On the run...

[v_black]

Character: Elissa (a pale human)
Account: noth1ng

Betrayals
For some reason Elissa liked the mirror, the brass frame almost gleamed like gold. Although she could have afforded a real gold frame, she liked to remember that fortune was a passing, a fleeting thing. And on top of that it reminded her of times long gone. Times she barely remembered. It felt childish to trace the simple wave like form, but it made her actually feel happy. A feeling the woman that looked back at her definitely couldnâ€t afford. To be happy was to be dead. For years she had travelled many roads, had seen many places, until she finally had found a small, unremarkable town. The only thing that had kept her here was that she actually managed to be in charge. At the beginning it had felt very good to have the local lord succumb to her charms. But with power responsibility had come.
Now there were four students at her little temple: Nascen, who had made a name by burning down farms that had dared not to pay a tithe, thus almost causing a famine; Cathra, who enjoyed nothing more than bringing bad luck to happy couples by seducing either the man or the woman; Seith, a man who, like Elissa herself, had travelled far and wide only to find a place to serve Beshaba here, with her, in this little temple; and Tegyr, a local wizard who had smelled power and seemed willing to do some dirty tasks to receive a share of it. None of them could be trusted. But Elissa had made precautions that neither could do her any harm. Although she was certain, sooner or later Seith or Tegyr would try to take her position. Among other precautions, she had made certain that Lord Walther stayed alive.
But it began to bother her that at least once a week she had to pay him a visit, just to keep him happy. At least she knew what the evening held for her, or so she thought. Sitting in front of the mirror, she had begun to experiment with a few different hair colours. The bright blue of her eyes looked especially piercing combined with the pure black hair she currently featured. With the magic comb she was about to turn it into a blond, when she noticed a movement behind her. The air moved. Someone had come close to her. Very close. Dangerously close. Staring at her hair, she tried to explore what she could identify in the mirror. There was no sign of the intruder. And then, suddenly, he stood behind her, putting a cold hand on her bare shoulder.
“Hello, darling,” Ysberyl, another of her possible enemies, an elf, with fingers almost as thin as claws, had sneaked up on her. Ysberyl was somewhat of a local legend. He had lived in the town for longer than anyone else and all the things, he was remembered for, were crimes. More than once a new lord in this town had been made by Ysberylâ€s sharp blade.
“Nice to see you, too, Ysberyl.” She put on a charming smile and watched him through the mirror, quickly preparing to channel a lethal amount of negative energy. For this cold blooded assassin it might just be an irritation, but that might be enough to give her the edge she needed.
“I doubt it, Elissa, dear. This time Iâ€m not on a friendly visit,” he said calmly, his grip tightening on her shoulder. He had her pinned down that was certain. But he probably wasnâ€t prepared to have her skin burn the flesh off his hands.
“I trust our deal is still in place,” she countered, trying to give her voice sharpness so he would not notice the fear.
“Of course it is,” he chuckled softly. “You know I like such a smart and charming client as you.”
Slowly she nodded and took a deep breath, trying to hide her sigh of relief. Then she replied in an equally friendly manner: “How much did they offer you this time?”
“A whole lot,” he told her reflection, grinning his predatory grin. “I suppose weâ€d be good for fifty of those shiny platinum coins.”
With a few quick moves she disarmed the trap on the mirror and then lifted it slightly and gave Ysberyl the impression of taking the bag of coins from behind the mirror, while she asked seemingly distracted: “Seith?”
“No,” he replied absently. “What does the trap actually do?”
“You donâ€t want to find out,” she replied grinning slightly. “And that answer never changes. So it was Tegyr, then?”
“Odd that you donâ€t figure it out, this time,” he said snatching the bag of coins from her. “Nascenâ€s the name youâ€re after.”
For a moment, Elissa stopped. She hadnâ€t expected Nascen to have the guts to act alone, yet. There likely was a second one involved. Carefully she reactivated the trap and replied slowly: “Interesting… Tonight?”
“Sure.” Ysberyl shook his head, chuckling amused. “And, by the way, I think black suits you. Like your heart.”
Before Elissa could reply anything, he had vanished, stepped behind curtain, disappeared in a shadow. For a moment, she looked around her room, trying to see where he might have gone. But there was no sign, none she could see, anyway. The plans for the evening had just changed. There would be two deaths, tonight.
For a while, now, Cathra and Nascen had been a couple of sorts. A couple of traitors, as it seemed now. They had known the risk of trying to have her killed. Her, the leading priestess of this temple. Nascen would never see Ysberylâ€s blade come, but Elissa would personally take care of Cathra.
With a few unsuspecting questions she found out that Cathra was in her usual inn, likely to follow her favourite pastime. Cathra didnâ€t even suspect anything, when Elissa approached her on her way home. And as she was a bit drunk, too, she made it particularly easy for Elissa to convince her that only her opinion about the new hair colour was reason for the late night visit. A poisoned drink later, Elissa left Cathra crawling on the carpet and vomiting pitifully.
That night, Elissa lay in her bed, feeling safe, for the moment. The immediate threat was gone, but she had to be well rested for the coming days. Likely Tegyr or Seith would finally try to seize their opportunity, hoping sheâ€d feel safe. However, the stress that awaited her, made sleeping uneasy, so it took her quite long to finally fall asleep.
Maybe it was the uneasy sleep that woke her in time, maybe it was the cold touch of her goddess, maybe it was something entirely different. Wincing Elissa rose in her bed. She had felt it, felt it in her dreams: The dark presence of something huge, something that did not belong in her mind, but something that was taking over. Her body twitched uncontrollably, instinctively – her instincts? – she curled into a ball. All she could think about was that she wanted to curl up, really just curl up and let it happen.
Then, slowly, painfully realization dawned and her will began to fight back, fight the desire, the instincts. This was an attack. There was no other explanation. An attack. The thought manifested in her mind, but she had difficulties to remember what that meant. Fight? Flee? Hide? None of these seemed fully right, not the weird way she was thinking them. Look? That was a thought she liked, although it was odd.
Carefully she opened her eyes. That seemed to take so long, longer than she remembered. She would have blinked, but her eyes were not fully under her control. The room seemed to be brighter than it should. It was still night outside, yet even in the darkness she saw the shadowy forms of everything surprisingly clear. A look in the mirror revealed her attacker: A huge cat lay on her bed, stared at her, glared. Instinctively she sniffed the air, while the cat hissed. She hissed. They hissed together.
The cat had weird legs. Human legs. Her legs? Who was the cat? As the question appeared in her mind, she knew the answer. A spell had transformed her – no! – was transforming her into an animal. But it was not yet done! There was time left! But she couldnâ€t use her hands, couldnâ€t reach for all the tools she had prepared, not with these claws. With her sharp teeth, she bit into her own tongue – the catâ€s tongue? That gave her mind a shock. Enough to focus, enough to search for the connection, to find out how this was done. The link was there, she had prepared for it. This was Tegyrâ€s work.
Hopefully it was not too late. Hopefully her will alone would be sufficient. With all the strength she could muster, she tried to collect the spell, to push it back. It would be so much easier if she could only reach the lock of Tegyrâ€s hair. The warm blood of an animal filled her mouth, blood dripped on the bed. Suddenly, she gained control over her body, with an agile jump – a cat-like jump? – she reached the box, opened it and touched the hair inside with a paw.
Her will was set aflame, as she opened the second link. With all she had left, she forced the spell through it. Then Tegyr noticed this and the real fight started. Both tried to push the spell to the other. A battle of wills. A battle that slowly trained all her inner strength, slowly dried her soul. Finally a stinging pain, as Tegyrâ€s hair began to burn. For a while, her hand was aflame before she managed to get a little control on the spell. Tegyr had won.
Exhausted she lay on the ground, breathing heavily. For a moment, she pondered pitying herself, after all she was a cat now, doomed to live a life of an animal. Then she blinked. It didnâ€t feel like that, her hand was a hand. Not a paw.
Quickly she rose and looked at herself in the mirror. What looked back at her was yet more disturbing. The right side of her face was human, but the other half was that of an aberration: Her left eye gleamed in the sparsely lit chamber – a catâ€s eye – and upwards from it, the forehead was covered in a thin, soft fur – fur that replaced half her hair.
Elissa knew that to be a sign from her goddess. The spell was not fully active, yet Tegyr likely thought her a cat. For a moment, she considered fighting it out, but then she realized that this had drained her. She was weak now, perhaps weaker than ever before. And she would have to get rid of this spell. There was only one way: She had to run.

[Vilehelm]

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