The sun struggled to break through the clouds that loomed overhead without much luck. The storm over Lirigon wasn't about to break up. Rain lashed against the window as Saliman tried to peer out of it again without much luck. He could only just make out the house across the street. Malgorn was pacing behind him, besides being incredibly distracting he was almost wearing a hole in Nelac's carpet.
"Will you stop pacing, please?" Saliman asked without turning around, "Nelac won't be happy with you if you ruin his carpet." Malgorn stopped and glared at his friends back. How could he possibly be so relaxed?
"What if something's happened to him?" his voice sounded desperate no matter more much he tried to remain calm. Once again he resumed his fast walk around the room. He didn't know why but it made him feel better.
"Cadvan can look after himself Mal, he'll be here." Saliman promised quietly, he had to try hard to believe it himself. Cadvan could be rather careless. But Kiryn had vanished too, so surely she would look after her brother? Even if she wasn't a Bard she knew how to take care of one.
"Even in this weather? Seriously, Saliman don't over-estimate Cadvan's incredible powers of survival in the wild."
"What makes you think he's in the wild?" Both boys jumped as Cadvan's mother, Aquila, appeared in the doorway. By the looks of her face she had been crying and she looked terribly pale.
"Oh! I'm sorry!" Saliman exclaimed, having turned around, "I didn't hear you come in!" Malgorn abruptly stopped pacing at the sight of Nelac, who was standing behind Aquila with a hand on her shoulder. Although their mentor looked calm they had known him long enough to see the disguised worry.
"How long has he been gone?" Nelac asked patiently as he entered the room and looked out the window, apparently oblivious to the fact that it was practically impossible to see further than a few metres.
"About two hours." Saliman estimated and finding nothing better to do he picked up a book and sat down examining its crumpled pages and elegant script.
The room fell silent and for several minutes all that could be heard was the gentle pit-patter of the rain hitting the roof and window. Malgorn had continued with his pacing around the room apparently ignoring Saliman's warning. Aquila had sat down in the corner and was playing with the corner of her dress, Saliman continued to examine the book and Nelac stared out of the window.
It seemed that the atmosphere was about as tense as you could get when a stone hit the window and Nelac suddenly laughed.
"There he is!" Saliman and Malgorn jumped up and practically raced Aquila to the window. Outside were two very wet figures. Nelac opened the window and a voice called up.
"Open the blasted door for the Light's sake, we're freezing!" Kiryn shouted at them and Saliman grinned and raced downstairs to let his friend inside. However Malgorn reached the door long before him and he was closely followed by Aquila and Nelac. Moments later two dripping people were sat in front of the fire. Kiryn looked the better of the two; she was already warm, dry and had rosy cheeks.
However Cadvan hadn't been so lucky. He was shivering and soaked as Nelac began to strip him of his wet clothes, all the time scolding him for even thinking of running off when a storm was coming off. His anger abruptly disappeared when Cadvan, now standing, suddenly wavered and fell. Malgorn caught him before he could hit the floor. Nelac helped him lay Cadvan on the sofa and turned to Kiryn who was looking shocked.
"You'd better tell me everything that happened Kiryn, and fast."
--
Cadvan woke to find that his room in Lirigon was rather crowded. His mother was sat beside the bed, fast asleep, Saliman and Malgorn were playing Gis in the corner and he noted that Saliman appeared to be losing. Nelac was gazing out of the window and Kiryn was playing with Terror, her aptly name ginger kitten.
He couldn't remember coming up to his room and began to wonder what everyone was doing in his room anyway. He cleared his throat to ask what was going on and instantly there was a flurry of action.
Saliman and Malgorn came running over, Kiryn picked up Terror and sat on the bed of his bed, his mother woke with a start and Nelac hurried over and felt his forehead.
"What..?" he asked although he had meant to say, 'What's going on here?' and his voice had failed him.
"Shh." Nelac said and the room fell silent, "You collapsed Cadvan, don't you remember?" Cadvan frowned and shook his head, which resulted in the room tilting rather violently. Once the dizziness had passed he was left with the feeling of nausea.
"Can you tell what day it is?" Nelac asked quietly whilst checking his pulse.
"Erm… Thursday, twentieth October." Cadvan replied and knew instantly something was wrong. Nelac exchanged a worried look with Aquila and then looked back at his patient. Quietly Kiryn muttered the real date.
"Thursday, twelfth March." Cadvan swallowed hard, this was bad.
"It would seem that you have minor amnesia. I'm sure your memory will return with time." Nelac concluded as he reached for a glass on the side and helped Cadvan to drink. Minor? Cadvan thought incredulously, only minor? He'd lost five months of his life!
"Relax Cad. You'll be ok." Saliman soothed when he noticed his friend's distress, 'We'll help you, I mean, something's got to be a trigger." Malgorn nodded enthusiastically at the idea and Kiryn smiled approvingly. Slowly Cadvan calmed down and Nelac motioned towards the door with his head. Saliman and Malgorn sighed and left. Kiryn and Aquila didn't move. Nelac sighed in annoyance.
"That means you two as well." he scolded and Cadvan gave a wry smile. Slowly Aquila left the room but Kiryn refused the move. Nelac decided that she may as well stay. Only she knew what had happened anyway as Cadvan had forgotten everything about to journey home.
Nelac convinced Cadvan to drink something to make him fall asleep as he badly needed the rest. Then, much to his amusement, Terror curled up beside the sleeping boy.
"Why's Cad forgotten everything?" Kiryn muttered sounding rather timid. Nelac gave her a gentle smile and tried his very best to explain how memory loss was caused. Suddenly Kiryn remembered something that had happened on the way home.
"He fell over and hit his head. But he got up again and he looked alright. Could that be what caused it?" Kiryn asked, desperation starting to show in her voice.
"It might be." Nelac replied as he gently turned Cadvan over and asked Kiryn to open one of the curtains and then hold her brother for him. It didn't take him long to find the spot where Cadvan's head had come into contact with the ground.
"Well?" Kiryn asked. Nelac looked up gravely.
"I don't want you to tell anyone else this Kiryn; can I trust you to keep a secret?" Kiryn nodded vigorously, "I think this is something a lot more serious than memory loss."
"Serious?" Kiryn whispered, letting her worry pour out into the word.
"Yes, sometimes hitting your head effects you very badly, some get dizzy, others lose their memory, others forgot how to do certain things and some even find themselves unable to talk properly."
"What happens after that?" Kiryn asked her eyes wide. Nelac swallowed hard, he hated admitting this but even he knew this was beyond his skill to heal. Only love and support could help his student now.
"Then, they die." he whispered, unable to believe his own words.