The Iron Cage

Mira's legs swung loosely from atop the iron cage, her eyes closed, her ears listening closely for the sounds and movements of the town that had betrayed her and her husband. Her dragon senses began to wake up and she lost some of the strong link to her human body. The town faded into the din of her consciousness as she eased out of her mortal chains.

The world was a murky gray, and not because of the night. Already, the stench of death and evil had settled over the town. It was all wrong. She had expected mischief, for sure, but not the decay that assaulted her senses. It was just like Yummerskard, but here, the townspeople were still alive, last she had checked. Had the draag come and gone without her knowing?

Her vision cleared as she settled into her native body, stretching her wings from atop the cage. The shadow world was swirling with a dark energy, and she could feel it sliding off of her wings and torso as she took to the air. Wings beat slow and steady as she surveyed the black rot that had settled onto the town's southern half. In the dead center of the mess was, sure enough, where Brenda's house was. Brenda was the key to it all.

Mira gasped a deep breath as she fell back into her body. Footsteps and torches surrounded her as townspeople filtered into the dark town square, confused and upset by the late night call to assembly. The signature was the same, and she knew with sickening certainty that the Draag was here. And it had Brenda and her posse under its spell.

She watched the townspeople gather, but saw no evidence of Brenda, Mav, and the others coming into the square. She found herself growing angry again, but suffocated the urge to scry specifically for the witch. She would get what was coming to her, whether or not she was present.

But what if it's just the Draag? A small voice inside Mira asked and she felt the slightest touch of compassion. Yes, it could be the draag. Brenda had always been useless, but up until a few weeks ago, she had also been harmless. Something had changed, that was clear.

About half of the townsfolk had gathered, and they were murmuring amongst themselves. The bells continued to ring from the farthest corners of the town, and Mira cut Mav a little bit of slack -- maybe they were just being thorough bellringers. Still, Brenda's absence from the whole charade was worrying.

Two of the townsfolk stepped forward to put their torches on either edge of the podium. Mira was not surprised -- they were all sticklers for ritual, if nothing else. That made the whole perversion of this town by Brenda -- no, the Draag -- even weirder. As they did, she finally spotted Brenda being escorted by Mav through the crowd of people. Good, she thought. Now, it's time for justice.

She waited until they were close to the podium to slide off the cage onto it. Her fluid motion and thud onto the wooden stage startled Brenda, who jumped in surprise. Mav didn't have her physically restrained, but Mira imagined that it had taken some convincing to get her to the town square. And probably some cold, hard looks at her broken door.

"Greetings!" Mira shouted to the gathered crowd, stepping between the two torches. "Many of you know me, but for those that might not, let me introduce myself. I am Mira, Stan's wife."

The crowd shifted uneasily. She flashed them a smile. "I called this gathering tonight because there seems to be some sort of misunderstanding between Brenda," she pointed to the woman glowering next to her, "Stan and I," she pointed to herself, "And the rest of this village. So I'd love to clear it up. Now, I'm not going to tell you how it is. I want you," she pointed at the crowd and then back to the podium, "to tell us what's happened to cause this insanity over the last few weeks. Specifically, I'm looking for answers to the following questions."

She stabbed the air with her finger. "One. Why is Brenda trying to run Stan and I out of town?" She raised another finger. "Two. What did Stan and I do to deserve this type of treatment from our own people?" She raised her final finger. "And three -- since when does anyone like or listen to Brenda?"

A few scattered snickers came from the crowd, but for the most part, they were silent. She shrugged.

"Well, I'd love to get this show on the road. Does anyone want to volunteer to start the discussion?"

An elderly woman near front of the podium raised her hand. Mira threw a look at Mav and his cronies and gestured for them to get off the stage. Brenda certainly wasn't going anywhere. Mira closed the distance to guard Brenda, herself -- just in case -- as she smiled at the old lady.

"Yes, Trin, why don't you come on up and tell us what's up?" She asked the old lady. As she drew near, Mira offered a friendly hand up onto the stage. Brenda was silent, clearly trying to connive a way out of the situation she found herself in.

"Well, I don't know about how any of this all started, but I've been saying from the beginning that it's all nonsense." She shook her finger at the crowd. "But you clowns got all worked up over Rufus and Freyja -- who are fine by the way -- and started this whole mess where you've turned Stan into some sort of god damned monster." She looked at Mira. "Where is Stan, anyway?"

"Oh, you know." Mira said calmly. "He's safe for now. Brenda sent a mob after him. They broke a few bones. Bashed up Yim pretty good, too."

Trin looked taken aback. She shook her head. "It's a fucking shame. You should all be ashamed. Every. Single. One of you." She got off the stage and faded back into the crowd without another word. A few more hands raised in her absence, and Mira chose the younger man with dark skin and short hair to go next. He stepped up on the stage and gave Mira an awkward smile.

"I've been really confused by this whole thing." He admitted. "I was told that Stan would be helping me with my manhood test, soon, but he just sort of … disappeared after his father died. I figured that Brenda would fill the void, but she hasn't done jack shit either. I just want to get on with my life. I'm fifteen. I want to be apprenticed already. All of my friends have been."

He stepped off the stage. Ryber. That's Ryber. Mira thought to herself as she idly picked another hand. The mousy looking woman had a semi-permanent scowl on her face as she took center stage. This was Pola, whom Mira had occasionally spent time with in her youth -- although Tulith had not interacted with her all that much.

"Mira, I love you," She started, "But Stan has taken this town and turned it into a mockery of itself. Aurelius hadn't been dead two whole days when he went gallyvanting off to do shaman things. Supposedly. How are we supposed to know what he's doing? Meanwhile, he leaves no apprentice, and we're all left to deliver the babies and heal the sick. Now Brenda isn't a saint, but at least she's trying to give this town some direction in his absence."

Pola stopped speaking, shot a wan smile at Brenda, and got off the stage. The crowd murmured approval. Before taking another speaker, Mira stepped back to the center of the stage.

"So let me get this straight." She said, taking a shot at summarizing the feelings. "Stan's father, the village shaman, Aurelius died. Stan took his place. Stan was worried about a dragon, so he took off to Wissler to find out if there was any information. With me so far?" The crowd nodded in agreement. "Stan comes home a day later. Organizes search parties for the dragon. Kutak goes wandering off to fight the dragon on his own. Stan goes to rescue him, and nearly dies in the process. Kutak comes to his senses, rescues Stan, and becomes the latest village hero. Is this accurate so far? What about corrections?"

The crowd was silent, waiting for her to continue. "Ok, good. Yes, I know that Kutak said he rescued Stan from a dragon, but we'd all say that, given a chance -- wouldn't we? Let's agree that there was no dragon and move on. So Stan and Kutak return to town, and the hunt for the dragon comes to a fruitless end. As far as we can tell, there's no sign of a dragon anywhere. Assured of the town's safety," Mira emphasized, "Stan leaves again, still in search of information about whatever had killed his father. And this, my friends, is where all hell breaks loose. From what I've heard so far, Stan leaving the village the second time is what got everyone riled up?" She asked. No one would meet her eyes. "So in leaving the second time, for all of three days, suddenly, Stan is not living up to his shaman duties? Why, exactly? Because Ryber has to wait another week to become a man? Because Pola had to bandage her own cuts for once?" She shot Pola a dirty look. "How many babies have been born here, exactly, in the last week?"

She was met with silence. She repeated the question. "Does anyone have a baby that they had to deliver without Stan's help?" She scanned the crowd. "Anyone?" She gave a satisfied smile. "And has anyone died, or gotten gravely ill, in the time that Stan has been absent from the village?" Again, silence.

"Now, I know that Freyja and Rufus went missing. We've been out searching for them, to no avail, for the last few days. But Trin said they're safe. Are they here?"

Rufus raised his hand near the back of the crowd. Mira waved at him. "Hey, Rufus. Glad to hear you're okay!"

She gave a smug look to the crowd. "So, in Stan's absence, no one has died, no one has been born, two kids were missing but turned up safe, and somehow still, there's a mob after him? Help me out, here. Where does Brenda fit into all of this?"

A few hands raised. She picked a pock-faced woman near the front, who crawled up on the stage with some assistance.

"Brenda called a village meeting and told us that Stan had killed Rufus and Freyja."

Mira shot Brenda a withering look. The woman's eyes were cold, but her stature was small and shrinking ever faster.

"Is this true?" Mira yelled out to the village. She saw assorted head nods. "So you took the word of the village gossip to be truth?" She pointed a damning finger at Brenda. "This witch, it seems, has put a spell on you."

"She also told us that Stan was a witch." The woman said smugly. "And he can do magic, so… you know. We just put two and two together."

"Yes, Stan is magical." Mira agreed. "But being magical doesn't make you a witch, Jira." Mira told the woman. "Having ill will in your heart makes you a witch."

"This town was fine before that bitch started running her mouth to the entire village." Jira pointed a finger at Brenda. "She's the witch!" She cried to the crowd, beginning to chant her final three words. Mira called for calm from the crowd before they got too riled up.

"Come now," Mira chided. "Mob justice is not justice. We cannot run her out of town or hurt her like she hurt my Stan. We must give her a punishment that fit the crime. And who else participated in this violence against the town?" She scanned the crowd. "Send the ones who helped her up, too. Gangs don't form with just one person."

The crowd broke into agitated chatter, wondering who would betray their neighbors. The crowd decided somewhat decisively against Mav and his two friends, and they were forced through the crowd and up to the stage. Mira was surprised. Smarter men would've fled the gathering as soon as they were released from their stage duties.

"Alright, we've got Mav, Drix, and Vel up here. Who else was complicit in Brenda's barbarity?"

"Can I speak?" Brenda shrilled suddenly from the corner of the stage. She seemed indignant, with wild horse eyes. Mira gestured to the center stage.

"Go right ahead, witch." She smiled a sickeningly sweet smile at Brenda, who swept her robe around her and strode to the stage.

"Stan is the evil one." She yelled. "And you will all pay for this indignity." She wagged a finger at the crowd, who watched her with more amusement than fear.

"Stan has been nothing but nice to us!" Marty spoke up, "Even when we attacked him out in the woods. He talked us down and then fed us the last food that he had. Mira, too!"

The crowd was clearly favoring Mira's calm over Brenda's antics. Brenda paced the stage, becoming more and more agitated with each step. She was muttering to herself, but everyone close to the stage could hear her. "You ungrateful wretches. You measly bugs. I will wreck you and make you regret everything that you've ever done." She looked at the crowd and straight up cackled.

"You'll see!" She screamed at the crowd. And then, something funny happened.

Against all odds and really, against all reason, Brenda began… floating. At first it was just a few inches, but she soon rose above the crowd. The crowd gasped in surprise and horror. Mira felt rage and fear building in the pit of her stomach. Why had she not thought of this before? She had just assumed that Brenda was a petty human. After all, it's not like there had been a large shift in behavior. Just more of the same old gossipy hag to content with.

Of course. Mira realized as she stepped back to look at the floating woman. The Draag.

"Everyone, run! Get out of the village!" Mira yelled. "You, too!" She pointed at Mav and his friends. "Grab the children, get them out first!"

The crowd was frozen for a minute. "Go! Go!" She urged them. "This is dangerous. Go!"

Finally, the people near the back of the crowd understood, and they turned tail and ran like the scared rabbits that they absolutely should be. Mav and his friends stepped off the stage. Mira looked up at the she-beast that was cackling like a mad wolf.

Previous Chapter: Sunset on Traitors
Next Chapter: A Final Battle
Go Home: Go To Title Page