Changeling's Agony, Chapter III

HIYA!!!! Are you enjoying this series so far? Yes I know it's a bit ambiguous right now as what's going on with Lacy, but I promise that before Changeling's Agony is done, it'll make partial sense.  The next in this series is going to be Changeling's Awakening.  The prologue, after going over my notes for this story I made year's ago, isn't quite right for what this story is going to be telling, so once Agony is done, I will be re-releasing an adjusted version of the prologue so that certain things will become clearer.  For those of you who have been reading my blog regularly, thank you thank you thank you!!!  I do greatly appreciate it and will hopefully soon have something awesome for you. -- Evelyn



This is a work of fiction.  All concepts, characters and events portrayed in this book are used fictitiously and any resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidental. 

Copyright Evelyn Hively, 2014

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without prior written permission of the publisher, nor be circulated in any form of bind or cover other than that in which it is published without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent publisher.

January 19th, 2012

    Somewhere in my subconscious is a repressed memory of such that no person such ever have to deal with.  

- Lacy's Journal 

    Keep going.

    Katana's voice echoed through her ears. It was a strange sensation having an ethereal creature be able to affect things the way this dragon did. At the same time, Lacy was glad for it. All Mace could do was distract her and make her laugh. Kat could actually talk back with full syntax and coax, cajole or scold her into continuing to work.  

    It was four a.m. in the morning.  She hadn't been to sleep yet. Sleep was refusing to come to her. There was a pile of hats next to her. She had found a basic hat pattern in one of her crochet pattern books three days ago. From there she had been combining two different colors of yarn into hats. 

    Make another one Lacy. Keep going.

    Lacy glanced at her rather large serpentine friend. Her eyes were nearing bloodshot and she exhausted, but sleep wasn't happening yet. The only light was from the fire. It was all she needed for this particular crochet pattern as she could do it at this point in her sleep. She grabbed the crochet hook and two new strands of yarn. She chained four and paused, looking at Kat.

    "Does this really help?"

    Don't be silly. You know it does. It releases endorphin's into your system countering the depression and you end up accomplishing something. You know this. Keep going. You must keep going Lacy.

    Lacy felt herself start crying. She had always had trouble getting to sleep, but staying asleep had become a problem in recent months. DAMNIT, she thought. She was more emotional than normal too and it wasn't that time of the month either as she had just finished that. So what was it? The answer to this was eluding her.
    Lacy wiped the few tears from her cheeks and took a deep breath. She started doing double crochets into the fourth stitch from the hook and kept going until there were twelve. She paused again, Kat watching her from underneath a much bigger carport on spirit side than in reality. Katana kept her agitation under control. There were wounds deeper than she had been led to believe about her little human charge. She wasn't pleased, as those wounds would seriously hinder things in the future if they weren't dealt with.  

   Kat nudged the young woman with her nose.  

   Come on.  Keep going. Just one more hat, then I'll sing you to sleep.  
    Lacy nodded, smiling slightly. Dragon songs she had found were very soothing when done right. She almost always slept when they were singing. They being Kat and two smaller dragons that were practically babies that had shown in the past week. One told her it's name was Gnobin. He looked like a baby Draco. The other was called Snarp. She enjoyed being on top of the fridge for whatever reason. When all three of them sang, there was no staying awake.

    Kat watched the young woman work, keeping her pace steady. The more work she did, the farther she pulled herself out of the blackness that was afflicting her. The closer she get could herself to being in a grey state of being, the easier it would be to pull the memories up that she needed to deal with. They had to be dealt with.

    Lacy found herself on the third row of the hat. She kept going as these hats only took her around an hour to make. For whatever reason, she was sleeping best between five a.m. and ten a.m.. It was only five hours of sleep, but it was deeper sleep than normal and more restful. 

    Mace stuck her head around the chimney and watched her human in it's rocking chair. She looked at the dragon and trilled at it. Kat chuckled.

    You know the answer to that as well as I do.

    "You guys creep me out when you do that."

    Kat laughed. Lacy wasn't able to speak Cat, but dragons could.

    She's being impatient for you to get to bed. Apparently it's cold and she wants snuggles. Snuggles are worth putting down your yarn.

    Lacy stood up, joints protesting the change of position. She put another two pieces of wood plus two pieces of hard wood she knew would burn slow into the fire stove for a total four new pieces and trilled back at Mace. Mace charged up the stairs to their bedroom and waited for her to crawl into bed, before snuggling tight into her back. Lacy fell asleep with a smile on her face to the very loud purrs of an adoring cat.

    Katana watched from her vantage point.  She had her work cut out for her. She slipped back away from the growing quiet cabin and took to the air. The Appalachian mountains, while older than the Rockies, had more hiding places despite their erosion rates. Her mate was waiting for her in one of the hollows. Uchi, looked at her adoringly as she landed. They touched foreheads for a moment before curling around each other.

    How is she, he asked.

    I'm not sure. I'm worried we didn't find her in time to alleviate the damage done.

    Uchi gently nuzzled his mate. They had been asked to find this girl human for reasons he didn't understand yet.

    Think she'll dream tonight?

    No. I've been asked to not let her until she reaches a point of being able to handle the night terrors one at a time, Kat told him.

    He frowned, which was a abnormal thing for a dragon of his type.

    One at a time?

    Oh yes...it's worse than what we were told.  This assignment is going to hell for me. I can see my old friend in her, but I know she's not actually her. I know she's Lacy.

    Uchi covered his wife with a wing.

    The Supreme would not have asked us to do this if it wasn't her. She'll be fine. We must have faith in her.

    Katana snuggled against him.

    I hope you're right.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

    Gnobin curled up beside the bed of his foster mom. Mace looked over the side at him.

    Yeah, I know you're not happy sharing her buuuuuutttttt......

    The cat just huffed at him. He snorted softly and checked on Lacy. She was the human that was to be his constant foster mother while he grew until she passed on or until he hit a hundred. Spirit side time moved differently than normal human time, so he wasn't sure which would happen first. Lacy was the first human he had ever interacted with. She doted on him like a normal mother, but still let him look around. With conditions of course.

    Mace jumped down and curled around him leaving him with a smile. That meant they were going into the dream worlds. Lacy had repressed her memories of being able to do that so it meant they were her backup. He liked it when he got to run with Mace. Mace, on the Dream plains, was actually a very large Jaguar. A very very large Jaguar. While Lacy never remembered while waking, she rode Mace and it was like watching a four year ride a draft horse that was a Percheron or Clydesdale. The cat was massive.

    He closed his eyes and was looking up at his feline friend in seconds. Mace looked down at him chuckling.

    At your size, I'm not sure why you don't just appear on my back.

    I prefer to do such things with permission if you don't mind, he responded back to the massive dire sized jungle cat. She gently head-butted him.

   Come on. We've a Lacy to find.

   He glanced around as he leaped up and flutter down to between her shoulder blades.  

    Shit... where is she?! We usually jump into the Dream Plains right next to her. 

    Mace looked around and sighed.

    It means she's reliving tonight.  

    Damnit...and she's still repressing. It'll be another month before she's ready to deal with it... Gnobin sighed heavily. His foster mother had so many problems that he in his forty-years of existence could not solve. Then he remember he was only a baby in dragon years. He wasn't going to be a teenager so to speak until he was a hundred and sixty. Mace glanced over her shoulder at him.

    Focus.

    Right, sorry.

    S'all good hun.

Changeling's Agony, Chapter II

This is a work of fiction.  All concepts, characters and events portrayed in this book are used fictitiously and any resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidental. 

Copyright Evelyn Hively, 2014

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without prior written permission of the publisher, nor be circulated in any form of bind or cover other than that in which it is published without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent publisher.

January 10th, 2012

I think I've gone through a full bottle of Tylenol in three weeks.  Between my hip reacting to the sudden drop in the weather and massive headaches at least once a week, I'm shocked I don't have a toxic amount built up into my system yet let alone that the stuff still works for me. Spirit World wise even the dragon that's been hanging out seems agitated.  Yes dear poor sap who got stuck reading my journal, I said a dragon.  Her name translates to Katana from what she tells me.  She's okay with just Kat.

Mace has stopped turning into a giant ball of anger fluff finally whenever I am crocheting and the yarn makes a weird sound as it slides across the edge of the plastic tubs I keep it in.  Which is a good thing as she still has her claws and I'm tired of putting band aids on my thighs. 

- Entry from Lacy's Journal

    Lacy wiped the tears from her face. Another pounding headache had woken her early that day after she had a particularly bad night and wasn't able to get to sleep until around four a.m.. The headache had come knocking at five a.m.. She managed to get down the stairs without killing herself, and get something taken but getting back up to her bedroom was out of the question.  She had curled up onto the futon that doubled as her couch, and kept herself close to the end near the fire.  Headaches, she was certain were one of the few that would bring any adult to their knees if intense enough.  

    Her crying intensified as the pain began swelling again.  She reached for the roll of toilet paper that she had brought out with her to futon and tore off several pieces.  She started stuffing them up her nose and not a moment too soon as a familiar stabbing sensation occurred.  Lacy sank back into the futon. She didn't understand it.  Sometimes the headaches went away on their own, other times her nose decided it wanted to just explode. Either way, the pain was gone finally. Mace stuck her head back around the corner and glared at Lacy.

    Lacy just shook her head. There were some things that a cat was just not going to understand. The nose bleed lasted several seconds longer than normal. She waited until it had stopped fully before carefully standing up and heading into the kitchen. She glanced up to find Kat peering in the window at her.  Lacy just about jumped back over the counter to the futon. 

     "Damnit Kat," Lacy managed around the wad of paper product in her nose.

    I thought you were used to be able to see me by now, Kat's voice lilted through her head.  Lacy shook her head slowly, careful not to knock anything loose from her nose. 

    "I'm still not certain you're real and not just a hallucination from my very fucked up subconscious," Lacy told the moss green creature.  Kat gave the woman a head bob, which Lacy took to mean 'point taken.'

    What is it that you're doing now? Should you even be moving around?

    Lacy smiled faintly.

    "Well oh creature of indeterminate origin, I'm actually going to be making a small meal focusing mainly on proteins and irons.  It'll help mitigate the effects of the blood loss."

    Ah, I see.  Smart.  

    "So I'm told."

    Lacy pulled out a couple pieces of fish, fresh spinach and started eating some raisins. Kat settled down into a comfortable perch and watched her. She winced in sympathy when the girl slowly pulled the bloody paper from her nose and went a few shades paler. Lacy frowned at her frying fish and decided to just eat it plain. Anything spice wise stood a strong chance of aggravating her incredibly sensitive nose cavity. It was always best to do without on days like this one. Even if she messed up the fish, she would still have to be the one to eat it.  Mace being the strange little cat that she was, disdained fish. She didn't even like tuna. Lacy had been glad that she had only bought the one can of the stuff. Mace trilled at her human as she sat down to eat.

    "Yes mom, I will eat all of it even if it takes me an hour," Lacy teased her cat. Mace gave an approving meow back to her. Lacy shook her head. 

    "There are days I wonder if I'm imagining her interactions with me."

    I would think that that is the least of your worries my dear.

    Lacy glanced back up at the dragon as she started eating. Kat smiled.  For the first time that day the glint was back in Lacy's eyes. Lacy started to work on her meal slowly as Kat nodded in satisfaction.  Her skin tone was starting to return to normal again and the sick looking pallor that had been her appearance started to fade.

    I'll be back later child.  I have some work to do.

    "Dragon's have jobs?"

    Oh yes indeed dear.  Spirit Side is the same as your side.  We all have jobs and duties we've taken on. It'd be horribly boring otherwise, what with the only entertainment being silly humans.

    With that the dragon took and flew out of sight over the trees that surrounded the cabin. Lacy looked around and sighed.  Despite the fact Kat never came inside, it always felt emptier when she left.  Lacy wasn't sure as to why. 

    "Maybe she's really not a figment of my imagination," she said to Mace.  Mace just tilted her head to one side and started purring very loudly.

Changeling's Agony, Chapter 1

This is a work of fiction.  All concepts, characters and events portrayed in this book are used fictitiously and any resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidental. 

Copyright Evelyn Hively, 2014

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without prior written permission of the publisher, nor be circulated in any form of bind or cover other than that in which it is published without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent publisher.

January 3rd, 2012

What insane chaos do I have to deal with now?  Couldn't the universe just for a few moments just let me have been killed in the wreck? I don't want to be here anymore.  I find myself saying this, screaming this at the top of my lungs at a mirror that can't do anything. Then my cat trills at me, and the laughter ensues.
Gods help me, I would be worse off if it wasn't for that cat.  There's only so much that she can do though. She can't have the dreams and nightmares for me.  How the hell do you deal with something that you wake up from screaming in terror but can't remember what it was you were dreaming?
- Lacy's journal

  Winter in the Appalachian foothills varies depending on where you are along the chain. Farther south down into Georgia, it's not uncommon for it to be chilly with snow sometimes at the tops but farther north into Maine and West Virginia, it's uncommon for roads to not close down from winter snowfall several times each winter season.  Eastern Tennessee Appalachians were a mixed bag.  Down closer to Chattanooga, it almost never snowed.  Near Bristol though, snow was normal.
  Lacy had found herself with the fortune of a friend needing a cabin babysat for a few months.  It couldn't have come at a better time.  Then Mace, her cat had been gifted to her.  The cabin and the cat, had been a turning point in Lacy's life that she hadn't expected nor realized she needed.
  This particular morning was no different.  Lacy leaned backwards to look at Mace.
  "I take it you want your piece a bit more crispy today since you didn't eviscerate the mouse this time?"
  Mace tilted her head to the side and meowed at her, her eyes twinkling.  Lacy snorted.  If folks could see how expressive and communicative Mace was with meows, eyes and facial expression they'd have no problem with understanding why she dearly adored that cat. Mace was still getting used to being an indoor kitty though when the fire place was going Lacy was certain that that cat would crawl into the fire if she knew she wouldn't get hurt. 
  Lacy pulled out and cut up a piece of the bacon. Putting it on a small plate, she set it down it on the steps between the dining room and kitchen for Mace.  Mace mewed her thanks and munched down slowly on her morning treat.
  "Now if I could get you trained to kill them outside, we'd be golden," Lacy sighed. "At least you aren't dropping them at my feet half-dead anymore."  
  Mace ignored her rather pointedly.  Lacy laughed and sat down for her own breakfast.  Sunrise was always her favorite time there at the cabin because she never knew what kind of animals she'd find curled up on the porch or coming down to the creek to drink.  There were deer, raccoon's, coyotes and she was positive she had seen a couple of Appalachian wolves.  Small shy little creatures that they are, she still counted herself lucky to have seen them.
  Mace mewed again appreciatively and retired herself to her favorite spot next to the chimney.  The oak that had been the fire's food last night was still a decent bed of coals that morning.  Lacy breathed a word of thanks.  It would mean setting the fire back up to a slow burn for the day would be less work than normal.  She finished up her breakfast and scrubbed down the dishes. Her normal day were always like this.
  Fill the wood box back up.  Set some of the slower burning woods into the stove for the day, finish cleaning things up, flop onto the futon and crochet or knit.  Mace would curl up nearby but never to close to the yarn.  She didn't like the sound of the yarn coming out of its holder.
  Lacy had already gone through two journals since arriving in October of last year, and the new one was already several pages into it's use.  She doodled until thoughts came to her or until fragments of dreams arrived. After last night's dream though, she found herself having written dozens of times over after mapping out the dream for the several hundredth time, What does it mean?  
  It was important. It was relevant to herself, her past and her future. But how? How did a meeting of Gods, Goddesses, mythic races and the Supreme Creator have any kind of bearing on her?  Why her?  Lacy shut her journal with an irritated sigh.  The same questions all over again with the same resulting answer: not enough information to even allow for speculation. It wasn't just those dreams. It was other dreams as well, night terrors re-living prior events that left Lacy shaking.  
  Mace trilled loudly at Lacy causing her to chuckle.  Trills were what a mother cat would give her kittens and Mace used trills to talk back to Lacy frequently.  Mace always used a certain pitch to pull Lacy's attention away from what was irritating her.
  Lacy scratched her feline friend's chin.  There was still several hours to the day left and plenty of coffee left.  There would be time for more rumination. Right now, there was a Mace deciding she wanted to be the certain of her human's attention.  Lacy, gladly obliged.