Chapter 41: Painful Memories
As soon as Bishop entered the Flagon, he was set upon by Duncan and two very agitated animals. Thorondor had flown over and landed on his shoulder, screeching loudly in his ear, while Karnwyr whined and snuffled at the girl in his arms. It was quite the scene and the few patrons that were there had come over to watch.
"What in the hells happened to Nim?" Duncan shouted at him. "These two just showed up here screeching and howling so loud I thought the world was coming to an end."
Bishop ignored the question and headed for their room, accompanied by the two animals with the others following. As he walked he heard Shandra filling Duncan in on what had happened. As he went to lay her on the bed, he realized that all of them were trying to squeeze into the room. "Get out, all of you," he snarled.
Seeing the wild, angry look in his eyes, Shandra quickly backpeddled taking Duncan with her. The others also saw the look and figured it would be wise to do as he so politely asked. "I'll come back later to see if you need anything," Shandra said as she closed the door and then leaned against it. Seeing Duncan staring worriedly at the door she reached out and took his hand. "Listen, I know you want to stay with her but it really isn't a good idea right now. Besides, Sand said she would sleep deeply for quite a while so she won't even know you're there."
"She's my niece, he has no right to kick me out," Duncan snapped.
"Duncan, the way he sees it, he has every right to kick us all out," Shandra said patiently. "Anyway, with the way you two feel about each other, you'd just end up fighting and that won't do Nim any good." Taking a firm grip on his hand, she dragged him away and back to the common room to wait.
Bishop had gotten her undressed and into bed and was now pacing the floor. He didn't know what he should do for her, if anything, and it was not a feeling he liked. She was so pale he would have thought her dead if he didn't know better, and she seemed to hardly breathe. Seeing her helpless like this made him uncomfortable, for she had always been so strong. Whatever those memories were, they had to be pretty bad if they made her cry, for he had never seen her cry before. Hearing a whine he stopped and looked over to see Karnwyr looking at him like some lost puppy. "What's the matter with you?" he asked grumpily.
"Friend Thorondor upset, Bishop upset, want to know why?" the dire wolf whined again.
"Yeah well, apparently she's been suppressing some pretty bad memories and they suddenly came back all at once," Bishop answered. "The wizard had to put her in a deep sleep, but she's going to be just fine, so don't worry about it."
"Can see her memories Thorondor?" Karnwyr asked as he turned back to the bed.
"Some of them. They are from before we met, when she was little more than a baby. Her village was destroyed. Horrible images," the falcon answered.
"Can you show me?" Karnwyr asked and the falcon nodded. As the images began to enter his mind he started to tremble. The more he saw the more he wished he hadn't asked to see, and he started to shiver uncontrollably.
Bishop had stopped pacing and was watching the two of them, wondering what they were doing. When he saw the dire wolf beginning to tremble he couldn't keep silent. "What's wrong?" he asked out loud. Getting no answer he reached out to try to touch Karnwyr's mind, something he rarely did. It took a while, but then he started seeing the images in the wolf's head, and paled. That was what she had remembered? He quickly broke the connection, for the images were stirring up similar memories in him, memories that he didn't want to think about. It seemed that they had more in common than just woodcraft. Going over to the animal, he placed a gentle hand on Karnwyr's head, "It's okay fella, everything will be okay."
"What happened there, do you know Bishop?" Karnwyr asked, feeling calmer now that the ranger was petting him.
"Some big battle that took place long ago in the Mere," he answered. "Her village was caught in the middle and ended up being destroyed. Apparently her mother died during the attack but she somehow survived. Everyone thought she had been too young to remember, but apparently that wasn't the case." He sat for a while watching her sleep. Even though she was in a deep sleep her body twitched and he knew that some of the memories must be going through her conscious mind. He hoped she would be alright, for the thought of never hearing her laugh or seeing her smile again upset him. She had gotten under his skin and past the barriers he had put up to keep others out. Unable to stand just sitting there, he got up and started pacing again, trying to occupy his mind with more pleasant thoughts.
*******
Nimbrethil stirred and opened her eyes to see that she was in her room at the Flagon. Frowning, she tried to remember how she got there but couldn't. It appeared to be mid-morning but of which day? Turning her head to the left she saw Bishop sitting in a chair beside the bed, chin in hand, and eyes closed. Why was he sitting beside the bed and not resting in it? Clearing her throat she called his name, "Bishop?"
Bishop jumped to his feet in surprise and then a grin broke out on his face as he saw she was awake. Kneeling beside the bed he placed a hand to her cheek. "About time you woke up you lazy elf," he said gruffly, trying to hide the relief he was feeling. Turning to Karnwyr he asked him to go get Sand.
"How did I get here and how long have I been asleep?" Nimbrethil asked in confusion.
"You mean you don't remember?" Bishop peered closely at her as she shook her head. "What's the last thing you do remember?"
"That Luskan bitch Natale lying about Ember, why?" she asked and saw a smile cross his face at the words. "Tell me what happened," she demanded sharply.
"I think it's best we wait until Sand gets here," he told her firmly. No way was he going to tell her what he knew without the wizard being present. The memories were bad and he didn't want to see her relive them and not be able to help her if there was a problem. He didn't like the fact that this was something he could not control or do anything about. At least the experience hadn't softened her tongue, for that would have been a tragedy indeed. He liked her blunt way of speaking. It was honest even if others sometimes thought it too harsh. He much prefered her way to those who spoke in riddles and metaphors.
"Ah, I see the patient is awake and looks to be in a fine mood this morning," Sand said as he entered. He eyed Bishop with some annoyance. "Next time you require my presence, do not send that flea-bitten mutt, or I will turn him into a cat. Send the bird instead," he said crossly as he fingered the teeth marks in his robe.
"Nice to see you too Sand," Nimbrethil snorted in amusement. "So, what happened to me?"
"Remember how everyone wondered how much of the battle in West Harbor you remembered?" Sand asked matter of factly. Seeing her nod he continued, "Well you were indeed old enough to comprehend what was going on, but the memories were suppressed deep in your mind, probably because it was such a traumatic experience."
"Are you telling me that I remembered something about it?" Nimbrethil said apprehensively.
"Not just something my dear, but a lot of somethings," Sand said quietly. "It requires a pretty strong stimulus to trigger such deeply buried memories. Something happened last night to cause them to come surging to the surface. They were coming so fast that they were threatening to overwhelm your conscious mind. I had to link my mind with yours in order to establish enough of a barrier to prevent that. Afterwards I put you into a deep sleep state so you could rest."
Nimbrethil eyed him warily. "I don't really remember anything that happened after Natale did her spiel about Ember. Are these memories buried again? Will they come to the surface and cause more problems?"
"No, I did not bury them because sometimes it is better to let them come to the surface," Sand replied. "What I did do, was create...uhm... multiple doors in your mind, so to speak. Just like opening the doors to different rooms in a house, you can access those memories the same way. But you will be the one in control of what appears in your mind. I can of course attempt to bury all of them again, if you wish, but it might not be a permanent solution. Other things might occur in the future that could trigger them again, and you run the risk of losing your mind then. Without someone around to help you, you would end up in a catatonic state, or worst case, dead."
Nimbrethil shivered at the thought that memories could be bad enough to kill. She wasn't sure what caused them to surface but she had a theory and now she voiced it. "At the Mask, when I saw that mage, I thought I recognized him but didn't know from where. It was shortly afterwards that I started getting a headache."
"Then it is most likely that that was the trigger," Sand nodded thoughtfully. "Once one memory was triggered, the rest were set off as well. The fact that all the memories were of the battle at West Harbor, it is logical to assume that that is where you recognize him from. Do you think you could call up that memory?" Sand saw the fear enter her eyes and hastened to reassure the girl. "I will make sure that they do not cause the same mental pain as before. As for emotional pain, well I am afraid that I cannot help you with that."
Bishop took her hand and held it firmly. "You don't have to do this if you don't want to. Thorondor showed us some of the memories he could see and they were bad enough to scare Karnwyr. Say the word and I throw the wizard out," he growled.
"Bishop, her memories could contain key information about what we are facing," Sand said irritably.
"I don't care about that," Bishop snarled. "We've been doing fine up till now without these memories. I don't ever want to see her in that state again."
"Bishop, it's okay, I want to try," Nimbrethil placed a hand on his arm. "As long as I have Sand's promise to stop when I say so, I'll do it."
"Are you sure about this?" Bishop stared down at her and saw her nod. "Okay then, but if you push her wizard you'll regret it," he glared at Sand.
"Then my dear let us get started," Sand said as he sat down on the bed beside her. "I will create a very light link with your mind, just enough so that if the memories become too much I can shut them away again." He placed both hands on her head and closed his eyes, "Ready?" Feeling her nod they began.
Nimbrethil felt the strange touch of Sand's mind to hers and heard him telling her to focus on the image of the wizard. It wasn't long before the images came pouring in. She saw the man and felt his power, a dark violent power. However, she also sensed another presence nearby and the power this one had was smooth, shadowy and cold. She saw an image of something that might have been a man but he seemed to be insubstantial, wraithlike and was wearing a hideous mask. The two were facing each other in the middle of the village, bright moonlight shining down on them. She heard the sound of steel meeting steel and then a flash blinded her and a sharp pain went through her making her cry out. She began to panic and felt Sand pushing the memory back behind the door, locking it away. When she opened her eyes she saw both men staring at her and their faces were pale.
"What happened? Why did she scream like that?" Bishop yelled.
"Apparently, she was reliving the moment when the shard she carries buried itself in her chest," Sand said as calmly as he could. "The man we faced last night looks exactly like the one who was at the battle in West Harbor. It is possible that they are two different people but not likely."
"But that battle happened decades ago Sand," Nimbrethil said in confusion. "How could it be the same one? They look the same age."
"I cannot answer that without more information," Sand shrugged. "We know that the shards are part of a broken silver sword. Now we know that the sword was broken when the man used it to battle the King of Shadows, or his avatar to be more precise."
"Just how in the hells do you know that?" Bishop scoffed, thinking the wizard was making something up of the top of his head.
"I know because that was the other creature in her mind's memory," Sand said in annoyance. "That thing she saw was an avatar of the King of Shadows, of that I am absolutely positive. That is who the man was fighting. Oh, and that man is not a wizard, he is a warlock. I know eldritch power when I see it."
"So, any idea what it all means?" Nimbrethil asked, her voice still a little shaky.
"Not yet, but at least I have a starting point to finding the answers," Sand told her with confidence. "I also believe that, despite his actions of the previous night, this man is an enemy of this King of Shadows, and as such a potentially powerful ally. He also would have knowledge of the enemy and the shards. If we are unable to rescue Aldanon, the man would become even more valuable. That is if we can even find him."
"Speaking of which, what about Garius? What's being done about him?" Nimbrethil had finally remembered Natale mentioning a place called Crossroad Keep and a dark ritual that Garius was going to be attempting.
"Yes, Garius," Sand mused. "Well of course I explained to Lord Nasher what had happened and told him that you would not be able to assist with the situation right away. However, despite protests from the Luskan ambassador, Nasher decided to wait until you were recovered enough to lead the attack. He seems to feel that you and the rest of us are the only ones capable of handling the threat. Either that or we are the only ones he believes will do it the right way."
Nimbrethil bit back a smile at the smug tone that entered Sand's voice. He just loved it when people told him how great he was, or how indispensible he was. "Well, right now I'm hungry but I feel well enough. I imagine that we could leave today, but we'll need horses for everyone. I can travel great distances very quickly but the others can't. I have no intention of going into this without those I trust to watch my back."
"Are you sure about that?" Sand studied her closely. She seemed physically capable but he wasn't sure how she was mentally.
"The memories are locked behind those doors, remember?" Nimbrethil quirked an eyebrow at him. "As long as they stay there I should have no problems."
"Well, if you are sure then I will go talk to Nevalle and make the arrangements," Sand got up and headed to the door. "I will send Shandra in with some food for you. Even if you do not feel hungry, you should still eat for you have not had anything since yesterday."
Bishop waited until the door closed then leaned over to kiss her. "Are you really sure you're ready? Because if not then I want you to tell them to go stick it," he growled.
Nimbrethil smiled slightly, "Come on you know me. When have I ever said anything I didn't mean? Excluding yesterday of course," she added hastily.
"True. It's just that I was thinking that we could lock that door and have some fun," he gave her a wicked grin.
"Gods! Is that all men think about?" Nimbrethil snorted but couldn''t keep from smiling.
"Well, not all, but mostly yeah," he drawled as he began nibbling on her neck. He was running his hands over her body when a knock sounded and she called out for whoever it was to come in. Seeing the mishcievious look in her eye he snorted, "little witch" then sat back in the chair.
Shandra entered with a tray of food to find the girl sitting up and smiling. "Duncan wanted to come but I told him that you needed to eat. I also told him that you must be just fine if you were planning on leaving for that keep today." She placed the tray on the bed and then nodded at Bishop. "See that she eats all of this."
"As if he could make me," Nimbrethil snorted and then squealed as Bishop tickled her ribs. "Okay, okay so you can make me, happy?" she gasped out and he flashed her a wolfish grin.
Shaking her head, Shandra retreated, closing the door behind her. As much as she detested the man for the way he behaved, he obviously cared enough about Nimbrethil to see to her well being and happiness. Realizing that there wasn't much time, she headed to her room to get ready for the journey. Sand had said that even with horses it would still probably take them four or five days to reach the keep and to pack accordingly. Sighing, she realized that she was probably going to be saddle sore by the end of the trip, as she had only ridden a horse a few times. It would be funny to see how the others managed it, especially Khelgar and Grobnar for they were so short. Reaching her room, she pulled out her travel gear and began to get ready. Hopefully, things would go smoothly and Nimbrethil would come up with a good plan of action. She seemed to be pretty knowledgable about such things, which was surprising considering she hadn't really trained for this. Sighing, she began sorting what she did and didn't need on the trip.