wiping her cheeks with the palms of her hands, “So now what?”
Mel released her and stepped back, realizing she needed the space. He walked over to the hearth and placed one hand on the mantel to stare into the flames for what felt like an eternity. “We will have to continue doing that until you learn to control your emotions. I know this will be hard for you but it is your one Achilles heel, a fragility your enemy will exploit.”
He walked back to her and materialized a black orb in his hand. The ball shimmered as if a dull light pulsed from within its core. “I think this may aide your growth. You look into the orb and remember that day. The memories will be captured within the ball and anytime you want to review it, tell it what you wish to see and it will replay it. This will help to analyze what you see without feeling it over and over again. You need to look at it and find something in your memories that will ground your feelings, a happy inspiration or an emotion that will help you control those that cause you to lose concentration.”
Mel relinquished the ball and closed his hand over hers as it held the sphere. “This will be one of the toughest things you will ever face. I am not going to lie to you. It will also be that which you need to confront in order to succeed and to be the guardian I know you can be.” Mel released her hand and with a slight incline of his head faded out of the hall.
Chapter Seven
She held the orb and watched him fade from the area. She really hated when he did that. She looked into the black inkiness of the sphere and moved back into the room to sit down on the couch in front the burning hearth. Looking at the winged gargoyle skeletons on either side of the mantle she shivered slightly, grateful she never met the moving skinned beasts that those frames belonged to.
Taking a deep breath she looked into the darkness of the circle she held in the palm of her hand. Once again she recounted that day in her mind. Every nuance, every emotion, every word that she could remember, from the cold crispness of the day and watching her breath escape in wispy smoke from her mouth and nose. The ache and terror she felt when she saw everyone she knew dead, dying or fighting a hopeless battle against wolves that seemed determine to obliterate such a peaceful home outside a small hamlet.
She remembered everything and when she was done, she put the orb down gently despite the desire to smash it into a million pieces within the burning hearth.
At this moment in time, she detested Azamel for making her do this, for forcing her to relive that moment over and over again. Getting up, she paced the room, her mind a whirl with everything since the moment she escaped the horrors of that day. She had survived! She had made her way in a world she knew nothing about. She learned how to fight and how to persevere. No one ever used her memories against her. No one distracted her like Mel did, or made her as angry. No one had hurt her as badly since the day she lost her family.
Why did she continue to let him do this to her? What power did he wield over her that she was so susceptible to his very presence? How had he managed to worm his way into her heart that she was affected so easily? Curling up on the couch in as small of a ball as she could make herself, she looked at the fire, finding it more pleasant than the globe that held her tormented past.
*****
The creature’s face dropped like a bloodhounds, sagged deeply, slack with pain. If he was not bound, he would likely topple over, cracking his skull on the floor. A nerve in his shoulder twitched uncontrollably. The muscles in his leg clenched. Blood dripped down his body, some fresh, some sticky and drying. His body marred by cuts and bruises, some so deep the bones are exposed.
His moans and screams reverberated through the caverns, the torturous cries of one
Mel released her and stepped back, realizing she needed the space. He walked over to the hearth and placed one hand on the mantel to stare into the flames for what felt like an eternity. “We will have to continue doing that until you learn to control your emotions. I know this will be hard for you but it is your one Achilles heel, a fragility your enemy will exploit.”
He walked back to her and materialized a black orb in his hand. The ball shimmered as if a dull light pulsed from within its core. “I think this may aide your growth. You look into the orb and remember that day. The memories will be captured within the ball and anytime you want to review it, tell it what you wish to see and it will replay it. This will help to analyze what you see without feeling it over and over again. You need to look at it and find something in your memories that will ground your feelings, a happy inspiration or an emotion that will help you control those that cause you to lose concentration.”
Mel relinquished the ball and closed his hand over hers as it held the sphere. “This will be one of the toughest things you will ever face. I am not going to lie to you. It will also be that which you need to confront in order to succeed and to be the guardian I know you can be.” Mel released her hand and with a slight incline of his head faded out of the hall.
Chapter Seven
She held the orb and watched him fade from the area. She really hated when he did that. She looked into the black inkiness of the sphere and moved back into the room to sit down on the couch in front the burning hearth. Looking at the winged gargoyle skeletons on either side of the mantle she shivered slightly, grateful she never met the moving skinned beasts that those frames belonged to.
Taking a deep breath she looked into the darkness of the circle she held in the palm of her hand. Once again she recounted that day in her mind. Every nuance, every emotion, every word that she could remember, from the cold crispness of the day and watching her breath escape in wispy smoke from her mouth and nose. The ache and terror she felt when she saw everyone she knew dead, dying or fighting a hopeless battle against wolves that seemed determine to obliterate such a peaceful home outside a small hamlet.
She remembered everything and when she was done, she put the orb down gently despite the desire to smash it into a million pieces within the burning hearth.
At this moment in time, she detested Azamel for making her do this, for forcing her to relive that moment over and over again. Getting up, she paced the room, her mind a whirl with everything since the moment she escaped the horrors of that day. She had survived! She had made her way in a world she knew nothing about. She learned how to fight and how to persevere. No one ever used her memories against her. No one distracted her like Mel did, or made her as angry. No one had hurt her as badly since the day she lost her family.
Why did she continue to let him do this to her? What power did he wield over her that she was so susceptible to his very presence? How had he managed to worm his way into her heart that she was affected so easily? Curling up on the couch in as small of a ball as she could make herself, she looked at the fire, finding it more pleasant than the globe that held her tormented past.
*****
The creature’s face dropped like a bloodhounds, sagged deeply, slack with pain. If he was not bound, he would likely topple over, cracking his skull on the floor. A nerve in his shoulder twitched uncontrollably. The muscles in his leg clenched. Blood dripped down his body, some fresh, some sticky and drying. His body marred by cuts and bruises, some so deep the bones are exposed.
His moans and screams reverberated through the caverns, the torturous cries of one
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