Face down on his large oaken wood desk, Marcus’ ruffled brown hair had grown in his years serving in the guard. Breathing was staggered. Eyes were closed. His mind raced with dreams of lives long past lived.
A quiet breeze tickled the curtains on the edge of the stone window he’d left open while he filed the paperwork for the arrest he had made earlier that day. Glowing soft white was a rough smoky quartz he’d imbued with ley-energy to shed light on his work.
Patter of rain pelted softly on the window pane to his right, stirring the tired man at his desk. Ink splotched black on his face as he slowly stirred to waking. Taking a deep breath, he took a look out the window. Lightning crackled in the distance with faint hints of thunder. A storm was approaching.
Yawning, he stretched his arms up in his chair. Staring down at the page was all he could do. Paperwork was his least favorite thing in the world. As he picked up the quill in defeat he felt something strange. A presence he hadn’t felt in some time. He’d been alone in his mind for over a year and suddenly it felt all too crowded.
Adrenaline began to inexplicably flow and his hand started to shake with quill gripped firmly. Without warning, he snapped the feather his good friend Sheamus had left him for his writing. There was only one reason he could become so angry so quickly.
Crashing thunder boomed so loudly it made him jump from his seat. Lightning crashed repeatedly, flashing like a strobe outside the window. The quartz on his desk flashed and burst into dozens of tiny crystal shards. Quartz stuck in his arms, legs, and even some in his face. Grunting in pain, he realized something truly terrible was happening.
A howl like he had never heard before came from outside. What he saw as he turned his gaze was unlike anything he’d ever seen. Rain had begun to fill the streets to the point of flooding. People flocked to their homes, while some were swept away by fierce waves rushing down from the stairways above. The city looked different, yet familiar.
Another howl echoed over the valley, followed by incessant cackling. The shriek of a young girl pierced his ears moments before he heard the gurgling of what he assumed to be blood. His body was shaking with adrenaline. He was feeling everything going on around him. Getting another good look at the street system, he realized he knew where he was.
“Bloody hell… This isn’t Freya… This is…”
Wind blasted him backwards as a beast larger than he’d ever seen flew past his window, shrieking with an intensity he knew only one creature could muster. It was a dragon.
His mind began to retreat and he knew this feeling well. His dreams were receding. Closing his eyes and doing everything he could to will himself awake, he was left shaking for a moment longer. Just long enough to hear the singular howl that had haunted his dreams so many times before.
#####
Opening his eyes, Marcus was breathing heavily. His face was yet again planted in his paperwork. This time it was soaked with sweat and tears. Ink ran and splotched all over his face. Rubbing his eye was a mistake as he got ink in it immediately and causing him to recoil in pain. Thankfully he had a wash basin with a Ley-Crystal to fill it next to him.
He pushed a small lever on the basin and a small faucet began to flow crystal clear water. Putting his face down to the basin, he splashed furiously at his burning eye.
“Bugger all to hell! As if the dream wasn’t bad enough!”
After he had successfully purged the ink from his eye, he found a used towel that smelled somewhat musty. He couldn’t be too picky though. As he patted down his face he felt something brush up against his leg. His heart skipped a beat. He realized his mind still felt crowded.
The Blademaster faded in and out of his life. Seemingly only at points where it was in… it’s best interest. He’d learned to live with it for the most part. It didn’t whisper much to him much in his older age. Taking the towel off his face, he looked down to find nothing.
Though he did realize he actually wasn’t alone in his office. His good friend Kim was standing in the door with a very strange look on his pale and chiseled face. Short bleach-blonde hair only made his pale complexion from working in the sun all day stranger. Though Marcus knew his lacking physique was only because he’s a necromancer.
“You ok there boss? That seemed pretty rough.”
Shaking his head, Marcus took a deep breath.
“Honestly? Not really. I have plenty of strange dreams but… That one was nothing like I’d ever seen.”
Kim’s eyes grew dim and he looked like he was about to cry. Something was clearly bothering him and that was strange for Marcus to see. Kim was always happy go lucky.
“Oy, mate. You look like you’re not doin’ so hot either.”
Tears began to stream from his eyes and he rushed to Marcus to hug him.
“This night just keeps getting stranger and stranger. Kim.”
Sobbing uncontrollably was the only answer he could get.
He feels it too.
Sighing and rolling his eyes, Marcus admitted defeat. The universe often liked to throw at him more than he cared to handle at once.
“Alright. I’ll bite.”
Kim gazed up at him strangely through puffy eyes.
“Oh, Blademaster’s back and feels like puttin’ in his two cents. Cause y’know. I don’t have enough goin’ on eh?”
Smiling was all he could do. In truth the ludicrousness of smiling during such strange times did make him feel slightly better. Pulling himself away, Kim brushed his robes off and attempted to gain his composure. Patting his face and making his way over to the wash basin.
“Right. So, as you can tell, I’m quite overcome with emotion. Not something that happens to me often. Not since… Well, you know.”
Releasing the drain on the basin, he turned the faucet back on and splashed his face with fresh cold water. Marcus made his way back to his chair and assessed the paperwork he had completely destroyed. Looks like he’d have to start over again.
“But it’s not just that. I keep seeing something so incredibly strange. In all my years here I’ve never once seen a fox in the Freyan valley before today, and it was a black fox no less! Then, as soon as I saw it, I just started to feel utterly depressed.”
Standing from his chair, Marcus hefted the sword he’d recently been gifted in his travels across Dorana. It’s ornate steel hilt held an emerald at the bottom, with a ruby joining the runed blade and hilt together. Tossing the brown sheath over his shoulder, he also fidgeted with the lacquered willow bracelet he kept on his wrist.
“Come, I need some air.”
Opening the wooden door let through a blast of cool air from the hallway into the barracks. Kim made his way out of the room. Something brushed up against Marcus’ leg again. It felt like a dog’s tail. He knew exactly what it was when Kim started crying again.
It didn’t take long for him to spot the black fox Kim had spoken of. Kim pointed at it and attempted to make some form of cohesive sentence to no avail. His emotions had gripped him completely.
“Alright mate, clearly you need a moment. Stay here, alright?”
Kim shook his head furiously through frenzied sobs.
“No! No no no!”
Marcus patted him on the head lightly.
“Whatever floats your goat mate.”
The hallway gave way to cold stone and red carpets. Ornate tapestries and displays of armor and weapons in traditional knight’s barracks fashion. Lights of imbued crystal hung from the ceiling, illuminating the stark contrast between the black fox and the red carpet it sat expectantly on waiting for Marcus.
He stared directly into the eyes of the fox. He felt nothing.
“Alright, well it doesn’t seem to do me in like it does you. What do you suppose it wants?”
Marcus turned back and realized the folly of asking questions of Kim. He may be along for the ride, but talking probably isn’t going to be reasonable for him.
“Right. Let’s go.”
As Marcus began to make it’s way towards the fox, it sat and stared at him intently. It wasn’t particularly afraid of him. In fact, it didn’t seem to feel much about Marcus’ presence. At least until Marcus was right up next to it. Then it rubbed against his leg and began to trot off toward the royal quarters.
Kim continued to follow while sobbing quietly, often times having to grab Marcus’ tunic to keep himself walking straight. The fox didn’t lead them far. It lead them to a dead end in the castle’s design that had never stuck out to Marcus until now. A hallway with no rooms on either side. The way the castle had been built simply meant the architecture hadn’t made use of entrances on either side of those walls.
But in hindsight that now seemed terribly strange. Especially considering how ornately this hallway had been decorated. It was especially amplified by the sight of a massive ornate stone door Marcus had never seen before, and he patrolled the entire castle once a week.
Carved into the door was the sight of a kingdom Marcus had only seen once before and only for a brief moment. Lake Bunyip held a secret past. It was the final resting place of an entire kingdom. One that left no trace to modern society save an imprint upon the Ley-Line that had nearly faded. It only manifested itself once every four years in the form of a very short-lived natural phenomenon.
The kingdom he saw through his terrifying dream seemed awfully familiar to the one he glimpsed at the bottom of Lake Bunyip. Now he saw another glimpse in the form of intricate stone carvings.
Come, oh harbinger of a thousand lives. Know the story of Bragi. Lest it be forgotten to the foul rain that drowned the light of countless souls.
The fox spun in place and darted into the door, prompting it to come bursting open to nothing but blackness. A wild wind began to blow at Marcus’ back with streaks of dark corrupted ley-energy flowing by. It was so fierce it began to pull him in towards the door. Kim fell to his knees in tears, completely crippled by his own emotions. Marcus realized it was doing more than beckoning him.
It was summoning him, and it didn’t look like it was taking no for an answer. Willing ley-energy to the bracelet on his wrist, he popped it off and watched as it bent and gnarled and grew. It turned it’s form into that of a bow, while a red burst of energy materialized a string taught perfectly. Something told him he was in for a fight.
No hesitation in his heart, he walked his way calmly to the door. Looking back at Kim, who peered at him for a moment, Marcus smiled.
“I’ll be back, mate.”
Taking his last few steps into the door, he disappeared into the darkness. Kim sat up in disbelief as his friend walked steadfast into a solid stone wall.
