Chapter 2 Carry On
All at once he shot up from his sleeping position breathing hard. His dream or nightmare, whatever it was flashed through his mind. He held a hand to his head trying to ease the incessant pounding in his head that matched the tightening in his chest. Anxiety was at the fringes of his mind threatening to take hold and engulf him entirely. It seemed impossible for him to calm himself down as he remembered particular parts of the dream. His mind froze as his attention was latched to one particular detail, the mixture of color of his own eyes.
He made sure that it was still in place. To his relief he found that a cloth still held secure over his eyes. It was still very unsettling to him to have even a thought hint at what he may look like. He took a moment to feel over rest of himself to be sure that the rest of his garb was all still in place. As he concluded his inspection he took a moment to breathe and steady himself. And when his heart rate was back to normal he took a minute to focus so that he can perceive his surroundings.
To anyone else's eyes he was completely covered in black clothing, not a single inch of skin was exposed to the air. The only part of him that was showing was his long dark brown hair that he proceeded to tie back into a ponytail. He was sitting in a pile of dried leaves in a small cave that was set in the side of a hill. This hill was one of many in the green and lush forested area that was closer to the sea. He could tell you all this but you wouldn't be likely to believe him if you were to linger with him. He scarcely ever takes off any of his coverings for anything, save to take care of repairs or bodily functions.
He saw the world likely unlike anyone else could. In his mind's eye he saw the world around him in different shades and textures according to what it was. The dead leaves and earthen floor beneath him along with the rocky walls that made the cave looked a dull grey because it held no life. He could however see all the little dots of white light that moved ever so slowly in the soil and leaves around him. These were all insect life scurrying about doing as they need to survive. They were all so vibrant as they went, completely ignoring him. He couldn't blame them for doing so because what was there to acknowledge about him save that he was there?
He let this thought pass and went about getting the rest of his gear on. He had been sleeping under his black leather trench coat. His sword and belt, his bow and quiver of arrows along with his boots were set beside him to keep close at hand in case he needed to move at any time through the night. Though thinking to himself not for the first time there was little difference between night and day to him. This was because with his eyes always closed and he viewing the world with his mind's eye the sky was always a great expanse of dark emptiness. And when clouds were present they were always lighter grey smudges moving overhead.
As he finished tugging his boots on and tying them in place he paused holding his arm out before him. To his mind his own shape was pitch versus the shades and lines of grey around him and the lighter shapes of the trees outside. He wasn't bothered by this detail in particular because it only reflected his own state of being. He was no one. And he had nothing save for the all black cloths, boots, trench coat and weapons that he now was setting over his shoulders and around his waist. He had no memory of who he was or how he even came to be where he started. Even now it's hard to remember all that he has gone through in his travels.
Ready to leave, he paused only a while longer to be sure that he had his one most precious possession. He reached under the collar of his shirt to pull out the one item of his that he valued even above himself. In his gloved hands rested a six sided cut crystal wrapped in gold wire connected to a chain that hung from his neck. To the naked eye it was pretty enough to look at but not all that remarkable. But to his mind he perceived a light that might as well be his own sun for how brightly it shined to him. But strangely as bright as it was it could be compared to a solar eclipse for how it looked to him. He could never understand why that was but he never could focus on it long enough to glean any kind of answers from it. It perhaps held the greatest mystery for him. It just felt like that it held so much more within than the light the blinded his mental eyes.
Satisfied he pulled the hood of his coat over his head to conceal the rest of his hair from view and stepped out of the cave to the open. He could hear the animals of the forest moving about the trees and the breeze move through the branches of the forest. All the vegetation of the forest shimmered soft different hues of green to him from the deepest roots to the thinnest branches. Insects shone with little specks of light all over the place. It was calming enough for him to be here because whether he was here or not, the living things of the woods paid him little heed. This was fine by him because they didn't recoil from him. Feeling that he was fully awake he left the small crevice and made his way into the woods.
He had been traveling far for five long cycles of the seasons.
He only remembers that he was found lying on the ground before the base of a free standing natural arch. How long he was there before he was found ha cannot recall. Only that it seemed forever before a couple of red skinned teenage boys from a local tribe came across him as they explored the sacred lands of red stone. They came closer to him to discover what he was and if he was dead or not. It wasn't unusual for people if not careful in the region to succumb to heat exhaustion. But as soon as they got a closer look at him they looked as if they had just seen something truly terrifying. They quickly fled and it wasn't for another eternity it felt before they came back. They had a number of warriors follow them to the spot and they all had similar expressions of uneasiness when they discovered him.
They had carried him back to the edge of their village to have him looked at by the villages medicine man and shaman. They had made sure to keep the rest of their people away in case of illness or bad luck. And as an extra precaution they had bound his hands and set his strange looking belongings in another location.
It was a few days before he awoke inside a temporary dwelling set aside for him. He looked about himself and only found it to be a simple tent of furs framed by wooden poles. He was laying in a pile of furs for his bedding and it was all that covered his bare form. He looked himself over trying to familiarize himself with his body. His skin was milk white and his muscles were built sturdy around his bone frame. He had a bit of a belly which he wasn't if that was good or bad. When he removed his coverings something drew his attention. He found some lines of a different texture in his skin around his left knee. He felt between that and it's opposite joint, it felt odd. He continued to experiment for and little bit more before growing still again and covering himself once more.
It wasn't till later that the chief, the medicine man and shaman all entered the tent to ask him questions. Who was he? Where is he from? Why was he trespassing on sacred? He had difficulty responding to them let alone answering their questions. He couldn't remember anything save for a blinding light and then pain from his very being as he could never fully describe.
When he did try to answer they were just as surprised as he was that he could understand them and they him. But it was short lived as he also noticed that they didn't seem to look at him the same way as he saw them. To them he was as if touched by some horrific affliction. His skin was pale white and his hair was grayed most of the way through. And his eyes were a dull and colorless. Despite this he was young just out of his juvenility. They were beginning to fear that he could spread a plague to the rest of the tribesmen. And when they looked into his eyes they didn't quite see that spark of life that you would see in a person. What was more unsettling to them still above all of these features was his presence, or rather seeming the lack of a presence thereof. It was all adding up in their minds that he wasn't human despite his appearance.
Though he didn't know how, he could feel their uneasiness towards him building as they continued to interview him. They concluded and left for a time leaving him to sit in the tent in silence. He was feeling uneasy himself about this whole thing. He had no memory, he was bound this whole time so far, and the way they looked at him. He felt like he had done something horrible though he didn't know what. And as these thoughts and feelings raged he fell into self deprecation. He was growing angry with himself about how he couldn't answer the simplest of questions. He was even beating himself mentally for even making the men feel unsettled. He didn't understand what was going on or how it came to be, all that was clear to him was that it was all plainly his fault!
It was then that he noticed that he wasn't alone in the tent. He could tell there was another person sitting just behind him back to back. He didn't know if he should ask who it is. But it concerned him why he didn't notice the other person till now. And why is it that the men from before weren't talking to them both and only him? He couldn't make sense of it.
The men came back some hours later with looks of wariness. They all stared at him in silence for a time before the Chief spoke.
"After we had interviewed you we couldn't at first decide what to do with you. For your appearance in the sacred Land of the Gates has never happened before. At first I had suspected that you had only been weaving a lie so as to conceal your purpose in our lands. But according to what our medicine man has discovered. You been drained of much of your health and vitality."
The chief paused for a moment noticing that his captive audience was looking from them to somewhere behind himself.
"It was said that you were ashen in both appearance and countenance. Like you were all that is left after a great heat had consumed you."
"Ashen?" The Chief froze as he saw the captive hold his head slant to one side. His eyes had a dark glint to them as he looked them over quizzically. And his voice for the first time wasn't quiet, cracked or uncertain. Instead there was almost a humorous tone to it that was rather unsettling to the chieftain.
"If it's not too much trouble I would like to be called Ashen from now on. It just make things easier don't you agree?"
The tent was unbearably silent for several minutes as the shaman stepped forward. "I have meditated long and have communed with the spirits through the holy fire. They have shown to me that you were broken and cast off."
Ashen lowered his head glaring at the ground as the shaman said this. "Well isn't that straight to the point!" He said mockingly as he looked at the shaman with a raised eyebrow.
The shaman was unfazed and continued. "They have not told me why but they have told me that you are not here by your own volition. They told me you are lost and that your light is hidden. The spirits have not yet revealed to me of your fate. "
Ashen remained silent for a moment as he digested this information. "Could I talk with these… SPIRITS? Maybe they would be willing to tell more of my (fate) straight to my face!"
The chief interjected to keep from any conflict starting. He was wary of this whole situation. Some the elders had suggested executing Ashen because of his trespass on sacred ground. Others had offered to perhaps cast him out of their lands so as to avoid any ill fortune to befall them. This is because of the mysterious circumstance that he had arrived there in the first place. And on top of everything the chief had been doing what he could to pacify the chief of the neighboring rival tribe. They long had disputes on who had true claim to the sacred lands. But he had to focus on the problem that was before him. This person who only a short while ago was quiet and hollow was now agitated and spoke with spite.
"That is enough! We have been deliberating on what to do with you. Some have said that you are a demon and so must be destroyed to protect us from harm. But others say you are an ill omen and should be driven beyond our lands peacefully so as to not be cursed by some evil or misfortune you may bring. I am however in no position to readily do either at this time. Until the Shaman has found what the Spirits have in store for you, you shall be kept as our captive. We can't run the risk of you going to our enemies. I say my peace."
When he was finished he was followed by the two other men. A minute later a woman came in with a basket that held pieces of flour bread and some barriers. She also held a bowel of water. She had immediately lowered her eyes to avoid Ashen's and quietly fed him.
Ashen was held in that tent for a few more days after that exchange. He didn't try to talk to anyone else. There were times through that he would hear footsteps outside of the tent he was in. But they would always be hurried off by the guard that was posted nearby. He had calmed down the first day and was silent both outside and in. He was not against this reprieve from people so that he could have some kind of calm. But this was over one night when the Chief and shaman had come to visit him again. This time they were accompanied by the woman who had been giving him food and drink the whole time. She with her eyes down cast now held a dark bundle that he knew to be his belongings.
As he saw this his eyes went wide with surprise and it was only then that he brought has his bound hands up to his chest and frantically searched for something. He didn't know for what but it was vitally important.
The Shaman picked up on this and stepped forward holding out his hand that held a clear six sided clear crystal wrapped in copper wire. It caught the light the setting sun from outside the tent. Ashen froze when the shaman presented this. All his senses were dulled for a long moment as his mind and heart perceived this small jewel. He felt a draw to it like nothing else, like it was the single greatest treasure in the entire world. For some reason it felt like this one thing was what held all that was lost to him. If it weren't for the fact that he wasn't presently bound he would have made a leap for it. Anything so that he could reclaim this precious part of himself. "Why is it bright yet so dark at the same time?" He hadn't made any further move that betrayed his anxiety.
The shaman measured his reaction thoughtfully before he spoke again. "I am sorry that I took from your personal belongings but I needed a piece so that I could glean further what it is your fate will be. With this gem and with the help of the spirits I was able to discover what it is you must do if you desire answers"
Ashen's eyes finally tore away from the crystal to look outside the opening to the tent seeing the sun sink behind the distant red hills. The skies were blue hues blending into shades of fiery orange and red as the sun's rays continue to fade. Night was approaching fast and with it a sense of uncertainty for the unknown. He looked back to the shaman as he considered what the man had said. He did want answers. He wanted answers to the same questions that they had asked him days before. "What is it I must do?"
The shaman nodded expecting this and closed his eyes in concentration. "The spirits have revealed to me that your soul was as a sun before and has now been broken and has been dimmed to night. To bring the light back you must find another whose spirit matches your own."
This caught Ashen's attention." They dwell in a land to the north and east beyond the birthplace of the sun." The shaman opened his eyes in a trance like state and continued. "How you will know to find the one you seek is by following these words! You seek one who found friend in foe! You seek one who bridged the gap between land and sky! You seek one who turns the tides of fate from war to peace! You seek the pact maker! You seek the peacekeeper! You seek the Dragon Rider!"
When he was finished the shaman closed his eyes and then opened them again appearing awake again. All was silent in the tent for a long while again as Ashen absorbed these words. As they were said they echoed in his mind and pricked something dormant in his heart. "Dragon Rider?"
What happened after those cryptic words were given was nothing short of the part of a horror story. Warriors from the rival tribe the chieftain had been trying to keep stable relations with attacked a few days later. They had snuck in under the cover of night slaying warriors and villagers alike. Ashen's strange ability was the only warning he had but it was already too late. These warriors were all painted a blood red and white to mimic the appearance of bones. They killed indiscriminately and it was quickly turning into pandemonium. The chief rallied their warriors as fast as they could but so many were bleeding, crying out and dying.
Ashen helped as he could to get others to safety. But quickly it all fell to pieces around him like what has happened on the inside. One moment he was searching for others while trying to stay out of the way. The next he found that someone was standing behind him. He quickly turned ready to fend off the attacker. But instead found the woman who had silently tended to him. But then something felt very wrong as he looked at her in the fire light. Blood ran from her parting lips ash she gave a look of shock and relief. She fell forward onto him and then he saw the arrow protruding from her back. Ashen's eyes widened in surprise as he understood that she was fading fast in his arms. His eyes met with hers for a long moment. All at once the gravity of what was happening pressed down on him from all sides.
It was brief.. His raging thoughts began to die down.
He was able to connect with this one person... If only on the surface... He knelt down lowing her to the ground as she faded in his arms.
He feels everyone's terror and anxious desires to kill or survive... His consciousness was closing in on its self.
Why was this happening….. He could sense some of the attackers approaching.
Was it because of him that people are dying and fading around him... He felt another person suddenly standing behind him.
He wished he was never found in the first place… The woman now lay motionless before him.
This was his fault….. He simply stood up and held frozen to that spot.
He should have been the one to die not them.. not her…. He turned to see who was behind him.
He didn't want to even want to exist… His thoughts finally went silent when he faced this newcomer.
Just as he did he felt a stabbing chill run through his whole being. Standing before him was a man in the same garb as himself. In fact he was a mirror image of himself save for his hair that was a dark blood color. And his eyes! Blast it those eyes or rather the lack of them were pits of nothing. He was drawn into them without a struggle and all went dark for him. He surrendered himself to oblivion if only to escape this deepening hell.
The warriors that spotted him all made to kill him but then found that they were all feeling chilled in their hearts. One by one they each were becoming distracted by feelings of dread and emptiness. One had drawn close enough to Ashen to attempt to strike him down as the dark feelings continued to rise. He had brought his stone ax to bear but stopped dead just inches away from his would be victim. Ashen slowly turned around drawing a sword from beneath his trench coat. The blade shone in the firelight revealing it to have twin spikes at the midpoint of its length and ending at an arrow point. Ashen's face bore a grin that didn't reach his eyes that stared blankly at them.
Ashen did all he could from then on to avoid any interactions with tribes or peoples as he slowly went travelled east and north. Aimlessly traversing though mountain ranges and then cutting through great grass lands. Animals didn't seem to be bothered by him unlike humans. Here he spent his first winter with bison to keep warm through the frigid cold months. His left leg gave him discomfort he couldn't understand during those cold days as well. The months after that were easier but he took care to navigate around the nomadic tribes of the regions. His progress was slow but constant. Driven by the words given to him and chased by the shadows that he was trying to leave behind. The lands shifted from the flat plains to green rolling hills as he made his way north and east. It took a few more cycles but he had eventually made it to the coast.
All of this ran through his mind as he traveled silently through the woods to his destination. He could sense with his mind eye that a settlement was coming up. It was far different from any of the peoples he had found before. The buildings were made permanent and sturdy out of wood and turf. The people here seemed to not have be from anywhere in the lands he had traveled before. Their life lights shown an array of colors that ranged from gruff and impatient to tender and brotherly. Though they seemed to often step on each other's toes. "Vikings" There were a number of small boats some moored on shore by the sea and others out gathering in fish. But there was one ship that was larger than the others and seemed to him that it was sea worthy indeed.
This was his chance."To reach a land beyond the birthplace of the sun" The image of the man and dragon stepping from the flames flashed through his mind once more before he made to walk the rest of the way to the next step of his journey.