A Dream of Mortals

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

Reece lay gravely wounded on the ship, deep inside the luminescent cave, Thorgrin and the others by his side, as he writhed in pain from his wound. The fog still hung heavy in the air, and their fleets remained well-hidden by the wall of fog. Reece knew he should be grateful for that.

But he was not feeling grateful right now. He felt a searing pain across his ribs, and he looked down and saw the gash from the arrow in his chest, bleeding badly. It had been pulled out, and his bandages ever since had been soaked with blood. He was in agony, and knew it did not bode well; he sensed he did not have much longer to live.

Reece looked up into Selese’s eyes, and she stared down at him, her eyes such a beautiful shade of blue, wide open, looking down at him like an angel. She had taken on an ethereal quality ever since she’d risen from the Land of the Dead, had an almost luminescent aura to her that matched the aura of this cave. It was as if a part of her were here, and a part of her still lingered down below.

Reece loved her so much that what hurt him most about the idea of dying was leaving her. Finally, they had been reunited again, only for him, ironically, to be the one to die.

Reece looked up and saw Thorgrin and his Legion brothers, too, huddled around him, concern in their eyes. Moans hung in the air, and Reece knew he hadn’t been the only one injured; he had seen dozens of wounded laid out on Erec’s ships. Dozens more, dead, were cast overboard, the soft splashing punctuating the nighttime air. They had achieved freedom, for now, but at a heavy price.

And he most of all. Of all the ways to die, Reece had never wanted to be killed by an anonymous arrow. He wanted to go down in battle, facing his enemy, hand to hand. He squeezed Selese’s soft hand, and he remembered her, remembered how much he’d wanted to marry her. He was not ready yet.

Another pain wracked his body.

Thorgrin, kneeling over him, clasped his arm.

“Do not leave us, my brother,” Thorgrin said. “We have many battles left to fight together.”

Selese squeezed her hand in his, her eyes filled with tears.

“You cannot leave me,” she said, applying a damp cloth to his forehead. Selese spoke slowly, fighting back tears. “Not now. We have a whole life to spend together.”

“I do not wish to,” he answered, each word an effort. Yet even as he spoke them, he felt his life slipping away; it wasn’t much time now.

As he looked into Selese’s eyes, he could see the determination in them.

“I would gladly take death for you,” she said.

“Never,” Reece replied. “I shall tell the Lord of Death, when I see him, that he can have me, but he shall not have you yet.”

Selese reached out with her palms and laid her hands on his wound, and as she did, suddenly, something flushed over Reece. Her hands were icy cold, like death—and yet, strangely, they sent an icy cold energy running into his wound. It ran through his veins, through his entire insides, making him feel colder than he’d ever had, his teeth chattering. He looked up and saw a white icy blue light coming from her hands, in a quick flash, and he felt something like a freezing wind enter his body.

At first it was incredibly painful, wracking his body from head to toe, and he shrieked as it tore through his body. He felt it was the spirit of death, which Selese carried inside her now, entering him.

Then, just as quickly, it ended. Reece lay there, and he looked down and watched in amazement as his wound was entirely healed up.

Reece blinked several times, sweating, in shock.

Then, slowly, unbelievably, he sat up. He checked on his wound, and it was completely healed. Strangest of all, aside from the cold sweat running down his neck, he felt normal—as if he’d never been injured.

Reece looked over at Selese, dumbfounded, and the others did, too.

Selese looked down at her own hands, as if shocked herself by what had happened, and she looked down with humility.

“How did you do that?” Reece asked. “You have saved me.”

Reece, feeling newborn, sat up joyously, as the faces lit up of those all around him, and he grabbed Selese. He gave her a big hug and spun her around again and again, and then they kissed. She cried tears of joy as she kissed him back.

“I had no idea you could restore life,” he said.

She blushed.

“Neither did I, my lord.”

Reece embraced Thorgrin, Elden, O’Connor, and the others, all of them overjoyed to have him back, alive. He looked at Selese, wondering. Had the underworld changed her?

Alistair stepped forward and examined her.

“You carry inside you the mysterious powers of those who have crossed to the land of the dead,” Alistair said to her. “And from death there brings forth life.”

Alistair turned and gestured to the wounded lying on Erec’s ship.

“There are others who need you, too,” Alistair said.

Selese looked out at the rows of wounded, unsure.

“I don’t know…” she began “…if I can do it again.”

Alistair smiled and stepped forward.

“You can,” she said.

Selese crossed the deck to Erec’s ship, walked alongside the rows of wounded, and stopped before a man with a vicious cut across his shoulder. Selese tentatively reached out and touched his wound; as she did, the blue light once again flashed, and a moment later, his wound was completely healed, no trace of it left.

Selese looked at Alistair in wonder.

“I do not understand this power,” she said to Alistair.

Alistair smiled back.

“Sometimes our greatest powers,” she replied, “are the ones we can never comprehend.”

As Alistair walked along the deck of the ship, admiring Selese’s handiwork, all the healed soldiers, she heard her brother, Thorgrin, call out her name. She turned and her heart lifted to see him approaching. She rushed into his arms and embraced him as he gave her a long hug. She had never imagined she’d see him again.

They had both been through so much, had suffered so much, since they had last seen each other in the Ring, it was almost as if they were different people now. When she departed the Ring for the Southern Isles, she could never have imagined so much would have happened. She could never have imagined that the place she had loved, that had become home, had been completely destroyed—or that the next time she would see her brother would be halfway around the world, in a cave in the midst of an ocean, hiding from the Empire. She felt overwhelmed with waves of remorse, wishing she could have been there for all of them.

She was thrilled to be by Thor’s side again, the only person in the world who could understand the upbringing she’d had, her father, the monster Andronicus; who could understand the mother she’d only met in her dreams. It was their joint power, she realized, as siblings, that had allowed them to escape the clutches of the Empire, and being around Thor, she felt stronger, more powerful, than when they were apart. She could sense that he felt it, too.

She could also see the sadness in Thorgrin’s eyes, could sense all the suffering he’d been through, and she felt he had changed more than before. All of his suffering, from being apart from his wife, his child, had shaped him. There was a much more serious, older, look in his eyes. A warrior’s look.

“I never thought I would see you again,” Thorgrin said.

“Nor I you,” she said.

She turned and looked out at the wall of fog guarding them from the Empire.

“You have saved all of us by your work,” she said.

“It is as much your work as mine,” he replied. “I could not have done that on my own.” He looked at her questioningly. “Your powers…do you feel stronger when we are together?”

She had been thinking the same exact thing; it was eerie—it was as if the two of them shared thoughts. She did not like to speak of her powers—but with Thorgrin, it was different.

“I do,” she replied. “I feel as if the other half of my power has been restored.”

“But how did you come to be here?” he asked. “I thought you to be safely in the Southern Isles.”

She shook her head.

“We received word of what happened to the Ring. We set sail at once for the Empire, to help free you, Gwendolyn, and all the others. But why are you not with her?” she asked, puzzled.

She noticed his face fall, saw his sorrow.

“My boy,” Thorgrin said, “Guwayne. He is lost.”

Alistair’s breath caught in her throat at the news. As Thor mentioned his name, she didn’t understand what was happening to her: she was suddenly overcome by dark, troubling visions flashing through her mind, visions she could not quite understand.

Thor examined her.

“Are you all right?” he asked. “What is it?”

Alistair shook her head.

“It is nothing,” she replied. “I…just feel sorrow at your news.”

“Have you seen him?” Thorgrin asked, his voice straining with the hope of a parent. “Have you any idea where he might be?”

Slowly, sadly, she shook her head.

“I wish I could tell you otherwise,” she said.

He looked down in disappointment.

“And what of Gwendolyn?” Alistair asked.

Thor shook his head.

“I do not know,” he replied. “Last I left her, she sailed for the Empire, to find a safe refuge for our people. I cannot return to her until I find Guwayne.”

Thor looked at Alistair, studying her.

“And you?” Thorgrin asked. “Have you seen our mother yet? Have you been to the Land of the Druids?”

Alistair’s heart swelled at the thought; it was what she wanted, more than anything on earth.

“Only in my dreams,” she replied. “She visits me every night. One day I shall venture there. But the time is not now. For now, my fate is by Erec’s side. He needs me. And we are to marry.”

Thor nodded, understanding. She suddenly felt like telling him the news, the news she had not yet shared with anyone, of the child within her.

“There is something else I must tell you…” she began.

Thor’s eyes lit up, and she was about to say it—but then, she stopped herself. How could she? She hadn’t even told Erec yet. It wouldn’t be fair.

Thor looked back patiently, but she shook her head and looked away. She noticed him glance down at her stomach, and somehow she felt he’d read her mind.

“Whatever it is, my sister,” he said, “you can tell me when the time is right.”

Alistair was relieved that he would allow her her silence and not press her.

“I need your help,” Thor said to her, urgency in his voice, and she turned back to him. “I need your vision. Your power. Your sight. I am at a loss. Can you help me find Guwayne?”

Alistair closed her eyes, trying to sense where Guwayne could be—but she saw only darkness once again, and, afraid, she opened them quickly.

“I am sorry,” she said. “I do not know. But I shall pray. And I shall dwell on it. Tonight and tomorrow and every day thereafter. I shall pray for the answer to come to you quickly.”

Thor nodded back, grateful.

Alistair suddenly felt a strong hand on her shoulder, and she turned to see Erec approach, smiling back at Thor.

“I’m sorry, my love,” he said to her, apologetic, “I do not wish to interrupt, but you are needed on the ships.”

Alistair hesitated, and Thor nodded to her, understanding.

“Go, my sister,” he urged. “We shall see each other again on the morrow.”

As Alistair turned and crossed the deck with Erec, holding his hand, she suddenly felt a tingling in her stomach. She placed her hand there, and felt a tremendous vibration—more powerful than any she’d ever felt.

“What is it, my lady?” Erec asked, concerned. “Do you feel ill?”

Alistair quickly lowered her hand and looked away, shaking her head. She debated whether to tell him, and at that moment, with just the two of them alone, more than anything she wanted to. She was never more proud of anything.

Yet for some reason, she did not feel the time was right. Not here, not now. Something was holding her back. There would be a better time, a better place.

“No, my love,” she said, “it is nothing at all.”