My Super-powered Diary: Chapter 36

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My Super-powered Diary
Chapter 36
The Tainted

By
Amethyst


When Maddock Ainsley gets involved in a rescue operation with his unit things go horribly wrong and his life is forever changed. Can the newly minted Merida cope with being a girl and a teenage super hero?
“Aye, an’ wot the bloody ‘ell is goin’ on ‘ere?” I added.

 


 
Author's Note: Here's chapter 36 of MSPD, sorry it's a bit late. I hope you all enjoy, and thank you for supporting my stories. ~Amethyst.
 


 
Chapter 36: The Tainted

My first instinct as Hana, Michelle and I all dove to try to catch Lindsey before she could hit the ground was to cover both of them with large energy bubbles and to create a giant catcher’s mitt to snatch my falling friend in mid-air. Before she could land in my construct though, Lindsey managed to right herself into a hover and I dismissed my construct to surround her in a bubble as well. I felt something hit my force field, and the bubbles that I had placed around my friends, several times. I wasn’t quite sure what it was since I hadn’t seen anything, but I could feel the impacts with that same sense that I use to control my constructs and the force field itself.

It didn’t matter if I could see the attacks or not though, since I was pretty sure that I knew where they were coming from. Keeping my friends and Peaches covered, I created a dozen small missile-like constructs and sent them flying toward those people emerging from the cave, pumped full of energy and bubbling unstably. They hit the ground and detonated in front of the leading edge of our attackers, as at the same time a bolt of lighting flew from Lindsey’s hands, striking one of the naked people that had been shouting and pointing. The combined attacks caused them to shriek in fear and confusion as they fled back into the cave.

I quickly lowered us to the ground and gratefully dissipated the constructs. I wasn’t used to creating and using so many constructs at once, let alone maintaining so many large scale constructs, and doing so, keeping my focus on each of them, and keeping them from becoming unstable had made me a bit dizzy and tired. I was a little shaky on my feet and Fawn was looking me over in concern, “Are you okay Merida?”

“Aye, I’ll be jus’ barry. I jus’ need tae res’ fer a minute,” I tried to assure the Fairy.

“How about you Linds? You took a hit there and that was some spell that you just used, I didn’t know that you could do that. Are you okay?!” Michelle asked in concern, rushing toward her girlfriend.

“Your companion is unconscious, but not seriously harmed,” Lindsey replied, only it wasn’t Lindsey. There was something different about the way she held herself and the way that she replied that made that fact obvious to all of us as Michelle stopped in her tracks.

“You’re not Lindsey, who the hell are you?” Michelle asked, regarding her girlfriend’s form suspiciously.

“Aye, an’ wot the bloody ‘ell is goin’ on ‘ere?” I added.

“Yeah, that has got me pretty worried,” Hana said, pointing up toward the sky above us, which had taken on a greenish hue.

“I am a type of nature spirit. A spirit of storm and battle to be precise, what your kind would call a Valkyrie, you may call me Khestrid,” Lindsey’s body explained before turning toward me with an apologetic look. “I apologize, but I felt that your friend was in danger and I needed to act quickly, I did not realize that you could have saved her yourself at the time, so I took control of her body. I can only maintain control while she is unconscious, once she awakens I will be expelled from her body. I attempted to warn you and had hoped that you would be able flee before the Tainted sensed your presence, but it would seem that that is no longer an option. Now you cannot leave this place. I can feel Minira’s magicks already at work, she has placed a magical barrier, trapping you here in this cove and cutting you off from the outside world.”

“I’m sure that we can find a way to break through that barrier,” Hana said after a brief silence as we tried to process what the spirit was telling us. “And you and Merida seemed to scare those people, or whatever they are, off.”

“Only for the moment,” Khestrid said with a shake of Lindsey’s head. “They are weakened by the light. They will attempt to kill or capture you again when it is dark and they have the advantage. You must not let yourselves be captured. The Tainted are creatures of darkness, they delight in the pain and suffering of others.” Then her gaze turned upon Fawn, “You bear the greatest risk young Fae, they will attempt to darken your heart and turn you into one of them.”

“Fae?” Fawn asked in confusion.

“Do you not even know what you are child?” the spirit inquired.

“Of course I do,” my best friend replied. “I’m a Fairy, from Neverland.”

The spirit in habiting Lindsey’s body narrowed her eyes as she stared at Fawn. You bear no clan mark. You are a creature of magic, but it is different than that of the Fae. Still, you bear the most risk. They will try to corrupt you and Minira’s clan mark allows her to control magical creatures. You will have to have a strong will to resist her.”

I tried not to groan out loud. I had no idea what Khestrid was talking about and I didn’t like not knowing exactly what kind of danger that we were in. “Dae ya mind explainin’ jus’ wot exactly is goin’ on ‘ere? Preferably afore Lindsey wakes up an’ ya cannae dae anythin’ o’ the sort?”

The Valkyrie then explained things as best she could. All of those stories about elves, pixies, fairies, changelings and the like were based on an ancient race called the Fae, consisting of different clans with different abilities and features. It seemed that she had mistaken Fawn for a pixie, a clan who looked like elves, but had the ability to change into a smaller winged form at will. Many of these Fae were powerful magic users because they themselves were creatures whose very natures were tied to magic. Most Fae were peaceful, nature-loving, and had no desire to hurt anyone, or even see anyone hurt.

Then there were what Khestrid called the Tainted, Fae who had given in to dark desires; lying, deception, stealing, and harming or killing others. They found that they enjoyed giving into those dark impulses and since their forms were so tied into their natures they became creatures of darkness and evil magic like those who had attacked us. Minira, who Khestrid called the Dark Queen, was the leader of this group of Tainted. From what the storm spirit had heard while observing them, Minira lusted for power, wished to rule over all that she surveyed, and particularly loved to slowly torture her victims. She had heard from other spirits that the Dark Queen had started on her path to the dark side by turning her own sister to stone to steal the throne meant for her.

Until recently, Khestrid had been one of many nature spirits held captive by Minira. She had been tortured and bound by dark magic as Minira drained and fed on her strength over and over again for over seven centuries, then letting her regain almost full strength only to do so again. When a major magical working had weakened the Dark Queen, she had summoned enough strength to escape her bonds. Since then, she had been watching them, waiting for a chance to extract her vengeance and free her fellow captive nature spirits who had not been powerful enough to escape.

While Khestrid educated us we started to prepare our lunch. I needed to eat something and, since we seemed to be in no immediate danger, I figured that we should take the opportunity to do so while we had the chance. We were starting to eat after Khestrid had given us the background information when Michelle inquired, “Have they been around here for long? I came here a few months ago, and even explored the cave a bit, but nothing bothered me then. We haven’t seen any traces of living things since arriving here though.”

“Minira only transported herself and her followers here a moon cycle ago,” the spirit inhabiting Lindsey replied. “This place was secluded, had the cave so that they could hide during daylight, and is near a power that she greatly desires. It was her attempt to locate that power that allowed me to escape. Animals are sensitive to the Fae and the evil of the Tainted would have driven any that were in the area away.”

Hana quickly asked, “This Minira is a magic user right? Could you tell us what kind of magic and how powerful she is so we know what we’re dealing with? You know, in case we can’t get out of this barrier she set up?”

Khestrid was frowning as she informed us, “Those spells that the other Tainted were throwing at you were nothing compared to Minira’s power. She has been growing in power for centuries and has mastered several disciplines of magick. She and her people have a weakness to cold iron, but I have not been able to locate any that you could use nearby. As for how powerful she is, when I escaped it was because she had pushed all of her considerable power to summon a great behemoth from another plane of existence and set it upon the city to the south of us.”

The lightbulb seemed to appear for all of us at the same time. “Tha’ thing was a bloody bitch tae take down,” I complained. “I guess tha’ means tha’ she’s the one lookin’ fer the Chaos Gate. Which means tha’ she’s a fookin’ powerful magic user. I dinnae ken if’n we kin take ‘er down on our own.”

“You defeated that creature? How? What is this Chaos Gate that you speak of?” the Valkyrie pressed.

“We had a lot of help to defeat that thing and we only managed to do it once Merida injured it. We were told that the Chaos Gate is a sealed dimensional tear to a place filled to overflowing with evil magic energy and that it could be disastrous if anyone managed to find and unseal it,” Michelle explained.

LIndsey’s jaw dropped in shock and a frown covered her face as the spirit slowly nodded her head. “If Minira were to find such a source of power, the devastation would be beyond what any of us can imagine. If she believes that this exists she will never give up on taking it for herself.”

“We need to at least try to get back to the school to tell Dr. Edwards about this and get some backup,” Hana put in with a frown.

“The barrier spell that Minira has used is powerful, she would not risk allowing this hiding place to be discovered. I do not think that you will be able to escape easily and getting inside will prove just as difficult for others, should they even realize that you are in danger.” Khestrid advised.

“Ya said tha’ these Tainted are dangerous aye?” As Lindsey’s head nodded I let out a sigh. “Well if’n they’re tha’ dangerous, an’ they’re after the Chaos Gate, then mebbe it would be better fer e’eryone’s sake if’n I jus’ buried them there. It may bring down this magic barrier tae. I could collapse the entrance an’ we’d be done wit’ ‘em.”

“I dunno Merida, I think that cave goes pretty deep and we don’t know how far back inside they are,” Michelle pointed out with a frown. You could just bring down the entrance and they’d be perfectly safe from the cave-in if they’re deep enough. Then they’d just need to use magic to blow open the entrance again. If this Minira is as strong as Khestrid is saying.”

“I fear that Michelle is correct,” the Valkyrie inhabiting Lindsey agreed. “I have been inside and the caves do indeed go very deep and the Tainted and Minira are hiding deep inside, far from the light. Even if you brought down the entrance I do not think that they would be harmed, and you would have to seriously injure or kill Minira to bring down her barrier spell. When darkness falls and they return to the entrance to deal with you the Dark Queen could easily use her magic to reopen the mouth of the cave. You would also be telling them exactly what kind of power that they are dealing with.”

“Bloody ‘ell, we’ll need tae come up wit’ another plan then. I ken tha’ none o’ ya ‘ave prob’ly e’er killed someone afore, bu’ if’n these Tainted are as evil an’ dangerous as she’s sayin’ we cannae afford tae ‘old back. We may jus’ need tae take ‘em down fer good. Fer e’eryone’s sake.”

Neither Hana nor Michelle looked too pleased with that idea, but both nodded grimly as Hana replied. “It sounds like they’re probably going to torture and kill us if they get the chance and we can’t afford to lose and let them keep trying for the Chaos Gate. If it’s a choice of us or dying or them, then I’m damn well going to make sure it’s not us.”

“I agree,” Michelle said with a nod, “it’s going to be them.”

I knew that Fawn wouldn’t be thrilled with the idea either, but her small voice said, “I understand. I don’t like it, but I know that you don’t either Merida, and you wouldn’t suggest it if there was any other way.”

Khestrid sighed. “I am sorry that my inability to get your attention sooner has put you in this situation. We should come up with a battle stra…” she trailed off, shaking Lindsey’s head as if to clear it and then let out another sigh. “Your friend is beginning to stir. I will attempt to assist you however I can. Should you wish to rest just call my name and I can keep watch for you in one of your bodies while you sleep. I will be able to hear you even if…” Lindsey’s eyes fluttered and she gave us a confused look. “Umm… what happened? I remember that we were flying back to camp, but I think that I passed out or something.”

We encouraged Lindsey to eat as we updated her on her recent possession and what she had missed while unconscious. Once we had all finished eating we flew southward as far as we could, but the magic barrier prevented us from getting any further than the southern edge of the cove. Fawn and I threw everything that I could think of at that barrier, short of anything that would have been enough to injure our friends, but we couldn’t seem to get past it or break through.

There wasn’t a lot that Lindsey or Michelle could do to try to get past the barrier, although they did try too. The only one of us who hadn’t tried more than once was Hana, but that was at my request. Her eye beams seemed to be light based and if these Tainted were weak to light then I wanted to keep that advantage rather than have her use up all of her energy and revert to Hiro. I had considered trying to see if Khestrid could manage to slip past the barrier, being a spirit and all, but even if we sent her to Costa Verde to try to find Jordyn or Mei, who might be able to communicate with her, the search would likely be like looking for a needle in a haystack for her. She knew nothing of modern human cities, or this one in particular, and for the moment I thought that we could probably use what help she could give us against the Tainted.

“Maybe we should just take the fight to them, and have this go down on our terms,” Michelle suggested as we all returned to the camp feeling somewhat dejected after our unsuccessful attempts to penetrate the magic barrier.

I shook my head. While under normal circumstances I would love nothing more that going on the offensive, we were going to be sorely outnumbered and from what our new spirit ally had told us about the Fae they were generally gifted magic users and/or fighters and the Tainted in particular were going to be ruthless adversaries. We couldn’t afford to hold back with them and full-out combat inside a cave with my power set could put us all in danger.

“Nae,” I said after considering it. “They could be expectin’ tha’ after we drove ‘em back intae the cave, an’ I’m worried wot could ‘appen while fightin’ in there, where they ‘ave the advantage. We le’ them hit us instead. Le’ them think tha’ they ‘ave the advantage an’ set up some booby traps an’ le’ them ge’ o’erconfident. We wait ‘til dark an’ then preten’ tae be asleep. Make it look like one o’ us was s’posed tae be keepin’ watch bu’ fell asleep tae. Then when they come tae hit us, hopefully the traps will ge’ a few o’ them an’ e’en if they dinnae we hit ‘em ‘ard an’ fast when they’re s’posed tae be attackin’ us.”

“That’s a good idea and all,” Lindsey put in, “but if we’re all pretending to be asleep, how are we going to know they’re coming. It’s not like any of us have enhanced senses and all of my magic studies have led me to believe that the Fae can be pretty damn stealthy when they want to be.”

“We use this,” I replied, taking the small silver bell for training Peaches out of my pocket. “Khestrid ‘as proven tha’ she kin whip up a fair wind, so we ge’ her tae keep watch an’ ring this when we she sees ‘em comin’.”

We spent the next few hours setting up tripwire traps surrounding our camp using fishing line and sharpened sticks and then covering them with leaves and sand to keep them hidden. Once that was done we killed time until dinner. None of us really felt like surfing or swimming under the current circumstances so we just snuggled together and talked, Michelle with Lindsey and me with Hana while Fawn and Peaches took a nap in my lap. We also got into our costumes in preparation for the night ahead, glad that we had brought them along in case of an emergency. Personally, I thought that Hana looked good in her new pitch black Firefly costume with its glowing golden accents and firefly symbol on her chest.

Far too soon it was time for us to all get up and start making dinner since we figured that we were going to need all the energy that we could get once the sun set. We tried to keep the conversation going as we cooked and then ate, but there was just too much nervous energy as we all considered the possible life or death battle to come. Once we had finished dinner we built a campfire and all laid down on our sleeping bags and Hana wrapped her arms around me tight as Lindsey did the same with Michelle, and I held Peaches and Fawn protectively in my arms. We laid there like that and pretended to sleep as the sun set and then darkness fell, finding comfort in one another’s closeness until the bell rang.

Copyright © 2019-2020 Amethyst Gibbs
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Comments

Fae you say?

GrandiaKnight's picture

Luckily we know a Fae expert. Is Tessily available?

"The pen is mightier than the sword ... if the sword is very short, and the pen is very sharp"

About those pens and swords

TheCropredyKid's picture

The pen is mightier than the sword ... if the sword is very short, and the pen is very sharp

or, as the first Duke of Grand Fenwick put it

While the pen may indeed - in the long run - be mightier than the sword, at any given moment the sword speaks more loudly and convincingly.

 
 
 
x

Sword or Pen?

GrandiaKnight's picture

It's a great quote. It's from a Terry Pratchett book but I forget which one.

"The pen is mightier than the sword ... if the sword is very short, and the pen is very sharp"

Fae expert

Amethyst's picture

Well, Tess is on the opposite coast so it may take her a while to get there, even if they did know her to make contact. And who knows how she might react when she encountered her dark sister there. Minira did curse Tessily and take everything from her before turning completely to the dark side and being cast out by her people.

*big hugs*

Amethyst

ChibiMaker1.jpg

Don't take me too seriously. I'm just kitten around. :3

I'm Trying to Think...

...of a way that Peaches could escape and summon help from outside. I was thinking that animals could and did get away, but that was before the force field.

One thing they ought to check is whether the barrier extends under the water. I'm not sure how easy that would be for the four of them, since Vanessa isn't around. Depth charges by Merida? Ocean creatures still there that Fawn could communicate with?

The bubbles Merida made were impervious to the Tainted's weapons. We haven't seen those try to take on the force field.

Eric

Peaches

Amethyst's picture

The tiny dragon was given the ability to teleport over short distances, but it is also still an infant and doesn't even have the strength to fly yet. So even f she could escape the barrier, it's unlikely that she would be able to get far enough to gather help.

Vanessa would make checking under water easier, but Merida's force field would probably enable her to do so as well, at least for short periods. Most living things though were driven off by the presence of the Tainted though.

As for the bubbles they were just sphere constructs from the same energy that makes up her force field and she did try hitting it with her force field up and sending exploding constructs at it while they were attempting to find a way through. No luck there though.

*big hugs*

Amethyst

ChibiMaker1.jpg

Don't take me too seriously. I'm just kitten around. :3

Words of Wisdom

TheCropredyKid's picture

If it’s a choice of us or dying or them, then I’m damn well going to make sure it’s not us.

or, as Matt Helm once put it

He's dead and I'm alive and that's the way I wanted it to be.

 
 
 
x

Indeed

Amethyst's picture

In this case it's better them than us and the girls will be fighting for their survival in addition to making sure that Minira can't get what she's after.

*big hugs*

Amethyst

ChibiMaker1.jpg

Don't take me too seriously. I'm just kitten around. :3

Eek!

It looks like everyone is in for a tough fight. I can hardly wait to see what happens next!

Yep

Amethyst's picture

This one may be a tough one and Merida and the other may have to do some things that they would rather not.

*big hugs*

Amethyst

ChibiMaker1.jpg

Don't take me too seriously. I'm just kitten around. :3

yup

Amethyst's picture

A formidable enemy it would seem, but if Khestrid is a strong enough spirit to break free from Minira's control even if she was in a weakened state at the time, then she could be a useful ally.

*big hugs*

Amethyst

ChibiMaker1.jpg

Don't take me too seriously. I'm just kitten around. :3

Khestrid

Nyssa's picture

Hmmm, if only there was a medium without a spirit contract...

Very exciting chapter and a great ending. It will be interesting to see how the tainted fight.

If only

Amethyst's picture

Alas Contractor mediums are so hard to find. Wherever could she find one? ;)

we'll see what approach they take next chapter.

*big hugs*

Amethyst

ChibiMaker1.jpg

Don't take me too seriously. I'm just kitten around. :3

Hellooo?

TheCropredyKid's picture

{... cricket ... cricket ...}

 
 
 
x

Too cocky ends in defeat

Jamie Lee's picture

Minira seems rather cocky, thinking she'll easily take control of the girls and their companions.

Problem with being cocky is one of over estimating ones ability before it's put to the test. Minira has no idea what these girls are capable of doing, especially Mer. By herself, Mer could turn the entire area into a smoking crater. By herself, Mer could devastate any number of beings.

But Mer can't do it for long without becoming tired. If the girls are to defeat Minira they will need outside help, or one heck of a plan, or one of them will have to suddenly develop a power they didn't know they had.

Others have feelings too.

Ting-a-ling!

Podracer's picture

Round 2, ladies, keep your wits and arrows sharp.

"Reach for the sun."