Alicia awakes and slowly regains her memories. Embarrassment at how weak she is, she realizes just how much she needs Daren, in the most humiliating circumstances.
While discussing life, Daren awakens something buried deep inside, a revelation of profound importance.
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This is NOT professionally recorded and is not intended to act like it is. This is a free audio recording of “The Ansville Gatehouse” short story. If you want to help support my projects and perhaps one day be able to make this professional, you can help by going to https://andrewnusz.com and clicking on the “Support Me” button. My hope is that you will enjoy this enough to encourage the writing and future publication of my writings.
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The utter darkness gave way to a dim red hue of color and, in turn, consciousness returned.
She tried opening her eyes, but something matted the eyelashes with a thick, sticky substance. Forcing her lids to part little by little, they slowly peeled away from her caked skin, sore and bruised. Opening them, white light burned into her sockets, and she immediately closed them again.
Squinting a little, she barely lifted her eyelids, peering out. She wasn't ready to reveal to anyone looking on that she was awake.
At first, the room looked dim and colorless. She thought immediately of a prison cell. But they didn't usually offer the luxury of a bed and pillows and a window just to the left of her with no bars. The fresh air from the open window and the closeness of the puffy clouds indicated she was high above.
Looking about her, careful not to move her head, the room slowly colored in. Spaciously, an ornate couch underneath a circular window held a disheveled blanket and pillow where someone had obviously been sleeping. A long dresser and a tall wardrobe made up the rest of the room. Directly in front of her, on top of the dresser, another fancifully decorated thing, a large oval mirror stood staring at her.
She blinked in sudden shock.
She was wrapped from her neck down in white bandages. Not only that but she was absolutely certain, a raunchy stench of death came from her own body.
But...who's body?
Her mind whirled about, desperately trying to piece things together but it was slow going. It was as if she were waking up brand new without any source or bearings.
Panic slowly crept in and she fought down the urge to scream.
Seeing nobody was in the room with her, she decided to see what damage was done.
...and that's when panic set in hard.
She couldn't move! Not a single muscle in her body responded.
Tears welled up as nothing made sense.
Slowly over time, images and echos of her life returned.
She willed her memories on, letting it flood her till everything seemed to be in place, everything that is except how she wound up here.
She should be dead.
Her last memories were etched in fire and unyielding screams. She had seen through blurry tears of pain, horror and absolute helplessness in Daren's face.
Daren!
The thought of him sent shivers up and down her spine with a wide range of emotions. The biggest of them all though was sorrow. He had seen her. He had to have seen her deep ugly scars. She had no doubt she'd have double the amount now. How could she even bare to let him see her now? She had been completely naked before him. The thought sent waves of gut wrenching revulsion at her disgusting image.
Foot steps were heard and she yearned it to be Daren at the same time dreading it.
The door opened and her entire being cried. The emotional unbalance she was facing threatened to sweep her under with its force.
Daren paused in the doorway, uncertainty etched in his expression. Hesitant, he slowly made his way to her bed where he gave a gentle smile. "You're awake." His puffy and hollowed set eyes told her he hadn't slept much.
She eyed the couch and put two and two together. Had he stayed beside her the whole time she was out? "How long was I asleep?" The words came out coarse, burning something fierce in her throat. She winced at the pain.
"Don't talk," Daren brushed a hand over her forehead and felt for a while. He smiled, withdrawing his hand. "I was afraid your fever would last a whole week but I think it's gone now."
"A fever?" she blinked back dumbly. "How long have I been out?"
"Four days," he replied matter of fact.
They both turned as her stomach rumbled fiercely.
Daren grinned and with a finger in the air, said, "I have just what you need! It's even freshly made!" He left the room hurriedly and she puzzled over this strangely different person he had become. She looked over at the couch again and a lump built in her throat. He had stayed by her side this whole time. Ice walls she had raised her entire life was melting again and again when he came near her.
Returning, Daren carried a tray with him. A steaming bowl of soup, a rather hefty piece of bread with butter and an apple was laid before her.
When she didn't readily get into a sitting position, he said, "Aren't you hungry? I'd be starving right now!"
This couldn't be happening to her! She closed her eyes, not wanting him to see how weak she was. In a whisper, she said, "I can't move."
"Oh!" Daren almost laughed. "I forgot, you're bandaged so much that I kind of made you into a mummy!" He lowered the tray to a nearby table and gently supported her back, lifting her into a sitting position. Fluffing several pillows behind her, he said, "How's that?"
Shame flooded into her at having to need his help. With eyes still closed, she whispered through clenched teeth, "Daren, I...can't feel anything!"
Daren slowly stood straighter, a look of worry filling his face.
Yeah...see me now? she thought bitterly.
A second later, he was pulling up a chair and taking the bowl from the nearby tray, scooted in closer and said, "Open."
She looked at him aghast for a moment but her stomach grumbled loud with painful stabs, betraying her. Well, she felt that at least!
Opening her mouth slowly, she felt the spoon enter and she immediately watered with the taste and smells. She didn't wait to savor the flavor but devoured the spoon. She was suddenly not caring about looks. She let Daren spoon feed her the soup like a starved dog.
When everything on the tray had disappeared, she sighed, feeling a little less stressed out.
And that's when intrusive thoughts whirled around her head like they always did. Questions arose, very awkward ones and she flushed at them. How exactly was she suppose to relieve herself? How was she suppose to bath and do all the essentials? The thought sent her spiraling again and she blinked back tears threatening to work their way out.
Daren was looking out the window so didn't notice her rising discomfort. She tried to think of other things.
"I didn't think you were..." Daren began than paused, unsure of himself. There was nervousness in his voice. "I thought...when you were dying and did your little...whatever it was that took from me, I thought you would slowly heal. And you did!" He glanced back at her briefly. "But...I know how you love your independence."
"I'll get it back," she said hurriedly. She wanted to sound confident but failed miserably. "We all heal remarkably fast. If you haven't noticed."
"I noticed," he said softly. "But how long is the question."
She tried to shrug and glared at the uselessness of her body. "I don't...I have no real answer. Days, weeks."
He gave a deep sigh, eyes fixed on the clouds outside the window. "It's been four days."
"And?" she frowned at the increased hesitancy in his words.
"You..." He rubbed a hand over his face with another sigh. "Dang it!" He glared and seemed to be fighting something internally. "If you can't move, I...need to change your bandages."
Slowly, everything dawned on her and realization swept through her like molten lava fire. Daren had put the bandages on her! Images of her swinging naked by the ropes, blood pouring out of her...
Tears dribbled down her face. She couldn't help it now. She had never allowed a man to be so close to her since... She squeezed her eyes tight and trembled as images of herself as a child lit up in screams of pain. She shook gently, desperately willing away what was suppose to be locked memories.
"Alicia..." the pained voice Daren spoke with drew her to the present. She watched his expression play out. "I don't want to hurt you, I really don't!"
She closed her eyes slowly, tears still coming. "Get it over with."
Nodding, he walked to the couch and lifted a traveling case she hadn't seen on the other side. Digging into the case, he filled the tray that had had the bowl with scissors, bandages, oils, things needed when dealing with wounds.
Carrying the tray, he let it down on the chair and with slow, gentle movements with scissors, cut away the bandages from her skin.
The bandages came away filled with old crusted blood and a heavy stench. But at least they peeled off without ripping new scabs. In fact, the skin was healing rather quickly now. Pink lines filled her upper torso. She knew Daren was extremely uncomfortable. He had removed the bandages from around her breasts and she watched half out of desperation, half curious. Her mind was messed up so bad.
True to his ever honest nature, he showed himself to be a gentleman.
When the last bandages were off, he paused with a deep frown.
She grimaced and clenched her teeth hard. She fought back the waves of emotions, screaming images and thoughts of wanting to rip into him for looking at her naked. She desperately wanted to flee, to never look back. But she was a prisoner of her own body covered in a crust of red clotted blood.
Shaking his head, he whispered, "I need to bathe you. "
She glared, her face turning even more red if that was possible. She wanted to hit him so hard right now, to cover up. She had to continually tell herself he wasn't harming her, wouldn't do anything to hurt her. But he was a man and men...well, that was, from all her experiences, their nature.
He covered her with the bed sheets before saying in a gentle voice, "I'll be back," and made his way out of the bedroom.
She sat there, shaking like a leaf. Images of men all around her filled her mind. Their haunting eyes were what stood out all the time. Lust filled them as though this was their main focus. She had been given training in all the major studies and then some. But her title, that which was given to her... That was where the nightmares stemmed from. Him, the dark source of her family's power. Humiliation of the deepest, darkest nature wanted her to commit suicide so often. The shame of walking in front of her family, knowing there was no place that was safe. He owned her body even from a young age. She couldn't escape him or the pain, torture. And then from family, a word that was more a curse than blessing. Tears spilled as images resurfaced afresh and she relived the abuse.
A half hour later, Daren returned, coming to stand next to her bed. In a gentle voice, he said, "I won't hurt you, Alicia."
Her eyes hardened. Men always hurt her. Always!
Gently, he lifted her, sheets and all, into his arms. The stench of the old blood filled her nostrils and she cringed. He carried her through the door and up a flight of stairs, opening onto a deck with an endless spanse of clouds and sunlight. In the middle of the deck sat two large barrels of water with a pitcher and towels nearby.
"The sun's been heating the water all morning," Daren said, coming to stop at the barrel's edge. Pursing his lips slightly, he added, "The water pipes on the ship kinda accidentally broke when I was blasting a hole in the chains holding the ship when escaping. Shrapnel shredding a main pipe so....no water. We'll have to find a lake soon and replenish." He slowly lowered her into the water and pulled the bloody sheets from her.
She stiffened and gave an angered grunt when she realized just how weak her limbs were. She sunk into the watery depths, thankful it covered her shame neck deep.
He grabbed the nearby bucket and dipping it into the water, slowly poured it over her matted hair.
A bar of soap appeared in his hands and he massaged her head, dark red clumps falling into the water. He soaped her up good and bucket after bucket of water slowly cleaned her hair out.
Finished with the hair, he proceeded to scrub away everywhere else. It was the first time she was thankful she couldn't feel anything. She didn't want to feel where his hands were on her. She closed her eyes tight and tried to picture anything else. When he lifted her up to sit on the barrel's edge, she dripped tears again, shaking as he scrubbed methodically and thoroughly. His eyes never wandered more than where he was scrubbing which didn't really comfort her. She wanted to scream, to die. The awful, ugly truth of herself screamed in her face and heightened at the knowing Daren saw her. She sobbed deep gasping cries of a life she never had.
And then taking her gently in his arms, he lifted her up and over into the barrel of clean water where he rinsed her of the last remnants of blood.
He lifted her ever so gently out of the barrel and laid her onto an awaiting large towel where he wrapped her up and patted her down. Nearby, clothing was laid out.
She flinched and tightened her stomach when he stood in front of her again. She was completely helpless as he dressed her. He couldn't help noticing the deep scars forming over top older ones.
She watched him with dagger-like eyes and when she caught him staring at her a little too long, she sneered in rage, "You're repulsed by me now?" She laughed bitterly, emotions welling up like waves of the ocean drowning her. "I'm the ugliest thing you've gazed at, you can't even stare at me naked!"
"I was trying to," Daren stumbled over his words, unsure how to respond to her outbursts. His eyes were drawn to her abdomen close to her pelvis. Images ripped through her like fire of fists pounding into her, hateful screaming as a knife plunged into her from yellow, mad eyes.
In a whisper, Daren said, "You are not ugly, Alicia." A hand touched her stomach where the deep scar stretched. He looked into her eyes of streaming tears.
In hate, more for herself than anything else, Alicia let out the venom of her heart, "I'm a damn whore! That's what I am! Admit it! I see your lingering stares! You're just like everyone else! We're all alone, you and me. I owe you for keeping me alive. So here I am!" Her eyes burned hate. Use me! Pleasure your damn self!" She shook with deep racking sobs that just wouldn't end. She wanted to prove herself right in her dark misery. Men were pigs! Men made her this way! Men...were savage and brutal and took what they wanted.
Somewhere in her wallowing dark abyss, a tiny part of her registered tears in Daren's eyes as he dressed her in some of the same style clothing she had worn before. He didn't speak, just clothed her before picking her up, carrying her to an awaiting reclining chair. Once he knew she was settled in, he turned and began cleaning the deck. His whole demeanor was rigid, refusing to look in her direction. In short order, everything cleaned, he left the deck, leaving her alone.
Guilt swept through her like ocean waves. A tear trickled down her face and in that instant, wished she could take back her words. How did Daren see her except a vengeful, hateful woman? She screamed internally. Her whole life was a giant mess of emotions she didn't know how to control. Men were...
Closing her eyes tightly, Alicia whispered softly, "Elyon...help me." She swallowed a lump in her throat. "I have no idea how to be human." She focused on listening to her heart, knowing deep down the scream it uttered and she cried what the child inside never had.
***
He stared out one of the circular windows watching the small trees below pass by. He had the airship wandering the clouds aimlessly, not sure where to go. Inside, his heart was confused. Perhaps it was the fact he had never had been in any type of relationship before. Living on the streets tended to strip that idea away.
Alicia, a mystery, stubborn, angry...and scarred beyond what he could fathom. The little he had pieced together from the Swordsman was very little. But one word summed it all up. A nightmare. She had lived as a child within a nightmare.
He watched the clouds roll by, his heart aching. There was so many bad things in the world, so few good things. And somewhere in the back of his mind, as crazy and insane as it sounded, he believed Alicia was one of those good things.
Sighing deeply, he made his way back onto the deck, not sure what he was going to do next.
Alicia sat in the reclined chair in a corner, her expression one of deep sorrow with lines of tears down her face. The once fierce woman he had met a day ago was gone.
An ache deep inside filled his core at seeing her like this.
Slowly approaching her chair, he knelt and took one of her limp hands in his own. "Alicia," he said gently. "Whatever you experienced in life, please know I won't hurt you. I will never take advantage of you. You are beautiful and precious."
A stream of tears trickled down her face at this. "I am not beautiful. You....you saw me. You couldn't even look at me!"
Daren weighed his next words carefully. "Alicia, you are a woman. Those scars on you don't detract from your beauty." He waited a moment for it and wasn't disappointed. She turned her gaze slowly to meet his own. "You are physically beautiful, Alicia. Nothing has changed that about you."
She glared and looked down.
He slowly stood and with her hand still in his, he laid it across her other arm resting on her stomach. "You're a survivor, Alicia. You aren't weak or ugly. You're attractive but not a whore. You are in control of yourself and whatever is in your past does not define you. Don't let it define you now."
Again, worried creases etched her brows. "But...you didn't want me."
Daren paused, not sure how to proceed. Looking sideways, he whispered, "Just because you have scars doesn't make you ugly. To me, it's a right of passage in some way. You survived abuse at the hands of who I can only guess was close to you. But you're still here. He hasn't destroyed you." He paused and thought. "Maybe because of how you grew up, this is the only way you can rationalize worth, by how men look at you...or use you." He shook his head slowly. "Alicia, depraved men only see you as an object of sex. They won't see you worth anything other than something they can use. Don't define yourself by those terms."
Alicia frowned, some of her glare gone, replaced with confusion. "And you? What am I to you?"
Daren felt the subject of conversation extremely awkward. Here he had spent the morning washing her naked body. She was now probing the questions men never wanted to answer publicly.
Her eyes locked on his. "What were you thinking when you were wiping me down? Honestly, what were your thoughts?"
Daren leaned back and ran his fingers through his hair. "Girl, you're stepping-"
"You saw me naked for most of this morning!" Alicia snapped angrily with a glare. "I have a right to know how safe I am with you! Are you going to try and rape me or not!"
Daren's face reddened, feeling indignant. "I would have thought by now you knew the answer to that."
Alicia's eyes just stared back silently, emotions walled up.
Closing his eyes, Daren sighed heavily. "What do you want to know? That by looking at you, I was thinking how hot you were naked? I'm a guy! Of course, I'm thinking these things! You're beautiful! But I'm not..I'm not like these men you've known! Where's the satisfaction in taking something that isn't freely given? That's not loving and it's not satisfying. It's only depraved men who crave power over others that find satisfaction in hurting a woman, enslaving you to their base desires." He clasped her hands in his tightly and made certain she was looking at him. "Alicia, I saw by the simple accusation put on you, how it transformed you, how terrified you were. It is an evil thing to enslave someone's mind by abusing them physically. I am so sorry you had to endure this hell you've been in. And I will do anything to never see you have to repeat this." He paused and saw her fixated on him. "Alicia...I promise you this. While I draw breath, nothing and nobody will ever touch you again in this way."
Quiet tears left her eyes again.
Thinking on his mother, Daren added, "What defines you, Alicia?"
At her puzzled look, he said, "Years ago, my mother and father showed me what it really meant to have value. It wasn't how my dad looked at my mom, though it was funny at times." He gave a brief smile at Dad's goofy awkwardness around mother sometimes. She was his world. He treasured her.
Touching Alicia's hand, Daren said softly, "The measure of worth is found inside yourself, Alicia, not by others. As a man, I look at you as a priceless treasure to value. If I value you as priceless, I will never intentionally harm you or take advantage of you. It will only diminish your worth to me. It's an evil thing for anyone to do. And as a woman, you're to be protected. That is my job." At Alicia's glare, he shook his head. "Don't be offended, Alicia. I know you aren't weak. Take it as a compliment though. You are worthy of my want to protect your honor. It's a way of showing you respect and worth to me. Is that a bad thing?"
She closed her eyes and breathed deep. "No." Her brows knit together as if she were fighting something internally. When she opened them again, she said, "Do you mean everything you said?" A worried crease etched her forehead.
Daren gave a small smile. "Of course, Alicia! Every word about you is true."
She looked away, hesitant like she was nervous about something she wanted to say. In a breath, she said, "What if I were the one who wanted you?" She dared not look at him and her face turned a shade red.
Daren felt his insides wake to her words, his senses suddenly coming alive at the beauty she displayed. His heart thumped hard. But in that same moment, something deep down warned him to stop.
In a whisper, he replied, "My instincts say to indulge in what you want." He closed his eyes before adding, "while the better part of me knows the harm it would cause you." At Alicia's frown, he added, "Your whole life has been about pleasing men, I gather. Isn't it?"
Alicia closed her eyes in shame and pursed her lips. "You said my past didn't-"
Nodding to himself, Daren continued, "If I were to take you, Alicia, you would still see things in the same manner. Your whole framework of thought on sex is to know if you're worthy or not based on if I desire you or not. To take you now would only add to this belief of worth."
"So...the answer is no?"
Daren glared, not intending to. He felt his insides burn and scream at his refusal to engage. The truth was, Alicia was everything he wanted. And she was offering herself to him. Then again, only in sex. Her mind, her own self was not being offered. And that was the thing he wanted. It felt strangely violating somehow.
Shoving all these feelings aside, Daren whispered, "Alicia, what I want of a woman is what I saw in my mother. She offered my dad her entire self, unconditionally every part of her and he did the same. Anything less..."
In a whisper, Alicia replied, "You want trust." She looked aside, eyes lowering. "Something I have very little of."
"Find yourself, Alicia." he slid his hands into hers and looked at her. "You need to trust yourself first, knowing and being confident in who you are."
Silence followed and Alicia looked over to see him lost in thought.
"And what about you?"
Daren looked up. "What? What about me?"
Alicia let a soft crease of a smile form. "If you're going to give me advice on how to live, I think it's only fair that I get the same chance."
Daren huffed with a slight laugh. "It's nothing." But even as he said this, he flinched. Images flashed of his parents bleeding out in the streets of Old Muskegon, himself a year later in the rundown room of a dilapidated house he called home. He had cut himself, a trickle of blood draining away his life in a chair. He was fourteen and alone.
"You said you wanted trust. It goes both ways, Daren." Alicia's words were soft, having caught sight of his sudden change of mood.
He closed his eyes and nodded, feeling her words bite him.
In a change of voice, almost hesitant and scared, Alicia said, "Hold my hand."
Frowning, he did so before closing his eyes, remembering.
"My parents... I watched them die." As he said the words, images of that day flashed through his mind. In slow, halting steps, he voiced out loud what he had buried inside.
They had been on the run for years. His parents lived a life of solitude, teaching him what they knew in life while hiding from authorities for not obeying the laws of the temples. It all ended as they were walking down a street in Old Muskegon. A band of white clad soldiers marched right up to them, surrounding mom and dad while his own hands were bound and dragged to the sidewalk. He watched the lights in his parents' eyes falter. And as they refused to obey, father looked on him with earnest eyes.
"Remember, Daren...our legacy and who we serve." A second later, a dull knife plunged into his neck and Daren screamed, his world dying before his face. He tried closing his eyes but the man holding him dragged his eyelids open with a harsh, "You will watch!"
His mother screamed, collapsing to the ground next to her dying husband. In tears, she cried, "Father, protect our son..." She looked directly at him and whispered something he didn't hear.
He was going to open his eyes when Alicia's voice echoed strangely in his head. "Stop...don't release this memory."
Startled, he spun about him.
Everything around him froze as if time stopped. And then, Alicia was there with him. She wore dark blue riding crops with threaded richly decorated pants. Over a finely detailed embroidered shirt, a long light blue overcoat draped her figure with the same detailed patterns. Bracers were fastened to her wrists where in one hand she carried a jagged sword that glistened deadly. Around her neck was the same necklace with the blue saphire that glowed in his presence.
Taking a step back, he took in a breath, partly out of shock but also out of sheer awe. His heart pounded hard at her beauty. In seconds, he was back in his old self though. She was here...in his dreams.
"Is...is this real?" he whispered.
Alicia nodded without smiling. "While I touch you, I can see your memories if you let me."
Daren jerked away with a glare. "And you're just telling me now?" He was about to pull away when she leaped across the distance and held his hand in her own. "Please! Stop! Listen to me!"
Glaring, he fought back the sudden fear of knowing she could read his mind. The violation was so deep, so intimate...and somewhat like him bathing her.
Closing his eyes tight, he whispered, "What is it you want?"
Breathing a bit slower, Alicia released his hand. "Something more is here." She extended a hand to encompass the whole dream. "I feel it." She touched the sapphire stone. "I wear this as a way to store energy if I grow weak. But it also acts like a beacon, a guide to things I need to know. It senses the abnormal, the things we don't think to look into." She paused before adding, "It's sensing it now with our connection. Something is hiding in your dream."
Daren scowled. His memory of his parents were buried for a reason. He wanted it left that way. "I'm going to leave now."
"Daren..."
The voice wasn't Alicia's.
Spinning around, he forced himself to look on the bloody scene in the streets. His body shook at the imagery of his mother and father lying in the street, their heads half severed.
And then the impossible happened.
Mother turned her head and gazed at him through death. Without speaking, her voice echoed in his mind. "We have lived to protect you, son. We lived in hiding, never revealing our true selves. And we placed a barrier in your mind never to recall our legacy unless it was needed." Her dead face smiled. "Now, remember us...for darkness is at your door. We cannot protect you anymore. Remember who you were born to be."
With that, the street vanished into darkness.
The image of his younger self emerged on a flying train cart in the mountains. Beside him, father and mother sat opposite him. Their clothes were that of military gear but decked out in high tech mage suits. They wore the same crest he had a vision of in Pete's Tavern. And across the aisle, more men and women wore the same gear, talking in hushed tones. There was a tension in the air.
"I saw this coming," a stout man with criss cross bands on his muscular arms said. He stared out thhe window to the mountain snow ridges they passed over. "They betrayed us, Chris! The whole damn lot of them betrayed us!" He clenched his fists together angrily.
"There's nothing we can do about it now, Jason," father said subdued. He sighed heavily. "The council has fallen and the great houses will break allegiance once they know Eskaver's Sword is no longer in our possession." He paused and looked at Daren directly when he said, "Our futures are uncertain. And it may be that our time as guardians is over."
Mother's hands closed around father's. "Or we may just need to go into hiding until the time for returning has come." Her eyes were on Daren as well and he got the distinct impression everything being said was about himself.
"But where do we hide that the White Council will not look?" Jason glared profusely. "They have overtaken the world! No place is safe for us anymore."
Father and mother looked at each other for a long time. "We go home, Jason." Father's words were matter of fact. "We go into exile as has our King. Only at great need will we reveal ourselves to anyone for any reason. The poison that has leaked into Earth is far reaching. Perhaps we can be of use there too."
The scene flashed out of existence and replaced with the war Daren had briefly seen before. The city streets were covered in blood and bones of every type. The sky was covered in red clouds of darkness, flying winged creatures out of nightmares descending to be met by a hailstorm of strange energy fused artifacts, whips, swords, guns, a malestorm of a conflict out of this world.
The scene vanished and again replaced. This time, they were in a familiar location, in the mines below Muskegon. Daren lay on a makeshift bed while mother and father sat in a corner looking over a map.
"We can't keep running, Chris," mother said softly. "We have done all we can." She looked over to where Daren slept. "All our knowledge, our legacy, has been put into him to open one day." She sighed. "But now is not the time."
"But when!" Father pounded the stone table. "We've been hiding for nearly ten years! The enemy cannot be looking for us now."
"We're vulnerable though, Chris! The growing number of temples and the gods, they seek anyone loyal to Elyon. If they find us, they will eventually discover who we are."
Chris shook his head with a glare. "I know. I just....I hate the waiting, especially here!"
"Nobody will be looking for us here. You said so yourself so I agreed to live like this, even if we have to grow old here. At least our son will have a fighting chance." They looked over at Daren's sleeping form before the image again vanished.
A strangely familiar but foreign voice echoed now. "Now, Daren Cole, son of Christopher Cole, awaken to the memories of your parents. Your legacy is bound to your bloodline."
Faster than anything he had experienced in life, images and scenes, people talking and visions of places he had no name for rushed through his mind so fast he wanted to scream. He felt the world around him spin out of control to where he wanted to vomit.
Minutes passed that felt like ages of lives and worlds all accumulating in his brain as though he had lived each and every one. He screamed at the sensation of so many voices, his heart pounding in his chest threatening to kill him.
Somewhere in the darkness, a soft voice echoed in his mind. "Hold onto me, Daren....hold onto me." The feminine motherly voice anchored him as the world about him exploded and threatened to drown him.
At last, the final echo of a world's lost voice silenced and the memories ceased.
Clouds replaced darkness and sails flapped in the wind.
Alicia had hold of him, his head buried in her arms, her soft voice speaking as though a mother to a child. She had tears in her eyes as she looked on him in a way he had never seen before. Gone was the hatred and anger. In it's place was a resolute firm conviction.
For a minute or two, he sat there while his mind tried to be in the present, away from the flood of disjointed memories and strange voices.
Slowly, he got to his feet and muttered, "I'm sorry, Alicia. I didn't mean to..."
"Don't apologize." She gave a tight, forced smile that wasn't part of her nature. Her hands fell limply into her lap. "You...I learned a lot from you just now." She looked away, a worried expression in her eyes. She seemed to be debating on saying more.
"I thought I knew where I was heading to. But..." She sighed deeply.
Daren shook his head with a grunt and walked to the edge of the railing, looking down at the tiny trees below. "Where exactly are we going?" He said this to avoid the obvious. His mind was spiraling out of control with thoughts and images that weren't his own. He had suddenly attained a vast amount of memories he struggled to understand.
Alicia shrugged, testing her legs and arms. They moved a little but the exertion from the effort burned. "If I hadn't lost all my clothes earlier, I could have shown you. I had a crude map."
"So we're doing this blinded?" He rose an eyebrow. Pointing over the railing, he said, "Just so you know, there are reasons for cities to have enormous walls. What walks down there is very dangerous."
Alicia nodded. From memory, she said, "It's across the water on the other side of the peninsula, a place called Ansville."
Flashes of the swirling mountain of memories cascaded till one similar to in Pete's Tavern emerged. It was the same mansion palace but in the daylight.
Blinking stupidly, he realized without knowing how, most likely the memories he had just attained, that this place was a crossroads and part of his heritage.
He slowly nodded, taking in this new information. "I...know this place."
Alicia's eyes widened and she gave a short intake of breath. "You know how to get there then?"
Daren closed his eyes, feeling the clutter of images bombard him. Slowly, things pieced together and he nodded. "I know where...though I've no idea how."
"And do you know what's important about it?"
At his hesitant look, she said, "It's hard to explain Ansville. It's a crossroads into other places. It's not fully here or there. It resides on a plain where multiple spheres of reality coexist, overlapping each other. It's talked about somewhat in your Celtic folklore and other traditional tales."
Daren nodded slowly. "And it's....part of...my story." He looked away, unsure if he even believed his own words. He frowned and asked, "Why do you want to go there?"
Alicia hesitated and her face fell for a second. It was as if shame were holding her back from answering. At last, she said. "I need to find safety away from my family but there are very few places I can go that they cannot reach." She paused before adding with a hesitant voice, "I'm not sure if I will be welcomed."
"Oh," Daren replied and thought for a moment. "Your family is that well-liked, huh?"
Alicia gave him a sarcastic look. "If I go by my father's name of 'Garland', I'll be sure to be kicked out the second I'm seen."
"So don't use that name," Daren rolled his eyes. "How hard is that?"
Alicia looked at him like he hadn't been listening. "How hard is it? It's as hard as knowing they will know me just by my presence. They will feel me and know me before I'm close enough to speak."
"Oh..." Daren sighed. "You're complicated, know that?"
Alicia smirked and rolled her eyes. "Most women are."
Daren grinned and laughed, feeling as though the two of them had crossed something invisible between them. On this side of it all, the conversations were easier. There was also a strange friendship beginning to grow. He wondered if he was safe to think there was even more to it than that. His feelings for her were so unsure, so...wanting. Yes, he would admit it. She was someone he desperately wanted as more than a friend, despite everything. He couldn't put words to it, the why. All he knew was she made his heart swell. And he would protect her at all cost. He wondered if she would feel this way one day.
Looking over the railing again, he took in the scent of all that was around him. "To the north, then." He raised his arms and let the wind come at him. "To the straits...and the unknown."
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