Briana’s story
Prologue
The midwife crouched between her
patient’s legs; ready to help facilitate the passage of the infant. She had a
worried look upon her face, for the mother had been having a very difficult
time with the birth, the contractions unusually painful, the process having
been drawn out for many hours now.
Drops of sweat formed upon the woman’s
brow, running down into her now-sodden hair as she strained with the effort of
bringing this child into the world. She had ceased to feel the pain, for her
body was numb after so long in labor.
The contractions slowed, yet she knew
that it was time for the baby to come, and now she began to worry even more
that something was terribly wrong.
The midwife was concerned as well, but
went to great lengths to conceal her uneasiness from her patient. Hard births
were not uncommon, but this one had been difficult from the onset of the
pregnancy.
She stood up and dampened a rag, reaching
up and mopping Carina’s forehead. “Easy now, luv,” she encouraged. “Give it
time, some are always worse than others.”
“I know, Lara…” Carina moaned as yet
another contraction wracked her body. “But I do not think this one truly wants
to be born!”
Lara was certain that something was wrong
now, for it had been far too long since the pains had begun. She also knew
there was only one person who would be able to help… and this certain someone
was not likely to get a warm welcome in this village.
She turned from the bedside and quickly
left the bedroom, going outside to where Carina’s husband Thomas paced
nervously as he awaited news from within.
“Thomas, there are problems with the
child.” Lara saw no point in being anything less than direct in her dealings
with the anxious man. She looked nervously about at the crowd that had begun to
gather around to hear what news she might have.
“Problems?” he asked. “What sort of
problems?” His eyes grew wide as his imagination conjured up all sorts of
horrible possibilities.
“The child…” Lara dropped her voice to
where only Thomas could hear what she had to say. “The child refuses to be
born.”
“That is the most senseless thing that I
have ever heard!” Thomas scoffed at her. “I have never heard of such a thing?”
Lara scowled at him. “Whether you choose
to believe or not, this fact remains; I have done everything within my power to
bring this child into the world. There is only one with the ability to save
your child… and quite possibly your wife as well, for she fades quickly as this
birthing continues.”
A whisper began amongst the group of
villagers, many of them muttering under their breath; each of them making a
sign to ward off any ill luck that the name they were thinking might bring to
them.
Lara wrinkled up one corner of her mouth
in distaste at their actions. “Each and every one of you have called upon her
in the past at one time or another, and yet you make the sign at the sound of
her name?” She turned her head and spit on the ground in their direction. “Go
on then, and remember this night well the next time any of you have need of her
Gift!”
She turned back towards Thomas, who could do
nothing but stand there undecided; overwhelmed with everything that was
happening at the moment. His brow was furrowed with concern, both for his wife
and unborn child, but also thinking of the rumors the gossips of the village
would be sharing with each other. “What do you need me to do?” he finally gave
in, hoping against hope that Lara was right in this.
“I want you to go in and comfort Carina
while I make haste to bring back the one of whom we speak, hopefully before it
is too late and we lose both the babe and your wife as well.” She hastened him
in through the doorway, and into the bedroom where Carina lie, too exhausted to
even notice her husbands’ entrance. He sat down on a stool drawn up to the edge
of the bed and took Carina’s hand in his, nervously glancing up at Lara.
“If you are going to do this, then hurry before I change my
mind.” He glanced down at Carina, her brow drenched in sweat, her face flushed
with pain, her breathing ragged. “Please…”
Lara took up her shawl, throwing it over
her shoulders and hurrying out the door. She pushed her way through the throng
of villagers gathered outside the cottage, quickly making her way through the
village, glancing behind to assure herself that she wasn’t being followed as
she ran towards the edge of the Great Forest.
A short way inside its boundary, she
stopped in the middle of a small clearing. With one last glance around her to
make certain that she was alone, she kneeled down and began to concentrate. As
she did, the noises of the forest quieted as the woodland animals sensed the
normal flow of the magic being disrupted. In just a few moments, the silence
was absolute, not a sound to be heard; Lara now focusing on the task she had
come here for.
In her mind she formed an image of the
person whom she sought to contact. In the center of the clearing, a mist sprang
up, and in the midst of this, a woman’s visage slowly formed. As the haze
drifted away, one could see the face of an old crone, her scraggly hair unkempt
and disheveled, her face as wrinkled and withered as an apple left too long in
the hot summer sun.
Her eyes were bottomless pools of ochre,
like staring into a starless night sky at midnight. The look on her face was
that of someone who was listening, waiting for Lara to voice why it was that
she had summoned her there.
The mist returned; long fingers of it
twisting about the clearing as it swelled up across the forest floor. It
thickened, and the midst of it, one could see a figure coalesce… and then step
out of the fog. Lara stood now, and bowed her head, a sign of great respect for
the one who stood before her.
“S’zian…” she whispered. “You are sorely
needed. The babe comes… and yet she will not!”
“Take me there.” The figured commanded,
drawing her cloak closely about, tendrils of fog still drifting from around her
as she followed Lara back towards the village.
The villagers were quick to slip away as
the two approached, the only signs of their presence the curtains that were
drawn back a bit, just enough for the eyes of the busybodies and curious ones
to peer out at the two who now walked past, making their way towards the house
of Thomas and Carina.
Lara scoffed at the superstitious
villagers, for S’zian had never harmed anyone or anything… at least none whom
had not truly deserved it! Indeed, the truth be told, the old witch had healed
the maladies and wounds of anyone who had required her skills, all without a
comment or question. But these people were quick to condemn anything they were
unknowing of, a fact that had stood through the years before and would more
than likely continue till the end of man upon this earth.
They spoke of Witchcraft and Demons… and
told tales of things so absurd that any person with but half a wit about them
would never place a bit of stock in any of these stories.
But it was a dark and suspicious time
upon this world… a time of magic and madness, and many times it was difficult
to tell one of these from the other! Either of these could happen to only one
person within a family, leaving all others untouched. Many times the Curse, as
each of these was called, would begin to manifest in infancy, usually well
before the person reached maturity. Madness could come upon one at any time,
and any age, and the signs of madness and magic were often confused one for the
other.
A person was just as apt to be labeled as
mad and cast out of the village, forced to make their way upon the world as
they could. One with a bit of magic in their blood was just as often treated
the same way, the villagers’ fear of the person being the catalyst for behavior
such as the citizens of Desaito were now demonstrating.
S’zian cared not one whit about what the
villagers thought of her, in fact, she often drew more than a bit of amusement
from their actions. She knew that they needed her powers and would tolerate her
presence as long as this remained true.
She made her way into the house and entered the bedroom. With
a wave of her hand she quickly dismissed Thomas, who was more than glad to heed
her command and flee the room.
Lara went to Carina’s side and took hold
of her hand, feeling for her heartbeat. She glanced worriedly across the bed at
S’zian and shook her head. “Her heart is slowing, sister. She cannot live much
longer.”
S’zian nodded in agreement, and set to the
task at hand. Sitting down next to Carina, she placed her hands upon the
woman’s bulging abdomen, closing her eyes and letting the flow of magic pass
through her and into the body that lie there before her.
For long moments she sat there, her mind
traveling upon that flow, seeking answers to the problem that challenged them
here tonight.
Finally she found what she sought, and
gave a start at what it was that she saw there. The infant possessed a mind
unlike any that she had ever encountered before… but she knew in an instant
what it meant.
“She is one of us!” S’zian exclaimed.
Lara stared wide-eyed at the old witch
sitting across from her. “One of us,” she asked. “You know this even now,
before she is born?”
S’zian nodded. “Never before have I seen
one with so much talent… such a strong mind...” she glanced at Carina, lying on
the pillows, unconscious. “And she must come forth now… and we must save
her mother as well, for this one will need much guidance in the years to come.”
S’zian turned and opened her bag; taking
out several bunches of dried herbs along with two stoppered glass vials. She
carefully set these to one side, and taking out a mortar and pestle, began to
grind up carefully measured amounts of the herbs.
Lara wrapped a thick cloth about the handle of the pot and
brought it over, setting it on the table next to where S’zian was now carefully
adding four drops of liquid from each of the two vials. Lara moved off to the
side, carefully watching the old witch as she concocted her potion.
S’zian muttered a spell under her breath
as she poured the herbs into a large clay mug, then filled it up with the still
steaming water. As it steeped, she muttered under her breath…
“Bitter
brew of toadstool oil,
Powdered
asp and Lesser’s tail;
Anzac’s
tooth, all brought to boil
Dragon’s
tongue, and serpent scales;
Essence
of fire and brimstone soil
Fulfill
our bidding, without fail.”
S’zian strained the foul-smelling results
through a scrap of white muslin and into another mug. Done, she hastily threw
the cloth and its contents into the fire, where it flared up in a flash of
sparkling colors as it was consumed.
Taking up the mug, she seated herself at
the edge of the bed. She began to spoon the potion into Carina’s mouth, just a
bit of it, then rubbing the girl’s throat to make her swallow it.
Bit by bit Carina took the potion until it
was all gone but for the dregs left in the bottom of the mug. Her breath now came
easier and the color was returning to her face, but she was still unaware of
what was happening about her and simply lie there as if asleep.
S’zian motioned for Lara to come near.
“It is time to call forth the babe,” she explained. “She heeds not the call of
Life, and indeed chooses Death if we are not successful.”
“I…” Lara stammered. “What do you want me
to do?” She shook her head, for this was far beyond her knowledge.
“I need you to place your hands on either
side… here… and here,” she instructed the midwife, situating Lara’s open palms
on the bare skin of Carina’s distended abdomen. She then moved to the opposite
side, placing her hands in a similar manner. “Now close your eyes and call to
her as you did when you summoned me here.”
“But I do not know the little one.” Lara protested. “How can I
reach out to one who I do not know?
S’zian sighed. “Reach out, Lara,” she
explained. “Feel her presence within, touch her mind and call to her.”
Lara closed her eyes, her doubt still
evident upon her face as she began the rite of Calling. She gasped as she
easily found the unborn child’s mind now that S’zian was there. Before, she had
only sensed that something about this child was different, but had been unable
to determine exactly what it was.
She began to call to the infant… the
child’s True Name coming to her as they melded together. “Briana…” she
called. “Come to us, Little One…”
S’zian added her call to that of the
midwife’s. “It is time, Briana… time for you to take your place here with
your Sisters… time to approach what destiny has foreordained!”
They both felt the baby stirring beneath
their hands now, the little body wriggling about as their message was heard. “It
is time,” they both urged now, the herbal potion forcing Carina’s muscles
into spasms, seeking to expel the baby within her.
