Exorcising the Past

[Rhonya]

As morning came, a ray of sunlight shone through the open roof of the large building on the bundle of furs that was located on the ground against the wall. Something moved in there as the furs heated up, and in not too long a groan was heard as well as Rhonya poked her head out from under the thick layer. Her hair was messy, her eyes red and basically she looked like she had a horrible night.

Sitting up, something suddenly stung on her side and she gasped a little at the unexpected pain. What in spirits name had she been doing? Her vision was a little vague, until she blinked a few times and lifted her robe up her waist, looking at the source of the pain. A circle, burned into her flesh. No.. it was a ward. Wait..

Slowly the memories came back to her. They’d taken her there to the abandoned village, she remembered sitting in the middle of the circle, them warning her it would hurt, Rargnasha standing behind her, holding his axe.  For a moment it almost looked as if he was standing there in that heavy armor with his helmet on, to strike her down should things go wrong… Not that she would blame him, but the thought filled her with fear even more as they started the ritual. Memories became vague from there, apart from the fact she could feel the tattoo on her back reacting on the magic being used, but it wasn’t built for resisting that kind of fel magic, so it shut down.

The next memories were those of burning, a burning in her mind, but also on her skin. The ward breaking down, piece by piece in her head, until she had collapsed on the ground and things had gone silent, apart from the cackling in her head as something saw it’s chance to get out, to roam free once again in her mind before it just…disappeared.

The rest were flashes. She remembered Shrewd, for some reason, and someone large leaning over her, touching her side. Her fingers moved over the burnmark a moment.. Someone had put salve over it, she realized then. She also remembered talking, a male voice.. no, several. Though what was said, she didn't remember.  As her mind got more clear, she suddenly became aware of a pounding, a pain in the back of her mind. It confused her for a moment why on one side she felt so… Awake, so light, but on  the other side something was pressing down on her even heavier than before. 

Rhonya closed her eyes, putting her head on the ground once more as she pulled back into herself as she had done so many times before . It came really easy to her now, as she knew the place so well. The room in her mind that she had created there, the place she could pull back to if she wished too, the place also standing in connection with the elements, where she could visit them. However, the last past years, it had also been the place the demons were, warded. As she focused on the wall they were supposed to be, she couldn’t believe what she saw.

Of the usual four doors, only three were left. The fourth was just… a black smudge on the wall. Gone completely, nothing even left of it. The other three though still stood tall and as she moved closer to them, she began feeling really scared… They were there, on the other side of the wards. An anger shone out from the warded doors, an anger she could feel even on the other side, a pounding, them focusing on breaking through, pulling down the wards, more than they’d ever done before…
So they had managed in defeating the first. But the other three were only more angry now, and kept pounding, working on those wards. How long would they hold with this aggression?

Rhonya quickly pulled away, away from the room in her mind, and sat up under her furs again, one hand on the burn mark in her side. Defeat one… anger the three others. Had it been worth it? What if they broke out now…?

[Okiba]

Woo! 

[Kozgugore]

It was a very enlightening night indeed. We should do that more often. Give Koz more reasons to give Rhonya suspicious looks!

[Rhonya]

Finally, she was back in Garadar as the light got higher in the sky. Rhonya was tired, she hadn’t slept very well there in the hammock in Zabra’jin, the lands unknown to her, and the fact Vezara had fallen asleep against her. She had laid the sad female down very carefully  on the hammock, fit in such a way that she was resting with her head on Rhonya’s lap, because it didn’t fit otherwise. She hadn’t dared climbing off, in case she would wake up, and she seemed like she really needed the rest too…

In the morning though she had carefully climbed down, the female still sleeping. No sign or word from Shrika yet, nor Oguur. Rhonya worried, even though Vezara had tried to convince her they’d be alright. She had to borrow some things from the Trolls, and had found a rather quiet spot, where she’d done her small ritual with some incense and feathers. For once, she tried calling on her link with the element of air, knowing Oguur would probably listen to that one, and not to her… She had simply asked for guidance for the young orc, to at least keep him save, try to guide him back to the tribe.

Even though he might hate her, she did what she had to do for precautions, it was their own fault for eating that cake…That he put blame on her for trying to help them, wasn’t very fair, but if he wanted to see it like such, then so be it. She had a whole tribe to look after, sometimes she’d anger others, there was no way around that. Rhonya just hoped one day he’d understand.

As she moved through the familiar town of Garadar, she couldn’t help thinking back on her talk with Rargnasha, the evening before. He’d acted so odd, in her presence… So unfocused, tense and uncomfortable. She would keep an eye on him, though if it was caused by her… She sighed deeply as she found her sleeping furs, curling up on those with a thankful feeling, finally resting her hurting head on the soft fur. The pounding got worse every hour, and sometimes she felt as if someone was watching her, or even a light stroke over her hair… But when she looked up, no one was there. It was unsettling…

Without even taking off her armor, she fell asleep there, exhausted from her night trip and her ever growing worries.
In the back of her mind, something was scratching on the wards… Not pounding, not being aggressive, but subtly breaking them down, piece by piece, reaching outside as much as possible through the small holes that were created.
He’ll be mine… I’ll use him…against them all.

[Groshnok]

Foreshadowing! 

[Rhonya]

Halfway… They were halfway… Two dead, two to go. Two more to worry about, to fear what they would try to do now, to keep watch over and to listen to as they both worked vigorously to break free from the complicated wards that kept them bound. Piece by piece, they were failing, the greenish glowing light that was visible on the doors getting less, bit by bit, inch by inch. Rhonya was watching them in her sleep, having pulled back into her own mind to avoid the feelings of her body for the moment.
The female knew she was still somewhere in the inn, together with Grogona, lying next to her. Therak hadn’t returned yet from his scouting, but the presence of her sister close to her calmed Rhonya as well. She felt so tired, so worn, every inch of her body hurt, though some more than others. On her thigh, a second mark was visible now, burned into her skin, a reflection of the ward that had once been the ward on the second door. As she put her focus on where it had once been, it was gone, just a crack in the wall visible, next to the black smudge that had once been door number one.

In her mind, she was sitting on the floor, against the wall opposite of the two remaining doors. Rhonya had sought the calming presence of her most trusted elemental spirit, the one of water. The familiar cave opening was behind her, water dripping around her on the floor, seeming to lead its own life as it snuck around her, moved against the bare skin of her feet, cold and wet, but familiar. For now she would stay here, just a little while longer…

Here she didn’t feel the pain so much of her body, the exhaustion. She couldn’t escape the feeling of guilt though, the anger that was burning inside of her. It was like a knot in her stomach, something that she couldn’t get apart anymore, so tightly pulled it was impossible to separate one thread from the other. Guilt, for letting it come this far. For those that got harmed because of her. Feraleye… She had hit him, she had seen it but had not been able to resist the call to get him out of the way, to just attack him…

Guilt, for what the succubus had done to Grogona… To Rargnasha. To everyone who she had affected and hurt, in any way. Rargnasha had told her the demon was now dead…But she had gotten no chance to do anything, to release her anger on this being that had made such a mess of things. It build up inside of her, and with a trembling sigh she hid her head in her hands. Two more to go… Would she manage it? Could she manage it, was the better question? Would her mind be built against two more times this, each time worse than the last?
They couldn’t wait long, but… She already felt so weak, so tired…

Rhonya knew she should not flee from the pain, knew it would strengthen her, but she just needed this a moment to think. Rargnasha was sitting close to her body too, keeping watch over her and Grogona. He didn’t hate her. For a little while she’d been afraid that would be the case, but he wanted to make things right again. So did she, but even the simplest touch of him send those flashes of memories in front of her eyes again. It would take some time. For the both of them.

And so she sat there, surrounded by water snaking around her, curling up around her legs, upper body and neck, almost soft to the touch, like a comforting embrace on her thoughts, on her mind. Rhonya decided to stay here... just a little while longer. Let her body rest… More important, let the others rest, knowing she wasn’t doing anything apart from lying there, as if sleeping.

[Rhonya]

(( For those willing to read the first stories on the demons, two years ago... (Since some asked me) You can find them here:
http://orcsoftheredblade.com/forum/index.php?topic=2928.msg24696#msg24696  Long ongoing plots, yay! ))