At the Crossroads
The Never Ending Quest - Episode 8160
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Lady Andrea Croix was in an unfamiliar place. It was a cavern. Though
she had never seen the stone walls before, she remembered tales told by
the bards of the kingdom. They had sang songs of Duke Charles D'Honaire
and his adventures in the Southern Caves. Through their vivid stories,
somehow, she knew that was where she was. There was a pool before her, but it didn't reflect the cavern around her, but a distant place. A glen, nestled in the mountains. Andrea strained her eyes to look at the strange sight, and she saw movement in the scene which played itself out in the reflecting pool. She squinted, and saw the source. It was a group of seven women, clad in plain white dresses, dancing in the grove. A clamor arose further down the tunnel she was in. Andrea's eyes darted up, and she gazed down the corridor to see a group of armed warriors bearing the same standard as had flown over her father's castle the day Croix Keep fell to the betrayer. They had no intentions other than murderous ones, she could tell by the looks on her faces. Andrea felt the urge to try to force the change upon herself. It would be so easy, and she had wanted the release ever since she had last changed, a few days ago. She would have enough power to defend herself if she let the beast out, and it would be extremely enjoyable. Enough power to do anything, and all the freedom she desired. She looked back down at the reflecting pool. One of the women had pulled away from the dance, and seemed to be looking directly at Andrea. The woman reached out a hand, and beckoned. Somehow, she knew she could follow the woman if she wanted to, into the pool, into the grove. That, however, would involve choking down her growing urge to change, a need which hummed in her veins with a touch like the caress of a lover. In the change lay the sureness of dispatching the men. In the pool lay uncertainty and doubt... Reaching deep inside herself, she pulled the wild impulses to the fore, watching herself twist into her wolfish shape... Andrea woke with a start. She was flushed, her heart racing. The dream had seemed so real. Slowly, she managed to calm herself, slowing her breathing, regaining her composure, knowing that though she still felt the growing desire to change, as she had in her dream, she couldn't afford to now. She would have to pick her battles. Then, rising and slipping out of her bedroll, she reached for her cloak and noticed a disturbing thing. Looking at her naked form, she saw just above her navel a patch of brown hair, almost fur, and it was not going away. Hastily, she covered herself with her cloak and went to join the others.
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The Traveler
3/13/2000 12:55:02 PM
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