[Mkguild] Dominion of the Hyacinth (6/10)

[C. Matthias]

Part 6 of Dominion of the Hyacinth!

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Kayla and Rickkter arrived at the gates of Lake Barnhardt around 
mid-morning and were disappointed to discover that there was no one 
there waiting for them. The road had been easy with a few patrols and 
numerous merchants heading from Metamor to Barnhardt and back but no 
one they thought could be involved in whatever scheme had roused them 
that morning. Rickkter even asked one of the guards standing watch at 
the gatehouse but they didn't even know what he was talking about.

And so they settled in to wait on the other side of the road from the 
gatehouse and the massive curtain wall that protected the city from 
attack. To their north homestead and farmland had been cultivated for 
several acres, which meant that they could see along the road in 
either direction a good distance. Along the shore of the lake 
numerous wharves and fishermen operated. To the south the mountains 
rose up dramatically on the other side of the lake, providing good 
nesting grounds for hawks, eagles, and if Cerulean was to be believed 
a dragon or two. The city stood between them and the castle, and from 
within they could hear the sounds of shopkeepers, smithies, farriers, 
and all sorts conducting their daily business. Archers and pikemen 
stood post on the high city walls, but after a cursory inspection of 
the raccoon and skunk, now returned to staring off into the distance 
or sleeping.

Rickkter dismounted after only a few minutes to stretch his legs and 
back. He even drew out his Sondeshike and gave it a few twirls to 
loosen his muscles. Kayla watched him while reviewing the letter 
she'd received that morning, but otherwise remained comfortably 
perched in the saddle while her horse munched on the grass sprouting 
beside the road. If there was anything more to be learned from the 
letter, the skunk could not see it.

But being on horseback she did see the trio of friends coming down 
the road from the north before Rickkter did. As soon as she saw who 
they were there was no doubt in her mind that they had come to Lake 
Barnhardt for the same reason they had. With a broad smile, she stood 
a little in the stirrups and waved her arm. "Ho, Muri! Charles! 
James! Over here!"

Rickkter stopped his practice as soon as she moved, and his face 
darkened briefly before he turned aside and put the Sondeshike away. 
He climbed back into the saddle and nudged the horse out onto the 
road. "So I wanted them too? Muri I understand, he's a very helpful 
fellow. But James and that rat?"

"Charles, you mean?"

"Aye, the rat."

"Charles?" Kayla's eye ridges began to arch.

The raccoon sighed and nodded. "Aye, Charles."

"Well, what if it is about Marzac?" Kayla suggested. "We'd want them 
here for anything to do with that place."

Rickkter grunted as he and Kayla walked their horses down the road to 
meet the trio passing through the northern lakeland fields. The trio 
noticed them a moment later and picked up their pace. A minute later 
they slowed until the five of them were all side by side. James, the 
only one of them not riding, lifted his head as high as he could, 
eyes expectantly fixed on Rickkter.

The raccoon wasted no time dancing around the obvious and the 
irritating. "I take it you all received letters this morning?"

"With your script signing our names," Murikeer added with a nod. "Or 
so I thought."

"It is my script," Rickkter replied with a nod and a scowl. "But I 
don't remember writing it."

"That's odd," James couldn't help but say. "If you didn't write our 
names then maybe it isn't Andwyn's handwriting in the letter either."

"It is his," Kayla assured them. "I have read his handwriting for a 
long time now and I could never mistake it for another. I was hoping 
one of you might know why we are here."

"We were hoping the same of you," Murikeer replied, a faint churr 
whispering beneath his words. "Do you not know?"

Rickkter sighed and dug his claws into the palm of one hand. "Nay. I 
know neither why we are here nor why my hand signed our names. Only 
that it must be very important. And, what is more, if it is we who 
are here, it may have something to do with Marzac. What it could be I 
can't imagine." He narrowed his green eyes as he peered at the rat. 
"Unless you are falling under its corruption."

"I am not," the rat replied without looking at the raccoon. "If I 
were, do you think I would have come here into your power?"

"If it really is Marzac," Murikeer noted with a thoughtful moue 
stretching his muzzle, "then Jessica should be here too. Where is she?"

"Perhaps she is on her way?" James suggested. "Maybe she's the one 
who knows why we're here. We should wait for her."

Rickkter frowned. "Of all of us, she is the only one who can fly; if 
she received a note like we did than she should have been here first. 
And if this is about Marzac and she is missing... well I think you 
can draw your own conclusions."

The moment of disquiet that idea brought persisted only a short 
while. When they spoke again they all agreed to wait and so the five 
of them walked at a steady pace down the road until they were 
opposite the gatehouse again. This time they all dismounted to let 
their steeds relax while they stretched and spoke quietly of their 
hopes for the Summer and the year beyond. Their eyes ever watched for 
familiar faces, but for two candlemarks all they saw were merchants 
and townsfolk coming and going from the gates to the wharves and the 
roads beyond. None accosted them and most gave them a wide berth as 
they passed. Rickkter was considering sending somebody into town to 
buy them all food when James caught sight of a hawk in the sky.

"Is that Jessica up there?" They all followed the donkey's arm into 
the cloudless sky. They could see the bird but something seemed 
strange. Kayla was the first to note it.

"Jessica's feathers are black. That hawk looks like any other hawk 
I've ever seen."

"It could be Weyden," James suggested.

"It might even be a normal hawk nesting in the those mountains," 
Charles noted with a shrug of his shoulders.

Rickkter shook his head. "He's circling and descending. I think 
that's a Keeper."

"It's definitely Weyden," Murikeer pointed down the southeastern road 
at a group of soldiers, two of which were giraffes. "His patrol squad 
is coming up the road."

All five of their heads turned to the four soldiers making their way 
up the road at a steady foot-speed. Only the youth was riding on a 
horse, the two giraffes and the ram were on hoof. The male giraffe 
noticed them first and gestured for his friends to see. Both Kayla 
and Murikeer waved in their direction. By the time that the hawk had 
landed, all of them had gathered on the side of the road outside 
Barnhardt's iron gates.

"Waiting for someone?" The ram Dallar asked as his yellow eyes surveyed them.

"As a matter of fact, we are," Rickkter replied with narrowed eyes.

"Good," Dallar sighed with relief. "So what are our orders?"

"What do you mean?"

"I thought you would have our orders. You're the ones we were sent to 
meet are you not?"

Rickkter ground his teeth together as Kayla and the others shifted 
uncomfortably back and forth. "None of us know what this is about. I 
was hoping one of you might."

The ram backed up a pace, his face cringing in a scowl. "We were 
hoping you would know!"

"Does anyone know?" Rickkter snapped. What fool's errand had they 
been sent on? His ire was tempered only by the sudden worry that this 
had been a trap.

"I know. Beehive."

All of them turned as one toward the red-feathered hawk standing next 
the pack-laden horses. Stunned by this admission and the password 
revealed in their orders, Rickkter could only open and shut his snout 
as words escaped him. Dallar finally broke the sudden silence with a 
bluster of his own. "You know? Then why didn't you say something in 
Tarrelton, or better yet this morning when we left Metamor?"

"I couldn't," Weyden replied with an apologetic nod of his head 
toward his superior officer. He stretched his wings over one of the 
knapsacks and undid the laces. "I could only admit that I knew why we 
had been sent here when Rickkter arrived. He's the only one who can 
vouch for me."

All eyes turned to the raccoon who held up his paws and shook his 
head. "I have no idea what he's talking about! I am as much in the 
dark as the rest of you! Weyden, explain yourself!"

The hawk flipped open the knapsack and after glancing through the 
contents withdrew a folded piece of parchment much larger than their 
letters. He walked stiffly, head bobbing back and forth, to the 
raccoon and offered the parchment to him. "No, Rickkter. You will explain it."

With an almost petulant flick of his wrist, the raccoon snatched the 
parchment from the hawk's wing-claws and began to read. Within a few 
seconds Rickkter's irritation vanished in a sudden spasm of terror. 
He nearly stumbled backward, the parchment clutched in his paws and 
yet held as far from him as possible as if it were some vile monster 
trying to consume him. Kayla and Murikeer rushed to his side to 
steady him, while Charles, James, and Dallar all reached for their weapons.

Steadied, Rickkter folded the letter and shook his head, gasping for 
breath. He cast a worried glance toward the city, and then nodded to 
his friends. "It is all right. I am all right. But Weyden's right. I 
can vouch for him. I can explain this."

"How?" James asked.

Rickkter lifted the parchment. "Because I wrote every one of these 
words yesterday and I don't remember a single one."

"How is that possible?"

Rickkter glanced at the rat, curious if he would remember. Charles 
blinked at the sudden scrutiny and wrinkled his whiskers. "Somebody 
made you forget?"

"And it has happened before. Last year. Dallar's squad would know of it."

Charles nodded lost in thought, and then his eyes widened and he 
gasped a single word. "Hyacinth!"

"Aye," Rickkter said as he waved the parchment in the air. "There's a 
new one. Let me finish reading and I will tell you what I knew 
yesterday. I hope there's some explanation for why we were brought 
here this way."

"I can tell you that," Weyden replied. "If you knew why you were 
coming here, you would forget and never make it. It's why you had 
Andwyn's couriers deliver the orders. Not even Andwyn knows why the 
messages were sent, only that it was important."

"And apparently I had something to do with it," Rickkter noted with a 
grim smile. He read the remainder of the parchment while everyone 
else waited patiently, eyes warily noting the country-side. But those 
eyes grew bored in the few minutes it took for the raccoon to finish 
reading. When he finally folded the parchment again, he glanced at 
his friends and Dallar's men and frowned. "Does anyone know why we're here?"

"We were hoping you could tell us," Dallar noted with a caprine bleat.

"I already did," Rickkter replied with a snort. "Or at least part of 
it. That hyacinth works fast."

"Hyacinth!" Charles exclaimed, his placid face filling with alarm. "Where?"

"Here in Lake Barnhardt. Probably atop the barracks where it couldn't 
be seen except for the castle towers and the sky." Rickkter's eyes 
narrowed. "It is making us forget everything connected to it. We only 
know it exists as long as we fixate on it. Become distracted and it 
all vanishes like a puff of smoke on the wind."

"Why would there be a hyacinth here?" Charles asked, edging closer, 
eying the parchment as if he wished to snatch it from the raccoon and 
read it himself. He probably did.

"Because Jessica planted it here. The corruption of Marzac is taking her."

"No!" Kayla gasped and put her paws to her snout. James and the rat 
grimaced with sudden determination. Murikeer glanced at the sky, his 
gaze growing distant in that peculiar way common to mage sight.

"Hyacinths are just flowers," Maud said with a bemused expression on 
her long snout. "Why are you all so worried about this one?"

"Hyacinths, if properly prepared, can be used to store magical power 
like a reservoir stores water. That alone is dangerous enough in the 
wrong hands. But what makes hyacinths so special is that they can 
also be used to make everyone in some area forget things that the 
planter wants them to forget. In this case, the hyacinth is making us 
forget everything about itself and anything connected to it. And that 
means anyone Jessica has transformed against their will. Weyden knows 
of one person but there are probably several more. The only thing 
that isn't explained here is why Weyden can remember these things but 
the rest of us cannot."

"Probably because he's Jessica's husband," James suggested. "I did 
everything the bell wanted until it asked me to hurt somebody I loved 
more than myself."

"Vissarion tried to make me think I was helping you, Rick. Maybe 
Jessica has shielded Weyden from the hyacinth's power."

Rick nodded and then glanced at the parchment again. "Whatever the 
reason, we need to move fast to destroy this thing. Once we destroy 
the hyacinth we can worry about freeing Jessica. But with that 
hyacinth still in the ground we'll never reach her. Weyden, please 
lead us there. I will read the letter and remind us on the way what 
we're doing here. Murikeer? Do you see anything?"

The skunk's one eye gazed heavenward so resolutely that he had to be 
shaken to wake him from his stupor. After spluttering incoherently 
for a moment the skunk came to his senses and Rickkter asked him 
again. "I saw... I saw magic flowing into Lake Barnhardt as if it 
were a river about to pour over the top of a waterfall. I don't know 
what it was, but it was... beautiful in a terrible way."

"It was a hyacinth, I'll tell you more on the way. Now come."

Dallar's company had more questions, but Weyden assured them of 
everything that Rickkter related about the hyacinth and his former 
adventure. Larssen remembered the hyacinth that Yonson had brought 
with them to Metamor two years ago, but neither Van nor Maud could 
recall anything about it. Maud did openly wonder what would happen to 
her once they destroyed the hyacinth but Larssen assured her that he 
loved her no matter whether she was giraffe or human. Van muttered an 
indiscreet remark suggesting something about their compatibility 
which earned him a smack across the back of the head from Kayla and 
uncomfortable chuckles from Dallar and Rickkter.

But even ribald humor could not keep the raccoon from reviewing the 
letter every few seconds as they walked through the gates of Lake 
Barnhardt and down the stone-paved main street of the city. Several 
townsfolk greeted Dallar and his friends in delight, but the ram 
politely informed each that they had to report for now but would be 
delighted to share an ale or two with them later. This satisfied all 
but one persistent shrew who complained about the injustices they had 
suffered at the hands of Glenners and that only Dallar and his men 
had shown the fortitude or possessed the stature necessary to redress 
the wrongs they suffered. This continued for nearly half a minute 
before Rickkter growled at them, bared his fangs and let bolts of 
energy crackle between his ear tips. The sight of that blue fire and 
every strand of the raccoon's fur standing on end was enough to 
convince the shrew to seek justice elsewhere.

"You all were rather popular here," Murikeer noted drily to the ram 
as Rickkter continued his recitation on the evils of hyacinths and 
Jessica's complicity in planting one in Lake Barnhardt, a fact that 
made Kayla's heart skip a beat every time she heard it.

Weyden led them to the barracks which were situated near the castle 
and on the southern edge of the city overlooking one of the principal 
civic squares. Upon arrival, Rickkter turned to his former student. 
"You know, we could just have you open a sink-hole beneath the 
building, collapse it in on itself, and be done with this whole 
business right here and now."

Murikeer chuffed, used to his former teacher making suggestions he 
hoped were only half-serious. "I think the local soldiery may take 
issue with that, especially those inside at the time."

"True," Rickkter concurred, looking up at the crenelated roofline. 
"Still, we can keep that as a reserve option in case this does not work out."

The guards at the barracks recognized Dallar and let him and his 
entourage in without question, assuring Charles and the others that 
their mounts would be given oats and a stall with fresh hay to rest. 
Warily, the ten stepped into the barracks and headed for the stairs 
to the second floor. There were two floors, each of which had high 
ceilings which made it easy for the larger Keepers such as Larssen 
and Maud to move around with ease. For smaller Keepers like Charles 
and Van the place felt immense but they were both accustomed to such things.

On the second floor landing they met one of the Captains of 
Barnhardt, Naomi of the archers. The red-haired woman was surprised 
to see them, but smiled to each of Dallar's company. "Oh, Captain 
Dallar! We didn't expect to see you or your men so soon in Lake 
Barnhardt again! What brings you back here?"

"We have to fix something Jessica left behind her," Dallar replied 
with a quick glance at Rickkter who nodded back. "Our friends are 
here to help us. We need access to the roof."

Naomi's weathered and dimpled face furrowed anxiously. "Will you need help?"

"We might. Best you don't interfere for now. We'll call down if we need you."

Naomi nodded and gestured to a corridor on her left. "This way. The 
ladder is right over here. But Bertrand was on the roof two days ago 
to clean it and he didn't see anything unusual."

"He wouldn't have," Rickkter noted in dark tones. "Let's keep moving. 
I'm having trouble remembering why I'm here."

"Me too," Larssen said, reaching one hand behind his back to rub at 
his long neck.

If Naomi thought this remark odd, she didn't say so. She led them 
down the passage to another open area with storage chambers on all 
sides. In the front wall a ladder with broad steps rose to a latched 
wooden door. Charles was the first to climb the ladder, scurrying up 
with long tail dangling beneath him. He swung open the door and 
hopped over the edge. Light poured into the barracks before being 
blocked by his scarred face peering back down. "There's something up 
here. Come on."

Kayla followed him up, and then Rickkter. Murikeer and James went 
next. Dallar hoisted a shrunken Weyden with Van quick on his hooves. 
Maud and Larssen waited until last, each wary that their weight might 
be too much for the ladder. But it held and soon all ten stood on the 
roof of the barracks.

They didn't cast about their eyes at the vista of mountains, the 
splendor of the ancient castle, nor the lively sprawl of the second 
largest city in Metamor Valley. Their eyes all turned as one toward 
the eastern edge of the barracks and the plot of fresh ground 
cultivated there. Rising up from that ground was a single flower with 
bright purple blossoms stacked in little towers of lace. The 
blossoms, their petals straining toward the noon-day sun, quivered in 
a sudden breeze.

"So we meet again, my little friend," Rickkter sneered before folding 
the parchment and tucking it into his tunic. Fire blossomed on his 
paws a moment later.

----------

Jessica had enchanted a little more than a score of her feathers when 
the ribbon constricted with a palpitating flash. The hawk lifted her 
head and wings from the weave of magic she'd been inscribing into the 
next dozen feathers, worried at the ribbon's strange behavior. Her 
will stretched out and touched its silken contours allowing the image 
of what was most present to it to come to life before her.

As if she perched upon its balustrade she saw the rooftop of the 
barracks in Lake Barnhardt and her precious hyacinth reposing in the 
warm noonday sunlight. But the hyacinth, quiet and simple in its 
vegetative life, was not alone. To her surprise she saw many of her 
friends assembled there warily advancing upon the purple flower. Her 
husband was amongst them.

It seemed she did not have four days after all. The betrayal stung 
deep but there must be an explanation for it. Clearly her friends did 
not understand her purpose in using a hyacinth to give strength to 
her spells. But what could she do about it?

You can defend me.

Cheered by this thought, Jessica straightened and stretched her wings 
until the tips bled into ribbon around her. Her enchanted feathers 
thrummed, the spells stretching outward to embrace her friends.

----------

"I don't know what defenses this has," Rickkter said as he took a few 
tentative steps toward the hyacinth. "Fire worked well enough last 
time. But last time it didn't know I was coming. Muri, watch my back."

Charles and James fanned out to the raccoon's left, their weapons 
drawn and ready. Charles spun his Sondeshike until it was a spinning 
silver disk. Larssen gripped his massive blade, keeping himself 
between the hyacinth and Maud who stepped carefully behind him. 
Murikeer and Kayla flanked Rickkter, with Weyden between them and 
James and Dallar and Van nearer the giraffes. For several seconds the 
hyacinth remained unperturbed. Now that they could see it they could 
not forget it. This was the source of whatever was corrupting their 
dear friend Jessica.

Rickkter extended one arm, an arc of fire lancing toward the flower 
just as Murikeer lifted his arms, wincing from the pain of magic, 
even as he shouted, "Look out!"

The air about the hyacinth appeared still, but as soon as the blast 
of fire neared, it sprang into a violent column of spinning purple 
bands, each shimmering with the varied hues of Spring as if an artist 
had dropped his paints into a drain and watched them all blend 
together as they were sucked into the sewers. The blast of fire 
scattered into harmless ash, followed a heartbeat later by whips of 
energy that erupted from the maelstrom to strike them in the chest.

Murikeer's shield cracked in front of him but held long enough for 
him to see the raccoon beside him dwindle in stature until he fell 
onto his tail in a rumple of clothes, reduced to nothing more than a 
four or five year old child. Kayla landed in a heap next to him in a 
similar state of youth. He gasped in horror as he scanned his friends 
and saw that the same fate had overcome each of them; even Van who 
had already been touched by the age regression curse had been 
rendered a little boy with ruddy cheeks and chubby arms and legs. 
Both giraffes were a tangle of gangly limbs. Charles's Sondeshike 
clattered across the rooftop until it wedged itself into the 
northeast corner as the rat shrank until he barely stood taller than 
his red vest. Only Weyden had been spared the reduction to childhood.

"Get them back!" Murikeer shouted at the hawk. He could say nothing 
more because the tight weave of spells lashed toward him again. He 
stretched his will and plucked a thread free and watched it 
disintegrate into harmless cantrips that bounced from his shield 
without even chipping it. He disarmed a second a moment later, but 
the next five came too quick for even his skills. This was not like 
his struggle against the Runecaster last year. On that terrible day 
when he faced a wizard far more powerful than himself and only good 
fortune saved him, he had been able to dismember her spells because 
she had to craft each one right then. These incantations had been 
prepared before and could be loosed faster than the flutter of a 
hummingbird's wings.

They struck his shield with merciless ferocity. The first two spells 
were destroyed by his shield, even if they sent cracks radiating 
outward, splintering the edges like a woodsman striking a log with 
his axe. The third spell cracked the shield in half, while the fourth 
blasted one of the halves into incoherence. Through the remnants of 
his defenses the fifth spell struck home. Murikeer gasped as the 
magic passed into him, wrapping him and warping him with a tight 
complex of threads that worked through the Curse like a seamstress 
sewing a patch onto an old cloth.

He stumbled backward, a giddy sensation filling him as the world spun 
and grew larger. His clothes entangled him as he lost his footing and 
with a laugh he tumbled on the ground with a terrific and vivacious 
energy. A sudden wild impulse struck him and he tackled the confused 
looking sheep boy, latching his teeth onto his stubby horn. The sheep 
boy bleated in surprise before rolling to his side and head-butting 
the skunk with a laugh.

----------

Weyden gaped. His friends were all children, some of them struggling 
to get out of the too baggy adult cloths, and others already naked 
and running around the top of the barracks screaming and laughing. 
His talons scraped the stone, trying to summon the old guard captain 
he'd been at one time in his life to figure out what to do. But for 
some reason he couldn't find him; all that was left was a frightened 
husband staring at the swirling mass of light and wind that had taken 
the shape of his wife's face.

"Jessica!" he cried, trembling beneath his feathers. "What have you done?"

Her voice seemed to echo as if it bounced from the mountains. "They 
will all be fine. I will come there myself and set all things right. 
I just could not let them harm the hyacinth. It is the key, my love. 
The key to a brighter future for all of Metamor. Please keep them 
safe now. I'll be there in a few hours. I love you, my Weyden."

And then the image vanished and the tower of light dispersed like a 
million butterflies scattering. The hyacinth remained, the roots 
strong, the stem wide, and the bounteous blossoms vibrant and open. 
Weyden turned away from the plant, his chest empty, and stumbled 
toward the trap door. Naomi waited at the bottom of the ladder with a 
confused expression. "Is everything all right? I hear children!"

Weyden was grateful in that moment that he'd been made a hawk because 
very few mammals could understand his expressions. With good fortune 
she would never realize just how stricken he was. "A little mishap. 
One of Jessica's old spells turned everyone else into animal 
children. Can you help me get them somewhere they'll be safe. And... 
they could use some clothes."

Naomi blinked in surprise but nodded, almost laughing but not quite. 
"Certainly. How did that happen? And what are we to do with them?"

"Jessica's on her way from Metamor. She'll sort everything out. In 
the meantime... just keep them safe and from running into the street naked."

"I'll fetch a few others to help. And some mothers to mend clothes to 
fit them for now. Just keep an eye on them."

Weyden felt something with claws and a big tail jump onto his back. 
He squawked and nodded, gasping for breath "I will."

----------


May He bless you and keep you in His grace and love,

Charles Matthias