Chapter 19
Fever Dreams
Robin could hear a man screaming as he lay on his camp bed. What commander couldn't control himself honorably in front of his men? Gradually Robin became aware of the strong hands holding him onto the bed and the burn of the needle threading through his skin. The man screaming was him. The darkness engulfed him and the pain subsided as he passed again into unconsciousness.
Robin was burning. He could see the flames in front of him and knew that he was in the ditch at Antioch and they were burning him. Somehow they didn't know he was still alive. He could feel the fire licking up his boots and roasting him alive inside his chain mail. Robin tried to scream and the fire entered his lungs. Soon it would be over.
As Robin lay in the flames he saw that Noor was inside them and so was Marion. "Noor, Marion, please help me. I'm not dead! I'm still alive! Please help me!"
The specters appeared to move toward each other and eyed him coldly. "Please help me!" He cried.
The specter of Noor came closer and though it's mouth did not move Robin heard it exclaim "I curse you Robin of Locksley with the knowledge of who you are and what you've done!"
The specter of Marion followed behind it and just like the first it's mouth did not move as it exclaimed "you left me to die an old maid while you searched for glory! Die here Robin, for I wish to never see you again!"
Before Robin could reach for them he was no longer in the fire. He was lying in the wood surrounding Locksley Village, shivering in the cold as the snow fell upon him. If he didn't move soon he would freeze to death. Home was not far, he could make it if he would just get up. He needed to move before he froze. In the trees he saw the specters again and realized that he wasn't home. He was in an illusion created by Noor and he would die here.