Mistwalker paced outside the door to the holding area where her greatest triumph was being held. After months of mixing up formulas and feeding them to the test subjects, now she had something to show for it. That is, if the healer came out soon and told her the subject hadn't died...like the others.
As that thought ran through her head, the holding bay doors opened wide and the lioness strode out, blood soaking her once pristine white robe. With a stern resolve, the healer shook her head. "As soon as I began the evaluation, the patient began to develop internal bleeding. I did the best that I could, but the blood just would not coagulate. Whatever you gave her, it severely inhibited blood clotting. Things began to stabilize near the end, but she just lost too much blood."
Mistwalker licked her lips and looked about to say something, but just closed her mouth after sighing. She was a voodoo queen, but even her voodoo knowledge and magic could not surpass that of a trained healer. With a slow nod, she began to lead the lioness from her lab. Once she was alone again, she smashed a paw down on her work table, sliding the paw down the table, she sent ingredients and half the finished formula smashing against far wall and floor.
"Oh All Knowing Loa, what am I doing wrong? I have followed all of your instructions and every time that I do, my subjects die. What have I done to lose such favor with you that you will not aide me?" The leopard asked, falling to her knees with arms spread wide.
She waited in silence for several seconds, hoping that her gods would answer her pleas. She was about to give up when a hissing voice spoke from behind her. Mistwalker quickly got to her feet, but there was no one there, just the necklace she had used to bind her summoned spirit.
"Fenberriesssss. You are ssso closssse. All you need is the juice and seedsss of the Black Fenberry. Then, what you seek shall become a reality." The voice rasped from it's prison in the gem.
The leopard slowly made her way to the necklace, pulling a stool over to sit at the pillar above which the summoning chain was suspended.
"But by Royal Decree of the Pale Rider, fenberries are illegal to own or grow. If I am caught wit the fruit, I could be imprisoned and lose my status as Queen of the Great Swamp. And on top of that, the juice of the Black Fenbrry is highly toxic! A single drop can put a person into the Dreamless Rest within an hour of ingestion. How will something like that unlock the door that stands before me?"
Again the voice would speak, this time, without the pulsing of light that had accompanied the first time. The spirit knew it had it's mistress' full attention now.
"When have you, Oh Great and Wise One, cared what those who sit on a throne several days ride away, think? They have shown no interest in your work before, why do you feel they will change their ways now? Especially since the only place that the fenberries you need grow, is in the caves that only you know the location of. And, on top of that, you alone possess the knowledge to traverse the many dangers that lurk within it's depths. You know what I speak is true, I am incapable of lying to you."
Of course Mistwalker knew this all to be true. The Four Horsemen were well loved as leaders, but they further you were from the palace, the less they were willing to risk messengers and courier to keep tabs on your actions. She also knew that what her imprisoned spirit said had to be fact, it was Summoning's First Law, the summoned creature must give absolute fact to any question asked, or in the giving of counsel. Still, something did not sit well with her. Something in the pit of her stomach about the use of a neurotoxin to unlock the full potential of the Kohanian mind and body.
Taking a deep breath, the leopardess rubbed hr temples, laying her ears backwards against her head.
"If what you say is truth, this will be all I need to fully conquer the barriers Te Great Shadow erected within us? We will finally step beyond ourselves and towards the lives of The Predecessors?" She asked, leaning towards the jewel she had been speaking to. The answer she got, however, she was not prepared for.
"Yes. With this, you shall become as gods. The very elements will bend to your control, you will tear down the walls your corrupted leader erected when he created you, and you will have the capacity to know all, see all, and be all." The spirit's voice rang from with it's prison.
Mistwalker liked the sound of that, but she could not risk getting herself killed in the hunt for the Fenberries. Oh, if only she could find some uneducated sap to go on this errand for her...Oh if only...
As that thought ran through her head, the holding bay doors opened wide and the lioness strode out, blood soaking her once pristine white robe. With a stern resolve, the healer shook her head. "As soon as I began the evaluation, the patient began to develop internal bleeding. I did the best that I could, but the blood just would not coagulate. Whatever you gave her, it severely inhibited blood clotting. Things began to stabilize near the end, but she just lost too much blood."
Mistwalker licked her lips and looked about to say something, but just closed her mouth after sighing. She was a voodoo queen, but even her voodoo knowledge and magic could not surpass that of a trained healer. With a slow nod, she began to lead the lioness from her lab. Once she was alone again, she smashed a paw down on her work table, sliding the paw down the table, she sent ingredients and half the finished formula smashing against far wall and floor.
"Oh All Knowing Loa, what am I doing wrong? I have followed all of your instructions and every time that I do, my subjects die. What have I done to lose such favor with you that you will not aide me?" The leopard asked, falling to her knees with arms spread wide.
She waited in silence for several seconds, hoping that her gods would answer her pleas. She was about to give up when a hissing voice spoke from behind her. Mistwalker quickly got to her feet, but there was no one there, just the necklace she had used to bind her summoned spirit.
"Fenberriesssss. You are ssso closssse. All you need is the juice and seedsss of the Black Fenberry. Then, what you seek shall become a reality." The voice rasped from it's prison in the gem.
The leopard slowly made her way to the necklace, pulling a stool over to sit at the pillar above which the summoning chain was suspended.
"But by Royal Decree of the Pale Rider, fenberries are illegal to own or grow. If I am caught wit the fruit, I could be imprisoned and lose my status as Queen of the Great Swamp. And on top of that, the juice of the Black Fenbrry is highly toxic! A single drop can put a person into the Dreamless Rest within an hour of ingestion. How will something like that unlock the door that stands before me?"
Again the voice would speak, this time, without the pulsing of light that had accompanied the first time. The spirit knew it had it's mistress' full attention now.
"When have you, Oh Great and Wise One, cared what those who sit on a throne several days ride away, think? They have shown no interest in your work before, why do you feel they will change their ways now? Especially since the only place that the fenberries you need grow, is in the caves that only you know the location of. And, on top of that, you alone possess the knowledge to traverse the many dangers that lurk within it's depths. You know what I speak is true, I am incapable of lying to you."
Of course Mistwalker knew this all to be true. The Four Horsemen were well loved as leaders, but they further you were from the palace, the less they were willing to risk messengers and courier to keep tabs on your actions. She also knew that what her imprisoned spirit said had to be fact, it was Summoning's First Law, the summoned creature must give absolute fact to any question asked, or in the giving of counsel. Still, something did not sit well with her. Something in the pit of her stomach about the use of a neurotoxin to unlock the full potential of the Kohanian mind and body.
Taking a deep breath, the leopardess rubbed hr temples, laying her ears backwards against her head.
"If what you say is truth, this will be all I need to fully conquer the barriers Te Great Shadow erected within us? We will finally step beyond ourselves and towards the lives of The Predecessors?" She asked, leaning towards the jewel she had been speaking to. The answer she got, however, she was not prepared for.
"Yes. With this, you shall become as gods. The very elements will bend to your control, you will tear down the walls your corrupted leader erected when he created you, and you will have the capacity to know all, see all, and be all." The spirit's voice rang from with it's prison.
Mistwalker liked the sound of that, but she could not risk getting herself killed in the hunt for the Fenberries. Oh, if only she could find some uneducated sap to go on this errand for her...Oh if only...
