Nevermor (39 page)

This moment was
the climax of everything that she’d wanted, and finally it was hers.  Now was
the beginning of forever.

I remember it –
this part of it – like it was yesterday, though I no longer know how many years
it has been since the beginning.

I awoke in the desert, though I can't say how I got there.  Imagine,
a man of the sea waking up in an ocean of sand!  It was as if I had fallen from
the sky.  There was no ship in sight, but I am not one to be beaten.  I have
faced many horrors in my life, and this wasn't going to stop me.

I saw the oasis in the distance and I rose up, knowing that it
would be my only source of water.  I walked on beneath the scorching sun, but
before I reached those sacred trees, I saw a shadow coming toward me.  There
was a light circling around him, and I stared at the figure in confusion.  I
thought my mind was playing tricks.  I stood there, not knowing what to expect.

I'm not the sort of man who asks for help, but I had thought, at
the time, that this person might tell me where I was, but all the same, I felt
at my side for my gun.  Oddly, it was not there.

The figure continued toward me and eventually I realized that it
was a boy.  He couldn't have been much older than fifteen – a mere whelp – his
clothes worn to rags, and bloody.  I wondered what had happened to him, but
once we had come face-to-face, I saw the way he looked at me.  There was fire
in his eyes – feral rage.  I didn't know him, but he seemed to know me.

The
boy was mad – perhaps by the sun, or his wounds – but he was completely out of
control.  He came at me, shouting.  I remember that he yelled the words: ‘You
followed me!’, along with so many other curses and accusations common to a
boy’s tongue.  A defense for the defenseless – or so I had thought.

Perhaps
I am at fault as well for what happened that day.  I didn't try to reason with
him.  He was fast, faster than I’d expected.  In an instant, he’d picked up a
rock and run at me.  He wanted to kill me.  It wasn't the first time.  I'll
admit that I have many enemies, but this boy was different.

I’d
be lying to say that he didn’t intrigue me.  His pure, unreserved determination
reminded me of myself.

He
swung the rock and I stepped aside.  He missed, went sprawling forward.  I
pushed him and he fell down, but he was on his feet again swiftly, the lively
reaction of youth.  We fought each other with only our hands for a while, until
we were both spent.  We battled for what seemed like ages, and then…

I
regret to say that I don't remember all the details of it.  The next thing I
remember is being at the sea.  I found my ship there, the great black vessel
that I have named the Desdemona.  She, at least, was familiar.  I was alone
there, but I took her as my refuge, even though she was grounded.

But
I never did forget about that boy.  I never will forget him.

Days
passed, perhaps weeks.  I fished to survive, but I did not venture beyond the
ship at that time.  I wasn’t sure what to do with myself, I suppose, but one
day, it came to me.  I came out onto the deck and looked on at the island where
I’d found myself stranded.  I saw that it was a lush, desirable place.  I began
to imagine making it my Empire.

As
far as I knew, it was only the boy and myself on the island, but I assumed
there were others.  I knew that if I wanted the land, I would have to take it
by force.  It is what I've always done.  This sort of thing comes naturally to
me.  I suppose that's just the sort of man that I am.

After a bit of searching, I eventually found that I was not the
only one here.  There were other people living on the island.  Some had said
they’d been shipwrecked; others had no idea how they'd come to be here.  But
among them, I found the makings of a worthy crew.  With these followers, I
began my conquest of the world.

The only thing that I could think when I looked at the island was:
Freedom – the ultimate sort that any man wants.  I've always hated rules,
unless they were my own.  I wanted chaos to reign.  I set out to make this
world mine.

The inhabitants called it Nevermor.  I found out very quickly that
it was an interesting place, full of things that one might only see in dreams,
and childish dreams at that.

I stopped dreaming long ago.

With my people, I began to clear my way across the world, and I
noticed something unusual about myself.  Once I'd set my foot back on the land,
I found that I had a curious effect on it. The world died beneath my feet.  The
grass withered and turned to ash.  This frightened those in my company, but it
was all the better to have power over them.  Because of their fear, they would
not leave me.  We moved across the world, clearing away the beasts and any
indigenous peoples who stood in our way.

I had thought that I was unstoppable.  I had fear on my side.  But
then one day, there he was again.

It
was the boy that I had seen that first day, but he wasn't alone.  There were
three others with him and somehow those boys, together with a pixie, wiped out
nearly half of my men!  That was when I realized that the boy wasn’t human –
perhaps just as I was not, but at the sight of him, there was an overwhelming
feeling of hatred inside me.  I hated everything that he was – everything that
he stood for.  We fought again that day, and the world reacted to it.

Once again, I
don't remember the outcome of that battle.  It has been many years ago now.  We
have had so many battles since then, but that was when I began to understand.

We are equals,
and somehow we cannot kill each other.

He can't get rid
of me.  He might drive me away for a time, make me forget him for a while, but
these writings are to remind me not to overlook the truth.  I'll be back.  I’ll
always return.

When I do, I
will burn him.

1

After they had
taken the Vow, the days and nights began to blur together.  Wren tried to keep
up with them by marking the dates in a line on the wall, but there seemed no
reason to do so after a while, and she finally abandoned it.

Each day was
like the day before it, but not in the way she’d once dreaded.  There was no
uncertainty over whether she would lose a limb at the factory or if she would see
her brothers taken away from her.  She lived as if there was no threat to her
life – as if the nightmares didn’t exist.

Aside from the
initial horrors that she’d faced, she had come to find that life here was
fairly routine and safe.  The underground home was secure and well-hidden, and
she did not worry that they would be unearthed.  She had also stopped fearing
for the safety of the boys when they went out to hunt.  They always came back,
and were never any worse for it.  Sometimes they were covered in blood, but it
was not usually theirs.  If she put it away from her mind, she found that she
could pretend there was no real danger at all.

As the days went
on, she found out that the boys had many skills, and each of them had a certain
job to perform which contributed to the group’s needs.  She had already learned
that Toss was the blacksmith, which was an important job that did not only have
to do with weapons, but since then, she had discovered that they all had hidden
trades.

Sly was skilled
at tanning – in addition to keeping records of things they encountered on the
island.  He took notes about the people, plants and animals, even as far as
documenting every time the world changed.  This practice, however, seemed of no
particular importance to anyone except him.

Nix was the
primary hunter – aside from Rifter – but Nix also made arrows and kept the
projectile weapons in order.  Finn was a tinkerer – an engineer – specializing
in anything that had moving parts.  The twins often helped him as if they were his
apprentices, but they had been appointed as carpenters.  Judging by the lack of
furniture, however, they did not stick to their own jobs very often.

There were many
other things that the boys did, some of which were mere hobbies, but with all
the time they had on their hands, why shouldn’t they have been masters of
certain arts?

Even Whisper had
once held the job of sewing and weaving.  Many of their clothes, including
Rifter’s unique coat, had been made by her, but the wisp had not been welcomed
back after her betrayal.  Rifter had not mentioned her since.  Wren guessed
that the fairy had not actually gone very far away – unwilling to depart from
Rifter completely – but as long as she was gone, Wren did not have to worry
about her life being threatened, and that suited her fine.

Wren had been
appointed the official cook, and she was alright with that duty.  It was good
to be useful.  She often bargained with the boys, promising them extra portions
if they would skin the beasts for her first, but they doted on her without her
having to ask, going out of their way just because they knew it would please
her.

They brought her
gifts, some of which were very soft furs that she had begun to make herself new
clothes with.  She obtained cloth and leather as well, and she had several
projects in mind.  Soon, her gown would not be her only piece of clothing, and
she couldn’t wait for that.  It was starting to get a bit discolored.

Wren was not the
only one who had grown to love the new life.  Henry was learning from the
others, and he seemed to be a very receptive student.  Wren was surprised at
that, but glad, even though she’d had reservations about him going hunting with
them.  She eventually had to trust the others to look after him, and so far
they had.

The boys were
teaching him to fight, and he spent much of his time watching Nix, who thought
he might have real talent with a sword, but was also teaching him to use a
bow.  When Henry had shot down his first squirrel, he’d been very pleased with
himself, and had presented it to Wren with a smile on his face.

Max was as
carefree as she had seen him in a long time.  He laughed and smiled, and he
slept soundly at night.  He wasn’t afraid.  The others had begun to think of
him as their little brother too, and sometimes carved toys for him or engaged
him in a game.  He seemed to bring a childish spirit out of them all.  Even
Rifter had taken a shine to him.

Rifter…
  There wasn’t a
passing day that Wren didn’t want to be with him, and she thought he felt the
same way too.  He often went off with the others, but he always told her when
he would come back, and when he did, he would find her to tell her what
adventures they’d had.  She appreciated his stories, and always made sure she
was properly impressed.  He was beginning to like telling her about himself –
as far as what happened daily.  He wouldn’t go too far into the past, but she
was glad for his conversation.

Though the boys
often went to the beach at night to ward the nightmares off, Rifter still found
time to show her around the island.  They hadn’t gone very far yet and there
was so much more to discover.  He’d promised that he would show her all of it,
and she knew there was plenty of time.

But there was
more to their time together than that.

Rifter would
gaze into her eyes under the moon and kiss her mouth, and she believed with all
her heart that she loved him.  He was not part of her original idea of bliss. 
She had not been looking for love, but she could not believe that what they had
was anything else.  She was willing to embrace it.  When he smiled at her, all
was right with the world.

Wren loved her
new life – she loved
him
.  She’d thought that with her promise never to
change, her life here never would.

She was wrong. 
The night of the storm changed everything.

2

Wren was
sleeping soundly in her room, the night as peaceful as all the others before
it, when a crack of thunder jolted her awake.

Once her eyes
were open, she could hear the raging of the tempest – the howling of the wind
and roar of rain as thunder complained with a throaty growl.  She detected
little patters of water
as
it dripped
from
above, and she guessed that there may have been places where rainwater was
flooding into the tunnel.  The downpour sounded fierce.

Fearing that she
might soon be ankle-deep in the flow, she decided to rise up and consult the
others to see what was normally done when a torrent like this passed over. 
This was the first heavy rain that had fallen since she’d been here.  They’d
made no mention of it beforehand.

Taking a candle,
she left the room and moved toward the soft light that was radiating out from
the den.  Nix and Toss were seated on the floor, and both raised their eyes to
her when she drifted inside.  It was surprisingly dry there, though she was
sure it should have been leaking, but she discovered why it wasn’t when the
twins came in from the side tunnel, soaking wet.

“We closed off
most of the holes above the den,” Mech said.  Wren could tell them apart pretty
well by now.  “If we missed any, too bad.”