Nekroz
An onyx. An onyx stone, cast and thrown. By the wayside it drifts, glittering and shining in the sea. Deeper it sinks, by the rift grabbed, an onyx stone. An onyx stone now on its way home. Lost and hid, to the abyss it is bid. Sing. Sing, for an onyx stone.
There were very many pces in the world that one might consider quiet. There was a bit less that one would consider peaceful. This forest, which housed the ke our town was named after, was in my opinion one such pce. Truly, it was a gem of nature. Retively undisturbed by both man and beast, which left the wind free to be as loud or as silent as it so pleased, and the birds able to sing their song and be heard by any and all willing to listen.
These very same qualities also made it the perfect pce to practice magic. Or more accurately, the perfect pce for me to try to practice magic. Which, sadly, I was having little success with.
As it turned out, for whatever reason, I cked the gift inherent to every living thing on the face of Me. Magic, or the arcane arts, or whatever you wanted to call it, was simply beyond my reach. My shard, which should have been a conduit for the mystical energy in the air around me, gathering it within itself to be used as a spell, was silent. All but dead, doing nothing no matter how I tried to stir it.
The arcane was, for me, out of reach. Despite that, I tried and tried and tried. Hence my continued presence in the forest and continuous failure to make even the most mediocre amount of progress.
As baron to the daughter, this fault of mine had become a personal shame. One that seemed to grow harder to bear with every day that passed. But bear it I did, carrying it with me all the way over to the aforementioned ke that gave my home it's name.
Freezke. Labeled as such due to the fish that lived within it all having a seeming affinity for ice magic. Which made them both a profitable resource and more magically talented than I. It was also, for me and me alone, a point of envy. But I tried to ignore my one sided grievance with the fish as I leaned down to scoop myself a drink of cold refreshing water. The magic the fish constantly emanated rendering the ke's liquid bounty safe to drink.
It also made it into a near perfect mirror as good as any man made one. Which gave me yet another chance to gaze upon my reflection. To see my own eyes, blue as hard ice, and hair, a softer shade of the color of the sky, and admire my dress, a blue that was close to purple.
It also gave me leave to acknowledge the other oddity about me. Though, this one was far less concerning in nature, albeit almost as unique as my total ck of magical ability.
I had a near barrel sized chest. A true and rather striking pair of breasts so big that many who had seen me were left believing I had the biggest pair in the world. Which might actually be true. As, to this very day, I had never heard nor met a woman even half as endowed as me. Which I wasn't ashamed to say I took a little joy in.
It was nice being big, even with the detriment of all the stares it brought my way. Really that was the only down side that actually bothered me about my size. Well that and finding dresses that fit all nice and proper. In fact, the one I was currently wearing took me ages to find. It was a true rarity, and one of high quality, made almost entirely from dawn sheep fur.
Dawn sheep, like the ones I needed to be helping Ms. Sheryl sheer. A task I volunteered for every time sheering was in season, and one I was currently te for. By at least half an hour based off the sun's position in the sky.
So, with little fre to my gait, I began the trek back to town. Careful not to go too fast as I went, for reasons I'd like to think we're obvious. Whether they were or not, when I arrived I was immediately greeted by a wave of cheerful greetings.
Townsfolk waved from their doors and smiled at me, the most friendly of hellos on their lips. All of it, as far as I knew, genuine. Born from goodwill my father had wracked up during his life, with little bits of it manufactured by my own efforts to set a good example. But all the goodwill in the world couldn't have stopped what came next. In all honesty, it was probably what caused it.
Children, at least twelve of them by my count, bowled into me from the front. The lot of them smiling as they pinned me to the ground with infectious smiles painted across their faces. Giggling all the while as I weakly resisted them.
"Marcy, you were supposed to py with us today." The eldest of them, a boy named Thomas, groaned.
Well, perhaps, whine was the more correct word. But I hardly cared as I ughed at his little outburst, gd to be appreciated. "I will, I will. You just have to wait till I'm done helping miss Sherlyn sheer the sheep."
"Ahh. But Marcy that's gonna take forever." Thomas again groaned. "Besides miss Sherlyn's already got loads of helpers."
"Yes, but I promised I would help her and-"
"Good children always keep their promises." They dutifully, albeit grumpily, finished for me.
After which they reluctantly let me rise to my feet and scampered off. No doubt somewhere they could py without any supervision. But that was, as it currently stood, a problem for whatever adult ran into them first. As for me, I had a promise to uphold, and quickly made my way all the way to the other side of our boisterous town and over to miss Sherlyn's farm.
Where I found not only the sheep I was supposed to be sheering out and about, but the other volunteers the children had mentioned hard at work. Each using a bit of magic to enhance their efforts and the get the job done faster. The way in which they accomplished this varied, with some using simple enhancement spells to the task of sheering itself easier. Some crafted wells of gravity to hold the enchanted fur. While others used magic itself to sheer the fur.
It was both an impressive dispy of the arcane arts, and the community's willingness to work together. A sight that, as the Baron's daughter, should have filled me with mirth and joy. Instead, all I felt was the sting of envy riding just beneath the surface of my own thoughts. It's poison bitter. All the same, I swallowed it down as I made my way over to Sherlyn's home. Where the elderly woman sat on her porch in a rocking chair almost as old as I was, watching all the volunteers hard at work.
Now, when she saw me - not to brag or anything of the sort - her face lit up like a candle tree. The smile she put on dispy was like my own personal gift, another reminder that even without magic, I was appreciated. Appreciation miss Sherlyn further showed with a hug. I had to lean forward - so my chest wouldn't get in the way - for it, but it was worth it.
"There's my favorite girl!" Sherlyn said as she wrapped her arms around me in a vice grip.
"Good to see you too miss Sherlyn, and sorry for being so te. I, uh, lost track of the time."
As if I'd just insulted her family name, Miss Sherlyn's smile turned to a stern frown as she pointed a finger at me. "Now enough of that. No daughter of the Baron ought to apologize to lil' ol me for being te. Especially for work she don't got to do."
I frowned right back at her. "Yes, but what sort of baroness would I be if I didn't live to meet the expectations required of my station?"
Sherlyn scoffed. "Well ya' ain't baroness yet, so ya' oughta' rex some. Besides I think there's something more worth your time going down in the market anyhow. One of them merchants you're always so 'cited bout decided to show up."
"Are they still there? At the market?"
Sherlyn shrugged, a mischievous smile on her lips. "Only one way to find out."
I ran. Something I had not done in at least a month, and not out of ck of physical ability. Rather, it was simply a fact of life that having a big chest made the act of moving at any pace faster than walking 'difficult'. For me, with a chest as big as mine, difficult also meant dangerous.
Even with a bra on - that I could only hoped survived this venture - my chest was both a force to be reckoned with and behold. The amount of jiggling, and more importantly, swinging on dispy was both awe inspiring and terrifying, as it would take only an errant smack from one of my enormous pendulums to knock someone of their feet and probably leave them unconscious. A sight that some of the older townsfolk had seen once or twice. As such, they gave me a wide berth as I passed through.
Which, thankfully, made the trip from Miss Sherlyn's farm to the market a retively short one. Though, that's not to say I wasn't completely out of breath when I arrived, I was, but it was leagues better than the st time I took a run. An event I preferred not to talk about.
So, drenched in sweat as I was with a literal pool of it in my cleavage, I began my search for the merchant. A very short search. As it didn't take long to spot a line, 14 people deep, in the middle of the market. The assembled townsfolk all waiting to get a chance to gander at the exotic wares the merchant was offering.
Wares that were as unique looking as the man proffering them.
He was tall, standing at least a head, possibly two, taller than me, and standing at around 188 cm, I was by no means short. But more curious than the merchants almost giant stature, were the clothes and trinkets he wore.
Gems were embzoned into his purple coat An amulet red as blood hung over a tie. On his head was a purple hat, wide brimmed and tipped with a red feather. Most curious of all was an obviously enchanted mirror hanging from his coat. In its reflection I saw nothing but a world of bck.
All signs that this merchant was anything but ordinary, maybe even rich. Regardless of his fortunes, I was only interested in one thing: books. Specifically those that held knowledge on the art and secrets of magic. Anything that might be able to me from my magicless status. Which was why I was so interested in the occasional merchants that visited our town every now and then. As they always brought books with them, and the best part was that they usually sold them for cheap.
A trend I hoped this merchant would be continuing as I got in the back of the line, my chest only a few inches away from the man in front of me. Which, as always, was awkward. But I dealt with it, enduring the occasional contact whenever the line moved and all the looks close contact brought me, until I was at st at the front.
Where, immediately upon seeing me, the merchant's eyes took a short nosedive before they found their way to my face. Which I honestly didn't bme him for. Even I found my appearance hard to believe at times, and they were my breasts. So, instead pointing out his temporary pse in decorum, I offered a friendly smile and received one in turn.
"What can I get you, young miss? Are looking for treasures from an age long past, promising power? Or are you just here to buy whatever oddity suits your eye?"
I shook my head. "No actually, I was just wondering if you sold any books. Books on magic to be specific."
"Fraid not my dear. But if it's the secrets of the arcane you're looking for I might just have something else that would interest you."
"Oh, um, no thank you. I'm really not-"
The merchant ignored me and pulled out of his pocket a cloth covered amulet, pulsing a faint purple beneath. Jewelry, enchanted or not, I wouldn't normally be interested in. But this was different.
The amulet was calling to me.
"How... How much?" I asked, both unsure if I actually wanted it or what it even did. For all I knew it was just pretty underneath that fabric. Maybe even mundane.
Still, the merchant had me biting at his bait and he knew it. Already, I was counting how many queens I had on me.
"For you, free of charge." He said, and pushed the amulet forward.
Which threw me for a loop.
Merchants were predatory creatures by nature, ready to hike up the price of whatever they thought they could get away with. Never, not ever, had I seen one offer something for free. Naturally that meant there had to be some sort of catch.
But when I asked him about it, he just smiled and assured me that there wasn't. He just thought I needed it. For whatever reason why, he didn't say. But there was something genuine in his eyes - at least, it looked that way to me - and I believed him. Enough to take the amulet from him without another word before doing my best to make myself scarce.
I had a feeling that whatever this amulet was, it could actually help me. A feeling that was of course based on nothing but the slightest inkling of a hunch. But if I was wrong, it would be of no consequence to me but a bit of wasted time. Either way, I took the amulet to the one pce I felt safe enough to test it out.
My quiet pce in the woods.