The Toll (34 page)

“
No. No. He didn’t... You
wouldn’t. You’re...” The words died in Trystan’s throat.

“
I’m what? Yours?” a bitter
laugh escaped me. “No. Think again.” Growling in the back of my
throat, I shook my head. “Don’t be so stupid, Trystan. Why else
would he mark me?” Saying what I did, I didn’t even know for
certain myself why Troll had chosen to bond with me, I just wanted
to see his pain. Craved it.

Again,
that insidious sixth sense beckoned.
He hurt you. Hurt him.

“
No...” Pulling back,
Trystan’s face paled and he wove drunkenly atop me. “No. That’s not
what- No. And us... You love me. You didn’t... You’re making it
all... I wouldn’t do that!!”

“
But you did.”

Releasing me, he shook his head
frantically, crawling backwards once he’d rolled off of me,
stumbling back until he could stand up.

“
You’re not my
Daphie-girl,” he managed to choke out, “this isn’t you.”

“
Trystan,” Papa snapped,
eyeing us both uncertainly.

“
That priest must’ve been
right,” Trystan spluttered. “The devil is in her. She’s a witch or
something... Demon possessed. There’s no other
explanation.”

That, or you’ve just been
called out, tried to fumble your way out of it, no one is buying
it, ran out of options, so now you’re placing it all squarely on my
shoulders, namely my sanity and a possession by Satan
himself.

How dare him!

Make him pay,
my senses commanded.

I wasn’t in a position to
deny.

“
You’ll rue the day you
took what wasn’t yours! You’ll pay, I say! You’ll pay!” The
tingling in my fingers ramped up as I gained my footing, standing
up to face him head on, unhampered magic flowing along my wrists,
licking along my skin in a wave warm with friendly greetings.
Strange, foreign words tumbling from my lips, I let them fly,
sending it straight into Trystan’s chest as he flew back, sailing
through the air to land at Papa’s shocked feet. “You’re rotten and
blinded! You’re selfish and uncaring, wishing for that which you
can’t have! A witch? Possessed? The devil is with
you!
You take what was
never freely given! I curse you for it!” I roared.

“
Daphie...” Papa whispered,
hands trembling as he stuttered, ducking down when a clump of grass
flew at him, “your eyes... they’re,” licking his lips, he swallowed
hard, stumbling back, “they’re... they’ve gone black.”

“
Think of me and your sex
will falter!” I hissed, faintly registering my father’s frantic
ramblings and prayers, mumblings of the devil, demons, and
possession, Trystan’s face blanching as my hands curled at my sides
and my face twisted in disgust. “You’ll feel what I felt, every
night when you close your eyes, you’ll know my pain, relive it,
over and over again. It will be your body that’s violated, your
will that’s taken, and no matter how much you scream, it’ll never
stop! Sweet dreams will elude you, leaving you only
nightmares,
my
nightmares! Think of me, and sores will form, puss will ooze!
You’ll never take anything unwillingly given ever again!!”
Snarling, my hands shot out, and blue tendrils snaked from my
fingers, wracking his thick frame as he cried out in pain, writhing
around on the ground.

As fast as it had begun, it was over,
and I felt myself stumbling back, flopping back down on the soggy,
marshy ground.

****

“
What have you done? What
have you done?” Mamma cried, eyeing me like a stranger. I’d never
seen the look on her face, a mixture of shock and disbelief, mixed
with something else.
She’s afraid of
me,
I realized.

“
Oh, god, child. Did you
kill him?” Papa knelt down beside Trystan’s prone body, tendrils of
smoke rising up from his shirt in the cool night air.

“
He’s not dead,” I croaked
out finally. I couldn’t muster up an ounce of remorse for what I’d
just done, though, not one.

And as I wobbled
unsteadily, wiping my brow nervously, I agreed with the voice
crooning to me softly, wholeheartedly—
he’d
deserved it.
In some ways, I felt he
deserved more, but I didn’t quite have it in me to kill
him.

“
What black magic has
poisoned you?” Mamma whispered, wringing her hands in her long
cape. “What piece of you did he take that blackened
you?”

Snorting my contempt, I didn’t even
try to hide it. “The same part you stole when you and Papa sent me
to a troll, nothing to offer but a bag of paste jewelry and a head
full of lies.”

Mamma’s eyes widened and she crossed
herself, scuttling away from Trystan and Otvla’s incapacitated
forms, her lower lip trembling as tears filled her eyes.

“
And will you do the same
to us, to your family, as you did to him?” she sniffled
worriedly.

“
No,” reaching out, I
flicked my wrist at everyone, a light blue swirl of smoke
enveloping them, tendrils slowly snaking out to surround them, “but
you’ll never be able to deceive anyone else ever again. May your
inner worth and beauty match your outsides.” As the smoke swirled
into a mist, settling over all of them, Mamma slapped at herself
frantically, afraid it might cause her harm. Papa, speechless,
could only gape at me, blinking owlishly as I stood over their
huddled, protective crouch, smiling tightly.

“
What of my child?” he
mumbled. “Does she still live?”

“
If you’ll recall,” I
nudged Otvla gently with my foot, “that was not of my doing.”
Walking back to the sheet, of which had fallen to the ground, I sat
down heavily, tugging it over my shoulders protectively as my legs
turned to jelly. Head cradled on my knees, I fought back a
sob.

“
I meant the other one,”
Papa finally whispered in a choked voice.

Glancing up, our eyes met and we
stared at one another, gazes locked, my expression
undecipherable.

The first to look away, I
stood up, scooping up my boots , one by one, scattered feet from
each other on the ground, cradling them to my chest.
Will I never be free of this? Will my life, and
my person, never be my own?
The urge to
flee hit me again, hard, along with the intensified itching and
burning of my skin.

“
I’m sorry,” though not
that sorry at all, “the daughter you knew is gone. The old
Daphedaenya is dead.”

Taking off again, I didn’t stop to see
his reaction, unwilling to look at his face once more.

Senses driving me, I let them lead.
“Take me away, take it all away. Please, make it stop,” my voice
whispered, rustling on the wind.

Of The Lake

No idea how long I ran, not stopping
until that odd urge, guiding me where I need to go, suddenly
ceased. I soon found myself overlooking a rather large pond, a tall
sheen of mist surrounding the surface, warm steam wafting up.
Adrenaline still rushing through me, the anger coursing my veins
upon waking, built back up as I kept at a swift pace.

It was beyond maddening, trying to
wade through the storm of emotional upheaval, being yanked in fifty
different directions all at once, barely hanging on by a
thread.

Then there were the ever present
runes. The flesh surrounding them ached as the tender skin
inflamed, throbbing constantly as they facilitated between pulsing
and tingling, as if a million tiny bugs were marching all over me.
Breathing heavily, chest tight, I was ready to scream in
frustration.

“
What is wrong with me?!”
My bellow echoed across the surprisingly still water as I tossed my
boots in a fit of pique. Of course, there was no answer, just the
sound of my voice shooting off across and beyond.

‘
The water.’
Like a whisper, coaxing me forward, promising,
without words, unmistakable relief.

I’d follow a voice. At this point, I
didn’t care. Desperate didn’t even begin to describe.

‘
Relief. Embrace the
element... Come, Phedaenya.’

Shucking the sheet draped over me like
some kind of impromptu cape, I ignored the gooseflesh bumping up
all over my exposed skin.

A glint caught my attention, and then
another, and another, until I was entranced, hands stilling to
watch. Like tiny sparks of sapphire blue and molten silver,
skimming across the water’s surface, something strong and
undefinable hummed beneath.

Pretty, like a thousand glittering
fireflies dancing below the surface, the hum intensified as the
sparks brightened and dimmed, winking out to light back up. Beneath
my feet the earth vibrated, as if to agree, rippling the water’s
edge, small lapping waves splashing up to tickle my toes. It called
to me.

“
I’m coming,” I mumbled
hoarsely, as if it could hear.

Tugging my shift swiftly over my head,
I ran headlong, slicing right into the clear blue water, diving
down deep into a bottomless vat of crystal clear aqua, uncaring if
I never came up for air.

Eventually, I reached what must surely
be the bottom, long leafed plants of vibrant colors, some thin,
some wide and thick, stemming up, springing forth from the
depths.

As the need for oxygen soon became too
much, my glowing rune marked skin, not so blindingly bright as it
lit electric blue, hummed along to the water’s thrumming tune in
the soothing pond’s calming depths. Not wishing to come up again,
blessed peace surrounding me, the strain on my lungs started to
become too much, just now beginning to burn, and I finally,
reluctantly, began swimming up towards the top, speedily kicking my
way up.

As I gazed up at the shimmering
surface above me, a glowing orb of yellow set high above shone down
on me, and I closed my eyes, letting the warm rush of the water
across my battered body bathe me, the sound of the water dancing
across my ears drowning everything else out like a soothing
lullaby, until there was just me, and nothing else.
Nothing.

Shaking my wet head, a loud gasp
escaped me when I suddenly surfaced, shooting up a good distance
before flopping back down, landing with a crashing splash. My eyes
opened wide as I spluttered, trying to catch my breath. It felt
good, wonderful, even. Flicking my head from side to side like a
wet dog as I tread water, I sank back down until the short waves
I’d created with my little show lapped at my chin.

As I scrubbed at my face, I
barked out a surprised laugh, freezing before rolling my
shoulders.
What the...?
Thrusting my arms out and running my hands along
the length of them, smoothing over all the bumped up flesh, a
happy, strangled chuckle bubbled up in my throat.

“
They don’t hurt
anymore...” I whispered, my hands dusting over every inch of me in
stunned disbelief, not a sore or aching spot to be found. “Haha!” A
shocked smile tipped my lips, astonished. “They don’t hurt
me-
Ah!”

“
Of course they don’t hurt
you!” an elderly voice shouted from the shore, grimacing as I
screeched, shocked. “What did you expect The Lady’s water would do
for ya, eh? Paint’cha pink?”

Head whipping around, I found a
huddled old woman, hunched over and covered in worn out, tattered
old brown robes, a faded light blue cloak covering her hunched
back, holding a length of cloth out to me, as if in
offering.

“
The what now?” I called,
sinking down until the water kissed the tips of my ears.
I’m naked, in a pond, and an old woman just
caught me.
Glancing down briefly, I
wondered,
if I sink down to the bottom
again, until my lungs about burn through my chest, would she be
gone when I resurfaced?

“
Nope,” the old crone
harrumphed, “best not even be thinkin’ it. I’m of a mind. Just wait
it out. ‘Sides, I’m powerful stubborn.”

It took me a few moments, blinking at
her dumbly, to realize she could read the expression on my face,
not my mind.

Something about the old
woman was off, though, sending my senses buzzing
. She’s something else—not quite human—something...
Other?

“
Gonna leave an old crone
waitin’ fer ya all night, child? Hmm? Or still thinkin ‘bout
drownin’ yourself?”

A derisive snort left me and I canted
my head, studying her.

Would I ever find sanctuary
from those filled with biting sarcasm?
The
world, and the pond, gave me no answer. I took that as an emphatic
no.

“
Figures,” I muttered,
slowly creeping my way towards her warily.

“
Don’t it, though.” Smiling
a toothless smile, she cackled at my put out expression. “What be
yer name, lil’un?”

“
Uhm...” Eyeing her
curiously, not certain whether to trust her or not, I held my hand
out hesitantly, the rest of my body still under water.

The old woman closed the distance when
I didn’t come any closer, shortening the gap between us, and
slapped the cloth down into my hand. When she realized I wasn’t
going to get out any time soon, either, especially with her
standing over me like that, she grunted something unintelligible
under her breath and started waddling her way towards the forest
just beyond.