Authors: Laszlo,Jeremy
Seth
Seth had seen his opportunity and taken it. As his enemy took one final step closer, Seth lunged with all his might, hurling himself bodily at his opponent hoping their collision would knock the man off his feet. Seth impacted the man, sending them both sprawling across the stone that made this portion of the cavern floor. Seth had nearly expended what little energy he had in the dive across the dark room. Sweat already beaded on his head and arms. His legs trembled and his vision darkened. He could see movement to his right and, untangling his feet from one another, was able to drag himself on top of his opponent. The man struggled as Seth remembered his sword but he was nearly unseated as he reached for it. He grasped the sword and dragged it across the stone. It seemed so heavy, he was unsure if he could even lift it. He pulled the blade to him, and careful not to kill his enemy, at least not before he had answers, rested the blade on the man’s neck.
Seth heard Garret moan in pain and realized his error. Barely able to lift the sword any higher, Seth pushed it with all his might over his brother’s head and released it to fall to the floor with a clatter. Completely and utterly spent, Seth could not even climb off his twin. Instead he just leaned to one side allowing gravity to do the work. Seth fell off Garret, landing with a thud on the hard stone floor. He lay there panting, hardly able to see as Sara reached him.
Ashton
Ashton too had recognized Garret’s groan of pain and had assumed the worst. Thinking Garret was impaled upon his own brother’s sword, Ashton rushed first to Garret to immediately begin his prayer and his healing. Reaching Garret, and assessing his body, he found no wound other than a lump on his head. He then remembered Seth’s tumble to the floor and realized that Garret must have defended himself in the attack and injured his twin. Ashton twisted around on his knees, already in the position to pray and looked to Sara, who now was lifting Seth’s head and torso to her body to hold him tightly like a parent might hold an injured child. She shook her head, letting Ashton know that Seth had not been injured. Ashton turned back to Garret and smiled.
“Welcome back,” Ashton said cheerily to Garret, his childlike face gleaming at the jest, yet knowing that this was probably all his fault.
The remainder of the evening went better than any of them could have expected. Seth had blacked out again for a while, but rested peacefully in Sara’s lap. Garret was unharmed, besides a large knot on his head which he refused to let Ashton treat. After Garret had been able to regain himself, and gather his wits, he and Ashton exchanged their versions of the events that had just taken place. Garret was not upset with Ashton in the least, telling him he had done exactly what Garret would have done had the roles been reversed. After telling his tale, Garret brought out the large sack of food and the small pouch of coins. Curiosity got the better of them, and wanting to see how much they had been rewarded, he loosened the strings of the purse and poured its contents into his hands. Garret and Ashton leaned their heads together, peering into Garret’s palm. Garret sat silently blinking over and over again at his palm. Ashton gasped in disbelief. Regaining his composure Garret poured the contents of his palm back into the pouch and pulled the strings tight. He leaned towards Sara and held the pouch out to her. Sara shook her head silently to Garret’s gesture, not wanting to speak for fear she might wake Seth. Instead of retracting his arm, Garret spoke.
“It’s yours Sara,” Garret smiled as he spoke the words quietly. “Sirus said it was a reward for killing the goblin. If you had not wounded it, we would all be dead, so it only seems fair to me that the reward should be yours and yours alone. The only stipulation Sirus gave with the money, like I said a few moments ago, was that we use some of it to rent horses when we reach Paldoon’s Hold.” Garret gestured again flicking his wrist to swing the pouch in her direction.
Sara’s expression darkened and her face twisted with a look akin to pain.
“I’ve never actually had any money,” Sara admitted, her cheeks flushing slightly. “I don’t really understand how it works, you know, what piece is worth how much. I don’t want to mess up and give away more than I’m supposed to so that we don’t have enough for the horses or something else we might need.” Sara finished her eyes on the floor, ashamed of her ignorance.
“That’s no problem,” Ashton chimed in. “We will teach you.”
Garret nodded in agreement and the two boys scooted closer to Sara forming a loose circle. Ashton watched as Garret poured the contents of the pouch onto the stone floor beside Sara, and sorted the coins. As he did so, Ashton told her their names. The small brown ones were copper. They were the least valuable. The same sized gray ones were silver. One silver was equal to one hundred copper. Next was a large brown one, which Ashton explained was worth twenty-five copper. It was made of the same metal as the first one, just larger. The next coin was a large silver coin, valued at twenty-five silver. Again, this was the same metal as the smaller silver coin, and was larger, therefore worth more. Finally the last coin, which both boys admitted they had never seen before, was a small gold coin. It was the same size as the other smaller coins, but was made of gold, and had a crown stamped onto its surface on either side. This one was valued at one gold, or one hundred silver.
Sara committed it all to memory. Pointing to each coin she would state its value and the boys would nod. They played a short game with her then, placing various coins together and asking her the total worth of the coins. She was an apt student and quickly learned the lesson and was able to calculate the value of varying piles of coins without any mistakes. The final pile they gave her to calculate was the entire contents of the small pouch. There were seventeen small copper coins and three large ones. There were also eleven small silver coins, and two large ones. Finally there were the two gold coins. It took several moments for Sara to calculate, but her mother had taught her math at an early age and she was quite good at it. She figured after several moments that the total value was 26,192 copper, or 261 silver and 92 copper, or 2 gold, 61 silver and 92 copper. The boys congratulated her graduation from their course and assured her that the money that was now in her hands was a small fortune.
Shortly after their lesson, Seth regained consciousness. He was weak, like before, but otherwise unharmed. He apologized to his twin, who brushed it off as if the attack had been nothing. Garret was quick to relate the afternoon’s tale to his brother, with Ashton filling in his perspective of the events that had taken place. Seth was astonished at the amount of money Sara now controlled, and assured her, like the other boys had, that she could buy nearly anything she wanted, after paying for the horses, of course.
Garret brought out the sack of provisions, which he had waited to open until everyone was ready to eat. In it was enough food to satiate their immense hunger and still leave them enough for a full day’s journey. Garret pulled from the sack two long loaves of bread that had apparently gotten squished in the twins’ battle earlier that day. He also extracted a handful of salted pork and dried beef that had been cut into small strips. There was also a large block of cheese from which he carved everyone a piece. They all ate hungrily, filling their stomachs properly for the first time in days. Everyone but Sara had water left in their water skins, but Seth was all too happy to share with her. While eating they talked merrily, their spirits raised by good food and good fortune.
Seth
As the night progressed Seth felt his strength returning, and as his brother and Ashton lay down upon their makeshift beds, he was able to gather his blanket off the floor, fling it around his shoulders, and once again slouch down to the floor, his back to the stone wall that had become his resting place. Sara had followed him around the small cavern, afraid he might get dizzy or hit his head. Seth had a full stomach, his eyelids were growing heavy, and tomorrow he knew would be a tiring day.
He reached out his arms to the small woman that he was convinced was an angel, and smiled as she crawled into his embrace. Seth wrapped his arms around her tightly, lovingly, and crushed her body to his. It took little time before both of them were sleeping peacefully.
Seth
Seth’s eyes opened as if a noise had disturbed him. Looking around he realized he was not where he had fallen asleep. Panic seized him and he jumped to his feet. Scanning his surroundings, he was both confused and overcome with fear. He was alone in a dark room with no perceivable door or window. The walls were made from stone and mortar, the stone glistening wetly. The room was dark, but not uncomfortably so. There seemed to be some sort of light source though Seth could not locate it. He spun in circles, slowly, taking in the room and all of its details. He prayed to no one in particular that Sara, his brother, and Ashton were somewhere safe, unharmed. Try as he might he could not recall how he had arrived in this room. Nor could he find any way to escape it. It was as if the room had been built around him, an eternal prison, a tomb, a place from which none were meant to return. He found himself gasping for air. The walls seeming to be closing in on him. He spun himself around again looking in vain for some small detail he might have missed before. There was none.
Seth knew that he mustn’t give up. He had to find a way out, a way back to Sara and Garret. He continued searching the small circular room, this time dragging his fingertips across the stones of the wall, searching for a hidden seam or hinge, anything that might determine a way out. It was then that Seth realized he was not alone. He spun on in his heels, and then gasped in disbelief as he registered the other inhabitant of his cell. His face had come so near to hers when he had turned that it startled him, causing him to fall back onto the wall he had previously been searching. Seth stood, bewildered, staring at the woman before him. She had not been here a moment ago, that much he was sure of. He could not imagine how she came to be here, but he intended to find out.
Seth studied his unexpected companion. She was tall for a woman. She wore a long black robe and cloak that shimmered around her as if the fabric was not quite whole. It was as if the strands within it were constantly rearranging themselves to better fit her body, a body that Seth was unable to measure with his intent gaze. Seth realized that this must be due to his tired eyes and the poor lighting in the room. Perhaps the woman shivered under her clothing, causing it to move so much? The clothing fit her well, if not a bit tightly, yet with its constant movement he could not really tell much about her build, only that she appeared slender. But it was neither her body nor her clothing that had Seth reeling in unanticipated horror. It was the woman’s face. Not that it was twisted or mangled, quite the contrary she had a small, pretty face. She was familiar. The woman before him had a face that Seth had seen recently in a dream. Or was it a memory? The face staring back at Seth was the face of his mother. Only it had been changed, altered slightly for reasons unknown to him. All the facial features were there just as he remembered them. Her high cheekbones, narrow pointy nose, full rosy lips, all there just as he remembered. The eyes and hair though were not the same. The woman’s eyes could only be described as crimson. There was no pupil at their center, no interruption to the swirl of blood in her gaze. This looked horribly unnatural to Seth, and it made him uncomfortable, nervous. Her hair too was different than his mother’s. Instead of the long, brown, flowing locks he remembered, there was in its place rows of black braids. The hair was knotted tightly to the woman’s scalp in neat rows from her forehead, over the top of her head, and then, still braided, trailing down her back and over her shoulders. The image reminded Seth of a farmer’s fields. In all, the woman was beautiful, with a striking resemblance to his mother. Seth wondered what illness or injury had befallen this person causing the insides of her eyes to bleed. He felt sorry for the woman realizing that she must be blind, not even knowing she was a prisoner. The poor woman probably did not even realize he was here with her.
Seth’s scrutiny had only lasted a moment, but the woman remained, her stare fixed in his direction with no sign of emotion on her face. It was as if she waited for something. Seth watched her a minute longer, then deciding that what he was doing was rude, he felt compelled to let the woman know he was there.
“Excuse me, miss,” Seth began in a tone barely over a whisper, trying not to startle the woman. “Are you OK?”
Seth waited for the woman’s response, but it did not come. She continued to peer with sightless eyes in his direction, her features unchanged. Perhaps she was deaf too.
“Can I help you?” Seth asked, this time quite loudly.
The woman’s face stirred. The corners of her mouth turned up slightly, and one eyebrow rose as if she were amused by his question.
“Perhaps you can,” the woman replied, her voice much deeper than Seth had anticipated. Not so deep that it was unnatural for a woman, but deep enough that it did not sound as if it came from her mouth.
“Are you hurt?” Seth asked.
No answer.
“Can I get you something?”
Again the woman did not respond.
“What can I do for you?” Seth again asked the woman, this time trying to broaden the range of his question.
“Find me,” the woman responded simply.
“What do you mean ‘find me’? You’re directly in front of me,” Seth pointed out, now thoroughly confused.
“I am lost and nearly forgotten, Seth. Seek me out once in Valdadore. Find me and I shall help you,” she stated in her hollow voice.
Seth’s mouth hung open. He did not know how the woman knew his name, or how she knew he was traveling to Valdadore. Nor did he know how she expected him to get out of this godforsaken room. Seth began to get angry, thinking the woman must have something to do with his imprisonment, after all she knew too much about him. Something in his subconscious brushed at him as if wanting attention, but he pushed it aside, too busy now to deal with anything else.
“Who are you and how did you bring me here?” Seth demanded.
“I am who you seek and I have brought you nowhere. You came here of your own volition,” the woman replied, no hint of emotion on her face, nor in her voice.
“I seek no one, lady. Now take me back to my companions,” Seth again demanded.
“You will seek something eventually and when you do, look to the oldest buildings,” she answered in a hollow melody. “When you have found me, and when you know me, I shall help you find what you seek.”
Seth shook his head in both disbelief and anger. What was wrong with this woman? Was she both blind and crazy? How did she get here? How was he supposed to get out? What in the name of the gods is she talking about? All this he asked himself, his eyes closed in concentration. He realized that no matter how mad the woman might be, she had found a way into the room and he needed a way out. He opened his eyes to face her once again and ask her this most important question, but she was gone. Replacing the woman was a swirl of blackness that steadily grew, faster and faster, consuming within it the room and Seth alike. When the darkness swallowed Seth he tried to scream, but no sound escaped his lips. Terrified, he forced himself to open his eyes.
Seth found himself once again within the confines of the small stone cavern that was his shelter. In his arms slept Sara, peacefully breathing her sweet warm breath into the cold night air. His twin and Ashton both snored loudly across the small room. Everything was as he had left it, only he realized now that he had not left. It had been his dream that had awoken him. He remembered it clearly. It had been so real he could swear it had actually happened. He remembered every detail of the small circular room he had been in, every detail of the woman who was his only company within that place. A shudder raced down his spine at the thought of the woman and her unseeing blood-like eyes. It had been an unnatural dream, unlike any other dream he could ever remember having. He knew he would not easily forget it. Silently hoping to himself that he would not dream again this night, Seth closed his eyes, trying to quickly fall back asleep. After all, the sooner he slept, the faster the night passed and the sooner they would be away from this place where he nearly lost it all.