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Thessa awoke from deep slumber by the sound of metallic jiggling and whispers. It was subtle, but still fairly noisy. Someone was trying to get into her room by picking the lock under her doorknob.
“You imbeciles.” She heard a voice whisper. “Stand aside, did you forget I have the key?”
By the light of the moon pouring in through her window, she searched for the pouch of gold. The whispered voice sounded like the innkeeper. He had eyed her gold. She quickly rushed to the chest of drawers and retrieved the pouch; her slight weight was not enough to make any sound upon the polished wooden floors. She waited in the pallid moonlight as the door creaked open. At the last moment, Thessa hid the gold pouch under her pillow and pulled the dagger of the Black Mage she still carried from its hiding place.
“Stop, I’m armed.” She said as the door revealed the innkeeper and two very large individuals.
“Armed?” The innkeeper held out the lantern before him to reveal Thessa and her dagger. “With a small dagger?” The man looked at each of the two brawny men amusingly then laughed; the two men followed suit.
A fourth man made his way into the room and motioned for the door to be closed. It was the numismatist. “I’ll be needing that gold back, miss.”
Thessa was surprised but kept her composure. “I am afraid not. You paid me fairly for my coin with it, remember.”
“You should have just taken the two gold magi I offered. I would have let those go without incident.”
It will happen innocently at first. Something small will set you off and you will be on your way. Sarren’s words reverberated in her head. “I.. I sold my coin to you.” It was all she could think to say.
“Well,” the numismatist said, “perhaps we could negotiate. I will allow you three gold magi and you return the rest to me now and these fine fellows will leave you the way we have found you,” he looked her up and down, “as a pathetic, skinny sot.”
“A sot? But, I don’t drink.” Thessa replied.
“Humph, I have seen it before. A sunken-eyed sot selling the family heirlooms for a few gold to buy more drink. You show all the signs. Now, give me what I came for so I can send these men home.”
Thessa moved forward with dagger in hand. The men moved back slightly. “Let me keep four.”
“I grow wary. I will allow you four if you hand over the rest now.”
Thessa reached under her pillow and produced the pouch. She took out three gold magi, one she had already spent on the room and clothes, and handed over the gold.
The numismatist weighed out the bag on his hand and then poured some out to look at them. “It seems to all be here.” He moved behind the men and opened the door. “Good work, men. She has your gold pieces.” With that, he closed the door. The big men brushed aside the dagger she had pointed at them again and pried the gold pieces from her hand. They each took a piece.
“I’ll tell Sienna!” Thessa said.
The innkeeper smiled back at her, “You do that. I’m sure she will be most displeased with me. Only, a few silver crowns from this gold magi will speak louder than you, I’m sure of it.”
“You won’t get away with this!” Thessa said as they exited the room.
“It seems we already have.” Came the reply.
Thessa sat on the bed and sighed.
After the door closed, something stirred in the room and Thessa shifted her weight in a startled twitch.
Oh, come now, came a familiar voice, are you going to just let them walk away?
Thessa stood up to see the cat Sarren appear at the window. I see the coin master walking and whistling down the street.
“You can hear him whistling?”
Well, yes. I can. Are you going to do something? Anything? They just cheated you out of eighty gold magi!
“I heard your evil words as they flooded into my mind while they were here, and I held back. I am resolved not to be the Black Mage! With the tournament coming, Cassany will be forced to bestow it upon someone else. If I hold out long enough, she will run short of training time and I will be freed.”
You stupid simpleton. She will never let you go. You are cursed with this now. The only way out is to die.
A third voice suddenly rang out in a command, “Do it! Be done with it!”
Thessa looked around and then focused on Sarren. She was no longer a cat, but instead a ghostly apparition floating just above the floor. The apparition floated directly to her. The ghostly, ethereal face was pale and terrible. Her eyes were blank.
“Sarren?” Thessa asked cautiously. “No Cassany! Don’t!”
“I obey, goddess.” Sarren said quickly moving faster toward Thessa.
“What are you doing?” Thessa fell back as Sarren entered her body. Thessa reared up and thrashed around, trying to fight the spirit of Sarren taking her body over from the inside. It felt as if she were burning from the inside out. A moment later she was looking at herself in the mirror. Her eyes were a milky white and her fingers were long and twisted. Thessa was along for the ride as Sarren used her usurped hands to open the window and move out into the night. Thessa felt every sensation but could do nothing to stop herself. She felt Sarren in her mind, but the consciousness was far away. She could not hear Sarren’s thoughts.
“No Sarren, let me go! I don’t want you to do this.” She screamed into the darkness of her mind. There was no reply.
Thessa was surprised when she felt the back of her hands push off the ground and she began to run on all fours. She could hear herself grunting like some beast. Ahead was the numismatist. She recognized his gait. He turned at the sound of her rushing toward him, and he recoiled. He was not fast enough. Her jagged claws slashed at his throat and she found herself biting down on his neck. He whimpered rather than screamed. She took the pouch from under his belt. A feeling of satisfaction pervaded her senses. In a moment of clarity, Thessa all at once felt a connection with Sarren. She touched the other’s mind. Thessa seized the moment, “No, get out! Thessa cried, and the spirit of Sarren was taken off guard. The ethereal woman exited her body with a jolt. She immediately tried to re-enter, but Thessa blocked her with her dark magic.
“There you are!” Sarren said. “I knew you were in there somewhere. I knew you would eventually use your magic.”
The magic flowing through Thessa was intoxicating. It made her want to give in to it. It made her thirst for more! “This is what it always feels like?”
“Yes, always. Now, go after the others!” Sarren said. “They have what belongs to you! Get your gold back!
Even though Thessa wanted to resist, she just couldn’t. Her power flowed through her. She suddenly wanted to see what this magic could do. “It feels like trying not to eat the last piece of delicious cheese on the tray, but at the same time knowing you are about to devour it anyway, before anyone else can take it.”
“Yes, eat that last piece of cheese, Thessa. Go on, you deserve it. You want it! It’s yours!”
“There is no way they will survive!” Thessa said. “I have been so weak! I should not have let them take my property from me.”
“No, you shouldn’t have, but you are no longer weak, are you!”
“No!”
“With your vengeance on each one of them, this feeling will grow stronger and you will be more and more elated.”
Thessa bounded on all fours toward the inn. With each lope, she felt the wind through her fur. There was no pain, no regret. Each time her hand lifted from the ground, it felt as though she were flying. She could smell the innkeeper. She didn’t know how or why, but she knew his scent and she made her way to him. The man was in the alley with the two others who had violated the sanctity of her room. They were laughing, smoking pipes, and drinking wine. She rounded the final corner with the men in sight. The innkeeper saw her, let out a terrified yelp, and headed for a back alley door. He never made it, Thessa tore out his throat before he had a chance to turn the doorknob.
“What in the two hells is that thing?” One of the men shouted. Thessa rounded on him and he was either too stupid or too dumbfounded to move. She dispatched him with animal precision. The final man did make it into the inn either. Thessa followed him, tearing the door from its hinges. Her sharp hearing picked up stirring in the rooms. The guests were waking up from the commotion. Reluctantly, Thessa bounded to her room and lay panting on the floor. She tried to calm herself. She wanted to go back out and rip the man’s throat, but she knew she would be caught. She tried to breathe. “How do I shut this off?”
Sarren floated into the room beside her. “You have the magic.”
Thessa willed herself to change back, and she did in an instant. All the feelings of what she had done hit her at once, and she both liked it and was disturbed by it. “So, this is how you felt when you murdered Hana’s family?”
“Your mother, yeah sure, only, after you do it a few times, it becomes second nature. Now that you have given in to the darkness of the magic, will you once again try to be the good little Thessa?”
“I... I don’t know.” The adrenaline began to wear off and Thessa’s remorse began to settle in and she felt ashamed. “What have I done?”
“There is no use in feeling bad about your new nature, Thessa. Embrace it.” The apparition floated up to her face, “The curse is just beginning. Now that you have given in, you will hunger for it the longer you try to live without it. Eventually, it will have its way with you.”
Suddenly Thessa became angry, “You forced me! I was going to beat this, and you forced me! You did this against my will!”
“Well, yes. You know, cursed! I told you Cassany would win.” Sarren floated back toward the window.
Thessa once again looked at herself in the mirror. Her gaunt face was covered in blood. She used the washbasin and cleaned herself off. “You had the guise of a man. I can use this dark magic to change the way I look. How exactly does one do that and keep the look for more than just a few hours?”
“Easy, with every kill, you have the power to shift into anything you want.”
Thessa gazed into the mirror, “I want to be a beautiful woman, not a girl, a woman, and I want the look to stay with me. The kind every man would desire.” She watched in the mirror as her features changed. Her sunken face filled out and her skin became milky smooth. Light streaks accented her dark hair. She turned to get Sarren’s appraisal. “Well, what do you think?”
“Beautiful,” Sarren replied with a devilish grin, “You are absolutely gorgeous. You have taken your first step. I will warn you. You will be noticed now. Men, and some women, will react differently to you now that you are a beautiful woman.”
Thessa willed for Sarren to float to her, and the ghost moved involuntarily.
“What are you doing? Let me go!” Sarren pleaded.
Thessa reached out and took Sarren by the throat. Her hand made purchase on Sarren’s ethereal skin, if that was even an accurate description. “I bind you to me, Sarren. You will never be able to enter my mind and body again. I control you.” Thessa’s new-found magic surged through her into Sarren. “Now, return to being my cat.”
“No, I don’t want to be a... cat.” Sarren was suddenly the black and white cat again.
Forget the dark magic, you are just as cruel without it! Sarren’s voice was once again sounding inside Thessa’s mind.