forums.rs

Forums

Feel the Silence

Quick find code: 49-50-531-56681643

of 97
Crystal Smee

Crystal Smee

Posts: 7,994 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
“Get back!” Travis yelled, brandishing his sword.

Jonah, feeling ill himself, looked away, thought he saw a flash of red on the edges of his vision, and forced himself to refocus on the scene before him. He would not look. He did not want to see.

*How are you—” Myren gasped, on his knees next to Gavin, who had doubled into a position akin to that of the specter.

“He’s not real,” Jonah said, and was ashamed at the quiver in his own voice. “It’s important to keep repeating that to yourself. He’s. Not. Real.”

“He’s – he’s dead!” Myren said. “How is this possible I watched him die I was there and now he’s here—”

“Shut up,” snarled Gavin, interrupting the boy’s rambling. The boy sucked in a wet, raspy breath. Tears gleamed on his cheeks. Gavin stepped around Travis and reached out for the specter. Martin stood still while Gavin’s fingers brushed across his chest. When he held them up to the torchlight, they dripped red. The solder looked to his commander. “Tell me how that ain’t real.”

“I assure you, it’s not.*

*Then how come everybody can see him?”

“I can’t explain it.”

“It’s starting,” the specter said. It reached for the soldier’s shoulder. “Gavin, you’ve got to wake up. It’s starting.”

Gavin flinched away from the specter’s touch. “What is this place?”

“I don’t know.” Jonah glimpsed red at the edges of his vision again. He turned reflexively, but the shape flitted back into the shadows.

“Why would you have us stop here?” another young soldier said.

“There’s no avoiding it,” Jonah whispered. “I’m sorry.”

“The mages are attacking,” the specter insisted. “Come on, wake up!”

“Be silent!” Gavin roared at the specter.

18-Dec-2013 22:47:33

Crystal Smee

Crystal Smee

Posts: 7,994 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
“Hey Commander, when are we getting off this rock?” Jonah opened his mouth to reply, then turned to seek the source. Dusty stood at the edge of the group, a few feet away from the other specter, also just within the ring of the firelight. An open wound at his neck oozed blood down his front. Soldiers screamed and the group shifted backwards.

More specters edged into the light, approaching from all sides. Some walked with an odd shuffle, others upright and calm. All bore wounds or the marks of illness. The dead, remembered by the living who clumped together in that red glow, crept ever closer. Amidst the many fallen soldiers, Jonah saw a feminine figure. Her scarlet hair glowed like a flame as she emerged from the bunch. His heart lifted at the sight and he gave in, watched, lost for words. Then he saw that her skin was blackened in places, her face nearly unrecognizable. A shape dangled from her fingers, still caught in the shadows.

“Put it out!” Jonah screamed at Gavin. “The torch!” But the foolish soldier was paralyzed in fear. Travis lunged for the torch, yanked it from Gavin’s hands, and shoved it into the dirt. He stomped on it with a boot heel. The fire sputtered out, leaving them all in absolute darkness once again.

“What good does that do, if we can*t see them?” Gavin yelled.

They could still hear the voices of the specters, hemming them in on all sides. “Reach out,” Jonah said, his voice stronger now. *Do you feel him still?”

“No,* the soldier admitted, awed.

“In the darkness they are little more than voices. A touch here or there, but that’s all. Only in the light do they truly take form.” There was only silence in return, and the whispering of voices all around them. “It will be a long night, soldiers. They will not go, and they will not want to be ignored. Do your best to rest. Stay together. When the sun rises, everything will be all right.” He heard grumbling and the footsteps of the men shuffling off in the darkness.

18-Dec-2013 22:48:06

Crystal Smee

Crystal Smee

Posts: 7,994 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Lucas still knelt where Martin had stood. The image played across his mind over and over again, and the darkness would not shut it out. He could not find the will to gather himself and walk back to his post. The voices whispered in the air around him, but they were indistinct. Martin was gone.

He tried to think rationally, to part the fog of terror in his thoughts.

Martin was long dead.

This place was filled with ghosts. No * these were his ghosts. The ghosts of the other men. They carried the ghosts with them.

Would he always carry Martin’s ghost? Would Gavin?

What about this place could make them come alive like that? What magic was this?

He plunged his hands into the earth, feeling the cool dirt, twisting the grass in his fingers. He clung to the ground, to reality, as an overwhelming feeling of helplessness crashed over him. He did*’t want to be here. He did*’t want to do this anymore. He wanted to go home. But there was no escape from this nightmare. All he could do was wait out the night. And the day after that, and after that, and keep going until it was over.

“Lucas?”

He turned, trying to pinpoint the voice. It felt like it was coming from all around him.

“Rohan?” he whispered.

“Hey, come over here,” the voice called again.

“Identify yourself,” he said in a low voice. He felt unbalanced, and dug his hands deeper into the earth.

“You don’t recognize me?” the voice teased.

“You’re not real,” Lucas keened softly, pressing his forehead to the dirt. “Leave me alone.”

He felt a presence near him. Cold. And – he inched away from it – wet? He felt droplets splatter his skin.

“Impossible,” he whispered.

“Tell me about your girl,” Derrick’s voice insisted.

23-Jan-2014 03:48:42

Crystal Smee

Crystal Smee

Posts: 7,994 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Lucas closed his eyes. Focused his will. He’s not real, he’s not real, it’s not real, none of it’s real…Suddenly some thing very hard and real collided with his gut, and he rolled over with a grunt as the air left his lungs. Pain shot through his stomach, but it felt good. It brought clarity.

“Bloody hell – who’d I step on?”

“Sorokin?”

“Kid!” He felt the medic’s hands brushing over his skin. “You all right?”

“Yeah,” Lucas said, sitting up and wiping his face. There were tears running down it, he realized, and he was glad of the darkness.

“I heard voices.”

“Don’t we all.” A pause. “One of them was talking to me.”

“Persistent, aren’t they?”

“You’d think the commander would have warned us.”

“He knows.”

Lucas sighed, finding peace in the resulting silence. Derrick seemed to have passed on. “We’ve got a long night ahead, huh?”

“The men are gathering round together. If there’s no savages here – no one should be alone. Come join us.”

Sorokin helped Lucas to his feet. They paused to listen again, and Lucas realized Sorokin did*’t know which way the group even was now. They heard a low murmur of voices – but where they phantoms, or people? Sorokin let out a high-pitched whistle, and got one in return a few seconds later. They followed the sound, Sorokin’s arm supporting Lucas’s shoulders.


Jonah sat a few paces distant, where he could hear the group, but did not join them. None of them desired his presence, nor could he offer any comfort now. So he sat alone in the darkness. He was impressed by the way his men immediately joined together to protect themselves from the threat. They had good instincts. Better than he and his men had had years ago. Then, they remained alone, each man facing his own demons independently. And it ended with men throwing themselves off the cliffs. Yes, this was better. Safer. They would survive the night.

23-Jan-2014 03:49:30

Crystal Smee

Crystal Smee

Posts: 7,994 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
But would they forgive him for not telling them in advance? Likely not. He’d lost their confidence.

Had they known, they never would have followed him up here. Or so he thought. Perhaps he hadn’t given them enough credit, anticipated enough strength. Or perhaps it was all an excuse for his own fear in even thinking of this place, let alone mentioning it out loud.

He turned, hearing footfalls in the dark. Light ones – and a whisper accompanying. Not real, then, he decided. He closed his eyes and tried to ignore the rasping breath beside him.

“So you won’t sit with the men? Just gonna sulk over here?”

Jonah startled. He’d been expecting her voice, but it was Sorokin who had hunkered down next to him. “I don’t imagine they want me over there.”

“Mayhaps. But you could try to fix things.”

“And I will,” Jonah said sharply. But tonight I would prefer to be alone with my ghosts.”

He heard Sorokin shift, whistle through his teeth. “I imagined that may have something to do with it. She’s here?”

“Saw her earlier.”

“Yeah, I saw the way you feared the flame. If you join the men, might be she’d leave you alone.”

“I honestly don’t know if that’s what I want,” Jonah admitted.

Sorokin prodded in the dark to find Jonah’s shoulder, then rested his large hand there. “Well, we’re here if you decide you’d enjoy some live company. But Jonah, ser? You can’t hide things from us. It’s not just the kid – we’ve all got questions. With what’s ahead…you can keep us alive. We have to know what’s going on.”

Jonah was silent. He knew Sorokin was right. He had to stay honest. Doing so required opening himself up to his past here, one he so desperately wanted to forget. But he knew he couldn’t – so he might as well embrace it. Lorena seemed determined to haunt him no matter what he did.

*Do you still have it?” Jonah asked, as he heard Sorokin get up to leave. The big medic stood over him.

23-Jan-2014 03:49:58

Crystal Smee

Crystal Smee

Posts: 7,994 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
“Really?”

“Give it to me.” He wanted the bottle. Needed it. Needed the warmth in his veins, the oblivion it promised. The company of the other men wouldn’t protect him, wouldn’t keep her away tonight. There was no escaping her, no peace other than dulling the mind and senses.

“Before, I tried to understand. I know it’s hard. But now**

*Give it to me,” he repeated through his teeth.

“No.*

*That’s an order.”

“Don’t be a coward,” Sorokin snapped.

“You overstep your bounds, soldier.”

“I’m doing what’s right and you know it. Otherwise I wouldn’t have it to begin with.” He heard a rustling, the sloshing of the liquid. His heart quickened. “Ask me one more time, and it’s yours. But know that doing so condemns us. You need a clear head. Are you really so selfish, ser?*

Jonah’s heart pounded wildly in his ears. He blinked away the vision of red hair and tried to focus.

*What’ll it be, commander?” Sorokin asked.

“You’re an ass,” Jonah muttered finally.

He heard a plop as the cork finally came free. He reached out a hand, Sorokin would hand it to him, he’d given in, he could have one more night of peace – and then he heard it spilling into the dirt beside him, felt the drops splash across his face. He licked his lips, caught a taste. “What are you doing?”

“What I should have when you first handed this to me.” The last drops drained away. Sorokin tossed the bottle toward Jonah; it bounced off his shoulder and rolled away in the dirt. He heard footsteps, then nothing: Sorokin was gone.

Jonah leaned back once more to watch the stars. The low murmur of the group’s chatter would raise every once in a while, then quiet back down. There were a few hours of night yet remaining. He ranged the terrain from memory, considering the rest of the journey.

23-Jan-2014 03:50:56

Crystal Smee

Crystal Smee

Posts: 7,994 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Tomorrow at first light they would leave this strange territory and sometime that day they would reach the top of the mountain. Then they would begin the descent. Two days from now, they’d reach the sea, and with it, Brimhaven. And then it would be over. Fire the shipyard.

Be honest with them, Sorokin’s voice echoed in his head. But he could not. How could he possibly tell them the truth of what this mission was? What his orders were if they knew, they’d turn back now.

Jonah tried to count the stars. Was it true what the godly men preached, that another life followed this one? He’d always thought that madness. The gods weren’t real. But if they were, he entertained the thought, who might claim his soul upon his death? It might be nice – if he could finally join his family. Or would he be doomed to haunt some place like this? To be someone else’s ghost?

I’ll haunt Gray, he thought, and smiled. That wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe the Myren kid would join him. They could raise hell together.

His eyes probed the darkness. Was she here with him now? *Lorena?” he whispered, but there was no answer. The cadence of the men rose slightly, and he turned toward the sound.

Rather than selling them this sad truth, he realized, perhaps he could change that truth. Perhaps there was a way to keep them all alive.


The night passed slowly for Lucas and the rest. None slept for more than a few moments. Lucas felt the exhaustion weighing him down, but he remained with the group, valuing this opportunity to listen to them talk and feel like he was one of them. Seeing Martin had shaken him greatly – he did not want to be alone this night. Alone, he might hear Derrick’s voice again. Alone, he might start to have doubts – but here, with his comrades, he was safe.

23-Jan-2014 03:51:22

Crystal Smee

Crystal Smee

Posts: 7,994 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
And so the hours creaked by as he listened to the banter, occasionally joining in, and their voices drowned out the eerie whispers. He watched the stars move across the sky from where he sat on the damp earth and tried to imagine how much longer. He wanted to feel the light on his skin again. He wanted to be moving. This endless night, it was maddening. Of course Jonah did*’t want to tell them – they never would have come this way. And had he warned them, would they have even believed him? Likely not. This was the stuff of children’s tales, not reality.

And yet, it was real. Martin was real. Derrick’s voice was real.

This island was a strange place.

But they were almost there. Soon, he’d be going home. Soon it would be finished.


He must have eventually dozed off, because the next thing he knew, Rohan was shaking him awake. The sky was lightening, he saw, and the stars were no longer visible.

Dawn. It was over.

The camp was coming to life. The men gathered their belongings, which had been strewn haphazardly around in the previous night’s chaos. Lucas stumbled upright despite his body’s aching complaints, and went in search of his pack and weapons. He had no sense of where he’d laid them down the previous night. If he’d gone and lost another sword...

Brennan appeared at his side. “You see your stuff?” he asked in a low voice.

Lucas grinned. “I’m having trouble.”

“Damn.”

As they both turned in circles looking, Lucas saw the commander sternly watching over them with his hand caressing the hilt of his sword. His face was haggard – he’d been an older man even when they started, but he’d aged greatly on this journey. There was more white than brown in his hair now, and his beard was solid gray. Still, he stood with rigid posture, ever the good soldier. He met Lucas’ eyes for a moment.

Brennan nudged him. “There!” Lucas turned away from the commander.

23-Jan-2014 03:52:10

Quick find code: 49-50-531-56681643 Back to Top