Writers round table

[seradhe]

"how can I assist you?" I croaked.

I had a brief moment of clarity, staring up at the man before me. For a moment I understood my place in events, everything clicked into place, and the truth that the fate of more than just earth might be resting on my shoulders, all of it depending on the choices I made.

But then the sheer amount of events focused solely upon me flooded over my thoughts, and I found myself just as lost as before. My mind reeled. was that flash the wildflower telling me to be careful? was the wildflower sentient? so many questions and it seemed the only people with the answers wanted to use me and keep me dumb.

The king smiled widely. I could imagine that sharks had that smile when they knew they had the slower, stupider fish. "My boy, you do not merely 'assist' the king," he spoke in silky smooth words. I looked over to see Reza practically swooning, just from the sound of his voice. "You serve the kingdom, and I, as the agent for the needs of the kingdom, will be the one directing you to better aid us."

It took effort to hide me wincing. I mean, he just said "you're my slave" in a very roundabout way. I guess if his voice had the same affect on me as it seemed to have on the rest of his subjects (even D'vaisa seemed to be teetering on her many legs), I might already being pledging my allegiance to him... er, the realm.

I tried my best to look lost (which was pretty easy), the last words of Andre and Debbie were ringing in my head. "I....I need some time to rest" I said softly, "may we speak again soon?" I tried to give him puppy eyes. I mean, if he was going to treat me like a stupid child, then I can use that to my advantage.

The kings smile faltered, turning almost into a scowl before he seemed to recover. "Of course, my boy, the resources of my castle are yours to use, until you are of sufficient health to start your duties to the Realm". with that he turned and flowed, no stepping, it was like he glided, out of the room.

[Kristine]

"Of course, my boy, the resources of my castle are yours to use, until you are of sufficient health to start your duties to the Realm". with that he turned and flowed, no stepping, it was like he glided, out of the room.

 

(click to show/hide)

sorry all got carried away so this was a long one.

I tried not to show that I breathed a sigh of relief when he left. D'vaisa seemed to regain her balance again but almost twittered with excitement. "Fortunate you are Young Master that the King will help you with the direction of the wildflower.  He is..." she paused and seemed to quiver with the very thought of him, "an extraordinary man."

The only thing I had see that was extraordinary about him was his magical power to influence other people (and maybe that floating-out-of-the-room thing).  "Sure." I nodded but I wasn't able to keep all the sarcasm out of my voice and Reza scowled at me before she caught herself.

"His Highness was generous to give you time to recuperate after your foolish actions in the helicopter that caused you to come to harm." she grated,"use it wisely to get some sleep so that you may serve the kingdom tomorrow." 

D'vaisa missed the threat, "Oh he will be ready to rise and move around tomorrow.  Not maybe all day but some time." she nodded assessing my health honestly.  Reza smiled like a serpent to a mouse and stood up and looked down at me, "Till tomorrow then, human Joey." she purred and sauntered out of the room.  I watched her go until she had closed the door behind her and couldn't hear what was about to happen next.  Something had occurred to me and so far D'vaisa had been so honest about everything else.

"D'vaisa?" I caught her attention, "Why did the spider poison work when the wildflower was supposed to protect me?"

The many segmented healer pushed back the stray red hair that had come loose from her bun. "The Wildflower will do what it needs, to get you where you are needed, to do what is needed, as it's focus young Joey." she tilted her head as if I was asking her to explain why people had feet. 

I nodded as if I understood this cryptic crap, "and what does it need?"

She smiled again and I wanted to shake her "It needs balance, it needs order and chaos, good and evil, awe and cynicism, magic and technology to have equal parts in the world."  She squinted into the distance, "Young master you come from a world that has little magic and the Emperor comes from a world where magic powers everything.  You are two sides of the same blade. The magic connects everything and you as a pure human have the least connection.  You can not burn with it, you simply channel it. It passes into you and through you without ... making you something else.  You will never hold it in your mind and body but you will, eventually be able to grasp it and push it."

Now I was very confused, "I thought It will do what is needed?"

She nodded as if I had finally understood something, "Yes, yes, light a candle - cast a shadow.  Where there is darkness it will make you it's light, where there is light you will be darkness.  And if things are kept in balance then no power will present itself to you."  she smiled again, "the king will keep you in neutral areas until you are needed then, will send you where balance is needed."

Somewhere in my philosophical ignorance a lightbulb went on, "so if I stay in balanced areas I will never have access to this power.  I'll never learn to use it."

She laughed as if I said something funny rather than something disturbingly chilling, "The king is a great man, he will find a use for you, and no place is completely balanced in all things."

I fervently hoped that I would get to balance things enough to escape the king's machinations.  I had a feeling the balance of power was sadly lacking in much of the world of Wildfire to force someone like me to take a role in things.

[meg_evonne]

I awoke early the next day, just before sunrise.  D'Vaisa had laid out clothes for me.  Proper clothes, if not a little fancy.  Some tights that were impossible to get on, knee bloomers that fastened just below my kneecaps.  The shirt was a rich, elegant nubbed silk of some sort.  A wide leather belt, the same as had been given to me in the helicopter held everything in place. There was also a hat, with a ridiculous feather in it.  I left it on the bed, when in Rome rules had limits after all. Soft jerkin boots that reached mid-calf felt worn and comfortable to my feet.  I wouldn't be getting blisters at least.

On the table where Wildflower lay, was the leather shoulder harness and an intricately worked metal scabbard.  The soft tooled leather harness carried impressed gold runes which were meaningless to me but probably warded off evil or something.  I slipped it over my head and left shoulder, which would grant  me access to Wildflower's hilt with my right hand.

As the sun slipped into through the nearby window, it reflected on the saber, laying upon a side table.  For the first time I could see and touch the thing that had set my life on such an improbable path.  It looked like a ceremonial sword.  When needed, it had glowed with powerful energy that had made my hair stand on end, but it also possessed  real shape and form, not just energy.  Now it lay domant, shining in the morning sun without the energy but still looking beautiful & deadly.

To test the blade, I ran my finger over it's sharp edge and blood was drawn with surgical efficiency.  The business end was smooth, gently curving without nick or scratch.  The blade end nearest the hilt carried etchings that bore deep into the metal.  Looking closer, I could make out a series of wild flowers intermixed with unknown runes.  I touched them gently. It didn't roar to life as it had when I had needed it's power but the individual wild flower did light from within and a soft tone emitted.  I touched the others, seven total, each carrying a color of the rainbow.  When I experimented running my fingers up the entire side of the blade they streaked color outwards.  In doing so, I felt an eighth, hidden half under the simple metal guard.  When I touched it, the light blazed white, lighting up the still shadowy corners of the room with its brillance.  The white carried no audible tone, to my ears at least.  I was sure that the colors meant something, that they denoted perhaps various magical abilities within the sword.  If nothing else, the white light would mark my path into the darkest dungeon or the blackest of caves.

The hilt guard was so simple, as to not be non-existant.  I doubted it was terribly efficient in parrying a thrust from an opponent, but what did I know about swords?  Looking closely, I realized that there was a small  retangular cut next to the blade along each side of the guard.  Perhaps it was designed to "catch" the opponet's weapon in some way?  I shook my head, I didn't know enough about sword design and I didn't think I'd get a chance to google it anytime soon.

From past usage, I knew that the handle molded itself perfectly to my grip but I didn't take it up.  Soft brown leather wrapped it.  Gold had once embelished it, but it was worn now, barely noticeable to my eye.  The end--a bud shaped carved metal ball. The unblemished beauty of a rosebud for a virgin?  Okay, let's not dwell on that yet.

I finally picked it up in my right hand and felt it humm with a soft resinating power that filled me with a sense of confidence and a healthy contentment.  It did not glow, but the power was there for me to call when needed and it physically indicated that to me.  I guess better to say, when it called me into service.   I slipped it into the sabbard, where it settled with smooth familiarity. I pulled it out several times and thrust it back in. There was a slight catch between the leather inside the metal scabbard and the metal of the hilt--a physical rubbing or griping that held it securely in place & that resisted only slightly when I pulled it out.

D'Vaisa still not awake or perhaps already gone, I opened the front door of the stone hut and exited into the stone thorofare outside where morning merchants were pulling handcarts filled with food stock and trinkets for a morning market.  No one took heed of my presence.  I wondered just how far I could make it outside the area around the fortress before someone, or something stopped me.  I hadn't gone far, when I saw a glint off a mirror perhaps up in a tree that settled on my face. Looking up, I saw Debbie and Andre--I'd rather they were miles away and safe.  One, I didn't really trust them to have my benefit at heart and I saw no way that they could help me without coming to peril themselves.  Still they were there and I hoped would remain out of sight.


(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mameluke_sword)

[seradhe]

I hadn't gone far, when I saw a glint off a mirror perhaps up in a tree that settled on my face. Looking up, I saw Debbie and Andre--I'd rather they were miles away and safe.  One, I didn't really trust them to have my benefit at heart and I saw no way that they could help me without coming to peril themselves.  Still they were there and I hoped would remain out of sight.

The marketplace was unlike anything I could have expected. Beings of every shape and size moved amongst each other, stopping in front of stalls to barter for goods. But the entire place was oddly quiet, in fact the only voices I heard were usually the Vendors to their help, or amongst the people not currently shopping.

It wasn't until I got close enough to a stall that I saw why. The buyer would point out an object, and the vendor would place it on the table between them. The buyer would then place his money (I could only assume the small, moss green gems everyone had was money) or wares on the opposite end, and both sides would then move their contents closer to the center, or pull back depending on what was added or removed to their respective piles. When both piles were in a stripe painted bright yellow down the center of the table, did they shake hands and the barter was considered done.

The fact that this was all done without a word spoken mesmerized me, and I was threatened away from several bartering tables after watching the transactions for hours. Silently I untucked my shirt and let it fold loosely over the jeweled pommel of the wildflower, silently praying it was still the plastic FX lightsaber that began it's life with me.

A flash of light came from another tree down the way. I squinted into it and Saw Debbie and Andre, mouthing something at me. Suddenly they tilted the mirror up, and i heard a gasp behind me. I turned fast, hand on my blade, but all I saw were a couple of guys squinting as Debbies mirror blinded them.

Then they blurred a bit, nondescript robes gave way to military looking uniforms and rather nasty-looking maces. But then the light was gone, and the two figures were just another pair of shoppers. I tried to not stare and quickly turned a corner. Debbie and Andre were gone from their perch. So I was being followed.

[GWiz]

Debbie and Andre were gone from their perch. So I was being followed.

Of course. It made sense that the King would want to keep an eye on me or maybe send some goons to fetch me to him. So far, the two soldiers seemed to be keeping their distance, so I was guessing that their mission was observe and report. A thought struck me as I watched the two disguised men walk by my alley slowly, heads swiveling back and forth as they searched the street for me. I was looking for a chink in the disguise, an imperfection or telltale sign that would alert me whenever I encountered a disguised person, but nothing disrupted the look of an average joe out shopping for lizard entrails or finger symbols or whatever the hell it was people bartered for here. My dilemma became one of not just watching out for these two. Unless I wielded the Wildflower, which I was sure would give me the light I needed to penetrated the disguises, I had no way to tell if anyone I saw was just a normal person or someone in disguise. What I needed was a good flashlight.
   I felt a weird tingling sensation over my whole body. You need no flash of light. They will not notice you now. It took me a few seconds of turning and looking around frantically before I realized that the Wildflower was speaking to me.

[meg_evonne]

I turned to a glazed window to my right where I had just seen my wavering image.  It was gone.  Wildflower had given me invisibility, which was pretty incredible.  Then again the lights on the saber might indicate it used light as a major power and invisibility was a matter of refracting/rearranging light as any Harry Potter fan can tell you.  At least that's how I always thought the cloak worked. I lifted my shirt and pulled out the Wildflower.  The green etching was glowing.  Okay--green invisibility or light twisting.

I stepped out into the flow of traffic and turned back.  Footsteps in the sand.  It was light twisted then, not for real invisibility.   I started back down through the people, very carefully avoiding anyone bumping into me.  I looked up to the fortress and then towards the tree branches, masking Andre and Debbie.  Which way to go?  At last I decided to head out of the market place towards the tree and the assumed freedom beyond. 

Near the edge of the market, some boys ran straight into me, racing past.  The last was passing me with a homemade doll clutched in one of his hands.  A young girl beside one of the market stalls burst into tears, screaming to bring back her baby.  Without thought, I reached out and brought the young offender back, removed the doll, and handed it back to the upset girl.  She leaned forward and hugged me about my legs, her returned baby tucked safely away.   Obviously the green button had gone off and I was no longer invisible.  I looked down and, through the thin silk shirt, streaming out of the sabbard was the full color range of Wildflower.  Wow, was that what it did, when it restored the fulcrum between good and evil?  Debbie had said that it was large and small things that caused disruption in the teeter totter of life in this world.  So even something as small as righting a conflict between children was of importance to Wildflower.

The rainbow lit the young girl's face and she immediately backed away.  She couldn't be but four or five.  She turned and raced to her mother manning the stall and tugged on her dress, pointing my way.  The mother was bartering, silently, but when she looked up and saw me standing there with rainbow lights streaming out.  The woman stood slowly and nodded her head downwards, the young girl repeated the action, then the buyer at the stall turned and saw me and did the same.  I spun around wanting to disappear into the crowd but the young boys had come back and were standing in my way, their heads bowed but eyes on the lights. 

The one who had taken the doll spoke in hushed tones, "I am sorry, Wildflower.  I should not have taken the doll.  I will not do so again."  Then he tipped his head upwards, eyes huge in his small face, "May we see the Wildflower?  Please Master Gardner, may we see it?  My father says that he saw it once when he was a boy, but the Imperor took it and locked it within the fortress where no one could see it.  My father says it is ours, not the Imperor's and it is our right to have the Master Gardner live among us, not locked with it in the fortress.  Please may we see it?"

Another boy spoke louder, his voice shaking in fear, covering his eyes.  "No, do not show us, the Imperor says we will die if we look at it."

The young thief pushed at his friend, "No it will not.  It is a lie the Imperor has said to make us afraid.  Wildflower will not hurt us, neither will the Master Garder."  the tow headed kid looked to me with a fearful expression, looking for confirmation. 

Beyond our small circle the news had spread, several had approached, but beyond I saw a crowd of the soldiers, no longer magically cloaked, pushing their way through the crowd.  Wildflower whispered,  "Show me to the people."  I didn't question the words but pulled out Wildflower and held it over my head.  The rainbow colors blasted outwards into and over the people and stretched as high in the air as I could see.  Overall, a pretty nifty special effect.  The crowd started crying out, applauding, some bowing down.  Those unfortunate to be near the soldiers however were tossed like leaves in the wind as they closed on my position. 

Over the confusion and noise came a louder voice and the thundering of horse's hooves.  People scattered willingly out of the way and Debbie on a giant horse bore down on my position.  She carried the reins of another horse, equally as tall.  She pulled her horse back onto its haunches, stopping both beasts dramatically before me.  The young boys scrambled to get out of the way and I stuffed Wildflower back into the scabbard. 

"Get on the horse, you fool!"  Debbie screamed.  I glanced back at the soldiers, now within a few feet.  I grabbed the saddle, stuck my foot in the stirrup, as Debbie turned and raced the horses back out of the market place into the surrounding forest.  Only one problem, I hadn't managed to get my other foot over the horse to get into the saddle.  It wasn't as easy as it looks in the movies.  So I rather dangled and hung on for dear life beside it as we raced.  The people filled the gap behind us, holding up the soldiers.  I could see a contingency of mounted soldiers pouring out of the fortess main gates, but we had a huge lead on them.

That's when Cloud who Farts, showed up.

Okay, maybe some housekeeping notes:  Green - light twisting, invisibility being one power.  White - awesome flashlight that can see past magical disquises.  Rainbow - mission accomplished. 

Finally I thought that the saber could also be a lyre or small harp, again only one octave---as Debbie had asked, "Is that what it looks like to you?" of Joey.  Just a note incase we find a place to insert it later.

How about a place to ask clarifying questions, in case they come up. 

[Qualapec]

That's when Cloud who Farts, showed up.

Maybe 'showed up' wasn't quite the appropriate termanology. More like 'phased into existance' right in front of our horses. Either from the shock of the suddenness of the appearence, the smell that must have been terrible to a horse, or the fact that herbavores always freak out when a predator is near by, the animals underneath us freaked. They reared up and sqealed terrified screams.

My grip was bad enough as it was. The sudden rising startled me, before I knew it the cobblestone road was breaking my fall. My head connected with it, hard. Where black didn't dance at the corners of my vision, sunspots dominated. I remained like that for a moment. In a haze of rainbows and darkness that I wanted to just sink into really badly. But I saw Debbie's horse rear back too, moments after mine. She was clearly more acrobatic than I was, but she fell at a bad angle, and ended up hitting the ground with only slightly more grace than I managed. Her hand came down first and was unable to support her weight.

It was the sound of the bone snapping in her arm and the screaming that pulled me from my confused haze. At least partially. She lay, writhing, only a few feet from me. It seemed wrong, shouldn't I have had the strength to craw over to her. Make sure she got out of there okay.

Ring Wraith Wannabe beat me to it. He decended on Debbie like a grim reaper. A single, pale spidery hand emerged from the black smoke that seemed to pass as clothing. Impossibly long, it reached towards Debbie without the monster ever even having to bend over. Just seemed to keep coming from somewhere in the cloud. She saw it coming towards her, and in that moment fear like I'd never seen crossed her face. She stared at the skelatal hand coming towards her, and was clearly too terrified to move.

I wanted to help her. Desperately. But wouldn't you know it? I was too damned terrified to move as well.

I never liked Andre much, from the moment I saw him I didn't know whether to like or dislike him. But right about then I wanted to shower his blond, hat covered head with praises and flowers. He was a blond blur that landed just outside the circle of guards that had now formed. I could barely follow as he launched himself at the enemy. The next thing I knew the offending pale arm was flying through the air, unattatched to the wraith. Andre stood between Debbie and the creature, with a kind of cold anger burning in his eyes that promised so much more than immediate retribution. "You. Can. Not. Have. Her. BASTARD!!!" He then threw himself at the creature, swinging a strange Chinese style sword in and attempt to lop off its head. The blade seemed to go right through. "Debbie! MOVE, girl!" He called at her.

Debbie had recovered and scurried over to me. I noticed for the first time that she no longer had the ruby bracelette on her wrist. I didn't have time to contemplate whether or not I really wanted to go with her, she grabbed my shoulder, "Joey, please. Take us out of here. We NEED to GO!" She yelled.

I was too stunned to do much. But I did know one thing. If I didn't find some way to get out of there, Debbie would die. Questionable loyalties aside...I still cared about her as much as any friend. I didn't think I could bear to watch anything happen to her. It was the sudden pain at the thought of her loss that activated the Wildflower. We began to disapear, and Andre stopped his fight. He glanced our direction. I could have sworn I saw a small smile cross his face as he stepped away from the wraith and turned himself in to the throng of guards watching the brawl.

Debbie and I reappeared, stunned, and shaken, in a quiet marsh setting. Her breath was ragged with shock and tears. Her one working hand was gripping me so tightly I thought the nails would pierce the skin. "Damnit...I could have...He didn't have to. Oh, GODS!" For the first time I saw whatever resolve she had crumble.

"Why did he just walk into the guards like that?" I said, trying not to sound accusing.

"That THING," She said, between sobs, "Wouldn't have led him go. He walked into the guards so he could live for another few hours." She turned to me, "Joey. They're going to execute him. We have to DO something. Please."

[meg_evonne]

I had a serious headache coming on and frankly I was sick and tired of playing the hero.  I'd gladly hand the Wildflower off to the nearest pitch hitter, but no one was going to be coming.  I couldn't go on as we had though, if I didn't get some sort of fucking plan together, we were all going to die.

1. Debbie had a broken arm.
2. "Daddy mage" was being held, probably in the fricking huge fortress, guarded by minions AND one scary, deadly Fart Cloud and at the most I had a couple hours to organize and mount a mission.  "Daddy" was probably in non-magic mode with another ruby bracelet, so he wasn't going to be any help in the escape at all.
3. The Emperor was a mind control freak of major proportions.
4. The people of this world needed to be free from the Emperor.
5. Earth and everyone I knew was next step down on the food chain list.

So no problem.  I needed a healer, I needed an army to scale the walls of the fortress to rescue Andre, I needed on huge kick ass mage terminator for Fart Cloud, and I needed to permanently wipe the Emperor out of the picture--which if I could do all that, then I was home free.  Well, except for having to stay a virgin.  That sucked big time.

To top it off, I was hungry.  I'd skipped breakfast and I hadn't felt like eating since landing in the kingdom of Oz, what with little matters like being rescued from the bad guys more than once, falling out an airplane, being bitten by a deadly snake, threatened by an Emperor, and now being thrown from a horse after once more escaping with my life.  Things were out of hand, major, big time, fucking out of control.  That's when Debbie must have reached her limit because she started crying, holding her broken arm. 'Fuck it all,' I thought.  'Just Fuck the whole damn hero thing.' I yanked Wildflower out of it's holster thing and took a whack at the nearest tree.  Bad move, it actually fell and I barely got of its path as it crashed down.  I walked over to the downed tree trunk and sat on it and hoped for some wisdom to break out one brilliant blasted plan to take care of everything, so we'd all end up living happily ever after.  BUT NO that would be too easy!  Don't give the hero a break.  Don't give the hero a Happy Meal to eat either. 

I leaned over with my elbows on my knees wanting to vomit, when that didn't happen, I started knocking the flat side of Wildflower into my head.  Maybe I'd be lucky and it would impart some ass kicking monster plan.  As soon as I thought about it, I stopped and waited, looking around.  Nope, no luck.  Nothing, nada, zilch.  I was screwed. I was so screwed.

I stood up and thrust Wildflower back into it's scabbard and walked over to the crying Debbie.  I tripped on the way over.  Yeah, real hero like.  I ended up falling pretty much in front of her.  At least she stopped crying, but her arm was swelling and turning blue.  That couldn't be good.

"Debbie, here's the plan.  I'm not going any further without a kick ass healer who follows us around on a retainer."  She nodded, of course she would, she was the one with the broken arm.  "Next we can't do this alone anymore.  We need reinforcements, big time who can fight, scale walls, and kill goons."  She nodded again in agreement.  "Finally, someone needs to zap that cloud fart into non-existance, along with the Emperor and last thing, I'm damn hungry!" 

A sound behind us, had me spinning the Wildflower out, ready for bad things.  I was a little surprised when little green men walked out of fricking Sherwood Forest.  They even had the funny hats with feathers. Behind them came Friar Tuck with one huge turkey leg the size of my arm.   



   

[GWiz]

Behind them came Friar Tuck with one huge turkey leg the size of my arm.     

Who the hell are these guys? I thought. I asked for an army; I got the “It’s a Small World” cast from Mars. On a whim, I blurted out, “Okay, which of youse tough guys is the doc?” The little green guys all stopped at once, each of them tilting their heads and staring at me with piercing blue eyes like I was the alien. Which, of course, I guess I was in this world. Friar Tuck, on the other hand, simply lumbered forward, dropping the fleshless bone of his turkey leg into the swamp and wiping his greasy hands on his well worn tunic. I was pretty sure it wasn’t for the first time, either.
   He approached Debbie, who stood absolutely stock still, a look of stunned amazement on her face. She glanced at me quickly; the kind of look you’d give the door lock on your car when you were trying to open it in a hurry while keeping an eye on the hulking stranger in the parking lot. He reached for her broken arm, and suddenly I found a well of good-intentioned, but completely misplaced protectionism. I leapt between the Hulk in all his glorious, green, 7 foot tall glory and my frightened, gaping damsel in distress, the Wildflower blazing a multitude of hues as I thrust it out in front of me. The creature simply reached out and gently moved the Wildflower to one side, then grasped Debbie’s broken arm with care I’d not thought possible with hands the size of dinner plates. He closed his azure orbs briefly and hummed tunelessly for a moment, a sound more felt than heard as he mumbled and grumbled. Then he released Debbie, who fell straight down on the grass. Her arm seemed good as new.
   She pushed herself up into a sitting position. “I don’t believe it! You called the Crane’s Guild! How did…..I mean, what…..that is, I….” She stammered. She was at a loss for word. Me, I’m never at a loss for words, which sometimes is a detriment.
   “I called who? It looks like I called the Incredible Hulk and his fifty kids!”
   “Who is Incredible Hulk?” asked the Incredible Hulk. “My name Humbert!” he laughed.

[Qualapec]

“Who is Incredible Hulk?” asked the Incredible Hulk. “My name Humbert!” he laughed.[/QUOTE}

I stood there for a moment in absolute shock at the man with a laugh jollier than that of Santa Claus, "Debbie, who is this guy? Who are the dwarfs?"

She snorted, "That's, actually, exactly what they are."

My day just kept getting better and better and freaking better. "Yeah," I growled back, "Where's Snow White?"

She gulped, looked at Humbert, then looked back at me, then back at him, "Joey! Show some respect!"

"Why?" I whispered back.

"They're the Crane's Guild." As if that explained everything, "They're a secret guild of magic users that have pledged to only use good magic. They sprung up not too long after the Emperor conquered Wildfire and started enlisting all magic users into his corps. They...refused to fight, among other things..."

Humbert's great booming voice entered the conversation. He wasn't angry, I just assumed this was the natural state of his voice, whether he was happy, sad, angry. Right about then I would have gone with sad more than anything else. "Emperor is a terrible leader of men. He forces people to serve him, and then changes their shapes. Turns them to monsters that should not tread anything, not air or water, earth or sky."

My heart skipped a beat as my mind made a connection, "Like, Farts in the Wind? The...that Gascious Cloud of Evil, that's what he turned the magic users into?"

Debbie shook her head, "No...his kind existed long before sentient beings walked this world. He's talking about the spider warriors that attacked us. They are the Emperor's army. All magic users were ordered to report for duty...and forced to change the shape of their body and heart to best fit the needs of the Empire..." She spoke with pain in her voice, like the very thought disgusted her, and I suspected she had some personal connection to the atrocity.

But...the spider-folk had been scary enough when I thought they were just your plain ol' generic monster. But the thought that those things were once people gave me goosebumps. Would this guy stop at nothing?

Before I could ask anything else, Debbie rose to her feet only to abruptly drop back down onto her hands and feet and bow a moment later. "Great Sage Humbert. My name is Debyone Ursula, and you have my greatest thanks to you for healing my arm...If I may beg one more thing of you. I cannot help but feel there is some sort of fate involved in our meeting here. My...father," She seemed to struggle with the word, "has been taken by the King and his men, he awaits execution in the dungeons for the thievery of the Wildflower. I beg of you to help me free him."

More sadness crossed across Humbert's face, it had never occured to me that a man like THAT could be sad about anything, ever. But it seemed as though he was a perfect example of the gentle giant. He placed a large hand on Debbie's shoulder, gently, reassuringly, "Rise. I do not like people to bow before me. I have done nothing deserving." Debbie slowly rose to her feet, and Humbert continued, "Child, I understand your plight. But cannot help. If all who attained power such as mine used it simply at his own will to change fates of men then the world would be filled with tyrants like the Emperor."

Wow...Incredible Hulk, Santa Claus, and Buddha all wrapped into one ginormous package.

"Please," She begged, "You're the only one with the power."

Oh yeah, I was suddenly overcome with an overwhelming feeling of her absolute faith in me.

He took his large eyes off of her and looked straight at me. I could have sworn he was staring right through the layers of pasty skin, thin covering of muscles, guts, cells, atoms, and looked into my very soul. It wasn't unpleasant like all the movies suggested such an intrusion would be. He just calmly looked through me and seemed to instantly have a grasp of everything from my history to the nature of my being. It was an interesting experience, I knew the importance of what just happened, but my emotions just couldn't seem to register it to form any kind of an emotion around it. "It seems," he said in a deep voice, "That I am not."

[Kristine]

It was an interesting experience, I knew the importance of what just happened, but my emotions just couldn't seem to register it to form any kind of an emotion around it. "It seems," he said in a deep voice, "That I am not."

Debbie turned to look at me and then back to the giant in front of us.  At that point she chose her words carfully, "Joey has power but no knowlege or practice in using it."

Humbert smiled crookedly, "He can't get practice without using it."

Debbie looked over at me for support, like I would help her tell them I was an idiot.  I shrugged, "I'm willing to try." I said, and she looked like she wanted to slap me, so I continued looking at our new friends, "but I could use some help."

[Qualapec]

Debbie looked over at me for support, like I would help her tell them I was an idiot.  I shrugged, "I'm willing to try." I said, and she looked like she wanted to slap me, so I continued looking at our new friends, "but I could use some help."

Humbert laughed and whacked a huge hand on my shoulder, "It takes real man to admit weakness." Aside from the fact that his hand rattled my rib cage I was somewhat reassured. He turned to Debbie, "All right, I cannot say I will save your father. But I will teach you both how to save him."

Debbie released a great deal of tension, so much so that she looked like she was about to start crying from relief, "T-Thank you."

I blinked, "Um. Are we forgetting the fact that we only have a few hours before they-" I was about to say something along the lines of 'dangle him like an ornament from the gallows' but I bit it off almost immediatly. I was willing to bet that it would only make Debbie start crying again. See, I can think before I talk. Instead I said, "send Andre to hell."

What? Did you honestly expect me to be able to control my inner cynic twice?

But on the bright side she didn't start crying, she just glared daggers at me.

Humbert looked at me and sighed, "Young man, insisting eternal damnation of a woman's father is not best way to make her like you."

My cheek twitched in ammusement, but stopped when I realized he was serious. I quickly changed the subject, "So, what kind of training do we need?"

Humbert shook his large head, "I will train you. My highest mage will train Debyone." He waved a massive hand toward a place where nothing stood.

There was a shimmer of light, and a dwarf that was MUCH older than any of the others. He had a long white beard and eyebrows so thick I was amazed he could see through them. "I heard your call, Great Sage." he looked Debbie over, "I feel I can work with her."

Humbert nodded, "Very well then. We should begin."

I wasn't ready for one of his massive hands to come flying towards my face.

[GWiz]

I wasn't ready for one of his massive hands to come flying towards my face.

     Even more shocking was the fact that his blow did not land. The air seemed to shimmer for a moment, then suddenly I was looking at Humbert’s back. As I watched, his body contorted impossibly and suddenly there was a huge mace in his hand, conjured out of nowhere and whistling towards my skull. Without thinking, I drew the Wildflower and parried the strike. Instead of the expected clang of metal on metal, I heard a sound like a million stringed instruments striking a discordant note. It unnerved me enough that I almost missed Humbert’s back stroke, barely raising the Wildflower in time to save my ribs from what surely would have been a crushing blow. Again and again he swung. I blocked all the blows until I started thinking about a counter-attack, and then a bruising down stroke struck a glancing blow to my shoulder. I fell heavily and rolled as the mace crushed the ground where my head had just been, raising the blazing Wildflower in front of me to ward off the next attack.
   Which never came. “You did well until now,” rumbled Humbert. “But you made a mistake. Do you know what it was you did wrong?”
   I slowly relaxed my guard and stared at the behemoth before shrugging my shoulders. “I don’t even know how I got this far.”
   “The Wildflower is a part of you, and you are a part of the Wildflower. Do not think about your next move. The Wildflower uses you as you use it. You falter when you try to bend it to your will, as it fails when harmony fails.”
   He lashed out with a vicious swipe that would have removed my kneecaps, but impossibly, the Wildflower sang in answer, blocking the blow. Humbert laughed gloriously. “AHA! He listens well!”
   I would’ve thought that riotously funny any other time, but the mace was speeding towards my face, so I stopped thinking about anything and let the Wildflower work it’s magic. Just when I was starting to feel pretty damn good about not getting smacked, Humbert’s mace attack stopped and he thundered a command as he held the mace in front of him. An unseen force blasted into my chest and flung me to the ground several yards away.
   “You’ve seen how the Wildflower protects you,” he shouted. “Now it’s time for you to use your magic to protect the Wildflower.” Humbert advanced slowly with the mace held stiffly out in front of him. I could see blue energy crackling up and down its length. Magic? What magic? I had no idea what I was gonna do.

[meg_evonne]

Debbie saw the Humbert's swift change to mace bearing attacker and yanked out her sword just in time to parry the old mage's that winked into existance at the same time.  Assuming that Joey would hold his own somehow, she concentrated on her own "tutor".  Debbie had a lot more experience than Joey.  She'd played with small throwing knifes at the age of four and moved on to full swords by the time she ten.  The mage continued the forward attack and Debbie fell backwards towards the line of trees, easily avoiding the frontal attacks.  As she reached the tree line she shifted to offense but the mage matched her skill without giving ground.  Debbie slipped back to defensive and drew the mage closer.  The speed of his attacks continued to increase in tiny incriments, as if testing her ability.  She still was breathing easily and under little stress, but she wasn't gaining ground, nor speed...managing to stay even with the mage's pace of attack.

The mage shifted tactics and took a broad stroke two feet horizontal to the ground.  If it had made contact it would have cut Debbie's legs off at the knees.  She let the stroke follow through, nimbly leaping up, pulling her legs easily out of the way.  Then attacked from the height of her leap with a 45 degree sweep of her own on her way down, landing with her back against one of the trees.  The mage side stepped and attacked straight on.  Debbie faded through and past the tree and the mages sword removed a chunk of wood from the huge trunk, sending it flying.  Debbie attacked from behind the tree but the mage quickly cornered the tree and attacked with another horizontal low strike.  Debbie lofted again, this time landing and balancing about three feet up on one of the tree branches.  The shift in position was a surprise and she giggled at the shift in height.  The Mage smiled and nodded approval before leaping upwards himself with another horizontal stroke.  Debbie lept up to the next branch and their battle shifted from one level to several. The attacks shorter as the branches of the trees now impeded their range of motion.

Debbie and the mage danced like small birds, ever increasing in height above the ground.  Debbie was winded now but still delighted with this new direction of attack and retreat.  Near the top of the tree, Debbie made a loud excited yell and leaped outwards almost 45 feet up from the ground, the mage following behind her.  Debbie bobbled slightly in the air and the mage held off his attack while she adapted herself to her new position.  Her face was thrilled as she teetered in space without falling. 

Slowly she started to spin, still suspended until she was like a small tornado and suddenly out of the pillar came her sword, flashing as it spun rapidly attacking.  The mage re-engaged her attack with a whoop of excitement.  From below two of the azure eyed green men grabbed up their swords and took to the air.  Soon Debbie was surrounded, easily fending off the attacks.  As she managed to knock green men down, they fell without injury to the ground and other's quickly replaced them and then added to the number engaged in fighting her. 

Having found her wings, Debbie grew bored with the spinning and with a cry of excitement lowered her sword and sent her body upwards another 50 feet.  Only the mage followed.  She parried the attack with ease and turned head downwards in a sharp dive.  The mage remained where he was until she pulled herself up sharply just before landing.  He pulled the sword's hilt to his lips and smiling saluted her.  The green men surrounded her, congratulating her on her new found skill.

 Edited: let's see one may teeter totter, but one probably should not be teeted--- changed to teetered :-)

[Kristine]

Good fight scene meg but we shifted from first person to third person POV. Now I know that's not allowed if you were writing this by yourself but I'm willing to go with the flow and flip back and forth if people want...

        “You’ve seen how the Wildflower protects you,” he shouted. “Now it’s time for you to use your magic to protect the Wildflower.” Humbert advanced slowly with the mace held stiffly out in front of him. I could see blue energy crackling up and down its length. Magic? What magic? I had no idea what I was gonna do.

"I don't have any magic" I said throwing my hands out in front of me, my voice rising in panic.

Humbert laughed without slowing his attack, "Of course you don't - your from Earth.  The wildflower doesn't have a human body to use a sword either..."

The blue electrical looking magic shot out and I felt it shoot up my right arm.

Several things happened at once then.  My arm went numb with pain and I dropped the wildflower as my arm spasmed with the shock.  At the same time I felt the wildflower distantly in my perception as I did that morning with the king.  I knew it was there and could sense the blue electric as it hit my nerves, and I could sense the power of the Wildflower.  For an extended micro second, time froze and I was stunned at the artifacts conection with all the kinds of energy around me, as far and intense as I could percieve and further.  For that moment it was like stepping from a clausterphobic cave into a windswept hillside overlooking trees, sky, and ocean.  I had a sense of things that that were too small to see and the intricate systems of conections in the world around me that would have been too vast to percieve without the magic.

But the power itself wasn't mine.

I was the empty jar waiting to be filled. Or in this case the empty wire conected to the resister waiting to ground the energy.

Time started again and seemed to make up for the pause, as I was quickly hit in the left leg and right shoulder with bolts of energy - each one more powerful than the last.  I stumbled back on instinct but reached for the sword on the ground and pictured the light saber in my mind flying into Luke Skywalkers hand. 

The Wildflower came to me and flared into the light saber I had first seen it as, and with a nausiating shift in perception I felt for, and then pulled at the power of the ground under my feet.  I felt it moving through me in a miriad of perceptions; the ground power here had a musky taste, a smell like fresh turned dirt, and a thick, mossy green-brown color.  It overwhelmed my senses for a moment as I saw it flow out of me in a green wave that caught and disapated the blue lightning coming from my fairytale sparring partner.

Humbert stopped calling the power that seemed to be coming from inside him, and I almost fell over with the sudden cesation of resistance.  Once the power was not in conflict with anything it turned a glossy soap bubble rainbow shield for a moment then faded.  The Wildflower stayed a light saber for a few more minutes before shimering back into the sword it was when resting.  For an instant I thought it felt amusement at my bewilderment but then the conection was gone and I felt oddly empty again.

"It is your magic.  All you need to do is call it." Humbert rumbled.

It came to me in a flash that no one with there own inner magic could truly understand what it was I was doing.  They could see me calling the powers but that they were not filtered through me - they were the raw power bent to my will, imagination or feelings.  I blinked then sat down suddenly very tired. 

I was distantly aware of a small tornado close by and Debbie fighting a group of the dwarves, then she landed and got a small ovation.  I would have joined in but I felt oddly out of touch with things at this moment.