does not anymore work

[campanas]

Here, in a place where she is quite an unexpected sight, is:

an eight year old girl with brown-flecked white wings, looking dismayed and lost.

with Prime (Aestrix)

with Edie and Emily (Maggie)

with Gloria (Maggie)

with Gren (Rockeye)

Comments

[campanas]

"Oh no!"

[iamnotpolaris]

"No, she wanted that, remember? She couldn't go home and take care of her little sister while she was made of fire."

[campanas]

"But now she can't help anymore."

[iamnotpolaris]

"True. So the sorcerer was about to go over to the pool and finish her off when a piercing cry filled the air. The door--which the sorcerer hadn't had time to close--was suddenly filled with a stampede of deer, badgers, wolverines, and other animals. They charged the sorcerer, knocked him down, trampled him, and then fled before he had time to retaliate.
This didn't kill the sorcerer, of course, because he was very magic. But now he was a little singed and a lot battered and very ticked off."

[campanas]

Hee hee.

[iamnotpolaris]

"So the sorcerer, having figured out that there was more going on than one woman wanting revenge, decided that he probably had bigger problems than a girl who wasn't even on fire any more. Carefully, he ascended the stairs, watching out for more ambushes.
The boy was waiting for him in his workshop, and he blasted him with magic energy before the sorcerer could react. The sorcerer was having none of this, so he retaliated by sending a swarm of knives at the boy. The boy turned the knives into golems that looked like ravens, that flew back at the sorcerer and started pecking him."

[campanas]

"Pelting with birds," giggles Pen.

[iamnotpolaris]

"Exactly. So the boy and the sorcerer dueled. The sorcerer was more skilled and experienced, but the boy was fighting for someone he loved, and that gave strength to his blows.
Eventually, the sorcerer managed to overcome the boy, and as he was standing above him to land the final blow--
The countess's brother came up behind him, pressed a hand to the nape of his neck, and sent him into a deep sleep."

[campanas]

"Ooh."

[iamnotpolaris]

"So the two good mages performed a ritual to strip the evil sorcerer of his powers, and left him in his bed, so that if ever it was better for him to be awoken than not it could be done. And they came down and hugged the formerly-fire woman, and were not set alight for their troubles. And the countess sent her home to her sister with an escort of soldiers to make sure she made it home safely. And then the rest of them set out for the capital to overthrow the king."

[campanas]

Nod nod.

[iamnotpolaris]

"So a courier ran up to the king. And the courier said, 'Your Majesty! An invasion force is headed to the capital from the County of Vesser!'
'What?' said the king. 'But I get along great with the Count of Vesser!'
'Ah, well, yes, sire,' coughed the courier, 'but it seems the Count of Vesser has been usurped by his stepdaughter, the last Count's firstborn.'
'Oh, blast,' said the king. 'Well, summon my sorcerer.'
'Er, they got him first,' the courier said."

[campanas]

Heeeeee.

[iamnotpolaris]

"The king tore at his hair. 'You've got to be kidding me? How did they manage that?'
'They've got his old apprentice, sire, the one who ran off last year.'
'Ugh. Did he forget to change the password on his tower?'
'It seems so, sire.'
'I always knew his lack of carefulness would be the end of him.'"

[campanas]

"Why didn't the king say changing password?"

[iamnotpolaris]

"He did. The sorcerer ignored him."

[campanas]

"Oh."

[iamnotpolaris]

"So the king summoned a bunch of soldiers, and the king's soldiers fought with the Countess's soldiers, and meanwhile the original ragtag band--minus the fire woman, of course--snuck past the fighting to the king's throne room.
The king was very surprised to see them! For one thing, he had expected the new Countess of Vesser to be a bit more with the pretty dresses and jewels, and a bit less with the armor and the really awesome swords the sword-smith kept making for her."

[campanas]

"Why she need more sword than just one?"

[iamnotpolaris]

"In case she got disarmed. And she wasn't actually carrying more than two, her primary sword and her back-up sword. In a pinch, she could wield both at the same time."

[campanas]

"Oh, 'kay."

[iamnotpolaris]

"So the king drew his own sword, and the two began fighting. She had told her brother and the boy not to interfere unless it looked like she would lose, but the king was too evil to risk leaving him on the throne if her sword skills weren't up to the test.
The king fought like a man possessed. Fighting non-lethally is a lot harder than fighting to kill, and the swordswoman wasn't good enough to leave him alive. In the end, the evil king lay in a pool of blood on the floor."

[campanas]

"Bye, evil king."

[iamnotpolaris]

"Since the king had been too busy being evil to have time to find a queen, there was no heir. So the heroes installed the boy--no longer a boy now, really--on the throne. And he immediately outlawed evil and arresting people for no reason, and released everyone who had already been arrested. And he sent for his parents, and they all lived happily in the castle ever after. The End."

[campanas]

"Yaaaaay," mumbles Pen into her pillow.