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 Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 8:29 pm
"Oh," Zach was relieved that Emma wasn't down. She didn't feel nearly as bad about Ivan's little escapade yesterday. "Long night, huh? Anything good happen?"
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Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 8:32 pm
"I suppose you could say that."
She hadn't slept due to 14 straight hours of working on a new defensive spell for the estate.
Neither noble of Bainbridge had slept that night, as both were working on the spell tirelessly.
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Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 8:40 pm
"I will, then," Zach smiled and drank some of the hot water she asked for. "And how are those feathers working out for you? Have they been helpful?"
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Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 8:45 pm
"Immensely so." Emma smiled weakly. "I-we cannot thank you enough."
She was still working on the spell that the feathers were at the center of, pouring all her power into the enchantment.
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Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 9:02 pm
"Just wondering," Zach said and turned her body to face Emma. "You said something about using it to heal something. What was it?"
Whatever it was must have been really big. Phoenix feathers are generally used for really severe injuries or curses. But... you probably knew that.
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Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 9:06 pm
Emma's features grew pale and she was silent for a long, awkward moment before the responded.
"The remnants of a curse." The hatred for the aforementioned curse was audible in her tone, as was a heavy undercurrent of fear.
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Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 9:15 pm
"How long has there been this curse," Zach looked Emma over, trying to find traces of the curse she was talking about. "And was it your husband that was cursed?"
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Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 9:20 pm
Emma's voice would have wavered beyond belief had she spoken, so she replied with a jerky nod.
"For-for over a thousand years."
There was grief unimaginable in her eyes, but it changed to a flicker of triumph in moments.
"But it has been broken."
There were still scars...scars that she intended to heal.
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Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 9:44 pm
Ivan felt the despair when Emma spoke of the curse. Whether it was Zach rubbing off on him or some other kind of intervention, Ivan actually felt sorry for the Bainbridge woman. He delighted in pain and suffering and blood, sure, but curses were something reserved for beings like himself. If Bainbridge had been cursed then he shared a common bond with Ivan.
"Well that's good to hear," Zach said. "So... uh... do you want to change the subject?"
She could tell how difficult it was becoming for Emma to continue this conversation and left it up to her to move on.
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Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 9:49 pm
Emma gave another stiff nod, her hair obscuring her face as it let itself down from the braid it had been in. Her eyes were swimming with tears that she hurriedly tried to blink back.
Weakness was not a good thing to show.
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Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 9:57 pm
Zach put a hand awkwardly on Emma's shoulder and patted her back. Then, without warning, Ivan took control of the hand and smacked Emma cleanly across the face.
"This isn't you," Ivan's voice doubled over Zach's as he took control of the right half of Zach's body. "You're tougher than this. Don't even think of crying, Bainbridge. This. Isn't. You."
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Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 10:01 pm
An invisible hand closed around Zach/Ivan's throat almost instantly and Emma stood. The mark on her cheek faded as she spoke.
"Touch me again and I swear that I will tear you from that body and rend your soul to pieces."
She meant it.
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Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 10:05 pm
Ivan's half of Zach's mouth twisted into a devious smile. He used his own magic to reinforce their throat and push out against Emma's threatening spell.
"That's more like it," he was able to say. "Cold fire suits you much more than falling rain."
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Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 10:10 pm
This time it was Emma's own hand that replaced her spell, firm but not crushing.
She hissed something harsh and short, not realizing that she had slipped back into Old English.
The spell she cast next was directed only at Ivan; Zach wouldn't feel a thing.
She transferred pain. Not the pain of a broken bone or severed limb, but an agonizing, heart-rending grief.
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Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 10:16 pm
Taken completely by surprise, Ivan felt the full force of mental anguish and staggered back, falling to the floor. After a few seconds of suffering Ivan fought back against the spell and gasped for breath as his mind returned to normal.
"I rest my case," he said between breaths. "Cold fire."
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