Chapter 2 – Nightmare
Lyra sat at the table, once again lost in her own little world. She barely registered the conversations around her as she kept her eyes fixed, staring out of the window at the distant mountains.
She had returned from the mountain over a week ago. Her family had indeed been concerned about her absence, but not exceptionally worried. They had assumed that she had run away to prove a point and not wanting to explain where she had actually been, she accepted their thoughts without a fight.
Her thoughts, however were consumed with questions about the man she had discovered in the mountains.
'How long has he been up there? What is he doing up there? How could anyone survive up there? Is it he who makes those cries? Is…'
"Lyra!" her mother snapped. Lyra jerked out of her trance and looked across the table. Her mother was holding a plate of bread out to her and from the look on her face she had been there for quite some time.
"Sorry," Lyra muttered, bowing her head as she took the plate and set it beside her, allowing Lance and Peter access. They snatched at some slices, eagerly, Lyra's plate however remained untouched.
"Lyra, what is the matter?" her mother demanded, "You haven't touched your food."
Lyra looked down at the untouched plate. She felt almost guilty that they endured such hardships to provide this food that she wouldn't eat. "I'm just not hungry," she muttered, pushing the plate away. Her mother glared at her, clearly unsatisfied with the excuse. Lyra forced her self to look away, inevitably finding herself looking out at the mountain once more. Her thoughts returning to the mysterious man, when she was suddenly gifted with an idea.
"Mother," she said, quickly, "I think I'll go for a walk," she rose to her feet. Her mother eyed her suspiciously.
"Where to?" she asked. Lyra half shook her head and shrugged at the same time,
"Nowhere important, I just need some air." Her mother kept her steely eyed stare upon her daughter but relented and said nothing as she neared the door.
"Would you like me to come with you?" Lance asked, from the table. Lyra spun around, quickly…too quickly and she mentally kicked herself for making it look so obvious.
"No!" she snapped, then softened when she realized she was giving them more reason to be suspicious of her, "I mean, I just want some air, I want to be alone…I don't know where I'll go…or how long I'll be," she smiled, backing away until she was close enough to the door to slip through it.
After ensuring that her mother, brothers and Lance were content with her excuse and allowed her to leave. She slipped to the pantries, quickly and quietly, knowing that she couldn't afford to linger.
Picking up her satchel from the floor, she stuffed a small loaf of bread, a bottle of water and a pie into it, before heading out into the field, making her way to the mountain as quickly as she possibly could, lest one of her house looked out of the window and saw her.
The journey to the man's cave took no time at all, at least in comparison to the first journey she had made. Following her steps exactly she found her way up the mountain path and after hearing the sound of trickling water, found herself once again slipping through the rocks to enter the cave.
Her footsteps echoed, dully off the walls as she emerged in the cave that she had found the man. This time, however it was void of life.
She stepped deeper into the cave, able to appreciate it in a way that had been previously impossible. Now, she could admire just how large the chamber was. There were numerable gaps around the upper roof, allowing sunlight to filter in and give the cave surprising if not sufficient light. The man's fire had gone out, the remains of it lay in the centre of the floor, waiting to be rekindled.
She dropped the satchel beside the fire as her attention was drawn to the back of the cave. Another wall of rock, left by a cave in blocked her path. This time there was absolutely no way of penetrating the obstruction, the rocks had fallen against eachother tight enough to repel any intruder.
"I thought I told you, you weren't welcome here?" a voice called from behind her.
Lyra spun around to see the man returning. His strange arm was clutching a pile of wood and leaves. He wasn't as angry as he had been last time and he dropped down, beside the fire. Lyra stepped, tentatively towards him,
"Actually," she said, quietly, "You said I wasn't supposed to be here, you didn't say anything about the welcome."
He chuckled, without looking at her, His eyes were fixed on the task in hand. He was laying the wood and leaves on the extinguished fire. She didn't see just how he did it but within a few moments he had a roaring fire going once more.
She knelt opposite him, taking in the details of his bowed head, before she remembered why she had come in the first place.
"I…uh…" she reached for her bag, "I brought you these." She took out the items from her bag and lay them before her one by one.
The man looked up at her, in shock or surprise as she rested the empty bag beside her.
"For me?" he asked, curiously, looking from the food to her face. She blushed and pushing the food towards him, nodded. He stared at the offering for a long time before he reached out and pulled them towards him.
"Thank you," he muttered, then looking back up at her, "Why did you do this?" he asked, gruffly. Lyra shrugged, then started playing with some rotten berries that had been discarded on the ground.
"I didn't think you got much in the way of food up here," she muttered.
"True," he concurred, quietly.
"What are you doing up here?" she asked, suddenly, leaning forward to hear him better, but there was no need. His reply was neither caring nor callous, it was bluntly honest,
"That's none of your business." He didn't look up at her, he kept his head bowed, unwrapping the pie. Carefully he broke it in half and looking up at her, he offered her one part. She stopped for a moment, before she realized just how hungry she was. She reached out and took it gratefully. She shifted over to sit beside him, as they ate in silence,
"What's your name?" she asked, timidly. The look he gave her startled her for a moment, he seemed almost fearful, but only for a fleeting second.
"They called me Nightmare," he mumbled into the pie, before taking another bite. Lyra wrinkled her nose, somewhat but accepted his answer,
"Who are they and why did they call you Nightmare?" she asked, trying to make it sound as if his strange choice of name was perfectly natural to her.
"None of your business," he snapped, and she drew back at his sudden temper. He looked up, apologetically and sighed, "Sorry…what's your name?" he asked.
Smiling at his efforts at conversation, she replied, "Lyra."
"Lyra?" he repeated, looking up to study the pretty thing sat before him, "Pretty name," he muttered, taking in her details. Her hair was longer than his, dark brown, tied back so it fell past her waist and didn't get in her way. Her green eyes reflected the light that shone on them from above as well as the crackling fire, giving him the impression they were sparkling. She blushed when she realized how long he had been looking at her and she turned away to her own pie.
"Where do you live, Lyra?" he asked, taking a fancy to the way her name sounded on his tongue.
"At the house on the edge of the field," she told him, "You can see it from the mountain edge," she assured him. He was already nodding,
"I know of it, what do you do there?"
"What don't I do?" she muttered, bitterly. He stopped her,
"I'm sorry…I thought that if you owned your own house…" she interrupted,
"My father bought it. My mother, brothers, the aid and I have lived there for years."
"And your father?" Nightmare prompted.
"He passed away almost five years ago," she mumbled. Nightmare made a sudden reflex as if he were going to grip her shoulder, but thinking better of it, contented himself with a bite of the pie.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, hoarsely. Lyra shook her head,
"It's alright," she assured him, "I was thirteen…it was a long time ago."
"You never get over things like that," Nightmare spat, so harshly Lyra looked up, quickly.
"Are you alright?" she asked. He nodded, looking into the fire, finishing his pie.
"Won't your mother be wondering where you are?" he asked. She looked up to see the daylight that filtered through the rocks was fading fast.
She picked up her bag and rose to her feet, he rose with her.
"I'll see you to the field," he muttered, throwing more logs onto the fire, "The mountain is far from safe in the dark."
Smiling she accepted his offer and they descended the mountain in silence. When they reached the base, he hung back, waiting for her to set off across the field.
"I'll come back soon," she promised, turning back to him.
"Why?" he asked, frowning. She shrugged,
"I don't want you to starve for one thing."
He laughed, "I've lived here for a long time," he assured her, but she shrugged it off,
"Yes, but now you don't have to live off berries," she paused, "I can't say when, but I'll come back soon."
With a swift smile she turned and set off across the darkened field.
TBC
Ah I enjoyed writing that, please review! x