A story: Skin Deep: Introduction

Elleisa Nerine was born to a family of the lower class. She was the oldest of three boys and seven girls. Of all her sisters, she was the most beautiful. She was, in fact, the most beautiful girl within 30 miles of her home. It was her beauty that caught the eye of the young merchant, Fodrey Torrez. He was a man who held more wealth than Elleisa's family could ever hope to attain, and this wealth is all that drew her attention to him. They agreed to marry, and the whole village prepared to celebrate.

When it came to weddings, the village had an old custom, where every family in attendance would offer up a gift. It so happened that the village was home to an old herbalist whom Elleisa had scorned once, many years ago, for her aged and weathered face. That day, all those years ago, the herbalist promised to curse Elleisa forever. As the herbalist approached Elleisa and Fodrey to present her gift, Elleisa remembered the promise. Fear filled her eyes and her heart, and the herbalist smiled. This smile, crooked and lacking several teeth, did nothing to calm the fears of Elleisa. She smiled nervously at the old woman hobbling toward her, leaning heavily on her gnarled cane.

"Although I haven't much to offer, I humbly ask that you accept this, my gift, as a blessing for you and your family, that you may be prosperous." the herbalist's voice croaked out as she extended her gift to Fodrey.

He began to unwrap the gift. It was wrapped in some kind of leather, and Fodrey had no problem opening the package. Inside it was a bottle whose exterior seemed to absorb the moon's soft glow and the fire's blazing light and reflect it back out as if it were lit from the inside. Elleisa's gaze lingered on the bottle, and after a moment she looked back at the herbalist and thanked her,

"Your gift is both generous and kind. I thank you for that and for your blessings." With that statement the herbalist nodded her head graciously, smiled her crooked smile and hobbled away.

Elleisa's relief did not show on her face, but in her posture. Fodrey grinned as he handed the bottle to his new wife, but he did not notice her trembling hands' hesitation in taking the bottle. When settled in her new home in a bustling little city named Gavino, she wrapped the bottle in cloth and set it inside a box, then hid the box among many of their belongings in the cellar where she promptly forgot about it.

Three years later Elleisa gave birth to a son, whom she named Forj. He was strong and handsome and even at two seemed amiable. Shortly she had another child, a daughter named Strila. Strila was a lovely baby girl, but tended to be rather fussy and took much pampering to keep her quiet.

One day, while searching for lavender in her cellar to calm Strila, Elleisa came across a box, the contents of which she couldn't recall. When she opened the box, she found a colorful bottle wrapped in cloth. Wondering what was inside the bottle, she pulled off the cork, and then dropped the bottle in shock.

The bottle didn't break when she dropped it, and the swirling orange smokey mist that had shocked her kept pouring out of the uncorked top. She held her breath, fearing that the smoke might choke her, but it didn't spread out as smoke should. Instead it stayed focused directly above the bottle, and the thin line of smoke that spat out of the bottle seemed to connect it. Eventually the smokey apparition ceased to grow, but only when it reached at least ten feet tall. The figure then seemed to solidify into the shape of a muscle bound, male torso. The ghostly being had swirling orange skin and shiny black hair only on the top of his head, and it was pulled into a top knot. His eyes were a swirling and smoky red without iris or pupil, yet Elleisa knew he was looking at her, and the only thing that kept her from screaming was the fear that seemed to have wired her jaw shut.

Without moving his mouth, he spoke in a voice both ethereal and terrifying. "Tell me your wish, woman, and I will grant it. But take care in your wishes, nothing is free, and the proper recompense will be paid at a time of my choosing."

At that, the orange man crossed his heavy arms and waited, staring into nothingness for Elleisa to make her wish. For several moments Elleisa thought. She looked down at the floor and the bottle, and saw her hands. Her knuckles seemed to protrude a little more every day, and the veins stood out against her once ivory skin. And perhaps she was imagining it, but she even thought she saw age spots beginning to appear. Perhaps, she could wish for everlasting beauty. But then, she did have a daughter. Elleisa decided that it was a worthy sacrifice and spoke to the man.

"My wish is that my daughter will be the most beautiful woman every man has ever seen from the age she turns 14 and on."

The man nodded his head, and his eyes swirled like a bloody whirlwind. When his eyes stopped swirling, he looked at Elleisa again and spoke, "Your wish will be granted at the proper time, and you will repay me shortly after then."

"But with what will I pay you?" Elleisa asked, but the man had disappeared along with the bottle before she had finished her sentence. She stared at the spot where the bottle had been, and then warily left the cellar to tend to her children.

Eight months later, Elleisa gave birth to another child, a daughter.