Chapter 8
"Go on...I dare ya." one of the other adolescent Drakkics said to her, "Go in there and swipe something from that old muds place."
"And if I don't?" she asked, boldly.
"Heh...then we will tell the elders that you are the one that burned down that healer's hut." Another said nastily.
"You can't do that!" she growled, arching her back.
"Sure we can...who would they believe more? The sons and daughters of the royal guards? Or a blue freak like you?"
She growled fiercely...but gave in. It was bad enough that she was made fun of because of her odd coloration...she didn't need to be accused of arson on top of that...
"Alright..." she said, defeated, as she started creeping toward the hut.
The place reeked of incense and candle smoke as she poked her head in, making her eyes water and she nearly squeezed. It was a rather eerie looking hut…it only had one room and everything in it was either black or red. Lit candles and incense sticks where on every table and in the center of the room was a large black circular rug with a red pentagram. In the center of the rug was a pedestal and on the pedestal was a black book. She walked in further, looking for something she could take that would satisfy her tormentors, but the only thing she saw was the book. Walking up to the pedestal to get a closer look at it, she recoiled in shock and disgust; the books cover was made out of skin!
After a moment she managed to gather her senses.
Better get this over with… she thought as she reached for and grabbed the book.
It got cold…really cold, the moment she lifted the book off the pedestal. Frightened, she made for the door, only to be stopped by some invisible wall. Whining, she looked about for the cause of the temperature drop.
“Looks like I have a wannabe thief here…” A dry, cruel, feminine voice said.
She looked up to see a black-cloaked figure that she could have sworn wasn’t there before standing next to the pedestal. All she could see was the head and hands, both of which were mudokon, though the skin was black. What was really freaky was this mud’s eyes…they were nothing but translucent black orbs with an eerie white glow to them.
“And thieves get punished…” the mud said as she raised a paw. The book flew out of her grip and into the mud’s outstretched hand.
“Please don’t hurt me…” she whined, adopted a submissive posture, “I had no choice…”
The mud laughed.
“There is always a choice!” the mud said with an evil grin as she started flipping through the pages of the book, “Now what to do to you…”
She wanted to run…oh Odd did she want to run…but she couldn’t move a muscle. She could only watch helplessly as this mudokon finally found what she was looking for and started chanting.
She felt a tingling sensation at first through out her body, then it started to hurt…really bad and she screamed….
Dementa bolted upright screaming. She clenched her head, forcing that memory back into the deep recesses of her mind, the memory of the day she was cursed. She shook her head and looked around to see where she was.
She was in a wooden hut, on a simple bed of furs and grasses. She saw her clothes in a neat pile off to one side and she looked down to see that her whole torso was bandaged up.
“Where am I?” she muttered.
“Khufa.” A female voice said, suddenly, making her jump.
“Who?” Dementa looked in the direction of the voice at its owner. What was standing next to her was something she had never seen before….
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