Versus the Rake Men
21st year of the reign of King Randor I
Season of Chill
307th day, 15th bell
Teela Na, better known to the small parts of Eternos that actually know she exists as The Sorceress, hesitates at the edge of the drawbridge out of Castle Grayskull.
…
"Do I have to fricking
carry you out?"
"…" Clearly, yes. I step-. "No. It has simply been a long time since I have left the Castle grounds."
Since it matters so much to both her and the control spells acting on the Castle, I'm wearing the Basophil Amulet openly. Technically, I'm about to become The Sorcerer, for… All of an evening. Or possibly all evening, all night and all morning if Sir Duncan's luckier than I think he is. I'd be nervous if it wasn't for the fact that we've killed, captured or shoved into a tesseract prison just about everyone who might think about having a go at us.
So clearly Hordak's about to turn up.
"You're not going to leave by standing there. I'm not at anything like your level, but I'm pretty sure I can hold the fort for a few hours."
"That's not my concern."
I grin, stepping a little closer to pointedly intrude in her personal space. "Of course, if you've reconsidered choosing Sir Duncan over
me, then you're
welcome to stay. I'm sure that we can find
something to occupy the time."
"I have
not, and I don't think that my apprentice would appreciate it if I did."
"Oh, she'd understand. Beauty fades, raw arcane power lasts. She'd probably make the same decision herself." I take a moment to consider her relationship with the late and unlamented Keldor. "Did, really."
She's still not moving.
"I can go to Zalesia and fetch
The Faceless One if you'll accept that instead."
"Evil-Lyn would never forgive you that slight, either."
"She'd be angry. But she's got a lot of anger in her. Honestly, having both of them talk out their differences in a mystically hardened fortress might be best for both of them. But you're still prevaricating."
"I am." She turns and holds out her staff to me horizontally. "I entrust you with the Power of Grayskull. May you wield it wisely."
There are flippant comments I could make. 'Don't do anything I wouldn't do' or 'I have the power' or something. But this is a
big deal.
Two years it took me to get her to this point, plus all the years of isolation before that.
So I raise my hands palms upwards, grip the staff and bow low to her.
"Thank you for trusting me with this. It's yours again the moment you return."
She lets go, her fingertips lingering on the shaft for a moment before finally pulling away. And I brace myself, because-.
Golden light flows from the staff into my Amulet, the intensity building as power flows back and forth and I.. feel.. a.. strange
pressure.. building inside me, as if I'm being gradually squeezed into some new shape. It's not…
Painful, exactly, but-.
A
flare and the light dims. And I take a look at the damage it's done to my clothes. Oh, rats. Tasteful orange and gold has been replaced by turquoise and bronze. A small mercy that I haven't grown wings, but-.
I look up as I straighten up. Yes, I have a
turban… Thing, though it's far smaller than the headdress that the Sorceress wears. Well, this is a temporary appointment, and I know far less about magic than she does.
"Grayskull has accepted you. And now…"
"Now you've completely run out of excuses. Good
night, Ms Na."
A deep breath and she leaps into the air, transforming into a bird with a screech as she flies in the direction of Eternos.
F
inally.
"Castle, would you please raise the-"
The mechanism is already clanking, pulleys turning as the drawbridge is pulled closed, the only crossing to the moat-trench now resting against the Castle's mouth.
"-drawbridge, thank you."
I turn away and start down the corridor. In theory, I
should be able to teleport anywhere in the castle with only a slight drain on its power, but… Teleportation is one of those things that can go
hilariously wrong and I don't really want to start experimenting without supervision.
So would books on Hordak be under 'H', or am I going to have to search through the histories and diaries for snippets that are actually useful? I mean…
I glance at the head of the staff.
In
theory the Castle should be pretty helpful now.
Hopefully, I can just
ask for the relevant passages and… Summarise them. I can't ring-scan these books, but copying text I can
see is easy enough. A nice quiet and extremely informative evening-.
"'She'd probably make the same decision herself'?"
Evelyn stands at the library doorway, arms folded across her chest and the glowing marks of her geas visible on her bare arms and legs. She's wearing a turquoise and bronze recoloured version of her old purple and black garb, a small duplicate of the bird on the head of my staff replacing the old skull on her headdress.
"Wouldn't you?"
"I might have done if I realised that she was considering giving the staff to a neophyte like
you."
"That's the
point. She doesn't need to trust me, because she knows that I couldn't fight her off."
"She left at your behest. Clearly she trusts you more than you think."
"There's a difference between 'on balance I think this person is trustworthy' and 'I trust this person with my life's work'. You're used to manipulating magic. She'd have to trust you more before putting you in the same position."
She nods. "
Are you planning on doing something while her attention is elsewhere? On this, the eve of the Festival of Love?"
"Yes, I'm-" I point to the bookshelves on the other side of the door. "-planning to-"
"While
you have control of my binding geas?"
"-do some reading." She arches her eyebrows. "Evelyn, the fact that I control your geas at the moment is the reason why I'm
not going to do anything. I
still remember that con you tried to run on
Mister Blak."
"Which I
still don't know how you foiled."
"We don't
all think with our testicles, Evelyn."
She's not going to move, is she? A test of will? Dominance? An attempt to better discern the nature of my character? Best to just toss Gordon's knot back to him, I think.
I hold the staff out to the side and leave it floating there while I
transition past her into the library proper. I then hold my right hand out while walking towards the closest reading desk, the staff smacking into my palm a moment later.
"Tell me: do you know anything about Keldor's old boss, Hordak?"
