Chương 3: Eoin

In the basement of Solas's cabin, Miriam felt the weight of the world crash down on her, the bracelet's grasp finally released from her mind. She tried to wrench it off, but it would not budge from her wrist, no matter how her new muscles strained. She tried not to notice that where the bracelet scraped her in her attempt, she seemed to be bleeding an amber liquid instead of blood. Her mind raced. She was in one of the hells, no matter what Solas said. Or, she was hallucinating. Or…

she had no idea where she was or what was going on. That one was the truth. In spite of the readily available bed, Miriam didn't feel tired - at all. Solas had been completely worn out from their journey, but she felt like she'd just woken up, her entire body fresh and ready.

"Perhaps this body doesn't need to sleep," she said, laughing with the absurdity of it.

"Oh, what I could have gotten done with all that extra time!" Or just spent longer lonely nights, she thought to herself. She had felt moments before that she was on the verge of cracking. The human brain could only take so much before its grip on reality just fell apart like wet paper. But as she breathed and started to look around, she found herself returning to a state of calm much more quickly than seemed rational. Well, maybe… it's because I'm not human anymore?

That was almost the most terrifying thought of all. In the eighty years before her transformation Miriam had prided herself on being well-reasoned, methodical and unshakable. There was no reason to stray from those core principles now. First priority - escape. Then she looked down at herself. Hmm. Perhaps the first priority should be clothes. She ransacked the whole basement looking for anything she could fashion into something that would at least cover her private bits.

Solas had clearly seen everything she had to offer already - and thankfully seemed utterly uninterested in anything she had except this fórsa - but it would help her feel a bit more in control. At least her new body also didn't seem to get cold. The best she found was a small, yellow pair of overalls. For Solas it was probably well-fitted, but for her it looked like she was wearing a swimming suit. The legs were so short that they stopped well above her knees and the straps over her shoulders barely covered her.

She very deliberately tried to ignore the smell of sweat and oil that came from them. Regardless, she was at least no longer naked. Ok, now it was time to try to escape. An effort that ended very quickly in failure. She couldn't even touch the little window. She could draw back the curtain, but if she tried touching the glass her hand seemed to press against an invisible wall, and those glowing sigils appeared again. This was true along every wall, the ceiling, and the door to the staircase.

The floor seemed unaffected, but digging out seemed unlikely, as it was smooth stone beneath her feet. That was when she noticed the fish outside the window. Three or four brightly colored fish with long, ribbon-like fins floated past the glass, peering in. Perhaps drawn to the light from the orbs Solas had lit along the walls? Miriam rushed to the window. She was just tall enough when standing on the cot to see out. The ocean had come to the lighthouse.

It was too dark to make out much, but she could still see trees. Now they swayed to ocean currents instead of the wind. Glaring up, she could see light scattering over the surface of the water - from the moon most likely. But, no… for the light to be the way it was there would have to be two light sources touching the surface.

It wasn't high above her - she estimated the surface of the water probably touched the bottom of the little lighthouse tower on top of the cabin - but it was enough that every part of the cabin she had seen was likely submerged. She frantically checked the window for leaks, but it remained unbroken and water-free. How had the tides risen so fast and so silently? Surely she should have heard the waves crash as the water approached!

She couldn't hear anything from upstairs, so either this was not an unusual event, or Solas had already abandoned her to the water.

"Those are Alikian Ribbon Fish," a voice said behind her.

"Very pretty, but they taste damn awful." Miriam spun. There was a man with her in the basement. Well, a light in the shape of a man. As she watched, the silhouette darkened from a strong dark green to something more solid and she began to make out features. He was tall, taller by a few inches than her new body, but looked even taller because of a wide-brimmed hat he wore.

Like the hat, nearly everything he wore was all white - white pants, with a white vest over the only other color on him, a dark blue shirt underneath. His face was angular and thin, with eyes that seemed far older than his youthful face would suggest, though the edges crinkled with laugh lines. He wore a blonde beard over thin lips which regarded her with a friendly smile. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

"Sorry," he said.

"Didn't mean to startle you." Miriam looked around her for a weapon. The basement had gadgets and gears aplenty, but very little that would make for a good bludgeon or spear. Then she regarded her tightly clenched fist, feeling the muscle in her arm ripple. Maybe she didn't need one. His frame was like that of someone who swam for their exercise - broad shoulders, thin waist - but his sleeves weren't bursting at the seams. Perhaps she could overpower him.

"Seriously," he said, raising his hands. The green glow faded to a briefly violent hum before disappearing, leaving him standing there like anyone else.

"I'm not here to hurt you. Well, technically speaking, I'm not here at all. This is a fórsa projection. So… nothing you do would really hurt me anyway. Neat, isn't it?"

"Who are you?" Miriam stepped down from the cot, keeping her fists clenched.

"I am Eoin Daithi. Humble researcher, cad, ne'er-do-well and raconteur." He bowed deeply.

"But I'm much more interested in who you are. You're not the normal prey Solas drags in, but you're lucky that you're the first in a long while that I've been near enough for this sort of projection to work." Miriam's first instinct was that she could trust this man. His face was charming, his affect disarming. Still, in her long life she had met many a charming man who would just as quickly smile while stabbing you in the back as lend you aid. Eoin seemed a little too polished, too glib.

She had the sense that he was performing. She wouldn't be able to take anything he said at face value. If he admitted to being a "ne'er-do-well" and "raconteur" it was likely because he wanted her to believe that, by being honest about his flaws, she would believe he wasn't what he claimed to be - a liar and a scoundrel. Miriam tended to be of the mind that when a person told you things about themselves - particularly things that paint them in a negative light - you should believe them.

"Eoin… I have to admit that I am out of my depth." Miriam sank down onto the cot, finally unclenching her fists. Whoever this man was, so far he didn't seem threatening. Far better to have a conversation than to antagonize him, especially if he could help her get free.

"This morning I was Miriam Callihan, an eighty year old woman just counting down her days in her back garden. Now I'm… here, and now I'm… this." She gestured down at herself." Fascinating!" He knelt down next to her.

"So you were not born this way? That would explain a great many odd things about this situation."

"Would it, now?"

"Indeed. First, there is no way Solas could capture a dryad with the full mastery of her powers. Second, it's very unlikely to even find dryads here in this ring - especially not ones as healthy as you seem to be." Eoin managed to say this without a single leer in his voice, and she noticed he was very careful not to let his eyes linger too long in… exposed places.

"What's a dryad?" Eoin bounced down to a cross-legged position on the floor, his movements both playful and unbelievably graceful." Fascinating! You don't even know what you are. A dryad is a tree spirit. A High Sidhe of Nature."

"Am I still… human?" Eoin stroked his beard.

"Let's break that question down.

'Am I'? You still are, which is always good news.

'Still', meaning you were human before, which is fascinating. And 'human', which I have to say… no. Not remotely human anymore." Miriam had a thousand thoughts buzzing in her head. Revulsion at herself, panic at the thought of other people finding out about her new state, worry that she would never be able to get back home, and if she did, whether she would even be welcomed. No, she decided. Forget all that. I am where I am.

You didn't live eighty years, raise four children and ten grandchildren and not be able to accept when a situation has changed. You are a dryad now. Accept it and find a way to get out.

"Can you help me get out of here?" Miriam asked. Eoin grinned.

"Of course!" Miriam could not help but smile. Eoin was flamboyant and tended to prattle on a bit, but his constant enthusiasm was infectious. Just so long as she watched the content of his words and not only the enthusiasm.

"Can you break down this barrier keeping me here?"

"Unfortunately, no. Though I seem very real to you - look, you can touch me and everything! Isn't that neat? I'm actually many miles away right now. I can't manipulate fórsa at such a distance beyond what you're seeing me do now. But," he said, leaning in.

"I can show you how to do it!"

"Then show me!" Miriam stood, her hands re-clenching.

"I need to get out of here!" Eoin smiled, shaking his head.

"You are marvelous! In ten seconds you've gone from an existential crisis to ready for your first lesson in fórsa! And only eighty years old! That's an admirable spirit for one so young." Miriam laughed.

"Eighty is young?" Eoin nodded.

"What is eighty years to a spirit, my darling? I was actually here, where you're standing, myself almost a hundred years ago. Basically, by the way the Sidhe count time, you're just now an adult! Congratulations! You've got your whole life ahead of you and magic to learn!" Miriam let that idea wash over her. She was young. She had been looking at the end of her life - for this man to tell her it was just beginning?

It did something to her soul - reignited something that she had reconciled to herself was dead forever. She had time, and a whole world to explore! She was smiling so broadly that Eoin laughed. She let herself stretch, to feel this body and all it was capable of, to realize that she had time and life to go! Miriam was twenty again, ready to see the world and bring it to heel. And she could do it differently this time. Following a strange compulsion, she rushed close to Eoin, staring deeply into his eyes.

They were a beautiful blue - were they that color in real life? It felt amazing, to move this easily, to feel the passion stirring inside, to act so boldly. She felt an urge to kiss his lips. He tensed, perhaps as surprised as she was by her speed. She danced back from him, laughing loudly. Eoin looked even more amazed than before.

"My word, girl! You really do adjust to things fast, don't you?" She breathed deeply.

"When I was in my twenties, caged by my father's expectations and bottled up by my late mother's responsibilities, I decided I would break free and see the world. For the next five years that's what I did. I sailed on ships in the Andol Sea, working as a deckhand, disguising myself as a boy. I climbed a mountain. I was arrested in Jurapal for stealing an apple and escaped jail by kissing a guard. I dallied with a half dozen men, all of whom could show me more of the world.

My fondest memory is riding with one of them in the Harada desert under the moonlight. I was a bit drunk, with both wine and love, and I galloped as fast as I could, completely bare-breasted in the chill desert night, howling at the top of my lungs with the joy of being alive.

"Homesickness and a letter from my father brought me home, and I never left again. But the person I was in those five years? That's who I always wanted to be. And now I have no reason to be anything else. So now? If I want to do something, I'm going to do it. Including admiring some very pretty eyes." Her eyes twinkled.

"Don't read too much into it. Won't happen again." Eoin grinned wider than had seemed possible.

"Oh, I am going to like you," he said.

"So," Miriam said.

"Tell me how to get out of here."