Blood still stained the sand around Claudia, who laid in a deep, motionless sleep induced by the medicine Terry had administered. Mid-morning had arrived, and Terry was unsure how long Claudia would remain asleep, but he wanted to make sure that she did not wake up surrounded by the gruesome remnants of the night.
Terry had not slept, and he decided that tending to Claudia would help focus his tired mind. He got up from his seated position and placed himself next to the bloodied sand. He then began to dig, dragging his hands through a clean patch until he was left with a hole he judged deep enough. He then began to shovel the bloodied sand into the hole. It felt sticky and course in his hands.
Many handfuls were required to adequately groom the area around Claudia. With the hole nearly filled, Terry shovelled untainted sand atop it. In doing so, he hoped to cast the events of the night prior into the realm of lost memory or half-forgotten dream.
There was more work to do. There was now enough time to make fire. He would keep her warm and dry, and be ready to make something for her to eat when she awoke. He walked to the treeline and gathered kindling and firewood, keeping a vigilant eye on Claudia all the while; should she begin to wake up, he did not intend for be separated from her.
Terry assembled the pilfered firewood and some leaves a short distance from Claudia; a distance that would offer heat but not upset her sleep. He picked up two stones and began slamming them together. Sparks were difficult to birth. He had come to rely on Claudia's magic to start campfires. He was surprised to see how much his ability to do so himself had dulled.
He persisted in the effort for some time before a few small sparks jumped into the mound of tinder. Terry blew gently into the nascent flame, nurturing it into maturity. With the fire alive, he then set a pot of water above it, ready lower and bring to boil when needed.
His mind wandered to Viren, who had still not returned. The thirty days they had been given had passed. He looked to Claudia and felt that he owed it to her to make an effort to find her father, whatever his state may be.
"Well..." he sighed as he got to his feet and dusted off his pants, "...let's get to it..."
He began walking in the direction he believed Viren had followed in the night.
An abnormal state of sleep had claimed Claudia. Strange sensations, formless shadows, and feelings of days gone by raced in her mind. Somewhere between dream and consciousness, vivid scenes of the past began to take stage.
Memories of her childhood appeared. She saw herself at five years old. She could see through the eyes of her younger self within the castle grounds at Katolis. Those had been carefree days, where she was happy to explore the castle and peer over its walls into lands which were unknown to her; and off limits. She was free to explore and to test her boundaries, but her parents required her to stay inside the castle grounds unless they accompanied her.
Her days unfolded quietly, and she was content. While her parents attended to their court duties, she would play with Soren. If Soren had his own tasks to finish, she would play alone. Few children lived inside the castle at that time, and none that were her age who would make good playmates.
Claudia saw one memory of this time come into sharper focus.
She was smelling flowers which grew in the grassy courtyard where the knights sometimes practised with their swords, when she heard her name called.
"Claudia. Claudia, my dear. Would you come here please?" her father's voice carried from nearby.
She lifted her nose from an aromatic flower, and tracked her father's voice to the battlements which ran around the courtyard. When she saw him, a wide smile flashed on her face and she ran towards him.
She came to the steps which led up the battlements. She lifted her legs with great effort. The steps were made for knights, not five year old girls. Each stair became a struggle. She had made it less than halfway before stopping and looking to the top of the steps, meeting eyes with her waiting father.
Claudia lifted her arms, pleading with her father to come down and fetch her.
Her father smiled tenderly and shook his head no.
Claudia understood his message. If she was going to make it, she was going to do it through her own determination. She continued slowly, lifting her right foot to the next step, placing her hands down and pulling herself forward. She could see the smile on her fathers face widen with each conquered step.
She at last reached the summit. She saw that Soren was also there, seated against the battlement wall.
"Come Claudia, I have something to tell you," her father announced as he reached down and scooped her into his arms. Claudia grabbed onto his shirt and held tightly.
Her father placed himself on a seat next to where Soren was waiting. He then placed Claudia on his lap.
"Things are about to change in the castle," he said warmly.
"What kinda things?" Soren cut in.
"Good things, my son. Good things," her father answered. "We are soon to have...new friends."
"Fwriends?" Claudia asked.
"Yes, Claudia," her father replied. "The king has taken a wife. That means she is now the queen. She will live at the castle with all of us. And she isn't coming alone. Oh, no! The queen has a son. He will live here as well."
As Claudia watched this memory unfold, she remembered how eager she was to meet the queen and her son, but especially her son. She had hoped they would become friends.
"I would like very much if both of you will try your best to welcome them to the castle. It is difficult to leave one's old home and make a new one, so I expect both of you to make them feel at welcome here."
"How old his her son?" Soren asked.
"He is not yet four years old, but nearly," he replied.
"Aw, he's just a baby!" Soren insisted, dejected.
Her father sighed.
"Soren, please take this seriously and heed my instructions."
"...yes, dad," he answered obediently.
Claudia however, beamed with excitement. Almost four would soon be four, and four was almost five. In her young mind, they were practically the same age, and that guaranteed that they would be friends.
"What's his name, daddy?" Claudia asked from her father's lap.
"Callum, my dear. His name is Callum," he answered.
The memory of that day gave way to those of the days and weeks that followed. These were days of waiting. She would play in the courtyard until her father came home, and then she would ask him if Callum was coming to the castle that day.
"Not today, Claudia. But soon," he assured each time.
Then, one spring day while she played, her father summoned her. When she found him, she saw that he wore the tunic he put on for special occasions. She knew that the day she had been waiting for had arrived.
Her father led her to the castle gates where her mother and brother would be waiting. Everyone in the castle was assembled there, standing in columns before the gate. They stood apart to form a corridor which the arriving party could traverse.
Claudia and her father found their spot next to her mother and Soren. Claudia stood between her parents. Each of them offered her a hand to hold, and she did so happily.
The sound of horses echoed in the distance. The trotting grew louder and louder, and Claudia's excitement continued to increase in suit.
Suddenly, the first horse stepped through the gate. And then another. And another.
At last, Claudia recognized the king. He rod a white horse. Beside him strode another white horse, which carried a woman. Claudia stared at her and was amazed at how strong and beautiful she looked. Sitting in front of her was a boy, who she held with tightly wrapped arms.
The crowed clapped as they rode past. Claudia, however, was transfixed and didn't make a sound.
The king and queen waved to the adoring crowd. And then they rode passed and out of view.
"Where are they going?" Claudia asked as she tugged on her father's tunic.
"Inside the keep, surely," he answered. "They have travelled a long way, and need rest. But don't worry, you will have a chance to meet them soon."
Another memory took shape. Claudia wasn't sure when it had occurred, but by then she and Callum had become friends. Claudia had insisted on it. She thought she may have been seven years old and Callum five.
It seemed to be spring again, and she had led Callum by the hand to the courtyard to sample the flowers. She had been able to do so less often, as she had started daily lessons by age six. Only after her lessons concluded each afternoon was she free to engage in her seasonal pastime.
That day, she had trouble finding any flower that pleased her. Most were plain, and several made her grimace. The courtyard seemed to yield fewer and fewer appealing flowers, she had noticed.
"Claudia," she heard Callum announce from behind while she scanned the far side of the courtyard for anything colourful. She turned to see Callum standing with a flower in hand.
"I found a flower. It smells good," he said as held it to his nose. "Here you go," he added as he offered it to her.
Claudia extended her hand and received the flower. As she did so, she heard a loud 'Oh-ho-ho!' from nearby. She pivoted to see where the sound had come from.
Atop the battlements, she saw the king standing next to her father. The king laughed his low, kingly laugh and wore a wide smile as he pointed toward the her and Callum. Her father's eyes followed the king's pointing finger until they landed upon Claudia. Her father also let out a short laugh also, and the king gave him a few friendly slaps on the back.
Claudia brought the flower to her nose and inhaled deeply. When she did so her father held a hand to his heart and smiled. Claudia waved to him and then continued to enjoy the fragrance.
The pleasant smell and the memory alike began to dissolve, replaced by a bitter feeling. A new memory supplanted the old.
The sun was fast disappearing behind distant hills, and Claudia saw herself crouched alone under the steps of the courtyard. This memory she recalled with clarity. It was shortly after her mother had left the castle to go to a place she had never hear of; a place called Del Bar.
She remembered how alone she felt. Her mother had left a hole in her young heart. Her father had become more reserved, and absorbed in his work. Soren had become more domineering, picking on smaller kids and refusing to include Claudia in anything he did.
She spent much of her time sulking, and the space under the stairs provided a location where she could do so in private. After a long while under the stairs, she heard footsteps above her. They were quick and light, the footsteps of a child. She lifted her head and dried her eyes.
Callum appeared in the opening under the stairs and approached her.
"Hi Claudia," he said as he sat down in front of her.
"Hi Prince Callum," she replied before bringing her knees towards herself and hiding her head.
"Just call me Callum, Claudia. Because we're friends. Are you okay?" he asked.
Claudia didn't want to answer.
"I don't feel good," she finally explained.
"Want a hug? Mom says hugs are the best medicine"
Claudia titled her head up and peaked over her knees. Callum had extended his arms forward, waiting openly.
Claudia shook her head 'yes' and Callum shuffled forward on his knees. Before his arms were around her, she had raised her own and embraced him. She buried her head in his scarf to wipe away her tears. Her father had not hugged her in this way since her mother had left, nor had her brother. She held her friend tighter and tighter.
Claudia remembered closing her eyes at that moment and feeling secure. He was right, it was medicine.
In her dream state however, something changed when she finally opened her eyes.
Callum was gone.
She was no longer under the stairs.
She was grown up.
The security of Callum's embrace was replaced by the vast openness of the sky. She stood on the precipice of a cliff, whatever lay below obscured by clouds. Somewhere in her unconscious mind, she knew that she was not seeing a memory, but perhaps a dream.
Suddenly, she recognized the location. It was the summit of the Storm Spire. She peered down again and was struck with dizziness. She took a step backward to safety, but bumped into something. She turned herself around quickly.
She found herself face to face with the elf.
Rayla.
With a vacant look in her eyes, the elf thrust an arm forward into Claudia's chest, knocking her backwards.
Before she could react, Claudia could feel that solid ground was no longer underfoot and that she was falling. Time seemed to move slowly as she started to descend. She fell headfirst, but she managed to glance up at the edge from where she had been pushed. The elf now stood there, looking down at her. A satisfied smile formed on her face as Claudia continued to her doom.
The impact was not what she expected. It was cold and wet. She found herself tumbling, topsy-turvy, in an angry sea. As she sank deeper, her lungs began to ache. Disorientation fuelled fear.
She began to kick her legs with all her strength as she prayed she was kicking toward the surface and not deeper into the abyss.
She breached the surface and gasped for air. She coughed up the water that had invaded her lungs, and fought to stay above the waves. As she bobbed up and down in the swell, she turned herself in a circle to search for dry land. She spotted none, only endless ocean and dark sky stretched to the horizon.
She turned her head toward the sky to beg for help from anyone, or anything, that called the stars home. When she did so, she glimpsed the sun and the moon. The latter was moving in front of the former. An eclipse was underway. It felt to her to be a harbinger of something to come, and she looked on in awe. Even the sea seemed to be mesmerized; its waves first calmed, and then ceased entirely. The sea became as still as a pond, an unbroken surface reflecting the starlight.
An eerie silhouette took shape around the duelling bodies in the sky, becoming a perfect ring as the moon attained dominance over the sun. The ring shone an impossible bright white, but Claudia could not turn her head nor shut or eyes. The sun itself had not been able to resist the moon, so she felt that there was little sense in trying.
As she gazed, the ring began to change. Red began to seep into the margins, blotting out the white. Soon the entire circumference had been painted red, which grew darker and darker until it was the unmistakable hue of blood.
And then it burst forth.
Blood poured from the eclipse, trickling slowly through the sky as if paint on a canvas. It resembled somehow a series of rivers, forking and rejoining as they flowed from the heavens toward the sea. When the crimson rivers reached their estuaries, the sea became red.
Claudia looked on with wide eyes, unable to process the impossible, surreal spectacle.
It was then that she contemplated that escape, rescue, or salvation were unlikely. Dream of not, she felt she would die there. As she readied to accept her fate, she felt something make contact with her beneath the sanguine water.
Suddenly, something latched onto her leg and began to pull her into the depths. She fought with what strength she still possessed, licking and thrashing her arms to stay afloat, but the assailant was more powerful. As her head dipped below the surface, she managed one last deep breath, hoping to use it to extend her life, if only for seconds.
Under the waves, she met two sets of devious eyes and devilish grins. Affixed to her left leg was the elf, and to her right, Callum. Their faces seemed otherworldly. They seemed to Claudia to be the kind faces of monsters described in scary stories or fables. Their eyes were off-kilter, and their teeth came to sharp ends. At a distance they would have appeared normal. Their monstrous nature would only be apparent close up, when it would be too late.
Their laughter carried through the water clearly. It continued to grow louder as they pulled her further and further down.
In a final effort to save herself, Claudia used the last breath of air she had captured.
"P-please! Don't!" she begged.
Rayla and Callum halted their laughter and looked at each other for a moment.
"HaHahAHaHAahAh," they bellowed in unison as they disregarded her begging and continued to drag her down.
Claudia looked above her, toward the surface. The light of the moon was dimming through the water. Darkness was closing in from all directions. She reached her hand toward the surface, hoping against hope to find something, anything, to latch onto.
Then, from above, Claudia did find something to take hold of. Rather, something took hold of her by the hand. Someone had clasped their hand around hers, and began pulling her upwards. She felt Callum and Rayla release her, and saw them scuttle away into the dark abyss, seemingly not wanting to engage in a tug-of-war.
When Claudia breached the surface, she found that she was no longer at sea. She stood in a vast open space which was filled with fog. The fog obscured her ability to see anything beyond several meters.
"Where am I!? Who are you!?" she screamed at the top of her lungs.
Her echo was the only response.
"I know someone is there! You saved me! But I can't see you!" she shouted.
In the fog, a figure began to take shape. Only their contours came into focus. Claudia could not tell if it was a man or woman, human or elf. Whatever the case, the figure stood tall and proud, and did not appear to be threatening.
"Who are you!?" she questioned.
"You know my name, dear Claudia," the figure replied and stepped out of the mist.
"...Aaravos..." she whispered.
"Yes," he confirmed, "I am happy to finally meet...face to face."
"Is this a dream?" Claudia asked.
"Yes," Aaravos confirmed, "but that does not mean that it is not real."
As Aaravos drew closer, Claudia looked on and studied his features, which were unlike the other elves of Xadia.
"Is something wrong?" Aaravos asked.
"N-no, I j-just didn't know what Startouch elves looked like," she confessed.
Aaravos smiled.
"There are few who remain today that do," he explained. "But, we will change that."
"...W-we will?" she questioned.
"Of course, my dear, of course. When the doors to my prison are at last thrown open, all the world will know my face."
"...The prison," Claudia remembered, "...it's gone. I failed. It's over."
"My dear girl," Aaravos said with a smile, "Nothing is over."
"But they took the prison. I don't know how to get it back," Claudia fretted.
"It is immaterial," Aaravos comforted her. "The prison is where it needs to be."
"B-but, how can I help you if-"
"The prison is of no concern. Your welfare, on the other hand, is of great importance. You have an important role to play yet."
"...Me? W-why? I failed. I failed...my dad..." she said, lowering her head in self pity.
"No. You have proven your loyalty and dedication to those around you," Aaravos said has he stepped closer.
"And you have become a powerful mage," he praised.
"And..." he continued as he gently lifted her chin with his hand, "...you have become a beautiful young woman."
Aaravos ran a thumb across Claudia's lower lip, and then brushed her white hair away from her face and over her ear.
Claudia's heart beat faster in reaction to his touch.
"You must pursue that which your heart demands," Aaravos insisted. "You must seek that which you have lost. That which I have shown you."
"...lost?" she asked.
"Yes. Search your feelings, sweet Claudia. You know where your heart leads you," he insisted.
"...My heart? It wants...my dad," she pouted.
"Through the heart, you will have all manner of reunions. Through the heart, are we born anew," he replied cryptically.
"But where should I go?" Claudia asked.
Aaravos said nothing.
Claudia searched her own feelings, thinking about what she wanted in her heart. And then she decided.
"Del Bar," she announced. "I'll go to Del Bar."
Aaravos smiled wider.
"The heart will not lead you astray. Follow it, and we will even find a way to save your father, together."
Claudia closed her eyes and took a deep breath, readying herself for a new journey. When she opened her eyes, Aaravos had vanished.
And then she woke up.