Yupar jumped as the scene sprang to life. Shevak, Roxie, and Blaire were screaming. The Dark Princess shouted “Tanda – Pull!”
She pulled. Roxie and Blaire stopped screaming, and started suffocating as the rope tightened. Shevak screamed though, as his cross swayed while they struggled.
Paul’s sword swished. The two soldier’s heads fell to the ground, with their attention fully on the cross they probably never saw him. Tanda screamed as it swished again, parting the rope, and Roxie and Blaire fell, stunned, to the ground.
“Yupar! Watch the girl”
Yupar had got the idea anyway. She’d raced over to Tanda and held her knife to her throat.
For a second, the Dark Princess was stunned. Then she fixed her gaze onto Paul. Shevak groaned, ‘Here we go again’, he thought.
That awful stare bore into Paul’s eyes. “You silly little man! Do you think you can defeat me? You are going to take that sword, and kill everyone here except Tanda and me.” The full force of her power bore into Paul’s eyes.
Big mistake. She’d opened her mind to the greatest sorcerer that ever lived. She howled in anguish as he strolled into her mind, uncovering her memories, scattering them in her brain like a burglar looking for jewels.
The others watched, astounded, as she buckled to her knees. Yupar could see that same look in Paul’s eyes, eyes that were burning, burning with the fire of his hatred for this woman.
Brangwen screamed, a bloodcurding howl, as Paul raped the deepest recesses of her brain.
Eventually, at the very bottom, he found it. A woman, nude, on a cross. A small girl, sobbing, on the ground, as a Roman soldier, smirking, fingered the girl’s mother, torturing her, as she hung helpless.
“Why, Brangwen?” he asked. “WHY? DAMN YOU! You can see how bad it is, how hard to endure, how hard to watch! Why have you subjected so many to the same? You knew, but still you crucified!”
“I…..wanted…..the…..power….that….my……mother……never…..had, and I…..wanted …….REVENGE!!!”
“And yet, your greatest fear is your greatest weapon, you love to crucify but you dread the cross!”
“Yes! I fear the cross more than I fear death! Let me go, please! Let me go….AAARGH”
She collapsed, unconscious, at the foot of Shevak’s cross, her head resting on Messaline’s abdomen.
Shevak’s tears dropped down, tears of sorrow for his mother, tears of relief at this development.
“Paul….you’re ….alive! Is…my….mother?”
Paul looked up at him. “No, Shevak….I’m so sorry. She never knew what…had happened to you.”
Shevak groaned as he moved slightly. “Do….you…..think….you could….stop it…….happening?”
Paul stood to attention. “Very good, your Royal Highness!”
He looked at Yupar. “Yupar! “Tanda won’t hurt you now that I have Brangwen, send her to get tools from the wagon, and make sure Blaire and Roxie can breathe!”
But Blaire had already freed herself, and was loosening Roxie’s noose. “I’m OK, bit sore, but able to help.”
The Dark Princess was laying very still, on the ground. “Is she dead?” asked Blaire.
“She a sorceress, she’s no easier to kill than I am,” replied Paul. “Roxie? You all right?”
“I’ve had better days, just don’t ask too much of me! But, trust me, I’m bloody glad to see you.”
“Thanks for the gobbo, sweetie!” said Blaire.
“You were lucky I was tied up, or I’d have throttled you!”
A shocked Tanda had returned with tools. Released from the Dark Princess’ power, she was amazed to feel human again!
While Yupar held the cross upright, Tanda excavated the stone.
“Are you ready, Shevak?”
“You…. bet ….I ….am!”
Carefully, the two girls lowered the cross to the ground. It hurt like hell, but then he was laying, no longer was his weight taken by the nails.
“This will sting, Shevak,” said Yupar, “ but it’ll make it easier for you when we pull the nails out.” She poured some liquid into the nail wounds.
It did indeed sting, and there is no easy way to get nails out of timber, other than with a lot of pulling and twisting. Paul tried hard to be careful, but it still hurt like sheer bloody hell. Eventually, amazingly, wonderfully, and so unexpectedly, he was freed from his cross. He rolled away from it, and crawled over to his mother.
Though his heels and wrists still throbbed agonisingly, the relief in his groins and shoulders was immense. For a moment, he stroked Messaline’s hair. “I don’t suppose somebody could get me my clothes?” he asked.
Roxie and Blaire had already dressed themselves, so Roxie helped Shevak with his clothes. He stayed sat on the ground.
“I’m sorry, I don’t think I can stand….”
“Yupar,” asked Paul, nodding towards Brangwen, “ tie her hands behind her back, please? We can’t take chances with this one….”
Yupar did so, but the Dark Princess lay still. Yupar felt for a pulse. “She is alive!”
“I think I may have left her with a slight headache!” Paul regarded Shevak’s empty cross. Suddenly he felt weary.
Tanda said, “Are you going to crucify me?”
“What? Why?”
“I did some dreadful things….. I pulled the stools out so Roxie and Blaire would hang! I was on her side……she fascinated me!”
“She fascinated me, too, Tanda. I don’t think that’s a capital offence.”
“But…”
“Tanda, your own memories and regrets will be your cross. I need that cross for her, or when she wakes up she’ll be as much trouble as before. “
“Can’t you just kill her?” asked Blaire
“Blaire, she is a sorceress. She tried to kill me, she did kill me, and here I am. We can’t die until we’re meant to. I’m afraid she’s not meant to die just yet. You, or one of you, is supposed to have a son, courtesy of Shevak here, and he’s the one appointed to kill her. That’s why she’s been desperate to kill you, but, she can’t avoid her own destiny. I could chop her into little pieces and spread them round the world. But she’d be back. The only think that can kill a sorcerer or sorceress ‘accidentally’ is a collision out of time. I thought about decapitating her while I was in Tulloth time, and that would have killed me, but it would only have bought you a bit of time.”
He continued. “She has no power when she’s on a cross. Come on. Strip her, Tanda, you’re good at taking other people’s clothes off them. I can keep her here as long as is necessary. Years, if need be.”
She pulled. Roxie and Blaire stopped screaming, and started suffocating as the rope tightened. Shevak screamed though, as his cross swayed while they struggled.
Paul’s sword swished. The two soldier’s heads fell to the ground, with their attention fully on the cross they probably never saw him. Tanda screamed as it swished again, parting the rope, and Roxie and Blaire fell, stunned, to the ground.
“Yupar! Watch the girl”
Yupar had got the idea anyway. She’d raced over to Tanda and held her knife to her throat.
For a second, the Dark Princess was stunned. Then she fixed her gaze onto Paul. Shevak groaned, ‘Here we go again’, he thought.
That awful stare bore into Paul’s eyes. “You silly little man! Do you think you can defeat me? You are going to take that sword, and kill everyone here except Tanda and me.” The full force of her power bore into Paul’s eyes.
Big mistake. She’d opened her mind to the greatest sorcerer that ever lived. She howled in anguish as he strolled into her mind, uncovering her memories, scattering them in her brain like a burglar looking for jewels.
The others watched, astounded, as she buckled to her knees. Yupar could see that same look in Paul’s eyes, eyes that were burning, burning with the fire of his hatred for this woman.
Brangwen screamed, a bloodcurding howl, as Paul raped the deepest recesses of her brain.
Eventually, at the very bottom, he found it. A woman, nude, on a cross. A small girl, sobbing, on the ground, as a Roman soldier, smirking, fingered the girl’s mother, torturing her, as she hung helpless.
“Why, Brangwen?” he asked. “WHY? DAMN YOU! You can see how bad it is, how hard to endure, how hard to watch! Why have you subjected so many to the same? You knew, but still you crucified!”
“I…..wanted…..the…..power….that….my……mother……never…..had, and I…..wanted …….REVENGE!!!”
“And yet, your greatest fear is your greatest weapon, you love to crucify but you dread the cross!”
“Yes! I fear the cross more than I fear death! Let me go, please! Let me go….AAARGH”
She collapsed, unconscious, at the foot of Shevak’s cross, her head resting on Messaline’s abdomen.
Shevak’s tears dropped down, tears of sorrow for his mother, tears of relief at this development.
“Paul….you’re ….alive! Is…my….mother?”
Paul looked up at him. “No, Shevak….I’m so sorry. She never knew what…had happened to you.”
Shevak groaned as he moved slightly. “Do….you…..think….you could….stop it…….happening?”
Paul stood to attention. “Very good, your Royal Highness!”
He looked at Yupar. “Yupar! “Tanda won’t hurt you now that I have Brangwen, send her to get tools from the wagon, and make sure Blaire and Roxie can breathe!”
But Blaire had already freed herself, and was loosening Roxie’s noose. “I’m OK, bit sore, but able to help.”
The Dark Princess was laying very still, on the ground. “Is she dead?” asked Blaire.
“She a sorceress, she’s no easier to kill than I am,” replied Paul. “Roxie? You all right?”
“I’ve had better days, just don’t ask too much of me! But, trust me, I’m bloody glad to see you.”
“Thanks for the gobbo, sweetie!” said Blaire.
“You were lucky I was tied up, or I’d have throttled you!”
A shocked Tanda had returned with tools. Released from the Dark Princess’ power, she was amazed to feel human again!
While Yupar held the cross upright, Tanda excavated the stone.
“Are you ready, Shevak?”
“You…. bet ….I ….am!”
Carefully, the two girls lowered the cross to the ground. It hurt like hell, but then he was laying, no longer was his weight taken by the nails.
“This will sting, Shevak,” said Yupar, “ but it’ll make it easier for you when we pull the nails out.” She poured some liquid into the nail wounds.
It did indeed sting, and there is no easy way to get nails out of timber, other than with a lot of pulling and twisting. Paul tried hard to be careful, but it still hurt like sheer bloody hell. Eventually, amazingly, wonderfully, and so unexpectedly, he was freed from his cross. He rolled away from it, and crawled over to his mother.
Though his heels and wrists still throbbed agonisingly, the relief in his groins and shoulders was immense. For a moment, he stroked Messaline’s hair. “I don’t suppose somebody could get me my clothes?” he asked.
Roxie and Blaire had already dressed themselves, so Roxie helped Shevak with his clothes. He stayed sat on the ground.
“I’m sorry, I don’t think I can stand….”
“Yupar,” asked Paul, nodding towards Brangwen, “ tie her hands behind her back, please? We can’t take chances with this one….”
Yupar did so, but the Dark Princess lay still. Yupar felt for a pulse. “She is alive!”
“I think I may have left her with a slight headache!” Paul regarded Shevak’s empty cross. Suddenly he felt weary.
Tanda said, “Are you going to crucify me?”
“What? Why?”
“I did some dreadful things….. I pulled the stools out so Roxie and Blaire would hang! I was on her side……she fascinated me!”
“She fascinated me, too, Tanda. I don’t think that’s a capital offence.”
“But…”
“Tanda, your own memories and regrets will be your cross. I need that cross for her, or when she wakes up she’ll be as much trouble as before. “
“Can’t you just kill her?” asked Blaire
“Blaire, she is a sorceress. She tried to kill me, she did kill me, and here I am. We can’t die until we’re meant to. I’m afraid she’s not meant to die just yet. You, or one of you, is supposed to have a son, courtesy of Shevak here, and he’s the one appointed to kill her. That’s why she’s been desperate to kill you, but, she can’t avoid her own destiny. I could chop her into little pieces and spread them round the world. But she’d be back. The only think that can kill a sorcerer or sorceress ‘accidentally’ is a collision out of time. I thought about decapitating her while I was in Tulloth time, and that would have killed me, but it would only have bought you a bit of time.”
He continued. “She has no power when she’s on a cross. Come on. Strip her, Tanda, you’re good at taking other people’s clothes off them. I can keep her here as long as is necessary. Years, if need be.”
I hope the Dark Princess enjoys a long vacation on her cross!
