Forsaken Dreamscape (Nevermor) (41 page)

She
was glad that he had changed his mind.  A thought floated across her then,
recalling what he had asked her concerning his twin. 
Please give him a
message for me
.  Wren had wondered if it was actually because of Mech that
Mach was hesitant to venture out, but she did not ask for the story.  He had
already told her one.

“Your
brother…”

“Yes,”
Mach said.  “That message – I decided I should tell him myself.”

2

Away
from the failing flames, Nix was drowsy, caught between visions and sleep.  If
he’d drifted off one way, he might fall into an abyss he could not escape from,
and so he stayed on the fragile border in the middle where spectral fingers
could not touch him. 

He
smelled of smoke from both wood and pipe, and now all he wanted was to rest,
but he felt better; there was no doubt in that.  He cared about very little,
and he couldn’t say that bothered him.  For all that he’d dealt with in the
last few days, he felt that he’d earned his solitude.

He
moved to the tent that was his to claim for the night, not because he felt so
heavy, but because he’d made his decision.  This was the night he would start
off on his own, separating himself from the group once again to embrace isolation.

He
would not be going on with the rest of them tomorrow.

He
had told Wren that there was hope that he would go forward into the camp with
them, but he had never meant it.  It had been a thought in his head, he
supposed, that he might go in order to protect her if need be, but she had the
others with her now who were – if not anxious to see Rifter – very interested
in what he would have to say.  Nix was
not
interested.  Not at all – not
anymore.

Inside
the shelter, Nix threw off his knapsack and spread himself promptly on the
furs.  He wanted sleep.  Yes, it would come to him easily.  His body relaxed
and he tilted his head to the side, facing away from the torchlight that shone
through the cloth, casting his resting shadow upon the rounded wall.

His
eyelids fluttered, sealing off the one eye that was still allowed to see. 

Rest… 
Sleep…

Regrettably,
he did not get very far into the darkness.  A movement against the wall caught
his attention, and his blue eye shot open.  There was a shadow of a figure
there, standing still and looking toward him – a figure in a dress.

Wren?
  No, there was
no one there, but yet a shadow remained.  The answer struck him.  Since Wren
had been here, she had not had a shadow, but the dark mimic had been lurking. 
He had seen the imp on several occasions during the time she’d been gone from
here, as if it were searching for her like a ghost.  Now, here it was on his
wall.  Nix, however, was in no state to deal with it.  He laid his head back
down.  He would close his eyes and the shadow would leave him be.

Unfortunately,
its presence had him feeling restless, and when he opened his eyes again a
minute later, the shadow had not fled.  Instead, Wren’s detached shadow was
leaning down over his own.  The mimic poked a finger at his shadow’s chest, but
as an obedient mimic should, his did not move.  Nix only sighed and closed his
eyes once again.

Idiot
shadow.
 
He had no time for its games.  He rested on quite peacefully – until a strange
stirring inside woke him.

Opening
his eyes, he found the shadow still on his wall, but it was not Wren’s mimic
that had disturbed his sleep.  It was the restlessness of his own.

He
watched as Wren’s shadow slid down atop his.  The outline ran her tongue along
the side of his neck, and while Nix could not feel the sensation at all, a wave
of arousal ran through him.  The girl’s rebel shadow kissed at his silhouette’s
ear, and it did not take long for his own mimic to turn to disobedience.  It
broke itself away from the position that his solid form commanded.

Without
his cooperation, his shadow took hers in its arms, accepting her kiss.  Nix
watched their lips touch, much more clearly than he would have liked.  His
heart pumped faster within him, throwing blood hotly to his extremities.  He
did not want to see this.  Why was he still looking?

This
is cruel puppetry!

Encouraging
this fiery passion, his shadow claimed hers and rolled her beneath him.
Fluidly, they became as a single shadow, merged together seamlessly.

His
shadow did to her what he wanted to do to her, and what that wretched
demon
would most certainly be allowed to.  He clenched his teeth until they could
compress no further.  No, this would not do.  Sleep could wait.  It could wait
until he was alone in the wilderness, on his way back toward the burning woods
where he belonged.

Immediately,
Nix pulled himself off the ground.  He began to gather up his things, preparing
for travel, despite his dizzy mind.  He had to leave Wren now, and there was no
room for anything else.  It was not as if she still needed him, after all.

Within
the cloth walls, Nix lit a torch.  The fornicating shadows vanished.

1

Down
beside the pond, illuminated by firelight, five figures sat.  After the
visitors had overcome the shock of their host’s appearance, Sly explained to
them – just as he had explained to Wren – the truth of his missing eyes and
animal-like attributes.  Once they had asked their questions and seemed to be
satisfied with the how and why, Sly revealed the reason he had assembled them
here.  It was not for the reunion they were long due.  The time for
pleasantries was past.

Calico
sat quietly at his side as he addressed his brothers, Toss, Finn, and Mach.

“While
there are still so many questions without answers, I believe that it is a good
thing we have been brought together like this,” Sly started.  “Perhaps it is
fate, if you will.  At any rate, I have assembled you here – my brothers, my
friends – because despite the vast knowledge that I possess and have spoken to
you of, everything I have seen concerning this matter at hand is very
confused.  My visions are in chaos.  I have seen many things, and everything I
have seen, I must believe to be true, but I need guidance, and I cannot take it
anywhere but from you.”

“What
about Nix then,” Finn brought up.  It was a helpful suggestion, but his voice
was incredibly snide.

“Nix,
unfortunately, will not be joining us,” Sly said, dismissing the thought
quickly.  “While I do not doubt that his account would be very valuable, I will
be forced to do without it.  He wishes to remain separated from all this. 
That’s his choice.”

Calico
released an angry sigh, but held her tongue.  Toss looked at the ground as Finn
shook his head in frustration.  Mach seemed impartial, likely because he did
not know as much as the rest of them.  Sly moved his would-be gaze across their
faces before he continued.

“Despite
this misfortune, what I need from all of you is to hear what you know,
factually, about this situation – not just about Rifter but about the island
and anything on it that might apply.  I also want your personal beliefs on the
matter, not only because it will help me gather my thoughts, but I think every
one of us deserves to know what the other is thinking.  We each need to know
where the other stands.”

Around
the circle formed in the cool night breeze that swiftly wrapped around them,
there was silence.  Gazes shifted nervously, proving that no one was eager to
speak.  This was disappointing to Sly.  Someone would have to begin, but it was
not long before his pointed ears twitched, letting him hear something he should
not have been able to.  Within the group, there was one who had a very strong
opinion of the situation.

“Finn,”
Sly called out, placing all attention on the boy with the glowing eyes.  “Would
you like to go first?”

Finn
ran a fingerless glove over his short hair, hesitant, but soon had abandoned his
caution and spoke freely.

“I
think that Rifter is evil,” he said openly.  “And Nix has been lying to us.”

2

Within
the tent, Nix had assembled himself swiftly.  He pulled his satchel across his
body, having readied all his weapons for the journey back.  There were just a
few steps until he reached the flap of the hide, and when he opened it and
stepped out, he would not pass through the midst of the camp but creep around
it.  No one would see him; he would simply be gone.  He would be free of them
all.

He
took those steps now.  He did not need to tell Wren that he was going, though
he would have liked to tell her goodbye.

No;
no I wouldn’t
. 
After the shadow play he had seen, he didn’t want to go near her.  Resolute, he
strode to the exit.

When
he lifted the flap, letting in the cool night, he was immediately thwarted. 
Wren was standing there, just outside the tent, resolute in his path.  He did
not recoil in shock, but felt a wrenching disturbance as though he had just met
the person he hated most in all existence.

But
that’s not true.

She
raised her blue eyes to him, staring accusingly.  How long had she been waiting
there?  She must have heard him gathering his things and decided to wait until
he would try to leave.  Clever girl.

“I
thought you’d at least say goodbye,” she said, holding her folded arms to guard
against the chill.

“Perhaps
I was just off to do that very thing,” he picked up without a hitch.

“Perhaps
not,” she said doubtfully.

She
stepped forward, forcing him back.  He didn’t even want to look at her –
wearing that pale gown that was smudged with dirt and tainted with blood.  Her
hair hung in those full waves that looked so attractive cascading down her
form.  Standing there, he wanted to sigh and turn away, but he forced himself
to gaze at her.  Now would be their confrontation, but all he wanted was to
touch her.  To avoid it, he knew he needed to get angry, and he needed to
manage it fast.  That was the only way he could escape this.

“Before
you go, I want you to tell me the truth,” she said suddenly.  Her resolve did
not waver.

“What
truth
?”  These words had exited his mouth calmly and without emotion. 
Perhaps there was hope after all.

“Tell
me what you have refused to tell me.  You are leaving and so it does not
matter.”

“Or
maybe it does,” he countered.

Wren
took a heated step forward, staring straight up into his face.  Her features
were tipped with tenacity.

“Why
won’t you go into that camp and look at his face?  You
must
be curious
as to what he would say, but you act as though you are not.  So what is it,
Nix?”

At
the sound of his name, he cringed.  He worked to anger himself at her raised
voice, but he felt much too calm.  If anything, he felt like laughing.

“Are
you afraid?” she asked, searching his face for a reaction.  “Do you think he
will finish what he started with you?”

He
looked back at her in shock.  How could she bring this up?  Afraid?  Him?  He
was afraid of nothing.  Not even the thought of losing her bothered him so much
anymore.  He was still willing to leave her.

One
thing was sure now.  She had succeeded in making him angry.

He
took his hands from the strap of his satchel, gripping her shoulders to jerk
her forward against him.  She looked surprised and a bit frightened, but he did
not feel sorry for it, bringing his face closer to hers.

“There
are
several
reasons, Wren,” he said darkly, “and since you are so
insistent, I will reveal one of them to you.  It is, I believe, the most
obvious, but I don’t think you noticed at all.”

Her
eyes searched his face, but to his disappointment, she found nothing there.  He
became disgusted with her in that moment.  She was looking right at him and she
did not know the answer.  How could she not know?

“I
care about you, Wren.  I might be curious about where all this is going, yes,
and I might want to be with my brothers, but if you expect me to go there with
you, and in the end watch you leave with him, then you are crueler than even
this curse.”

She
understood these words; he saw it on her face.  As pleasant as it was, holding
her so close to him even in anger, he forced himself to let her go.

“The
truth of it is,” he continued on calmly, “that I am not affected by this at
all.  The broken bonds can never be patched.  In the end, I am left with
nothing.  Perhaps the darkness will never go away, but one thing is sure: he
will take you and he will have their loyalty.  I will still be alone, and the
only difference will be whether I am hunting nightmares in a green wood or one
that is on fire.  No, I have no stock in this – not anymore.  Except
you
. 
And now you are here, begging me to stay, but in your heart you are with him,
and so there is no room for me.”