13 A Cold Insatiable Hunger

Isabella was half though her paperwork for the day, when a frantic knock came on the door.

"City guard to see you Lady Isabella!" came the voice on the other side.

"Enter," she called out.

The door swung open from the man guarding the door, and one of the city guard rushed into the room snow still hanging on his clothes.

"Your Holiness!! A flying demon beast has been cornered in a building!"

"The bullets keep it in place, but its scales are too thick we cant kill it!"

"What about pikes?" Isabella asked.

"No good your Holiness, its too big our pikes would only break and it would kill the soldiers."

"'What do we do?" The soldier asked desperately.

Isabella took a deep breath, "Take me to it." she said rising from her seat.

A few minutes later Isabella stood near a stone building its front collapsed inward and a line of city guard standing with rifles pointed inside.

"Is that where the beast is?" Isabella asked her escort.

"Yes your Holiness..." he answered.

She walked quietly but quickly to the line of guards. Inside the shadows of the building she could see a scaly head open its eyes for a moment then quickly shut them before roaring from within the building.

Isabella's eyes narrowed as she took a step past the line of soldiers. the men next to her kept glancing sideways at her cold expression. She raised her hand and pictured the black dot that Lissa had mentioned before. Jumping into her sight the black shadow spun in her hand and she felt the draining sensation again.

The demonic beast's eyes shot open and began to redden as it roared one last time towards the blond woman, emptying its lungs of all its air, before it collapsed forward from the building as if it had started to lunge, but ended up crumpling to the ground like a boneless lizard. Isabella closed her hand as if she had crushed something. She stood staring at the lifeless beast for a moment before glancing at the troops next to her. All eyes were now firmly planted on her. Disbelief. Awe. Horror. Fear. Shock. Adulation. Religious fervor. Shined from the eyes of troops around her. Isabella heard some reserve troops ten feet away converse with each other.

"Did you see what happened?" "No.. she just reached out her hand then closed it ... as if she'd grabbed its heart."

Isabella's face suddenly blossomed into a true smile. No one here has any idea what I did, will I ever live this down? The majority of the faces of the troops beside her all reverted to worshipfulness and most of them began to kneel.

******************************

Pear sat in a room with several slightly larger beds then most of the girls. The nuns quarters were a bit more spacious and they could keep an eye on her. But for the last two days Pear had fed herself.

She looked at her arm that had doubled in width and then at her legs that were actually shapely again. Her heart raced as she remembered the encounter this morning.

Pear had been hurrying down the passage hiding her face when THOSE two came walking from the opposite direction. Wendy and Lissa had new clothes and sparkling necklaces on there chests.

Intending to force her way past she felt a sudden wave of weakness that made her stumble against the wall just as she came close. Her perfect plan to jostle them out of the way failed instantly and she shuddered with rage.

"Pear... here.. eat this. but try to calm down, anger wont help you feel better." Lissa said gently.

Lissa opened Pears hand and placed something into it, then closed her hand over it.

Lissa and Wendy then hurried away.

Pear leaned against the wall feeling her strength gradually returning, The encounter had left her terrified.

"I CAN'T become weak again! I CAN'T become weak again!" she mumbled passionately.

A few more moments later she felt like she'd returned to normal, and raised her hand to her face. Opening it she found a small red stone that glowed in her eyes only. To anyone else it looked like a plain red crystal, but to her it dripped with moisture and shined like a ripe strawberry.

Pear popped it into her mouth and the sound of teeth grinding against rock filled the hallway.

but to pear the stone was a delicate berry that practically melted in her mouth as she chewed it gently, swallowing it she felt as if it permeated her whole body strengthening her arms legs muscles and organs. She felt like injuries from the long past had instantly healed. Breathing heavily she returned to the nun's room and sat down her mind filled with indecision about her next move.

But deep down Pear knew only one thing, Pear is hungry.

**********

At the end of the day Isabella finished all her paperwork and sighed. The two young witches had not returned tonight. The work for Wendy would definitely be enough to exhaust her powers. Isabella wondered what else could happen on such a good day.

A knock came at the door and she called out to enter. The soldier in charge of sending messages to and from Neverwinter had arrived. He handed her a ring of paper bowed and left before she had even unraveled it. The message was simply : keep us updated about the progress of the witches and utilize them to help defend the wall.

Neverwinter is fighting demons now.

Isabella's face paled, Is the battle of divine will starting now? In the months of demons?

"Guard!" Isabella called out. The town guard quickly entered the room. "Send a messenger to the Garrison at the wall! I need Lissa to return by morning!" The guard nodded and quickly left.