Cover art by Jason Pedersen

Nyx is always on the list, so here she is.  Of course, I’ve done so many excerpts with her that it’s a challenge to find new ones.  They tend to involve other characters too or be her epic battles, which are hard to chop up.  Today we have a section of The Merchant of Nevra Coil where Nyx and her rival, Queen Trinity, aren’t exactly acting like themselves.  Enjoy!

Trinity leaps off her bed with her fingers transforming into long claws that drip acid on the floor. Nyx’s arms are coated in lightning as she prepares to defend herself. Neither of them make it very far before the door is kicked open and Nurse Bola enters with a hose. The jet of thick foam sends the channelers crashing against the bathroom door. The dwarf continues covering the women until they are shivering in a thick puddle of the anti-magic goo.

“I can never tell if we’ve made progress or not with these two,” Doctor Eltzer sighs while tucking her chair back into her jacket pocket. “It ends in a strange fight almost every time. It’s as if they love each other like siblings, but hate each other like rivals. That only strengthens their belief that they’re destined by some gods to battle for Windemere.”

“Should we try separating them again?” the dwarf asks before hitting Nyx with another blast of foam. The sparks on her head go out with a hiss and she curls into the fetal position. “I know they had issues last time, but they’re a few years older now. If anything, it could break this shared delusion.”

“I think they benefit from being together,” the doctor explains while wiping a blob of foam off her sleeve. “They don’t feel alone and confused, which helps them heal. I will increase their one-on-one sessions though. Keep an eye on them for the rest of the day and tell the other nurses to have the hoses ready in case they have another outburst. It’s rare that they fight more than once a week, but it’s happened before.”

“Yes, doctor.”

Nyx and Trinity keep their eyes closed as the doctor and nurse leave, both women waiting for the sound of the door locking. A feeling of helplessness burrows into their bones now that their magic has been temporarily blocked. They quietly strip off their soaked clothes and tiptoe into the bathroom where a tub of lukewarm water takes up most of the space. They slip into the basin and scrub their bodies with round sponges in the hope of making the foam wear off quicker. Within seconds, the top of the water is covered in bubbles that smell of medicinal soap and sandalwood.

“I don’t feel crazy,” Nyx says before dipping underwater. She leans back, so only her face is above the surface. “Then again, I don’t think I would know if I was crazy, so the vivid memories could be anything. What do you think, Trinity?”

“I think we’re both crazy,” the chaos elf bluntly replies. The cooling water makes her cringe, so she gets out and grabs one of the rough towels. “Still, if we had these allies and friends, they’d have rescued us by now. It’s been at least ten years and nobody has arrived. I don’t know what to believe.”

Nyx gives the taller woman a hug from behind, pressing her forehead against the soft, cobalt skin. “There’s the other option that we don’t talk about. We were experimented on, considered failures, and abandoned in the mountains. Doctor Eltzer keeps saying we were delivered here, but I heard Nurse Bola mention we were found wandering the grounds one day. With our magic, we could have snuck in to escape the wilderness.”

“Abandoned, living weapons, insanity, prophecies, magical abuse, and who knows what else is in our past. Do we have anything going in our favor?”

“We’re together.”

The chaos elf’s violet eyes sparkle as she hugs Nyx and playfully drapes a fresh towel over the half-elf’s head. They crack open the door to see if the foam has evaporated, but there is still a steaming pool of the muck. Not wanting to touch the white liquid, they huddle on the stone stairs. Within minutes, they fall asleep next to each other and a crackling glow of magic dances around their bodies.