Just finished the dream sequence at the Wall of the Faithless in MOTB. Wow, wow, wow. Was nice to see my favourite bay boy Bishop make a return. Though I was a little disappointed with the way it went. Probably because I had imagined more of a romance between my char and Bishop, so expected more from a reunion with an old flame! So anyways, I had to sit down and write this straight away. My take on meeting Bishy at the Wall and blending it into a future romance with Gann. I mean, poor Gann, how would he feel about meeting this old beau of his sweetie? Anyway, enough of my ramblings!
The Trouble With Dreams
Calia tossed restlessly on her bedroll, her cloak slid down her body and exposed her to the chill night air. Gann slid from his perch and crouched beside the bard. He straightened the cloak and tucked it around her slender frame. Though he knew it was of little use, as Calia would continue to turn with unrest until she woke. This had become the nightly routine since their escape from Coveya Kurg'annis. Gann swept a lock of Calia's sun kissed hair away from her face and gently curled it behind her ear. Gann's fingers traced the pointed length of it, fascinated as always by her Fey features. Elves were a rarity in the realm of Rashemen. It amused Gann that she drew all eyes to her upon entering a crowded room. It was strange that he was no longer the exotic novelty that provoked fascination and suspicion in equal measure.
Gann withdrew his hand as Calia trembled, caught in the grip of her dream. This memory, this nightmare was eating away at her soul. Every night, little by little. It ate away at Gann's too. From the moment Calia had walked into his cell in Mulsantir, the bard had captivated him. Never before had he met someone that could verbally spar with him, outmatch him even. A kindred spirit that also believed in the power of words and dreams. Gann had led himself to believe that there was some bond forming between them. That Calia saw what was in his heart and returned his feelings in kind.
Now though Gann could see that her heart had been claimed long ago by this rogue, Bishop. This Ranger that she loved, beyond all reason and good sense. A villain that had abandoned her, betrayed her and left her to die. Yet for all this, Bishop's death tormented her.
Long and deep had Gann wandered in her dreams; crowded with the memories of a home, a father. Memories marred by shadows, pain and loss. Calia grieved deeply for her friends. Elanee; Shandra; Sand; Gann had walked beside them all in the dreamscape, had come to know them as Calia did. Yet this Bishop he had never encountered before. Calia never spoke of him, never thought of him. Gann had thought the great wound in her soul was due to the loss of her companions but now he understood. It was Bishop alone that truly pained her. A loss she felt so keenly that she could not even bear to dream of him.
Until Calia had been confronted by the Slumbering Coven. She had dived deep into their tangled web of dreams, tendrils reaching out into the Planes and beyond. There she had learned the fate of the one she loved and feared the most. Gann closed his eyes and drifted into Calia's dream, he could not help himself. As much as it pained him to watch, he could not resist. Every night it galvanised his heart, reminded him why love was such a folly.
The Fugue Plain had become a familiar sight to Gann. This cold, grey expanse, filled with the screams of the Faithless. Their cries no longer drew pity from Gann's heart, he was tired of their wailing, tired of this place. It was easy to find Calia as she walked the length of the wall, a shadow close behind her. A spectre of Gann, his dream counterpart, fashioned by Calia. It cut him inside how hurriedly his dream form had been shaped, as though an afterthought by Calia. The Dream-Gann was little more than a mist, easily dispersed with a wave of a hand. Gann watched them as Calia lingered, she knew what lay ahead of her. A truth she couldn't bear to face, but guilt so deep that she punished herself with it every time she slumbered.
"Calia… Farlong?" The hoarse voice called out in surprise. Gann mouthed the words in unison with the twisted figure of Bishop; so well he knew the script of this nightly drama. Calia stopped, frozen in her tracks. Her eyes went wide. Eyes so green they reminded Gann of the first shoots of spring. Calia had bewitched him with those glittering orbs. The words she spoke had been recited a dozen times but Calia's anguish was always fresh.
"This can't be. You betrayed Garius. You survived, I watched you leave." Calia edged toward the twisted figure of Bishop as she spoke and the Ranger laughed bitterly.
"Funny. I remember things differently. I remember a hundred tons of rock falling on my head." Bishop sneered, his pale face framed by the dark mould that covered the rest of him, that blended him with the Wall.
"Who is this one? He speaks as if he knows you." The Dream-Gann whispered, his lines merely a footnote, nearly lost beneath the screams of the Faithless.
"Where's dear Casavir?" Bishop snarled. "Already traded him up for this hag-spawned wretch? Or does he too lie under a pile of rocks?"
"Gann means a great deal to me, Bishop." Calia replied hotly. How Gann's heart had soared at those words when first spoken, not knowing what was to follow. Now they festered inside him, poisoned him with jealousy of a man that had been consumed by the Wall.
"Of course he does." Bishop's eyes raked up and down Gann with contempt. "He's male, presumably willing and convenient. Guard your black heart hag-spawn. This wench jumps from man to man like a pox."
Once again the Wall shuddered and shifted. The air filled with heightened shrieks as bones twisted and snapped. Bishop's smirk was wiped away and replaced with fear.
"The reason you're here. They all know. Can't you hear it?" Bishop gasped in pain as his body was pulled further into the wall. His words fell on deaf ears for Calia had been studying the wall, trying to find a weakness.
"There's got to be a way to get you out of here." She announced resolutely.
"No!" Bishop growled in reply and Calia stepped back, stung by his reply. "I made this bed of mould and rot. You don't get to ease your aching conscience by playing the Hero." The Ranger hissed and Dream-Gann stood motionless, unresponsive. Gann himself remembers the truth of it though. Bishop's words had spoken to Gann. In that instant he had realised the depth of Bishop's regret. The Ranger truly believed he deserved punishment for what he had done to Calia. In his own twisted way he had loved her. Bishop welcomed oblivion for he could not live knowing what a mistake he had made. Calia seemed to understand too, for her resolve broke.
"You should have gone and camped on you're hidden trail. If you had just walked away, then you would have been safe, you'd be alive." Calia stepped closer to the remains of Bishop, her shoulders trembled with emotion. "Why did you come back? Why?"
"You know why." Bishop replied quietly, the cruel sneer faded from his face as he gazed down at Calia. She bowed her head and Gann had thought she would collapse into a weeping pile, but her heroic spirit had risen to the fore as it always did. Again she studied the Wall, a fevered gleam in her eye.
"There must be a way." Calia said with determination. Bishop's eyes glazed over and the screams fell silent.
"There is no escape. The Wall, it hungers. It drains everything away." Bishop's voice had changed, as though someone else spoke through him. The mystery of this still eluded Gann and led him to believe that this dream had another purpose beside tormenting Calia.
"Bishop?" The Sun Elf reached for him hesitantly. His vision cleared and the Ranger looked at Calia in fear.
"I saw you, in the Wall. You have to get out of here." It still surprised Gann that Bishop could care what happened to Calia, after all he had done to her.
"I can't leave you like this… not like this." Calia whimpered. The familiar smirk returned to Bishop's face.
"It's all I want - to dissolve into nothing. To forget… and be forgotten."
"I'll still remember you, you selfish bastard!" Despite her angry words the tears flowed freely down Calia's face.
"Hah! That's my feisty girl." Bishop said with genuine affection. "Perhaps that you remember is enough for the likes of me." Bishop's eyes snapped upward in alarm. "They know you are here, you have to go."
"I can't leave you here. Please don't ask me to do that." Calia trembled helplessly, rooted to the spot. Despair had finally robbed Calia of her will.
"You can't save me." Bishop replied with finality. "I don't know if you ever could have." He confessed and his eyes drifted to Dream-Gann; they silently implored him to take Calia away. To drag her kicking and screaming if need be. Gann knew the rest all to well. He had grasped Calia by the shoulders, had propelled her away from the Wall. Gann had all too happily left the Ranger to his fate. He remembered that Calia had shaken herself from her despair long enough to battle the Fiends that chased them to the dream portal. The two of them had violently crashed from the dream onto the floor of Coveya Kurg'annis and something inside Calia broke. Gann had cradled her in his arms as she wept. She had clutched Gann close, an intimacy he had longed for but which now left him cold and empty.
"Gann, I can't…" Calia had gasped. "I can't bear any more. It is too much." Gann supposed he should have felt more pity for her. That it wasn't just the loss of Bishop that had broken her. The weight of all the events since the King of Shadows had come crashing down on her. Gann understood this, but still it hurt him to know how deeply she mourned for Bishop.
Gann sighed and broke himself from his own memories, Calia's dream still unfolded before the Wall. Gann looked around the dreary landscape. No Fiend's had appeared and the screams of the Wall had fallen silent again. Gann felt a prickling on the back of his neck, something was different. Calia bowed her head as the Wall shifted once again, the mould preparing to take hold of Bishop entirely. Dream-Gann reached for Calia, his touch like the whisper of a ghost against her skin. But it was enough to draw her gaze to him. Dream-Gann dissipated suddenly, his muted colours exploded outward and faded to grey. Calia and Gann both jumped in surprise, this had never happened before.
The screams of the Wall rose to a fevered pitch as it twisted and convulsed. Calia fell to her knees as the sound pierced her sensitive ears. Gann watched in horror as colour flooded Bishop's bleached skin. An arm broke free from the wall, reaching out for Calia.
"Calia!" Gann started as his own voice cried out to the Elf. Calia looked up at the figure on the Wall, her eyes widened as Bishop's face seemed to melt away. Gann's rugged features took shape in it's place. Calia leapt to her feet in surprise and her hand flew to her mouth to stop a scream of terror. "Calia, help me!" Dream-Gann called again, his fingers grasped at Calia.
"Gann!" Calia cried, her hand took hold of his, a grip so tight her knuckles went white. "No, oh no, no…" She muttered helplessly. The Wall shifted again and Dream-Gann's torso was pulled deeper. He cried out in pain as the Wall pressed in around him. Calia pulled desperately at his arm. Gann stood in shock, witnessing his inevitable fate should he die without finding faith. A chill shot down his spine and he knew it was pure terror.
"No, Gann. I can't lose you." Calia pleaded. Gann could see the fear in her eyes, the helplessness. But he also saw the resolve awaken, a fire that burned in the depths of her. Calia's hand fell to her sword and she pulled it from it's sheath. The elf launched herself at the Wall and plunged her sword into it. The outer layer of brittle moss-like mould crumbled under her assault. Calia hacked at the wall around Dream-Gann and cleared some of his torso from the Wall. He was covered still in the mould but the shape of him became more defined. "I won't leave you Gann." Calia told him with conviction as she drove her sword deeper into the Wall. She had revealed a new layer of the Wall, wet and tangled with thorns for grasping at flesh. It took more effort for her to withdraw her sword, for the Wall seemed to take hold of it every time she cut at it.
Dream-Gann cried out in pain once again, for as quickly as Calia cut him free the Wall drew him back in. As she thrust once again the Wall seemed to give way and her sword was swallowed up to the hilt. She tugged with all her might but could not free it. In an instant the Wall sucked her sword in and it was gone. Calia cried out in frustration as she clutched at Dream-Gann's arm.
"Calia, run... Leave me." Dream-Gann struggled to speak as the mould began to creep over his face. Calia shook her head and pressed herself against him. She thrust her hand into the Wall to take hold of his shoulder.
"I can't leave you, Gann." Calia's melodic voice rang out over the wailing of the Faithless. "If I lose you, there is nothing else for me." Thunder pounded through Gann and he realised it was the beat of his heart. "You were all the hope I had left. Without you, what point is there in living?" Calia pressed her forehead against Dream-Gann's as the mould crawled from him and up Calia's arms.
Gann's legs carried him to the Wall faster than he could think. Fear had settled in the pit of his stomach, this dream was going very wrong. Somehow he knew he could not let Calia be consumed by the Wall. He was no longer sure if this was merely a dream.
"Calia!" He cried frantically as he grasped her shoulder. He knew things were bad when she did not respond. Calia lay against Dream-Gann with her eyes closed, a sense of calm had taken over her face as though she slept peacefully. Gann grasped her jaw and turned her face toward him. "Calia, wake up, you have to wake up!" He screamed. Calia's eyes fluttered and her head fell limply to the side as though she was drugged.
"Gannayev?" She mumbled.
"I'm here Calia, come back to me. Wake up and come back to me." Gann pressed his face against hers and willed her to wake. With every ounce of dream magic he possessed he urged her to waken from this nightmare.
There was a great bang, like a crack of thunder and Gann could feel the brush of fresh air against his face. He opened his eyes and found himself at their camp still kneeling beside Calia. The Elf suddenly bolted upright, her eyes unfocused and wild.
"Gann!" Calia shrieked and her arms clutched at the empty air. Gann took hold of her hands and Calia turned to him. Fresh tears welled in her eyes and Gann couldn't help but think how they enhanced the beauty of them. They glistened like green jewels in the light of the campfire. He pulled Calia toward him and she collapsed against his chest.
"Shhh, it's alright." He murmured as she wept. Calia's arms snaked around him and pulled him tight against her as though she wanted to burying herself within him. A tingling warmth spread over every inch of Gann as he brushed his cheek against her silken hair. "I'm here, Calia."
"I thought… I lost… you." She announced in between sobs, her words muffled by his body.
"I'll never leave you." Gann promised as he cradled her on his lap. He felt her fingers dig further into his back and Gann allowed himself a small smile as he laid a kiss on the top of her head. He knew many dangers still lay ahead of them. Challenges that would seem insurmountable. But together he knew they would overcome all trials. For hope had been re-kindled in his heart. A dream of the future together. A dream of love.