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News » For the Sake of a Soul: XXI
The Lady of Gold
Terish looked at the plate of food, then ignored it to use his mouth to read more of the diary. 'Coming close to the house I found it to be smaller and not as ornate as it had appeared from a distance. The strength of the light that reflected from the white walls and golden roof surely had my mind give a large impression to the edifice.
As I approached I was better able to compare its size to the surroundings. The white elegant filigree that I had seen from a distance was merely the sulphuric crusting from gases in the depression below. The areas of gold however still seemed real.
'I stepped cautiously towards the building attempting to determine its age and construction. I saw the path to the front door came from the depression below. Such made me wonder about the builder of the house. It was possible that he or she only moved from the structure when the wind and weather were proper, although it was also possible that they had built the edifice in better days when the liquid in the pond below was actually water. Considering the deadliness of the gases however, I could not believe that anyone still lived in the house.
'The white covering to the building became dust as I touched it. It was indeed a buildup of the residue from the gases that came from the depression. The white layer went to the roof, although not present on any area of gold, again making me certain that nothing living was inside the house. If they were lucky, they died in their sleep.
'"The gold, yes, the gold."
'The voice was strong and my head jerked around to see an old woman standing near a front corner to the house. She was not tall, but I could tell that she had been a sturdy woman in her younger days. Her dress of what appeared to be the brown decayed remains of ship sails seemed to cover and shape a bulky form, but her face and hands stated that little fat was left on the body. The folds of skin were only the withered muscles over thick bones. There were no gold items on her body.
'"Look at the gold on the side of my house. The acids that torment everything here do not affect the gold. It comes from the ground here. I know not what forces go on beneath us, but the gold here is special."
'I was looking at the gold. I also was not scared of this lady. I turned again to the gold. What she said was correct, the corrosive forces did not affect the metal. I listened to her speak further, but did not really accept her words. There was nothing special about the warmth of the metal. In fact, with the sun above and the volcanic forces below the gold should have been much hotter. The smoothness of the feel of the gold was not really evident, because it was so thin that I felt it should have responded to my touch. I thus did not make the connection that she wanted me to make.
'"The metal is alive. It is a most wonderful substance. Things can be done with this metal that cannot done with any other natural substance."
'"And what have you done with the metal?"
'She invited me inside the house to see. I was going into the house anyway, so accepted the invitation. I stopped to examine the gold doors. They really did not have the weight expected for such a mass of the metal. I suspected that what I was seeing was merely gilded wood, but the layer of gold was not as thin as what had been used to cover portions of the outside wall. The gold still yielded to my touch. I noticed that there were no designs set into the soft metal. The lady told me that the gold stayed smooth which was a wonderful property for her uses. I was of the opinion that ornate gold baubles sold better than plain ingots, but turned to the interior of the structure thinking that both were valuable.
'The interior of the house was formed of smoothed slabs of the nearby volcanic rock. The stone was not a dark ebony, but of a black that actually softly reflected light giving a sense of security and stability. I saw a narrow flight of stairs going up and down. The middle of the room was filled with a set of stones making a fire pit with thick metal tools and pots that I could tell had been used for working gold because of faint lines of the metal that shimmered from them.
'I asked her about the deadliness of the gases from the depression. She mentioned that we were safe as long as the doors were shut. She had crafted her magic. By asking that question I had told her that I knew of the poisonous acidic vapors that came from the land and water. She had soothed my fear of dying in this place by mentioning the qualities of the gold. I thus did not stop her as she shut the doors. I cursed myself for being stupid in hearing a rumbling of metal beyond the strong thud of the seals meeting. I however was not scared of the lady, so looked to the stairs determining where each led.
'She understood my gazes, and answered my questions. "We are safe from the gases here, but I still live and sleep above. There is an exit up there, but I am too old to survive a drop to the ground. I use the doors. They can be reopened, but the gases are heavy and I want things to be safe in my cellar. Down below is what I want you to see."
Dathol interrupted the reading to state, "I always suspected that your claustrophobia was a natural trait of your people."
Terish nodded as he responded, "Yes, your only options in a closed room were to fight or starve. Exits provided security in that it allowed one to run. I believe Straekin mentioned the holes in the structural remains of the buildings on my world. Those are not signs of decay, but design features giving security to those that lived inside the structures. They would be trapped to stop the unwanted, but it was expected that movement would occur. We stayed alert and slept little."
The lean youthful appearing man took advantage of the pause to eat some of the food provided for him. Those around him actually wished that Dathol had not interrupted the reading, but took advantage of the break to make themselves more comfortable. Finally, Terish again picked up the diary.
'I proceeded downstairs expecting to see gold, and I was not disappointed. The walls were covered in sheets of gold. Blocks of gold were set about in various places instead of being neatly stacked. The floor to the room was of natural stone, and a section was very rough where it had been torn apart. I moved to the hole in the floor expecting to see a bubbling pool of gold, but instead heard the gurgling of a stream of water.
'I slapped the lady hard when she again guessed my thoughts and told me that the source of the gold was not important. The …' Terish smiled as he noted that some words had been crossed out, 'stupid lady grabbed an ingot and threw it at me while screaming for me to look. I did not look about the room, but stayed focused on her which was wise in that she picked up a stone knife and swung it at me. What she hoped to accomplish I cannot say, but I certainly did not need her help with the gold. As I backed up and drew my diamond sword, she moved to grab another ingot of gold and fling it at me. The metal was not heavy, but I did not appreciate being hit with the mass. As she reached down to grab another ingot, I rushed forward. The hag again attempted to cut me with her knife, but my reach was longer. The ancient form was not able to handle abuse, and my swipe along her right shoulder sent her to the ground. I did not relent in my attacks, and soon I was the only one living to appreciate the gold.
'I saw the golden lady as my eyes moved to find something on which to wipe my blade. I wiped my sword on the body of the old woman even as I noted that the clothes on the golden lady were very elegant. The hag had worn the fibers of coarse cloth that I guess had been thinned and softened by exposing to the nearby acidic gases. This golden female form however wore a lovely yellow dress made from a soft fabric.
'I moved to the lady attempting to recognize her. I expected her features to be a younger version of the lady that I just met. The face was not that of the hag, but I must say that whoever provided the inspiration was someone whose beauty had seared itself into the maker's brain because the reproduction was most wonderfully crafted. She was lean and youthful in appearance. The smooth property of the gold prevented any blemish on the skin of the statue. The hair that came from her head was long, and set with combs and ribbons. It appeared that the old lady had attempted to put some style in the locks, although the strands of metal showed no curl but fell straight down.
'I thought I saw life in the form as my hand felt her chin. The head lifted in response to my pressure in a most natural way. The eyes stayed closed however, and the only other movement was from the strands of hair.
'There were teeth behind the lips, and what appeared to be a mouth behind the teeth. There was a golden orb beneath an eyelid. The lashes on the eyelid were long and felt as hair. I expected to be stabbed by the thin fine lengths of gold, but they presented no harm. My fingers moved to her thin eyelashes and I felt the soft touch as if of natural hair. I thus moved to touch the long strands of gold that came from the top of her head, and indeed did not feel a mass of wires in my hand.
'My hands traveled to the breasts of the golden lady. They were hidden behind the front of the dress, but initially their sight was not of interest. Feeling the firm masses softly accept my touch, I undid the dress in order to reveal the front ornaments of the lady. The breasts were inside a brassiere that I cut. There was a little sag to the soft feminine mounds as they were freed from their garment, but mostly I saw a pleasurable firmness to the organs.
'I lifted the skirt to see that panties had been put on the statue. I cut the laces allowing access for my hand. I then cut the panties so I could pull them away allowing me to see. The smooth skin was warm, soft, and there was a moisture that made me curious to examine the crafting of this part of the statue.
'The golden lady is a wonderful construct. If not for the whole body being the color of gold, one would definitely consider the statue to be a real lady. The old hag must have been a marvelous craftsman, although there is something special about the gold.'
Ferrigote interrupted the reading, "Hold it, kid. Did you skip a paragraph?"
Straekin led a small chorus of crude responses to the fighter’s question, and Terish did not state his answer until after they finished. "No, but I have already mentioned that Gerlitt edits what he is writing. I expect that he had diaries stolen before, my people would steal anything, so wrote nothing that would entertain the simple. One might have a private journal stolen, but if what is inside is considered to be non-interesting then the details inside stay secret as the information is forgotten and not spread."
The bearded muscular man returned, "Well, get on with the story. I am still waiting for details to determine whether or not this is the lady that I heard about long ago."
More of the story will need to wait until the next chapter. It is titled, "The Path to Secrets."
Posted by TerishD on Wednesday, May 14, 2003 (05:58:22) (976 reads)
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Re: For the Sake of a Soul: XXI
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