Jiwa

Chapter Twenty-Three

When I awoke, I was back on Jerrys' horse, only this time, I was sitting sidesaddle. Devi laughed on the other horse at something Jerry had said. 

She looked gorgeous; clad in a pearly white dress, her short hair flying around her cherub face. She was riding atop a silver horse that glowed in the sunlight.

Now I remembered; I was along on a picnic date as a plus-one. I sighed contentedly and imagined the meadow we were surely speeding towards.

"Jerry-boo, fetch me some water?" said Devi, batting her eyelashes. Jerry giggled and whoaed the horse to a stop, then slipped off and bowed, disappearing into the forest to refill the canteen.

"Fiona! Fee!" hissed Devi. I whipped my head around to face her. She looked terrible; no longer the classy dame she was just seconds ago. She rode atop a sickly gray horse in a tattered, yellow-white dress, her hair matted, her eyes sunken and her cheeks pale.

"Fee, you have to run! There is no escape unless you do as he asks! OK? I'm sorry; I couldn't protect you. You have to protect yourself."

Jerry emerged from the forest, except he was practically skeletal. He looked hollow, and at his ankles and wrists were burn marks.

"Fiona, you little-" I recoiled at the sound of such expletives. Jerry took a running leap at me but crashed headfirst into a mirror.

I jerked back in surprise. The mirror I was watching the memory from suddenly turned dark, then began again, at the moment I awoke from my catnap.

I shivered, and a Scarlet Gaurd immediately wrapped a cloak around my shoulders. It was clad with the Scarlet Snake, a deep red serpent against a gold background. He bowed politely, and I scowled.

Shrugging, the guard raised a fist to his chest, and bellowed, "HAIL THE SCARLET SNAKES! MAY THE SERPENT LIVE FOREVER!"

I sat up, bathed in sweat. After the initial moment of hyperventilating, I let the blanket I was clutching fall from my hands.

Well, a 'blanket' was being a bit generous. It was a square of rough fabric, about a meter square, of the most horrid brownish color. That color matched the tunic I was wearing - a mud-colored broadcloth tunic, tied with a strip of fabric at the waist, and folded over the shoulders. Near the foot of the bed were a pair of sandals, folded from wicker straws.

I sat up and rubbed my eyes. I glanced around at my surroundings and the panic threatened to return as I realized I was in a prison cell. Standing outside the wrought iron door were two guards.

I shivered as I realized they wore the exact uniform as the guard in my dream. I shivered again; the cell was cold. It was also dark - only a single scone bearing a single candle gave light to the room.

When my eyes finally adjusted to the darkness, I saw the rest of my celll. A cot in one corner, and a small latrine in the opposite corner. On one side of the cell, there was a raised stone platform, with faded inscriptions on the side.

My body was sore, but I managed to drag myself off of the cot and over to the platform. I knelt next to the base of it and squinted at the carvings.

"Penyelamat," I read quietly. "What?" I rubbed away some grime with my knuckles and continued to read.

"Durah," I shivered. Blood. "Kehidupan." Life. I cocked my head and bit my lip. The three words were repeated throughout the stone platform, chiseled in with varying degrees of accuracy.

"Reading up, are we, Miss Murphy?" I whipped around and squealed. A man, flanked by two guards, stood outside my cell. 

He was dressed in a simple crimson tunic, but his trousers were pressed dress pants. He had a salt-and-pepper beard, and long hair held back in a ponytail. Over his tunic was a cherry-red shawl, tied at the nape of the neck. He had a big face, and a beefy nose, with big, round, dark, squinty eyes.

"My apologies for the startle, Miss Murphy. My name is Peni-Puh, but you may call me Pey. I'm so sorry we had to meet under such unfortunate circumstances, but I really did need to talk to you as quickly as possible."

I shuddered and shuffled backwards on my hands and knees. The man sighed, rubbed his forehead, and motioned to the guards. The bowed and walked back, away from the door.

Peni-Puh regarded me steadily as I huddled against the far side of the room. I turned around slowly, confirming there was no way to escape his cold gaze.

"Fiona, please - be calm for a moment? Give me a chance to explain." I sighed, and shook my head. Pey grabbed his head in his hands and grumbled.

With a groan, he ripped his hands from his face and exhaled for so long, I thought he would pass out. Then, he looked right at me, and said, "I could destroy you right now. I could rip your essence from your body and you would be dead before you hit the floor. So listen to me, Miss Murphy, and this doesn't have to be so hard."

I shivered from fear, and nodded hesitantly. Peni-Puh seemingly walked through the gate, rubbed his shoulders, and sat down on the floor, a few feet away from me.

"Miss Murphy, have you heard the legends of the great Penyelamat? The Savior?" I nodded. "Well, these legends hold a shred of truth - the Penyelamat saved the world from destruction. But in doing so, his blood spilt upon the earth, and released a dangerous new form of energy. You may know it as magic. And although this magic was very beneficial at first, the people blessed with this magic became drunk with it. They abused their power, making families turn on one another and destroying civilization. And so, the Scarlet Snakes were created. We made it our mission to keep order between the Magics and the Non-Magics. However, we could have done a better job. Even today, there is still so much hate between these two groups. You've seen this yourself, I'm sure. Back then, there were rituals we would perform on especially powerful Magics. It could cut their power and make it more equal between people. For this special ritual, though, we would have to use a persons' durah, not just their jiwa."

My jaw dropped as I considered this. I had heard of things called conversion therapy where there would be terrible things done to a person and their jiwa to rid them of magic. But I had never considered someone taking it as far as harming someones' blood.

"So, Fiona - can I call you that? - you are going to be our first candidate in bringing back this ancient, equalizing art. You would agree that using magic to bring pottery to life is a bit...too much?"

I nodded shakily. I could see where this was going. Uh-oh.

"Well, Fiona. I am going to fix this for you. I am going to rid you of your magic. Forever."