Brian looks over at Quest from the other side of the small fire they had burning for warmth that night. He hears the rustle of crunching leaves and looks over his shoulder as Kevin walks up and sits down next to him.
“Feeling better?” Kevin asks him.
“Yes,” Brian says and looks at the marking on his arm, “You know my parents always told me this was a tattoo they had gotten me when I was very young. Did they know about this prophecy?”
“Not likely,” Kevin says sipping a cup of some concoction and looking over at AJ, “He looks pale doesn’t he?”
“AJ?”
“Yes.”
“Aren’t vampires supposed to be pale?”
“Not that pale,” Kevin sighs, “He needs to feed.”
“On what though?”
“He doesn’t need much blood because he’s so old, so I’ll have to donate some of mine. I’m not sure if it will affect him though or drain me of some power.”
Brian stares at AJ as he sits leaning against a tree staring at the flames of the fire, “Let me do it then.”
“What? No,” Kevin says, “I could never let you do that.”
“Why not? If you can do it so can I. AJ won’t hurt me. I trust him and plus I have human blood it won’t affect him.”
“We’ll see,” Kevin says.
Brian looks at AJ again and only then did he realize the large bags that had appeared under his eyes and the paleness of his skin. He stands up and walks over to him taking a seat next to him.
“Hey,” AJ says looking at him.
“Are you feeling ok?”
“Just a little weak,” AJ shrugs.
“You need to eat don’t you?”
AJ nods, “I contemplated feeding off of one of the elves in Victorian, but decided against it when I realized they would hunt me down after that.”
“Kevin says one of us could donate some blood.”
AJ nods, “That would work. I don’t need much.”
Brian nods, “Then take it from me.”
“What?” AJ say staring at him.
“Take it from me. Kevin said he doesn’t know what affect any of the others blood would have on you and I’m human.”
“No,” AJ says, “Absolutely not.”
“It’s better for you to do it now when you only need a little then later when you need more.”
AJ sighs and looks down at the ground, “Alright,” he says softly, “I won’t hurt I promise.”
“I know,” Brian says and looks over at Kevin who was staring at him intently.
“Just uh…just close your eyes,” AJ says to him.
“Alright,” Brian says closing his eyes.
There was only a moment of sharp pain as AJ’s fangs sunk into his neck, but after that it almost felt as if he was asleep or in some kind of dream. Then it was almost as if he was looking through someone else’s eyes. He could see fields of wheat in front of him and large buildings looming in the distance. The air smelled clean and fresh like it did in the Asna and he could hear the sound of a child laughing. He looks over his shoulder and sees a small tan boy with big brown eyes running around after a small dog in front of an old stone house. By his side watching him was a young woman with flowing black hair that cascaded down her back in waves and she was wearing simple clothing that almost resembled a toga to Brian. She looks up and smiles at Brian.
Then it was a matter of seconds before Brian felt his mind fill with thoughts and pictures. Moments flashed before his eyes of fighting along the streets, a glimpse of the Coliseum, a flash of people screaming and fires burning, he saw the house he was standing in front of before burned to ruins, two graves side by side, he saw the flash of a young brown haired woman in a blue dress as she flashed fangs at him, a flash of a battle being fought below him as the Coliseum was set on fire, a flash of a battle from within a large castles walls as arrows soared by him and then…nothing.
Brian opens his eyes quickly to find himself staring at AJ as AJ backs up against the tree he was sitting near. Brian feels his neck and feels two small holes on his neck that were already beginning to shrink.
“What was that?” Brian asks AJ.
AJ shakes his head no, “I have no idea. That’s never happened before.”
“I saw things, people, events…”
“Memories,” AJ says softly.
Brian stares at AJ then casts his eyes to the ground, “They were you’re family weren’t they?”
AJ nods, “My wife Isabella and my son Anthony. They were killed in the war against the shape shifters.”
“The woman in the blue?”
“Calphurnia, the one that changed me. Then battles, human battles in Rome.”
Brian stares at him, “I’m sorry AJ.”
AJ shakes his head again, “I’m…I’m fine…thank you,” he says standing up and walking away into the darkness.
“What happened?” Kevin asks walking up as Brian stares up at him from the ground.
“I saw things Kevin…I saw his memories,” he says standing up, “Is he going to be ok?”
“Yes,” Kevin sighs, “Just let him think. Let him be by himself for a little. His lived a long and hard life. Sometimes it’s just better to die when you’re supposed to. It prevents future pain from happening.”
Brian sighs and looks up at the stars.
AJ looks up at the sky from his perch on a tree branch and sighs. He wipes his eyes and then stares out over the land again. Brian had never meant for that to happen and AJ knew it, but the pain was still there. The pain would never go away. At times like these he wished he was dead then he could at least be with his wife and son. Times like these snapped him to his senses and kept him focused on the task at hand. He closes his eyes and looks over to see Quest sitting not far from his tree staring up at the sky, tears running down her face and singing.
“Ba cheas an la go oiche. Na glortha binne I mo thaobh. ‘S aoibhneas I gach ait gan gruaim. Athas ar mo chroi go deo. He-a-ro. He a-o-ro. Ma shiulaim o na laetha beo. An ghrian ‘s an ghealach o mo shaoil. Deora ar mo chroi go bron. He-a-ro. He-a-ro. He-a-o-ro”*
AJ closes his eyes again and lets the tears fall again for the millionth time.
Brian looks at Quest as they ride their horses slowly over the land. Justin was next to her one her other side and AJ was in front of them with Nick and Kevin. AJ looked better. His color, or what there was of it, came back to him and his eyes once again sparkled in the sun with no bags under them. He seemed perfectly normal to Brian showing no signs of being upset the night before.
Quest on the other hand hadn’t spoken a word since they had left Victorian and had her eyes down cast even as they rode with her cloak’s hood pulled up over her head. Even Chris had given her the space she needed and smiled at her when she looked at him.
“Are you ok?” Justin says looking at her trying to bend his neck to see her.
Brian looks over at them as she looks up and smiles at Justin sweetly.
Justin smiles at her and then sighs quietly as she turns back around and cats her eyes to the ground again, “So you love him?”
“What?” she asks looking at him.
“Oleander, do you love him?”
“I’m getting married to Eris.”
“Yes, but do you love Oleander. I know as well as anyone that the person you are betrothed to is not always the person you love. The girl I am betrothed to is absolutely horrible.”
She looks at him and pushes her cloak hood back, “You’re betrothed?”
“Unfortunately,” Justin sighs, “Her name is Lily. She puts the flower to shame. She’s horrible, has absolutely no personality and sits around all day. She hates the woods and the forests. What kind of werewolf hates the forests? But her family is noble blood and very rich, so my father thought she would be the best match.”
“Eris is a lord’s son. I’ve known him my whole life. My uncle didn’t want me to marry someone I didn’t like, so he thought Eris was the best choice. My father had picked Oleander, but when he died my uncle thought it best for me to marry a southern elf not a northern elf. My uncle said my step father would never choose for me or else he would banish him from ever entering Lothlorien.”
“You don’t like your step father do you?” Brian asks
“I hate him. He’s a horrible person. At least if I marry Eris I leave that city, but it was my father’s city and he loved it.”
“What about your mother?” Justin asks.
“She’s not my mother,” Quest says, “I call her mother because that was how I knew her my whole life, but she isn’t my real mother. My father told me before he died that I was the daughter of a sorceress, an elf who lived in the woods. She died giving birth to me. My father loved her. He never really loved my mother.”
“Betrothed?” Justin asks.
She nods.
“Such a stupid concept,” Justin mutters, “I mean if we are so ahead of the humans then why did they stop this nonsense long ago and we still have it.”
“Humans have a lot of technology,” Quest says, “but they do not have what we have as immortals. They cannot hear the songs in the wind or the rain nor see the beauty we see in everything. Nature is just a thing to them not a person like it is to us. I would rather die then lose the abilities I have with nature now. The Lores and the Riders don’t even have that ability.”
“Is that why they call you child of the star?” Brian asks.
“Where did you hear that?” she asks.
“Oleander called you that.”
“Oh yes he did. My father would call me that because I would spend hours just looking at the stars. He would call me that and Wild Honey. I’m not sure why he would call me that though.”
“You didn’t answer my question,” Justin says.
“And what was that?”
“Do you love Oleander?”
“If you must know…yes,” she says curtly and then rides to the front of the line.
Kevin stares ahead of them at a mountain looming in the distance. The mountain was called Deora ar mo Chroi by the elves, tears on my heart. Many the people that had tried to climb it had come to a bitter end. It was said in elfin legend that it was protected by the magic of a wizard who lived there. Kevin had a feeling that they would have to climb it too. There was no other way around it unless they took the long path, which added about four more days journey he figured.
“We have to go over it don’t we?” Nick asks.
“Yes,” Kevin says, “Unfortunately. I hope the power of the elves helps us there.”
“What were you singing last night?” AJ asks Quest as they get closer and closer to the mountain.
“Song? Oh…” she says.
“I didn’t mean to ease drop, but I was sitting in a tree.”
“Ba cheas an la go oiche. Na glortha binne I mo thaobh. ‘S aoibhneas I gach ait gan gruaim. Athas ar mo chroi go deo. He-a-ro. He a-o-ro. Ma shiulaim o na laetha beo. An ghrian ‘s an ghealach o mo shaoil. Deora ar mo chroi go bron. He-a-ro. He-a-ro. He-a-o-ro,” she sings softly, “Or roughly translated to the common tongue: How beautiful the day and night; the earth is singing in the wind, the voices rise and touch the sky telling all the earth’s believing and in the night sighs fall down and from the skies sighs fall down on me. A when I move away from view my voice is singing in the wind, it rises up to touch the sky telling all that I believe in. And from the night earth shall sing. And from the night earth shall sing. And from the night earth shall sing again.”
“Elfish?” AJ asks.
“Of course,” she smiles.
“We have to go over the mountain,” Kevin says stopping his horse and looking back at them, “We can rest now or go on and not rest.”
“You’re the leader,” Josh says, “You choose.”
“I fear I am not a good chooser,” Kevin sighs.
“Do we need the rest?” Lance asks.
“Do any of you need to rest?” Kevin asks them as no one speaks up, “Then we should go on?”
“I think it is best to try now,” Quest says.
“Very well,” Kevin says, “Let’s go,” he turns back around and continues riding towards the mountain.
“Weather is a fickle mistress,” Nick mutters as he struggles almost knee deep in the snow trying to pull his horse through the snow as well.
“This is just wonderful,” Chris mutters as his horse stops suddenly and he tries to pull her.
“She won’t move if you try to force her,” Quest says to him, “Come now,” she says to the horse, “or we will leave you in the snow.”
Chris looks at the horse at it once again begins to walk forward following Kevin who was in the lead.
Nick shields his eyes from the falling snow and stares at Kevin’s back, “Kevin how much farther is it?”
“I’m not sure,” Kevin says not turning around and trying to press forward.
Brian shields his eyes from the snow and stares down at the ground below. They were a long way up now.
“Maybe we should turn back and wait till the storm passes,” Lance yells up.
“This storm never stops,” Quest says, “It is too late to turn back now.”
Kevin nods and pushes onward, “There is a cave up ahead. We’ll stop and rest there for a little.”
It seemed like it took forever to reach the cave to Brian. His hands were ice cold as well as his face. He was attempting to clean some of the snow off of his feet and pants as the other filed into the cave one by one with their horses. Kevin walks toward the back of it and walks back up.
“We need a fire,” he says and looks over at the many elfin arrows on his horse.
“No,” Quest says following his eyes, “Not the arrows.”
“It won’t take many,” Kevin says, “Maybe nine or ten at the most and then I can keep it burning by magic.”
“No,” she says.
“Quest you’re the only one trained in the use of a bow and arrow and you won’t this many arrows. Please we need to keep warm.”
“Very well,” she sighs.
Brian looks on as Kevin and Nick break the arrows in half and then make them into a small pile. Kevin waves his hand over the pile and a fire springs up almost immediately. All nine of them gather around the fire rubbing their hands together trying to warm them up. Even Justin showed signs of being cold. Brian looks up from the fire and stares out of the caves entrance as the storm blows unmercifully outside.
“Everyone try and get some sleep,” Kevin says to them, “You’ll need your strength to finish the journey tomorrow.”
One by one they each fall asleep curled up in small balls trying to keep warm under their cloaks. All of them except for Brian who remained awake staring out at the storm. And then he heard it again. The same haunting song he had heard in Lothlorien.
“Mirthrandir, Mirthrandir, A Randir Vithren. U-reniathach I amar galen. I reniad lin ne mor, nuithannen. In gwidh ristennin, I fae narchannen. I lach Anor ed ardhon gwannen. Caled veleg, ethuiannen.”
Brian stands up and slowly walks over to the opening at the mouth of the cave where the voice was floating in from. He stares out into the storm and sees a figure walk up around the turn toward the cave. He backs away slowly from the opening and over to the others.
“Kevin. Kevin,” he says softly shaking him, “Kevin someone’s hear. Someone’s coming. Kevin…” he says as an wind rushes into the cave making the fire dance and an arrow sails through the air at him.
* “decora ar mo chroi” by Enya.
