BoM: Chapter Nineteen
Boundaries of Mirkwood
Chapter 19
“It Speaks English!”
Arielle saw a bat flutter and perch upside down.
Arielle saw a bat flutter and perch upside down.
“Déjà vu.”
Arielle blinked.
“Shit.”
A foreign electrical current set off the remnants of a pacemaker still nestled in her heart, skipping several beats. The sensation was akin to that of chewing on aluminum foil. Only in her chest.
Déjà vu. Instinct told her to run, run and not stop. But this world wasn’t the Matrix. Déjà vu might be ordinary déjà vu, like on Earth. Or was it déjà vu as in glitch déjà vu? If it was a glitch then the system had been changed and it was likely the bad guys were up to no good. Maybe an attack. Logically, she needed to identify which kind she was dealing with and to do that she had to detect either the change or the attackers. If neither showed her déjà vu was nothing more than a product of both sleep depravation and the supposedly defunct pacemaker acting up in her chest.
The bats were still dinking about apathetically on their perches. None of the trees looked out of place. Earlier in the hour Tyelco had been murmuring softly to the night, but now all was quiet in the camp below.
Then, peering further out into the darkness on the hillside, she glimpsed an anomaly creeping low. It glided over the ivy and dispersed like a cloud of smoke hit by a strong wind. Horror. It paralyzed her. It hadn’t been. . .
She was reluctant to call what she saw a ‘something,’ as she was certain it wasn’t ‘some’ of any ‘thing’. It wasn’t a dark hole where there should have been ‘something’ nor a black mist evaporating. She could see the ivy through it, and the air hadn’t been distorted as when heat radiates from concrete-it had simply been nothing. A horrible, terrible, anomalous nothing.
Arielle had seen nothing like it, nothing at all and it set her heart pounding in her ears. She could feel her pulse in her fingertips and her lips; her senses were in overdrive as they ached to detect something, for that had to be better. Because the sight of it left her both baffled and fearful. Arielle’s mind went blank and she was at a loss of words, a rarity for her. She hadn’t the words to describe such a fear, danger, nothing. Did it warrant screaming wolf if all she could tell the others was. . .nothing ?
Wolf it was.
She dropped and landed directly next to Abigail’s head. In a skirt she wouldn’t have made such a maneuver on account of the sleeping Abigail chancing to look up to an excellent view of her underwear, but before retiring for the night Abby had forced some nice blue cotton pajama pants and a faded Superman t-shirt eerily similar to the pair she slept in at home upon Arielle. Friggin’ Mary Poppins bag.
“Abby?” she whispered hoarsely. Snorting awake, Abigail turned over on her grass mat and stared stupidly up at Arielle.
“Up. Déjà vu.”
Abigail squinted. “What time-”
Arielle made a quick claming motion with her hand and enunciated, “Day-jà voo.”
Abigail propped herself on her elbows, her confused face about to open and ask a stupid question (probably something to do with why she’d been awakened after only receiving two hours of sleep) when her mouth formed an “o” and her eyes went wide. To Arielle’s surprise, she didn’t start wildly turning about to see what was wrong. Instead, she went for her wand and started gathering herself to stand and be ready, but wasn’t hopelessly obvious about it. With a nod and mental note to give Abby crap about wearing a nightgown resembling something her grandmother would wear, Arielle continued to scan the darkened woods for any sign of movement that wasn’t wind or bats. She avoided one of Yumiko’s outstretched arms, heading for where she’d heard Tyelco’s light voice floating over the sleeping forms. Sure enough, he rose from amid them; he’d noted her arrival, and from his pleasant greeting she supposed he thought she wanted to switch watch. How exactly did one explain déjà vu, glitches, and this kind of danger without words?
Danger first.
Arielle darted her eyes, and only her eyes in the direction of the. . .anomaly, once, and itched her trigger finger next to her six-shooter.
How she adored this edhel! The greeting remained on his lips, but the spark of welcome flickered out of his eyes. An inclination of his head let her know he was wary; he would follow her lead. There was no time to process such responsibility, nor the breadth of the trust he was placing in her judgment.
“Abby?” Arielle heard her take a few steps forward. “Know any spells for bad stuff that can’t necessarily be shot?”
“Of them? Yes. Am I apt? Have I even attempted-”
“Got the idea,” Arielle kept her voice low as the three circled up for a chat. “Keep a sharp eye; we’re gonna do a sweep. Put that photo-memory to use and see if you can’t find something that’s been changed, anything that might resemble a glitch.”
“A glitch? Is that even possible?”
“This past day considered, is the notion we’re in a computer-generated virtual reality really so surprising?”
“Point.”
“Yeah. Could you manage some light without giving us away?”
Abigail snapped her fingers and went for Yumiko’s bag. After a flick of her wand and a whispered spell, she held up a jar containing a deep blue flame, shading the wood cobalt and shadow.
“Great. Now I expect the crazy 88 and a ten-year-old to show.”
Abigail, who had been displaying her jar with a good deal of pride, shoved out her lower lip and quipped, “Would you prefer it if I set off some flairs? Or a flashlight, as I do believe we’re on the pinnacle landmass for some three kilometers.”
Arielle had only been joking to relieve some tension, and was now more exasperated than before. “It wasn’t criticism, just-nevermind. Get behind me.” Tyelco had already elected himself her wingman. There was no time to ponder the fact she was getting used to it.
Abigail looked back to those sleeping in the camp. “But who’s minding them?”
“Mew,” said Neko.
“Come on,” Arielle hissed.
Abigail was rather put out that no one was answering her questions, but there was no time to delay. It was up to her to find the change, or glitch, if anything had happened to their surroundings. Comparing images was a fairly simple process for her, only mildly complicated by the blue tinge. Color palates weren’t her forte.
They swept the northern end of the camp. It was here Arielle concentrated and looked to Abigail expectantly; Abigail saw no difference, or at least none that couldn’t be passed off as wind or an animal. A glitch would be a bit more dramatic, Abigail supposed, something to give an enemy leverage. She was dying to ask Arielle what she’d seen that upset her-for upset she was, striding forcefully, twitching her head about at every sound, oddly placing her hand over her heart now and again, actively seeking something she wasn’t seeing-but they had already spoken too much, and there was the light to give them away yet. From the corner of her eye, she caught Tyelco sending Arielle concerned glances (which probably weren’t lost to Arielle), as he wasn’t seeing signs of an attack.
The trio made a horseshoe about the camp, back around to where the crag split open only a few meters from the camp. Arielle, her face grim, motioned that she was going down. To Abigail’s relief, Tyelco shook his head ‘no’.
“We can’t; it’s too easy an ambush, Arielle,” Abigail whispered.
“And it’s a good way to ambush us up here if they can climb.”
“There’s nothing out here.”
Tyelco took Arielle’s arm and turned his head toward camp, his face radiating concern.
“Don’t!” She shrugged him off and he quirked a brow, unimpressed. “We have to make sure.”
“What did you see?”
“A bat. Twice.”
“Liar,” Abigail snapped. “You told me we might be facing something you couldn’t shoot. What did you see?”
“Well if it were an Agent, I wouldn’t be able to shoot it now, would I?”
Abigail crossed her arms, shifting the blue light about, letting everyone know she was no one’s fool. “Your very posturing of a secondary hypothesis as to what you may or may not have seen suggests that you did see something. What. was. it?”
“Bad juju. I saw really fucking bad juju riding with the four horsemen directly into the apocalypse, dijobu?” Her nostrils flared.
“You’re serious.” Abigail stated methodically, nodding. “What did the ‘juju’ look like?”
Arielle pressed her lips together. Tyelco glanced uncertainly between the two girls; Abigail waiting patiently and Arielle opening, then closing her mouth, her chin ever so slightly quivering.
“You know what the Matrix is, right?”
“Of course.”
“It’s something you have to see it for yourself; I mean, it’s damn near impossible to simply explain it.”
Abigail’s eyes narrowed, “So this ‘juju’-”
“I can’t tell you what I saw, Abby. I don’t know what that. . .anomaly was.”
“Anomaly?”
“Anomaly.”
“Arielle, please, don’t take this poorly, I think you’re spot on, really. But you haven’t slept for two days. . .”
“I saw it.” Her hands became fists.
Abigail sighed. “I believe you think you saw something. . .”
“I didn’t imagine it!”
“As far as we know, what you saw has a natural explanation in this world.”
Then, an unfamiliar voice spoke:
“You may ask.”
Arielle had her gun aimed before the sentenced was complete. She didn’t even take the time to look at her target before she shot. Two things then happened simultaneously; Abigail let out a keening scream and Tyelco sucker tackled her from behind. Under normal circumstances, she supposed that a sixteen-year-old hitting the ground chest first would smart and leave one winded. First the air left her lungs, and then something in her chest popped. She could feel the grinding and twisting and her heart shifting in its cradle. Her stomach rolled, her eyes watered, her chest was suffocating her. She couldn’t breathe: déjà vu, déjà vu, déjà vu, her head sobbed, as her body couldn’t.
With effort, Arielle fought off the sparks behind her eyes and the blanket of unconsciousness. She took one sharp breath, then another.
“Gerrooff.” Arielle growled as Tyleco, still on top of her back, took hold of her wrist with his only good arm, vying for the gun. While zombies didn’t use their solar plexuses, it was a safe bet that live edhel did. Her elbow met him precisely (she heard the woosh of his exhale) and it allowed her a moment to gasp, “I. Missed. On. Purpose. Moron.”
The voice spoke again. “Mad-devil! Um-edan! Do you wish to bring all fell beasts upon us? All in Middle-Earth heard you!”
Craning her head, she saw another edhel on the ground, as if he’d just attempted to dodge a bullet, one bound to miss anyway.
Abigail had dropped her jar and looked on the scene before her in horror. “It speaks English!”
Arrogant furry covered his face at her words. Every ounce of it was set on Abigail and the witch actually whimpered. “I fluently speak and read Westron, unlike your illiterate race which indulges in no other tongue than its own.”
“Arielle, Arielle it’s taunting me!” Normally, Arielle would have found this sentence uproarious and would have taken the opportunity to taunt Abigail herself. That is, she would have if the woman wasn’t preparing to dart into the woods, alone, in terror, near tears, in a somewhat hysterical mental state.
The edhel was only incensed. “You will address me with respect-“
“Shut. Up,” Arielle gasped. Tyelco was getting off her back, literally. It was too bad that at the moment she couldn’t stand. He’ll notice something’s wrong with me; he’ll see Abigail’s in trouble. “Jackass.”
“I am not the one signaling our location while the company is indisposed.”
Using one arm she pushed against the ground and managed to turn her torso on its side without using any of her chest muscles. It was a trick she’d learned in the hospital. Her vision was swimming a bit, but she could still glare up at the edhel. She coughed harshly, and could taste a bit of blood in her mouth. “Oh, it knows where we are; it’s already here, waiting for the party to start.” She couldn’t help herself. “Jackass.”
“It?!” Abigail shrieked.
“The bad juju Abby, the bad ju-” here Arielle coughed again, painfully sputtering up a few more spots of blood into one hand. Tyelco did notice and fell to his knees, gingerly taking her hand to see what the matter was. In a flurry of irritation, Arielle swatted at him and shouted, “You’ve done enough damage!” Except this only served to wind her, leaving her curled up on the ground, gasping, alone when she could not afford to be. Not when they needed her most. Terribly concerned, Tyelco was rattling off words she could not understand as though to comfort and assess the situation. Unfortunately, it only set Arielle further on edge, as she could not understand him, let alone respond.
The other edhel, whom she just recognized as the blond Nessimon, was using a nearby tree for support as he wasn’t completely recovered from the spider venom. He condescendingly stated, “Guardian Tyelco is apologizing unnecessarily and wishes to know if you are in need of assistance. Or should I restate your previous assertion?”
She was being mocked. “No worries. I only broke something important,” she said as she ever so carefully pushed against the ground, ever so obviously in pain.
And Nessimon, sneering, said the second sucker-punch of the evening, worse than taking one in the chest: “Weak.”
Arielle saw red. She could fell the bullet-time humming around her, hers to master. Having high pain tolerance helped. Still on her back she spun about like some crazed break-dancer, drew one leg up to her chest, and with considerable force, solidly applied her Doc Martin clad heel to the underside of his jaw. As an afterthought she mused that if she’d hit only a bit harder, or angled it just so, the whiplash probably would have killed him. Still, she couldn’t muster enough sympathy to feel sorry about it. After all, it hurt her almost as much as it hurt him.
Tyelco was holding her down with his one good arm again and this time a bewildered Abigail was pitching in. Arielle was only half conscientious of the juvenile phrases (even to her own ears) being shouted from her mouth. She was so angry she didn’t care that she’d actually said, “How does that feel for weak, jackass?” which was just about as weak a retort as they came, especially since she was gasping and hacking up blood after every other word.
“ENOUGH!” Bellowed a deep, familiar voice. In disbelief, Arielle snapped her head to the side setting her at eye-level with Niobe. A morphine-drugged Jedi with a hole in her stomach literally dragging herself into the commotion. “I feel essential; I go to sleep for a few hours and already there is a quarrel I must quell.”
Arielle lay gasping on the ground, trying to catch her breath. Then, exerting as little energy as possible, pointed at Niobe. “Oy, Jedi, what did I say ‘bout moving?”
Niobe smiled her wide, enigmatically knowing smile. “So says the woman held together with rope and staples.”
“Rope?” Abigail squeaked, “Staples? Whatever does she mean Arielle?”
“S’no big deal. To bed with you, Jedi!”
If the light weren’t blue, Arielle was sure Abigail’s face would be purple with furry. “You’re coughing up BLOOD.”
“I had some surgery. Routine.”
“Routine where? Auschwitz?” Abigail shrieked.
“Calm down. I know it’ll sound bad, but they do it all the time these days.”
“What?”
“It was just open-heart surgery! I’m fine!”
Abigail did a stunning impression of a fish out of water. Tyelco’s head was snapping back between the girls then shouting in his own language at poor Nessimon who was still in somewhat of a daze between the kick and venom, not entirely up to translating.
It occurred to Arielle that this required further explanation. “It’s routine Abby, honestly, they sent me home in three days. I rebounded like a spring.”
Abigail’s eyes began to tear up, “Oh Arielle. . .and all this time you were hurt. . .you must have been in so much pain fighting, and fragile-”
“I’M NOT FRAGILE!” Arielle shouted hoarsely. It hadn’t hurt. Much.
“I know what open-heart surgery is!” Abigail snarled, in full-on hysterics, “Don’t you dare try to fop it off as some routine exam! Your sternum’s cut in two, straight through the bone. They cut your heart out, and fixed it, and put it back in and in the process a good portion of your lungs probably died (and it’s ruptured now, you ninny!), and there’s nothing holding you together at this moment aside from some metal brackets and, and string, and a millimeter of skin!”
Arielle was about to be outraged and insist she was fine, except Abigail burst into tears, and between sobs said, “And you battled monsters and spiders and saved a pack of strangers and never thought of yourself, did you? I feel sick just thinking of what that must have felt like and you never, never complained. Not a word. Oh, I’m so sorry, so sorry I-”
Arielle patted Abigail awkwardly on the arm as she shook her head half horrified, half in denial. “It’s okay Abby. I was fine.” At the moment, Arielle just wanted to find a hole and die of embarrassment. Especially now that Nessimon was sitting nearby, glaring at her, hearing every word and to her horror, would eventually relay what was said to Tyelco.
But Abigail was on a roll. Crying, she tool Arielle’s arm and spoke in earnest. “I said the worst things. I didn’t mean it that way. . .you’re not fragile where it counts. No one who does that. . .you’re not fragile at all.”
Arielle didn’t really know where to look. Her throat was tight and there were little prickles in her eyes. “I think I. . .you’re crushing me Abby.”
Abigail jumped back. “Sorry! I’m sorry!”
“Well!” Niobe said, spearheading the awkward silence before it could ensue. “I think I’m done here. Abby, be a doll and float me back to bed.”
“Oh!” Abby was easily distracted as a child to a shiny object, wiping her nose on the sleeve of her nightgown. “Niobe you shouldn’t have moved.”
“I can’t help it.” Niobe secretively winked at Arielle as Abigail took out her wand. “I move as the Force moves me.”
“Damn meddling Jedi,” Arielle muttered, taking a moment to reflect on just how tactfully Niobe had completely placated the situation within seconds. We’d have killed each other by now without her, Arielle thought.
There was a loud gasp accompanied by the sound of leaf litter rustling, which Arielle could tell was Nessimon’s reaction to Abigail doing magic without even looking. Tyelco was instantly over by his side, speaking in a hurried but quiet voice. He was probably telling Nessimon that the four girls were alright in spite of their really freaky weird powers. She hoped he was telling the jackass to stop being a jackass. At least Tyelco’s voice was soothing. Given the circumstances, she might have fallen asleep then and there if she didn’t have a big rock digging into her back.
And if she hadn’t seen a bat overhead.
After, she couldn’t recall how she managed to get on her feet or draw her sword. She just did it because she had to.
“Come down here!” Arielle shook her sword up at the air. “You sonofabitch, you come down here and play.”
For a moment nothing happened. Then, materializing from nothing, a little scrap of paper fell from heaven, shimmering in the blue light and landing at Arielle’s feet.
“Abby-”
Abigail didn’t need telling. “Accio paper!” The little slip must have flown to Abigail successfully, as she soon poked Arielle (who was concentrating on the canopy) in the shoulder.
“It’s for us, I think.” The witch looked pale. And terrified.
Arielle took the slip. In black cursive was written:
Interlopers:
The board was set before your time,
THE END predestined.
The world is now my possession,
Any intrusion is mine to check.
I have moved my pawn.
Die, and do not return.
-C.T.
Arielle was in the middle of formulating a witty retort, something to do with how much hurt a disembodied nothing could really bring on, when a brilliant streak of pink light shot through the air, cutting the blue. As it struck the vicinity of where the paper materialized, pink sparks exploded followed by a long hissing.
“Gone!” A wide awake, albeit grumpy, Yumiko declared. “It two in morning! I want sleep, I am tired. But you-” and here her glare passed over the stunned group of edhel and women in turn, “talk, talk, talk all night long when we have long day!”
“Mew!” Agreed Neko, sitting at her mistress’ feet.
“Now Nothing gone. We sleep peaceful tonight. No more chat-chat!” She slung her bow over one shoulder and grabbed Arielle by the arm. In all the excitement, Arielle hadn’t realized she was teetering. And felt sick. And every inch of her chest ached.
“No more bang-bang tonight Elle,” Yumiko ordered over her nose, wagging one finger in Arielle’s face. “I help you sleep; you’ll feel better tomorrow.”
Arielle, her shoulders hunched over from the pain, grinned. “You speak English.”
“Who say I didn’t?”
“Nobody. It’s just, you never said more than a few words before.”
“When did I need to?” Yumiko asked giggling.
“Touché.”
Abigail huffed as she once again pointed her wand at Niobe. “Anyone else wish to declare their fluency?”
“No need to be upset, Abby,” Niobe soothed.
“It’s ridiculous Niobe! At the going rate, I half expect Neko to start reciting sonnets.”
“Meow!” Neko denied.
“And-good edhel, I didn’t catch your name,” Abigail said, turning to poor Nessimon who was floundering for words.
“It’s Lieutenant Nessimon-”
“Lieutenant Nessimon, I’d like to apologize for my outburst earlier. So rude! I say the stupidest thing when I’m unnerved. I had all you edhel pegged as aliens; imagine my shock when you spoke English.”
“Westron.” Nessimon corrected icily. “And ‘edhel’ is the Sindarin word for our kind. In Westron, we are ‘elves’.”
“Elves?” Arielle asked, confused. She was thinking about Santa’s elves, but she wasn’t dumb enough to say that out loud.
“Elves, fair folk, firstborn,” he spat, his frustration mounting. “Who are you? What are you? I demand you reveal the content of that slip of paper and what it is going on!”
“You could have asked,” Arielle mocked with his own words and passed him the paper. “But it’s funny; I was gonna ask you the same question.”
Nessimon read in silence; Yumiko huffed impatiently as she supported Arielle.
“What is this?”
“You tell us. It was after you lot first; we rescued your asses, and now it wants us all. Tyelco can tell you all about the fun.”
Yumiko cleared her throat.
“In the meantime we’re all going to bed. Night Ty.”
The elf inclined his head to her and was then subjected to Nessimon’s demands in his own tongue.
In a low voice as they hobbled the few steps back to camp, Arielle asked, “Are we really in the clear Yumiko?”
“Hai, for now. My arrow struck close, but not in heart.”
“I’ve been dying to ask you: what is that pink stuff?”
Yumiko laughed, “Purity! Love! Life! Peace!”
Arielle would have laughed heartily, but that hurt.
“You sleep now; I help,” Yumiko helped her sit down on a tutomi mat spread next to Niobe. “Neko will watch.”
Arielle sat, miserably examining her t-shirt. “I got blood on me. And this was my favorite t-shirt too.”
“I get you another!”
“No, no thanks. I’m good.”
Abigail, having set Niobe on the ground volunteered. “I could clean it up. Scourgify!”
In a burst of unanticipated bubbles, her shirt was cleaned spotless, though left a bit wet. “Warn a woman before you do that! It’s weird.”
“Sorry.”
While Arielle was still distracted, Yumiko poked her chest, right over her scar with some pink, easing away some of the pain.
“Hey!”
“I no apologize!” And the miko plopped down on her mat with a sigh of contentment.
“Impossible.” Abigail muttered as she lay down, drawing a blanket over herself and putting out the blue light.
Arielle slowly followed their example, easing onto the mat and removing her weapons, setting them close to her head. After shifting a bit she found Niobe, who lay next to her, awake and smiling.
“Whatever you’re on, I want some,” Arielle whispered
Niobe chuckled, but forced herself to stop. “No jokes. They hurt.”
“Preaching to the choir, sister,” Arielle replied, patting her chest.
“I was musing on our current predicament. Our strengths.”
“Strenghts?” Arielle quipped, and checked her volume. “Take a look around you. We’re the merriest bunch bitch-slapped fuck-ups this side of the whore house.”
Niobe’s chest rumbled, fighting back laughter again. “Ah, but we have trust; we have it in one another and trust that the edhel will return it to us. Where mercy is shown, so it is given.”
“They still need protection Niobe. I did have déjà vu. Whatever sent that paper meant business, it screwed with the system, and the elves haven’t a clue what’s going on.”
“Still, I say we have been one step ahead of this ‘juju’, up until the incident with the zombies. That stands for something.”
“Yeah, we didn’t know about this juju until tonight,” Arielle replied, her lowering further, “But I’d had the feeling we were being followed since we left the tree house. Ten bucks says it was this C.T. thing, or something with C.T. I feel like the walls are closing in on a trap.”
“Hmm.” Niobe frowned. “I also sensed we were being followed.”
“Whatever’s going down is big, Niobe,” Arielle squinted a bit, catching sight of Tyelco and Nessimon softly speaking at the outskirts of the camp. “And I bet they know more than they’ve let on.”
“Perhaps,” Niobe said indifferently, though her eyes suggested she agreed. “But it is time for rest. I confess, I am not well.”
Arielle snorted. “No shit.”
Niobe closed her eyes. “Go to sleep Arielle.”
“Night.”
And Arielle was alone with her thoughts (bats, cracked cups, the definition of ‘elf’, CT. . .Complete Tool? She knew a Clifford Thomas in third grade. . .) and pain to keep her company.
Before drifting off she wondered what CT had meant by ‘pawn’, but the question wasn’t enough to rouse her awake, and with all the drama to come in the morning, her thought was not revisited.
Um-edan (S) = evil mortal.