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I awoke the following evening with the moonlight streaming in my window and soft evening birds filling the air with their song. I lay there, feeling very small and insignificant. The memories threatened to return, so I rose, slowly getting dressed for the evening ahead.When I finally felt ready to face the world, I left my room, descending the stairs to the taproom below. My long cloak ebbed at my heels as I pulled my cowl low over my eyes, obscuring my face in its shadows. I stopped on the bottom landing, my green eyes scanning the room. The inn was busy this evening, but the only person I knew was Calagreth. Reluctant to remain in a room full of strangers, I passed through the taproom and went outside, down to the lake.
The bracers on my wrists still-burned, imbued with some enchantment, so I kneeled and plunged them into the water. The cool lakewater covered the bracers, soothing my singed wrists. But my relief was short-lived. The water around my wrists soon began to warm, then to boil. I took my wrists from the water, wincing in pain.
"What are those?"
I looked up in startlement to see Cal coming down from the inn. Hastily, I covered my forearms and the bracers in the depths of my cloak, "Just a pair of bracers from the prison. . ."
"And that?" he said, nodding at the heavy iron collar around my neck.
"A containment collar."
"Containment?"
I nodded, "To prevent me from accessing the Power of One."
He eyed the lock, reaching out to touch it, "It should be simple enough to remove. . ."
I recoiled from his hand as he reached out, "No! Please, don't. This collar can only be removed by one Blessed of Bast."
"You are a Daughter of Bast, are you not?"
"I was cast from His Light, whatever I was, I am no longer."
"You were a steadfast warrior to Him; it certainly couldn't hurt to ask one last favor of Him."
"He will not--"
Cal interrupted, "Give it a try."
I steeled myself as I reached for the Power. I knew without Bast and the Amulet to filter it, I would not be able to touch it. Fervently, I preayed as I strained to reach the power that would set me free.
Bast, Bright One, grant me this one last request: Let me be free.
I licked my lips and tasted the salty perspiration of my exertion. I reached, mentally lunging for the Power that threatened to escape me. I took hold of it as it surged, raw and untamed, in my hands. I focused it on the collar, then on the bracers. There was the shock of hot metal against my neck and wrists, making me yelp in pain. However, the satisfaction of having three metallic thuds against the ground was more than enough to compensate me.
"I knew you could do it," Cal said softly as he smiled at me.
I smiled gratefully at my friend, "Thank you."
His own smile broadened as he handed me some salve to put on the burns, "Thank yourself; you did it all."
I rubbed at my now bare wrists, looking out across the calm waters of the lake. That was one step towards total freedom, but I still had a long way to go.
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© 1999 E. Angeli Mansfield
