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Posted on July 28, 2013 at 11:56:19 PM by thoth
| "Make sure it's a quail chick," Atkiss hissed. "Not another awful rat. Can't move for the smell of rats in here. It'll bring me to an early death."
"Oh shut up, Atkiss," Thoth threw over his shoulder as he turned the door handle. "You're not dying." "My quail chick - " "Don't worry, I'll get your damn quail chick. If your mouth is full I don't have to listen to you." Thoth slammed the door a little harder than he normally would, shoved his hands into his pockets and stomped out of Nimueh's quarters and down the corridor. He had no idea where he was going, and didn't care; anything to get away from the whiney Garter snake for a while. Morveren had slipped out of the room behind him without his noticing, and trotted along to heel like a loyal puppy. The vaporeon was now approximately the size of a cat, and had been a part of Thoth's life for several months, but she had still not said a word telepathically or verbally. She wasn't shy - Thoth had never felt anything close to shyness from her. He had long given up trying to get her to talk, and was beginning to appreciate the companionable and understanding silence she always provided; the rest of his world was always so noisy, being with Morveren felt like an escape. Sometimes. Not when she was trying to sleep on his face. She was acutely tuned in to his emotions and was beginning to learn how best to react to them. Now, for example, she understood enough to stroll quietly and unobstrusively along behind him, rather than jumping up for a cuddle or veering off to commandeer a rug. They rounded a corner, and Thoth's step faltered slightly as he spotted Tarquin in one of the window bays talking to two other boys. Thoth had no idea what Tristan had done or said, but ever since he had promised Tarquin would leave him alone, he had - although that didn't make seeing him any easier. His footsteps felt strangely loud against the stone floor, on which he kept his eyes fixed, and he sped up his pace to try and get past quickly. The boys carried on talking as normal. Just as he was passing, Thoth glanced up and made brief eye contact with his former tormentor, and caught the sneer playing along Tarquin's lips - but nothing happened. A moment later, they passed,Thoth turned right at the end of the corridor and released a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding. He was about to turn left at the end of that corridor, but had to jump backwards when someone rushed past. Thoth wouldn't have thought anything of it - consumed with thoughts of Tarquin, he would have just assumed that it was a busy servant- until he recognised the king's harassed voice. He paused in the act of stepping forwards and waited, just out of sight of Arthur and Morgana. The conversation was brief but strained, and the implication sank like a stone in his stomach. If there's trouble to be found, he's better than a hound. At the sound of departing footsteps, Thoth instinctively took Arthur's route, following the king from a distance. Despite his lack of athletic prowess, the preocious twelve year-old had an uncanny knack for sneaking about unseen and unheard, although in this case he probably could have followed Arthur with a brass band and the king wouldn't have noticed. He didn't need to go far. Thoth knew the castle well, and the king's general direction sank the stone of despair further in his stomach - a quick peek out of the window confirmed his suspicions. Arthur was gathering an army together. Shaman was under attack. And Tristan, Thoth's only fairy friend in the world, was certainly out there somewhere being an idiot. He took the stairs two at a time, sprinted through the Great Hall and out of the main entrance, nearly knocking an unfortunate parlour maid over as he went. Morgana was directly ahead of him, gallopping out of the castle grounds on her steed. Thoth put his head down, pumped his arms and chased after her as fast as he could. Maybe, if he put on enough speed - CRASH. It was like running into a brick wall. He collided face-first with the magical barrier and was thrown back onto the ground where he lay for a moment, winded and dazed, but miraculously unharmed. Maybe Mallos had suspected such antics and had put some kind of spell on the barrier so that he wouldn't break any bones if he ran into it. Morveren trotted up, sniffed him and patted his face, presumably to make sure he wasn't hurt. Her wet nose probing in his ear revived him somewhat and he sat up with a groan, just in time to see a small troop of guards riding out after Morgana. Thoth reached out with one hand, groping as though in darkness, and felt the cold edge of the magical barrier beneath his fingertips. Holding his hand in place, he picked Morveren up with the other hand and pushed her hopefully against the invisible wall. No-go. The vaporeon pulled a funny face and made an odd snickering sound as her progress was forcibly stopped, and she looked as though she was pressed against a pane of glass. Mallos thought of everything. Thoth kicked the wall in frustration, stood up and summoned his own magic. Water didn't work, even when he got worked up enough to reverse the flow of the River Twinge and accidentally caused it to burst its banks. The water just passed straight through the barrier. Ice didn't work either. He walked up and down the length of the barrier for about a mile, persuading every animal he came across to try and help break it down, but none of them could even feel it was there. It was as if it didn't exist, except for him and Morveren. Thoth was not known for his mild manner. As the hours ticked by and nothing he could do physically or magically appeared to make a dent, frustration gave way to the familiar surge of fiery anger. Tell-tale stormclouds gathered overhead, darkening the skies and casting the royal grounds into a deep shadow. Thunder cracked. Thoth closed his eyes and focused on the storm, feeling the wind whipping his face and the promise of precipitation pounding in his veins. He had never been able to control the weather properly before - it always responded more to his emotions than to his will - but fury and sheer desperation placed him in the mindset of the storm. He could feel it so acutely, it felt like he was part of it. When he lifted his arms the heavy air pressure caused them to ache, but it was no more difficult than usual to call upon one of his oldest and most well-used powers: water manipulation. The usual spinning sphere of transparent liquid formed in between his hands, growing as he spread them slowly apart, until it was the size of him. There he held it and focused on the storm, searching for its peak. Thunder cracked again. Thoth reached into the black sky with his mind, grasped the thing he wanted and took a breath. Morveren pressed tightly against his leg and shivered, but he barely noticed her. The level of coordination required to pull off the attack was supremely impressive for someone so young, but then again, Thoth was the son of one of the greatest magicians of all time. He threw the ball of water and released the storm at the same time, sending a bolt of lightning shooting towards the magical barrier. The sky lit up, and for a moment intertwined threads of water and electricity formed a semi-circular spider's web over the entire castle grounds, marking the edge of the invisible wall, and then the world went black and Thoth knew no more. It was still dark when he woke up in is own bed. The curtains had been drawn, but only a dim light peeked out from underneath - twilight. Someone must have found him and carried him back to his room after he'd fallen unconscious - presumably a guard - and he'd slept the rest of the day away. Whatever had happened with the battle, and Tristan, he had no idea. Thoth rubbed his eyes with his hands and slid slowly out of bed, ignoring the dull ache all over his body and trying hard not to kick Morveren, who was asleep near his feet. The castle was quiet. Without thinking, Thoth automatically started for the door - intending to go and check that Tristan was in his room, hopefully safe and probably grounded - but paused as he passed the glass vivarium which housed Atkiss. He'd forgotten about the quail chick. "Sorry I didn't get your chick, Atkiss," he muttered. Silence. That was unsual - Atkiss was the berating type, not the silent treatment type. "I'm sorry," Thoth repeated, louder, and added, "I'll get you one in the morning. Atkiss?" He could see the snake curled up at the back of the vivarium, unmoving. Thoth slid the glass door along, hissed Atkiss' name and prodded him with his finger. The snake didn't move. He reached in with both hands and gently lifted the limp, lifeless body of his pet, feeling his heart in his throat. The old Garter snake had done as he'd always threatened, and had passed peacefully on to begin his next journey. |
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