Tialys' ghost stood on the jetty, and peered into the mist. The boatman was there, sitting in his ancient rowing boat, but the chevalier did not move towards it. He was reluctant; sooner or later he would have to cross the lake, and into the land of the dead, but something held him back. Finally, after a long moment of hesitation, the boatman broke the silence.
"We meet again."
"Yes."
The silence resumed. Only the cries of the harpies beyond the other shore broke it, and even then they seemed to come from far away, and had a detached dream-like quality.
"You should get on soon."
"Not yet. I am...I am waiting."
"Waiting?" The boatman looked at Tialys shrewdly through rheumy eyes, and added, "Better not take too long then," and he turned away.
Tialys looked at the boat with a strange mix of confusion, longing and reluctance, a feeling that he had never experienced in life. He had to go soon, he knew, but...no, not yet. He must wait.
And wait he did. He stood there, while the rowing boat made numerous trips, each time leaving with a small group of ghosts and returning with none. The boatman glanced often at the small hand-high figure of the chevalier on the jetty, but said no more.
Tialys stood there, as if rooted to the ground, but inside his proud self there brewed a tremendous internal conflict, so violent it threatened to rip him apart. Instinct screamed at him to get on the boat, and get on it now, but his mind stubbornly refused. Why though? he wondered, but he found no answers. His memories of life were fast fading.
The chevalier shook himself mentally, and told himself to stop being such a fool. He looked up, and seeing that the ancient rowing boat was about to leave, immediately leapt onto the gunwale of the boat.
"Not waiting anymore?" the boatman said, and his hoarse voice contained a measure of surprise.
"I cannot remember what I was waiting for," Tialys answered truthfully, and tore his eyes away from the shore. The boatman pulled his rotting oars, and soon the boat disappeared into the mist.
Out of the shadows, the Lady Salmakia walked onto the jetty.
"Tialys?"