Help I'm Being Drained Of Energy by Society

Help I’m Being Drained Of My Energy From Society

Heather R. Baker

She had never left that house alone before, not that she could remember. Her parents were strict, stricter than any other she was sure, though Mauli had no friends to compare with really.

As you have probably guessed, her parents had titles, and thus money, and which left her with nothing else but expectations for behavior and her part in the family business. Which happened to be fascinating, if draining.

And by draining she meant it. Her father was the court magician, and he was working on a machine, which she, as his assistant, was tasked with helping with. And often that meant sitting there while it zapped her energy as her father tested it for this and that. Really wasn’t fair, and she really was not up for it today. Hence why she was escaping. Out the back. As quickly as she could. Before anyone could-

“MAULI!”

She fell to the ground and laid still, before deciding to crawl away.

Mauli knew she would be in for it when she returned, but that was a problem for Later Mauli. Present Mauli, along with The Rest Of The Day Mauli, was going to have a great time, doing whatever it was she wanted instead of being hooked to that awful machine.

If she could figure out something to do.

The city seemed her best bet, to get lost in a crowd, meet people, see what opportunities might be out there, find something entertaining. She was sure there were countless places to be, even for someone who hadn’t remembered to bring coin for food and such.

***

On a stone slab for a floor, she breathed out, waking to the uncomfortable sensations of dirt from the floor that had caked her face and lips. She was disoriented at first, and confused, when she realized it was a cell around her. Rounded though, no corners, with a gap between the wall and floor, and chains reaching from somewhere below, to somewhere above, like they held the floor there. She couldn't see that far above her.

***

The city was everything she’d remembered, from the few chances she had to go there.with her father. All grey stone, but open, where the streets and shops melded together until you couldn't tell where they started and stopped. She saw young boys atop one of the walls, and decided to climb up for herself, if not for a look, then for a place to stay in some peace for a while. The amount of people truly was overwhelming.

Her book in hand she- was interrupted by a young boy, who ran to her, hugging her and not making a sound. He had coarse black hair, was covered in filth, but beautiful light purple eyes that drew her in. He pointed off into the distance, and tried to drag her off. She felt something was greatly wrong.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

The boy was distressed by her words, and looked around with a hand to his head.

“Nirhna, come with me.”

“I’m sorry I think I should leave.” Mauli gathered herself and her one thing. What he’d called her wasn’t a title she was familiar with, and it made her think he was one of those people that lived outside the city, not known for their trustworthy nature.

“No, no I’ll go. I’m sorry I’ll leave you alone.” The boy hugged her one more time and ran off as quickly as he could. Mauli moved to a new spot, hidden from her previous one. She’d known people could be taken, going out alone like she had, but she had never felt so afraid of it until now. Never thought it could be a boy approaching her, trying to lure her away. For surely that’s what had happened there, as odd as his attempt was.

It was, until date, the strangest thing she could remember happening to her.

The young woman looked around in disbelief, just in case there was a third stranger about to put a hand on her shoulder and address her. But she’d have to settle for the second, as he had climbed up to where she sat atop the wall, all smiles and warmth. He and his long white vest which marked him as a high-ranking guard of some sort, though she couldn't tell anything more specific than that.

***

It felt like an entire day in that room, the only thing in it being herself. She’d discovered her hands and ankles were chained to the floor by her sides, through metal loops that were screwed down into the stone. Around her neck they had put a metal shackle, though that wasn’t attached to anything else.

Her skin was purple, with veins running over every inch of her body. A result of previous strain in an attempt not to get caught.

Nirhna could remember being caught, could even chastise herself for it, but it would do no good. The only thing for it was to rest, to save her energy, and use it against those that did this the second she was able. They’d have no idea who they were dealing with.

Someone brought her food, and with no plan, she only sat there while a small window lifted at the base of the door and the plate was slid through.

“Wait!” She tried to yell. Even with a hoarse voice she assumed the person on the other side could hear her, and simply didn't care.

***

“You’re Saular’s daughter, right?” The guard asked her. Mauli nodded. Saular was her family name, though men typically were only addressed by that.

“Who was the boy there?”

“I don’t know- he just came up to me- I think he isn’t right, in the head I mean,” she did try not to stammer though it didn’t go very well. “Or- well he might’ve been trying to lead me somewhere…”

“Lead you somewhere? Goodness, he probably took off when he saw me though. Good thing I was here!” He laughed and put a hand through his red hair, that fell almost to his ears before it was pushed back. She did think he was very pretty. “How about you hang with me for now huh? See if we can’t find your father?”

“Oh, that’s okay, he’s not expecting me until later…”

He gave a slow nod of understanding, as if he could tell she wasn’t supposed to be out and about the way she was.

“Just the same, come along, I can’t leave you alone, or he’ll probably turn me into a statue.”

She did climb down, amused at his joke. In honesty she was glad to go along, the streets were overwhelming, but now she felt safer.

Even more so as she followed him into the court-hall, where the guards worked from and their King and Queen lived. Every big event happened there, and she should know, she’d gone with her father there a few times. His office in fact was not far from here, where she helped him with his work.

The court-hall was a magical place, where the glass had been painted with all sorts of brilliant dyes that let sunlight pour through in every color imaginable. Everywhere you walked, and paintings on the walls with stories of the past. The walls here were a warmer stone, more rare than what the rest of the city was built with, taken from a desert city that the city people of Caul were known to imitate. As in, their styles were usually all the rage.

Mauli followed her new friend right into a big hall, where a few other men were milling about. She worried her clothes weren’t quite right to be there, but how was she to know this was where she would end up?

Some small, whining noise was close, but she couldn't locate it.

The men the guard had gone to speak to, after a moment of him doing so, all leaned at once around him to look her up and down. Mauli couldn't hide she saw them, and wondered why he would bother bringing her here and showing her around. Perhaps it was because of who her father was? She’d met the King even, once, he’d seemed very amused that his magician had a daughter, and was very kind to her.

Two things she heard from the conversation; a reference to the purple-eyed boy, and the statement “no, she’ll be fine”.

“Come, we’re going this way,” the guard told her when he was done. He sounded more stern now, almost angry.

The noise was louder now, which didn’t help her stress.

***

It must have been the next day, when a sound woke Nirhna up. It was loud, a scraping, and she couldn't tell from where.

Thinking it must be the door, she looked to find it was gone.

She looked all around the cylinder room and the door was gone completely, as the walls sank down below her. The floor was moving up.

And the ceiling she could see now was not as high above her as she thought, it was only a black sheet of some material, which was being dragged away on the floor above, letting in a real amount of light for the first time.

Like a flash she was engulfed in it, as the floor of her cell became level with that of the floor above. And all the noise… The sound of the floor moving had stopped, but there were people all around. It wasn’t until her eyes adjusted she could tell that this was some formal place, some great hall where she was the main entertainment presently. And she was a spectacle, hair very short, coarse and black, with purpling dark brown skin and matching lilac eyes.

Let’s see if they like light shows.

But before her main act, the doors to the room flew open and in walked a man, with brown hair to his shoulders and a very fine coat. He had something over the top of his face, with glass that allowed him to look through it. Clearly a man of learning, who marched right past her, stopping to excitedly gawk, before moving on to the other side of the room. There he walked up a small set of stairs, to a man who could only be the King, who sat next to a woman who could only be a Queen.

“Well can you show me?” The King asked the newcomer, the one with the half-mask.

“Oh, I can’t say for sure- someone… Aldred!” he looked over to a guard, all dressed in white, who took out a weapon and approached her.

In a panic Nirhna sent out a burst of energy, just to push him away, but nothing happened save the most intense pain she’d felt before from her neck, right up into her brain. She couldn't cry out, only go numb and fall there, a pile of chains and limp body parts. But the man was coming toward her still, and as much as she wanted to curl up and die she gave it one more go.

To the same result.

To her own unconsciousness.

“See?! She’ll lose all her strength before anything else.” The brown-haired newcomer excitedly explained. The collar around her neck was his creation, and it was no small feet, to control a dragon.

“If you’ve some trick up your sleeve to take her memories, then I’ll allow it. She’s your problem Saular, and if she gets out of hand even a once, Aldred has every right to kill her. No questions asked.”

“I promise you my Lord, what we get from her will be well worth the risk. You’ll value her as I do I promise.”

The white-coated guard smiled cheerfully as he returned to the King’s side. He just wanted her dead.

***

“You know, that purple-eyed boy, he was trying to kidnap you.” Aldred told her.

Mauli blinked a few times, just to let the thought sink it. She had thought it was possible, but didn’t think it warranted him bringing her to a private room to have a talk about it. If her father knew she was inconveniencing a guard so, he would be furious.

She looked around, in some hope to locate the sound. Why would they play such awful music? Surely it would just irritate the higher-ups. Was there nothing they could do?

“Oh, I know. I mean I assumed it was possible. That’s why I would never go with anyone.”

Aldred nodded with a singular raised eyebrow, but didn’t say anything.

“I mean, okay I went with you, but you’re a guard.” She added frankly.

He nodded once more, now pouring a drink for them both and handing her one. She took a nervous sip right away.

And fell face down onto the floor.

Aldred huffed amusedly as she shook violently, skin flashing between purple to a more human tan, her wig falling off. Saular’s collar would never let her change much more than that, luckily for him. It was a very small room they were in afterall.

Her head hit the floor, and she was transported. Around her no longer the sterile furniture of Aldred’s work-room, but trees.

Then back to the work room.

The sound was so loud now, she thought her ears would bleed. It was her. It was something on her.

In her pocket it appeared, a small stone which was boiling hot, yet felt good to squeeze in her hand, about the only motion she could control as she convulsed.

Again back to the woods, running through it frantically, the trees seemed so small around her.

“You want me to send your head back to da-da?” Aldred asked, grabbing her short black curls and raising her head off the ground. It pulled her arm from her pocket.

She wanted to caress that screaming stone, not for it’s warmth, but for the sound it made. She felt it in her soul, all that fear. This man clearly intended to kill-

***

“THEY’LL KILL HIM!”

***

She wanted to protect… was it the stone? She held it up, curled herself around it to get it closer to her. And the closer it grew, the warmer, the louder, and her collar, something she always wore from her father, grew hotter as well.

***

“Nirhna we can defeat them! But ONLY IF YOU STAY HERE!”

She was flying through the woods, looking for… a young boy. There was a young boy she needed to find. She loved him. He was… her little brother of course.

And then there he was. Just right there in front of her.

So small, he could fit in the palm of just one of her feet.

The tiny, blubbering little boy had wandered into what might be the biggest fight she’d ever be in, because he was scared his sister might get hurt. And now it was his life in danger. She could sense it coming with the human men, on their horses with their many weapons. Her people never bothered with those much. Had never needed to until the humans showed up.

They preferred learning ways to keep people safe.

It took everything she had, to transport the child out of the woods that day.

Everything she had.

And that’s how the humans found her, when the fight was done. A mighty warrior of her people, who couldn't lift a hand against them.

***

When the stone her brother had snuck her via hug touched the collar, it popped right off.

And as she hadn’t been to her daily energy draining she had plenty to change form completely and make a certain red-headed guard wish he’d never smiled his pretty smile at her.