Save me a Story – Yielding Power

This is the continuing story of my adventures in the tale: Save me a Story. If you wish to read the introduction to understand what is happening, click this link: 

https://www.hdhstory.net/Storyblog/?p=3431 

Otherwise, I’ve tried to summarize what happened at the beginning of most of the sections of this story.  

Yielding Power

Lorn – an island in the kingdom of Selat, now filled with story characters without memory of who they were or the stories they belonged to, held under a spell by the evil sorceress Necroma. Without help, they are destined to all disappear with their stories. 

Necroma – the most powerful wizard that ever was, with the temporary help of some lower power-hungry wizards and magicians ready to take on the last of those that stood against her wishes, which were to be the focus and master of all written and told tales. 

As for me, I’m a storyteller from New York, hoping, with about a hundred or so good and bad characters from stories that have not been co-opted by Necroma yet, tasked to stop her and save Selat. 

At least, that was what a mystic foretold I would do.

Necroma knowing that we were coming, was prepared. She stood strong, centered in the middle of the island of Lorn in an open field. She had gathered her minions to stand with her for support and added power. Dawn was breaking as she gathered up all her strength. She would wipe her enemies’ minds as she had done before to those that now inhabited Lorn. 

We knew that eye-to-eye contact and Necroma’s spoken word would overwhelm us. We had a plan.

Once we crossed the waters surrounding Lorn, we walked toward where she was located in groups of three. This strengthened our individuality. We either held hands, were carried upon a shoulder, or flew in a tight formation. 

To prevent her from looking into our eyes, all but one in each triad closed their eyes. If the one leading us with eyes open felt someone encroaching on their mind, they would close their eyes and signal another in the group to open theirs and take over. As we got closer to where she was located, the groups of three joined together to become groups of six, then twelve… In case everyone in the group had to close their eyes, each group also could be led by other animals traveling with us, ones that were blind. There were bats, moles, and even three blind mice.

To prevent anyone from listening to the words Necroma might be chanting, we had a chant of our own. Everyone loudly sang the chorus of my song “Tell Me a Story” as they marched.

Tell me a story of dragons and kings

Of heroes and villains and magical rings

Myths and Legends and Folktales galore

Tell me, oh just tell me more.

 **(note – see the link at the end of this section

for a video of me performing my song

Tell Me a Story.)

We kept our thoughts on our captive friends, hoping they would help shield us from Necroma’s spells. But none were seen.  

We were to keep moving from the four crossings into Lorn until we all joined hands and encircled Necroma.

———-

Unbeknownst to Necroma and us, all of the inhabitants of Lorn had had a strange dream just before sunrise. It was more of a request. In their dreams, they all heard a voice recite the following:

The time has come to join the quest

You now must wake and join the rest

Go hand in hand and circle round

The one who stands on center ground.

Protect the ones behind – defend

For with their help, your spell will end. 

They awoke as a whole and left as one. Hand joining hand, marching toward where Necroma stood. 

The timing was perfect. As the ensorcelled of Lorn connected their circle around Necroma’s position, we connected our circle around them.  

———–

Necroma, though surprised at this turn of events, was not deterred. After all, she was the most powerful sorceress, and destiny was on her side. 

She called on her magic and tried to send it to our line of storybook characters. But her spells fell short. Every time she tried to get a spell through the inner circle to us, it was deflected. She could not get past one of her own spells without breaking that spell of the inner circle, which would have added more numbers to her opposition. So she called for more power.

But she was not attacking individuals. We were all connected through hands, wings, feet, and whatever contact we could make. The group of us became one individual. Sweat poured down her face as she called for even more power. She called out, “I AM THE MOST POWERFUL SORCERESS THAT EVER WAS. I WILL RULE ALL. NO ONE WILL STAND AGAINST ME. IT IS MY STORY THAT WILL BE TOLD OF THIS BATTLE AND NO ONE ELSE’S!”

And that was her fatal mistake. She was getting weaker and weaker, and saying that she was the only one whose story would be told, was finally heard by Grenwin and all those that were supporting Necroma and her quest for power. 

Grenwin called out, “That’s not what we were promised. Since that is what you want, you will no longer have our powers added to yours. If the story is to be yours alone, then you shall be alone.”

Grenwin stilled the power he had added to Necroma’s as he said that. And one by one, so did all the other sorcerers, sorceresses, magicians, witches, and wizards who supported her.

Necroma stood alone, expending all of the power she had left. Well, almost all of the power. She realized that she had lost. But she would not be defeated and captured. She used the rest of her power to transport herself away from Lorn.

With her powers gone, the spells she had cast on the inhabitants of Lorn slowly faded away. And Selat, the land of story, was preserved.

** Tell Me a Story link: https://tinyurl.com/4y63azw7

Continued in…Zeitgeist