Welcome back!! This week, Douglas has a special treat for us!! An Excerpt of The Maiden's Song!!!
But first, before we go into today's Blog Post, I would like to introduce you all to Seldy-Wolf. I crocheted this Wolf to portray the main character, Seldy, in the book!!
To learn more about Sady, go and get your copy of The Maiden's Song TODAY!!
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So without further adieu, let's dive right into it!!!
EXCERPT
Chapter 37 — Mouse, Seldy
Mouse’s muscles — already strained far beyond the point of exhaustion — screamed in protest. Blood seeped from the open scabs on his back. His lips were dry and cracked, his tongue felt thick and woolly, and the back of his throat was as raw as it had ever been. Swaying on his feet more out of fatigue and dizziness than in trying to keep time with the music, Mouse wondered how much longer he could keep it up. It was only through the sheer force of will that his fingers continued to work, flying fast and sure to cover the proper holes on the flute as he reached for even greater depth and complexity in the most powerful and important song he had ever played.
Stepping into the hold, the soundscape pulsed with the vibrant energy of all of his cherished memories from his all-too-brief childhood. Weaving his mother’s boundless love for him into the fabric of his song — note by note, memory by memory — was the only way he could dispel the overwhelming pall of fear and desperation that pervaded the prison hold. He didn’t bother to fight against the stream of tears flowing out of the corners of his eyes.
The darkness had been pushed back from the hold and even from the deck above. But like the quiet calm that almost always precedes a terrible storm, the peace would not — could not — last for much longer. His song was holding back the massive storm through the sheer force of his will but not without taking a corresponding toll on his body, mind, and spirit.
It became harder to sustain with each passing moment.
The roiling clouds of chaos and carnage loomed large, pressing heavily against the edges of his consciousness. Largely concealed within the darkness of the storm, the countless tentacles of his foe seethed, probing for any weakness in his will, searching for any flaw in the continuing spell of love and peace that he cast with each note he played. Sensing that even a single discordant note in the song could create an opportunity for the Enemy, Mouse redoubled his efforts.
The terror instilled in the gargoyle by his earlier song was gone, but persistent shadows clung to the creature at the wrists, ankles and neck — where heavy shackles and a familiar-looking thick iron collar served as constant reminders of its status as a slave to the whims of the Enemy and his cruel minions.
Aware that the gargoyle was stalking towards him, Mouse closed his eyes and narrowed the focus of his song even further. He couldn’t possibly outrun or outfight the creature. Instead, he dug deeper and spun out even more loving notes.
Beneath the layers of pain, suffering, and insatiable hunger forced upon the gargoyle by its cruel masters was a yearning for the freedom it once enjoyed. Focusing on that unfulfilled desire, Mouse wove new chords into his song, passages that evoked the creature’s long-suppressed memories of how it felt to be the master of its own fate.
Desperate and angry shadows clung to the iron bindings, cloaking the gargoyle in their frigid darkness, reminding it of its servitude. Dark coils of mist formed around the creature’s throat, weaving back and forth like deadly cobras poised to strike. It raised its head, trying to screech out in defiance, but the cry was choked off.
Stumbling towards him, the gargoyle stopped within easy reach, its hands curling and uncurling as it loomed up over him. Then, it stiffened; its face twisting in agony.
A burst of discordant notes pushed their way through the thin envelope of peace that Mouse had created around the hold, knocking both him and the gargoyle back a step. The beast’s ta’ir receded, as if shrinking back in fear. Shadows coalesced around the creature’s neck — growing darker and stronger by the moment. They danced skyward, reaching up towards something, no...someone. The first discordant notes of a terrifying but familiar song rang out.
The Enemy! He’s trying to take over this creature!
A blast of frigid air washed over him. Mouse shivered.
No! I won’t let him!
Recovering his balance, Mouse rooted himself to the floor, refusing to give another inch. He continued to play, undaunted and unmoving except for his flowing fingers, blowing lips, and heaving
chest. He kept his eyes closed, intent upon studying the soundscape and the impact his music was having against the swirling mass of the Enemy’s ta’ir.
The music flew fast and furious from his flute. He honed each note into a weapon that he could fling at the Enemy in order to disrupt his attempt to take over the gargoyle. Three times, his foe’s ta’ir formed into a wispy cloud — the shadow-snakes reaching towards it from the gargoyle’s neck — and three times Mouse disrupted the connection before it could be made, scattering the Enemy’s unformed essence with an all-out assault of furiously hurled notes.
But each towering crescendo, each manic assault, drew on his already nearly empty reserves of strength, bringing him closer and closer to the end of his wick. Wobbling, Mouse’s arms trembled. His lips, tongue, and throat were beyond parched. Every muscle screamed in agony. He couldn’t feel anything beyond the pain and cramps in his fingers. He couldn’t keep fighting against the impossible for much longer.
After his third victory, Mouse paused to collect both his breath and his scattered thoughts. He continued to play, but it was a slower, simpler song that he could play without much thought and even less effort. The stately song wouldn’t do much to keep the Enemy at bay, but it fueled the yearning for freedom at the core of every being in the befouled hold.
As the shadowy coils fell limp and the gargoyle’s ta’ir expanded again, a single, previously repressed, memory from early in its captivity burst into view...
...of hooded, tattooed figures looming to shackle it at the wrists and ankles...of the collar being fitted into place and locked...of dark, unknown words being spoken over it, infusing it with terrible power...of staring up at strangely glowing red and white leaves...of feeling helpless as a terrifying, frigid presence entered his body, seizing total control...
Mouse’s eyes snapped open. Blinking, he stared at the black iron collar around the beast’s neck. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end. The more he stared at it, the more...wrong...it felt.
That’s it! The thought hit him like a thunderbolt, causing him to stumble over a few notes. It looks just like Seldirima’s! And the dark magick in it is what is drawing the Enemy to it!
Sensing that he only had moments before the Enemy returned even stronger and harder to stop than ever, Mouse pulled the flute from his lips and slipped it inside his jacket. Fumbling around in his pocket for a different set of tools, he stepped closer to the paralyzed beast. Somehow, his tired, aching fingers drew out the tiny picks he needed.
The fetid smell of the old blood and rotting flesh rolled over him with every huffing breath the gargoyle took. Mouse tried not to think about how easy it would be for the beast to tear him to pieces...
***
As the last notes faded into memory, silence settled on the prison hold like a blanket of fresh-fallen snow. For a blissful moment, there was no fighting above her, no chaos swirling around her, and no pall of doom and death pervading the air itself. There was only a profound silence — delicate and peaceful in its stillness.
Awash in the warm memories evoked by the beautiful music, Seldy would have been crying like a baby if her owl form had been capable of shedding tears. She had spent her entire life amongst talented singers and musicians of all kinds, and no one, not even Uncle Tegger — the best musician she’d ever heard perform — had moved her like Mouse just had. It seemed as if the whole world had stopped to listen to him.
How did he do that?
The rhythmic creak and groan of the ship and the raspy, labored breathing of the strangely still monster that loomed over the young musician were the only answers provided to her unspoken question.
Is it all over?
Her keen eyes took in the incomprehensible scene unfolding in the hold below.
The creature stood tall and imposing, its wings and forearms spread wide as if it were about to strike someone or something; yet, the monster was rooted in place. Its corded muscles trembled, as if it were trying to move but was — for some unknown reason — unable to do so. The only part of the young musician that was visible was the top of his head — and that was uncomfortably close to the creature’s open maw.
::Shadowfang!:: Seldy projected her thoughts towards the wolf. ::What’s happening? I can’t see Mouse!::
::STILL YOUR MIND!::
The wolf’s rebuke slammed into her consciousness with palpable force.
::This battle is still being fought! The Enemy draws near again and may yet win! You are hidden, and he cannot sense you unless you make yourself known to him! So be SILENT!::
Seldy shuddered at the wolf’s stern warning. Recognizing the wisdom of it, however, she quieted her thoughts, folded her wings in close to her body, and hunkered down to watch with keen eyes and open ears.
“Lad!” Tra’al’s croaking voice shattered the silence. “What are you doing? What’s wrong with that thing?”
“Gotta...free...it...” Mouse’s voice sounded even hoarser than Tra’al’s. He sounded as if he was on the brink of exhaustion.
“What?” The incredulity in the orc’s voice matched Seldy’s own thoughts. “Why would you do that? It’s a gargoyle! Kill the damn thing or come over here and let me out so I can kill it!”
Mouse’s head snapped up at Tra’al’s last words.
“NO!”
His face was battered and bloody, but his brown eyes flashed, and his voice cracked as he shouted his reply. The young man swayed, clearly on the edge of collapse, but there was a fierce strength to his refusal.
“This creature is even more of a prisoner than you are!”
The gargoyle jerked, staggering back a step before stiffening again, its muscles twitching and its chest heaving. The boar thrashed against his cage, squealing in fear.
“That thing’ll kill you, lad!” the orc cried out, clearly exasperated. “Gargoyles kill! That’s all they do!”
“If I don’t free it...we’re all going to die!” Mouse’s voice cracked again. Then, shaking his head, he leaned in even closer to the creature. “Can’t talk...not much time...”
Seldy blinked. She couldn’t wrap her mind around the idea that such a fearsome monster was a prisoner.
Before the orc could reply, the ship shuddered to a sudden halt, as if it was caught in the grip of a great hand. The sole sliver of bright sunlight streaming in from the tiny window above faded into a dull band of diffuse light. It became harder to see in the near darkness of the hold. The air became bitter and cold.
Despite her thick covering of warm, insulating feathers, Seldy shivered. The guard feathers all over her body stood on end, quivering. The roiling, icy-cold ball of fear forming in the pit of her stomach told her that something about this chill was unnatural...and all too familiar.
The Enemy!
“Ready yourselves, boys!”
Seldy jerked within the tight confines of her crevice at hearing the booming voice of that evil captain just above her. It was dull and muted by the wood between them, but she cringed nonetheless.
“Here they come again!”
The boar gave a frightful squeal and pressed itself as far back within its cage as it could. Shadowfang growled. The ship shuddered again, the wood groaning in protest.
Yet, through it all, Mouse continued what he was doing, leaning in far too close beneath the looming monster’s slavering jaws. The bulging muscles visible beneath the gargoyle’s stone-like charcoal grey skin twitched and jerked, even as the beast remained otherwise still.
“S-s-so c-c-cold.” Mouse’s teeth chattered as he worked.
A crushing pressure pushed against Seldy’s consciousness. It felt as if something terrible was about to happen.
“I don’t know what you’re doing, lad, but you better hurry up!”
“I...almost...have...”
A soft metallic click echoed throughout the hold, followed by Mouse’s mixed cry of pain and triumph.
“...IT...ARRRGGHHH!”
Metal screeched on metal followed by a loud snap as two half-circles of heavy, black iron sprang open from their position around the gargoyle’s neck. Everything slowed down — the two pieces of the collar tumbled towards the floor; Mouse stumbled and fell backwards, his blackened hands held out in front of him in disbelief; the gargoyle staggered back as well, flapping its wings in slow motion to try and steady itself.
Clank. Clank.
The collar clattered to the floor, the two halves of it splitting away from each other at the hinge, each piece skittering away in opposite directions.
::NOOOO!::
The Enemy’s booming voice echoed against Seldy’s already battered mental shields, driving her further back into her crevice with a frightened squawk.
The ship shook with the violence of a frustrated toddler refusing to relinquish his favorite toy while in the midst of a tantrum. Seldy dug her talons into the wood of the rafters and wedged herself in as tight as she could. None of those below, however, were as fortunate.
The boar slammed from side to side in his cage, squealing in rage and surprise. Shadowfang yipped and snarled as he, too, was thrown back and forth, although he somehow managed to catch himself enough to avoid slamming into the bars each time. Tra’al uttered a curse as he was pitched sideways to land in a heap on the floor of his cell.
The gargoyle was thrown backwards in the small hall between the cages and cells, the violence of the shaking drove it down to its hands and knees. Mouse landed on his backside but didn’t stop there. He crashed into the debris of the shattered door behind him. His head smacked into the wall, causing his eyes to roll up into his head, leaving just the whites of his eyes visible as he lay dazed and groaning amidst the debris.
“Mouse!” Tra’al yelled. “Get up, lad!”
It wasn’t Mouse, however, who got up first. Seldy could only hold her breath in trepidation as the creature rose up, shook itself off, and stalked towards Mouse on all fours. When it reached his prone form, it sniffed him from the toes up to his head, until it was fully straddling him, looking down its muzzle at the young man’s face.
“You leave him alone, damn you!”
Tra’al’s outraged cry didn’t distract the beast. Instead, it snorted, dousing the young man in snot and spit before opening its maw and licking him on the face with its thick tongue.
Sputtering, Mouse opened his eyes. He sounded as surprised as Seldy felt when he spoke.
“Okay, I get it!” Turning his head, he squirmed as he pushed against the creature’s snout. “You’re welcome...but you...you better get out of here!”
Pulling its head back, the monstrous creature tilted its head and regarded the young man.
CRACK!
“Aaiiyeee!”
“Hold steady, men!”
Jerking at the sounds of the resumed battle overhead, the gargoyle snarled and bounded off in the direction from which it had originally entered the prison hold.
It wasn’t until she remembered to breathe that Seldy realized that the temperature of the hold had returned to normal.
“Well, that’s a first, lad!” The relief in Tra’al’s voice was palpable. “I never thought I’d live to see a gargoyle give up a free meal!”
Mouse sat up, looking even worse than before. His cheeks were bruised, sunken, and gaunt. The dark circles under his eyes only added to the image of someone who was beyond the point of exhaustion. Somehow, though, he pulled himself to his knees and then managed to stand up. He didn’t seem to have any energy to respond to the orc.
“Now, how about letting me out of this damn cell?”
The young man stumbled to the doorway, picking up a sack, before turning and staggering towards Tra’al’s cell.
“Where’s the Fae woman?” Mouse managed to squeak out in a dry, cracking voice as he stared at her former cell, now empty.
“Seldy’s safe!”
“Good,” Mouse replied in a soft voice, dropping his gaze. “Don’t tell me anything else about her, just in case.”
“Blazing Fires, lad, just in case of what?” Tra’al’s voice took on a tone of someone who expected to be obeyed. “Get me out of here so we can all escape!”
“No, Tra’al. Not yet.”
He thrust the sack through the bars of the cell and into the surprised orc’s hands.
“You need to get back into the corner and play dead.”
“What?” The orc’s voice rose an octave. “Why the blazes would I do that?”
Something massive smashed into the deck above Seldy, just as a familiar, booming voice cried out in rage, sending tendrils of black terror piercing through her body.
“KILL ALL OF THESE VERMIN!”
Shuddering, Seldy was surprised that she could hear Mouse’s quiet reply to the former Marine through the resurgent din of battle and the cries of the dying men and beasts above her.
“You need to stay alive so that you can help her.”
Another crash rocked the ship, coming from the stairwell behind and above her, the one leading down to the steps into the prison hold. Mouse shook his head in defeat.
“I won’t be able beat him again.”
His brown eyes flashed a hint of defiance as he stared at the door that the Enemy was forcing his way down to.
“But I might be able to trick him into thinking I have.”
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This book and blog post is Seldy-Wolf approved!!
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