Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Come Back to Me

Fiction, of course.

The battlefield stench of death, smoke, blood, and worse lingered in the air, overpowering Adelaide's perfumed kerchief.  The shrieks and moans of the dying bled into her ears. She stumbled over the field, lifting her skirts to keep the hem from becoming soaked in mud and blood.  She passed the lifeless faces of many of her father's men, but not Torvald's face.  She passed many injured, who grasped at her, begging for water or succor, but she could not afford to dwell on her decision to leave them to their dying. Not when her beloved was out here somewhere on this forsaken battlefield. She had to find Torvald, and complete the ritual. 

Finally he was there, on the other side of a mound of the dead, as if he had fought an entire company of knights by himself.  The entire battlefield seemed to quiet as Adelaide knelt and struggled to roll his body over.  In her heart she already knew that he was dead; it was why she had come. 

For a moment she pressed her warm lips to his cold ones, and her tears washed away some of the blood from his battered face.  Then she sat up and began the ritual as the conjurer instructed.   She took a small silver knife and made an incision in her palm.  When the blood welled up, she held her hand over the gaping wound in Torvald's chest, allowing the blood to drip, as she was instructed.  She dipped two fingers into the wound, mingling her blood and his, using the heart blood to paint a cross on her chest and color her lips  Adelaide then pulled the witch's elixir from her pocket, and opened the bottle.  She poured half of the contents into Torvald's chest, and drank the rest of the foul tasting liquid as quickly as she could manage before collapsing next to him.

"Revertimini ad me ad," she whispered.  "I cannot live without you, my heart, not yet."





The word is dwell: to keep the attention directed.



This week, be inspired by the sense of smell. It’s said scent is the strongest tie to memory, and aroma is a powerful force—for good and awful! Is your nose engaged? Now I give you the word Elixir:
elixir |iˈliksər|
noun
a magical or medicinal potion: an elixir guaranteed to induce love.
• a preparation that was supposedly able to change metals into gold, sought by alchemists.
• (also elixir of life )a preparation supposedly able to prolong life indefinitely.

29 comments:

  1. Oh my ... it seems this could be a recipe for eternal love or eternal trouble. I was transported to that field with your description and I really didn't like what I smelled or saw. But that's credit to your writing. Well done!

    Visiting from WOE.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love the imagery -- incredibly vivid.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Have to echo Morgan here....eternal trouble, indeed! :)

    Teeny tiny concrit: when she said she passed lots of her father's friends but not HIS face I automatically assumed she was looking for her father. Had to stop and backtrack when I realized she was looking for a lover instead.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are absolutely right--it is confusing. I will change it as soon as I can. Thank you for reading!

      Delete
  4. Maybe use Torvald instead of him. I agree it was somewhat confusing. There is always a consequence for using magic.

    ReplyDelete
  5. It's interesting that she was worried about staining her hems when she was dipping fingers into blood not minutes later haha :D I love the mystery and magic of this!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I suppose it's the same as when a mom doesn't flinch from wiping her own kid's nose--the familiar icky stuff is better than a stranger's icky stuff. Lol!

      Delete
  6. I just finished watching the BBC show Merlin so I'm familiar with magix like that. It's beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I liked your battlefield scene... and finding her knight as if he had fought off an entire horde. Very brave indeed. I am not exactly sure of the purpose of the ritual and what the end would be. I guess I can decide for myself, the way I would like it to be.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. All knights are brave in death, I suppose. Thank you for reading!

      Delete
  8. This is so moving and beautifully written. I love the description of the scene of the battle. It's just perfect.

    ReplyDelete
  9. i love stories about knights in battlefields and their fair maids! :)
    but what i love most is eternal love -- whether ending happily or in a tragic fashion. :)
    and i definitely enjoyed your vivid description.
    happy valentines day ^^

    ReplyDelete
  10. Eternal love or eternal damnation?I hope it is the first-for love's sake:-)Wonderfully well written:-)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Uh, oh. These things never go as expected. The dipping of her fingers into his chest and marking her lips and chest was both such a loving and creepy gesture.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I wonder if he 'comes back to life' or returns as a rotting, animated corpse. She is playing with fire.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I always read stories aloud. It gives me the rhythm of the words. This story flowed very easily. Also, your descriptions were well done -- sensory and made me feel as I was walking that battlefield in search of my loved one.

      I don't why she took the potion and what will mean, but I can't blame her for it. This was a powerful story. Also, it was nice to read a post from someone who also did both the Trifecta and Write on the Merge prompts.

      Since none of the reply options will give you link to my site, I'm leaving you the link. I hope you'll stop by sometime and give it a read. I'd appreciate the feedback

      http://sarahealy.com/index.php/2013/02/14/fiction-the-handmade-card/

      Delete
  13. I like the descriptions of the battlefield scene. I thought the blood part was a little creepy, though. At first I thought she was going to bring him back to life, but then I wondered if she was killing herself instead.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I'm back for second read. This time it's from the Write at the Merge prompt site. I read the story again. This time around I got such a strong feeling of desperation and loss. Maybe it's Adelaide's walk through the battlefield, which as I said in my other comment, you described so very well.

    This time the story leaves with a scent of sadness, but I will not dwell on it too long. I will, however, appreciate the skill of the writer:~)

    ReplyDelete
  15. This is so well-told. As I read, I could see Adelaide walking over the battlefield and the hands reaching out to grab her. Great story.

    ReplyDelete
  16. You do a great job bringing both the grittiness of the battle scene and her singlemindedness.

    The details of the ritual are perfectly creepy. I have a terrible feeling about the whole thing...

    ReplyDelete
  17. A selfish act of love, to pass the dying to pull one already gone from this world, should not go without consequence. There is a slice of tragedy baking here. Nicely done!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Oh, dear. I feel her pain, but this seems like there are all kinds of ways for this to go wrong! The images of mixing her blood with his are shocking; well done.

    ReplyDelete
  19. No good ever comes of conjuring the dead... poor Adelaide.

    ReplyDelete

I welcome comments, but reserve the right to correct your spelling because I am OCD about it!