Author's Note: WOW! I finally updated! *shock* Lol. It took me a while to
get the dream sorted out and all, and worded how I wanted it. I still don't
like it all that much, but it's better than my FIRST attempt *shudder*. So
anyways....
Thanks SO much to my reviewers (Especially Sao!).
Now, here we go.
==========CHAPTER THREE: MAYBE IT'S DESTINY=============
By Ashley Brown
====================================================
As I sat there, the images hitting me, tears began streaming down my face. All I could do was whimper softly. I managed to find my feet, standing up. Maybe... maybe I could run, get to the door, escape this Hell he tried to return me to. Then, as it came into focus, once all the images sorted out into order, I let out a muffled scream, dropping to my knees, gripping a desk for support........
...... Cold... so cold. The snow swirled around me, the wind biting at me. I looked back at my followers, the refugees. Most were women and children, although some of the men who had been to old to fight had come. And I was in charge, everyone looked to me for support. I was their leader, the daughter of the chief, the wife of the strongest, bravest warrior. They had no reason to fear me, and every reason to trust me.
Ha. If they knew the horrors I had taken part in... They couldn't know though. Never would.
And so I sought my own, personal redemption by leading these people to safety. I tried not to think about it as I led them up the mountain. There was a cave near the top of the mountain, it would protect us from the elements, and I figured there had to be enough women to help me organize a team to protect the mouth of the cave from invaders.
We went at a steady pace, ignoring the wind that threatened to cut through us, ignoring the fact that we could barely see, ignoring the fact that the side of the mountain was steep... so steep. We traveled lightly, making it easier for us to go quickly. Not like it had been a choice the. The KyaNot had come on so fast, attacking our village, we'd barely had time to escape with our lives, let alone provisions.
"Stop! Please... oh please, please stop! My baby! My Lian! She's falling... and I can't help her! Please! Stop!" a woman from the back yelled.
I let out a sigh, watching my breath hover in the air temporarily, then made my way to the back. A little girl, no more than five, Lian her name was, was slipping in the ice. Her mother already had her hands full with a baby. I leaned down, scooping up Lian and holding her close. Her tiny body was shivering, it would be a miracle if she survived this trip. All because of me. Me and my own damned stupidity... Carrying her to the front, I resumed the trip.
Not long after, probably only an hour, though it felt like days, we came to the cave. I ushered everyone in, then paused.
"Is everyone here? Can you think of anyone who is missing?" I asked.
No one responded, but I felt that, to ease my own worries, I had to go check a ways back. I walked a bit farther down the trail, called out for anyone who may have fallen. Getting no answer I turned around.
Shock coursed through my body as I saw the figure in front of me. I had been expecting to be alone.
But Lian stood there, "Why did you leave?" Her voice was soft, still innocent.
"I had to check for people who had fallen. Why did you leave?" I asked, not sure why this little girl had followed me. She was surrounded by snow, and the sun was beginning to peak over the mountain, casting her in light. Her curly brown hair fell over her eyes as she looked to the ground.
"Mommy told me to."
"Your mother told you to? Why?"
She shook her head as I walked over to her. She took my hand and together we walked up the small path, back to the cave.
It was empty. The cave... it was empty. No one was in it. The only thing in it was an eerie orange smoke. I gasped, knowing the smoke. It was the smoke that had been in the cave of the KyaNot.
"What did your mommy say before she had you leave, what happened? Tell me everything you remember, Lian, this is important," I whispered.
"The cave turned pretty, all bright and colored, and Mommy turned to me. Everybody was moving toward the back when it started, and I was still near the front part, where you left us, and Mommy saw the smoky stuff. She turned and looked at me and told me to get out, to get you. Then the smoke made her go away from where I could see her."
Tears began to stream down my face, stinging my eyes and cheeks in the bitter cold. They hadn't know that the smoke was the Krantyn's Breath... the worse spell the KyaNot knew. This spell, it killed us. It was harmless to the KyaNot, but to humans, the spell was deadly, as soon as it touched you, you died... exposure to it after death made you decompose. I grabbed Lian and began to run up the mountain, away from the KyaNot I knew were on their way.
If it hadn't been for me, if I hadn't gone into that cave and read that damned book... the book of the KyaNot. It contained all the spells and knowledge of them, I had assumed it wouldn't hurt to read it. But no... no. The BattleMages of times long past, the ones who had banished the KyaNot in the first place, they had bound the KyaNot to the book. When I read it, I set them free.
I single handedly ended the lives of all of those I loved.
I would never see my husband again, my son again, my father again. I heard the calls of the KyaNot behind me, but I kept running, my feet hitting the ground hard, grasping Lian closely to me. I wasn't sure what I could do, but if I could get to the other side of the mountain then I could ask the Hlman for help. The Hlman was the only one who could do it.
But then, as I grew nearer to the top, I saw it. The chasm. I couldn't get across it. It was so deep... there was no way across.
The next things came so fast I... I didn't remember coming up with the plan. The KyaNot had a spell to transport an individual. I'd use that. I wasn't sure how to use the spell, and there was no telling how to direct the individual without knowing how to use the spell. But I could send Lian away. To another place. I could save this one innocent child. And me? I'd jump, I'd die. The KyaNot would not care; they had apparently already killed my tribe, my village. But they would NOT have succeeded, because they wouldn't have wiped us out. The child would survive.
I sat her down, and she looked up at me. Her eyes were wide with terror, even though she could not know what was going on. I paused, that would not do. Whispering a well-chosen spell that Papa had taught me, one handed down from the BattleMages, I kissed her forehead. Then, while whispering the spell to banish her, I jumped...
...And I watched the woman who had destroyed our race fall, until there was a flash. I was falling, too, but then it stopped. I was surrounded by people, all sorts of people. And it was warm. I sat down on the ground and looked around, wondering where I was..........
........ When I opened my eyes, Mr. Johnson stood over me.
"Well?" he asked.
I looked up at him and frowned, "Well what? How the HELL did YOU know what I dreamed about, and how the HELL did YOU manage to make ME see it?"
He smiled, "Because, that is no dream, Lian. It is your past. When Callie gave you her knowledge, she gave you a destiny. You are the only one with the knowledge to save Dejjjnorta."
The word was strange sounding, but at the same time, all of my body came to life when h said it. It was home... it was my home. Dejjjnorta, my home! Where I had been born, where I had lived for five years...
"I am not Lian. I am Alena. I live here. I don't know where this Dejjjnorta planet is but-"
"IF YOU ARE NOT LIAN HOW DID YOU KNOW IT WAS A PLANET?" He roared, apparently irritated with me.
"I guessed. I AM NOT Lian. I AM Alena. I AM leaving this room. I'm going home. It's here, on Earth. You need help. You might want to see a psychiatrist. Maybe I can recommend one."
And I left the room......
.......I sobbed into the pillow. This was not happening. I was ALENA. Not this Lian person. I only dreamed about Lian. She was a figment of my imagination. Slowly, I cried myself to sleep.
==TBC==
A/N: Woosh... there we go. More later, hopefully not so long after this chapter as this one was after the second chapter. *grin*
Thanks SO much to my reviewers (Especially Sao!).
Now, here we go.
==========CHAPTER THREE: MAYBE IT'S DESTINY=============
By Ashley Brown
====================================================
As I sat there, the images hitting me, tears began streaming down my face. All I could do was whimper softly. I managed to find my feet, standing up. Maybe... maybe I could run, get to the door, escape this Hell he tried to return me to. Then, as it came into focus, once all the images sorted out into order, I let out a muffled scream, dropping to my knees, gripping a desk for support........
...... Cold... so cold. The snow swirled around me, the wind biting at me. I looked back at my followers, the refugees. Most were women and children, although some of the men who had been to old to fight had come. And I was in charge, everyone looked to me for support. I was their leader, the daughter of the chief, the wife of the strongest, bravest warrior. They had no reason to fear me, and every reason to trust me.
Ha. If they knew the horrors I had taken part in... They couldn't know though. Never would.
And so I sought my own, personal redemption by leading these people to safety. I tried not to think about it as I led them up the mountain. There was a cave near the top of the mountain, it would protect us from the elements, and I figured there had to be enough women to help me organize a team to protect the mouth of the cave from invaders.
We went at a steady pace, ignoring the wind that threatened to cut through us, ignoring the fact that we could barely see, ignoring the fact that the side of the mountain was steep... so steep. We traveled lightly, making it easier for us to go quickly. Not like it had been a choice the. The KyaNot had come on so fast, attacking our village, we'd barely had time to escape with our lives, let alone provisions.
"Stop! Please... oh please, please stop! My baby! My Lian! She's falling... and I can't help her! Please! Stop!" a woman from the back yelled.
I let out a sigh, watching my breath hover in the air temporarily, then made my way to the back. A little girl, no more than five, Lian her name was, was slipping in the ice. Her mother already had her hands full with a baby. I leaned down, scooping up Lian and holding her close. Her tiny body was shivering, it would be a miracle if she survived this trip. All because of me. Me and my own damned stupidity... Carrying her to the front, I resumed the trip.
Not long after, probably only an hour, though it felt like days, we came to the cave. I ushered everyone in, then paused.
"Is everyone here? Can you think of anyone who is missing?" I asked.
No one responded, but I felt that, to ease my own worries, I had to go check a ways back. I walked a bit farther down the trail, called out for anyone who may have fallen. Getting no answer I turned around.
Shock coursed through my body as I saw the figure in front of me. I had been expecting to be alone.
But Lian stood there, "Why did you leave?" Her voice was soft, still innocent.
"I had to check for people who had fallen. Why did you leave?" I asked, not sure why this little girl had followed me. She was surrounded by snow, and the sun was beginning to peak over the mountain, casting her in light. Her curly brown hair fell over her eyes as she looked to the ground.
"Mommy told me to."
"Your mother told you to? Why?"
She shook her head as I walked over to her. She took my hand and together we walked up the small path, back to the cave.
It was empty. The cave... it was empty. No one was in it. The only thing in it was an eerie orange smoke. I gasped, knowing the smoke. It was the smoke that had been in the cave of the KyaNot.
"What did your mommy say before she had you leave, what happened? Tell me everything you remember, Lian, this is important," I whispered.
"The cave turned pretty, all bright and colored, and Mommy turned to me. Everybody was moving toward the back when it started, and I was still near the front part, where you left us, and Mommy saw the smoky stuff. She turned and looked at me and told me to get out, to get you. Then the smoke made her go away from where I could see her."
Tears began to stream down my face, stinging my eyes and cheeks in the bitter cold. They hadn't know that the smoke was the Krantyn's Breath... the worse spell the KyaNot knew. This spell, it killed us. It was harmless to the KyaNot, but to humans, the spell was deadly, as soon as it touched you, you died... exposure to it after death made you decompose. I grabbed Lian and began to run up the mountain, away from the KyaNot I knew were on their way.
If it hadn't been for me, if I hadn't gone into that cave and read that damned book... the book of the KyaNot. It contained all the spells and knowledge of them, I had assumed it wouldn't hurt to read it. But no... no. The BattleMages of times long past, the ones who had banished the KyaNot in the first place, they had bound the KyaNot to the book. When I read it, I set them free.
I single handedly ended the lives of all of those I loved.
I would never see my husband again, my son again, my father again. I heard the calls of the KyaNot behind me, but I kept running, my feet hitting the ground hard, grasping Lian closely to me. I wasn't sure what I could do, but if I could get to the other side of the mountain then I could ask the Hlman for help. The Hlman was the only one who could do it.
But then, as I grew nearer to the top, I saw it. The chasm. I couldn't get across it. It was so deep... there was no way across.
The next things came so fast I... I didn't remember coming up with the plan. The KyaNot had a spell to transport an individual. I'd use that. I wasn't sure how to use the spell, and there was no telling how to direct the individual without knowing how to use the spell. But I could send Lian away. To another place. I could save this one innocent child. And me? I'd jump, I'd die. The KyaNot would not care; they had apparently already killed my tribe, my village. But they would NOT have succeeded, because they wouldn't have wiped us out. The child would survive.
I sat her down, and she looked up at me. Her eyes were wide with terror, even though she could not know what was going on. I paused, that would not do. Whispering a well-chosen spell that Papa had taught me, one handed down from the BattleMages, I kissed her forehead. Then, while whispering the spell to banish her, I jumped...
...And I watched the woman who had destroyed our race fall, until there was a flash. I was falling, too, but then it stopped. I was surrounded by people, all sorts of people. And it was warm. I sat down on the ground and looked around, wondering where I was..........
........ When I opened my eyes, Mr. Johnson stood over me.
"Well?" he asked.
I looked up at him and frowned, "Well what? How the HELL did YOU know what I dreamed about, and how the HELL did YOU manage to make ME see it?"
He smiled, "Because, that is no dream, Lian. It is your past. When Callie gave you her knowledge, she gave you a destiny. You are the only one with the knowledge to save Dejjjnorta."
The word was strange sounding, but at the same time, all of my body came to life when h said it. It was home... it was my home. Dejjjnorta, my home! Where I had been born, where I had lived for five years...
"I am not Lian. I am Alena. I live here. I don't know where this Dejjjnorta planet is but-"
"IF YOU ARE NOT LIAN HOW DID YOU KNOW IT WAS A PLANET?" He roared, apparently irritated with me.
"I guessed. I AM NOT Lian. I AM Alena. I AM leaving this room. I'm going home. It's here, on Earth. You need help. You might want to see a psychiatrist. Maybe I can recommend one."
And I left the room......
.......I sobbed into the pillow. This was not happening. I was ALENA. Not this Lian person. I only dreamed about Lian. She was a figment of my imagination. Slowly, I cried myself to sleep.
==TBC==
A/N: Woosh... there we go. More later, hopefully not so long after this chapter as this one was after the second chapter. *grin*