Rojuun

Chapter 32

When the footsteps moved away, Liselle opened her eyes.  Insect-like wings hung loosely down the creature’s hunched back.  There were four sets of arms like the Rojuun, but the lower two were misshapen and deformed as though they had never fully developed.

Tears flowed from Liselle’s eyes as she began shaking in terror.  She couldn’t help the sobs that broke from her chest.  Liselle desperately hoped it wouldn’t hear her and come back.  She caught her breath and tried to focus.  Her robe was dirty from webbing, slime and dirt.  The sleeves were hanging down, leaving her arms exposed.  An acrid odor clogged her nostrils.  Heavy silence was broken by the crackling of a fire.

The unnatural fire sent shivers down her body.  When Liselle noticed the tools of torture, she began to sob again.

She wished that she hadn’t gone with the party into the cavern.  She wished that she had never even heard of Rojuun.  At that moment, she wanted nothing more than to be in her own bed back in the valley with her mother running fingers through her hair.

Suddenly Liselle calmed down and stopped sobbing.  What she really wanted was for Vevin to come and rescue her.  He would run his fingers through her hair and kiss her cheek, earlobe and lips.  Liselle remembered the web the malformed creature had cast and how Vevin had screamed.  Fear shot up her spine and she began sobbing again.

She wanted to be strong, but it was so dark and frightening.  The tools on the wall looked cruel and she knew that diseased monster wanted to cut into her with them.  Liselle could feel them eagerly reaching out for her, wanting her skin.  She sobbed again and gasped for air.  Her body was weak.  There were no plants anywhere and the evil mist that he had cast into her face had sapped all of her strength.  Liselle felt the room spinning and dizziness overtaking her.  Desperately, she tried to focus her mind, but darkness overwhelmed her.

***

Liselle felt a tug in her hair.  She didn’t wake, instead entering what felt like a dream.  A purple flower, which looked a lot like the flower pin she wore, formed in her mind.  It let her know that it would tell her what to do when the time was right.  The flower told her that she must do it, no matter how frightened she would be.  Liselle mentally agreed before darkness beset her again.

When she regained consciousness, red cat-like eyes stared through her soul like jagged knives.  She tried not to react, but an involuntary sob escaped her lips.  The creature was more frightening than anything she had seen.  There was no hair on top of the overly large head and its skin was sickly yellow with blue splotches that glistened in the murky firelight.  The twisted creature sneered with yellowed, rotting fangs as it studied her.

Liselle whimpered and struggled against the bonds that held her tight.  The creature was over six feet tall.  It kept the wings that grew out of its back tucked away as though ashamed of them.  Two arms ended in hands that were twisted with oversized knuckles on the fingers.  Below those were useless, misshapen limbs that made Liselle’s stomach turn just to look at them.

It appeared as though someone had taken a Rojuun and twisted it with dark magics.  “You glow brighter again,” it said in eerie tones.  “Your glow will fix me and make me better.”  Its voices were shrill, like a twisted version of the Rojuun, hurting Liselle’s head.  A putrid odor emanated from the creature, filling her nostrils.

She desperately tried to think.  Perhaps if she offered to heal the monster it wouldn’t hurt her.  “D . . . Do you want me to h . . . heal you?” she stammered weakly between sobs.

“No, not heal,” the creature said, tilting its head slightly.  “Your glow will fix me.  I will take it, wrap it around me and fix me.”  It shuffled a little closer to the table, reaching out a twisted finger.  “I will take the glow,” it said with a sinister smile.