Her True Form

Yvette’s eyes slowly opened and she let out a soft, weak groan. The pain in her hand had mercifully faded. Though the feeling of pins still flowed throughout her body.

“Awake?” Gervas’ voice asked.

“I-I think...” she whispered, blinking blearily. She was in a large, stone chamber. “Where are we?” Lined up against the wall were stone statues nearly eight feet tall, each one carrying a stone shield and sword. The smell of blood hung in the air. She felt dread wash over her when she lowered her eyes and saw that they were laying in the middle of a magical circle carved into the stone. Blood had flowed, filling the grooves.

“I don’t know,” he whispered. “They dropped us here. I can barely move. I don’t know what he did to me, but it’s powerful.”

With great difficulty she slowly turned her head around to see him. He was laying in the circle behind her. She slowly tried to get to her feet, but it felt as if her body weighed as much as her bear form did, magic tugging at her body and pulling her back down. She collapsed back behind him, the sensation refusing to fade. “I can move a little. It’s a binding spell. I think--” She went silent when she heard footsteps coming towards them. Her eyes focused on the doorway and after a few moments the man she’d seen before walked in through the door.

His eyes focused on her and lit up after a moment. “Ahhhhh. I see you’ve awoken! I do hope you are enjoying yourself, apprentice.”

“I’m a journeyman,” Yvette said.

“Yes, yes, whichever,” he said dismissively before walking towards her. “It’s the same thing, really.” He pulled out a small dagger before kneeling by her, making her heart go still. “Oh, don’t be so frightened. If I was going to just kill you, there would have been no reason for dragging you here.” He reached out and gripped her hair, before cutting off a few strands and letting them fall into his hand.

“W-what are you doing? Why are you doing this?”

“You should be grateful. You’re going to be part of the first step of a new, reborn, Mage’s Association. An empire, even,” he said before getting to his feet. “Emperor Wimark has a lovely sound to it, doesn’t it?” he asked.

“W-what? Emperor?” she asked gently. “W-why are you doing this?” She tried to reach out a hand towards him, but he swatted it away.

“Oh, don’t even try,” he said with a soft chuckle. “That spell is specifically designed to trap mages like us. Well. Like me. I suppose using it on an apprentice and a simple guard is a little bit of overkill. But all of us must do our part for a better future, no?” he asked before getting to his feet and walking to Gervas, cutting off a few clips of his hair as well.

“What are you going to do to us?” she asked, her eyes lowering. “What does this circle do?”

“Don’t be so frightened, little girl,” he said with a shake of his head. “You’re not going to die. In fact, you’ll live for centuries. Why, hundreds of years from now you’ll both look back on this day and be proud that you were here at the beginning.”

“W-what?” she asked, struggling to understand him. She glanced down at the bloody circle. “T-there’s blood everywhere.”

“Of course there is. That is why you shouldn’t struggle so much. Once your essence has been transferred into one of my golems, you’ll give up any petty notions of fleeing or fighting for anyone but me. Just you wait,” he said before he turned to walk away, leaving the two behind while she just stared in horror.

Once he was out of the room, Gervas groaned and shook his head. “Any idea what that meant?”

“Death… blood magic,” she whispered, giving a light shudder of horror. “Blood magic to...”

“Necromancy?”

“Kind of. Magic like this? It’s...” She closed her eyes. “Magic that uses sacrifices is often forbidden. Unfortunately, not all forbidden magic is hard to know. Killing someone and capturing the magic their bodies release upon death to fuel a spell is easy enough. Nearly any mage could do something like that, but it’s forbidden for a reason. And… and...”

“Transferring into his golems? What about that? Is that forbidden?”

Yvette shook her head. “No. I don’t think so. I mean, I couldn’t do it. But I know golemancers can. It’s a simple spell to allow them to see through them. Transferring your senses into them. But I’ve never heard of anyone trying to push someone else’s mind into one. I don’t even know if that’s possible,” she whispered before giving a shudder and eyeing the blood stains. Had this man done that to others? The golems in the room weren’t moving. She wondered if they were just turned off, or were the active ones somewhere else, waiting for his commands?

She gave another soft shudder and whimpered. Either way, she wouldn’t enjoy it. The magic he intended to use would kill her. If she would awaken, trapped in a body of stone forever or just be used as a power source to feed the golem, she had no idea. But neither fate seemed particularly appealing. “We need to escape.”

“I’m working on it,” he whispered, before giving a grunt. “Can you dispel this?”

“No. Even if I knew how, I doubt I could. He’s a master. A real master, there’s no way I could hope to defeat his magic. At his level I’d be lucky to be able to even weaken it.”

“Can you at least do that?” he asked, frustration filling his voice.

“I can try...” She closed her eyes and reached out with her magic, trying to prod at the enchantment binding her. However, it refused to move even slightly. The more she tried to move her magic, the more the binds seemed to push in on it, making it twist her even tighter. Sweat beaded on her skin but, eventually, she collapsed from exhaustion. “I-I can’t. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry...” she whispered.

He let out a growl before she heard him trying to move, but all he managed to do was place an arm against her side. “There has to be something we can do. Anything.”

“I-I don’t think there is.”

“We can still move! I still have my sword! If we take him by surprise, maybe we can kill him.”

She shook her head. She glanced down and, to her surprise, she realized her dagger still lay strapped to her hip. For a moment, she felt excitement. Perhaps he was right. She slowly moved her right hand down towards the blade. The slow, sluggish movement felt like it took days but, eventually, she managed to coil her fingers around the grip of the blade and try to pull it from the sheath.

She might as well have been trying to pull a tree from the ground with her bare hands. She managed to pull it only a fraction of an inch from the scabbard before she went still from sheer exhaustion, rolling onto her back and staring up at Gervas. “It’s… no use...”

“There has to be something we can do,” he whispered. “I refuse to just lay here and let this insane mage kill me.”

She sighed and shook her head. “It’s a magebind spell. This spell is designed to hold mages in captivity,” she whispered. “The stronger the mage, the more powerful it is. If anyone could escape, it’d have to be you.”

“I can’t.”

She closed her eyes and let out a soft whimper. Slowly, she reached out and wrapped her fingers around his right arm. She couldn’t believe it. She was going to die when she was so close to truly starting her journey. She hadn’t even managed to lay her eyes on the spells, let alone find out what she’d need for them. Yvette’s eyes clouded with tears. “We were so close...” she whispered.

“I’m sorry. I’ll think of something.”

“I was so close...” She glanced towards the golems and gave another soft whimper. Freedom was right there, waiting for them. If they could just get to their feet and walk away. If they could find the strength to move. But she knew that was impossible. Their prison wouldn’t be any more secure if they were wrapped in chains and surrounded by steel bars. No, even worse. At least then she could have tried to use her magic to escape.

This, however, left her completely helpless. There was nothing she could do to escape. Without her magic, there was no way for her to fight back. Her own magic was being used against her, to hold her down. She glanced back to Gervas.

If nothing else, at least she wouldn’t die alone in the end, there was a friend by her side. She supposed it was a small mercy. The few spells he knew had left him with enough magic that he was worth sacrificing besides her. If he hadn’t had enough magic, he might have been killed off rather than risking the magebind spell not affecting him.

She gently tapped his arm. “I’m sorry. If I hadn’t brought you here...”

“Every mage comes to the vault. This isn’t your fault.”

“Yes it is. Gervas, I have something I need to tell you.” Her heart did another leap and she stared at him, her hand gripping his arm tighter. He was the only one to truly give her the chance to be herself. The least she could do was tell him the truth. “The reason I… I...” Her words stopped in her throat when she felt something metal on his arm. “Magevoid.”

“What?”

“The magevoid binding. You have it. You’re wearing it,” she said, her heart doing a small leap before she turned her head. Sure enough, the bracer was still wrapped around his arm.

“Yes. But even if we could get it on him, it wouldn’t work.”

“It’s not for him,” she whispered. “Put it on me.”

“W-what?” he asked, his eyes going wide in shock. “It’ll burn away your magic. We’ll be even worse off.”

“It’ll burn off my magic, which will stop the binding on me. Just do it,” she whispered. “We’re dead anyway. But if I don’t have any magic to bind me with, I can move.”

“But--”

“It’s our only hope. Do it,” she whispered.

He stared at her before, softly, giving a sigh. “It’ll hurt.”

“Trust me, I know. If there was any other way, I would...”

He gave a nod and, slowly, feebly, he reached up to begin removing the bracer. She stared at the metal, trying not to let dread and fear enter her mind.

Yvette had heard tales of the feeling, but she had been mercifully unconscious when it had been used on her before. She’d been in so much pain and so confused, she had no way of knowing what pain had come from it and what had been from her accident. Again and again she told herself that it wouldn’t hurt much, that it would be over quickly.

She almost managed to make herself believe it moments before the cold metal wrapped around her wrist and binded itself.

The only reason she couldn’t scream was because her entire body jerked and went tense, the notion of making any sound too much for her. All of the pin pricks she felt across her body were replaced by what felt like burning knives, jabbing the inside of her body. Fire surged through her veins, burning away not just her magic, but her very soul.

Eventually, however, she managed to finally regain enough movement that she could do the only thing she could think of. She screamed. The pain refused to die down, surging through every inch of her body, cruelly burning away her essence, so painful she thought her mind would shatter.

Then, as quickly as it started, it all stopped.

She panted from exertion, her body caked in sweat. Every inch of her ached and she was all too aware of Gervas’ hand wrapped around her mouth, stifling the screams. Even though the pain had faded, she could still feel it echoing through her body, the memory refusing to let go so easily.

“How do you feel?” he asked.

Yvette gave a soft, weak grunt. She felt as if she had just run for ten days straight, exhausted and weak. However, she slowly reached a hand down, gripping the hilt of her dagger. There was no external pressure this time, however. Nothing pushing against her body to stop her from moving. Despite her exhaustion, she could actually move.

Though she was so exhausted she could barely keep her eyes open. “Yvette? Say something. Please. Don’t… I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. This was a terrible plan,” he whispered.

“Worked...” she muttered. “Tired. So tired. But worked. Move. Can. Spell… broke.”

“You can?” he asked. Mercifully, she felt the bracer being unlatched and falling from her arm.

“Yes. Move… gone. Nothing… just need… just need rest. Another moment… just… close eyes...”

“What? Yvette, don’t. Listen, stay with me, stay--” His last words were drowned out as consciousness slipped away, enveloping her in darkness.

------

“Wake up… wake up. Yvette, please wake up. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry...” his voice echoed in her mind, while she struggled to swim through the darkness back to consciousness. However, within moments the darkness won and she fell back, drowning in the sea of exhaustion.

------

“Sleepy little thing, isn’t she?” Wimark’s voice penetrated her head, making her eyes open slightly. The master mage was standing over her, his hands moving along the stone, adding new markings to the circle around them. “She’s smart. Conserve your energy, guardian. You’ll need it.”

“You bastard. I’ll kill you, I swear,” Gervas’ voice said coldly.

“You’ll serve me for a lifetime, guardian. As is your duty.”

Yvette tried to object, but she felt so tired. Gervas was her guardian, not his. His job was to protect her, not this mage.

But she was so tired. She couldn’t even try to object, her eyes closing once more while darkness closed in on her.

------

“Hold still,” Wimark ordered, his voice cold and gleeful.

Yvette’s eyes opened once again and she stared. Gervas was on his back, trying to fight against the mage, both hands wrapped tightly around the mage’s wrist.

It was a pathetic attempt. Wimark just laughed, pushing slowly through the meager resistance, the tip of the dagger cutting slow runes across Gervas’ forehead. With the magic on him, Gervas couldn’t have held off a child, let alone the mage.

Wimark only seemed to be enjoying it, his lips curled in a cruel grin. “You’re only making this worse for yourself. Just lay still and this’ll be over before you know it.”

Yvette closed her eyes once more. It would all be over soon. Then she could rest forever. She’d never--

Her eyes shot open and she threw those thoughts away, her eyes focusing on Wimark. The mage just chuckled when the blade came ever closer to Gervas’ eye. “Now, hold still. You wouldn’t want me to slip now, would you?”

Yvette felt adrenaline pumping through her veins. Her hand slowly moved down to her side and wrapped her fingers tightly around the hilt of her dagger. She pulled it out just a fraction of an inch.

She gathered all of her energy she had remaining and lunged. Though her body screamed in objection, she threw her entirety into the attack. She tackled the kneeling mage and plunged her dagger into his chest.

Her eyes widened with horror for a moment when she felt the sticky, warm liquid coating the blade and her hands. She stared into his eyes, seeing the mix of fear, pain and confusion. For just a moment, she hesitated.

It was all the moment he needed. Pain seared through her left side when he stabbed his own dagger into her side, jamming the blade in deep. It shook her from her hesitation and she pulled, gripping her own dagger and plunging it in a second time. She felt the dagger in her side twist, but her hesitation was gone.

All she felt now was pain and the will to survive. Wimark tried to speak, tried to say something. Perhaps he even tried to cast a spell. She didn’t know. She didn’t care. Again and again she lifted the dagger up and then plunged it down until she watched the life drain from his eyes. Even when he went limp, she continued to stab him, willing her body to keep going despite the pain and exhaustion.

It wasn’t until she felt Gervas behind her, pulling her back, that she let the dagger fall from her grip. She finally allowed herself to relax.

Her side hurt, though far less than she thought it would. She stared up at him, weakly. “Did… win?”

“Yes. You did it. I’m free...” he whispered. “Yvette. I need you to listen to me.”

“Mmmm? Got… speech?” she asked.

“No. Not this time. I need you to stay with me. I need you to focus on me. Listen. Okay?”

“Okay...” she whispered, darkness swimming on the outside of her vision.

“No. Don’t. Don’t stop. Talk to me,” he whispered. She could feel herself being lifted into the air, as if she was flying. “Yvette?”

“Mmm? Tired...” Despite the pain throughout her body, it seemed numb and faded. Mostly she just felt tired. Her eyes closed slowly.

“No no no no. Yvette. Stick with me, please. I’m going to get you help. I’m going to get you out of here. I promise.”

“Okay...” she said gently.

“Remember? Stick with me! What are you?”

“Tired...”

“No. You’re a girl. You’re a nice, sweet, beautiful girl. A mage, even. A very good mage.”

“Hee hee...” she said softly, feeling lighter while the darkness wrapped around her like an old friend. “You… think I’m… pretty?”

“Yes. Very pretty. Very, very pretty. And a girl. You’re a girl. Okay? Just stay with me. Keep talking. You want to talk, right? How about we talk about anything you want. Did you have any toys growing up?”

“Don’t know...” she mumbled, nestling up against the warm, moving body holding her. She didn’t know why he wanted her to keep talking. All she wanted was to sleep and let the darkness envelop her. But he called her pretty, so she couldn’t just tell him to stop.

“Okay, what do you want? You want to be a girl all the time, right? Imagine turning into a girl right now.”

“Am… girl...”

“Yes you are. Just focus on that. Yvette? Yvette!”

She tried to listen, but she couldn’t talk back anymore. All she could do was let the darkness win and envelop her, letting the warmth of her guardian carry her off to sleep. She just wished she knew why Gervas seemed so panicked. She’d never been more comfortable.