 |
[allow scripts/blocked content, then right-click for menu] I haven't been around for a time, I know. But I'm trying to get back into online things. What have I been doing in real life? You've got me, I don't know. :-) No, I've just really been on a reading kick lately. Also a writing kick. I've got quite a collection of Google documents going. But the only thing I've posted is another fanfic chapter on Realmlore. (Yes, Realmlore is mine. That's me. Guilty.) Anyway, no, other writings just aren't ready yet. I'm such a geek. . . . No, that isn't accurate, really. I do love fantasy. I watch and read and write fantasy. But I'm not that stereotypical geek. A goth, yes, but not even your stereotypical goth. I guess I just can't get anything right. Maybe I'm unique . . . like everyone else. :-P Other than geeky things? Well, you know how people — normal people, that is — do spring cleaning? Well, I do fall cleaning. I've really been trying to organize and reduce clutter around the house. And I love spending time with my puppy (if I may still consider him such at over nine months old). He and I play a lot. He's so cool. We can get really mean in our playing and wrestling, really feisty, but when I decide it's over, I tell him "OK, stop. That's enough. We're done. Good game." and he instantly turns back into that smiling, tail-wagging goofball (when a second earlier he was a growling, fang-bearing monstrosity). I've been drinking red wine since Saturday night. A glass every evening. Tastes like toxic waste, but I'm going for the health benefits. And, yeah, I saw the recent news article that says that the red wine habit shrinks your brain, but there was an article only days before that said that it prevents lung cancer by 60%. Also good for your heart and blood vessels, I've read. So, I'm gonna become a wino. I'll let you know how that goes. I have a feeling that I'm going to want more as I go, but I'm trying to hold to the same amount every evening. I've been enjoying October so far. Cooler weather, pumpkin spice coffee delivered to my door, pumpkin pie, the almost-drunk effects of the red wine — that's fun, too. I know I do this too often. Feel free to skip it. I had a dream yesterday that was really cool to me. Of course, it wouldn't be interesting to people not familiar with any of the characters involved. Even so. . . . My husband was the vampire lord, Kain. He had grown tired of the common human's blood and wanted only the blood of unique and powerful beings. He went out at night to hunt for such beings. He would bring them back and keep them bound in the bedroom closet or the garage, half-drained of their blood so they couldn't fight or flee. He wanted to enjoy them for a long time to come, so he was careful not to kill them; he just kept them weakened. I wasn't comfortable having these people kept tucked away in our house, but Kain more than placated me by giving me their powerful magical weapons, which did not interest him. Kain's first captive was Kane, and my first and most prized possession was Kane's sword, Bloodstone. It had a bloodstone on the butt of the hilt that looked like a bloodshot eyeball. The first night I held this sword, I was ecstatic. It was like a dream come true; only, I had never dreamed I would have possession of this renowned sword. Kain soon presented me with the skull staff of the famous albino, Emperor Elric of Melniboné. I was overjoyed. It was a beautiful piece of work. Petrified dark blue-grey wood with a skull on top. The bottom edge of the skull looked as though the bone had been melted onto the staff. I didn't know of it's power. I only knew that it strengthened Elric. Without it, or his rare life-sustaining herbs, I knew Elric would remain weak and bedridden. Elric hadn't been an easy capture, but once Kain brought him in, he had to be laid on a bed in a room without a fourth wall so that it was open to the outside light and air. We kept him under constant guard. Kain looked as though he had been in a full-scale battle after the ordeal. I brought Kain a human heart to replenish him. He thanked me and made a point of drinking from it in Elric's presence. The fearsome and muscle-bound Kane had been an easy picking compared to Elric. I was as familiar with Elric's history as with Kane's. Knowing of Elric's physical weakness, I took him a chocolate iced coffee. He turned it down, which made me remember that chocolate was like poison to him. So, I drank the coffee, and we talked. I couldn't help myself. I liked Elric. I wasn't in love with him or anything. It was his charming personality. Though he was a prisoner in my home, he did not hold any grudge against me, personally. He was always polite and seemed to enjoy my company. Despite his situation, he was always able to smile when I visited. Soon, I was secreting the staff into his open room so that he could draw from its energies. I wouldn't let him touch it; I couldn't risk his repossessing it, but I would hold it as near to him as I dared as white wisps of energy flowed toward him. As pleasant as he was, I feared that if he could, he would kill us all in order to escape. One night, as I was walking past my bedroom door holding Bloodstone, I heard Kane struggling to free himself. If you're familiar with the character, then you can imagine how I feared that he might one day succeed in this when Kain was not there to subdue him again. When Kain was with me, I had no fear. And if you knew of Lord Kain, you'd understand my feeling of safety. This night, Kain was not there. I was afraid to look in the bedroom, but I had to check the noise. The closet door was open, and I could see Kane struggling to free himself. He looked at me. His stare was dreadful. For a moment, I couldn't move. There was a deadly look in his eyes. I suddenly became very aware that he saw I had his sword. I thought of the possibility of his taking strength from the rage this could provoke. I quickly left the room. I went to Elric, whom I wished I could consider a true friend. I felt safe with him, though I knew in his present state he couldn't defend me against Kane even if he wanted to. I had brought the staff for him again, and I still had Kane's sword with me so I would have some weapon against Kane if he got free. But every time I moved the staff close to Elric, the powerful energies would go a different direction. I could see a large blue-grey dragon down the road (the missing wall of the room faced the road). Its mouth was open and it was sucking at the staff's energy, even from such a distance. I pulled the staff back, and it stopped. I tried again to feed the energy to Elric, but the dragon pulled again at the power. Elric explained about the dragon. Or rather, dragons. The blue-grey one was a Moon Dragon, and the red one that soon joined it was a Fire Dragon. They were attached to Elric. They were his dragons and they shared a kind of psychic connection with him. He said that when he was strong enough, he could control them. Right now, they were hesitant to act because they felt Elric's presence but were otherwise confused. My fear of Kane continued to grow as the days went by. One day, after being weakened by Kain's drinking his blood, he was allowed outside. I was behind him as he sat on some odd wood structure. He turned his face to the left when he realized I was there. His profile alone was frightful. He had the look of a killer. I had come to spend most of my time sitting at the foot of Elric's bed; I avoided Kane as much as possible. Elric and I would talk for hours. I had grown to care for him, and I wanted to return his magical staff and let him leave. But then I would think of his dragons that were still waiting just down the road. Which would be worse? An attack by confused dragons who were tired of waiting and watching, or dragons under the control of a vengeful sorcerer? Elric gave no indication that he wanted vengeance, but I knew not to underestimate him. His friendship with me could have been an act to gain my sympathy which might, perhaps, lead to his freedom. Kain didn't like that I spent so much time with his bedridden prisoner. He had become jealous of the attentions I paid him. One day, as I was visiting Elric, Kain entered with gifts for me. He did this in Elric's presence on purpose, for my gifts were two rings that belonged to the albino. Of course, I didn't know it at the moment. It was Kain who informed me that these were the Moonstone Ring and the Firestone Ring. I put them on immediately. Both had silver bands. The Moonstone Ring had an oval, polished silver stone and lay quite flat against my finger. Turning it, I saw that it had a tiger's eye effect to it. The Firestone Ring had a red gem, cut into a starburst, that was inlaid in an elevated part of the band that reached high over my finger. Both rings fit awkwardly, but I was delighted to have them. I had noticed that Elric seemed to be trying to hide his alarm as I placed them on my fingers, but I had ignored it. I had to wear them in front of my husband, anyway. But he was gone now. Then, for the first time, Elric rose and came to me. He told me of the rings' connections to the dragons, which made sense. A Moonstone Ring for the Moon Dragon, and the Firestone Ring for the Fire Dragon. The wearer of the rings could control the dragons, but it wouldn't work for just anyone. He was a Dragon Lord, and the rings were his. He told me that if I wore them for too long, they would corrupt me. I couldn't make up my mind whether to believe him or not. I was inclined to, but I really didn't want to take them off. They intrigued me. I wanted to know their power. What if Elric was lying so I would give them to him? I wanted to see if I could command the dragons with the rings. I wanted to get closer to them. I left Elric there. He was too weak to follow. Getting to the dragons wasn't easy. Chaos was breaking out in the street. I had to dodge fistfights and car wrecks. I had seen the dragons from a distance, but when I got to where they had been, they were gone. I went into the house they had been standing in front of and found young twin human males. Somehow I knew they were the dragons, and that the rings rightfully belonged to them. It seemed they communicated with me telepathically — or perhaps that should be "empathically" since they seemed to communicate thoughts rather than words. I was then happy to return their rings, and then we all started walking back to my house to see Elric. That's when I woke up. [Dream notes: In reality, though we're talking about fictional characters, Kane acquired a bloodstone ring in the book titled Bloodstone. Elric had a powerful sword, not a staff, that fed him the energies of stolen souls. Mainly, I just wanted to clear that up so no die-hard fan might say that I didn't know what I was talking — or dreaming — about. ;-) I own, and have read, the Moorcock and Wagner novels. I had this dream within the span of one hour, which I couldn't believe. I was awake at 3:45am, and I woke up again immediately after the dream just before 4:45am.] |