OATHBREAKER

I was tied down for my own good recently, but this night I went to the crossroads.  As I sat under the bridge waiting for those who would come, I pulled my cloak around me.  I had a feeling tonight was going to be eventful and I wanted to be ready. First came a friend who had waited for me the night before, but due to my being unwell I had kind of stood her up.  We greet each other warmly and share a bottle of rum that I have with me.  We speak about conversations we had started in the waking and things we needed to say to one anther but had not found the time to do so. She takes her leave with a promise to hang out later and I sit and wait for one that I know is sure to come.  I don’t have long to wait.  I smell the cigar before he gets to where I am sitting.  “Under the bridge?” he asks amused.  “I’m practicing my troll thing”, I tell him with a most serious voice.  He throws his head back and laughs.  He stretches his legs out and leans back against the wall of dirt that makes the bern of the bridge and tells me that I have grown much since we first met.  No longer am I afraid of everyone and everything.  Well duh..it was all so new that I was a little freaked out to be doing the things I was doing or knowing whom I knew. He laughs again and then sobers as we drink.  “What do you know of oath breakers?” he asked.  “I know that they don’t deserve to suck air”, I tell him.  “To violate a trust given to one is almost one of the most unpardonable sins I can imagine.” One I will not tolerate. He nods. “And is there one in your midst?” I look up sharply.  He does not ask these things lightly. There is always a reason. “Apparently I do or you would not ask”, I say.  The cold that he usually keeps at bay as I sit with him begins to invade my bones.  “My apologies for cutting this short, but I have someone to go find”, I tell him.  “Quite alright Cher,” he says.  “We will speak again”. And with that he strides away.  I make my way to the road and set off, calling Brin to me.  We discuss whom within my circle would dare to be so stupid and piss me off by violating my trust.  We come up with a couple of candidates, and speak on how to rectify this situation.  As we walk, I see a light from a fire up ahead and something calls to me…that feeling of needing to see what is there. I ask Brin to secrete herself until I call for her and instantly she goes invisible.  I shake my head smiling.  I really wish I knew how she does that.  I hear a child’s voice crying.  “Please tell my Nana where I am”, it says.  “OMFD! That sweet voice belongs to the princess and whoever has her will pay dearly.  I step into the clearing.  “I am here Sweet Face”, I tell her. Sit tight and I will come to you.”.  She is sitting in the middle of a trail of honey that circles around her.  I see an army of ants that are approaching, and know that she is terrified. She doesn’t care much for bugs in the waking, so know that here in the elsewhere, she is afraid.  I pick up the leader of the ants gently and speak with him.  I tell him that the child belongs to me and that if he will allow me to remove her, then the honey will be left for them all.  He agrees, and I return him to his army.  They remain still. I walk closer to the princess and someone steps out.  It is the man with no feet.  “Are you not tired of getting your ass kicked”, I ask? He snorts and gestures to his missing feet. “I am still upright”, he says, “so obviously you aren’t doing too much good with your puny attempts”. I smile slightly.  “My mistake.  One that will NOT happen again”, I tell him. But first things first.  the child has to be removed or the ants will lose patience.  I call Brin to me and she appears.  The man with no feet’s eyes widen  and he yells.  “I told them you work with demons!  How else would you be able to stay out of the traps!  Evil bitch!  Stay away from me”! I shake my head and tell Brin to remove the baby and take her home.  She doesn’t want to leave me, but we hear movement in the bushes and George and the dog both appear.  I laugh.  “Were you hunting for us or something else?” I ask. “Something else”, he says.  I tell Brin that George and the dog will stay with me but she needs to take the princess home and remain with her to keep her safe.  She agrees and  I tell the princess that she will be going home.  I remove her and hold her close to warm her and put her into a sleep before handing her to Brin. They leave and I relax a bit because I know that no more harm will befall her.  As we move out away from the circle of honey, the ants claim their reward.  I then turn my attention to the man with no feet. I call upon my sword and advance softly.  I am one pissed witch.  George and the dog follow behind me.  The man with no feet tries to back up but has nowhere to go since there is a large tree behind him. I corner him and pin his arms and legs with the daggers that have materialized from thin air. I am going to make sure you do not bother me and mine ever again.  “If you spare my life, I will tell you who of your circle helped me”, he begins.  I stop.  As much as I would love to eviscerate him and dine upon his entrails, I am aware that if I do not stop the leak within my “house” others such as the princess will again be used as bait or worse. I howl in frustration.  “I want to kill your fucking ass and dance in your blood, feast upon your entrails and make trinkets of your skull”, I yell at him. “For fuck’s sake! You have no shame in using a scared child!” As I am yelling, daggers keep coming and hitting the tree making an outline of his body(I could become a circus act given this talent).  He keeps whining and begging.  Finally George puts his hand on my shoulder.  “I know you want to kill him cher, but you need to use him right now”, he says.  I look up at him with tears on my face. I do know he is right, but damn this cuts me in two.  “Fine”. I turn to the man with no feet who is still whining like the fucking asscricket he is and I ask him, “who was it”? He begins with a rambling answer and I place my sword at his throat.  “My patience is sorely limited so this had better be a direct answer, who is it”? Whether it was the sword held at his throat or the look on my face, he tells me the name. Fine..a person on the list, not so unexpected after all and proving that I do know those in my circle after all.  I am a little relieved.  I tell George and the dog to do what they will with the man with no feet, I have no use for him and I hear him yell after me as I move on farther in search of the oath breaker.  No matter..I care less what he says..he will be dealt with.  I find her. She sits on a log crying.  “Why do you cry”? I ask her. She looks up at me bruised and battered.  “He said he would not hurt her or you if I helped, but when she cried, I tried to help her and he slapped me around”. The coldness that surrounded me as I looked at her would have made one thing I was the ghede…there was nothing but contempt for her now.  She still speaks as a child.  “Why would you do this to me?  To the baby? For someone you don’t even fucking know”? I ask. “I just wanted your attention”, she whined.  “We don’t talk anymore and when we do, you’re usually telling me how ignorant I am for listening to others”. “Wait.  Let me get this straight.  You are feeling butthurt over my lack of coddling so you violated the trust between us and allowed someone who is nothing but a crap of shit to harm one that I would give my life for.  Does that about cover it?” She bows her head and whispers “I am sorry”.  “Yeah well sorry doesn’t even begin to come close to covering this shit …this time its gone too far.  I am breaking that bond between us and severing the ties. You will not have a moment’s peace..the dreams will not be filled with puppies and lollipops, they will have shiamats blood..things that will remind you that you are feast for the crows.  We are done.” Most would not think I would allow an oath breaker to survive, but this removal of self is sufficient until I can get past the anger.  I turn to return home and she whines yet again, “Aren’t you going to help me get home”? My rage is almost more than I can stand.  here she almost cost me a gift so dear and violated a trust that I held sacred and yet still has the audacity to ask no demand help? I take a few seconds to breathe deep and collect myself before turning. ” I am not helping you do shit, I say.  “What I can do is allow some light for you to find your own way back”.  With that, I wave my hands and light appear through the woods as if they are a garden path lit up by fairy lights.  “Go home”, I tell her tiredly. She gets to her feet and still crying, she makes her way following the lights.  I turn and make my way home.I find Brin has tucked the princess into bed and she is unharmed, if a little restless.  I remove my cloak and crawl into bed beside her, pulling her close to me.  We finish the night that way. Brin standing guard. What happened to the man with no feet?  I don’t know, don’t care.  I left that in George’s capable hands.  Whatever he decided is fine by me.
When we awoke this morning, the princess looked at me and asked if there were bugs.  I tell her no, they don’t come into our home.  She is relieved.  We spend part of the morning playing tea party and enjoying the laughter and time spent together.  Brin stands watch.  Never again will ANYONE be allowed close enough to use the child as a weapon.  It’s time to start taking care of shit I had let slide and those who question or disagree will fall by the wayside.  If they don’t, then they too will be dealt with. Today I am still pissed, so tread lightly.