What Makes A Monster - Chapter 22

Olivia glanced down to notice the space between the floor and the hem of Imyra’s dress.

“You’re blatantly levitating again.”

Imyra followed her gaze. Slowly, her body moved downwards until the edges of her floor-length dress again rested on the floor.

Olivia personally didn’t see why Imyra had to pretend to have useful legs, but apparently she did. The long dresses helped hide the fact that her feet never actually touched the floor but it was Olivia’s job to remind her when she hovered a little too high.

The elderly owner of the store approached them and asked if anything struck their fancy.

Imyra gave a charming smile and pointed to a shoulder piece that had a slightly darker hue of blue than most others. “I’m positively enamoured by this one.”

The shoulder piece consisted of a gem-studded blue metal plate with strings of glass beads attached to its edges. While it appeared quite simple at first glance, the metal surrounding the gem studs had intricate engraved details. Olivia had no idea how much any of these things costed, but she doubted it was something Imyra could afford right now. She supposed it didn’t matter. Lantern girl would undoubtedly take over when came to actually purchasing anything.

“You have very keen eyes, milady. Almost everything we have here was inspired by our good ole neighbour, Chennae; the Immortal Guardian of the Reaper’s Forest,” the old man said. His Roan had the strong accent of the Detzlane natives as he rolled his ‘r’s and his ‘i’s sounded like ‘ae’s.

Imyra lifted her eyebrows, amused and sceptical. “You mean, the Ancient Witch? Hasn’t she died a long time ago?”

“But she’s the Immortal Guardian who descends when the empire is at true peril. Immortal beings don’t die. That’s what it means to be immortal, milady.”

Olivia choked on her own spit and disguised it as a cough. Oh spare me, she thought, but found herself paying keen attention to the conversation. He reminded her of a B-list pantomime narrator.

Instead of laughing at it like Olivia had, Imyra got all defensive. “Immortal Guardian, you call her? The Empire has constantly been at war since its inception. If it’s not Carlove breaking the ceasefire from the south, it’s Syloria attacking from the west. Never mind the growing alliance of the city-states that try to throw their weight at us and the petty kingdoms and their occasional rebellions. But when was the last time the Ancient Witch got involved in protecting the Empire? Some seven centuries ago? She’s no guardian, she’s just an ancient witch who might have a lived a few years too many.”

Olivia shot the green-faced girl a glance. She had always got the impression that Imyra hero-worshipped the old hag. Even after getting disillusioned by the reality that Chennae was no kindly sage, Imyra always maintained a high level of respect and decorum towards her.

The shopkeeper didn’t mind the blatant disdain and responded with a gentle wisely smile that only old men with heads full of white hair seemed to be able to pull off. “Of course, that’s because the empire isn’t at true peril. Wars are human conflicts after all. The Immortal wouldn’t interfere in the job of their Majesties when they are working so hard at keeping the realm safe.” He smiled at that. “But that’s about the whole empire. I can’t say much about the vast lands the Throne protects but, as for our town, she comes down quite frequently you know?”

Imyra’s eyebrows rose and she shared a smile with Olivia. Or rather, she smiled at Olivia, while Olivia returned an unimpressed look. “She does? Have you ever seen her personally?”

“No, I haven’t. Not personally. My daughter-in-law’s uncle’s nephew’s friend’s cousin’s aunt’s friend’s mother-in-law’s grandfather; she has apparently helped him when he was young and bankrupt. She saved his failing business and now he’s the richest innkeeper in town. Well, he was, up until he died a few years back. But there are many sightings of the lady in white. She’s said to appear when you are at your lowest. My Lady, this shoulder piece you’ve chosen, these earrings here,” he continued to gesture towards a whole section of the wall, “these chokers there, this whole range, was inspired by the amulet she wears.”

Imyra leaned forward in interest. “You mean the one mentioned in The Secrets of the Reaper’s Forest?”

“Yes, yes, that’s right. That book. Some ten years ago, that nosy woman, Lamaena or Tamaena, whatever her name is, came here to gather material for it. She made the locals crazy from all her questions. But anyway, that whole story behind the amulet that is passed down through the generations of Chennae’s best disciples or something? She got all of that from the original of this range of jewellery, you know.

“In our stories, it’s said that Chennae told her servant to give it to half-wit orphan boy who had lost his entire family and fortune when a stray beast had wandered out of the Reaper’s forest. It made him clever and gave his zorne strength and he went on to become a great businessman and left the town to reach greater heights. His descendants moved back to the town when I was still a young man. They run the bookstore at the edge of town now. It’s just too bad, the original has been lost for decades. It was said to have mystical abilities. And so beautiful that it felt like it didn’t belong to this world. Old mistress Baerla was so fascinated that she gathered up all the old sketches of the amulet and created this whole range of jewellery inspired by it.”

“How curious,” Imyra noted, “that you have so few travellers stop by here even though this town is filled with stories about such a…” she cleared her throat, “legendary person.”

“It is astonishing, isn’t it? But well, thing is, as interested as people may be in our Guardian, they’re too scared of her to come this close to the Reaper’s Forest. She’s not the only inhabitant of the Reaper’s Forest, after all and she’s not the only reason people call it the most dangerous place in the empire. Legrath is a bit further away and pretends to have all our stories too, so outsiders prefer going there. But they don’t.” The man’s bushy white eyebrows pulled together on his earthy brown skin. “They don’t have an ounce of the connection with Chennae as we do. We usually just get all the fools who want to actually enter the Reaper’s Forest to ask for her favours.”

Olivia slid a look towards Imyra before she spoke up in a wry tone, “Entering that forest to ask for favours? Such crazy people exist?”

This time it was Imyra’s turn to glare at Olivia.

“Yes, milady. They all hear about the stories of how she grants wishes and riches and decide to go look for her treasures. Idiots, the lot of them. They dare encroach upon the Guardian’s territory without her permission. We warn every single one of them of the dangers but they never listen. They go in and never come out. Such fools.”

“Such fools.” Olivia concurred with an amused nod.