Coalesce: The Escape

As we start to gather our things in preparation, Kylon stops me as I head back towards the room I woke in.

“You should eat something first, Morgan.” He advises, his eyes going over me in a worried way. It kind of makes me want to know what he’s thinking, but I also don’t want to. Just because it’s Kylon. I don’t think anyone should ever know.

I sigh and nod then he invites himself to lead me to the dining hall. I’m sure he’s dying to take my hand right now, I smirk to myself.

“How long have we been here again?” I look up at him.

“About three days.” He looks down at me and smiles. Three days... That’s a long time to be asleep.

“I was unconscious for that long?” My eyes widen and I cover my mouth as I purse my lips.

“You were, and I was with you whenever they would allow me to be. I honestly thought you were dying...” He looks down.

“Well, I’m not dead. I think... Riddle me this, would you know if you were dead? Or would it just be like you were living on, but in a different way and you couldn’t tell?” Is that possible, do you think?” I ask and gently draw his face toward meto look in his eyes, I’ve grown to rather like the strange look there. He cracks a smile that touches the left side of his mouth and wrinkles the scarred skin around his eye.

“I wouldn’t know. I’m not dead yet.” We both laugh and continue on down the hall.

“Kylon, if I had told you I was leaving but didn’t ask you to come, would you have insisted on coming with me anyway?”

“I suppose I would’ve. You know how stubborn I am when it comes to you.”

“Oh, come on. You’re stubborn with everything.”

“That’s true. I am quite persistent.” He hooks his thumbs under the waistband of his pants and smiles triumphantly, the look he always wore after a successful hunt. Quite amusing if I do say so myself.

“You are so full of yourself,” I joke and laugh.

“Well, how can I not be full of myself? I sure hope I won’t be full of someone else. That would just be weird.”

“Okay, yes that would be weird, I would agree. Though, you seem to not get my point there.”

“And what is your point?”

“That you are over-confident in your own actions,” I say looking up at him with as much conviction as I can.

“That makes much more sense,” He pushes open a dark wooden door for me, then follows after me into the dining hall. It’s rather nice, four long tables run along the edges of the room and four more make a square in the center of the room. A large fireplace is set back in the wall opposite the doors and two large windows at the other sides of the room. More people than I care to count sit at the tables drinking, playing cards, talking, and laughing. I love to see people this way, happy in some form. Though it is daunting not knowing any of them.

Kylon takes me over to a table and we sit down. He offers to get me something to eat, I don’t refuse. I have no idea what this place is or where anything is. I survey the room while Kylon is gone, looking for anything to tell me just where we are. He comes back and sets a plate of wonderful looking food in front of me and sits next to me on the bench.

“It looks great,” I murmur as I tear my gaze away from the windows and look at the plate of food.

“It’s amazing alright,” He grins and starts eating. I smile at him and take a bite, he is more than right. It’s delicious. As we eat, Kylon explains to me who the woman is, a mage named Sabille. While I was out, she offered to lead us to the Sorcerer’s Mountain. She wouldn’t tell them why, but she insisted that is where we needed to be.

I believe this adventure will do good for me. I’ve never seen so much of the world before, been in so much real danger, or ever knew what it was like to be... Well, normal. So far, it’s nice, better than I thought it would be.

“How is it that we’ve come so far in such little time? It hasn’t even been two weeks since we left Galeiseth. And, we’ve been caught by soldiers, almost mauled by giants, met a fallen angel and a strange man, then got caught again. Oh, and lost someone to the wolves.” I say thoughtfully, we really have gone far when you think about it. Less than a fortnight and we’ve evaded death at least three times. I like this sense of danger, really.

He laughs. “I guess we just have talents unlike any other.”

“I’ll say.” I laugh and finish my meal.

“So, Majesty, where shall we head now?”

“What has Eraleth done to you?” I give him a withering look. “I say we set course for Sorcerer’s Mountain, I trust the Mages’ Judgment more than my own at this point, peasant.” I smile at him and he raises an eyebrow.

“Right, I am a peasant in your eyes.”

“Everyone is.” I get up. “Well, was. I consider myself equal to those around me. I hated being royal anyway.”

“I’m sure you do.” He stands as well and we head back to where Sabille and Eraleth wait.

“Thank the Deus!” Eraleth sighs in relief when we come in. “I thought she was going to kill me!” He points toward an innocent looking Sabille who sits on a chair at the table.

“I’m sure. She must be a real threat to you,” I look between them and shake my head. “What am I going to do with you two if you can’t get along for five minutes?” I glance at Kylon and he shrugs. “What a help you are,” I mutter. I look between the three and can’t help but wonder how I wound up here. I shake my head a bit.

“Forget it, we’re going to leave as soon as we can. Gather what you need, only what you need. We can’t afford any extra things to slow us down on the mountain.”

“Yes, Majesty.” The two boys say in unison with a smirk at each other.

“What is it with those two?” I ask Sabille.

“They’re men, what do you expect?” She looks repulsed when she looks at them and gives a snort of disgust.

“I guess you’re right about that.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” They both turn toward us.

“Exactly what you heard. Nothing more.” I smile and they cross their arms, looking like small children. They seem to have had a bad influence on each other.

“Get to it then. I want as much time as we can get.” I turn and head toward my room to get my things. Hopefully. I didn’t see if they were in there when I got up.

Sorcerer’s Mountain... I don’t know why but, I feel like I’ve been there before. Like I belong there for some reason. It’s something I just can’t explain, I’ve heard of the great outbursts of magic that have come from there recently. They’ve destroyed parts of the forests and blasted rock from the mountain face. It’s so strong and unbelievable I just don’t know what to think, no one does. Strange things have been happening since the war began most say the sorcerers are conspiring and choosing sides amongst themselves. Causing war between families and friends, I hate hearing of it. I hope it’s not true, any of it. If the war hadn’t begun maybe things would be different now. Maybe it would be better.

A few times I’ve wondered if I was somehow connected to any of this, but I always put it aside. It’s a ridiculous thought anyways. How can I be connected to something so big? Suddenly I get dizzy and I almost lose my balance. My vision blurs and I hear voices ringing in my ears.

Come to us... Child of darkness... Come...

I gasp and wait for the sick feeling in my stomach to pass. That voice, I’ve heard it before. Somewhere I can’t remember. No, let it go. Forget, I tell myself and start to gather my things.