‘Ah. You wantfour times the pleasure do you?’ whispered one of them.
She withdrewher floating flaming dagger back to her chest confused and madlytrying to think through the dizzy fog in her mind while the headscircled around her with madly contorted faces dribbling spittle onher arms and legs.
The eyes in theheads began to glow red and she felt herself going sleepy. Shestruggled to stay awake. She looked at the dagger and it reformedto its ball shape hovering over her chest. She imagined it as asmall bear. It floated down onto her chest stood upright andgrowled a warning at the grotesque heads and she passed out intodreamless sleep feeling calm and protected.
Periodicallyshe awoke and saw her little green bear scrambling around her bodyattacking small flying creatures trying to land and bite her. Thenlater several rats attacked the bear and there was a terrible fighton her chest and stomach and thighs as the bear slowly but surelytore them apart. It seemed invincible and she mumbled how much sheloved it. The assault seemed to go on for hour after hour.
She wasexhausted but concerned about a painful bulge in her abdomen whichseemed to be moving. Was it a Bog Wasp grub growing inside her? Howcould she fight it? She hazily tried to remember what she knewabout wasps. They generally paralysed their host, laid an egg thathatched into a grub that then ate its host’s flesh eventuallykilling the host and emerging as a full-grown wasp. Some wasps evenused other wasps as hosts. That was the answer!
She turned herlittle green bear into a little green grub told it to burrowthrough her skin into her abdomen and seek and destroy the bog waspgrub. Then she went unconscious again.
Sometime latershe awoke and the bulge was gone and the little bear stood on herabdomen looking and growling at the leering stone statue. A cloudof mist flew out of the statue’s mouth and formed into the leeringface.
‘Good you’reawake again. What shall we do this time?’ It teased.
‘I know. Let’sask the black blob.’ It replied and the cloud of mist turned intothe creature from Miranda’s worst nightmare.
The black blobhad haunted her dreams as a child. She feared it more thananything. She had run from it countless times but it relentlesslypursued her. The only way she had found to get away from it was towake up. Currently that wasn’t an option as she was already awake.At least she thought she was.
‘Destroy it!’she shouted to her little green bear and it flew at the black bloband there was a terrible fight in the air that lasted for severalminutes until finally the bear roared victoriously as the blobturned to mist.
This timeMiranda went on the offensive. She turned the bear into an ironhammer and it flew across to the stone statue and began pounding atthe head. A crack appeared and as the hammer thumped and smashed atthe head the crack enlarged and spread until finally the headshattered. The hammer reformed into her little bear and it flewdown onto her chest looked adoringly into her eyes curled up andwent to sleep. She smiled, thanked it and went to sleepherself.
The next daywhen Miranda awoke on the same bed in the wizard’s residence, shewas covered in bruises, burns, scratches and horrid bite marks. Itwas as if her body had been a small battleground.
When the wizardcame to see her she was lying naked on the bed covered by a singleblood splattered sheet. He had a stern look on his face.
‘I witnessed alittle of what happened last night. You didn’t try very hard toconvince the guards that you were about to go mad. You fought forhours. Finally when you passed out they thought that you must havegiven in. If I tell them that you did give in I think they willbelieve me. However you will have to back me up and act suitablybroken or you will end up in there again.’
‘I am trulysorry that I had to put you through that ordeal. Please let meerase the memory. It will leave a dark mark in your mind that mayharm you in the future. I don’t wish to be responsible forthat.’
‘Is that howyou justify this in your mind?’ said Miranda angrily. ‘You justlook the other way and erase the memories of the victims as ifnothing ever happened?’
‘Well in mycase it did happen and I’m not going to let you erase it. I want toremember what beasts you, your Lord and your guards reallyare.’
‘Dragonfly puton the robe at the bottom of the bed and come out and have some hottea with me.’ said the wizard. ‘I want you to show yousomething.’
She angrily gotout of the bed and reached for the white robe. As she did so shenoticed all the bite marks and bruises and it brought back memoriesof her brutal treatment last night. She remembered how ugly shelooked now. She donned the robe and the glamour previously cast onher reappeared. She now looked pretty again. Her flabby bodycovered with bruises and bite marks disappeared to be replaced byan attractive Elendari body with slim limbs and greenish scalyskin.
She walked intothe adjoining room to see the wizard seated beside a small tableporing two cups of tea. Across the room from him set in a frameleaning against the wall was a large mirror, both taller and widerthan she was.
‘Dragonfly, Goto the mirror and stand in front of it and look at yourself.’ Shedid as she was instructed.
‘What do yousee.’ said the wizard.
‘I see myself.‘said Dragonfly.
‘What do youremember about yesterday, Dragonfly?’
She panicked alittle. She couldn’t quite remember what had happened yesterday.She started to remember but it was too terrible. She wanted it togo away. She didn’t want to remember.
‘What to youremember about yesterday, Miranda?’
On hearing herreal name the memories started tumbling back, the horror, the pain,the indignity and the shame. Her anger rose. It was the wizard. Hewas manipulating her like a puppet. She
