Tag Archives: Ermengarde

Jasmine Snippet #57

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New note for “The Story of Jasmine”:

When Jasmine awoke, she was on the seat of a large throne in a circular room. She was confused. Did I dream I was outside, or was I actually outside?” In her mind, she retraced her steps.

Jasmine remembered exploring the temple, which seemed to be a well-ventilated underground structure. There were no ruins she could detect. She judged it to be long past evening when she entered this central hall. Now it felt like the night had long since settled in. She remembered her first sight of this throne elevated by about five steps. She had immediately made for the steps and was about to take a customary seat at the top when it occurred to her she wasn’t in UR anymore. But, with no other place to sit, she decided to risk it.

Once she took her seat on the throne, she lost all sense of time and reality. Her body became electrified as she received lots of memories/ knowledge/ information. It was all so real, yet her recollections were vague. But there was a particularly vivid one regarding the soldiers who were gathered outside. She dreamt she was a Protector of this Holy Temple and like her sisters, had a duty.

She remembered dreaming about being in an important council with her sisters. They discussed what to do with the violaters who had gathered outside. They talked about the men staying there a long time because they could never return to their Lord empty-handed. They would stay until they encountered some hap-hazard individual. Then she saw Glynn’s face. He was her new dwarf friend who she left behind at the Oxted Inn — the one who saved her from an attack. He would be walking into an ambush. She feared for him.

That’s the point she could not distinguish very well. It felt to her like the continuation of a dream, but it also felt like it could have happened. She and her entranced sisters marched outside and took up their collective positions until they were all gathered in a circle, even in places where there were no structures to hold them. The Order of the White Flower surrounded the men. One or two of them gave short speeches. But then everyone participated in confronting the soldiers to honorably give them a way to save themselves. They all spoke the same words in unison. After their collective challenge was answered, they hummed in unison. They directed the vibration they achieved downward towards the men. It did not take long before the resonance of their collective humming produced a blinding flash.

After feeling a sensation of falling, she thought she saw Glynn’s face. Then her sisters carried her back inside as her strange dream continued. As before, she was back on the throne. Her  sisters urged her to find a particular room and enter it. Fortunately, she would not have to search to find the room. Her Ermama made her memorize the layout of the temple by making it into a game. She knew the room belonged to the wizard Erlkyng. Come to think of it, the Guardians also suggested she seek Erlkyng’s room to see what she would find there.

Deciding the time was probably nigh, she got up and headed directly for Elkyng’s chamber.

© 2018 DARLENE

Jasmine Snippet #53

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New note for The Story of Jasmine:

Looking for the secret passage, Jasmine moved further up the stream, and headed for the waterfall. She stopped at the point the water had pooled. She knew the place the pool would be much deeper, where the water fell from above. She discarded her cloak on the bank and stepped into the pool. The chilly water immediately came up to her waist. She swam towards the falls. The only way to get to the secret passage was to locate it from below.

In Ermengarde’s stories, the passageway could not be accessed on land. She ducked under the surface of the cold water and, feeling her way with her hands, discovered an opening.

She did not have far to swim. The underwater passage contained a vortex and, once inside, it swallowed her. She made it there before she needed to replenish her breath. The end came out in a small, dully lit underground chamber. Her eyes became accustomed to the greenish caste.

According to Ermengarde, a special lichen with the ability to illuminate the walls and ceiling thrived there. Of course, she never really believed that part of the story, but it was true! Green Light without the sun did exist! This stuff was all over the walls and ceiling. She got herself out of the cold water. Her wet clothes dripped on the moss.

© 2018 DARLENE

Jasmine Snippet #27

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The typed “Story of Jasmine” notes continue:

Upon the completion of the kiss, Ermengarde was prepared to act. But her concentration was interrupted by the sudden appearance of a strange flying lizard with leathery wings. The little beast landed on Bardulf’s shoulder and made a startling noise. Arlet screamed and pushed herself away from Bardulf and the creature perched upon his right shoulder. The kiss and the spell had ended.

Arlet turned, wide-eyed and frightened, looking for an escape. “Ermengarde!” Arlet called frantically.

“I am here, child,” Ermengarde replied as Arlet hastened to her guardian’s side.

“Ermengarde?” Bardulf said quizzically, “Wait. I know that voice… No, you’re not Ermengarde…” His men, with weapons drawn, pressed in closer upon Ermengarde and her charge. Bardulf laughed. “Ah, yes, I remember,” Bardulf began, “you are Erlkyng’s witch! I wondered what became of you after the old fellow disappeared.” Bardulf walked towards his captives.

As Ermengarde watched him near, she understood the time for magic had passed. This was no charlatan. She would have to rely on guile instead. This man must believe she posed no threat. If she had completely lost her power, how would she act? She would bluff. If she had no powers, she would boast of her great strength.

“So,” Bardulf said, stroking the head of his lizard-creature with a gloved hand, “you want me to believe you are nothing but a powerless old nurse?”

“And YOU want me to believe you have become powerful without an apprenticeship to Erlkyng.”

Bardulf laughed, “So you DO remember.” Bardulf’s laughter grew cold, “I remember too. I was in ernest in my request to learn from that old wizard. And what was it he said to me? To come back when I had learned humility? I was a talented lad. He never even took the time to test me. You call that fair? And I remember you, staring at me with that smug look, telling me humility was a hard lesson, but a necessary one. I hated that smug voice of yours as much as your words. Humility!”

“Humility IS a hard lesson,” Ermengarde interrupted.” She spoke from experience, remembering the sixteen years she posed as a nursemaid, allowing her beauty to be hidden. She added, “and it’s a lesson you still haven’t learned.”

Bardulf looked at her directly and spoke with conviction, “I know what I am and I know what I am capable of doing. Why be humble when opportunities like this one present itself?” By this time, Bardulf was close enough to stroke Arlet’s cheek with the side of his finger. “You know, you do kiss beautifully,” he said to her.

© 2018 DARLENE

Jasmine Snippet #25

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“The Story of Jasmine” snippets continue (Scene 2, according to notes):

Again, the nervous horses of the two riders rubbed against each other. Ermengarde* grabbed the mane of Arlet’s steed with her hand. The animals slowed their pace while Ermengarde kept the horse’s hair in her grasp. Ermengarde sighed. There was so little time to prepare for the unknown danger which awaited them.

“Listen,” the old matron tried one more time to reach her, “there is so much you don’t understand… about your mother… about your birth… about me… about a wizard called Erlkyng…”

Arlet replied with the only words she had spoken since late morning, “The dark prince calls me and I must go to him. Nothing else matters.”

Arlet was spellbound. Without knowing the nature of the enchantment, Ermengarde was reluctant to take measures to counteract it. Besides, she had not practiced this type of magic in years.

To end the spell, Ermengarde thought up a simple strategy. Let Arlet meet her “dark prince.” Then, before the princess could be bound by another spell, Ermengarde would intervene magically. Her plan depended upon complete surprise.

To achieve this, she must be dismissed as a feeble old nurse. Ermengarde let go of Arlet’s horse. For sixteen years, she had played the part of an old crone. Nobody knew who she really was. Her chances for success were good.

There was only one unknown, which bothered her. Who had cast this spell, and how? “Oh master,” Ermengarde prayed, “Let’s hope I can handle this charlatan.”

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This page was typed and will be presented in bite-sized pieces.

*Ermengarde is Heta, but we don’t know it yet.

© 2018 DARLENE