Back to the Dream Page
Chapter 16
My car decided to break down on me in the middle of nowhere. I was on a rarely used, dusty back road and had no one in sight to help me. The last car I'd seen had passed me by over an hour before and I doubted anyone would stop to help me out anyway. It was the hottest part of the day and there were no towns for miles in either direction. My car… It had toughed out in stormy weather before, keeping me safe in pouring rain or icy hail or swirling snow but out here, it had succumbed to the heat of the desert. I didn't dare walk outside for fear of heat stroke but even more, I knew I couldn't wait inside the car for fear of being cooked alive. So walk I did, letting the highway lead me to where I needed to go with only a backpack filled with some essentials on my back to sustain me. It turned out I didn't have to wait that long after all though. Not even five minutes after starting off had passed when a car pulled up alongside me.
I stepped back as the backdoor opened and someone inside gestured for me to come in. As willing as I was to get out from underneath the unforgiving sun, I paused. Something was telling me I needed to be on my guard around these people and they sensed my hesitation. "If you want to see Holly again, please come inside Ryan."
I stiffened under that harsh tone. My instinct had told me right. These people were worthy of my caution and every nerve in my body wanted to run the other way. But then again, they were also the only link I'd had thus far to Holly. The warm feeling surrounding my wrists and neck further warned me of the danger in this car. As much as I wanted to just turn around, I shrugged off my pack and eased myself into the backseat of the dark vehicle.
As tense as I was for the first half hour or so, I must have dozed off for awhile because when I woke, my watch told me it was already nearing midnight and we were just pulling up somewhere. Oh, I knew there were dangers in falling asleep in the presence of the enemy, but considering that they could have easily finished me off on the highway out there and meant that they needed me for something.
That thought completely flew out of my mind when the car finally stopped. The engine had just been turned off when my door was flung open and arms were there to pull me out. So thus, I was forced to my knees as I was put into chains that bound my arms to my sides and my feet together before I was dragged most humiliatingly to another room. Somewhere in the loud jeering and taunts coming from all the spectators, I heard a female voice object somewhere, saying that I shouldn't be treated like this. But just as I heard the voice one instant, the next it was gone, drowned out by all the others. I gave up trying to figure out why the voice was so familiar but being dragged about on a smooth, cold… I want to say metallic floor just wasn't helping my temperament one bit. We passed huge corridors, made our way through huge hallways… Everything dark with browns and blacks being the only color I could make out in the blur that I could make out.
It was a full five minutes before we finally stopped, and a hush came around all those that surrounded me. I heard the chains being dropped and feet scampering away from me, leaving me facing my back toward whomever everyone now reverently knelt down to with heads bowed. An icy chill crawled up my back as I lay there in anticipation of what would happen next.
Slow, calculated footsteps rang and echoed in the vast coliseum we seemed to be in, finally pausing right behind me. I sensed indecision then, as if the individual wasn't sure what to do next. The pause was brief though, and the being just stepped lightly over me, gripping my chin in a firm hold so we looked into each other's eyes. Her beauty took my breath away at first glance. She was everything every man wanted in a woman. Clad in just jeans and a white tank top, I could tell the woman before me was tall and strong. Her skin was tanned from spending a lot of time outdoors but still soft looking and flawless. Her long hair, which was tied up in a high ponytail, was a dark blonde with lighter streaks mixed in from where her hair was highlighted by the sun's rays. Her face was heart-shaped and there was a small splash of freckles on her innocent looking face. Her lips were the palest of pinks and her cheeks held a faint blush.
And then our eyes locked and I forgot all about the beauty and barely kept myself from trembling under that piercing gaze. While her overall appearance was one of childish innocence in a woman's body, her eyes betrayed a far darker side, one I knew I would only come to know too well too soon. The two blue eyes that bore into mine were of the lightest blue I'd ever seen in my life and where I thought I'd seen sparks come from Daniel's eyes when he was alive and in a bad mood, this woman's eyes shot out flames of ice into me.
I took all of that in the second she took to turn my head from one side to the other and then let me go, letting my head smack against the floor suddenly. I groaned as stars flitted across my vision for a few seconds and I heard her voice carry itself into the large crowds around us. "You brought me this!? I thought that you were bringing me the great Quinn! There is no way you're going to let me believe that this weakling is their Teacher!" Hesitant and frightened babble circled the coliseum-like room and spectators were slow to shake their heads to correct what she had already decided was false. She slowly turned around so that she could look at the people assembled there. "You're telling me that this man is the one who has been Chosen to follow in Kristin's footsteps and lead their people." More heads shook in agreement. The woman turned to me. "What do you say? Are you Quinn?" To say yes would be to damn myself to a short-lived life. To say no would be a lie and I would never betray what I was, as much as I was afraid of what I was at that moment. I was cursed either way so I stayed silent, letting her people do their work for me.
"He's the one Tara! He wears the magical necklace and bracelets that only one in his position can!" a voice cried out and many voiced their agreement quickly after.
"How can that be? I only see a cross pendant, a watch, and a chain bracelet."
"He's a magician! He can transform everything!" someone else cried out.
"We all know he's the most powerful sorcerer they have!" another voice rang in the rising commotion.
"He chopped off my brother's head with a wave of his hand when my brother was about to kill his Li! … I remember how he worked with Casta and Melisenda to worsen the rain and wind that slowed us down that same battle! … And then he made Fire burn the man who'd dared nick Hyam and it burned for three days! …"
Frosty blue eyes regarded the audience. "Fools," she muttered so that only I could hear. "I can't believe why they believe such rumors or fairy tales." She turned her full attention to me then and bent down once more over my vulnerable body. A little less roughly this time, she took my chin in her hand and looked deep into my eyes, as if she was searching for something. "I think it will be a pleasure to watch you suffer," she said at length.
"Good luck trying," I finally got out, sneering at her. "You heard what your followers believe me capable of."
She laughed, throwing her head back as she gracefully stood up. "You're brave all right," she chuckled as she signaled for two of her minions to remove all the chains from me. Shakily, I stood up, massaging my muscles to get the circulation flowing freely again as I watched the woman ascend a short flight of steps and sit in a seat that had been reserved for her. She looked out into the crowd, scanning the faces quickly. "You, you, and you." She pointed out three individuals and I watched as they came down into the pit with me. All three were women and I wondered if this Tara was mocking me or what because all three looked to be in their teens without any fighting experience whatsoever. I eyed them warily, not liking the eager, hungry eyes that stared back, already figuring that these three were powerful in their own standards to have been chosen. I could feel that much, but I had yet to see how much potential they had. "I'd like to offer a choice for you." Troubled whispers erupted from the crowd. Apparently, this wasn't expected.
"Go on."
"Will you fight these three or not?"
I looked at her suspiciously. "For what? Your entertainment purposes? I'd rather not."
She appeared to look pensive, as if wondering what to say in retort to that. "Do you know why Kristin left you?" she asked suddenly.
I stiffened under her casual gaze. "What does this have to do with anything?"
"It has to deal with everything. I know of your plan to avenge her death. Who doesn't? We all know you love her. But she wouldn't have your love. And do you know why?" She waited, wanting a response from me that I wouldn't give. She shrugged and relaxed back into her chair. "I had a boyfriend once," she started again. "We were even engaged at one point after years of getting to know each other and loving one another. But then your precious Kris came along and changed all that. They were friends at first, lovers soon after." She smirked at my disbelieving look. "Oh yes, those two were quite intimate with each other. I didn't want to believe it. I kept hoping it was unreal and I was in as much denial as you are now. Nathan and I had known each other for all of our lives and Kris ruined it for us in less than three months. She kept saying that she didn't want to step in between us but she did. What's even stranger is that I didn't hate her for it. I just wanted her to leave us alone. Whenever we saw each other, I tried my best to be civil and she did likewise, but I always felt like I was beneath her and I resented her for making me feel that way.
"A couple of hours before Nathan and I were supposed to be married, she'd left a note at my door, saying there'd be a gift for me when I got to the chapel. Well, I was hoping things would be finally all right between us and we'd be able to part on good terms. Imagine my surprise and horror when my "gift" turned out to be my fiancé, dead and cold upon the altar of the church. He was dressed in his suit and held a bouquet of flowers on his chest. The flowers were the same color as the blood that had pooled around his body." A pause, and then, "She left you because she couldn't bear the thought of telling you that she was fooling around with another man, whether it was her duty or not."
Silence blanketed the coliseum as we stared into each other's eyes. She was right. I was in denial. I could not believe that the woman I'd loved could be the very same woman Tara had spoken of just now. In all of our time together, I had never seen her once raise a hand against another. Of course, when I received her memories, I'd known she'd killed in battle as was her role, but never did I see this memory. I wanted to call Tara a liar but something was holding me back. For some reason, I believed her tale… And that didn't sit well with me because if Kris had been able to hide this from me, even after death, who knew what else she hid? And then I remembered that morning in my living room, how she'd denied that there'd been any other men besides myself. How could she have lied to me straight out like that when we'd based our entire friendship on our honesty with each other?
"What do you want?" I found my voice eerily breaking into the heavy silence that surrounded us all but in my own ears, I could hear the flat tones with which I spoke. I felt my body relax into a casual pose to match that of Tara's. It was as if none of it mattered to me, but in actuality, this new revelation was tearing me apart.
There was a tense stillness for a minute following my question as we all waited for an answer. And then, by some signal unknown to me, all three started for me at once, causing the crowd to begin cheering. Caught unaware, I had no chance of even trying to fight back and was given none after this fray had started. Like starved hyenas, the three came after me and the mockery that rang from their mouths and all of those watching all echoed in my mind. Through the moving mass of dark limbs and even darker clothes that were threatening to finish me off, I saw Tara's face watching. Her eyes had lost their icy glare and she just watched with a sort of pleasure, as if she'd just been waiting for just this moment to see me suffer as much as she had over her fiancé's death. When she caught my glance, the three halted their fight and stepped back a bit. A self-satisfied smirk set firmly in her face and she finally spoke. "I offer another choice. You can scream or not." The smile that followed those words chilled me right to the bone and something in that look just broke me right then and there. She wore the face of victory and we both knew it. The three renewed their attack with fervor and with each grunt and groan, I felt myself being broken down to her will, my fight lost even before it had begun.
When I realized I'd given up, I felt a fresh stab of pain pierce my heart. Daniel had been right all this time, I thought to myself as I remembered overhearing the Council discuss my uselessness all those nights ago. I was a failure. I'd failed his memory.
I'd failed my people and my friends.
I'd failed Holly and Kristin in my giving up.
I'd failed myself.
Faces from my past floated in my memory when I started to slip into the dark, inviting arms of unconsciousness. I truly believed I was dying when I watched, in my mind's eye, the faces of those I'd loved in my life look down upon me… But then one came up and I paused in my self-pity. I wondered why his face all of a sudden, the face of the man who'd killed Kris stared at me, the same mocking eyes in that face were the same ones I'd found on Tara's. But even as I held the image in my head, the eyes lost their laughter and were filled with sadness. As I finally drifted off, my last thoughts were of the man's eyes. For some reason, I found a reason to live. I wanted only to breathe and live long enough to figure out why there was sad weariness in this man's eyes and why I felt like I was needed to help this man.