tourmaline’s face. But it never came. In its place Hematite’s pained and hurt expression appeared amidst the smoke. In a lightning flash, it all made sense. No wonder she hadn’t been hit by the sickle, it was never intended to hit her. It was being wielded by a novice and meant as a distraction. A distraction from…
Lilian whipped round just in time to see Tourmaline’s sword slice through smoke. Thankfully Lilian had realised in time to use the momentum of her spin to keep turning and protect her vital organs. But the blade still found a mark. A section of her left arm, just above the elbow, was sliced open. Lilian didn’t feel pain and she couldn’t see any blood but both of those would come in time. She was now in a dangerous situation, Tourmaline was on her swiping up and down with a short sword. Hematite was directly behind her doubtless reaching for some strange potion. Well Lilian would not let her. After every successful parry she kicked out hard and often found her foot connecting with a leg or a stomach. At some point she heard a jangling growl coming from behind her and knew that Fritha had grabbed hold of Hematite and was dragging her out of the fight.
The smoke was stinging her eyes but she was still able to see Tourmaline’s movements through the gathering tears. The defensive range of the eleventh Atarapian stance and its associated movements was being pushed to the limit but the ancient martial art was living up to its reputation. Even with her left arm incapacitated Lilian could handle herself well against a sword. At one point Lilian saw an opening and she was very tempted to take advantage of it. She was desperate to end this fight as quickly as she could, but she reminded herself that this whole business would take time and any greed on her part would be punished mercilessly. She had her plan and she would stick to it. And so, instead of taking advantage of the opening she span round and jumped backwards. Hematite was there struggling against Fritha who was pulling on her robe. She was just distracted enough to let Lilian grab a random bottle from the side of her belt. Lilian grabbed the wrist she had hit before and gripped hard. Hematite let out a yelp and closed her eyes in pain. This gave Lilian space to hurl the bottle back at Tourmaline who dodged out of its way. And so Lilian grabbed another bottle and another, chucked each one up, forwards or down to the stone floor. Bright flashes popped in the air, nearly blinding her. Colourful purple smoke began to spew out of one bottle in a ceaseless, hissing torrent. Lilian continued to create distance between herself and Tourmaline by unhooking and throwing more and more bottles. At one point she grabbed a large red one and loosed it from her hand before she could register Hematite’s cry of “No!”.
The explosion threw them all ten feet in opposite directions. Lilian managed to stay conscious but there was a ringing in her ears that she knew would not disappear for some time. Her head hurt and she felt a pain in the back of her leg but it seemed like her armour had guarded her from most of the impact. It would be bent and scratched but armour was not meant to stay looking beautiful. Lilian collected her thoughts and began the process of standing back up. Her legs were shaky and she could not see her tungsten switch anywhere. Even more worrying was that she could not see Fritha. She had been behind Hematite at the time of detonation and so Lilian was confident that she would not have felt the brunt of it. That had been intended for Tourmaline. Lilian saw a dark, unmoving shape on the ground about twenty feet away but she did not stop to check if it was breathing. This was the perfect opportunity to put another part of the plan into action.
Lilian rose and found her feet beneath her. She was unsteady on them at first but after a few wobbly steps she found that she could walk and then she could run. It was not a sprint by any means but it was enough to put distance between her and the two sisters. She tried not to look at the large mural of the cow in the field which was disappearing into the distance behind her. She headed for the tree line and tried her best to make her way through the wood and bramble. At one point she slipped and found herself sliding down a slope strewn with dead brown leaves. The trees were so close here that either the snow melted or it had never found its way to the forest floor in the first place. Thankfully she managed to control the slide and was glad that the slope did not throw her too far off course. After several minutes of climbing and running Lilian was out of breath and was struggling against a growing pain in her legs. Her only solace was that the effort was distracting her from the pain in her arm. She dared not look down to examine the cut as she could already feel sticky liquid running down the back of her wrist and between her knuckles.
Eventually she saw the trunk of the large stone pine. It was the only one on this side of the mountain and to a stranger it might look like all the other pines around it, but Lilian saw its soft grey colour stand out as if it was painted pink. She staggered to it and fell against it. At once she started to take off her armour.
“Here, let me help,” Peter appeared from the other side of the trunk and rushed over to help her. Lilian was not surprised to see him, they had agreed to meet there the day before. With him he had a skin of water which Lilian was glad to drink from and a bag filled with various useful herbs and items. It was his duty to patch Lilian up, a job which he got to quickly once her breast plate was off. “How’s it going?” He asked as he poured water onto the cut on Lilian’s arm.
Lilian winced before nodding, “It’s tough. They’re fast and they work well together. But I’ve got a few hits in.”
“Well done!” Peter said encouragingly, “Now hold still.” Lilian’s smile at his praise quickly disappeared as Peter poured a thick orange liquid directly onto the cut while holding it closed with his free hand. Lilian clenched her jaw and waited for the procedure to be over.
Peter tried his best to distract, “What’s next then? Hm? Gloaming, invisibility?”
Lilian shook her head, “They’re too fast and I’m too nervous. I can’t gather my thoughts for long enough. I’ll have to stick to fighting. Although…” Lilian looked down at her empty hands.
“You’ve lost your weapon,” Peter finished her thought. Once he was satisfied that the sap he had applied had set he wrapped Lilian’s arm in a clean bandage. “Do you still have that tea I gave you?”
Lilian was confused for a moment, in all the tension of the morning she had forgotten all about it. She looked down and reached round to the back of her waist with her good hand. The small water skin was still there and to her surprise it had only sustained a few scratches.
“Drink it,” Peter urged her as he got to cleaning a scrape on her right knee. With nothing to lose Lilian unstoppered the bottle and tipped the liquid into her mouth. It tasted a little of mint mixed with a sweet floral flavour. Its after taste was bitter though like black tea, not unpleasant, just surprising after the sweetness of the forward notes.The liquid was still slightly warm which made it even easier to drink. Lilian drained the skin and put it to one side. At first she did not understand why Peter had advised her to drink it. This was hardly the time for a tea and a chat, she needed to be resting and getting her strength back for the next bout. But then, after about a minute Lilian began to feel a change.
Her breathing deepened. Her heart rate slowed and the colours of the forest became deeper. The world did not change and she did not feel drunk or particularly altered. It was just as if the feeling of peace and calm that she had sought during the fight was suddenly with her. She could think clearly and the pain in her arm was already subsiding. Lilian knew what to do. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. Almost instantly she found her heart’s golden light. She could move it with an ease she could have only hoped for while training with Mrs Thoreson near the Padda Stone. It quickly left her body via her back and entered the tree trunk that she was sitting up against. She spread the light out to the size of a plate and then prepared for its return. She thought about Fritha and held the image of the feinhound clearly in her mind’s eye. Slowly she began to relax and let the golden light, which had taken on some beautiful greens and browns of the tree, back into her body.
Lilian felt her fingers and feet grow. Her face began to warp and change. The process was not painful, just odd, like getting into a box that was too small only to have the box grown and change to fit your body. As she breathed in through her nose the forest began to come alive. She could smell the little creatures sleeping beneath the snow, she could sense where winter walking animals had passed nearby the day before. Lilian smiled at the new world and opened her eyes. Peter was looking at her with a wide smile on his face.
“I don’t think I’ll get tired of seeing that any time soon.”
Lilian rolled her shoulders and began to get up. Strangely, her helmet did not feel uncomfortable, the feinhound head shape seemed to fit even better now that she herself was more animalistic. Lilian looked down and caught sight of her reflection in the breast plate. Her skin was covered in forever shifting fur and her eyes were large and yellow. She felt taller too and when she stood next to Peter she saw that she had indeed grown several inches. This change had come from her legs, which were now more muscular and ready for running. Peter bent down to pick up the armour but Lilian stopped him.
“It’s fine, I’ll be able to move better with just my clothes, helmet and bracers. Actually do you have…” she was about to ask him something when a strange scent caught her attention. She breathed in once then twice, her ears twitched about and then she grabbed Peter by the shirt and threw him to the floor.
A giant black bear appeared as if from nowhere and swiped at the space they had just been standing in. The speed of its attack sent it flying past with a head-splitting roar.
“It’s her,” Lilian just had time to speak the words before the bear was turning around and running back towards them, “Find Serena,” she said, “I’ll lead her away.”
Lilian just about heard Peter say, “Go!” before using her new bestial feet and legs to spring out of the shelter of the stone pine’s base and out onto the forest floor. Spinel the bear was already running towards her. Lilian had to make sure she was following her and not going for Peter and so she stayed just a few more seconds than might be wise. As Lilian Lausanne the bear form would have caught her easily, but as the werehound she was nimble as a fox.
When she was certain the bear was heading in her direction, she began to run. Bears were not common on Benlunar but they had been sighted in the past and every young child was taught that running from a bear was pointless. For their size they were incredibly quick and were used to chasing down animals as quick as deer. And so Lilian focused all her strength and became quicker than a deer. Tree branches whooshed past, boulders were leapt over and the mountain slope was scaled as if it was a simple sledding hill. Lilian breathed deeply in through her nose, relying on that sense to guide her more than what she could see. Her speed surprised even her, so much so that she had to slow down once or twice to make Spinel think that she was close to catching her. But the bear did not have a chance.
Her ease of speed gave Lilian’s nose time to find what it was looking for. She was being hunted but she was also hunting. She brought Spinal up and round to the south side of the grove, where the trees were wider apart. She was focused on the memory of the rag the Ortan had shown her. There would be several scattered about this side of the grove and Lilian was trying to find them. She remembered what Ortan had said about each one being coated and so instead of looking for one with her eyes she focused her nose on trying to find the scent of Silky the dog. This proved more successful. Almost instantly she located a strong scent of dog and pivoted the chase in that direction.
The bear was still rumbling close behind her and Lilian prayed that she would not cotton on to the plan. One of the little rags was just up ahead and so Lilian jumped high as she could to clear the ground beside it. Looking back she cursed as she saw Spinel do the same. Had she simply copied her movements? Or was she wise to the plan? Lilian shifted her run in the direction of the next rag. It wasn’t far and hopefully she would have more luck.
It took some twists and turns but she finally managed to guide the bear across the path of the second rag. It was tied beneath a holly bush, out of sight but not out of smell. There was a large patch of dried leaves beside it and Lilian knew that that would be the spot. She could not afford to look behind her in the instant but when the bear stepped over the patch of leaves she heard an almighty crack and half a second later a deep screeching cry. Lilian skidded to a halt and turned back to see what had happened.
Spinel the bear was lying on the patch of dry leaves. Moving and struggling against something on the ground. There, near the base of the holly bush amidst splashes of red Lilian saw the trap. Giant, ugly, spring loaded metal teeth were clenched around the bear's leg like the jaws of an alligator. Spinel was crying out in deep guttural howls that were becoming more and more human with each passing second. She was shrinking too and patches of brown hair were receding and revealing dark skin tones. Lilian was about to walk towards her and help, such was her shock at the violence and gore of the trap but she felt a large hand on her shoulder and stopped before she could take the first step.
“You go, I will take care of this one.” Lilian looked up to see Ortan the trapper standing tall beside her. His appearance had made Lilian jump. How had she not sensed him coming? She looked up at his serious, bearded face. His eyes were dark and fixed on his prey. Lilian was a little taller in her current form, but still not tall enough to look Ortan directly in the eye.
“She’s hurt but she’ll still be dangerous,” Lilian warned him.
Ortan huffed, “I’ve dealt with beasts before. You go, we will join you soon.” Lilian looked back at Spinel. The sister was still struggling against the trap, trying to pry it open with her now human hands. But the trap was old and strong and would require someone just as old and strong to open it. Confident in the trapper’s skills Lilian left Ortan to his duties.
She ran back up the hill and as she did she began to hear the faint sounds of voices. There were many people up ahead and they were talking in hurried voices. Lilian was approaching the grove. The calming effects of the star flower tea were still going strong and Lilian felt no nerves as she crested the lip of the hill and saw the grove appearing through the trees.
The townsfolk were still there. A small pang of annoyance entered Lilian’s otherwise peaceful mind. The plan had been to get them to leave but Brother Thomas must not have been able to persuade them. As the trees thinned Lilian saw Tourmaline and Hematite amongst the people. Lilian’s lip curled, human shields were a low tactic, even for them. As she walked towards them she saw Tourmaline spot her and shout something to the crowd. She was clutching her shoulder which was wrapped in red stained bandages. Lilian expected the blood to have been painted on.
“Here, she’s coming back. Everyone, be careful, she’s a beast. See how she’s changed, see what she’s become?” Lilian rolled her eyes at Tourmaline’s amateur dramatics.
“I don’t want to hurt anyone,” she shouted at the crowd in what she hoped was a reassuring tone, “My business is with Fenric and the sisters, no one else.” For a moment she was worried that the townsfolk that had converted to Fenric’s cause would march forward to oppose her; she feared that she might even have to defend herself against them. But thankfully no one came forward. She sensed that Tourmaline and Hematite would try something that would involve provoking her into violence. She would not let that happen. Lilian needed to convince the crowd that her motives were good.
“They’re working against you,” she shouted, “they’re trying to destroy Benlunar, please, everyone, you are in danger but not from me. You must trust me when I say…” just then her speech was interrupted by a thunderous boom. Lilian’s heart froze, the sound was coming from the west, in the direction of the mural. It was as if a great tree had been felled, or a rock slide had landed in a gorge. Her ears flicked and her nose immediately began to twitch and move trying to discern more information.
Now it was Hematite’s turn to wail some nonsense, “Oh what fresh torment is this?” she cried out. Her acting was admittedly better than Tourmaline’s but Lilian had suddenly stopped caring about theatrics. “Her and her fellows are wreaking havoc, they plan to break and destroy until we submit to them.”
Tourmaline picked up the baton, “Well I for one will not let them, I plan to defend our way of life, for I believe it is worth defending.” Lilian had not planned for this eventuality. She was unsure of what to do. A loud crash, bigger than the first, drew her attention back in the direction of the mural. She needed to see what was happening.
“What have you done?” she shouted at Tourmaline accusingly.
For the briefest instant she saw a smile flash across the sister’s lips, “What have we done?” she asked in mock outrage, “We have done nothing but go against your status quo, your old and tired ways, and for that we are meant to be punished?” Lilian saw some of the heads in the crowd begin to nod, she clenched her fist, she did not have time for speeches. “Why…” Tourmaline continued, “it’s almost as if you lot have unleashed some kind of demon.”
At that last word Lilian’s heart froze. The fighting, the running, the talking and the chasing had it all been a distraction? Without a moment’s hesitation she burst into a run. She ran across the grove and round the caravan’s. She sped into the tree line, jumping over boulders and fallen trees. She was going at her top speed, pushing her new body to its limit in a way that running from Spinel’s bear form had only teased.
Suddenly there were human forms in her blurred field of vision and the smell of sweat and fear filled her nose. She skidded to a halt and took in the scene ahead of her. There were three people walking slowly towards her through the trees. One was obviously Sage Fenric, Lilian would recognise that hideous yellow cloak from a mile away. The other was a man and the last was quite small. Lilian rubbed sweat from her eyes and focused.
“Don’t come any closer!” The second figure was speaking, Lilian recognised the voice. As her eyes adjusted to the distance she saw that it was Brother Thomas. He was standing beside Sage Fenric. Fenric was holding a sword, Lilian could see it catch the light coming through the canopy. He was smiling and holding the blade low and across the body of the smallest figure. They were no taller than a child. This was where the smell of fear was coming from, a small and defenceless child with a sword to their throat. Emma. The realisation hit Lilian like a hurricane. She looked at Emma and then at Sage Fenric’s hideous smiling face and finally she looked at Brother Thomas. Lilian narrowed her eyes and glowered at the Church Brother.
“Lilian,” he said through a tight throat, “It’s the only way, I’m so sorry.”