Etude 17: the also unnamed

So, um, yeah. Couldn't think of a name for this one either. And, um, it's kinda weird and doesn't make a lot of sense. But it's NaNo, so it's okay. :D



     The rest of the day managed to pass relatively quickly. Rocky insisted that Armand tell him more stories about their world, and they both asked Rocky to tell them the stories he'd heard from travellers. They also went through the rest of the things that travellers had been left behind, and managed to come up with enough for some rather barebones travelling packs. Someone had also left the set for some sort of game. It looked a little like chess, except with stranger pieces, which moved differently. Rocky explained the rules to them, and they had a go at it. They were both abysmal, but it was very relaxing to worry about something other than life-threatening dangers. It was nearly dusk when the visitor arrived at Rocky's mouth.

     "Hello in there!" The voice was definitely female, and it sounded slightly familiar.

     "Um, who is it?" Sarah called back.

     "It's Rosemary! I'm glad I've managed to find you two!"

     "Rosemary? But..." Sarah turned to Armand. "Didn't Rocky say that she was the Starlight Traitor?"

     "Yeah. Rocky, can you close your mouth?" But the rumbling of his movement had already begun, and the opening to the outside closed.

     "That is a very dangerous person outside," he said.

     "Yes, you've warned us."

     "Can she hurt you," asked Sarah.

     "I doubt it. I am very old among the Mound Folk, after all, and very difficult to affect."

     "Oh, good." Sarah breathed a sigh of relief.

     "Armand? Sarah? The Mound has closed its mouth and I can't get in."

     "Where have you been? Why did you disappear?"

     "It was not my doing! I rested for only a moment, and then when I awoke, you were gone. I have been searching the Mounds for you since."

     "Is she telling the truth?"

     There was a moment of humming, and then Rocky answered. "She has indeed been wandering among my kin, but she has not talked to any of them."

     "What are we going to do? She's not just going to go away," said Armand.

     "Maybe she will if we wait long enough?"

     "She waited a very long time in the cave... She probably has a lot of patience."

     "Oh yeah."

     Rosemary's voice came drifting in again. "What are you two doing in there?"

     "Should we tell her we know who she is now?" Asked Armand.

     "I don't know..."

     "Wait... She's the one who suggested that we ask the Mound Folk for help. And she should have known that any of them would know about her and what she is, and would probably have told us. So... What's she doing now?"

     "There is something disturbing occuring outside. I have not the senses to accurately perceive it, but I believe there is a raising of some great magic."

     "Something going on outside... Wait, what if she wanted us to hole up in here so she could do something to the Mound as a whole?"

     The walls began to vibrate. "There is something terribly amiss," said Rocky.

     "What's happening to you?"

     "I think... What is happening? I am being uprooted!"

     "Uprooted?!"

     "No, I cannot allow this to happen. I am sorry my friends, but I most protect you..." And the walls began closing in around them, and the floor shifted under their feet.

     "What are you doing?"

     "I cannot act and keep you safe with you so close to the surface. I am moving you further into my body." With a horrible grinding sound, the floor moved more quickly, and the ceiling began to come down on them.

     "Oh my god, we're begin swallowed," said Sarah.

     Armand gulped and looked up. "Rocky?"

     There was no response from Rocky, which was worrying. A piercing hum was being emitted from the walls.

     "How is she uprooting you? Is there anything we can do?" Asked Armand

     There was still no response. "We have to do something!" Said Sarah.

     "I can't tell what's going on outside."

     "Neither can I."

     "Wait... Maybe if I can contact him again, like I did the first time, I can help somehow."

     "That might work. I don't know how long I can keep you slowed down, though..."

     "I know."

     "I'll do my best."

     "And I'll do mine." He leaned against one of the walls that had stopped moving, and closed his eyes. He tried to breathe slowly and deeply and push the thoughts of danger from his mind. More quickly now, he was able to sense the living pulse of the rock. It was much faster than it had been the first time he'd tried to contact it. Of course, he's awake now. "I don't think you have to slow me down, Sarah."

     "Good. But... Do we have enough time to do this?"

     "I hope so." He closed his eyes again, and reached for the pulse. Soon there was an answering sensation of fire within, and he touched Rocky's mind.


     Sarah stared at Armand, who was lying, apparently unconscious, against the rock. "I wish I could do something other than sit here uselessly..." She looked around. "I wish I knew what was going on outside. Bleah." She leaned back against the opposite wall. "I need to do something... This is driving me nuts." She got up and started pacing, trying not to disturb Armand. She checked his breathing; it was still going, although it was rather shallow. "At least I don't have to worry about him dying on me." She had a sudden temptation to kick the wall, but that wouldn't be good for Rocky. "I have to do something!" She shouted. Finally, she stopped pacing and hunkered down beside Armand, then stuck her tongue out at him. "Nyeah!" She shook herself and sat back down. Suddenly, there was a sound of rock grating on rock. She began to hear a howling wind outside, where before she hadn't heard anything. Armand was still working on whatever he was doing, but she was beginning to doubt that they would have enough time to complete it.

     Time... We need time. We don't have it. Wait, I can give them enough time... At least I think I can... Damn it, I wish I knew how I did this! She closed her eyes and concentrated, trying to build up the tension that she now knew was the prelude to her manipulations of time. Nothing happened. It eluded her. She couldn't quite remember how she'd managed to do it last time... I don't think I did anything special. I never do anything special, it just happens... How do I do it? She squeezed her eyes shut and tried again. Still no results. The howling of the wind outside grew louder, and she was afraid it was growing closer. She had a sudden intimation of danger, and the walls around her seemed to be closing in. I am not claustrophobic, I am not claustrophobic... The Weeping Cave didn't bother me, so this shouldn't bother me either... "Eeek!" She let out the exclamation as she felt the wall move. "Damn it, I am not going to take this quietly! I am not going to sit here and be helpless and useless! I will not!" And as her anger built, she felt the tension rise, coiling like a spring within her, and then she released it. And the howling of the wind stopped.


     Through Rocky's awareness, Armand felt the stirrings of enchantment around the Mound. There was the feel of a great, unnatural wind blowing, threatening to wear them away to nothing and blast open the Mound. He began speaking to the rock of Rocky's body, felt its inner fire begin to awaken and flow, coursing through Rocky's veins of stone.

     "Yes, excellent, Armand. Thank you."

     "You're welcome." The fire leaped within the Mound, and everywhere the ancient stone stirred to life.

     "Amazing... I think I may be able to move again."

     "Away from here?"

     "Probably." A pause. "No!"

     "What is it?"

     "The spells of unbinding... The wind comes from their weaving. If they are completed, I will become dust. And I think they will be completed soon. We need more time..."

     "Sarah should be able to do that."

     "Of course... But we cannot communicate with her while our awarenesses are turned inwards like this..."

     "I think... I think she'll manage to do the right thing."

     And the howling of the wind stopped.


     [stuff about how they got away]


     "Armand?"

     "How are you feeling, Sarah?"

     "My head huuurts..."

     He made a sympathetic sound. "Thanks for doing that thing with time. Rocky said that someone was casting the spells of unbinding, and if they'd had time to complete them, he'd have been turned to dust."

     "I'm glad I could do something." She smiled at him weakly, then winced as a spear of pain shot through her head. "Owww..."

     Armand handed her a root. "Rocky says this should help you with your headache, but it's very bitter."

     She took it. "Like most medicine." She bit into it, and screwed up her face in an expression of disgust. "Definitely bitter. Uggh! How much of this do I have to eat?"

     "Just a few mouthfuls, I think."

     "So what did you two manage to do?"

     "Run away, pretty much. Rosemary managed to partly uproot Rocky, and then what I did restored his ability to move. Just not very quickly, since he is a pretty big hill. So when you sped us up, it gave us time to escape."

     "So where are we now?"

     "In the birthplace of the Mound Folk. The Living Hills are kinda like the elephant graveyard, I think. Only the old-timers go there."

     "Ahh." She bit into the root again, chewing with distaste. "How fast does this work?"

     "I don't know. Rocky's kind of tired since he hasn't moved anywhere in a long time."

     "Well, at least we did it."

     "Yeah." He smiled at her. "Both of us together."

     "We're safe now, right?"

     "Pretty much, yeah."

     "Good. I think I'm going to sleep... My head is still pounding. You should probably sleep too, if your reaction is anything like it was last time."

     "I was about to, but I wanted to check on you and give you the root."

     "Thanks. Good night."

     He walked over to his bed. "Good night."