Bound - NaNoWriMo2020 11/14

                 Gild showed the two to a room, gesturing to Kassadi that it was for her, then attempted to lead Madrona to a separate room. An awkward conversation followed where the two explained to Gild they needed to share the room. He stared at them and shrugged, but gave another confused stare when they explained they would need a second bed brought to them. A few moments later the Jotun man returned to them with an entire bed, mattress and frame, slung over his back. After some delicate squeezing and harrowing near misses, including nearly smashing the room’s oil lamp, there were now two beds in the room.

The room itself was quite a sight, as elegant and striking beautiful to Madrona as the rest of the home. She marveled at the size of what was effectively a guest room, If Madrona and Kassadi stood at opposite ends they would be at risk of yanking each other with the tether. There was a bath, an actual bath! Not a wood slate tub found at inns and taverns that offered bath services, but an marbled stone tub with ivory accents and obsidian clawed feet lifting the entire structure aloft. It lay beside a stain glassed window, with partitions on the other for privacy. Madrona was anxious with anticipation as to what it would be like to bathe in it with the morning sun shimmering through the stained glass. Kassadi on the other hand regarded the room with a level of apathy, simply removing the belt that held her component satchel, tossing it to the bed.

“Sorry about Travlona.” Kassadi stated, sitting on the mattress. “I forgot to say that she could be, well, a lot.”

“I’m honestly used to it by now, Kassadi.” Madrona paused. “But thank you. Yes she quite well is, isn’t she?” Madrona parked herself on the other bed. “Not what I was expecting when I saw the portraits.”

“What?” Kassadi asked, glancing up as she struggled to pull a boot off.

“The portraits. I thought the woman in them were Travlona until I saw her. But the woman in the portraits was, well…” Powerful? Entrancing? A newly found life goal for herself? Madrona thought on how to put it.

“That was Valel Hex.” Kassadi said with a quirk of her brow. The shoe popped off, and Kassadi sighed with relief, quickly going for the other. “You know, the evil Wizard lady who made the Maze… Sorry, the ‘Passionis Vault.’‘”

“Oh.” Madrona said, clearing her throat for a moment. Perhaps not quite a life goal then. “I guess I didn’t, ahem, didn’t realize that.” Madrona frowned.

“Yeah, Travlona’s kind of obsessed with her. She’s done great work uncovering a lot about her life. Though I mean if I lived here I could probably suss out a lot, too.” Kassadi was now on her back, rolling on the mattress trying to free her other foot. “Being that this is Valel’s house.”

“What?” Madrona asked, shocked. She had to duck before Kassadi could respond, avoiding the boot the Wizard had lost control of and accidently flung across the room.

“Oops, sorry!” She called, rolling back to a seated position. Noting Madrona was fine and only mildly annoyed, she continued. “Yeah this was the house Valel grew up in, it’s why Travlona lives here. What better way to study someone then to be where they became the person they ended up being?”

“I can’t argue with that, I suppose.” Madrona took Kassadi’s boot and tossed it back to her, before beginning on her own footwear and trying to push her thoughts of admiration far from her mind.

“Don’t worry Madrona, if anyone was going to be able to solve this for us, it’s Travlona. She might be a bit of, well a complete pompous ass, but she knows her stuff when it comes to Valel Hex. We’ll be as good as rain by noon tomorrow!” She seemed excited at the start of her sentence, but after her exclamation Kassadi seemed to drop a bit.

“What’s wrong?” Madrona asked, glancing up at the woman as she noted her tone shift.

“I mean, once we’re good you said you’d go, right?” Kassadi asked.

“I did.” Madrona stated, then sighed. “It’s nothing personal Kassadi, but your lifestyle doesn’t quite suit what I had in mind when I struck out on my own.”

“Well, what did you have in mind?” Kassadi was trying to avoid Madrona’s gaze now, pulling at the rest of her clothes to get ready for bed.

“I just wanted…” Power, influence, to never hear the jeering laughter of cretins ever again. The words flashed in her mind and the scent of burning wood filled her nose, she shook her head. “Stability.” She finally said.

“I guess that’s fair…” Kassadi said, pulling a nightshirt over her head. “Well, I’m still gonna be sad to see you go, you can’t stop that!” She said as she laid herself down and rolled onto her side.

“Okay, Kassadi.” Madrona said, thought she couldn’t help but smile. She pulled on her own Pajamas, loose trousers, with a tail hole, and a light silken shirt. She was drifting off to sleep shortly after.

                Madrona’s eyes opened with flames licking at her face. She shouted as she lept up to her feet atop the bed and called out to Kassadi, but Kassadi wasn’t there. After a moment she realized it wasn’t that Kassadi wasn’t there, it was herself that wasn’t. This wasn’t the manor that Kassadi and Madrona had drifted to sleep inside, no this was a much less extravagant room, a simple hay mattress bed in a cheap wooden frame and garnished simple furniture, a desk and an end table, a singular window overlooking a town bathed in the orange glow of the burning building, and a small fireplace. Madrona instantly knew where she was even with the roaring flames that blacked the wood and choking smoke obscuring her vision… How could she ever forger this place? Her worry turned to anger, and she whipped around catching Miragg sitting casually in the chair next to the desk, the desk being almost completely consumed by fire at this point. He smiled wickedly and gave a half bow from his seated position.

“You bastard.” Madrona spat.

“Now Madrona, my dear, what a way to greet your teacher.” Miragg stood from the chair, which quickly caught flame as well.

“Why would you bring me here?” She shouted, glaring at the Devil.

“Well if we are to begin lessons in earnest, where would be a better place to start that where we first came together in partnership?”

“I’m not your partner and I will not be taught by you here!” Her anger was overcoming her and she felt as though she might leap for the man’s throat if he said one more syllable. Miragg seemed to take her anger to heart and snapped his fingers. They were no longer in the room.

“There, are you happy?” He asked, gesturing to the cold air that surrounded them. Though the cool night air only came from one side, a heat blasted from the other, Madrona turned.

                There it was, on fire. The three-story building blazed in the night and Madrona felt a shiver roll down her spine. She could not look away, staring agape at the sight. It was only partially familiar to her, she recalls she never actually looked back. In the distance she could hear bells ringing, shouts as the town rose from its slumber. No doubts an attempt to rally and combat the fire, Madrona knew it was pointless… Not just because she knew there was little that could be done to fight the fire, but because she knew all of this was just a memory. It had already happened, every board and stick in the tavern would be a cinder by first light tomorrow. She knew because somewhere, in this memory, Madrona was walking confidently away from all of this with new power and a smile on her face.

“Find her!” A voice shouted. Madrona turned to find a familiar portly dwarf, Reginald, clutching a gash across his forehead. “Find that bitch!” He cried to the men who were now rushing up the road with buckets of water. “Find the Tavern Wench, find Madrona!”

                In the distance Madrona could see a dwarf woman, she sobbed gently as she clutched to her chest a small boy. A pang of guilt slammed Madrona, she remembered reveling in her fear that night, remembered how good it was to give that bastard Reginald that gash. They had all treated her like filth while she worked here and yet acted so magnanimous for taking her in. The poor Inferni orphan, how kind they were to accept her. Nevermind the fact they decided to work Madrona to the bone and then charge her most of her wages for room and board. What a life, serving drunkards and fools who grabbed her tail and yanked at her horns. Called her Devil, Fiend, Monster… Yet they all laid their gaze upon her like she was something to be conquered none the less. It made her wretch. That night, this night, in her room with tears streaking down her face… How could she refuse the offer of power that would allow her to break free of this place, to hurt those who hurt her. When Miragg came to her he told her of all the things she could do with his power, when he asked if she would join in a pact with a Devil... She was already in Hell. She said yes.

“Ah. Memories.” Miragg said, Madrona lunged for him. She collided with the ground, finding no purchase as Miragg was suddenly gone. He kneeled next to her a moment later, clicking his tongue. “Tsk tsk. Now Madrona, you simply must control your anger.”

“Why?” She asked, pushing herself up on her elbows as her gaze snapped to him.

“Because I am not a dog to be called. I am not your servant, your summoned Devil.  I am your Patron. It is my boon to you that affords you power and you would do well to remember the pecking order here. Now pick yourself up, I have words for you.”

“Oh do you now?” Madrona snorted and stood up, she glanced around, and they weren’t outside the Tavern anymore. Now they stood in a very well-furnished lounge, a plush red chair and couch flanking a coffee table in front of a fireplace with a flame that crackled with life. Miragg appeared before Madrona, a tumbler of brandy in his hand. He sat in the chair.

“Yes, now sit down you absolute pain in my ass.” He stated, crossing leg over knee and taking a drink. “Its about that beast with four legs, and I don’t mean you and your new Wizard pal.”

“You know who sent it?” She said, dusting herself off as she sat down, but noted that despite her trip into the dirt there was none upon her to brush off. This was all giving her a headache.

“No, not exactly.” Miragg said. “The beast was summoned, so it could be anyone with enough magical knowhow. But there’s a lot of talk amongst my peers…”

“Devils.” Madrona said.

“Yes the other Devils, Hells Madrona allow me some flare if you would be so kind.” Miragg rolled his eyes and took another drink. “The thing about my peers is that words are power. So when I say talk, that’s all I can give, no one who knows is sharing and those who don’t are pretending they do. I’ll have to do more digging to get anything concrete but it appears someone of great influence down here might be involved.”

“Might?” Madrona asked, frustrated.

“Like I said, the information is guarded, but don’t worry, dear, I’ll make sure it falls into my hand. I told you already, you’re my claim. No one else down here gets to move against you without my say. And I have not said.” He finished his sentence with an emphasis on the last word.

“Well thank you for telling me very little, can I go now?” Madrona slumped back into the couch.

“No.” Miragg said, his eyes were piercing and clearly unhappy with Madrona’s flippant attitude. He held the gaze for a long moment before waving his hand over the table.

Madrona glanced down and saw a burst of black flames on the table and then a moment later a book where the flames had been. The book was bound in thick black leather with gold trimmed pages. Miragg flicked his wrist and the book slid across the table to Madrona’s side, flipping open as it met her. She glanced down at the paper which was slightly browned and looked as though it had been held near a flame to give them a slightly charred appearance. She saw as the pages flipped through a handful of them had strange glyph like designs on them and words in a language she couldn’t understand.

“What is this?” She asked.

“A new boon, it’s long overdue.” Miragg leaned forward the brandy vanishing as he clasped his hands between his knees. “It’s actually quite fitting considering your new traveling companion.

“What?” Madrona asked, flipping a few pages. “It’s a spellbook?”

“A Grimoire, it’s like a Spellbook, but much more.” He grinned. “Unlike a Wizard you won’t have to toil away for months on end worrying about spell craft. You won’t have to study the magic of the spells written within every morning. As long as that book is on your person you will know every spell within it, and as long as you hold this quill” He said with a flourish of one hand. “You will be able to write down spells into your Grimoire, simply look upon the page of a spellbook or spell scroll and start writing, the knowledge will be inherent.”

“Any spell?” She quirked a brow.

“Most spells.” Miragg glanced to one side, and then back to Madrona. “Many spells. Look Wizardry is complex. The ability to copy it at all without study is something most would sacrifice a life for…” He tilted his head. “And many have. And now you have it.”

“How am I supposed to convince Kassadi to show me her spellbook so I can….” Madrona stopped, the quill was suddenly in her hand. “So I can copy her spells, she thinks I’m a sorcerer. Sorcerer’s don’t have spellbooks.”

“Who said you should ask?” He grinned. “The girl seems a bit absent minded to me, I’m sure you can get that book away from her.”

“Steal it.” Madrona asked, scoffing.

“Steal, borrow, loot from her bloodied corpse. I leave that kind of decision to you. I’ve already written down some spells of my own in there, so however you chose to use it you’re still coming out ahead.”

“So this is just a way to get out of actually teaching me. You put it into the book instead?” Madrona crossed her arms.

“Like I said I’m very busy. And you need to wake up.” Miragg said.

“Wake up to what?” Madrona asked, face twisting into a scowl.

“WAKE UP!” Miragg’s words were deafening, and Madrona’s eyes snapped open.

                She took a breath, finding herself in the manor again, she was aggravated for a moment, but then all sense of anger at her Patron gave way to another Fiend… Madrona’s eyes widened as she saw the Hellhound slowly stalking forward into the room, it’s teeth were bared in a silent snarl and the glowing embers of its eyes locked onto Kassadi as it readied itself to lunge at the sleeping wizard’s throat.