From Mendera Empire – Chapter 7 – Prophecy Girl
~ Kittara - Prophecy Girl ~
About 925 Words
Kittara woke covered in sweat and threw the sheet off the bed as she gasped for breath, her heart pounding in her chest. The words she used for things were going from her mind; she no longer knew who she really was, or where she was. She held up her claw and it wasn’t hers, a strange fleshy hand with five fingers was at the end of her arm.
“Please. Please make it stop !” She screamed.
Even the voice wasn’t hers, but then she remembered where she was and relaxed. The new words Chlo was putting in her head replaced her old language and she now knew the name for the armoire that stood against her bedroom wall. Some words were out of context, what was a long sword ? Why was Chlo pushing it into her key vocabulary ? She calmed down and walked naked to the window, enjoying the cool breeze on her skin.
“No. Not again.”
She held tight onto the window frame as she remembered what had woken her. A dream ? Other words were being pushed into her head, old words, words she understood, but had no translation into Menderan. As each word hit her mind she felt stronger, but for some reason she also felt angry. Kittara walked out of her bedroom and turned right and she was once again startled by the opulence of the royal palace.
The corridor was lined by priceless works of art and her feet left marks in the soft carpet. Down the corridor and she was onto the marble floor of the veranda and then down the curving stairs and she was through the invisible force wall and into the cool air of the Menderan night. Kittara saw the fountain she could see from her bedroom window and walked towards it, just as another ancient word was forced into her head. As she fell to her knees it seemed like a switch had been put in her head, a switch that burned. She felt for the switch. No too vague, unfocused. She stared at the fountain and felt for the switch.
“No !!” She shouted.
A fireball seemed to emerge from her and dig a foot deep trench in the grass before it destroyed the fountain, then ran on and blasted chunks out of the palace wall. Chlo appeared next to her and reached down to her.
“Sorry,” said Kittara, “there are so many voices, things trying to get into my head. Sometimes there doesn’t seem room for me in there.”
As Kittara passed out she felt Chlo touching her arm, the next thing she knew was being on a long bench in the garden with a very worried looking Chlo, sat cross legged on the grass and looking up at her. Kittara noticed she was now dressed in a light robe of some kind. She looked towards the fountain and there it was, working perfectly, no damage, no blast marks.
“Did I ?” Asked Kittara. “It seemed so real.”
“It was real, Chlo cleaned up after you.” Said Sikush.
Kittara looked to her right and Sikush was just appearing and walking towards her.
“She needs a friend,” said Chlo, “someone who’s been through this.”
Sikush sat next to her and turned towards Chlo.
“Yes, I know. I’ll get Alyz to work with her, Alyz had a difficult time after conversion.”
Kittara looked at the fountain and then Chlo and all of it felt completely unreal. All she could think of saying was.
“What is a Long Sword ?”
The Chalné moved his right hand in a slight twist and he was holding a long golden sword that seemed to glow in the dark, though Kittara knew it was magical power she was sensing.
“This,” said Sikush, “is a long sword. Do you want to hold it ?”
As Kittara took hold of the weapon she firstly felt stronger, then she had the sensation of being angry, or rather as though the warrior in her was being prodded and she was certain she could see clearer.
“Good isn’t it ?” Asked Sikush.
Oh yes, it was good and Kittara looked at the etched words along the blade of the Nurigen sword and realised she understood the writing.
“It means………..” Sikush started to say.
“I know what it means. It means what it is and also what I am. Beyond technology, the ultimate weapon.”
The blade was giving her the confidence to say what she’d never have said without it.
“Is that what you’ve turned me into ? One of your ultimate weapons.”
He took the weapon back off her and nodded at her. He could have told her about doing it to save her life, but he knew why he wanted her and yes she was right.
“Yes.” He said.
Kittara slapped him hard across the face as she stood up.
“You should have fucking asked me first !”
“Yes you’re right I should have, but what would have been your answer if I had asked ?”
Kittara was still under the influence of the Nurigen Blade as she felt for the switch in her mind. This was no unfocused blast, the fountain was destroyed completely, but nothing else around it. Her spell had been precise, focused and deadly. She turned towards him as he applauded her.
“Yes ! Of course I’d have said yes.”
~~
If ever I’ve loved a fictional character, it has to be Kittara – Ed
© Ed Cowling ~ November 2024
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