the Price

Not far from the immense refrectory a shivering blind man lay down upon a bed of wool and rag. Not even the sound of a howling and wild wolf-woman could keep the Finder from his much needed sleep.

Within the cage, the mind of a once docile Allarian Lady was now consumed by anger, by reflex, by vice. Thoughts mingled with touch and sound and scent...and the realization that freedom was gone, that limitation was forced, and that the iron bars were her prison. For long hours, for all the night, the poor cursed creature clawed at the bars, flung her body against the metal, attempted in any and every way to rid herself of their oppressive hold upon her. And all the while the memory of a name surfaced and resurfaced as she tried to rip that which was stronger than she: the name Jarlath. And with every instinct within her she began to hate the very sound of it.

In the morning Andrea awoke upon a bed of ice; the straw that was supposed to be her bed was strewn all about the cage, most of it flung far out into the snow. She shivered and looked about, trying to focus on her general surroundings. When she turned to her left what she saw astounded her: it was Jarlath and a huge man almost twice the blind man's stature!

"...as I was saying," spoke the Giant. "I do you's a favor, you's do me a favor."

"But....but that was not part of our bargain," said Jarlath.

"Bargain-shmargain!" roared the huge being. "You's got more than we a- bargained for....now I's get more than we a-bargained for!"

"But....but...all I got was the cage, nothing more."

"Liar!" screamed the Giant. "Or imbecile! Either way, I's tell you what you got. You got the cage and the straw and the bowl o' water, and not only that! you's got a bed o' wool and clothe, and a morning meal t'boot!"

~~and so goes the wrangling~~ thought Jarlath, to himself. ~~and I say what I have said a thousand times, I act and react in an endless game of future-turned-present. yet soon my "sight" will be gone and the "play" shall turn to pure blindness~~

With only a hint of sadness Jarlath accepted the giant's offer, he knew he had no choice. Later, Andrea was dressed, fed, and prepared for travel. As they sat upon the sled, and as the Giant put on the harness and began to pull it out of the tall city, Jarlath spoke to the girl. "Choice is a figment of our imaginations, did you know that?"

"What?" said Andrea.

"'Choice', it really doesn't exist...not for me, not for you, not for my brother or the devil himself!"

Andrea could hear the anger and emptiness in the words. Jarlath felt the tiredness of his own voice...how he had practiced this moment, seen it and relished it and accepted it for there was no other choice. Yet after so many dreams, so many visions, so long a life of sightful blindness, he felt exhausted, and he tended to get pissed when he was tired.

"I still don't know what you're talking about!" grumbled Andrea. She was cold, tired and angry at the riddles of this madman, for she had come to accept him as nothing less than mad. The fact that his madness had a logic all its own made her even more frustrated.

"Then I'll spell it out!" grumbled Jarlath right back at her. "I told, T- O-L-D, you that the Giant, G-I-A-N-T, would not help us without exacting a price, P-R-I-C-E. And the price is you, Y-O-U."

The word YOU sunk into Andrea and then she reacted: "WHAT!??!"

Jarlath began to uncontrollably laugh. He couldn't help himself, he had seen this moment years prior and now that it was happening, he couldn't help but laugh.

"You stinking, lying son of a---"

"Whoa!" grinned Jarlath. "Keep my momma out of this!"

"IF you THINK that I'm going to sleep with this creature OR marry him OR be his maid, YOU and HE have got another thing coming!"

Jarlath just kept on laughing. "Hey," he said. "I never said THAT. But since thinking isn't your high suit, I'll just spell this out too."

"Just spit it out!" yelled Andrea.

"You are magic, little girl," said Jarlath. "You exude it...why if you had eyes to see, the aurora that surrounds your frame would blind you! Well, this here Giant ain't no regular giant, he's of the Rephaim...the colossi who are the half-spawn of the fallen ones. This Giant is magic, too. He can't see your aurora, but he can smell it...he can smell you...at least when he doesn't have a cold."

"So what does he want with me?"

"He wants to consume your magic. But don't worry, he only needs a little bit of your brain and the clippings from your toenails."

"WHAT??!!!!?"

"I said don't worry....the procedure will not hurt a bit, not much anyway."

And while the two continued their argument Joab of the Rephaim was humming away. They had already left the City and would soon reach the Well T'Prunh and then he would take out his knife. ~~brains!~~ he thought. ~~toes and brains, brains and toes, and magic, Magic, MAGIC!!! With her's magic I's will finally be able to best that damnable Anak! And then Peace shall be mine's!~~

1. the Well

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