A Dark Tide (Book of One) (12 page)

"
When was I here before?
" he asked, not expecting an answer.

"
When you were but a child,
" Stroma said. "
You are recalling things past.
"

"
Then this is the place where I was born.
"

"
You already knew that.
"

"
Yes, but for a long time, I could remember only the fire.
"

"
Your memories were blocked by the mage, along with your power. When I spoke to Stavros about it, he told me it was to protect you from the shadow, and to protect you from yourself, so you could have a chance to grow up without that burden.
"

"
Only to remember it later,
" Aaron commented with a hint of bitterness.

"
If you had spent your childhood reliving that memory, there is no telling what might have become of you. You might have also tried to use your power, which would have made it all the more difficult to keep the ward in place.
"

"
It just feels like a lie. All those years, living with Tarnath, believing that life was simple and laughing about stupid things, and he knew about everything the whole time.
"

"
What would have done, Aaron?
" Stroma asked. "
What would you do if you were in such a position?
"

"
I don't know,
" Aaron said, after a moment.

"
Until you figure that out, then there is no reason to condemn the actions of others. I could sense no malice in Stavros, and from what I knew of his brother, Tarnath from all those years I spent lurking around the Academy in my own little exile, he seemed to be a good and honorable man.
"

"
I just wish things were different,
" Aaron said. "
I still cannot believe that I killed them. No, that's not right. I don't want to believe it, but I know it's true. I have seen it, over and over again.
"

"
How much of it do you truly remember?
"

Aaron realized that he was now standing just outside of a doorway that was the entrance to the room where the fire had been. So focused was he on the memories that plagued him that he had almost forgotten about the book, and he found it strange that it might be hidden in such a place.

"
I remember shadows and darkness, and a dagger, and I remember feeling pain. There was yelling, and I remember my mother's face and I remember the king with his sword. They fought someone, but the pain was too great, and that was when the fire happened, and I burned them all.
"

"
Then let us face your memories,
" Stroma said. "
For it appears the book is in that room.
"

Aaron took a step forward, entering the room, and numerous visions ran through his thoughts. He saw a woman, the queen, her elven features hidden under her hair, but still very noticeable in her expressions. She smiled at him, then she turned as a young girl, barely old enough to walk came into the room. The king walked behind her, his eyes twinkling as he watched his daughter take several steps toward her mother, then he reached for her as her legs folded and she landed, sitting on the floor. The king towered over her and she looked up at him and burst into laughter. She turned to her mother again, and she stared curiously at the infant she was holding, then she crawled toward them, with a look of determination on her face. She pulled herself up, back to her feet, and grinned at him, and it was a smile he knew very well.

Aaron wished he could see her again, now that he knew the truth, but he took solace in the fact that he had been able to get to know Ariana and they had become friends with one another, even without knowing the truth of their parentage. The vision of the young girl faded and another memory took its place. Night had fallen, and the glow of light from the doorway lit the room as the queen opened the door. She entered and walked across the floor, her eyes lidded with sleep but smiling as she put her hand gently on his forehead. A few moments later, she left the room again and left the door open a crack, leaving a little light in the room, but something dark slipped in through the open window and crept among the shadows, moving silently, almost with an absence of sound as it crossed the floor toward the crib. The outline of a face, hidden beneath a cowl, loomed above, and a dark pair of eyes stared down at him, like two pieces of coal. Aaron felt his throat catch as though he could not breathe and he saw something dull and grey in the darkness gripped tightly in a fist. It plunged down toward him and a sharp pain that burned like ice shot through him, and he suddenly saw the stars of a night sky overhead and a different face, leering down at him. The vision shifted again and he was back in the room once more, the icy cold spreading through him, and he saw the eyes above him change. They were longer dark and lifeless, staring at him with cold malevolence but with confusion and shock followed by sorrow.

The catch in his throat moved for a slight moment and Aaron felt himself scream as a burning fire burst forth from deep within him. The ice, cold sharpness that had pierced him pulled away as the shadowy figure leapt back, its eyes became shadows in the darkness once more. The door flew open and the queen ran into the room, screaming, with her hands outstretched. The figure spun and the blade flashed twice in the darkness. The queen fell, her hands dripping red and her screams were cut short as she coughed and choked, then fell to the floor.

The king appeared in the doorway and rushed toward the shadowy figure, sword in hand. Steel rang against steel and the shadow shifted around, moving quicker than the king and he too was overcome, his throat cut and choking on his lifeblood as he fell to the hard floor, his sword still in his hand. The shadow turned and moved toward him again, but Aaron felt the fire within him burn hotter and hotter, and the figure stumbled away, recoiling from the heat. The fire raged even more, blasting at the shadowy figure, but it ducked and twisted away. There was a loud crack from outside the room, and the sound of voices shouting and the shadow ran to the window and disappeared as the flames filled the room.

Aaron saw two more people appear in the doorway, each of them looking the same, both in the composition of their looks and the horror in their expressions. Stavros raised his hand and called his magic, pushing back the fire while Tarnath ran across the blackened floor knelt down next to the king and queen, who lay next to one another, dark smudges on the floor. He looked up at his brother, his eyes filled with sorrow and tears and Stavros shouted something at him, his expression strained and fearful. Tarnath rose to his feet and walked toward him, then he looked down into the crib and, through the smoke and fire, he gritted his teeth, biting back his tears, and he smiled that same old wry smile that Aaron had always known.

The burning heat subsided and the flames that licked the room quickly died away. Stavros came over to the edge of the crib and while his brother wept openly, he stared down inquisitively at first with a sorrowful frown then he looked over toward the window and something caught his eye. When his gaze returned, his expression burned with anger, and he called his magic once more. Slowly, Aaron felt the icy cold feeling inside of him begin to fade away until it was almost completely gone, then the sensation changed to something else, and the world began to fade away. He saw Stavros turn and say something to Tarnath but he could not make it out for the pain in his head, then the vision disappeared.

Aaron stood in the dark, silent room, gasping. The memory was as vivid as if it had just happened, and there was so much more than he had remembered before. Standing here, in this place, he was almost able to be there when everything had happened, and his thoughts were a mess of confusion.

"
What did you see?
"

"
You didn't see it?
"

"
They are your memories, Aaron,
" Stroma replied. "
I will not pry into your thoughts, but I am curious if you wish to talk about it.
"

"
I'm not sure,
" Aaron said, still absorbing everything he had seen.

"
It is entirely up to you.
"

"
We should do what we came here for.
"

Aaron looked around the room and noticed that the window seemed strange. While he could see outside into the dark, cloudy day, its surface appeared to be shifting and moving, almost like a pool of water, and there was a strange light to it as well. He stepped toward it, curious.

"
Do not touch that,
" Stroma said.

"
What is it?
" Aaron stopped.
"It feels like some kind of magic.
"

"
It appears to be a pathway.
"

"
A pathway?
"

"
It is a way to move to a place that is far away in mere moments, similar to how some mages can travel using their power, but far greater distances, and without requiring any magic.
Once, long ago, there were many such pathways, but this one is different.
"

"
What is different about it?
"

"
If I am not mistaken, this may be a path to another existence.
"

"
Another existence?
"

"
If this is what I think it is, it might lead to an existence known as Etherium, the place the other gods and I planned to while away eternity when we decided to leave this world.
"

"
Is that where part of you was trapped for all those years, in Etherium?
" Aaron asked.

"
Not exactly, a part of my essence was caught in a pathway, and much of my power was stolen by Kenra, who had much of his essence trapped the same way.
"

"
So this is how Kenra came back to the world, through one of these pathways?
"

"
No, the pathways were destroyed, or so I thought. That was why Kenra had to gather his mage priests, to open a portal to Etherium, which opened the pathways as well.
"

"
If the pathways were destroyed, how could you be trapped inside them and how could they be opened?"

"
Perhaps it is better to say the entrances to the pathways were destroyed, for the existence between this world and Etherium remained.
"

"
So it was like being trapped in a hallway between rooms.
"

"
Something like that, yes.
"

"
Who destroyed the pathways?
"

"
Kenra,
" Stroma said. "
It was his part of the oath we made, that he would close the pathways.
"

"
An oath he didn't keep,
" Aaron commented.

"
That he did not,
" Stroma agreed. "
I suppose we were foolish to think that he would honor any promise, for it seems that Kenra only tells the truth in order to build another lie.
"

"
Why did you trust him?
"

"
I didn't,
" Stroma said. "
And neither did the other gods. We hoped it would work out, that Kenra might honor his part, for it was in his interest to do so, but he did not.
"

"
There is something I have been wondering
" Aaron said. "
If Kenra was so troublesome in the past, why didn't you and the other gods banish him or destroy him before?
"

"
We swore a vow, never to fight directly amongst ourselves,
" Stroma said. "
It was the one promise we all agreed upon, and the one promise that even Kenra kept, until he broke it.
"

"
You broke your oath when you tried to kill Ehlena.
"

"
I took her power
," Stroma said. "
It was the only way.
"

"
How can you say that as though it is something so easy?
"

"
It was not easy, Aaron, but I made a choice that was greater than myself and greater than any of the gods. If the shadow is not destroyed once and for all, then nothing will matter. And it will take a great amount of power, and just as importantly, the grave resolve to do what must be done. It was very difficult for me to do what I did, for there is so much about Ehlena that is still Ayra to me.
"

"
In the memories that slipped through, I saw the two of you together, from long ago.
"