Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Apothecary and Alchemist Pt. III

Kenelm squawked like a rumpled chicken and landed on a nearby branch, glaring petulantly. His fur flared out to make him appear bigger, exposing the white base coat covered with a sleeker coat of mulberry. The mechanical horse just watched with a dumb expression on its face.

"Lovely temper-tantrum," Edolie replied idly. Her eyes snapped wide open when her brain finally made the connection. "Oh that's right! Sun stroke-- or was it sun poisoning? I think it was sun poisoning, this guy must've been working non-stop. It's been said that Mavens are a little crazy." She clapped her hands together with a short laugh. "Okay. So, to reverse the effects of sun poisoning, one must..." she trailed off for a moment, staring at the unconscious man, "...must... oh! Must bury them in the earth. That's right. Strange really, that the earth protects and heals them. Anyway, Kenelm give me the shovel."

That was when the strangest argument ignited. Kenelm screeched and tried to fly away, but Edolie was faster and snatched his tail. She grabbed his mouth and forced it open.

"I don't care about your opinion," she said. "I'm not digging a shallow grave with a spade, damnit." She plunged her hand down Kenelm's throat as he squealed in protest. "Shut up you stupid, racist thing!" Edolie rummaged around for a moment before she pulled out a five-foot long shovel.

Kenelm coughed and choked, kicking up melodrama over having her arm stuffed into the magical closet dimension that was contained in his stomach. It went ignored, like it usually did, and he huffed, landing heavily on the mechanical horse's rump with a low, grumbling growl. The horse swung its big head around to look at the creature on its aft end, then smacked him with its gilded silver tail.

"Aw, play nice," Edolie giggled as she patted the horse on the neck. It wasn't really as bad as all the other ones she met.

She then set about digging up the hole to put the Maven into. She'd never run across one before, only Adjudicators - children of the night that swore to uphold the etiquette and laws of their ancestors. Etiquette and laws that demanded the strong protect the weak. They weren't bad, just a little too zealous for Edolie to be comfortable around them long. Mavens were different; they were the spawn of an Adjudicator and a human, like Edolie. It was severely frowned upon by Adjudicators, as they believed they needed to remain pure to remain strong, and humans just feared Mavens, as they typically did not have the same diamond adherence to the Etiquette.