Friday, August 3, 2012

Chapter 10: A Piece of Myself


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"My name is Uvie," the girl says, "Ico sent me to you; I am her friend."

"Why couldn't Ico come to me herself?" Auberon asks, not ready to let go of his anger or mistrust, "What have you done with her?"

Her mother had told her often of the spirit that had given her powers, but she'd never said how beautiful they are to look on, with their strange hair and skin, and the otherworldly glow in their eyes. Nor did Aven ever say how very human they are in their emotions. Uvie stands in awe of this spirit she summoned, and yet she pities him, for despite his magic, he is just a man, concerned for the fate of one of his own, not knowing what has become of her. "My mother holds Ico prisoner," Uvie explains, "I cannot break the magic that holds her. So Ico sent me to find you, to free her."

"How do I know this is not some trick or yours to capture me as well?" Auberon asks, his eyes narrowed in suspicious slits.

"It was Ico that gave me the bowl of water to bring here to summon you," Uvie says, "Not even my mother has that kind of magic. Not yet, anyway. She means to kill Ico and eat her heart, to take her magic."

Auberon's jaw drops in utter horror, "Eat her heart?' he gasps. Not even the dragons are so cruel, he thinks. Or so deranged. "Take me to her. Now," he commands.


"Wait," she says, standing defiant before him, "What will you do?"

"I'm here to rescue Ico, nothing more," Auberon says, knowing that's not entirely true. These creatures have taken one of his and threatened her life, and they must pay for that.

"The people fear my mother," Uvie says, "They had no part in what she does. You must promise you won't harm them, or try to take revenge."

Auberon nods reluctantly. Freeing Ico is the most important thing, and he doesn't have the time to bargain with the girl. Nor does he have the power in his exhausted state to take on her whole clan; he must save what her has left to face her mother, the one with the magic to fight back.


"And...what of my mother?' she asks, maintaining her defiant stance as her voice falters.

"Your mother holds a fairy captive, and intends to eat her heart," Auberon says firmly, "She must be punished."

The girl's lips tremble, and a tear forms in her eye, but does not fall as she nods in resignation. "I understand," she whispers.


Auberon finds himself moved by Uvie's plight, offering her aid even while knowing her own mother would be harmed, even killed for it. 

"I will be merciful," he says gently, "As much as I can be. But if she has harmed Ico in any way..."

Uvie nods again, biting back tears. "Come, then, before my mother can carry out her plan."


"What are they doing?" Auberon asks as they crouch behind bushes at the outskirts of her clan's encampment.

"Building a new hut," Uvie explains, "The hut right there," she points forward, "Belongs to our chief, Tor. And behind it is my mother's hut. They have the highest place, so their huts are built first."

Auberon is fascinated by the activities of those who don't have the ability to craft their homes by the will of their minds alone.


"How to get past all these people unseen," Auberon muses, speaking to himself. Illusions are the easiest magic, but to weave a glamour on such a large scale, to make all these people simply not see him as he walked by, would exhaust more of his power than he can spare. There is another way, but he'd be putting a lot of trust in the girl...


"Take this jewel," Auberon says, deciding that he has no other choice. As he speaks, a glimmering gem appears in his hand, which he places in hers,  "It contains a piece of myself. Go to your mother's hut. Once you are inside, and safe, use it to summon me."


Auberon watches her go, hoping his trust is not misplaced.


Uvie strolls through her village largely unnoticed by the people as they go on with their daily chores, completely unaware of she has saved them all. Someday, she promises herself, they will know, and they will herald her as their savior. She'll be their Spirit Talker, even greater than her mother, because they will love rather than fear her.


Ico watches with apprehension as her captor making strange intonations at her fire. Auberon's rain stopped some time ago, and Uvie has not yet returned. If Auberon lashed out at the girl in anger, all may be lost, she thinks in fear.


Her anxiety is lessened when she sees Uvie enter the hut, but the girl is alone. Did Auberon not come?


Aven rises swiftly and cuffs Uvie on the ear. "Stupid girl!" she shrieks, "I gave you a simple task, to guard the door while I was away. Yet when I returned I found you gone, my hut unprotected!"


Ico rises to help Uvie as her mother throws her to the ground, dragging her by the hair, but the circle of stones will not let her pass, and she can only stand and watch in horror.

"I'm sorry," Uvie cries, "Please, Mother, don't!" The jewel she carries hidden in the pouch at her side responds to her distress.


And Auberon appears.


"You will not harm her," he growls as he pulls the surprised woman off her daughter.


He drags the woman forcefully to the circle where Ico stands imprisoned. "You will free her," Auberon hisses in her ear.


"No!" the woman shrieks, staring Ico as though mesmerized, "She is mine! Her power is mine! The Spirit has brought her to me, and you will not take her!"

Something is wrong here, Auberon thinks as he holds the struggling woman. Uvie said her mother had magic, but he senses nothing within her. How does she work magic when she's not of magic? So many questions, but now is not the time for puzzles. He must see Ico freed from this prison.

"You seek power, woman?" he says gently, his lips close to her ear, "I am far more powerful than your captive, the most powerful of my kind. Release her, and you can have me in trade."

Aven relaxes, stops struggling, "You would take her place in my circle?" she asks.

"I would," Auberon promises, his voice low and seductive, "Free her, and I will be yours. You have my word."


Auberon watches, fascinated, as the woman makes her incantations and gestures. If this is magic, it's like no other magic he's ever experienced.


"Step out of the circle, Ico," Auberon says when the woman finishes her rite.

After so many days held here, Ico steps over the stones, and nothing holds her back. She is free.


"And now you will take her place," Aven says, her statement almost a question.

"I promised it, didn't I?" Auberon answers, smiling.


"Don't!" Uvie cries, "She'll kill you!"


"Do not worry for me, Uvie," Auberon says. Aven stands unmoving as the fairy lifts a hand to her cheek. "You have no magic, no power," he whispers, his eyes looking deep into hers.

"I have no magic, no power," she agrees, her voice wooden.


"The spirit, my spirit, is gone," Aven says, sitting on the ground with a thump, "The voice, his voice...gone." She stares at a spot behind Auberon's head, seemingly unaware of him or her own daughter beside her.

"What did you do to her?" Uvie asks.

"I showed mercy," Auberon answers, "I took her power, but not her life." In truth, he doesn't know quite what he did himself. The woman never had any power to take, and all he could take from her was the belief that she did.


Without another word, the fairies disappear in a flash of light.


Uvie feels the weight of the jewel still hidden in the pouch at her waist; the spirit didn't ask her to return it. And, though he never did speak his name to her, she whispers, "Auberon," and the jewel warms to her voice.

29 comments:

  1. Okay, so she had no magic to begin with, then how the hell was she able to do all those things??????????????????

    Uh oh, sounds like someone's in loveeeeee~
    Girl, you have NOOOOO idea what you're getting yourself into... ~T~A~N~I~A~

    Great update Cat!

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    1. Thanks, Jem!
      The source of Aven's power is something of a mystery at the moment, and it's a mystery that Auberon will be very interested in solving. After he gets some rest, lol.

      LOL, yes, Tania. I don't think she'd appreciate anyone getting between her and Auberon. I'm so looking forward to this tory line. =D

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  2. *shakes Aven* WHERE DID YOU LEARN THE SECRETS OF ALCHEMY? WHO IS THE VOICE IN YOUR HEAD? TELL ME NOW.

    *cough* Great chapter. I'm glad Auberon spared them.

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    1. Thanks!
      I'm sort of playing around with different concepts of magic here. On the one hand, you have fairy magic, which is pure fantasy and therefore is easy to believe in in this context. And then there's human 'magic', which I'm basing on real world shamanistic traditions and other similar things. Which some people will find believable and others just won't.
      It would be easier to just make up stuff, lol, but this kind of thing has always fascinated me so I want to do it this way. But it's gong to be a much harder sell, since the expectation is that there will be some easy explanation for where magic comes from, and what I'm presenting is something you can never be sure is actually real.

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    2. Well she did really(...?) hold Ico there. =D So while I wasn't confused before (many fantasy universes have races with innate magic coursing through their bodies, vs races that must do science-like rituals to pull magic out of the world around them), I guess I am slightly confused if you were meaning for me to interpret it as maybe all in Aven's head. O.O

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    3. Ico was really held in the circle Aven made.

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  3. I literally breathed a sigh of relief when Auberon left with Ico. I was SO sure he was going to go Rambo on their asses or something like that. And I'm amazed he let Uvie's mother go. I'm so curious about her "magic" and what it is/where it came from. I hope Auberon figures it out soon.

    I wonder when Uvie will use the stone again. (I'm assuming she'll use it... y'know, I would.)

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    1. Auberon did actually feel some pity for Uvie, and gratitude for what she did for Ico. He wouldn't have let Aven live if he felt she presented any future threat on his kind, but he believes she's been neutralized.

      Yes, the stone. I didn't leave it Uvie's pouch for a reason or anything, I'm sure it will never come up again, lol.

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    2. Re: The Stone

      Hey, whenever I bring up the fae it tends to be over generations. : P I meant that I wonder if/when UVIE will use the stone instead of, for example, her children or descendants.

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    3. That's how I understood it. But I can also foresee something so powerful becoming quite the family heirloom as well.

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  4. I too am curious how Aven got her magic if Auberon couldn't sense it inside of her. Perhaps a deity that was previously unknown?

    I'm mostly glad that Ico is safe and the girl is unharmed, though she could potentially be dangerous.

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    1. Thanks, mypal.
      I wouldn't go as far as to say deity; shamans tend to come from animistic cultures that don't have gods so much as they view all nature as being divine. The shaman is believed to be able to enter the sprit realm, and usually draws power from a particular guiding spirit, very often the spirit of an animal. That is where Aven believes her power comes from.

      Uvie does the have potential to be dangerous. he could also be a very powerful ally.

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  5. Oh! Great chapter! So many questions left unanswered. =) I can't wait to see how Uvie uses the jewel, and I'm intrigued by Jean-Marie's comment about Auberon and Uvie. Hehe, love it.

    The more I read about her, the more I like Uvie's character. The line- "She'll be their Spirit Talker, even greater than her mother, because they will love rather than fear her," was my favorite. She seems smart and resourceful but with a kind and caring heart. I just hope her curiosity doesn't get her into too much trouble...

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    1. Thanks Colleen!
      I live to leave unanswered questions lying around, lol.
      I'm really enjoying Uvie as well (and must thank heaven once again for her!). She is very curious and eager to learn, as well as ambitious and smart. And caring, too; she wants to be a protector of her people. And it all could very well lead her into trouble.

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    2. I love that girl and really love how you have written her. While she was just strange and out of place in my story, here she really fits. It's like this was where she was meant to be all along.

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    3. =D Thank you, heaven. It warms my heart that you are happy with what I've done with Uvie here. I always did want her to find her place with the fairies.

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  6. Auberon is awesome. Can I like him best now? He is so right in that mortals have no magic inside, it's all borrowed or channeled from the ground beneath their feet. :) Too bad the real world wears shoes. But anyway, loved the update and I am very glad that Ico is free. I am a bit worried that Uvie still has the stone, but will have to wait and see what happens. Now to deal with the dragons.

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    1. Yay, a fan for Auberon! Of course you can like him best.
      Thanks so much Fae! Are you more worried for Uvie or for Auberon?
      And, yes, next we are off to deal with the dragons. Ico is safe, but Aymeri won't rest until she's safe with him, lol.

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  7. I am so glad that Auberon rescued Ico, Now she can be with my, her dragon. Uvie having the stone is a little bothersome. I agree with Zhip there, I too will have to wait for the next update. I find it weird though that she had not magic but was still able to use it. I am sensing witchery.
    Loved it and can not wait for the next update.

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    1. It was weird for me to do a whole chapter without Aymeri, but he will b back next update. I'm looking forward to his reunion with Ico after her captivity.
      Uvie having the jewel will be important, but yes, you will just have to wait and see.
      Thanks!

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  8. Looks like Auberon showed great restraint in just letting Aven go free and only losing her power. He has to worry though, if she never had power to begin with then what was she doing before? If she is getting her power from elsewhere then she can get it again!

    Auberon did a great job though and has saved Ico! Enjoyed it and looking forward to the next one!

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    1. Auberon did show some restraint in sparing Aven. And it will cause him some worry that she could still possibly pose a threat, so he will be keeping an eye on the situation.

      Thanks!

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  9. This update was too awesome for words! Love that Auberon didn't kill Aven. In a way he did worse by taking what believed in the most. It looks like Uvie's been hit by cupid's arrow. Not sure though if that's wise or if anything will ever pan out from her feelings, they are too different, from different worlds too. Maybe in another lifetime.

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    1. Thank you, Val!
      What Auberon did to Aven is maybe worse than just killing her.
      Uvie and Auberon are very different, from very different worlds. And they are both very curious about each other and their differences. So, we'll see what comes of that. =D

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  10. Wow that's cool, so many different kinds of life forms working together. :) I think it's awesome that Auberon let Uvie keep the jewel.

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    1. Auberon actually just forget about the jewel for the moment, because he was exhausted. He'll remember later.

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  11. Eat her heart?! Ew! Brings to mind bad flashbacks of True Blood.

    Hm. Rather ambitious of Uvie to feel she will take her mother's place as Spirit Talker. How will she accomplish that? It sounds like her mother's power mostly comes from stealing magic from others. Of course, I guess she can now temporarily summon a fairy :P

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    1. She wouldn't cook it though, like the maenad did in True Blood. She'd eat it raw. =P

      I'm basing all this on shamanic practice and beliefs, and in those traditions it was believed you could gain the essence or power of another person or animal by eating certain parts of them.
      A Spirit Talker is just a shaman, Aven would have been training Uvie to take her place all her life. It mostly just involves herbal medicine and similar practices, and trances involving hallucinogens, in which the shaman is transported into the spirit realm. In Chapter 12, you get to see Uvie take her own first spirit journey.

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  12. Have I mentioned how much I love your story?! :)

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