Only worth 2 upvotes. I enjoyed writing it but I think the length put people off.
this is 2400ish words long, but I think its a good story. Was originally posted in 2 parts.
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I look up at Glorica. Her picture rested just above the mantle. Six generations of breeding, and she had been born. The All-Mother. Able to wield the power of True Creation, as well as many others. And so, of course we voted her to lead our country. And then she had dissolved democratic voting for leaders, and formed a parliament of her most powerful friends.
Well, that wasn't my problem. She was a tyrant yes, but somehow we, her people, still loved her. I picked up my tools, wooden implements wrapped in leather, and started strapping them to me, hidden by my outfit.
She had taken us to war against most of our neighbors in the last few years, creating armies of golems to defeat them. When the last of our neighboring countries gave in, the Tanlash, it had dropped the price of steel by over 50%. Living under Glorica wasn't all bad.
Oh well. Even if it wasn't good, at least I am employed. I'm not one of her followers. I'm barely even one of her minions. Most of us empowered are on her pay books these days. I am second generation, which gives me a few rights that others don't have.
My father is a piper, able to control the minds of rodents with music. He's a small time rat catcher in my town. My mother is a botanomancer. She does magic with plants, making them grow larger, and stronger.
My only power? I can control small animals and plants with music. and then fuse them.
I twitched the curtain aside. It was deeply dark out. Blackout curtains are still a constant, as bombers from the far east are still a threat. Martial law means anyone caught out after dark is arrested. Well, not including me. Sometimes minioning has its advantages.
Clipping my smallest fold able bow to my back, secreting it under the folds of my clothes. I could feel the large item strapped to my thigh hidden only by the voluminously heavy black dress I wore. I was ready. I rustled as I moved to the front door, glad I had oiled the leathers I wore below so they didn't creak.
I took a few breaths and stepped out.
The streets were eerie in the darkness, but I was used to that. I spent a lot of time in darkness these days. As I passed a storm drain I reached into my sleeve and pulled out a penny whistle. A few notes and I heard scurrying from below. Good. They'd follow me to the destination.
It took half an hour of walking to get to the centre of the city. It would have been 5 minutes in a carriage, but none ran this late under martial law. I saw no-one, and nobody bothered me.
I found the place, a large building 50 years old at least, made of classic brick. I strode straight past the entrance and down an ally to the rear of the building, where a set of stairs lead down to a large iron door. I whistled softly, and head a squeak in response. Here we go.
I knocked on the door. a few moments passed, and then a peep hole was slid open. I couldn't see inside but could tell a pair of eyes were watching me.
"Password?"
I smiled primly, glad of the weeks of preparation leading up to this moment. "Glorica must die".
The peephole slid closed, and I heard nothing for a minute before the door opened. Inside was a man in a brown wastecoat and matching bowler. "I don't recognise you. What's your name, and who invited you?" His hand was resting on a pistol at his hip.
"Lady Eshemell invited me, my name is Tendell, but most call me Ella. Your name must be David?" I smiled at him and he relaxed slightly.
He nodded and stood aside. I had done my research well. Lady Eshemell had taken a trip to the country... as far as they knew... so he had no way of corroborating my story.
I smiled as I walked past him into the cellar. It lead into a small dingily lit room. Stacks of shelves covered in dust and brick a back. Slightly confused I look back at Dave inquisitively. He pointed to a bucket sitting on a shelf to my left. Lifting the bucket down to see what was in it, the shelf swung away from me, opening into a hallway.
"Okay I guess I go this way" I stepped into the hallway and put the bucket back on the shelf which quickly swung closed.
The hallway was simple brick, with an arched roof. Noticing there was a drain half way along the hall, and that I didn't appear observed, I crouched down and pulled out the penny whistle. I blew a few notes of instruction for those below, and listened for the scurrying to check they had listened.
Well. I guess its time to show why I'm one of the best paid minions in Ulecia.
Continuing down the hall I came to a sturdy wooden door. Not knowing the protocol, I knocked. The door was opened, showing a reasonably plush sitting room, with carpets, several sofas and a fireplace. It was large, but comfortable looking. I started wondering about how the chimney was ducted to the surface, but quickly reminded myself not to get distracted. There were a series of air vents, up high in the wall. That would serve my purposes.
The man who opened the door, a server of some kind, wearing traditional black with white kid gloves bowed me into the room. As I stepped past him he announced me "Miss Tendall, friend of Lady Eshemell". They had obviously got a communication system rigged up, ready for any trouble that might try to enter.
Unfortunately for them, they had already let it in. A handsome middle aged man with a thick moustache turned from admiring the fire. "Welcome Miss Tendall, I remember Lady Eshemell mentioning you. Please take a seat, the meeting will begin soon, when everybody has arrived".
I thanked him politely and took a seat on one of the sofas, directly beneath an air vent. The servant brought me a cup of tea and I sipped it quietly, waiting for the meeting to start. There were four others in the room, an older lady wearing quite a large amount of gold, she must be Lady Yenneth. There was a younger pair, a couple by their body language.
The last person was a man, two or three years younger than me, maybe early thirties. He had the most piercing eyes, and he hadn't taken them off me since I had entered the room.
After a few minutes he stood up, waved to the servant for a drink, and came and stood next to me. "Good evening Miss Tendall, my name is Doctor Lassenger, may I join you?"
And this was my main target.
---- end of post 1---- beginning of post 2
"But of course, please". I patted the seat and he sat down. The servant brought him a teacup and refilled mine.
"So Miss Tendall" he started.
"Call me Ella"
"Sorry, Ella, what brings you here tonight?"
I knew what he was asking. Coming to meeting for a group plotting to overthrow Glorica, everybody in this room must have had a personal reason to hate her. Those who don't usually love her. It was probably some kind of spell of hers, but it didn't bother me. Probably the spell.
I had prepared a cover story incase somebody asked. "My Father. He... " I stopped and held back some fake tears. "He died in the recent bombings. None of this would have happened if not for her. That's when I knew we had to do something about her."
He didn't smile, but seemed satified. "I am sorry for your loss, but glad to have you in our cause".
We continued talking for a few more minutes. Several more people filtered in. An old man in a ragged coat. A threesome of older ladies, and finally the last of my secondary targets. Lord Dewinter. As he entered, the doctor excused himself, and stood up to join the lord. The spoke quietly in the corner in excited voices.
The mustachioed man turned to the group and cleared his throat. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I believe we can now start our meeting." The room quieted, and I knew it was time for me to make my move.
The man began by explaining the situation "The devilry that the witch in power isdoing will isolate the country and destroy our great nation"... blah blah blah. I stopped listening as I fiddled the pipe out of my sleeve.
And then I started playing.
The first few notes draw rats to guard and block the doorway, but their scurrying outside was covered by my playing. I could see the man had stopped talking and the whole room looked at me, not sure what to make of me.
And then rats poured out of the air vents. And tore up through the carpet, where sewer grates had been covered. A swarming mass of vermin.
Several of the old ladies screamed and the young man in the couple valiently grabbed up his love and stood on a table.
The doctor looked at me and growled. "Traitor! We've been betrayed, get out at once!"
The mustachioed man grabbed the hand of Lady Yenneth, and tried to run for the doorway, but the biting and scrabbelling vermin were hard to push through, now covering the floor a foot deep.
The biggest danger to me, I knew, was the doctor. He had already reached into his pocket and pulled out a hand full of coins. They glowed in his hand. He might only have been first generation empowered, but his ability to heat things was still dangerous. He threw the coins my way, but a quick series of high notes on the pipes and some rats lept up and took the hits. Several of the coins fell straight to the floor, still glowing hot, which the rats instively avoided.
"Why are you doing this?" He screamed "Why do the work of the Witch, you know she controls you, she controls us all!"
I stopped playing and stood. Rats still poured into the vents and the door, which swung inwards, couldn't be opened, as the servant was finding out. So far, nobody had died.
"I do this, because I can Doctor Lassenger. We all gotta eat, and I get paid a lot for this." I smiled at him.
"Do you think a few rats will stop us?" He had started to melt off a section of a metal lamp standing in the corner, obviously aiming to make a club. I noticed the young lady, still in the mans arms, was crossing her fingers and muttering, causing winds to start to spiral around the pair.
"A few rats might not kill you." I smiled at the doctor, as I tucked up my skirts and pulled the small violin off my thigh. Snapping the bow out of the hiding place on my back I readied to play. "However, this is worse than a few rats".
And I began to play. Quick rythems to get the rats surging, high notes to excite them.... and then I brought in the low notes. The tones of the earth, of grass and growth, of roots and shoots.
The seeds I had fed to the rats earlier erupted, merging into the rodents and forming great, spiked abominations. These masses of rat and plant pulled themselves off the floor and started towards the people in the rooms centre.
I looked towards the doorway, still playing. The roots and taken hold and the door was now immobile. The unfortunate servant was impaled by the roots, merged into the door.
Looking back to my abominations, I saw the professor scream, a blazing hot pole in his hands, before he threw it.
It arced, not towards the abominations, but towards me. Ducking whilst wailing out a few manic cords, one of the abominations arms whipped out and caught the pole a foot before it reached me.
Swinging the pole around it took the couple straight through the waist, killing them instantly. I sighed and kept playing, weaving the magic I needed to keep the beasts whole.
The rat beast still held the pole, which still glowed with heat. I hadn't had time to think about it. A hand made of wood and meat quickly caught fire, and soon the whole beast was blazing. It swung wildly, screaming in a thousand tiny rodent voices. The three old ladies died in the flailing crushed by flaming wooden feet.
And then I began coughing. Smoke hung in the air, we were running out of smoke free air, the ventilation system had broken when the rats came in. The door was blocked. There was no way out. Shit.
I couldn't see the professor any more, but urged the beast to keep wailing in his general direction. I needed to get out.
The fireplace. I changed the tune. The second beast, the one still not on fire, dropped the body it held next to another. Lady Yenneth and Lord Dewinter. That was the secondary targets dealt with at least. I sent it the beast to the fireplace and had it sweep out the crackeling fire.
Dashing past it I let out a few simple commands on the violin "Kill all but me, go wild, keep going" and dropped the song. The magic should hold for a few minutes.
Poking my head into the chimney, the heat and smoke were terrible. I ripped the quick release off my skirts and pulled a pair of gloves out of one of the secret pockets. I could barely breath now the smoke was so thick from the abomination and... crap everything was on fire nearly, including the carpet.
I set off up the chimney, not a hard climb, but climbing wasn't exactly my thing. After a few feet I could see stars.
Minutes later, I climbed out onto the buildings roof. The air was clear up here, but the building would soon start to catch fire.
Phew. I caught my breath. Well, two confirmed dead, and the Doctor most likely dealt with.
I'll be paid well for this nights work.
© Mark Langridge
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