Reborn Feli
Shalashaska
Pistola, born Numair, is a Feli of Saheric origin, he fell under Merana's spell when he went to her on the suggestion of an old Manchu, who assured him that Merana could give him the power to be the best soldier there was for his Queen. What Numair didn't know was that by agreeing to Merana's terms he indebted himself to her and she became his queen. He was doomed to be her servant forever, or he was, until an accident weakened her power over him.
Ahead of me was the sprawling ocean, brilliant in the light. She lay upon her back in the sands with her arms outstretched to the horizon. Her hair of seaweed clung to the rocks, sticky in the heat. The only creatures around, besides myself and the Festers, were a lone Montre lifting her thobe out of the water as she picked for edible crabs farther down the coast line, and my own pale grey Diamas; pawing at the hard dusty ground.
I shrugged my bow and quiver into a more comfortable position and slithered down the bank to the beach. Dusting myself off, I looked around. The Montre had spotted me and was making her way quickly out of sight; no doubt she had family here and could be a problem for me, but my business was with a more powerful creature, and I was willing to take the risk and stay on the beach, betting that they wouldn't come near when I summoned the Goddess herself.
I took my quiver from about my shoulders and drew from it a scroll I'd stored with my arrows.
Within it was a spell to summon the Goddess, written in a language I did not know, but translated by the wizened old Manchu I purchased it from. I glanced over the illegible writing one last time, as if it would reveal something to me, then turned to the notes beside it...
Come unto me.
I beseech of you,
Beautiful one,
I rolled to my feet and placed a hand on my knife, ready to defend myself if need be. A long-limbed Telenine stood before me, elegant and savage. She circled me for a moment, water running in endless rivulets from her sleek black fur and long barbed fins.
Finally she growled: "You wish to speak to my mistress?"
The spell was broken. My ears flicked back in annoyance at having had my mission interrupted; I'd found not a Goddess but a peon. I glanced down at the parchment in my hand, but in horror I realised half the incantation was smudged beyond all repair.
"Yes," I said, "I seek audience with the Goddess Merana, but...""You cannot read your silly words?" she lisped around her fangs. "No worry, if your cause is truly your heart's desire, you'll know the words."
"Know them?"
"Upon being faced with my Mistress, they will come to you. Do you believe your cause true? If not, this is your chance to turn back."
"My mission is true," I nodded firmly, "I seek the strength to defend my Queen."
The Telenine looked pleased and nodded. "Then follow me," she said, turning and plunging back into the sea.
I hesitated; I could not swim, and even if I could, who could swim to the depths that the Goddess dwelt in?
Still, if I did not try I was as good as dead, so if I drowned, so be it.
I removed my outer garments. I looked down at the parchment in my hand, only to discard it on the sands. My Diamas pawed the ground nervously, hoping I'd return to him so we could soon head back home to his stables and water and sweet grasses. I ignored him, preferring instead to choose two arrows and my bow, and with them in hand, step into the water. It was cold and chilled my paws instantly, but I clenched my teeth and dove into the green sea.
The moment I was underwater from my head to my tail, the cool green waters vanished, and I opened my eyes to warm water, clear and blue. The ground beneath me was of soft white sands which billowed up around my desperately-kicking paws. Tiny fish darted away and hid in the fronds of vibrant green sea grass, and a brown fish with wings floated away from me leisurely. I looked up and the waving ceiling was full of light.
It was warm and beautiful, but I kicked in vain, my heavy wings dragging me down, my lungs bursting, desperate for air.
Then the Telenine was before me again, I caught a glimpse of her pale blue eyes before she caught my face in her paws and unceremoniously crushed her muzzle against mine. I felt my lungs fill with -- not air, but some form of air-magic which felt almost as good. Then she pulled away, beckoned and lead me into deeper waters. Despite the warmth of the shallows, here the sun did little to warm the water.
I looked around as I tried to swim after her, enjoying the colourful fish and plants that grew and lived in this strange place. Failing to swim with any great speed, I let myself fall to the bottom and hopped from rock to rock, shoving myself along as best I could. The magic in my lungs saved me needing to surface, but it didn't stop the Telenine swimming circles about me, laughing at my slow progression and taunting me -- water doing nothing to hamper her speech.
She led me to a sunken ship. Strange creatures hid in its crannies and peered out at us as we approached. I tried to meet their eyes but they looked away and vanished with a flick of their fins.
The beautiful serpentine sea Goddess, having waited for me to notice her, flowed out of her hiding place and, with a slow luxurious ripple of her tail, swam around me in a great circle before turning away. There she sprawled out along the sharp, sea-smoothed, rock that had gutted the ship. She toyed with a sea-anemone, wine-coloured eyes fixed upon me.
"Daemon, oh magnificent Goddess?"
"My lovely servant, the one who led you here, she can be rather... playful at times."
"I was treated very well, most gracious Goddess."
"Just 'Goddess' is fine, or we'll be here all day." She waved a hand at him, her gaze turning sly. "And what was it you wanted? What brought you here today?"
Something in me knew that this was what the Telenine - Daemon - had been talking about when she said I'd know the words, for I bowed and almost instinctively uttered the words I'd thought forgotten.
come unto me.
I beseech of you,
Beautiful one,
Bestow upon me the strength to serve my Queen.
Let my aim be beyond all others,
My speed unmatched by any,
Let my quiver never fall empty so long as my foes shall live.
Merana sat up, her face lit up with pleasure, "What a devoted young man you are," she sighed. "It's not everyday I encounter someone as loyal as you. However long do you intend to stay devoted to this queen of yours?" she winked, "I might just have to steal you away!"
"Goddess, if I could I would remain loyal to her for eternity; failing that, I shall fight for her until the day I die, be that of time or another man's blade or arrow."
"Well then, since you asked so very nicely, and I'm sure any queen would be most aided by your skills, I shall give you what you ask."
"And what do I give in return?" I asked, suddenly defensive; after all, what Goddess gives without taking something in return?
"Oh, nothing much," she waved a hand dismissively. "I ask only that when you are not at your queen's beck and call, you do what I ask of you."
"That... sounds fair."
"Very fair, so we have a deal?" She drifted up from her perch and smiled like a snake. Behind her I saw Daemon peeking through an old doorway, but I couldn't read her .
"Yes," I nodded.
She flicked her tail and raised her delicate hands, and I could feel something creeping up my legs and looked down to see tendrils of a blue-green magic wrapping itself about my legs and creeping upwards. I tried to move but couldn't -- even my chest felt constricted. I gasped for breath and salGenitalser flooded into my mouth. As the world wavered about me and my vision darkened. I heard Merana laugh, "Good little solider, your Queen shall bestow upon you her blessing, and when you are not serving me... you will do exactly as I say." Her laughter followed me into darkness as she made me her slave...
Seeing that my skills were better suited to the surface world she left me mostly unchanged, and used my body as a puppet -- returning me to my home, only to use me to assassinate my beloved Saheric Queen. I had no control over my actions, but I could see everything, I could feel Merana taunting me, and I swore I would find a way to overcome her powers.
As time passed, my bow and arrows became outdated. I watched the Saheric people fall and modern Subeta rise up all around me. I took part in the colonisation of Meneb, and it was then that Merana decided it was time to be rid of my bow and to replace it with something more suitable, something that suited a mainland colonist rather than a Ji-Meneb local.
I woke up one morning to her constant whisper in my ear, and my bow and endless arrows gone. In their place were four cold revolvers. I tried to be rid of them, but no other weapon I touched would work for me - my days as an archer were gone.
In Meneb, or The Darkside as it became known when Maleria took over, I became known as a mercenary sharpshooter to be reckoned with. I was given the name 'Pistola', and took it as my own, preferring it to further dirtying the name my good Saheric family had given me: Numair.
Merana had me seeking out artifacts of power, but Malaria took offense at the sea witch stealing what she considered to be hers, and tried to destroy me. Her attack left me badly hurt, but not killed. As I drifted in and out of consciousness I felt Maleria's magic weaken the bonds that Merana had on me, and despite my injuries I smiled, I could do this, I could get away, I just had to find something with the power to sever those bonds for good...
Official Merana artwork is by
Lavabeast
