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                               Sangrelysia

                          by Vivian Darkbloom

Sapphire

   Clarissa stood alone at the crest of the hill, listening as
   Elwrong orated to her zombied throng from the raised stage at the
   heart of the semi-circular amphitheatre. Glancing up, the
   white-clad minister spotted the little girl, maybe seven years of
   age, watching so curiously from above.

   Smiles played on the lips of armed soldiers who stood in clumps
   around the perimeter of the crowd, and they nodded congenially at
   the sweet innocent.

   "A young child," cried out Elwrong from the pulpit. "I simply
   adore children! Oh, won't you come down here, dear? No need to be
   frightened."

   Clarissa looked behind her, feigning surprise that it was she who
   was the center of attention, then pluckily made her way down the
   hill. The crowd parted, forming a center aisle for her to walk
   down. Elwrong knelt down to be intimate with the adorable little
   creature.

   "Would you like to join us, my sweet? You can be our new mascot.
   We're learning to clear our minds." Elwrong was all twitters and
   candy. The snow queen, dressed in white from head to toe. The
   crowd cooed and awwed.

   "I was wondering," said Clarissa innocently, in her best
   little-girl voice, "What about the egg?"

   "Egg? What ever are you talking about, my little one?"

   "You know. The dragon's egg. Where did it go?"

   Rage leapt across Elwrong's face, but momentarily she brought it
   under control. "And why on earth would you be asking about a
   silly old egg?"

   "A man told me to."

   "And where might this man be?"

   Slowly, silently, Clarissa turned and pointed to the crest of the
   hill, where I stood with Sylvia, looking down at the gathering.
   The crowd gasped. The world surged into sharp focus as soldiers
   all around stirred and began to draw weapons.

   "At ease, guards. Let them pass," ordered Elwrong. George had sat
   up, and his usual goofy grin was shaded with a tinge of
   indignation. His evil nephew Karl sat with a gloating teflon
   smile, unfazed.

   "Generous of you to allow the princess to pass into her own
   realm," I said.

   "You'll forgive them for their suspicious bearing, but you've
   been condemned to death, you see. . ."

   ". . .For kidnapping the princess, yes I heard." My heart
   pounded. Blood rang in my ears from the rage. I should not have
   let the false accusation get to me, but there was something about
   it that dug in the wrong way.

   I reached out my trembling hand to Sylvia, who took mine in her
   little one, and we strolled together down the center aisle as the
   crowd once again parted. From the hissing on either side, I
   gathered that they maintained their distance out of fear rather
   than respect.

   I met Elwrong's glare with a smile. "Been having a nice stay?" I
   asked cheerily.

   She cleared her throat. "Now that you mention it," Elwrong said,
   "Since there's no entrance to the wizard's tower. . ."

   "Should've locked me out too," chimed in Gwendolyn from behind.
   "Place was a pigsty!"

   "What!?" raged Elwrong, then regaining her composure continued
   icily: "You've been banished from the kingdom for kidnapping the
   princess. I suppose you know what that means."

   "It means yet another rancid lie, dripping from your foul
   diseased mind. How many thousands have you told so far? Can you
   even remember the truth any more? It would be a wonder. And now I
   see you stealing from the poor to feed your lust for power. Like
   slaking your insane thirst with brine. So where do you think it's
   going to end? How many more must bleed and die to fill your
   insatiable craving for control? How many more will you trample in
   your mad obsessive quest for greed? How much--"

   "Oh, shut up," shouted Elwrong angrily. "I'm up to here with your
   tedious political twattle!"

   She murmured to the empty space beside her, and a dreadful
   slurping sound accompanied a thick, mucous trail which spread
   sickeningly across the ground, rapidly coming toward us, clumping
   heavily.

   Sylvia reached into a pouch around her belt, and grabbed a
   fistful of white powder, which she threw in the direction of the
   disgusting noise. The granules clung to a surface in midair, only
   inches in front of her face.

   There was a terrible cry. Again and again, Sylvia threw handfuls
   of the white grains. The mucigenous trail of disgusting thick
   whitish slime ceased to progress, and we could hear the anguished
   form collapse in front of us. Sylvia poured a huge stream of the
   powder over the invisible form at the end of the hideously
   slippery trail, and soon there was nothing but eerie quiet.

   Elwrong was distraught, horrified. "My little Mimi!" she
   shrieked. "What have you done to her?!"

   "Salt," said Sylvia, shrugging.

   The evil nephew Karl was looking pale over in the corner. George
   sat next to him, agog, looking dumber than a goat.

   "You'll pay for that!" snarled Elwrong, then savagely whispered
   something in a harsh foreign tongue, waving her hands at me an
   the Princess. I felt, rather than saw, Sylvia raise her hand in
   response.

   With a loud crack, an explosion burst forth amid a cloud of
   sparks, reflected back at Elwrong by the protective spell that
   surrounded us, helped out by the counter spell Sylvia threw in.

   There was a puff of thick ash-grey smoke, and I looked up to see
   Elwrong picking herself up off the ground, her formerly pristine
   white outfit now charred and layered in dark black soot. She
   staggered to standing, then reeled back a step, blinded by the
   cinders and carbon dust.

   My pulse raced even harder. "Now!" I said, glancing at Sylvia and
   Clarissa. The three of us each drew a deep blue sapphire from
   within our garments, holding up the three gemstones as we closed
   in, forming a triangle around Elwrong. We joined in chanting
   together rapidly the incantation. The crystalline gemstones all
   began to glow, and beams of light connected them, creating a
   force-field around Elwrong that pulsated as it grew rapidly in
   strength.

   There was a moment of hushed silence, then what felt like the
   release of a heavy weight. Looking up, I could see the sky turn
   perceptibly lighter, more vividly colored. The whole world around
   threw off an oppressive gloom.

   The gold UFO landed with a thud, and then with enormous clatter
   burst into a million pieces, as the jewelry and bracelets and
   crowns and so on from which the saucer had been magically melted
   all resumed their original forms. In the middle of the crowd now
   stood an impressive mountain of treasure. I could recognize
   numerous items as having been pilfered from the royal vault.

   The force-field dispelled, and Elwrong fell to her knees,
   dropping a small oblong packet which lay on the ground between
   her and King George as she shrank back with the haunted
   expression of one pursued by shadows, flitting darkness that grew
   blacker and more menacing with each moment.

   "It is done," I pronounced solemnly. "Elwrong's connection to the
   dimension of pure evil has been severed. Her spells have lost
   their power."

   "What have you done with her?" demanded a nasty-looking woman in
   the front row.

   "Hm," I said. "One cannot escape the consequences of facing the
   power of magic with an impure heart. The magic from the dimension
   of evil was shielding her, but now she has to face the truth of
   her foolish choices."

   A cheer rose from the back of the crowd, where our supporters
   were gathering.

   Nearer by, angry voices called out.

   A loud clattering commotion arose over the ridge, the crackling
   of dried leaves being trampled, snapping of twigs and cracking of
   branches. It sounded like a herd of elephants crashing through
   the trees.

                                                          Chapter 28

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