The Girls of Ohmer Chapter 15 Nina meets Emelia

The Girls of Ohmer Chapter 15
Nina meets Emelia

Emelia sat waiting for her boy, her Timbob, her only reason. The preceding weeks of torture were taking a toll on her. Even though she held on for the child, she didn't see much point in it seeing how he was under constant threat of death. Every day the overseer informed her that he would be sacrificed, and every day he gave a reason for putting it off. The uncertainty was a new kind of torture, worse than the beatings and burns, worse even than the rack or the tongs. She despaired, she wept, she agonized over the threat to the baby. She longed for the use of her power, for the means to end this madness and take her sweet Timbob away from this place.

She was drowning in her sorrows, considering how much more merciful it would be to smother the child, rather than let him burn in a sacrificial fire, when she heard a voice.

"Hey, you over there, come to the door." Nina spoke in a whispering tone trying to project her voice across the hall without alerting any guards.

Emelia stood slowly and hobbled to the door. "Who's there? " she asked tentatively. She suspected another one of the overseers tricks, he delighted in giving her hope and then beating her down for even grasping at the smallest chance to avoid the misery here.

"Over here. Across the hall." Nina lowered her voice as Emelia closed the gap between them. She knew that it was dangerous to talk to anyone here, but judging by the condition of her fellow prisoner, Nina was confident that this woman was no fan of Brock. Getting out of here meant first gaining some information.

Emelia peered through the bladed bars of the hatch in her door, the light from the hall casting flickering lines on her bruised face. "What do you want? We shouldn't be talking like this. "

She was about to turn when Nina replied "I want to get out of here and rescue my family. Wouldn't you like the same?"

Hope, as dim and flickering as the light in the hallway, but hope none the less. It kindled behind Emelias eyes, deep in her heart.  Her mind tried to snuff it out. " Ha! You know nothing! There is no escape from this hell. Any thought brings more torture!" Emelia scoffed, any hope was false hope.

"I have magic!" Nina responded quickly. "I can help you! If only you give me some information about this place."

The hope flared like a bonfire. "You have? How did you retain it? They put some barrier around mine and I cannot touch it!" Emelia was excited, magic could equalize this whole situation. With the right magic they could walk out un-harassed with Timbob in her arms. They could escape to the safety of the Hinterlands where no demon dared to go.

So, thought Nina, another sister of the light separated from her power. "Yes I know what you mean, they have done the same to me. But I have found a way around it."

"You have? " Emelia was ecstatic "Show me how and I will tell you anything you wish to know! I long to touch the light, to swim in the power, to claim retribution for the wrong done to me here!"

Nina was taken aback by the rage expressed in Emelias speech. "Well I haven't yet gained access to the light." Emelias excitement fell yo disappointment  Seeing that she was about to lose Emelia, Nina continued quickly. "I have not touched the light but I have found a way around that!"

"A way around? What are you talking about? Can you access your magic or not?" Emelia was starting to feel that this woman was just teasing her.

Nina heard footsteps down the corridor. She whispered," there is dark power behind the light, it is detestable but usable, I'll explain
later."

Emelia heard the footsteps as well, she hurried to her chair, trying to mask the hope that was even now raging inside her. Dark behind the light? She pondered the concept. She had never considered that anything was in that pool of power that she had known so long, but how could she? There had never been a reason to look behind the light. If only she had discovered this idea sooner, she might have been able to prevent them from threatening the life of the little one she loved so much. perhaps it wasn't too late.

Nina was still looking out the door when the overseer arrived with the baby. He took a ring of keys from his pocket and started to insert the silver one into the lock. Nina interrupted him. "Hey there handsome! Have you got any time to spare for a lonely maiden today?" She poured on the sweetness like thick syrup. As she did so she could sense tendrils of dark power reaching out to him, caressing him.
The overseer dropped his keys, bending over to retrieve them, he bumped his head on the door, almost dropping the baby. What was it about this woman that made him so clumsy, he felt like a stupid boy every time he was in her presence. "Ahem," The overseer cleared his throat before responding. "Sorry My lady, I have much work to do today, the master has lost another servant and so my duties have doubled. That's not to say I cant handle them" He straightened  wondering why he felt like he had to justify himself to her. This was ridiculous! He looked her straight in the eyes and was lost in glimmering pools of gold. "I, I, I,..." I what? he was thinking. What is going on? there was something pressing that must be done, but for the life of him he could not remember. He only stared at the deep pools of her eyes, feeling lured by the promise of love and lust. Maybe she would like to marry him, maybe they could run off to the north mountains and start a family. He smiled as he thought of her standing in his kitchen, or sitting at his table, or laying in his bed. his smile widened to a grin. she was whispering to him. "What is it my love?" he replied softly" Yes, anything for you."

The baby cried, he was clutching it much too tightly. The overseer blinked. he looked at his hand, placing the silver key into the lock on the door. It was the wrong door. He looked around wondering how he had made such a mistake. His head hurt from bumping it when he had dropped the keys. Yes that was it, he reasoned, a bump on the head. He withdrew the key from the lock and turned around opening the correct door as the baby continued to cry. Emelia who had witnessed the whole episode was stunned. this horrible, hard as stone, mean as hell man, was like putty.  He stepped dazedly into the room and handed the baby over to Emelia. "No sacrifice today." he said absently and then turned and left the room. He barely remembered to lock it on the way out.

Emelia soothed the child and brought him to her breast. "Alright my sweet boy, here you go." The baby quieted and Emelia heard the fading footsteps of the overseer down the hall. She stood and limped to the door. "Hey, hey!" she summoned. "I need to talk to you. How did you do that?"

Nina appeared between the sharp bars of her door. "Like I said, there is dark behind the light. If you try to touch the power, the light power, you will meet a wall. But if you search the edge of that wall, you can slip around it, not to the light but behind the light. There you will find a different kind of power altogether. It is cold and horrible, I didn't like it at all. It makes me sick to touch it. But considering the circumstances, I saw no other choice. Just be careful not to let it taint you. It is not a power of goodness. It is greedy and dirty, it is evil.".

Emelia considered this. "It makes sense that such power would be opposite of the light, how did you use it without being affected?"

Nina replied."Who said I wasn't affected. It turns my stomach, to use this wicked force. The scary part is that I'm starting to get used to it. I'm afraid that if I have to use too much, I will start to like it. Then I will be prisoner to that evil greed. I only hope I can release my light power before then. I think having both will enable me to control them equally."

Emelia pulled Timbob from her breast to show him to Nina. "As long as I can get my little one safely away from this awful place, it would be worth anything! Nothing can be worse than what I've experience so far."

Nina looked  at the beautiful child. He was yawning so sweetly, arms stretching, eyes shut tight. When he opened them Nina gasped. She saw his golden eyes, her golden eyes. This was her grandson! "Where did you get that child?" she asked.

"He's mine." Emelia replied. "They take him after feeding, but he's mine, he's my boy, my little Timbob."

"That child is my grandson!" Nina insisted. "He was stolen, along with his mother and father. How long have you been his wet-nurse?"

Emelia pulled Timbob close. "You're lying!" she screamed " This is just another cruel trick to take my boy away! You'll never have him. Do you hear me? NEVER!" Emelia turned and walked back away from the door crying. Nina was speechless, she was regretting telling this woman how to touch the dark power. She must figure out how to get her grandson from that crazy wet-nurse.

++++++++

In the gravel valley, the wreck survivors were continuing their journey. Tom was pretty busted up, so Hilario had constructed a litter out of branches, and attached it to Blues back with a makeshift harness. Most of the actual harness from the wagon had burned up in the mysterious colored fire. To balance the litter on one side of blue, Hilario had made a seat similar to a hammock on the other side. The Girls and animals were resting in this hammock while Hilario led Blue up the valley. Tom had assured Hilario that there would be a road up ahead that led out of the valley and up to Casa Dagger. The road was unsuitable for a wagon, but Blue would have no problem negotiating it.

Hilario had also mended Toms wounds and given him a pain remedy to make him more comfortable. Though he tried, there was nothing that could be done for Blues broken horn. Hilario thought it was beautiful though, and placed it in a sack to carry on blues back, maybe someone knew better that he about fixing rams horns.

After several hours the Ram started the steep climb out of the valley  When they finally crested the ridge, hilario saw a tightly packed town that filled every available space between two ridges. The buildings took advantage of the free space going up because there was no free space between them. Hilario gaped at the tall towers and narrow streets. Casa Dagger was like a forest of stone spires. "Holey Hamburgessas!" he said "This place is crazy! Hey Tom, how high they build here?"

Tom peeked out from under his purple hat. "Yes, it is quite impressive, is it not? wait untill you see where my friend Snotrag lives. Now that is a wonder!"

"Snotrag huh?" Hilario questioned "He must be the mayor or something with a name like that."

"Something like that." Tom said with a grin.