A coiled snake
    Meridian


    I watched the mirror Cerridwen had just stepped through, trying to figure out what had disturbed her so. I could see her in its image, walking towards the stairs that descended from the Tir, but saw nothing that should have caused the reaction I had witnessed. Recalling that she had stroked the frame of the mirror, I reached forward and did the same, and discovered that I was now able to adjust the focus and perspective of the image. It was then that I saw what must have disturbed her so. In looking at her image in the mirror, I noticed that her right hand and arm were almost gray, and maybe a touch gaunt, like a form of withering. Now that I thought about it, when Cerridwen had frowned, she appeared to be looking at her own reflection. Perhaps she saw the same withering that I did now? What did it mean? Cerridwen obviously had some idea, and judging by her reaction, it did not indicate anything pleasant.

    As I pondered this, Cerridwen descended the stairs from the Tir and moved out of sight. I tucked the problem of her arm away for the moment and returned my attention to the task at hand. Using the mirror, I was able to catch up with her and continue to keep her in sight, though no sound came through the image. I saw her reach a strange white building, adobe in construction, that reminded me of Kashfa. Cerridwen passed a pool where a bald, muscled man took note of her and summoned a man I assumed to be Meridian. He was quite the spitting image of Caine, though taller and softer seeming. So this was the man who had caused so much trouble for all of us. I studied his features well as he spoke with Cerridwen, already picturing the Trump card I would draw of him. Cerridwen might place him in her barred Shadow, but I had no intention of allowing him to remain there alive.

    Cerridwen and her uncle began to walk to the Tir, continuing their conversation. Several times, his expression changed to shock at something she had said, and I wished heartily that I could hear what they were saying. Or that I knew how to read lips. I resolved to learn how to do so in the future and directed my attention to the mirror itself. It was rather strange, given the nature of the enchantment upon it, that it could not relay sound psychically to me while I was touching it. Perhaps Cerridwen had deliberately disabled the mirror's ability to conduct sound? If so, then there was a chance I could determine how it might be undone. I examined the mirror more closely, and realized that there were traces of bindings on the mirror, as if a spirit were bound to the object. There were many layers of bindings over this 'spirit,' but I was able to pinpoint the one that prevented it from speaking. Unfortunately, at that moment the action in the mirror caught my attention again.

    Cerridwen and Meridian had reached the balcony at this point, and Meridian looked rather angry. Cerridwen was laughing at him, scorn in her eyes. He turned to walk away and then stopped, some kind of unseen barrier obviously preventing his flight. He turned then, his jaw set, already incanting his first spell. With a wave of her hand, a circle appeared on the ground around Cerridwen, and I watched as many spells were traded back and forth. Meridian favored water and ice spells, and generally Cerridwen countered them with more elemental heat and cold dweomers, turning his ice to water and his water to ice and steam. Obviously angry, Meridian began using more primal applications of magic, and the spells ceased to be visible to the naked eye. I was still able to view them through my magics, of course. And then Cerridwen burned him. She made a flippant gesture, like a child tossing a ball, and something rolled to his feet. I barely had time to discern that it was a terribly small, blackened skull, before a pillar of flame erupted around him, and he began to burn. I saw the word spoken on her lips, and this time I could make it out. "Pyre."

    If that was not the signal, I did not know what would be. I began moving the Tir away as planned, watching with interest to see what Meridian's reaction would be once he realized what was happening. He jumped from the flames, and I could see that he had only been scorched, though rather badly. Before he could call another spell, Cerridwen hit him with a spell of binding. Animate manacles lashed out and snagged his wrists, ankles, and throat. He paused then, and concentrated, and then looked shocked. He cried out to her, and I with an effort I could just barely read the words on his lips. "You set me up..."

    Cerridwen's only reply was another spell, and Meridian became semi-transparent...diffuse, almost. The chains dropped through his flesh and he looked confused. He mouthed some words, but Cerridwen seemed not to notice, and I failed to make them out. Cerridwen turned her back on him and entered the main hall. Meridian followed her clumsily, but she appeared to take little note of him. I realized then that he was not walking on the ground, but rather hovering just a bit above it. What had Cerridwen cast on him? Without sound, I had no chance of reproducing it, and it was not a spell I recognized. Pity, it looked like a rather useful one to know. Perhaps I would ask her at a later date.

    Watching her move through the mirror, I suddenly saw her look me straight in the eyes and smile. The reflection shimmered around her, the background changing, then the mirror reflected the room I was in now, save that I was absent from the reflection. Cerridwen stood in my place. Almost against my will, I reached towards the glass, a move mirrored by her. And as I touched the glass, I felt a pressure on my shoulder...but surprisingly, I did not start. Turning, I found that Cerridwen stood behind me, her smile coy. There was no sign of Meridian.

    I inclined my head slightly. "Very well done, I must say. For a moment there, I wondered if you were going to try to contain him without having me move the Tir."

    "He proved a far more incapable opponent than I had anticipated. Funny, that," she responded, her expression light. "I believe that I have changed my mind. There is no need to deposit him in Shadow now. I'll just leave him here." Her tone was cruel as she laughed, and I found myself sharing her amusement. How perfect. Far better, even, than killing him, for now he would suffer forever.

    Cerridwen's laughter trailed off, and she looked serious again. "I do believe we have a prize to claim down on the further shores of Meridian's folly. Shall we go?"

    "By all means." The chance to finally have full use of my magics again? I would not miss it for the world.


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    All text on this page is © 1998 by Kris Fazzari.

    Last modified on December 25, 1998 by Kris Fazzari.