Bertie’s disgruntled look became one of disgust. “Get your mind out of the gutter Jason.” And he said no more as he turned his back on Jason, concentrating on his steaming coffee. He did not want to look anyone in the eye for he didn’t want to lie and he dared not speak the truth.
“Sorrrrryyyy.” Came Jason’s sarcastic response stomping away.
Bertie finally dared a sideways glance at his son and knew both he and Jason would need some tending to. While all had acquired some bumps, bruises and gashes from the day before, those two had sustained the worst of it. He finished his coffee, tossing the grounds before heading to his pack to see what he had to help. It was still early as the rising sun’s sparkling wink crowned the wet leaves and grass with bejeweled rainbow halos. Bertie never tired of seeing such simple beauty that Mother Nature seemed fit to share on rare occasions.
He bent over his pack as he searched through his belongings. He could not feel the tingle of his pendant because it was dangling away from his skin on the chain. He felt nothing until he straightened up and the piece plunked, rather heavily, against his chest.
The unexpected sensation felt from the contact against his skin so startled Bertie that it almost took his breath away. A shudder of intense, mental pleasure translated to a physical one that flooded over him like a warm, soft wave of water. He let his mind wander to his own pleasant memories with his wife. The intensity of the feeling meant that this union bound their souls to a profound emotional connection far surpassing the physical of the night before. He would not say a word to either one of them. Let them have today, for tomorrow they would be marching into the unknown.
He turned his attention back to the task at hand. Tad’s face; Jason’s shoulder. Tad had taken a hellava backhand to the face from the creature leaving him with a badly busted lip, black eye, swollen face and bloodied nose. Bertie was not entirely sure his nose wasn’t broken. On top of it all, he had lost at least one tooth. One winced just looking at him. Auggie had been sent off with two elves in search of witch hazel and white willow bark. Both would be steeped in boiling water to extract their healing properties. The witch hazel would help ease the swelling and disinfect the cuts; while the willow, although a bitter brew to swallow would ease the pain of sore muscles and deep bruises. In Tad’s case, it would ease the pounding headache he was nursing from flying halfway across the camp.
Jason, on the other hand, just escaped having his shoulder crushed beyond repair. If the creature had been healthy and at full strength, he probably would have killed them all. Jason’s shoulder was sporting a cartoonishly large hand-shaped painful bruise; as if a puppeteer had grabbed his marionette’s shoulder leaving his mark with purple-black paint.
Time would heal both, but for today, they would rest and recover starting fresh in the morning. Factions of men, forest dwellers and all the Elven houses assembled and began their campaign march. They all would be ready at a moment’s notice for departures.
Ophelia; who had been assisting the elflings, was now spending the majority of her time at Silvarnon. She was gradually bringing her belongings there. Ophelia would eventually be permanently back at Silvarnon.
Lazarian was back at Forestar for the time being preparing his troops. His mind, half on what he should be doing and the other half obsessing about Kaleen. Others noticed even though he tried hard to hide it. They weren’t sure what was occupying his thoughts, but he needed to focus on what was on his plate before him than on the unobtainable. His current wife knew what the mental distance was, she had seen it before. She knew his attention was being swayed by a pretty, young face. Quite frankly, she was glad for the distraction away from her. She had taken to sleeping in her private chambers under the pretext of not wishing to disturb him as he was working on military strategies with his generals. More to the point was, Lazarian’s thrashing about in their bed was continually startling her into wakefulness. He barely slept or ate and was ignoring his other lordly duties at Forestar. She didn’t say too much as she knew he wouldn’t heed her precautions anyway. She had been very young when she had caught Lazarian’s eye, much to her distress. Shortly thereafter, Lazarian and his second wife had a parting of the ways leaving him free to remarry. The fact that the second wife didn’t put up much of a fuss spoke volumes. She unwillingly, became his third wife and bore him two sons and a daughter before she had learned, quite tactfully, to spurn his advances at the opportune times. She always knew he had fathered children outside all of his marriages, and not exclusively with she-elves. He could be very persuasive when he wished, or he just took what he wanted by force.
She was quite relieved to be out of his bed and neglected, as she could return to her own duties as Ladyship without his interference. She also had time now for a long forgotten interest she shared in music. The music instructor was more than happy to have her returning under his tutelage, just as she was.
Ventina wasn’t quietly going about life either as she prepared for the changes she knew were coming. She had become very active at night, gathering fresh herbs and such to replenish her jars. She finally had just about enough of the herbs needed to cook down for the hypnotic drug she would use to control the human she needed. Ventina now needed to pick the victim to become her flunky. She would dearly love for it to be Jake for the way he had insulted her, but she knew she wasn’t physically strong enough to control him mentally and maintain her own mental control of her human form. No, she needed someone mentally weak for her to control. Someone, someone who wasn’t very bright; took suggestions easily. She immediately thought of Billy. Big, strong and slow-witted compared to his friends; easily coerced. Ventina began to watch Billy more intently; his every move, where he went and who he associated with. His nights…well his nights were spent frequenting the local public house. She took her time to find out what she needed. Ventina pretended that she didn’t notice when he was watching her.
She watched him as she waited to cook down the herbs. One herb was extremely toxic until the oil was extracted and dried. The vapors were toxic and intoxicating. She had to cook it in a cave far from town and her home so no one could track it back to her. It was particularly pungent and foul smelling until the oils rose to the surface. It was at this point that she could remove the leaves and stems and add sweet oil to the liquid. Keeping it at a low simmer evaporating away all the liquid leaving just a thick paste. Ventina could then spread the paste onto a tanned hide to dry down to a powder. She had to store the powder in an airtight container until she was ready to dose her victim.
The powder could be ingested, rubbed on the skin or just blown into the victim’s face. The amount used determined what state the person was left in. Anywhere from dazed to totally unconscious. It was the same drug the Wargi sorcerer had given Nalas’ flunky when he went after and subdued Matt. Billy was young, healthy and in fairly good shape, so she knew she would need a fairly large quantity for him. Once she had Billy under her control, Ventina would use more of the drug along with spell incantations to complete the process and take possession of his soul.
Ventina followed Billy one night as he went into the Rolling Moss Inn. She didn’t enter, instead she watched from a side window; peering in to see what was catching his attention. In short order she had her answer. He was flitting around a fairly pretty barmaid, drawn to her like a moth to a flame.
Now came the hard part. Ventina needed to study the girl’s face, actions, gestures, everything. She wanted to know it all so she could come close to what Billy liked and take him away from the girl. The girl had a bit more meat on her bones than Ventina, a nice rounded figure. Much different from the Lord Nalas she knew before the two body changes. His tastes then had run more towards a leaner, muscular frame. The new Nalas tastes tended to lean more towards Matt’s likes and dislikes. Being a much younger man, he preferred a younger woman with curves.
Ventina began to commit as much of the barmaid’s looks and mannerisms to memory as she could so she could practice the looks at home. She knew this was the one way she could get close to Billy without tipping him off as to who she was. The shape shifting along with powders and incantations would warp his mind so that Billy would only see the face she wanted him to see no matter what form she took; including her true self. Ventina almost cackled