Sillyverse

The story so far: Tollon’s enemy Lady Vorana has teamed up with the god Mrokitar, and turned the fairy Mia against Tollon. Now read on . . .

Mia turns to look at me. There is hatred in her face. There’s not a hint that she recognizes me.

I was astonished when Paviara looked at me without recognition. My hearts breaks a little when Mia does.

I want to stay, I want to persuade Mia that I’m her friend. But I have to leave. Vorana’s told me what I need to know. The real problem is elsewhere.

Throne rooms are always meant to impress
(Credit: Wikipedia/Albeins)

So I quickly activate a teleportation spell. My destination? The throne room, where I expect Chypa to be struggling with Mrokitar.

That’s in fact what’s going on. The two of them are wielding magical forces much greater than anything I’m capable of, yet. And what’s surprising is not that Chypa is clearly losing, because she is, but that she’s still holding out so well. Just watching her, I can appreciate how ingenious she is in using magic. She blocks, parries, and counterattacks so relentlessly that Mrokitar is having trouble simply overpowering her.

I don’t make a move to help. It’s hard. I can see Chypa is getting desperate. But she warned me about being a hero. And she was right. This is not the time or place. Mrokitar is the problem, and brute force isn’t going to work.

Chypa sees me. She sees I’m doing nothing. Suddenly, she stops attacking Mroktar, just uses defensive magic, and comes to stand beside me. In an undertone, she says to me, “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

Mrokitar stopped attacking Chypa. She sees me, too. She’s still in the form of that woman with the tan skin and brown hair. Her face looks even more animated, even more human. She comes to stand in front of me. And I find myself standing alone. Mrokitar has whisked Chypa away, somewhere.

“Do you not like what I’ve done, Tollon?” Mrokitar asks.

I shake my head. “It doesn’t matter whether I like it or not, Mrokitar. I made a mistake. I recommended that you try to hold onto a human perspective. I was wrong.”

“No, you were right. I am really enjoying this life.” Mrokitar smiles. “Vorana is such a fascinating tool for understanding you humans. She’s so alive, so passionate.”

I’ve been looking for an entry, a way to undermine Mrokitar’s self-satisfaction. And now she’s handed it to me. “I think congratulations are in order to Vorana, for making you into her tool.”

Mrokitar gets angry. “That’s nonsense!”

“Really?” I don’t overplay the sarcasm. “Who were your allies in fighting Ovedisca? Mia was one. Vorana has enslaved her. I was another. Vorana just ordered Mia to kill me. Even gods are supposed to keep faith. But now you’re less than a god.” And I turn my back on her.

Mentally, I start counting to ten. If I make it to ten alive, there’s a good chance I’ve made my point.

(To be continued . . .)

The story so far: Tollon and his allies are ready to attempt to defeat their enemies and rescue their friends. Well, as ready as they can be. Will it be good enough? No one can be sure. Now read on . . .

Earl Haulloran’s army has arrived on the opposite side of the river. I’ve been telling his wife, Lady Gwella, that I’m planning some sort of infiltration of the palace. I’ve made it sound sufficiently unimportant that she’s not communicating much magically anymore. Which is fine by me. So long as she lives and bears the child with my sister Jallia’s soul, that’s all I care about when it comes to her, or her husband.

Still, the presence of that army is useful. Vorana’s attention must be on defeating it and driving it off. Chypa tells me she’s tried a few magical attacks on Haulloran’s army, but is finding Lady Gwella to be tough opposition, able to strike back. And while the entire Royal Army is larger than the force Haulloran has, the entire Royal Army isn’t here. Vorana’s at a manpower disadvantage. Which is why the river is serving as the boundary between the two armies.

We wait until nightfall of the third day after Hallouran’s army arrived to begin our attack. I use magic to take out the magical barrier at the kitchen entrance to the palace. Katrina, all by herself, takes out the eight guards there, easily. Their swords cannot pierce her scales.

Getting in is easy. It’s trying to deal with what we find that is going to be difficult.

In Greek mythology, people were created from the stones Deucalion and Pyrrha threw behind them

Chypa goes on ahead to confront Vorana, one on one. Inacha stays with me and Katrina long enough to raise the rest of the dragons’ teeth into dragon warriors. Because of my request to Frawkza, they are all obedient to Katrina, including the dozen in the king’s possession that are no doubt elsewhere in the palace. That group should really upset things as they try to join up with Katrina.

Inacha and I split up, each of us with fifteen of these dragon warriors. Inacha’s off to sweep the dungeons and the royal quarters before meeting us in the throne room. I’m taking Katrina with me to check my old workshop before making for the same destination.

None of the palace guards stand a chance against the dragon warriors. We make quick work of any we encounter. The workshop doors are locked and magically secured. I destroy the spell, Katrina and two of the other dragon warriors smash open the doors.

I enter the workshop, calling Sarton’s name. I get no answer until I reach the main workroom. And then it is not Sarton’s voice I hear.

“Well done, Tollon of Velgard, Lord of Tyznar Heights.” The voice is mocking. Vorana sits at Sarton’s desk. “I see you have some friends with you.” Her voice turns hard. “But I didn’t invite them.”

I hear a noise, and turn. Katrina and the dragon warriors are gone. How? Vorana doesn’t have that level of power.

I turn back to her, puzzled and worried. She knows what I’m feeling. She smiles. “It’s amazing what you can do when a god is your partner. I imagine Mrokitar is enjoying killing that bitch Chypa. And if you’re counting on Sarton to help, think again.” She lifts up a box on Sarton’s desk, opens the lid, and turns it over. Ashes flow out and scatter in a mini-whirlwind. “The old fool never could resist any of his ex-wives. And now his ashes are scattered and he is gone forever.”

This is not looking good. But Chypa and I talked over Vorana’s character. She may be older and more experienced than I am, but I can still defeat her.

As if she’s reading my mind, Vorana gives me an evil smile. “Oh, and I have one other surprise for you, Tollon. I’ve taken my old slave back, and retrained her until she’s properly subservient once again.”

A side door opens, and Mia enters the room. She pays no attention to me, but walks over to Vorana and kneels before her, looking up at her with a worshipful gaze.

Vorana points to me. “This man threatens me, Mia. Kill him.”

(To be continued . . .)

The story so far: Finding the capital in the hands of their enemies and hunkering down for a civil war, Chypa and Tollon decide to create a magical soldier. But is that safe? Now read on . . .

Our newly created dragon warrior turns around in a complete circle, sword in ready position. And then it comes and kneels in front of me. “Lord of Tyznar Heights, I am at your service. Though I have to say I’m astonished to be here, in this form. The last thing I remember is being killed by a god.” And she stands up. It is indeed the one we wanted, Katrina of Moss.

“You know this resurrection is only temporary?” I ask her.

She nods. Her eyes are dragon eyes, her face is covered in dragon scales, but that is Katrina there. Knowing she has only days to live doesn’t bother her. She is a warrior. “Frawkza told me. So we’d best get a move on. Who do I have to fight?”

“Nothing so simple,” I reply. “We need your talents to organize, strategize, and lead an army of soldiers such as yourself.”

I’m not sure dragon soldiers can actually smile, but Katrina is trying her best. “All the better. Explain what you need and what you have, and let’s get down to business.”

It’s something I thinks she soon regrets saying. Chypa explains what magic we’re up against. Inacha provides our intelligence on the forces available to the king and Vorana on one hand, and to Earl Haulloran on the other. Katrina has a deep respect for magic, because she knows it can get her killed before she accomplishes her mission. So she spends the day locked in conversation with those two. And I get to play odd man out.

I could mope. But I’ve got to hold up my end. So I take a tour with Sput of the wall around Gehulia, and ask him what he knows of Evana and her father. The wall looks to be impervious to anything other than a major magical attack. Nor is Sput very encouraging about Evana.

“They were released, and then retaken a few days later.  And we have no information about what’s going on inside now,” he tells me. “There isn’t a wall around the palace, but there might as well be. Every entrance is covered by magic. You go in without permission, and you don’t come out, save as Lady Vorana’s slave. Two of our best snuck in there, and then gave up every secret they knew. We lost twenty folk before we could cut ties and contain the damage.”

We are walking just out of sight of the palace when we pass by the entrance to a temple to Thessar. Remembering how the Honorable Alencar sacrificed her finger to Thessar, I decide to offer up a more pecuniary offering, just to play it safe. Sput has other things to do, so we part ways. I go in.

The temple is cool and dark, even though there are lit candles everywhere. It’s an old building, reputedly one of the oldest in the city. There is an entire college of priests serving Thessar, and unlike most colleges of priests, this one has both men and women in it. Naturally, there’s a rumor that one of the private worship services is an orgy among the priests. I never heard of anyone join their ranks, though, looking for an orgy!

Hinduism has androgynous representations of gods
(Credit: Wikipedia/Himalayan Academy Publications)

Thessar is represented as an androgynous figure standing beside a small child and looking kindly down upon the child. Why Thessar is depicted as androgynous and yet bears a masculine name is something I’ve never learned. I go up to the big statue, bow, mutter a brief prayer asking for the god’s help, and go sit down on a bench and lean forward in prayer.

I really could use the god’s help. Chypa thinks a god is working with Vorana, or perhaps is working Vorana as a puppet. And after my encounter with Ovedisca, I am not hopeful we can cope with another god.

One of the priests comes around with a collection plate. I get out a gold coin, a Tanifisayan ducat, and drop it in the plate. The priest murmurs, “The god thanks you for your offering. May your design prosper according to its merits.”

There is something familiar about that voice. I look up into face of the priest.

It is Paviara.

(To be continued . . .)

The story so far: Tollon and his companions survived an attack by a fire giant when they arrived in Auspulia. They need new plans to proceed. Now read on . . .

I haven’t been telling Lady Gwella everything. That was partly Chypa’s advice, and partly my own distrust of her. She has been returning the favor, as we find out when we try to go up the river to the capital. It seems Earl Haulloran has assembled an army and is marching on the capital. And the king has made peace with Auspulia’s enemies, in order to pull troops toward the capital to defend it. In short, we’re about to enter a war zone.

There are riverboats of all sizes in Auspulia, but they’re not yet up to steam-powered side-wheelers

Inacha is not only able to pick up all this information within a day of our arrival, but also convinces a riverboat captain to take us upstream, at least as far as he can go without getting shot. “And I can persuade him to sail right into the battle, if need be,” she adds without a trace of humor or smugness. What Chypa’s done to increase Inacha’s intellect and abilities seems to have come at the cost of much of her emotions. Oh, she can still play at being sexy, for example, enough to convince a riverboat captain. But when she’s not trying to persuade people, she’s become almost emotionless, lost in thought.

We’re sitting in one of the taverns that line the river in its lower reaches, all fitted out in new clothes. The old ones were ruined by our dip in the harbor, and the only things we carried away were whatever we packed in our purses beforehand, mostly money. Oh, and what dragon teeth I still have.

Chypa has changed, too. But Chypa’s always changing. She’s been getting shorter, and her complexion is turning gray, while her hair becomes black and curly. It’s strange, but I have the feeling I’d recognize Chypa no matter what she looks like, since I’ve gotten used to seeing her look so many different ways.

She leans back in her chair, and looks up to the ceiling. “None of this makes sense. If Vorana’s working with a god, whatever their relationship, she should just be able to smite any opposing army with enough magic to obliterate it. And yet instead she’s gathering an army?”

“I’ve been thinking about that,” I say. And I have, hard. “When I talked with Mrokitar, she said knowing what humans are like was making her act like a human, but that it wouldn’t last. Take that, and apply it to Vorana. We agree she’s impulsive, short-sighted, a creature of needs. Wouldn’t whatever god she’s working with be affected by her character?”

“Use magic to fight opponents who have magic, use an army to fight an opponent with an army,” Inacha chimes in. Uncharacteristically of the new Inacha, she smiles. “It makes sense, Chypa. So don’t try to communicate with her anymore. We’ll be out of sight, out of mind.” The smile goes away as Inacha gets serious. She turns to me. “Which means you’re our secret weapon, Tollon. She doesn’t know you’re with us. We need to devise a strategy to use you in a way Vorana will not expect.”

With a snort, Chypa drains her mug of ale. “Good idea, if Vorana doesn’t simply traumatize Tollon the first chance she gets. We’ll need other weapons, other plans.” She thinks for a moment. “Tollon, you still have those dragon teeth, don’t you?”

I nod. “About thirty of them.”

“What did Sarton want them for?”

I have to think about that for a bit. “You know, he never told me. Apart from the ones we gave the king.”

Chypa’s eye flash open wide. “You gave some to the king?”

“A dozen.”

She smacks her hands together. “Excellent. We have a use for them that no one, man or god, is going to expect.”

(To be continued . . .)