Fiction |Fantasy |Mashup Response
Lost Love Laments Loudly
Gilda, take two…
This story is related to an earlier Mashup response, and my present humble submission for Monday Mash-Up #31. Check out Sorcerer’s Daycare here.
Gilda Flamebrew peered up at the night sky, her small ceremonial dagger in hand, waiting for that last cloud to clear out of the way of the night’s beautiful full moon.
Come back to me!
She had hated her acquired moniker. Flamebrew. It hadn’t even been her fault! But the name followed the halfling through the years, and eventually she grew into it, even if her height stayed the same!
Moonbeams shone down through the forest canopy, glinting off of the blade in her hand. After a moment’s hesitation, she dug the instrument into her forearm, releasing several drops of her most precious spell component — her blood — into the wide-brimmed chalice resting on the altar. Inside the bottom of the chalice sat a few pieces of raspberry pie. His favorite.
Finally, the moon would shine its power down and invigorate her sacrificed blood, she thought hopefully. Years of research had led her to this moment, and no cloud or ancient magical law would keep her from achieving her dream!
Gilda reached into a pocket within her wizard robes and revealed a parchment scroll, wrapped up in a neat blue ribbon. She had intended to gift it to Bruce, her most beloved teacher at Sorcerer’s Academy, but one of her bullies — a sniveling pyromancer named Diego — had murdered him.
There was no proof he had done it, of course. No wizard eyes or oracles could show the exact moment Bruce had been killed, oddly enough.
But Gilda knew that Diego was responsible. And she swore to bring her master back to life!
Unfortunately, Alchemy was her specialty, not Necromancy, so although she could create the reagents she needed to revive a corpse, she was sorely underprepared for the toll her necromantic spell would have on her.
It had been her eighteenth birthday today, but there was no cake, no fanfare at her party for two. In fact, her other guest had not arrived yet, although she was working on that presently.
“Cat!” she called out into the night as her concentration intensified. She had reached the crescendo of her chant and she was ready for one final component for her spell — a willing host.
Her tiny patchwork familiar crawled out of her shoulder bag and sat obediently by the fireside. Its fur had finally grown over the skin grafts she had used to imbue the intelligent magical creature with life energy. It had been her first successful necromantic raising.
Practice, she realized, for this very moment.
Thick, viscous tendrils spilled over the chalice and moved along the ground until they were absorbed by the familiar, who sat wide-eyed as the magic soaked through its body.
Silence reigned over the clearing for several long seconds, broken up by Cat’s stare.
“Meow?”
Gilda clambered over to Cat, eyes wide with curiosity and hope. “Master Bruce? Are you there?”
Cat pawed at its nose. “Meow? Ow? W-what?” Cat slowly began to speak.
Gilda had tears in her eyes as she grasped Cat and wrapped it in a warm embrace. “Oh, Master Bruce! I did it! I brought you back to life! And Mom said I’d never be able to master the basics…” She grumbled the last part.
Gilda held Cat at arms length, looking into its mismatched green eyes. “Master Bruce. You died. I’ve made it my life’s mission to return you to the land of the living… you are presently inhabiting the body of my homunculus familiar, Cat, until I can find where your corpse was buried anyways…”
Cat glanced around at its surroundings, then back to meet Gilda’s stare again. “Meow-why?” It reached its paws to rest on Gilda’s outstretched arms, and it made her feel almost giddy inside.
Gilda’s words caught in her throat. She had never openly confessed her love for Bruce before — couldn’t even call him by his name without slipping ‘Master’ in before it! How could she really tell him how she’d pined for years to be held in his arms, saw fireworks when she saw him, or dreamed of standing before him at the Sorcerer’s Academy graduation ceremony?
“You’re my favorite teacher!” Inside, she chided herself for not being able to confess her true feelings.
“Mew-ny thanks, Lady G-gilda,” Cat slowly managed to speak words that Gilda had waited years to hear. She had only wished they had been spoken by Bruce’s handsome face, supple lips, strong jaw, scintillating blue eyes…
Gilda felt herself blushing and dropped Cat to the dirt in embarrassment. She resented that he made her feel so weak. She wondered if she could ever make him feel the same…
“Sorceress Gilda Flamebrew!” came a bellowing call that shook her out of her fantasy. “You are wanted for robbery, arson, and willful practice of the vile art of Necromancy!”
Oh no! Wolf-mounted knights had found her in the secluded wood and she had nowhere to run! Also, she smirked, there were several crimes she had committed that were not on the knight’s list!
The knight approached her at the altar and drew his mighty sword. Gilda tried to crawl away in fear, but the knight held her with some kind of magical binding!
“Hold!”
Gilda swallowed hard and looked up.
It was Cat, daring to stand between the knight and his quarry!
“Meow-if you want her, you’ll have to go-meow through me!”
“Master Bruce…” Gilda’s eyes shone with a sudden dose of happiness she had never felt before.
The conclusion is out now! Click here to read it! Will Gilda get out alive? Will Bruce get together with Gilda? What about Diego?
My Score: 13/14 Gilda turns 18 (2 points) Pieces of raspberry pie in the chalice: +1 pt Gilda sees fireworks when she looks at Bruce: +1 pt Scroll wrapped in a bow: +1 pt Royal knights crash Gilda's party: +2 pts Gilda struggles with her unrequited love for Bruce: +5 pts
A past favorite of mine:
