Aboard the airship traveling north, Alicia attempts to teach Daren how to control the “mind frame”, that which all Dragonblood possess genetically. There is no alternative now that he’s exposed himself to all who will want him dead.
They are interrupted however by a rather large serpent with wings. It’s a race to stay alive. Also, someone they thought they had evaded reappears, this time without the mask of white robes but his true, dark and evil self.
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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 soft flapping of ropes and the giant solar sails sounded as the mechanics of the ship softly hummed away.
The morning sun shone bright like the last several days. She sat on a large pile of rope on the deck with Daren nearby, staring off into the distant clouds. Narrowing her eyes slightly, she asked, "Anything yet?"
Each morning, Alicia had Daren help her onto the deck and there, proceeded to instruct him on what she called the "mind frame." It was something that had come up earlier in one of their conversations since the strange mind-numbing dump of information and memories he was still getting used to. There had been unease in her voice as she said, "You're going to need some training and fast." The fact that she had that unease in her tone made him nervous. She continued, "Everyone born a Garland or Dragonblood genetically inherits the gifts or curses, depending on how one looks at the abilities. The dangers we're heading into demand I teach you what I can in a short time."
Daren held his concentration a second longer before frustration set in. Throwing his hands in the air, he growled, "Nothing!" In a glare, he said, "This is a waste of time. We should be scouting the trees for signs of water and landmarks. This is a waste of time!"
"Shut up and do it again!" Alicia's eyes flared dangerously for someone who could still hardly walk. In a controlled voice, she continued, "I'll explain this one last time." Her eyes were locked on him hard. "What happened back in New Muskegon is just the beginning for you. If you weren't known before now, mark me! You're well known now, and if you don't figure out how to tap into what you did back there soon, you're dead! Understand me?"
Daren glared back, anger mostly at himself for losing his cool. But this whole idea of a "mind frame" was just too weird. Sure, he was slowly but reluctantly accepting that his worldview was shattered. His parents were of a race of warrior guardians. He had the memories to prove it now. But, and this was a big but, what did that mean for him? Where did he fit into all of this? They were dead. He was alone in the world. As this unsettling understanding set in, it had made him draw into himself, the feeling of not belonging anywhere.
"Again!" Alicia's voice rang out harshly.
Daren glared even harder. Why was she treating him like this? He saved her life! They had even become friends. And this was how he was repaid? By shouting at him that he wasn't trying hard enough?
Clenching his fists, he stared out into the clouds again but it was harder this time. Concentrating on anything was hard. His life had been one big mistake! He was alone! Why couldn't she see he was a wreck! And now he was being told to find this inner strength? He failed at everything! The futility of it all, his miserable existence filled him with anger.
"Focus!" Alicia shouted.
Daren's anger flared and roared to life. He dug his clenched fingers harder until his nails drew a tiny bit of blood. He glared in rage.
In that same instant, something tingled deep inside his brain. A sense of knowing...a familiar sense that was close at hand.
He grabbed that sense gingerly, desperate not to lose that strange new connection. And in that sense, he felt her.
It was this strange invading presence that felt so...violating, so terrifying as it had the last time she was in his head.
And yet this time, something was different. It wasn't that he knew she was inside his head but that he was being drawn into her own.
Deep, wrenching pain of loss, a broken and shattered heart. It spilled over him all at once. The emotions were volatile and intense! They threatened to spill into him, sending him on a wave of crashing, dark waves. He wanted to run! He had avoided emotions all his life because they were dangerous. Now, he was flooded with Alicia's own. It was weird because on the outside, she displayed very little. Was she doing this on purpose?
Suddenly, something else was felt. It was the weirdest feeling of all. It pulsed in and out of existence. He captured one of the fleeting pulses and tried to examine it.
Fear? Anticipation? Elation? They were fleeting touches, but it felt as though she were forcing herself to touch him with something she wanted to hide. It came in tiny trickles of energy, daring to touch him then fleeing as though terrified of doing it. The entire episode felt like he was intimately aware of her brokenness, the gut-wrenching world she lived in where she was a pawn, a doll that could be thrown around but with a heart and soul that were beaten, ripped apart and stepped on a million times.
In a soft whisper, Daren said, "I feel you..." Tears welled up in his eyes as her brokenness ripped into his heart. He looked into her eyes and saw the fear she wore. She wanted desperately to hide herself from him but had pushed these emotions onto him.
In a gentler tone, she said, "Now follow the trail I'm leaving you. It will lead you to the place I felt you the first time."
Daren did as told and followed the bread crumbs of fleeting touches. When at last the touching emotions stopped, he felt a buzzing sensation.
"Picture a door."
Daren nodded and formed the image of a door.
"Now open it."
Daren reached for the door and turned the handle. He was about to push when he froze. Something else inside was cautioning him.
"What will happen when I open the door?"
Alicia looked down, not able to look at him.
"What will happen, Alicia?" Daren felt a sudden tingle of dread run down his spine.
"You will begin a new chapter in your life," she replied softly. "One...you can't escape from once you are on the other side."
"That's very cryptic," Daren glared. "What aren't you telling me?"
She sighed heavily before looking at him, her eyes worried. "It is dangerous but only if you go at it alone." She lifted her hands towards him.
Walking to where she sat, he sat down next to her and looked out at nothing again. "I have to do this, though?"
Alicia nodded. "You can't escape it. Once you've experienced a tiny bit of it, it will force itself out of you eventually. And for those who have had nobody to help them...they either went insane or killed themselves."
Daren closed his eyes with a heavy sigh. "This is what it is to be Dragonblood?"
"Only part of it."
Daren nodded and focused his attention on the door he had created. Slowly, he turned the handle and, with a slight hesitation, pushed.
It was like an explosion of euphoria and dread mixed together to create a multifaceted world of sensations. The only way his brain could comprehend what was happening was to describe it in colors. They were the brightest of all colors in a tapestry of images and lines of energy. He slowly began connecting dots from the massive memory dumps, seeing a tiny bit of how things connected together within this strange power structure Dragonblood was built on. But it was only that, a very tiny bit. His mind was overwhelmed.
As he said this out loud, Alicia nodded. "Now, you have to paint it. You create your own inner frame. This is where you reside as Dragonblood when you use this power. It's a part of your makeup, but for many, it's deadly and will send them into insanity. You must control it and cage it with a framework inside your mind. The more you build onto it, the stronger you will become."
Daren blinked stupidly for a moment. The sensations were flooding him with pounding adrenaline.
She gave a tight smile. "You feel it? The adrenaline inside you? That's the fuel for your strength. The longer you use your inner strength, the more it taxes your physical strength. You will feel very weak after using just a little bit for now. It's normal. You have to build a structure inside to control the flow. It's really a lot of mental work. That's mainly what it comes down to."
Daren leaned back and looked around him. His heart pounded with the surging adrenaline. Getting to his feet, he took several deep breaths, trying to calm whatever was going on inside.
"Now focus on that framework you just began inside." Alicia tapped her head. "Don't just try and do something because that's the quick way to land you on your back, unable to get up. You'll be so depleted, you'll feel like death for the next few days. Trust me, it's not fun."
"I take it you know from experience?"
Alicia smiled and cocked her head. "It's a learning experience you don't want."
Daren nodded and focused on that pinpoint inside he knew was the beginning of what he had to build on.
"Let the adrenaline do the work. You don't really create anything but use what is around you. For example, water can be turned to ice by manipulating the environment. Fire can be created by rousing the molecules to intense friction. It's all a matter of what you want to do."
Daren frowned, pretty sure she had lost him.
For the next hour or so, he tried to imagine or manipulate as Alicia told him. But with no context on "how" that was accomplished, and Alicia didn't bother to give any, time passed by slowly and fruitlessly. In the end, he growled and stomped to the edge of the deck to look out over the clouds and trees in frustration.
For the remainder of the day, he descended into a moody state, not wanting to talk.
For Alicia, she went back into her silent reflections. She hadn't talked this much in her whole life. She felt depleted of words. But more, strange unwanted feelings crept in. It happened when Daren had stomped off when he couldn't master what she was teaching him. The silence, though she welcomed it and had lived in it for decades, felt painful when Daren left her alone. Unbidden thoughts floated on the surface of her consciousness and when Daren wasn't looking, a silent tear escaped.
As night came on without either of them saying much, they went to their separate bedrooms.
Alicia slowly made her way across the deck of the airship, her knees shaking with every other step. Two weeks had passed since they left New Muskegon, and her body was gradually recovering. She resented needing Daren's help, hating that he waited on her. She didn't need anyone. With aching legs screaming from the ordeal, she leaned back against the deck railing and let the sun and wind wash over her. Somewhere inside, she heard her heart scream, "Liar! You're just too afraid, you pathetic, weak girl!"
Daren hadn't awakened yet, which was probably for the best. Each thought that included him was now jumbled and strange. Before, she knew how to approach each situation. She had learned early on never to let her guard down for anyone. Abuse had a way of turning a wonderful life into an empty darkness rife with pain. When she wasn't instructing him on something he needed to know, things just got uncomfortable and messy. She needed order, not strange fleeting emotions that weren't tied down.
She turned and saw a stain on the floorboards where Daren had washed her blood away. An unbidden chill swept through her even as other emotions slammed into her.
"Stop!" She swore under her breath at the sudden power behind these feelings. "Just stop!" She closed her eyes tight and absently ran fingers through her hair. Taking in a long breath, she stared out over the deep green treetops below. They appeared as the bottom of an ocean floor with the clouds being the constant white waves.
Could she smile today? The beauty of nature surrounded her and beckoned. No sooner had the thought occurred, darker and depressing ideas filled in the cracks of light. No, there was that wall again, the deadened to life, emotionless wall.
She looked down, feeling like a failure even at this seemingly simple thing. Why was smiling such a chore?
Looking up, she saw the wind had changed direction and the full sails were spread out. As was the nature in these parts, the wind current was weird. Instead of a straight course, the winds never stayed the same, running in every direction.
A sudden powerful updraft sent the deck tipping slightly, and she gripped the railing hard. The sails pulled taut as another gust of wind blew from beneath.
Turning about, she looked for any indication of a storm brewing on the horizon but saw only the normal clouds.
She grumbled and turned to walk towards the stairs.
From below, a strange echoing of thunder rumbled.
"Huh?" Alicia frowned and turned back to the railing. She looked over into the trees far below, wondering where the strange noise came from.
In an instant, she saw a flash of light and a serpentine figure emerging from the depths of the vast forest below. Glowing yellow eyes fixed on the airship before enormous leathery wings spread out and it gave a chilling screech.
She stumbled back in shock and tried to run to the stairs.
"Daren!" she shouted in fear. "Daren!"
On reaching the stairs, her limbs buckled and she fell to the floor hard.
"Daren!" she screamed now, this time angrily. She pounded the floorboard and struggled to get to her knees.
Daren's feet pounded down the hallway below before he appeared at the bottom of the stairwell looking bleary-eyed.
"Get up here!" Alicia yelled frantically.
Taking two steps at a time, he reached Alicia and held her. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"
Alicia glared. "No! But we will be if we don't figure out a solution right now!" She pointed to the railing.
Daren dashed to the railing's edge and looked down.
Sparkling in the morning sunlight, an enormous green-scaled serpent with bat-like wings soared just above the treetops, its snake head gazing up at him. Its eyes glowed with a yellowish hue. On seeing him, the serpent opened its mammoth mouth with jagged teeth and gave a bellowing roar.
Daren whirled about, his face turning deathly white. He looked at Alicia in shock. "I don't... can you..."
Alicia shook her head, already knowing what was being asked. "I'm too weak to do much of anything. We heal fast, but energy is the slowest thing to be regained."
He glanced over the railing again, his heart beating wildly in his chest. He looked at the sails, piles of rope and barrels, trying desperately to think of something to rig up. But that thing was massive! He shook his head in anger. "I have no idea what to do!"
"Do what you did in the city," Alicia eyed him closely. "When I was in your head while you were getting memory dumped, I... perhaps took the liberty to see what you did in the city. Focus on the mind frame I showed you. You leveled a frickin' sky city! You can wipe this monster out of the air too!"
"I can't..." Daren protested weakly.
Another updraft of wind hit the sails and the airship groaned in the forceful pull.
Feeling everything begin to tip, he grabbed hold of a nearby rope pulley just before seeing Alicia slide across the floor. She grimaced as splinters bit into her legs. As soon as the ship righted itself, he ran across the deck to where she lay and wrapped her in his arms.
An inhuman scream pierced the air nearby. A large reptilian head slowly appeared over the deck rail. Its massive wings pounded the air, unbalancing the airship again, rocking it hard. The winged serpent opened its razor-filled mouth and snorted with glaring yellow eyes before giving a loud deafening screech, eyeing Daren and Alicia hungrily. With a downward stroke of the wings, it gripped the side of the airship with giant claws before reaching a long head over the railing. Its head swerved back and forth, giving off a strange clucking sound with a slithering tongue tasting the air.
Getting to his knees, Daren tugged at Alicia and pulled her with him to the stairwell. His heart pounded hard as the reptilian head slowly moved across the deck, inching itself closer and closer to where he and Alicia sat huddled.
"Down!" he hissed and pushed Alicia.
She gripped the stairwell railing and began to slide down the stairs, her feet still fairly useless. She scooted down step by step with Daren following close behind. He never let the serpent's eyes out of his sight.
Another cluck, this one harsher, and the monstrous thing pushed its remaining bulk over the edge to stand on the deck. With a loud scream, it lunged forward.
Daren swerved and dove, grabbing Alicia as he went, both tumbling down the stairs seconds before the reptilian mouth roared with a snap of jaws on thin air.
Falling hard, they landed at the base of the steps in a heap, moaning from bruised ribs and shins.
Daren reached for his charge gun, spun onto his back and fired up. It hit dead center in the serpent's head.
The beast reared back hard and let out a bellowing scream. With a long deliberate hiss, it lowered its head towards the stairwell again with narrowed eyes blinking menacingly at him.
Daren swore softly. "I think I just got it mad."
"That was smart of you," Alicia glared.
"How should I know it had a hard head!" he shot back.
The beast roared and shot its head down the stairwell.
Daren grabbed Alicia hard and pulled her with him to the side of the hallway. Boards cracked and splintered with loud pops of wood being ripped into. In the midst of debris flying, the serpent head swerved back and forth, screaming with rage. From the deck above, its wings crashed into beams while the spiked tail bore holes into the hall of the ship. The sound of crunching boards echoed everywhere.
"We're going to die in here!" Alicia closed her eyes tight. "If I just had my strength back, I could deal with this mess!" She glared at Daren. "Try and think what you did back in the city! Hurry!"
"I don't know!" Daren shouted back with fear showing in his eyes.
The monster's head lunged again, this time breaking a nearby beam, splintering it and propelling sharp wooden daggers everywhere.
Daren rolled overtop Alicia just as one splintering piece of wood rammed into a nearby wall.
Alicia reached up and gripped him by the collar. "Focus on what I showed you! You did it before in the city! Remember what that felt like! Remember what..." She turned away even as a mental sting of what she wanted to say stabbed her. "Remember what I felt like!"
Daren felt something inside recoil at her words. What it felt like...
It felt like terror... remorse... guilt... invincibility. The entirety of the sensations sent a tangible dread down his spine. Was this why he couldn't tap into this thing? The fear of its all-consuming power? He saw people dying all around him at his own hands. The city burned and he had watched as a ball of fire exploded beneath him, screams of the dying echoing as the fire consumed them all.
He had done that. He had blocked it out as he tried to save Alicia. But now, that image came back to him with vengeance.
And then, there was Alicia herself. If he wasn't careful, how easy would it be to be swept into her own despair? The gut-wrenching emotions she had allowed him to feel were on a whole different level that could tip him over into insanity.
Shaking his head, he tried to rid himself of all these things. Closing his eyes, he concentrated.
"Look out!" Alicia pushed Daren and they both went down hard. The beast's mouth crunched hard where they had been a second ago before giving off another scream.
Gathering himself off the floor, he whispered, "Thanks!" He crawled further from the beast, eyeing the monster warily.
With a second scream, the beast rammed its full body weight against the stairwell. From topside, something gave way with an enormous "crack!"
"Oh crap!" Daren whispered.
A second later, he heard it. The beam holding the sails up gave a deafening bang against the deck boards.
Another scream and the beast's head pushed forward, crashing through wooden support walls that held up the staircase. The serpent's head swung side to side with fierce screams, splintering everything in sight. It was within feet of where he crouched.
Daren scrambled back as fast as he could, yanking on Alicia all the while. He eyed the layout of where the beast was then back towards the engine room down the hallway.
"What are you thinking?" Alicia frowned. "I don't like that look you have."
Daren shrugged. "We're not going anywhere now without sails to guide the ship. We only have one option left."
"No!" Alicia glared menacingly, seeing his expression. "I swear, you're a danger to be around! Is this what you do for fun? Blow things up?"
"I occasionally like to see fire." Daren shrugged and made his way to the engines.
"You're insane!" Alicia forced herself to move with him. "You said so yourself! Below is where the danger is!"
"We're dead if we stay here!" Daren shot back heatedly. "That beast is going to tear this ship apart to get to us. It's ten times as strong as we are! I'm going to try and get it off our backs and then make a quick descent."
"You mean you're going to crash the ship," Alicia muttered angrily.
"Probably that too," Daren whispered to himself.
"You're plain trouble," Alicia huffed.
They came to a room filled with pipes and gears, large metal containers and more winding pipes. It was a normal person's nightmare to understand. Daren just ran to several valves and turned four different handles. An immediate sound of boiling water gushed through empty pipes as it was redirected. The popping sound of hot air bubbles groaned through shaking pipes not used to the strain. With one last crank of a wheel, he turned in the direction of the stairs and watched in anticipation.
A high-pitched "hiss" of hot air exploded from an exhaust pipe directly beside the beast's midsection. The serpent let out a bellowing roar and the head reared back, exploding through the hall and ceiling.
The floor violently tipped, sending Daren and Alicia flying across the room to land hard on the floor.
The airship groaned and creaked violently in protest, audible sounds of more boards breaking under the strain. Slowly, the ship righted itself with the exception of a slight tip that offset the floor.
Feeling bruised all over, Daren glanced up and saw through a large gaping hole, the serpent. It was flapping its wings violently back and forth and with a long swipe of its tail, slammed the deck boards hard.
The long spikes on the tail end entangled themselves in the board and with a long drawn out screech, the serpent spread its wings wide and yanked and smashed the ship with its claws.
The ferociousness of the serpent sent the ship into another violent tilt and with loud threatening groans, the hall cracked loudly. Nearby, the engine's compartment holding the sinvin crystals burst. The crystal blue flame inside sputtered in and out.
Daren watched the crystal containment warily, feeling his heartbeat pound in his throat. Leaning back, he let out a sigh. "There goes a smooth landing." He turned and looked to see where Alicia was at.
She lay groaning, propped up against a large fallen beam near the entrance to the room.
He lifted himself off the ground, feeling his bones ache. Hobbling, he stumbled to where she lay and grabbed her arms, pulling her up. "No time for looking at the remodeling." With an arm wrapped over his shoulder, he half pushed, half pulled her along as he made his way out of the room and down the hall. "If we can make it to the back stairs, we can see where we're going."
Alicia gave him a sardonic look. "You mean, we can look death in the face as we crash?" She paused. "I take it your people haven't invented a way to get off this thing in an emergency."
Daren shrugged. "I wasn't the designer. Don't blame me."
Alicia gave a "humph!" and shook her head.
Halfway down the hall, he abruptly halted with a groan and swore.
Directly ahead, the staircase leading to the deck was completely smashed. There was no way of getting topside.
He lowered his head in silent defeat.
"I always wondered what my death would look like..." Alicia murmured and gave a gentle laugh. At Daren's frown, she said, "I always thought it would end in some grand battle of some kind." She gave another short laugh, the tone not matching her surroundings.
From behind, smoke began to build.
"Figures," Daren's eyes drew together in a dark mood. "I wonder what will kill us first, an explosion from crystals or impalement from wood."
"I'll take wood."
Daren shook his head again with the feeling he had let Alicia down.
An old, wrinkled man dressed in a long grey overcoat walked the forest grounds. In one hand, he held a long, gnarled staff carved out of ash wood. In his other hand, he carried a woven basket filled with flower petals. His eyes were dimmed, but it never stopped him from knowing where he was. He followed a thinly marked path with ancient giant trees looming tall all around him. The sounds of birds and the scampering of wild animals were everywhere.
From above, a slight plume of smoke streaked across the blue heavens in the wake of an airship that was quickly descending."
So they have come at last..." The old man nodded sagely to himself and stroked his long white beard that matched his hair.
He noted with his second sight how the ship was tilted and angled directly for a rather dense area of trees.
Closing his eyes, he whispered a silent prayer. Gazing back up into the skies, he raised a hand. "I shall await your coming." Nodding to himself, he returned to his foraging for petals.
The smoke from the engine room filled the hall. Daren coughed and looked back. Fire burned intensely from the engine room's entrance. With the gaping holes in the ceiling, the fresh air fueled the fire, keeping it hot and spreading. There was no going back to the first stairs. Through a window, he saw the forest drawing closer at an alarming rate.
"I'm sorry for getting you into this mess," Alicia whispered, a tear escaping her eyes.
Daren clasped her hand. "Don't be. I've had more fun than I've had in most of my life." He gave a slight grin, and Alicia smiled back before it faltered. She leaned into him, resting her head against his chest.
...remember who you are...
The whisper in his head shot through him like a lightning bolt. Simultaneously, an image of the old man from his dreams appeared, staring at Daren as if he were right there.
...Dragonblood runs through you. Remember the words she spoke and use it to build a wall...
Daren blinked, bewildered by the audible words. He felt himself guided back to the strange tingling Alicia called the mind frame, as if invisible hands were leading him.
In a whisper of dread, Alicia whimpered, "I see the trees!"
A second later, the airship's hall erupted with a loud "bang!"
Tree limbs crashed through the ship as the engine room exploded in a ray of yellow and white lights, cascading like a giant ball of supercharged heat. With Sinvin powering the explosion, nearby trees bowed and ripped out of the ground as its intense energy caused a rippling effect. The airship's hall exploded outward like small wooden darts, a blinding white light engulfing the woods. This lasted for a good thirty seconds as everything within a hundred-meter radius of the ship was leveled to black ash.
Alicia waited, but the intense pain of death never came.
Her first sensation was Daren's arms cradling her tightly. Opening her eyes, she saw how he had deliberately shielded her with his own body. A bluish domed sphere covered them while remnants of a fierce fire smoldered outside.
Daren breathed heavily and slowly loosened his grip on Alicia. He frowned, seeing her beaming with that rare smile of hers. She was laughing for the first time, tears spilling down her face from raw emotion.
"You did it!" she shouted, hugging him tightly. "I knew you could do it!"
Daren shook his head in confusion and looked around.
The airship they had been standing on had all but disintegrated, leaving only a small wooden board beneath them. In every direction, a massive black circle of ash and smoke covered the area.
Blinking in disbelief, he let Alicia guide him in releasing the protective dome. Immediately, he stumbled to his knees, feeling nauseous. Weakness coursed through him like a physical thing. He took a few more steps, breathing deeply, before falling to his knees again. His head spun dizzily as he tried to regain his bearings.
"You'll get used to it, I promise," Alicia said with a soft smile. The adrenaline-infused moments had faded, and she was back to her normal composed, somewhat distant self.
They cautiously moved away from the black ash before scanning their surroundings.
"I guess we're on foot the rest of the way," Daren said, looking up to gauge the sun's position.
"I think I saw water on the horizon before all this went down," Alicia said, sitting on a nearby stump.
Daren turned in place, considering the airship's trajectory, then pointed. "This way."
Alicia groaned but refused to complain. As she stood, Daren hurried to her side to help. The constant anger at needing assistance faded slightly as he lent his arm for support. Conflicting emotions sent sparks through her body, things she knew she couldn't control and feared. How far would she succumb to them? Was he right about her? Were her longings, fleeting as they were, a byproduct of abuse? She desperately wanted Daren one moment and wanted to run in terror the next.
He smiled at her, oblivious to her internal struggles. She fought them off and forced a smile. He wasn't her father. Daren was... her protector? Or was she his? The two views seemed to blur.
The thought sent waves of ice-cold dread even as warmth fought its way into the deepest parts of her.
For two hours, they walked through dense foliage. Each new sound put them on edge, wondering what lurked in the shadows. There was no real path to follow. Alicia's stumbling feet grated on her nerves, and she grew increasingly irritated, glaring at everything while trying not to slow them down.
One thought dominated their minds: they had no provisions, having lost everything but what was on their backs. Daren had his gun, but it offered little protection against the wilds. Perhaps it could be used for small game like rabbits or deer.
It was midsummer, and quite by accident, the sun shone on one of the rare days clouds didn't cover it. Its heat pounded them mercilessly. Even the giant trees and their leaves offered little relief.
At one point, Daren paused while Alicia found a stump to sit on. She wiped sweat from her forehead and took several deep breaths.
Daren removed his shirt and tied it around his waist, hoping for a cooling breeze. He noticed Alicia looking at him strangely and smiled awkwardly. With a sidelong smirk, she undid her own shirt, tying it like he had done, now wearing only a strap around her breasts. Offhandedly, she quipped, "If you weren't with me, I'd be going bare-breasted!"
"Nice to know," Daren grumbled and offered his hand. "We need to get going. You said water was on the horizon. We still have a ways to go."
Stupid! Alicia thought angrily. They trudged on in the heat, but inside, she felt disgust at herself. Why had she said that? Now he probably thought she was nothing but a nympho! She couldn't take it back. She was baiting him without realizing it, secretly vying for his attention to prove she was beautiful. The hunger and need were weird now that she recognized them. Was she cursed to be this... product of her past? The question made her sick as images flashed through her mind. So many twisted memories... so little to reveal the truth of who she really was or what was good.
At one point, she stumbled hard and fell to her hands and knees. She glared absently, waved off Daren's offered hand, and got to her feet. Using a stick she had found earlier, she righted herself and slowly walked on. The memory of Daren's touch screamed in her head. She was poison to men... and the sick part was she needed it. It was just more evidence of how ugly she really was. Violently shoving everything to the back of her mind, she forced herself to focus again. She had to stop feeling.
They walked for a good hour in silence.
Daren had asked once or twice if something was wrong, but she just shrugged, unable to express her feelings. To do so would jeopardize everything.
Their pace slowed to a crawl as the dense trees crowded around them, their limbs making movement almost impossible. Daren did his best to hack away at the branches, but the heat made each movement sluggish and slow.
Waiting on a fallen log for the way to be cleared, Alicia looked down and paused, noticing something.
Daren wiped sweat from his forehead, noticing her concentrated stare. "What are you looking at?"
Without looking up, she replied, "There are tracks here. Haven't you ever hunted before? I mean, this is all forest."
Daren shook his head. "The city has special huntsmen for that. It's too dangerous out here."
Alicia pursed her lips and scanned the ground again. Using her stick for support, she turned in the direction of the tracks. "Often, if you find a well-trodden path, it will lead you to water."
Daren raised an eyebrow. "Good to know." A few seconds later, he added, "Are we going to follow it?"
Alicia shook her head. "It's too old."
This continued for another half hour, with Alicia pausing to examine newly discovered tracks before shaking her head. At one point, she remarked, "Seems there's nothing around these parts."
A dry breeze washed over them, and Daren tilted his head up, feeling the air on his neck. He sighed as it quickly faded.
Alicia did the same, feeling the heat had sapped most of her strength. With the lack of water, she felt like she was shriveling up. Suddenly, a wave of nausea flooded her, and fear coursed through her entire body. She turned towards Daren.
Daren was beside her in a heartbeat, placing a hand on her shoulder. "What is it? What's wrong?"
A second later, his own expression soured, and he spun around with a glare. "Where are you, bastard!" he shouted.
A long, drawn-out laugh echoed all around. When it died out, a chilling voice said, "Ah, the love of friendship. Did he rape you yet, Alicia? Did you like his touch on you? I know you did... you whore." The last word dripped with sarcasm and bite, never losing its chilling tone.
Stepping out from behind a large tree, The Swordsman appeared. Unlike before, when he wore white robes, he no longer hid his true form. Decked out in a long, flowing purple overcoat etched with steel bones, his shoulders bore skulls decorated with short, crude, and mercilessly jagged daggers tucked into the cowl. Chains adorned a hardened black inner coat with strange pink flowing lines of energy circling each other within a crest he wore. Reality seemed to shift around him, slowing down while the leaves beneath his feet crumbled and died. All he touched faded of color until it was black ash. Inside his dark necromantic hooded robe, his eyes glowed a bright neon purple. He radiated death as he smiled coldly at Alicia.
Reaching behind him, he withdrew the red glowing sword, which gave off a nauseating feel.
At the sight, Daren felt his insides squirm as if he had eaten something rotten and poisonous. He stumbled back hard.
"Feels good, doesn't it?" The Swordsman slithered the words out in a long hiss.
"What do you want!" Daren glared.
The Swordsman lifted his head a little higher so Daren could get a good look inside the hood. His face was pale white with a crisscrossed metal hood etched in runes similar to the hooded robe. Around his eyes, a dark blood-red stain covered everything like a mask. Evil was written in his dead eyes. In a whisper that echoed in Daren's mind, the Swordsman said, "What do I want?" He pointed a clawed finger at him. "For you to be my slave." He hissed low. "I was content to kill you in the city. But now... you will serve me, a fate worse than death for you, human meat sack." He growled low. "I will show you the meaning of pain and suffering as you bow before me as your god!" His eyes flared, and the ground around them trembled as all vegetation withered and died.
Daren felt his insides freeze. He had never known such terror until this moment. Unspeakable evil looked upon him now.
The Swordsman turned his gaze on Alicia, who fell back, her eyes wide with terror. She was reliving her childhood. "Do you remember our nights, child? Do you remember your worship of me? I gave you the power of the universe... and now you spurn me..." His eyes bore into her as if she were a tiny insect. "You will know pain like no other has known." He drew his sword and, with eyes locked on hers, placed it in her hand.
Alicia screamed at the touch and shook. But his hold was on her, his fingers wrapped around hers as she held the sword.
"Now... kill the human gnat in front of you."
Alicia screamed again, eyes shut tight, and cried out. "No! I don't belong to you!"
The Swordsman hissed violently and stepped back as if visibly slapped. His blood-red sword dropped from her hands to clang against a dead tree root. His eyes burned with fire at her words, and he advanced swiftly, a dagger in his hand.
"Ashter!"
The name spoken was like a thunderclap. It weighed like a judgment sword ready to strike off a head.
An old man stood opposite the Swordsman with flowing white hair and beard. In his hand, he held a long staff. His eyes were dimmed but had no effect on his commanding presence. He stood as one who had authority and commanded it.
"You!" The Swordsman hissed in hate. Spittle flew from his mouth as he glared in rage.
"Yes, me," the old man stared back without flinching. "Leave them and leave this place."
The Swordsman hissed menacingly. "They are mine to do with as I please! It is you who are in the wrong place. Shall I summon my minions to torture you as well?"
The old man smiled knowingly.
The Swordsman glared with a more violent hiss. "Your day will come, old man, and I will be there to watch you die."
The old man shrugged. "I've lived a long life. Death is only the passing from this realm to the next. There is no fear in knowing where I go..." he looked hard at The Swordsman, "...and who I will replace."
The Swordsman's eyes glared with murderous intent. "Your God has no—"
"My God has all authority as He displaced your authority, Ashter. You speak only riddles and deceit to the masses. You have no real power except what man allows you to have in ignorance."
The Swordsman hissed again, this time with clear hate in his eyes. He took several steps towards the old man before coming to an abrupt halt.
The old man's eyes were closed as he whispered something under his breath. Opening them, he turned to Daren and Alicia. "Tell him to leave you be. Do not be afraid of the illusion he plays on you."
"What?" Daren whispered in confusion. He looked to Alicia and noted she had a slightly different look about her. Recognition, perhaps?
Her eyes suddenly grew round, and she took several deep breaths.
"Do not believe or take in his words," the old man looked intently at Alicia now. "You know what I speak of. His weapons are deceit and trickery. Yes, there is distinct otherworldly power at his command, but not if you say otherwise. When the eyes are open... he cannot control you."
The Swordsman's eyes shot towards the old man with an almost tangible lust for death before returning to Alicia. "If you think you can escape me so easily, wait until you sleep. I will invade your dreams and torment you, rape you in your mind! I will have my entertainment of you! You have never been rid of me. You will never escape me! You belong to me! You are my bride!"
Alicia closed her eyes tight, a trickle of tears falling. "Leave me!" She screamed. "I know who you are! I do not belong to you anymore! Leave me!"
The Swordsman clenched his fists hard several times, his eyes showing the truth of what the old man was saying. With murder in his eyes, blood began dripping down his face. Facing the old man, the Swordsman said with deliberate malice, "I will call my brothers to me and will bring our legions of creations down on your heads. I may not be able to touch you... but they can." With rage burning in his eyes, he knelt and picked up his sword, turned, and saluted the old man. "When you die, old man, we will unleash hell." He took one step forward and vanished.
For a long moment, nobody spoke.
Daren did a double-take. "How...?" He blinked, unsure how to interpret what he had seen. Even the memories of his family and the monsters they fought didn't show this figure. "Who was that?"
The old man held a hand out and touched Alicia on the shoulder. "You will be okay, beloved." To Daren, he looked sideways and said, "That, my friend, is an old enemy. You cannot defeat him, cannot kill him, for he cannot die like mortal flesh." He paused before saying, "He is a prince of air, a cosmic ruler of this land. No mortal weapon can kill his kind. The only adversary they have is another of their kind. For us, though, those who know the truth do not have to be afraid."
Daren gave a blank stare, shaking his head.
Alicia wiped the remaining tears from her eyes and looked at the old man. "Who are you?"
The old man smiled crookedly. "I go by many names. It's been so long since I used one. Know me for my title. I am the gatekeeper. In High Latra, the word is 'drugiward.'"
Alicia blinked, her mouth slightly parting. "You're... the fabled ward of the crossroads."
The old man nodded solemnly. "Yes, Alicia."
"But... why are you here?"
The old man's smile dimmed only a little. "It is time..."
"Time?" she frowned.
"Time of the prophecy."
At Alicia's blank look, the old man laughed. "I see I will need to tell a story." He looked to Daren, who was more lost than Alicia. With a wave of his hand, he said, "Follow me. My home is not far from here. You look to be needing rest but more so, a drink and food."
"Yes!" Daren answered eagerly. "We need water!"
The old man smiled. "Then come, come and join me for a time, and I will tell you things you must know."
Together with the old man, Daren and Alicia followed him onto a path that hadn't been there before.
When Daren remarked on this strangeness, the old man laughed as one who loved secrets.
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