• CHAPTER 1

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    8

    Visions


    “No! Stay away from me!” I screamed. I was running through the forest as fast as my legs would carry me. There was no time to take flight, any delay would result in the assassin catching me! My heart pounded in my chest, driven into a wild frenzy from terror.

    Where was Aiden? He was supposed to take me to Archosaur! I thought he was to protect me until I got there, why was he not here?

    I glanced over a shoulder, going wide-eyed upon seeing the assassin taking aim at me. I was too exhausted to cast spells. Every muscle in my body ached, the only thing that even kept me moving was my own panic.

    The arrow cut through the air as it was released from the crossbow, coming straight for me.

    “Ahhh!” I screamed, as something touched my shoulder.

    It took a moment to register that what I had felt touch me, was not in fact an arrow sinking into my skin, but the hand of the old woman who had welcomed us into her home. I had just been dreaming...

    Thank the heavens.

    “Calm down, dear, you’re fine.“ She said quickly. She looked at me with concern in her crystal blue eyes.

    It took all the concentration I could muster to slow my heart from it’s rapid pace. Every nerve I had was once again frayed and it took a few moments of looking around the room to convince myself that I had merely been dreaming. I must have just been scared so badly from my experience… That assassin would lurk in my nightmares for a time to come I was sure of it.

    I tried to take my mind off of the dream by concentrating on other things. The bed beneath me was rather comfortable, the whole room had a comfy feeling to it. That certainly helped to calm me down. Especially now that it seemed to be daylight out, but I had a question…

    “When did I fall asleep?” I asked. My eyebrows furrowed in thought as I tried to recall. I never remembered having fallen asleep at all.

    The old woman smiled at me. “You fell asleep before you even made it half-way down the hallway.” She said with a soft laugh. “You couldn’t even stay awake long enough to eat.”

    “Oh..”

    I fought back a blush. I could feel it burning my cheeks, I knew it was probably visible. That meant that I had fallen asleep in Aiden’s arms… how awkward he must have felt.

    “I thought I would wake you up to eat though. You need your strength.”

    “How long did I sleep for?”

    “It’s mid-afternoon, you’ve been sleeping solid since last night.” She said. She got up from where she had been sitting at the edge of the bed and walked to a dresser that sat near the entrance to the room. There she picked up a tray and brought it to me.

    My stomach growled at the mere sight of food. I felt like I hadn’t eaten in ages! And the smell, it was so good. It seemed to be only some kind of stew and some bread and water but I would take nearly anything now.

    “Y-you didn’t have to bring it to me, I could hav--”

    “Don’t you worry about it. You’ve been through a lot, I can tell.”

    It took all the self control I had not to tear into it once she had sat it down on my lap. Don’t make a mess, be polite. I told myself. I took the small spoon and scooped up some of the stew, cautiously taking a small sampling bite. The food was amazing! Much better than I had expected. Not that I was sure at all what to expect in the first place.

    “Do you like it?” she said, though the way she smiled at me told me she already knew the answer. I was eating it as fast as I possibly could without sloshing the meal all over.

    “I-it’s delicious!” I exclaimed. “What is it?”

    “It’s a chicken and vegetable stew my mother taught me to make a long time ago. I don’t cook often, it’s one of the few things I know how to make. ”

    “It’s wonderful! Thank you!” I said after gulping down another bite.

    “It’s not a problem. You were lucky you came by when you did and that I made Roarke save some.

    I managed to slow my eating down some near the end of the bowl. “I’m so sorry…” I said as a thought crossed my mind. “We never even got a real introduction and here I am eating your food…”

    “It’s quite alright. You didn’t have time. My name is Edna by the way, and yours?”

    “Catriona.” I replied slowly, taken aback by how close her name was to my grandmother’s…

    As starved as I was, it looked as though one bowl of Edna’s stew would be enough for me. I could never eat very much at once. I was finally satisfied but exhausted still.

    My eyelids felt heavy and all I wanted to do was sleep once again. I barely realized it when she took the tray from my lap. I became slightly more aware when she moved the blankets off my of my legs. “Let’s check that ankle of yours.”

    Oh, that, I remembered that. This was an odd reversed situation I realized as I thought to myself. A human giving medical attention to a cleric. I frowned at the thought. Not a very good cleric anyways. I didn’t know that I had ever tried to treat anything aside from a badly skinned knee or something of the sort from the small children around Plume.

    “Hm, so it is true, you wing elves heal rather fast. It’s not even swollen anymore.” The Edna stated.

    I barely heard her and only muttered a tired, “yeah” in reply. I closed my eyes, ready to just let sleep take me again. But then it happened, just like before.

    That dreadful noise began to fill my ears, growing louder by the second. The screaming and the sounds of fire crackling.

    “Miss Catriona? What’s wrong?“ I heard the woman say to me but, barely. Reality was quickly vanishing.

    I sat hunched over, my hands over my ears as if out of instinct. It did no good , the noise wouldn’t stop. And the vision wouldn’t leave me no matter what I did! All around me my beautiful home city burned!

    I could see it more clearly this time, there were people. They ran past me as I seemed to stand in the middle of the carnage unnoticed. Some were fighting as others fled, but all I could see of them were shadows.

    “You did this!” A voice scolded me. That voice, I knew it, it was the priest! Every muscle in my body wanted to run as he appeared up ahead. I stumbled backwards when he began to storm toward me, eyes burning with a hatred I couldn’t begin to understand.

    “No! Stop it!” I cried.

    “You allowed this monster to escape! I’ll have you killed for this just like that grandmother of yours… she deserved to die.”

    My grandmother? Dead? What was he talking about? I didn’t understand! I turned to run but instead found myself face to face with that man… the one that killed me. “Don’t worry,” he said in that half whisper tone. “It’ll be for good this time.”

    I all but screamed when he gripped my arm. Finally, as soon as my heart felt like it could take no more terror, reality returned. Once again I was sitting in the room at the manor. I had curled up on myself, and tears rolled down my cheeks. I tried to hold them back now; I didn’t want to cry. I had done so enough already.

    What was happening to me?

    “Miss Catriona, are you okay?” Edna questioned. She sounded panicked.

    I looked to her and then took notice of quite a few people standing in the doorway behind her. “U-uh yeah… I-I’m fine.” I stammered.

    She seemed to follow my gaze and waved the others away with a scowl. They promptly vanished, the last one to leave quickly but quietly closed the door. She turned her attention back to me, the wrinkles on her forehead even more pronounced now with the worry she expressed. “Are you sure that you’re okay? What happened?” she asked.

    “I-I don’t know.”

    Paranoia gripped me now. The last time I had something like this, a vision of some sort, a monster had attacked my home town and nearly killed me. What this time? My stomach churned and I felt as though I would be sick. I didn’t know why but I had to get out of here and moving again.

    “Where’s Aiden?” I questioned.

    “Roarke sent him on an errand.” Edna said with a sigh. Her lips tugged into an unenthused frown as she continued. “Your friend asked what he could do in return for letting you both stay here and Roarke told me he had sent him on an errand but he probably sent him to find that damn treasure map.”

    “We can’t stay here anymore, I need to find him.” I said quickly, throwing the covers the rest of the way off and going to get to my feet. A hand on my shoulder stopped me.

    “Catriona, dear… if you keep going like this you’re going to make yourself sick.” Edna said.

    She was probably right, but what other choice did I have? Something told me that neither myself nor Aiden were going to be safe until we reached the large walled city of Archosaur. This anxious feeling weighed on my chest like a sack of bricks.

    “I-- It was just a dream… but I-I would feel better if we could get--”

    “Just what are you running from?”

    I feel silent and averted my gaze to the bed in front of me. That question had been so sudden. I couldn’t let anyone know could I? My grandmother had specifically told me not to let anyone know of my power, even though I knew so little about it myself, but how much else could I divulge?

    “I get the feeling that you’re running, or hiding from something.”

    “Edna!” I could hear her husband call suddenly.

    I nearly fell backwards with relief. Perhaps I wouldn’t have to tell anything at all! Such a wonderful distraction. I still had to find Aiden and get out of here.

    I could hear footsteps as the elderly man came storming up the hallway and Edna went to open the door for him. He hadn’t sounded happy and already she didn’t look too enthused either. “What is it, Roarke?” she questioned him.

    “There are Wing Elves all around our manor!”

    “What?”

    “They say they’re soldiers from the Wing Elf capital but I don’t care, I want them off my property!”

    I could feel the color drain from my face. My grandmother had said she’d send a letter not a search party. Something was wrong.

    CHAPTER 9