Chapter 15: Chapter 15: Heart of Stone 

The Hero Became a Mousegirl
Chapter 15: Heart of Stone 

 

After spending the night in our tavern room Myra and I set out to purchase new clothing. Once we’d obtained directions from one of the locals we made our way back to the village square where the statue of my former self resided. 

Myra watched me wearily as we walked past my former likeness, but this time it didn’t affect me. Either because I’d taken a massive step toward accepting the new me, or maybe it was only shocking initially because I hadn’t been expecting it. Either way, I spared the statue little more than a passing glance as we made our way to the village tailor. 

We both opted for ready-made attire, asking the tailor only to make quick adjustments so they’d fit properly.

“It feels like forever since I’ve worn trousers,” I commented as we walked out of the tailor’s shop. 

“At least he was nice enough to make a properly sized hole for your tail. I thought you’d end up with a lackluster solution that’d show off your cute little tuft of blond fur.” 

“I’m already regretting letting you see me naked,” I pouted as my cheeks heated. 

“Aww, you were so cute. To think there were aspects of your own body you were still ignorant of.” 

“Nobody is going to feel the base of their own tail to see if there is fur there!” 

“So cute,” Myra giggled. “Funny that you have hair above your tail but none—“ 

Wrapping one arm around Myra’s shoulder, I placed my free hand over her mouth. “Not another word.”

I held Myra tight until I noticed the strange looks people passing by were giving me. Embarrassed, I released Myra and took her hand, dragging her toward our next destination. 

We bought enough provisions to last a week of travel and then left the village along the south road. Three days later we found ourselves on an overgrown path. In front of us, there was a large crumbling stone wall with an iron archway as an entrance. Though the stone looked original, the archway appeared to be a more recent addition, added sometime in the last couple of centuries. Thanks to an abundance of rust I doubted it’d last another. 

“This could be a great time for you to use your scouting skills. Go inside and see if you can locate the desecration causing the dead to rise.” 

“What?” Myra wrapped herself tightly around my arm. “I’m not leaving you.”

“I don’t have skills that let me pass creatures undetected. It’ll be better if you go alone, I’ll be right here at the entrance waiting for you. If anything happens, just scream, I’ll come running.” 

“No.” 

“Myra… “ 

“It’s not happening Caelan, we’re going in together, or we’re not going at all.” 

“You’re not scared of undead are you?” 

Myra looked away from me, “of course not.” 

“Fine,” I sighed. “Let’s go together.” 

Drawing my sword I took the lead as we traveled into the cemetery grounds. As far as the eye could see, tombs stretched out in all directions. Thousands of graves, all from a millennia ago. The paths before the tombs were overgrown, the tombs themselves coated in dirt and grime. It was obvious that the graves here had long ago been abandoned by the living. 

“We were told adventurers come here to battle the dead right?” 

“Yeah,” Myra nodded, looking wearily around us. 

“How often does that happen?” 

“Why does it matter?” 

“Because,” I pointed to a set of bootprints in the grass, “these tracks look recent. As in, were made today recent.”

“What if the undead made them?” 

“How heavy do you expect a body made of only bones to be? These prints are deep and heavy, this was someone big, probably wearing some really heavy armor too.” 

“I can see that…” 

“We should find them, let them know we’re here. Maybe they’ve been here before and know the lay of the land better than we do. They might even know where the desecration is.”

Myra nodded, following me as I crept forward between the tombs. As we traveled we found stacks of bones, from undead that’d been recently defeated. Using my holy magic I anointed each of them, preventing them from rising again. The last thing we needed was undead at our back, closing our only path of escape. 

I halted misstep as we turned onto another more ornate row of tombs. Standing before a massive tomb with a crumbled statue at its heart was Kaphis. Surrounding them was nearly a dozen piles of bones. 

“Kaphis.” 

Kaphis turned and looked at me, shaking their head. “Why are you here Caelan?” 

“To put the dead to rest.” 

“It’s too dangerous, you need to leave now.” Kaphis replied making their way to my side. 

“What do you mean?” 

“The tomb of the Caelan I knew is empty.” 

“My tomb…” 

“Yes,” Kaphis replied gazing curiously at Myra. “Have you told her?” 

“She already knew. Myra has inherited Elise’s memories.” 

“Is that so? I’d like to hear more about that, but first, follow me. I’ll guide you out of here.”

“Wait Kaphis,” I reached out and grabbed Kaphis by the arm. “We can’t leave things like this. I might be the only person alive with holy magic, I’m needed here.” 

“Caelan,” Kaphis turned and grabbed me by the waist, tossing me over their shoulder. “This isn’t negotiable, we’re getting you out of here.” 

“Kaphis!” I flailed my arms and legs trying to break free of Kaphis’s grip. “Release me at once! I don’t want to hurt you.” 

“I can’t do that Caelan. I am willing to assist you with anything you wish to do, but I can’t agree to let you stay here. It is suicidal to confront an enemy with an absolute advantage.” 

“A bunch of bones are just that. Skeletons don’t inherit the power of their former inhabitants, you should know that Kaphis.” 

“Caelan,” Kaphis sighed. “You’re my friend. You may be younger, smaller, and weaker than you were in the past, but that changes nothing between us. For as long as you live I will be your steadfast ally, I will do anything you need of me. I’ll even give my life in your place if necessary. All I ask is that when I am adamant about something, you listen.”

I allowed myself to go limp. “Am I… no longer my own daughter in your eyes? You actually believe in your heart that I am me?” 

“I have parted with the memories I was clinging to. You are Caelan, my Caelan, and I will not deny that. Though you are now younger than you were, so if you are not your own child, I may treat you as if you are mine.” 

“Er, what?”

Kaphis chuckled. “Nineteen might make you an adult in human society, but you’re still a child according to the customs of many beastkin tribes. Even if you were the same age as your former self, you’d still be an infant when compared to the years I’ve lived.” 

“I get that I’m young… but, you want me to be your child?”

“It is impossible for a golem to have children of their own. Why not take you as mine? I thought of this after I left you with the elf. Why did I pawn you off on someone else, when I could’ve taken you as my own?”

“This entire conversation is becoming awkward.” 

“I don’t sense the scepter’s magic around them, these are Kaphis’s true feelings,” Eyrina noted telepathically. 

“Kaphis, swing right!” Myra screamed.

Without a moment of hesitation Kaphis swung their club to the right, catching a sinister great sword in mid-swing. I gazed in wide-eyed horror at the skeletal warrior who’d approached us without a sound. Magic rolled off of its bones in high enough quantities that I could feel it without even trying. How had it evaded my senses until it was right upon us? 

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Kaphis tossed me to the ground, using both of their hands to match the strength of the skeleton’s swings. Even with all of Kaphis’s power, the two were deadlocked.

“Caelan, take Myra and run,” Kaphis ordered as they took a battle-ready stance. 

“We’re not leaving you.” 

“Listen to me Caelan, please.”

“Sorry Kaphis, I’m not running.” 

Stone met metal as sanguine runes glowed along the skeleton’s blade. Though they appeared evenly matched, I knew Kaphis would soon be overwhelmed. With each passing second the aberrant magic empowering the skeleton grew stronger. Cracks were already forming on Kaphis’s club, once it shattered they’d be without the means to defend themself. 

“What level is Kaphis currently?” Myra asked as she readied her blunderbuss. 

“Forty-five.” 

“And that skeleton is still holding them off… Caelan, we might actually need to run.” 

“No, we can win this. Keep watch for any others.” 

Taking a deep breath to steel my nerves I ran forward and leaped onto Kaphis’s back. 

“Caelan, What?!” 

“Just fight,” I growled. “Eyrina, I need all the power you can spare.” 

“What do you plan to do?” 

“Holy Raiment,” I replied as I pressed my palms against Kaphis. Eyrina’s mana blended with mine and flowed into Kaphis’s body, colored by my magic. The grey stone of Kaphis’s body began to glow a bright golden color as my spell took effect.

The wind off of Kaphis’s swings became storm gales, shattering the ancient tombs, putting the skeleton on the defensive. A hellish howl escaped its fleshless maw as its sword—my sword, began to glow bright red.

With renewed strength the undead swung for Kaphis, once again strong enough to match them blow for blow. 

“What the hell,” I hissed narrowing my eyes as I glared at the skeleton, forcing even more of my mana into Kaphis. 

“Caelan, you need to convince Kaphis to retreat, now!” Eyrina commanded. 

“Why?” 

“Your corpse… it’s possessed with the spirit of the Fell Dragon, Stelryus. I can sense it now, Kaphis was right, you’re not strong enough. Nobody is.” 

“If we retreat now, people could die.” 

“If you don’t retreat now, you will die.” 

“Grr,” I ground my teeth. “Kaphis, we need to leave now.” 

“I’ll stay behind to hold it off.” 

“No! We need to leave together, all three of us. You can’t say you want to be my parent and then immediately go and die on me. Take responsibility for what you said and flee with me.” 

“It’ll just follow us.” 

“That’s fine, grab Myra, I have a plan.” 

With a final swing of their club, Kaphis turned and broke out in a run, scooping Myra up as they ran by. The skeleton gave chase as I released the wards I’d placed between myself and the magic of Eynhilda’s scepter. 

Focusing the entirety of my consciousness on the undead before me, I willed the scepter’s magic to attack it on my behalf. Unwieldy currents of wild magic twisted into massive coils, visible to the naked eye. The coils dug deep currents in the earth as they charged forward wrapping themselves around the skeleton.

The skeleton’s sword flared brightly, it too was a relic of Eynhilda. The magic of the two relics battled for supremacy as we escaped outside the cemetery grounds. A demonic howl filled the air as a violent pulse of magic caused the earth to shake in all directions. 

The ground cracked open causing plumes of molten rock to jettison into the sky. An unbearable heat filled the air as tidal waves of lava burst forth. For a second I saw Eynhilda’s lover, the goddess Rosetheryn, gazing angrily from the clouds. Then the graveyard was gone, washed away beneath a storm of molten stone. 

Even as exhaustion gripped me, I fought to remain awake. I watched until it was all over, and then I collapsed. I hardly felt my body colliding with the dirt before my mind faded into nothingness. 

When consciousness returned to me I was back in Syene’s house, laying in my own bed. Beside me was Myra, holding my hand and watching me with a forlorn expression. 

“Miss me?” I croaked, surprised by just how painfully dry my throat was. 

“Caelan,” Myra’s lip quivered as she pounced forward, wrapping her arms around my neck. “I was so worried.” 

“Myra… water first, please.” 

Myra released me and poured a glass of water from a pitcher sitting on my bedside table. Bringing the glass to my lips she carefully tilted it, forcing me to sip it slowly.

“That’s better,” I smiled. “Thanks.” 

“Caelan,” Tears pooled in Myra’s eyes. “Whatever you did, don’t you ever do it again. I thought we lost you.” 

“I was just exhausted, nothing a bit of sleep can’t fix.” 

“No Caelan, that wasn’t exhaustion. Nobody sleeps away an entire month just because they’re exhausted.” 

“Wait… a month?” 

Myra nodded. “You’ve been out a month.”

“I’m sorry Myra. What happened after we fled? Has the Fell Dragon been reborn… have demons already overrun the north?” 

“Everything’s quiet. I thought you’d want to know so I’ve been keeping an ear open at the adventurer’s guild for any news, but there is nothing. Even the undead which once plagued the area are now gone, the territory around Kaelown is safer than it’s been in years.”

“That’s great news,” I laughed before smiling up at Myra. “Bet Stelryus is kicking itself for trying to possess my corpse. This is the second time we’ve kicked that dragon’s ass.”

“This victory was a fluke,” Eyrina noted telepathically as a small cat with golden fur hopped onto my belly. “You used the scepter’s magic to subdue the dragon, that was smart, but you won’t be able to do it again.” 

“Why not?” 

“The scepter has been destroyed and its magic dispersed. I have not confirmed it with my own eyes, but I can sense what I say is true. The relic forged by my creator is no more.” 

“If I hadn’t been forced to rely on it to defeat the Fell Dragon, I would be rejoicing right now. Now I don’t know how to feel.” 

“The scepter was too volatile to trust, it benefits us that it has been destroyed. As for Stelryus, you will have to work hard at getting stronger while you can. The next time you meet them, you’ll only have your own abilities to rely upon.”

“Understood.”

“But no training now,” Myra interjected. “You’ve been bedridden and unresponsive for a month. I demand that you spend some time relaxing. If I catch you even trying to touch a weapon I’ll punish you.”

“Alright, I’ll relax a little.” 

“Good,” Myra smiled. “I’ll give you a day to get back on your feet, and then we’ll head out.” 

“Head out? Where are we going.” 

“Somewhere to help you relax,” Myra winked. “And no, I’m not telling you where we’re going. Not until we get there.” 

“I have a bad feeling about this.” 

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