A/N: So, you know the drill by now... I'm super sorry for the long wait between chapters. I can only hope it was worth it, haha. Thank you so much to everyone who's left me a review! I love hearing from you guys and even if you don't comment I see you adding this to your favorites or follows ;)
Chapter 14: Three Sides to Every Story
"The river of truth is always splitting up into arms that reunite. Islanded between them, the inhabitants argue for a lifetime as to which is the mainstream." – Cyril Connolly
Ralston lie on his back and watched as the clouds rolled lazily above him. His limbs were heavy with exhaustion and the added weight of sodden cloth. After a few moments of ragged breathing he was able to return his heartbeat to a more steady pace. "Well," he said aloud to the world at large, "that sure went to shit quickly."
He spent another full minute lying spread eagle with rocks digging uncomfortably into his skin before he mustered the will to push himself to his feet and properly examine his surroundings. The beach had been empty the entire time he swam towards it and not having been attacked in the time he had spent catching his breath he took as a good sign.
There was no one in sight. He removed his shirt to wring it out as best he could before letting the limp fabric drape across his shoulders and he headed up the slope of the beach to better begin to look around. To his surprise and great relief he spotted the very top of a watch tower in the distance. If he were lucky he would still be in Helianth and it would be one of Morgana's outposts.
After a long and uncomfortable hike that left him a little chafed he discovered that fortune was more in his favor than he'd dared to hope. Not only was he still in his own country, he had ended up at the West Creek outpost where Morgana herself was present along with Reynar and Captain Fane. They were in the middle of rallying forces and putting campaign designs into place. It was miles away from where they all had been at the time of the attack and in the exact opposite direction in which they had been traveling but it was highly more desired than being stranded somewhere in the middle of nowhere.
Morgana had been surprised and then worried when he'd made his way to her. After he had explained what had transpired the small frown she'd worn from the outset morphed into a deep scowl. "Damnation and brimstone!" The monarch swore with an aggravated stomp of her foot. "We're going to have to change a few things and move faster. The stakes have just gone up."
oOoOoOo
"Good news!" Tamara announced happily as she sat up. She had opted to lie on the ground a few minutes after finishing off her share of the apple and the food along with the added rest gave her enough of an assist for her to get a reading on the remaining missing members of their party. "Al and Dee are close by!"
"That is fortunate," Sereno answered. He was watching the bright sky with a resigned look of boredom. He was never one to easily accept inaction when anything needed doing. He knew there was nothing he could do to change his current situation just yet so he was trying to keep his mind busy in place of his body.
"Well, they aren't that close. But they're the closest out of everyone. If they stay around about where they are and once the sun goes down, we could probably reach them a little after daybreak tomorrow," she clarified.
"Are you up for that sort of travel?" He shifted his attention away from the empty stretch of sky and to her light green eyes instead.
"I have to be, don't I? We really haven't got much of a choice."
"No, we do not." He blew out a tired breath and patted her shoulder. "But we will manage."
oOoOoOo
"I would start at the very beginning but that would take far too long," Ealhdun told her after taking a brief moment to collect his thoughts. Coraline watched his face intently as it shifted through several emotions before settling into something determined and resolute. "I shall start at the point in history that marks the most significant period of change and is of the most direct concern regarding Earth." His tone was serious and any lighthearted moment that had been shared before was replaced with a heavy air of importance.
"It started with a war. One of many in a long line of skirmishes throughout the years: border disputes, revenge, reclaiming honor; all the usual excuses to go into a battle that is more a continuation of conflict than a legitimate reason to fight. It was right before the pathways between your world and ours were closed and it is the very reason the barriers were strengthened. A spell was cast carelessly. It was meant to end the war, and end it it did. The price was staggering and the death toll stretched across borders. In your world it was called The Black Death."
"Wait, wait, wait," Coraline interrupted with an incredulous crease in her brow and a skeptical frown. "You're telling me the bubonic plague was the result of some curse gone wrong? But, it was because of rats! Well, mites and fleas on the rats..."
"Perhaps that is the mode it took on and adapted to," the fae acknowledged with a nod of his head. "Not all magic is rootless or a solid physical manifestation of will. Sometimes it can merely be a series of events set into motion. I assure you, a curse was how it started. How it moved after that is of less importance. What you need to know is that seeing the vast devastation that befell Earth caused a temporary truce to be struck and two allied kingdoms conspired to prevent anything of the like from ever happening again. They created six stones to anchor their spell and to allow them a controlled means to cross the veil but otherwise solidifying the way. The stones were later enchanted further to allow for travel between them and other fixed points between both worlds."
"You mean the Transit Stones? But, Sereno said there were only five," she cut in again. She didn't mean to keep interrupting but he had told her to feel free to ask questions.
Ealhdun inclined his head in agreement. "I'm sure that's what he was told. I do not believe your friend would intentionally lie to you." Something about the way he said that put her on edge and she sat up a little straighter but she held off from commenting to let him continue. "As I was saying, the stones were created and the worlds were sealed from one another completely rather than the more fluid nature they once shared. An unforeseen consequence of this, however, was that without the freedom of movement once allowed it, the magical essence that permeates this side of the veil began to build up and congest. Magic can be harnessed and manipulated by individuals but it is itself a presence, a force all its own self. With the creation of the stones a portion of magic began to mutate. Time itself began to be effected. Or, more accurately, the mortality of the populations began to be effected.
Many peoples here are naturally long-lived. Myself, and other fae are an example, but for many others, they have a set number of years more in line with the life expectation of you humans. When the stones were activated it had a cascade effect of longevity and the slowing down of natural processes. It was not something easily noticed and it took almost a full century before anyone was any the wiser. It took longer than that to divine the cause. The Transit Stones were not the first or even the obvious culprit for the strange phenomenon.
There were other symptoms, too, bodies that wouldn't rest even after the life had left them. These walking dead are the reason one quarter of the continent is without people. These were the warriors that were there when the curse was first cast and their continued animation was the manifestation of the magic on this side of the veil where it was the plague in your world. No one wants to be near the corpses for fear of joining them."
"Zombies? Really?" After everything else, it really wasn't that much of a surprise. "So, wait..." Coraline bit her lip and held up her hands in a "time out" gesture. The puzzle pieces were sliding into place for her but she needed a moment to digest the new information. "This is what Laelia was talking about? Her weird half-poem rant about endless summers and not having an escape?"
"I fully believe so, yes. From what you told us, it sounds to me that the nymph found a passage over to your world and lived there for a time, was physically able to age, and was killed. It is a strange occurrence but unnatural deaths result in a regeneration of the victim back on their proper side of the veil. I would blame the Stones but this has always been the case for as long as anyone can remember." The fae shrugged and shifted his posture a little where the rock was growing uncomfortable under him. "There has been... an increased number of suicides over the years. Those with shorter life spans generally went insane after too much time, their minds just not made to cope with living so long. Others still took a different route and migrated to Earth to grow old and succumb to natural decline. Since the creation of the stones the populations have diminished greatly in this world. War is not something anyone wants in an already strained populace."
"If the Stones are so bad, why haven't they just been destroyed, then?" It seemed like such a simple answer. "It doesn't look like they're doing much good anymore."
Ealhdun gave a dry and humorless chuckle. "There are those who do not see it that way," he told her. "To them it is more noble a cause to keep them and to prevent even the possibility of something like the Black Death from happening again."
"But would it, though?" Coraline asked in frustration. "I mean, is there that much of a chance someone would set off a magical holocaust these days? Who was responsible for the last one? Are they dead? Would they be able or even want to do it again?"
"You may not like the answer to that," he said with a wary downturn of his lips. "In fact, I'm not sure you would even believe me."
"Are you going to tell me it was Morgana?" Coraline asked with a deeper frown of her own. That's what it felt like this was leading up to. After the question passed her lips she felt a sharp rush of distrust toward the whole conversation. Could this be a setup?
"No, she wasn't the one who cast it. But she was an ally. It was King Thristen, Dawn's birth father and former ruler of Dunlure. The regret of his actions was immediate and sincere. He was one of the core members of the group who later created the Stones. For him it was obviously done in an attempt to gain redemption."
Coraline felt her stomach drop. Nothing said so far sounded outside the realm of possibility but the implications were hard to accept. "So... what? That's why Adderrik took over?"
"He seeks to destroy the Transit Stones, yes," the man affirmed with a grim nod of his head.
Coraline stood up slowly. There was still something missing and she had the uneasy suspicion that it was staring her right in the face. "What's your opinion on all of this?" From the way he had been talking, she had a good idea on what his answer was going to be.
"I think the stones should be destroyed."
"You're a double agent after all," even as she said it she still couldn't quite believe it.
He didn't verbally answer her immediately but his soft sigh and imploring look confirmed it for her. She took an involuntary step away from him. He remained sitting but he held up a hand in supplication, "Please, allow me to finish explaining. It isn't what you're thinking."
"You were going to betray everyone. Or did you already? You were in on it, weren't you? The attack earlier. You knew they were coming and what they were going to do," she accused. Her face was flushing and she could feel the beginning prickling of angry tears behind her eyes, waiting to slip free.
"No, I knew nothing about that nor did I know what they intended to accomplish with it. Though, honestly, I could wager a guess." He shook his head and his body language continued to be open and pleading, "I've only wanted what's best from the beginning. I don't want anyone to get hurt and despite my precarious position I've come to care a great deal for each and every one of you that I've been traveling with. I would never do anything to cause any of you harm."
"No, but you wouldn't prevent it, would you, if it meant going against your own agenda," her anger was building up, now. If everything he had said were true then she could see his side but the fact that he lied, that he could still be lying, it hurt more than she was able to fully process.
"If it meant saving one of you at the cost of the status quo never changing then I would gladly choose saving you. I am not the enemy, Coraline," he said slowly and with weight behind every word. He made to stand up as well and she took another step away from him. "Please believe me."
Coraline shook her head violently, an action that looked more like she was trying to clear her head of unwanted thoughts rather than to express disagreement. She wanted to believe him, a part of her already did, but the conflicting emotions warring for her attention was making it hard for her to properly think things through. The subtle feeling of trust she still felt towards him, even after this revelation, was enough to make her doubt herself.
He took a step forward and she bolted.
"Coraline!" She could hear him stumbling after her but she had the advantage in more ways than one. His injured leg would be enough of a hindrance to give her a head start and her years of running track would give her the speed and stamina to keep it. "Come back! You didn't let me finish!"
But she couldn't listen to him right then. She had to get away and clear her head. She knew it was reckless, even as she continued to put distance between them she realized she ought to go back. But she couldn't. She needed to be able to think things through without anyone else there to tell her how to feel.
"Coraline!" Her name echoed through the trees but she did not slow down.
Okay, wow. So, I know one of you saw this coming a WHILE ago but who else predicted something along these lines? I've had this twist planned since about chapter seven. The outline for this story is finished, I know how everything ends... it's just a matter of getting my thoughts down in words! I wont make promises but I will try to update as soon as possible for you all. Thanks for sticking around this long. For any who might be interested in such things I've got two different playlists made for this story on my 8tracks account, "Kitty Love" and "The Cat" See my bio for how to get there.
Chapter title comes from the saying, "There's three sides to every story: yours, mine, and the truth."