Destination Starlight (4)
Together the couple tumbled through the conduit of energy, gasping and unable to speak. A moment later, they were thrown through the wall, into the darkened hallway, hitting the massive doors of a nearby game area, once again, back in the hall of the shop in Eastridge. “Jesus!” Joe yelped, grunting as he hit the door, as did Chelle. Both staggered back to land on their butts, looking up at the doors. “We’re back.” Joe told her, and both sighed in relief. The shimmer disappeared from the wood wall. He touched it and gasped. “It’s gone!” Chelle gasped, “What the hell was that? Were we dreaming? What does this all mean?” Joe only shrugged, as he turned his head to the wall that had become dark as the portal closed. He touched the wall gingerly again, and it was solid. “We should not tell the others anything until we can confirm what the hell we saw and where we were just a moment ago.” Joe told her, “If that is what happened to Nathaniel, I want to go through and find him and bring him back. We can’t let him stay there, wherever that is.” Chelle gasped and she only nodded, both staggering to their feet, to find fatigue strong, and both were disoriented. Joe and his girlfriend both had a sinking feeling and realization they had stepped through something much more than the games here at Eastridge. She realized that he was right, that even through she disliked him, that if he was in danger that morally they had to look after him, putting her differences aside. “But what was that, Joe? Where the 'hell' were…?” Chelle had asked but she was promptly shushed by her boyfriend. Joe had shushed her as Mike, Cmike, Monte and others had walked toward them. They all stood around and shot the bull for a moment and Joe only reported that there still was no sign of their fellow member, only glancing at the wall where the faint shimmer of the portal could be seen on the wood surface again. He grimaced and moved defensively toward the portal, blocking the way from anyone entering it. No one but Chelle had noticed the actual defensive move by Joe. A few minutes later, the couple and the others in the party broke, leaving the shop behind for another time to go to a movie together. However, all were thinking of their missing member, who and unaware of the events that would be coming ahead for them all later in time. At present, they all hoped to see their fellow member on-line again and just concentrated on the present to enjoy the movie together. But inside there were too many unanswered questions that were left open by all who had seen him alive only a few hours ago and where he went to. Only Joe and Chelle had actually seen something very strange in which they guessed was the reason that they had not found Varden, AKA Nathaniel in the games. Both glanced at each other, Joe nodding to Chelle several times, as a grim look appeared on their face. Their mood did not seem to be noticed by the others, with thanks by the couple. The couple suspected something very sinister had happened when he failed to show up online for the next two days. Police had been summoned by his family when he failed to return to his home after those few days. In those few days, the BBS members gathered often-together upset by the disappearance of their fellow member. Meanwhile, in those same two days, the elves approached the gate together and wall that surrounds the village of Saint Brigid. As they approached, David opened it, and Terrill paused to speak with the Carver as Mirya pressed on into the village. She headed to the house of Kay the Village priest, walking with Night Flame, containing their strange visitor of the forest. She walked undisguised through the village of Saint Brigid, and the villagers smiled and waved. Children approached and played around the horse, daring each other to touch it. It did not detour Mirya from what she needed to do, walking with Night Flame down the street and quickly arriving at Kay’s home. She knocked, waited, and knocked again. After a moment, he opened the door and stared at her in astonishment. “What did I do to grace a fair folk at my door?” He stammered, and Mirya smiled, touching her forehead to bow wide and low. She motioned to Rijiin who lay on the horse. “Greetings Kay…” She said, “I found him on the road with Terrill, he was seriously injured and strangely has not awakened. I brought him here, to be looked after.” Mirya paused as Kay glanced at the person on the horse who lay across the saddle, and the blue aura around him. “I think there is something more that is going on that he may require being looked after more than I can.” She continued, “I will visit every other day to ensure his waking up from his strange state and perhaps we can get more of an answer about this stranger from far away.” Kay glanced repeatedly at Rijiin, and in silent astonishment at strange aura that surrounded him. He nodded quickly. “You did right to bring him here. Come and bring him upstairs into one of the bedrooms.” Kay instructed, and turning Mirya pulled Rijiin down from the horse, steadying him as Kay helped her take their traveler inside his home. They took up, dragging him literally up the stairs, and putting him into a bed after stripping him of the bloody garb that he wore. As he lie there, covered under a comforter that Kay stared at the aura in silence, standing next to Mirya. “He has that same aura you did, when you were first transformed into an elf.” Kay commented, grinning at the Elf maiden as she gasped loudly. “So I was right.” Mirya asked, and he nodded. “Varden said it was necessary that you had that strange aura, and said not to worry.” Kay said, “I think he’ll be all right if you healed him. I’m going to say the same thing, don’t worry, I’ll look after him with a hot meal when he awakens.” For a week or so Rijiin lay there and the maiden stared at a different face, every time she visited him during that time, surrounded by the aura. She had a strange drawing to this person, looking after him as Kay had during her unconsciousness. When Mirya entered the room, for the next two weeks or so later, this time she let out a gasp, when seeing the stranger’s face. It was not the same as it had been when he had arrived, here in the village or when Mirya and his mate found him. He was different all around, from head to toe that this person had been transformed into an elf. His hair was longer, his body muscular and his face fair. Mirya stared at a different person belonging to the immobile form of their visitor who was literally out of time and space. As the elf maiden sat on a stool next to the bed, she watched him for any sign of him returning from his unconscious state back to them. She closed her eyes, staring at the starlight, wondering if there something in them that would tell her. She saw those same fleeting images, clouded by haze, but nothing more. Her visual had been a blood-covered body lying in a pool of blood in the midst of a creek. She saw the modern places he had been at in the future. She saw Eastridge Mall and other places that would not exist for the next four hundred years. The images faded away, leaving her more confused as ever. Meanwhile, Rijiin floated free. A lone Red tailed hawk swooped, darting through the air, and through the thick cloud-cover. The universe revolved. Worlds shifted. The newly transformed elf dreamed, floating in the silence of oblivion. He heard voices, and he ignored them without answering. Starlight surrounded him as the hawk's wings cut the starlight as they had the wind, their feathers shining silver white. There was a star calling to him, and for a moment, he hung over it, poised, spreading his wings to stall ever so slightly, eyes flashing with anticipation… and he swooped, a bright both of feather and bone and blood that hurtled into the stellar flame. It roared about him for a moment; then he settled softly onto the arm of the Lady who stood on the grassy plain beneath a glittering sky. "Have you come so soon, child?" she said, stroking the sleek feathers. "But then, you have a great heart and your soul has wings, so this is not unexpected." The hawk blinked at her, knowing only that he was home, that he wanted to stay, that the eyes that met his, that flashed starlight and moonlight both, holding the many universes in their depth were eyes that would never turn from him. "Be at peace, child," said the Lady. "But return to your new friends, lest they grieve." The Red-tailed hawk preened nervously. "Fear not. You will be back, and you will have full knowledge then. Go now." With infinite strength and gentleness both, the Lady lofted the bird into the sky. Again, the red-tailed hawk's wings bit starlight, and again he soared aloft. The star field and grassy plain fading around him and once again he was alone in the darkness filled with starlight. The star field faded in a swirling wormhole, like a black hole and a moment later, Rijiin slowly opened his eyes. As he lay there, his eyes focused on the half-illuminated room. He made out a bench, a table, and chairs. Moonlight shone in through a window of glass, glinting on the lozenge shaped panes and on a crucifix on one wall. He eyed the bedpost made and carved out of a thick ash tree. He managed a shrug of his shoulders. In the corner, he was relieved to see his blade standing nearby, still attached to the black, cloth woven belt and his satchel containing a musical instrument that sat nearby. He wondered where he was. Then he remembered the portal, the city, and… He paused. Sensing he was not alone, he turned his head to gaze upon young looking woman who sat next to the bed on a stool. She was dressed simply in a green and gray garb, her red/gold hair spilling to her shoulders. Her face was gentle, and to the newly transformed elf, quite beautiful. Mirya turned to face him, gasping quietly in alarm but she composed herself quickly, when sensing he was awake. He was looking at her emerald green eyes. They reflected the firelight, but there is something more to them. It is something that seemed to fill their depths. He remembered her partially as he lay in the wooded clearing. Rijiin barely remembered what she said to him and he had not understood. He said nothing at first, only meeting her gaze, and the slight smile she had on her face. He could see a look of relief on her face too. Mirya, on the other hand, was staring at the unfamiliar face before her that over a week or so had changed as they traveled south and had brought him to Saint Brigid. Now he lay in the bed in the church of the free town, awake, and so different to the young maiden. The ruddy complexion of Rijiin had gone, returning him as a fair feature, almost ivory complexion, stranger that had been surrounded by the energy. His body and soul had changed too, the maiden sensing that he was no longer, what he was when they first found him, a mere human. She realized that the energy was transforming him inwardly now, as it did to her, but it was not she, but the goddess whom the elves worshipped, behind his initial transformation. The elf maiden sensed something else, but could not exactly know what that was. He opened his mouth and no sound came out as airless words came from his mouth. He frowned clearing his throat. His words had been a soundless “Where am I?” She frowned at him, gasping by his English and peered at him in astonishment. "Hello." She said formally, switching to English, "My name is Mirya." He grimaced at the slightly accented voice, a beautiful one to be sure, heavy with an inflection that he did not recognize. "As for where you are, this village is called Saint Brigid. It is the southernmost of the Free Towns. You are in the priest's house." Rijiin with that information frowned and managed a grimace. Mirya had seen him mouth the words asking his question and had answered him politely with a smile. “Saint Brigid?” He asked and she nodded. "Who are you?" She asked, "What brings you to this realm, Englishman." He frowned at the term, and wondered immediately where he was really, and if he were back in the games. Although the conduit of energy had been like Joe and Chelle after him, swirling with color as he tumbled through it to land on his back in the canopy of forest. It had been real and as did the blood that spilled from his body. He grimaced at the thoughts. "I'm Rijiin, Rijiin L'Theil." He told her, "I'm at your service." "It is a great pleasure to finally meet you Rijiin." Mirya told him and bowed slightly. He grinned at the old-fashioned motion. "It is my honor to meet a beautiful maiden like you." He said, "You know Mirya you don't look like a priestess." "Kay is the priest here." She said simply, "Be at peace, his attitude about those who are… different… are much more enlightened than those of his Church, and many folk here are not unused to the powers and abilities found here. You will find this village a haven." He had no idea in what the maiden meant and what she was referring. He wondered if it was their meeting in the clearing, remembering her through a haze of pain. The young elf nodded his head anyway, despite his confusion. "With thanks." The newly transformed elf replied and he met the green eyes of the elf-maiden who sat before him. She leaned forward, and from a silver chain, a pendant of a crescent moon and interlocked, rayed star, twinkled in the low firelight. Rijiin quickly glanced down at himself, suddenly relieved for being in one piece after that sword… He shuddered at the memory, suddenly remembering the blade that ran through his gut. Lifting the goose down quilt over him, that he peered at his wound under the shirt he wore, the area strangely able to seen highlighted in purples and lavender colors. He noted there was no wound, scar, or anything that remained in the area he examined. The newly transformed elf had put down the comforter in confusion, regarding the young elf maiden for a moment. He had a look of question on his face, if not alarm. "Wait a minute, I was wounded and the last place I was is in a wooded clearing. How long have I been here in Saint Brigid and how did I get here?" He asked suddenly, "I think I remember you kneeling over the top of me when I was in the clearing in the woods…" With that notion, he stopped and gasped. "Be at peace. When we found you, you were in the forest of Malvern, about halfway between Saint Blaise, another village north of here and the capital city of Hypperex." She replied, "You were almost dead when we found you. You required healing with the power the elves are graced to have." "You… healed me?" "I did." She replied, "I have that talent in addition to others." He turned to look beyond the beautiful young elf maiden. "You arrived initially, what we tracked by your blood trail, you came from probably from the north. You probably traveled far, as the capital city is several days travel, and many leagues from where we found you." Mirya told him, "You are lucky to have crossed through the many perils of Malvern Forest, and lucky to be alive when we found you. If you came from there, you are fortunate to leave an Inquisition held city unscathed." "Inquisition…?" He asked, his face showing utter astonishment, "Okay, these games have gone a bit far, that's not what I put in for. This must be a pain related hallucination. This place looks real, out of something in history." "Games…?" Mirya asked curiously, and after a moment, he glanced sideways at her as he nodded, sensing her confusion. "Yes, games. It is in the shop in East…?" He began but suddenly trailed off at the expression she gave him. It was the look of complete confusion on her face. He shut up immediately, and regarded her for a long time. "Whatever you are expecting to happen is not what you will find here in Adria." She told him, "But I am here to help you, as I am the one who healed you and is now one of your guides to this place. Be at peace, Messier, you are safe here." He turned his head, almost snapping his head off as he met her green eyes in astonished silence. He had been looking at the interior of his rustic room that the occupied. He had sensed a change and sensed something was a miss. The newly transformed elf realized that this actually was not the games, he was actually here real time, and literally had been pulled out of time and space. Her statement had confirmed the fact and his wounds that he had received had been real, his organs sticking out from the stab wounds in his belly, his blood covering him. “C-can I ask what year it is?” He asked, closing his eyes, trying to avoid the answer he was about to hear. “Why, what year do you think it is?” Mirya asked curiously, startled by the question. "I just need to know.” He replied, “I just want to make sure I am not dreaming all of this. For my own sanity and understanding to my… uh… situation…” “Well, just so you know, you are really here and now sitting alive and well in the year of the goddess, thirteen hundred and fifty two, A.D." She replied, "It is November. Be at peace, and be happy you are still with us, even despite what happened and is happening to you." Rijiin had gasped openly making Mirya frown. “What is happening to me?” He asked, making the maiden grimace at the question. Mirya sensed his misunderstanding, if not his confusion by his surroundings. However, knew he had been with the goddess and found her wisdom, council and love. "Are you not well with that revelation messier?" She asked and he shook his head slightly. "No, I'm good. All this just has got suddenly complicated. It has to be a hallucination. I bet I am still in that clearing about to die from my wounds, unconscious and deranged." He replied sharply and noted her expression as she shook her head. She had put a hand to her mouth, hiding a smile and her amusement despite the seriousness of the reality that this person clearly did not belong here, coming from another place far away. Inside the young human, now transforming elf, wondered 'how the hell' he came to this place. He wondered what that portal was about that had crackled on the threshold, and had disappeared in front of him. He wondered what bullshit he had stepped in and the consequences of not going back had done to him, for his very existence was held in the balance right now. “Somehow with that disorientation that I have stepped through that strange energy field into time itself and the portal disappeared in front of me in the clearing.” He thought, “It was pulsating different colors and wasn’t like the other times in the games with the arch. I don’t understand what happened, but I know one thing I am in big trouble.” Mirya was reading his thoughts, and gasped as she heard him. She stared at him incredibly.
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