Backlash
Chapter 2: Switched
Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans nor do I make any profit from this. I just like to use them for a while and return them a little worse for wear.
It had been a long day, and Raven was tired. All she wanted to do was get back to the Tower and take a long bath, pick out a nice, moody book, and go to bed to read. She took the time to eat a quick dinner with the others, and then said her goodnights. Starfire reminded her she had promised to take her to the multiplex cinemas to see the new nature film "March of the Penguins" tomorrow. Raven nodded absently.
The bath was wonderful. With the others still upstairs, she didn't have to hurry or listen to Beast Boy complain about how long she was taking. Finished with that, she went to her room, picked out a likely book to start, and got into bed. Five pages into the book her eyelids began to droop. She set the book aside, pulled up the blanket and fell asleep almost immediately.
Then the dream began. She was surrounded by thick and heavy fog. And in the distance, she could hear a hauntingly familiar voice. But it was so far away she couldn't make out whose voice it was, or what they were saying. She stumbled through the fog trying to get closer to the voice. But the more she struggled, the further away the voice seemed to drift.
"Raven!"
Raven sat up, eyes wide. Her head swiveled as she looked around the dark room. She could practically hear the voice echoing in her ears. Her room was empty. The clock said 1 am. She sat frozen for several minutes. There was nothing but silence. It must have been a dream. Then, with a frown, she laid back down. Finally she drifted to sleep once more.
"Help."
The voice whispered out of the fog. Raven's eyes flew open. She scrambled to her feet and looked around the dark room. Then she walked to the big picture window overlooking the bay and the city. It was foggy outside, and the city lights were just faint blurs in the distance. The scene reminded her too much of her strange dreams, and Raven wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. She turned her back on the window and went back to her bed. Slipping beneath the blankets, she reprimanded herself for being fanciful. It was a dream. Nothing more. Now, she needed to get to sleep. She closed her eyes determinedly.
"Please help me…"
Raven bolted up again, her heart racing. She stared at the far wall, hearing the voice in her mind with crystal clarity. This time she knew that it was no dream. But, it couldn't be what she thought. No. It was a trick again. She knew better now.
"Go away. You can't fool me again," she said grimly. She slid back under the blankets and turned to her side facing the full length window. Her drapes were open, and outside she could see the black silhouettes of clouds as they drifted in the fog shrouded moonlight. Her throat tightened unaccountably. She shut her eyes.
"Raven, please!"
Once more she shot up in the bed, eyes wide, staring, heart slamming against her ribs. Her eyes went to the old chest at the far end of the room. Buried at the bottom of that chest was the book that held the dragon-wizard Malchior in a formidable curse. She hadn't opened the chest since she had put the book in there. And she wasn't about to now. She just wondered how the evil dragon had managed to gain enough freedom to speak again.
"Just how stupid do you think I am?" She asked the room, the voice, her tone bitter. "I know what you are now, and I'm not likely to forget."
She dropped back down, hauled the blankets up to her chin and shut her eyes. Sleep was a long time coming. Finally, she began to drift off again.
"I am in desperate need of my scarf, dear lady."
"Rorek!" Raven flew from the bed and stood looking around the room wildly. "Where are you?" The room was as empty as before. Raven lunged across the room to her dresser and dug to the bottom of the lowest drawer. She pulled out a finely woven, almost silky neck scarf that was black as midnight. She clutched it in her hands. "Where are you?"
There was no answer. Raven stood in the room, her eyes sweeping from one side to the other. Then, she took a slow breath. "The book." She walked to the far wall and knelt by the chest. Slowly she unlocked it and opened it. With care, she took out everything on top until at the bottom, the white-bound book that told the story of the battle of Rorek and Malchior, lay on its own. She clutched the scarf in one hand and reached out with the other to pick up the book.
"Are you there?" Raven whispered.
"Yes." Came the well-known voice.
"Why? How can you be there? I cursed Malchior into the book!"
"I'm not quite sure, my lady. But it could be that he's learned some sort of backlash curse. Remember all of those books he has at his disposal."
"What can we do?" Raven stared at the book cover. She heard a heartfelt sigh. "I have to free you."
"That would take too long," Rorek said somberly. "Listen, my dear Raven. This will not be easy, but it is the only way I can think of to reverse this."
"I'll do whatever you say."
"All right. Do you remember how I brought you back to my time in your dream?"
"Quite well."
"Good. Now, I'm going to teach you a different spell that will allow you to do it for yourself. What I need you to do, is to take that book back in time to before the battle ever took place," his words were careful and low. "If I'm right, once you get there, as the book hasn't been written yet, or the battle fought. I should be quite fine. The only problem is, that I won't know you."
"And once I'm there…"
"You'll have to convince me to trap Malchior in the book, and then destroy it. I failed to do that before. I'm afraid I believed my curse was strong enough to hold him. I…hated to take a life, even one as evil as his."
"All right," Raven took a breath. "Tell me what I need to know. But Rorek…"
"Yes?"
:"If you destroy the book, won't that mean that I will never read it, and I will never…know you?"
"I'm not sure," his voice was soft. "That may be. But if he is free to strike at my people, I have no choice, Raven. If there is anything I can do to prevent that I will. But, I can't promise. Believe me when I say that I wish for that to happen even less than you. If there was time, I would tell you of my efforts to find a way to meet with you again…"
"It's…probably just as well there isn't time. " Raven felt her cheeks grow warm as she carried the book over to her bed and sat down. She still carried the black scarf in her other hand. "I'm ready. Teach me what I need to do."
To be continued…