Mira sighed, dejected from yet another failed transformation. Another one! She tore her Necronomicon to pieces, the blasted pages regrowing faster than she could destroy them. It wasn't fair!
"Miraaa. Calm dowwwn!" Vix, her pix, pleaded on her shoulder. His devilish looks subverted by his miniature size. "We're making progress! We're -"
"Shut up, Vix!" Mira loved her pix, truly, but he didn't know when shut up. "Or I'll hex you!"
"Miraaaa, you can't hex meee." Viz appeared to be crying, but Mira was long passed his cheap tricks. "But I can hex youuuu~."
"Yeah, yeah." Mira rolled her eyes. He really could hex her, but no pix had ever used magic on its master. "How can I not be mad? Look at this disgrace!"
The corpse lay tangled. Tangled, but beautiful! Red, blue and yellow roses sprouted from her torso, her face covered in scales that shone majestically in the ever-setting sun. A wholly unwelcomed piece to the Valley of Scorn.
Mira had purified the unsuspecting traveler in seconds - she was always good at purifying people, So what? She could kill them, but could never accomplish what was truly important! She looked up, the dim stars just getting back into place, a final reminder of her failure.
"It's done, Mira... Move on..." Mira hated when her pix was rational. Which meant she would constantly hate him if not for the fact that she loved him. "We -"
"Shut up, Vix!" Mira let out one last defeated sigh before putting on her mean face. "I'll appease you damn Gods one day..." She whispered. "Come on!" She yelled to herself more than Vix or his stupid Gods.
Mira let her Necronomicon fall - it disappeared before hitting the ground. She grabbed her backpack, her wand and her hat and was off.
Mira was in the valley for a week now, and her knowledge of this beautiful pit of hell was growing depressingly accurate. Most witches stayed in the valley for a day or two. Mira on the other hand...
"Miraaaa, stop poutinggg." The pix was puffing in and out of existence around her. "We'll get out soon!"
Mira trudged through the River of Blood until she reached the enormous rock halfway through - she affectionately named it Rock o' Bloody Sorrow, or Robs for short. She knew Vix was right, but at the moment, she just wanted to kill something. Shame that everything in the valley was already dead, decaying or dying. For forever more, dying.
Mira surveyed the riverbank atop Robs. A tactic she developed from days of failure.
Finally, she spotted something.
A hapless mother and son appeared behind some gnarled, poisonous roots. Their fleshy color contrasting nicely with the dark, dim, faded background. They were still normal: skin in tact, eyes frightened, limbs attached. As fresh as fresh gets. She had to move fast or risk them dying to... well, anything.
She opened her Necronomicon and began casting her summon. "Vix! I'm gonna try for the big ones this time! I need you to glamour them until I'm done. Hurry!"
"On it!" And the pix was off, streaking like a beam of light towards the two unsuspecting victims.
As Mira continued casting atop Robs, Vix landed behind a decrepit oak tree, feeding on the memories of the pair. He soon transformed into a tall, lanky man with blonde hair. For some reason, this image would comfort the dregs. He stepped out on the decaying path before them.
"Hello lovelies!" Vix proclaimed, performing an elaborate bow.
The mother screamed, stepping in front of her son. The boy seemed more frightened of his mother's constant screams than the strange man blocking their path.
Vix tried to calm the situation. "Do not worry humans! You will soon perish anyway! Might as well have some fun while at it, mm?" His experience with humankind however, was lacking.
The mother grabbed a discarded branch, trying to attack the glamoured pix. The branch however, moved, curling itself around the woman's arm. It bit into her skin, letting out a deadly toxin that would soon smother her from the inside.
"Crud..." Mira needed more time, they can't die now!
Vix pointed, and the branch broke off from the mother, taking the lower arm with it. She dropped to her knees, eyes wide and mouth open. Defeated. The son dropped beside her, hugging his mom. He was now well and truly afraid. The discarded arm started to twist and turn. It would soon bloom into a new type of tree. An appeasing offering to the Gods, however made by Vix, and not Mira. It wouldn't count.
As for the mother, her injury started to spread at an abhorrent rate. No living thing could survive the Valley of Scorn for long.
Mira finished her spell. Two little goblins were summoned behind the petrified couple. They carried two ritualistic staves, which they placed firmly in the ground. The goblins started dancing, chanting a muted chant and growing by the second. Their deafened song calmed the humans, putting them in a deep state of trance. While the goblins only grew.
Mira was now standing next to Vix, who was back in his pix form. "You made a new tree without me..." Mira whimpered, looking at the blooming hand, tears welling up. "I thought we would... we would..."
"Shhh! Focus! Cast your spell, the goblins are nearly done!"
Mira nodded, wiping her cheeks and setting her feet. She cast several spells on the immobile couple, preparing them for what came next.
One goblin grabbed the mother, and the other the son. Their mouths drooled in anticipation. But they would not feast, not while summoned by the Necronomicon. Instead, they joined the mother and son into one entity, deformed and horrifying to the human mind. Mira and Vix watched the process with great anticipation.
When they were done, puff, they were gone. Leaving behind a terrifying stump of flesh and puss. It was so gross Mira almost cried with joy.
"It's... horrible... Vix, we did it? Wait..."
Before the pix could respond, the stars above started rearranging themselves into a vague human-like face.
"MIRA OF RIVERWOOD." A voice echoed from the sky. "YOUR ADDITION... IS NOT ACCEPTED..."
"What?" Vix yelled incredulously. But the stars already started to return to their orbit.
"It's alright, Vix." Mira said in a calm voice. "I knew we failed."
"But look at that thing, Mira! It's disgusting! How can it not be a worthy addition to the valley?"
"Come." Mira led Vix to the clump of flesh. "In its middle, you see?" Nothing in the putrid mess resembled anything human. Except for two hands, clasped firmly together. "I wager that's the hand you let the mother keep?"
"I had no choice they were about to die! I had to!"
"I know. I know." She patted the ephemeral creature by its nonexistent head. "We were too ambitious, too impatient."
"Mira..." Vix's voice was tired, horse. "I want to get out of here..."
"We'll do better next time. We'll work as a team, we have to be aligned Vix. Witch and pix thinking as one, acting as one! Only then can we produce a worthy addition to the Valley of Scorn."
"You're... growing up so fast!" The pix vanished, obviously proud.
"Not fast enough." Mira turned, returning to Robs.
The mesh of flesh and bone that was once a mother and child began rotting. Breaking apart. It soon resembled debris. But not fully.
The knowing eye could still spot two hands, clasped as one before the end.
This was a fast write-up. (not sure what that says about my demented mind 😅).
This is a world I can see myself writing in again. I can see these two getting in all sort of mischief together. But we'll see. 🙂
Obligatory shout-out to the 🍕PIZZA🍕 gang, 🤙 gang. 🤙
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Image source.
Peace and have a great week! 😏
Return from Vix and Mira in the Valley of Scorn to Јоцко's Web3 Blog
