(Dream)When Memories Become More (Open)

[Bolden Denusk]

30th of Summer, 511 AV

The dream started the same but the ending always changed.

'His half-brother's face was a mask of sorrow as he told Bolden, "Your mother is dead of a riding accident."

The words echoed loudly in his mind until they distorted themselves into completely different phrases.

The thirteen year old boy ran as far and as fast as his legs could carry him. They blurred beneath him until he was carried to the sea of grass. His mother lay in a pool of blood, her back broken in an unnatural pose. Her death mask was forever frozen in agony and horror.

The beautiful woman spoke without moving her mouth, her whispered words creeping into his mind like a pycon.

"I left you for the shame you brought us. I would rather be dead than have you under the clan's pavilion. You will never be Vanator. Why couldn't I have a son like him? He brings your father honor, you bring him shame. You're the one that should have died and you know it. Selfish boy child."

He ran into the nearby herd, yelling insults at the horses for killing his mother so cruelly. His stupid behavior made the mares panic and the herd stallion charged with fury. Thundering horses stampeded all around him, crushing his body, breaking his bones. The neighing sounded like hundreds of people screaming in pain. Dust choked the air and drove the breath from him with the sudden motion of a closing door. Sharp and heavy hooves pummeled him from every direction. Bolden lay on the ground, grasping his knees to his chest and prayed to the Goddess.

A searing pain wrenched his leg as a stallion purposely reared up and stomped his thousand weight on the boy's femur, pulverizing it so bad the bones broke through the skin in several places.

The massive animal loomed above him once again, just as he tried to roll to the side. A giant and jagged hoof caught the back of the boy's skull. Bolden retreated into blackness. '

[Fela Meason]

30th Day of Summer, 511 AV The sun set on another lovely day in Alvadas as Fela snuggled down into her pile of blankets and soon was off to walk with gods. Green. All she could see was green. A sea of grass stretched out above her. The whinny of a frightened horse could be heard over the roaring winds. Fela pulled herself up to look around, her hair whipped her face and blinded her. She closed her eyes tight and focused on her hearing instead. The blasts of wind drown out all other sounds. Fela started to move slowly and carefully through the field using only her ears for guides. A sound was far off in the distance, a soft wail. The moan of someone in pain. Fela's eyes snapped open and she ran towards the sound. No matter how hard she searched nothing was found. No one was scented on the wind. She stopped her moving and concentrated again. Thunder rolled in from the south. She turned towards the sound only to find the sky clear with no clouds in sight. A black line however was moving her way, pounding endlessly along the ground. Fela narrowed her eyes but was blinded again by her hair and before she knew it the horses were on top of her. A stampede? Fela dropped to the ground and became as small as she could lest she be trampled. The herd had passed. Fela assessed the damage, a sharp pain in her chest let her know she had two, no, three cracked ribs, but aside from that she seemed okay. Fela limped to her feet and shouted into the sea of grass, Hello! Is there anyone here? I'm a friend and I'm here to help. Hello?

[Bolden Denusk]

He heard a voice somewhere nearby but he struggled to open his eyes. He called out uncertainly.

"Who's there? I didn't mean to get mad I just couldn't help it." Bolden opened his eyes, struggling to roll over on his left side and prop up an arm on the newly trampled grass.

A beautiful young woman stood a few paces away from him. Her red hair caught the sun and for a brief moment he forgot his pain. Her eyes were different colors! Her fair skin glowed in the eerie light of the dreamscape.

He frowned when he saw her tiny hand cradling her ribs in pain.
"You're hurt--it's my fault! I goaded the lead mare to get back at them."

The young man didn't notice the back of his head bleeding because he simply didn't feel it. Bright crimson flowed down his neck and dripped to his shoulders unheeded.

'Have I hurt the Angel sent to help me?' he wondered in a daze.

"I think my leg is broken; I can't walk to you. Please come closer so I can see you. How badly are you hurt fair one?"

Bold could smell the blood and it left a bad taste in his mouth. The air was still thick with dust, but the ravaging wind worked quickly to clear it. As he got a better look at the person, he noticed her shadow romping among the waving grasses--it was a fox shadow!

His honey colored eyes widened and he stared at the strongly defined fox shadow attached to the woman.

"How can you have an animal shadow? Are you the Goddess come to take me away to Paradise?"

[Fela Meason]

30th Day of Summer, 511 AV Fela smiled softly at the man. I am no Goddess little one, just a lonely lost traveler. At his words she glanced down to observe her shadow. A playful fox danced at her feet and extended out into the field. She whispered to the fox through her mind to show her his secrets. Of all the animals in all of her dreams a fox was one she had yet to encounter. He wasn't her animal, so who did he belong to? She made her way through the grass and knelt beside the young boy cupping his face in her hands and staring into his eyes. Tell me your troubles love. Warm blood flowed over her hands and down her arms and dripped harmlessly into the grass. Fela looked deep into his amber colored eyes and searched his soul. She was brought here for a reason and she had to work through it before she could leave this dream world. She smiled warmly and replied to him, My injuries are not dire. She frowned. But you, you have a heaviness to you. Your heart is burdened and sad. Please let me ease your pain. Fela cradled his head in her lap and scanned the horizon for any signs of the horses return. A second pass by the horses would surly be the end. This young man had to let it go and work through this, or neither of them were ever going to wake up.

[Bolden Denusk]

The fox shadow filled with platinum white-blond hair until it looked almost like an arctic fox. Its shadow became a fully alive fox and the delicate limbed vixen had the same white blond hair as Kavala. The eyes became the same crystalline blue shade as that of Bolden's sister.

"It's Kavala." he breathed quietly, unable to keep the pain from his voice. The wind rushed louder and more angrily, stealing his words away and pelting their skin with sand. He put out a thin arm in a ridiculous but noble attempt to shelter Fela from the brunt of the impending storm.

A herd of horses hurtled towards the trio, floating above the grass but raising thunder. The ground trembled and broke beneath the weight of so many hooves beating her grassy surface.

"KAVALA!!" he tried to yell above the screeching wind.

A fierce band of Akalaks appeared out of the approaching horses and forced a silver slave collar around Kavala's neck. The fox became a delicately boned Konti woman, covered in whip scars and bleeding profusely.

"Why weren't you here when I needed you?" Kavala asked him in a broken, painful voice.

Despite his shattered right thigh, the desperately panicked boy tried to crawl on all fours to reach Kavala, yet keep his body between the beautiful Fela and the savage Akalaks.

"NO!! GET AWAY FROM HER!!" Bolden shouted as loudly as he could.

The horses were nearly upon them and one of them was a Strider with Vanator riding it. His angry voice sounded clearly above the furious maelstrom of horses and the wailing winds.

"Your sisters were grieving the loss of their mother, and where were you? You probably didn't even know that Tamar was killed, did you? You selfish child!" Vanator's finger pointed accusingly at his brother Bolden.

[Fela Meason]

30th Day of Summer, 511 AV Fela watched transfixed as the shadow morphed and shifted until a corporeal fox stood in the grass along side them. The young man cried out to the shape, KAVALA! The fox's eye bore into them with a disapproving look. A look of shame and questioning. The look pained the man and his anguished cries reached Fela's ear and brought tears to her eyes. Out of the ether Akalak warriors appeared and collared the silver fox. Fela clutched at the injured man's hand as she watched the horrors in front of her play out. Nothing was in her control, none of this was her pain, yet she felt a sadness so heavy on her heart she was drowning in it. Her breath was cut short and giant sobs wrecked her body. She felt the man pull out of her grasp as he struggled to reach the silver haired Vulpes. Fela tried to hold him back but was unable to control this furious Drykas. His pain was clear on his face. Thunder rolled in from the east, the horses were on their way back. A proud looking man led the pack with a sneer on his face. He scoffed at the man on the ground and slung stinging words at him. Fela sobbed to hear the betrayal hanging so open in the air. She rose to her feet ignoring the screams of protest from her body. And who are you to judge? A family should grieve together. She waved her arms angrily. Anything to ease the pain of the man laying on the ground at her feet, anything to protect him from the nightmarish realm around them. The clouds broke open at that moment washing away the blood from her skin and sinking into the fertile ground. The men on horses started to dissolve, the fox and her Akalak captors turned into a slowly spreading mist. Soon Fela was left standing in the sea of grass alone with the man once more. She sighed and knelt wiping the rain and blood from the young man's eyes. Tell me little one, what is your name and why does that man cause you so much pain?

[Bolden Denusk]

Bolden still clutched tightly to her hand and the mists receded to show a palomino horse trotting toward them playfully. There were small amethyst beads and braids decorating her mane.

The lovely filly morphed into a girl with the same rich golden hair as the young horse's coat.

"What is your pavilion? Can you remember your clan yet?"

His expression turned to a mix of yearning and hurt.
"I don't want to remember it, Palomino."

The girl walked toward them and with each step, the grasses beneath her faded darkly until it crept up her legs. The darkening grasses moved to consume Fela and Bold.

As the darkness enveloped them, the young girl faded from sight. Bolden grew taller, older and his legs lengthened. His hair grew longer, his muscles larger, and a dark stubble littered his chin and jaw.

The deadening grass crept closer and Bold lifted Fela off the ground, so it wouldn't touch her.

"I don't know!" He finally answered the woman he carried in his arms. "I don't -want- to know or I'll have to go back!"

The deadness around them seeped along trees forcing them to wither and die. All the greenness faded to grey, twisted, and painfully died.

Bold began to ran, clutching Fela to him. Blackness moved like a dense velvet wall behind them, rising higher and wider with each passing chime.

Suddenly they were about to run headlong into a proud and fine looking family standing in front of a sapphire tent with a waving flag. They looked to be twice as tall as Fela and Bolden.

He stopped so fast he nearly dropped the woman in his arms. Darkness loomed behind them, but the enormously intimidating family blocked his path. Two funeral pyres were burned in effigy, reading Tamar and Ay'vata.

An angry Zith appeared in the sky above them, with an arrow notched and ready....

[Fela Meason]

30th Day of Summer, 511 AV The man answered her question at last, a desperate answer. He was running from something, his past and his suffering. He lifted her off the ground and away from the impeding darkness and death. Fela stared deep into his sad eyes, the amber glowed in the light of the dream realm, they held a coldness to them she had never seen in a man before, the coldness of a hard life and many tough decisions, yet also an innocence. Like a child that wants to be held. Life would not allow for comfort, but it does not stop the child from yearning for it. Fela wished to ease that want, the need for comfort, but was unable to in the battlefield of inner turmoil. Fela wrapped her arms around his neck and lay her head down on his shoulder, offering what little warmth she could. Everywhere around them the darkness crept, the grey touch of pestilence. Trees withered and sank into the ground in piles of sickly sludge and the grass withered and blew away in the breeze like ash. The man started to run, run away from the sickness around them. The faster he ran the faster the darkness chased. The wall of nothingness was right behind them, threatening to swallow them whole and erase their lives. Nothing would matter if they just gave in, just allowed the darkness to have them. Fela did not want to go, did not want to fade into nothingness. She wanted to live, to learn to love, to feel the touch of another being on her pale skin. She hung on with all her strength and felt a new surge of courage, together they could defeat this. Abruptly he came to stop, dropping Fela in the dirt at their feet. She cast wild eyes upward to see what had spooked the man and forced him to stop. A family stood before them in a circle, each standing at least 9 feet tall. They wore proud expressions and looked at them as if they were the trash of the earth, not fit to feed their dogs. Behind them were two burning masses Fela did not recognize. The acrid smell of burning flesh reached her and brought acid to her throat. The burning flood left a taste in her mouth sour and bitter. Fela struggled to her feet, the pain in her ribs had faded but left her stiff. Out of the clouds a winged creature descended. She had never seen anything like it before. Its wings stretched out across the sky and lit up with each bolt of lightening from the clouds behind them. Dark blue veins stood out on their thinly fleshed wings. Massive slender claws extended down from its midnight blue hands. The creatures body was covered in a light dusting of dark grey fur which tufted at the wrists and ankles. Feminine curves painted the creature in a creepier light, the softness of a woman destroyed by this snarling beast. The creature carried with it a bow, an arrow already notched and ready to fly. Fela felt panic inside her chest. She had to protect this man, this man who had suffered so much pain already in his life. Her own meaningless suffering was nothing compared to his. The creak of the bow string sent her into motion. She flung herself at the man and knocked him to the ground covering his body with her own. She heard the string release and the sound of the arrow cutting through the air. She squeezed her eyes shut and braced moments before she felt the sting of the arrow in her side. Fela gasped for breath, the jagged stone tip tore through her skin and separated muscle from bone. Blood dripped from the side of her mouth as she smiled softly. If she could do one kind thing and save just one person, she could die a happy cat. She pictured Salida's face in her mind, she had let down one person who needed her. She would not let down another.

[Bolden Denusk]

"Don't worry! I'll save you!" he declared forcefully to Fela. The giants swiftly disintegrated into the wind like fleeting shadows. He raised a sword to the sky and heard a man's voice in his ear.

"Act like you're going to throw it..."

The ravenous storm ate the rest of the words, as Bolden flung the sword with all his strength at the Zith. The creature with death eyes screamed until his ears were ready to burst. It fell to the ground silent and still.

The Goddess was struck and bleeding. He scrambled to her side and looked at all the blood. So much blood!

"Brace yourself Goddess--it will hurt!" As quickly as he said the words, he grasped the arrow and yanked it out. Where did she go?! Bold blinked and saw she hadn't vanished after all--she was a jaguar and her pelt blended perfectly with the grass.

He looked at the beautiful creature with awe and surprise-the wound wasn't in her side anymore. Her right leg had the same scar he did!

As if in answer to some unseen call, his Strider, Nightwind charged up to him. The enormous chocolate stallion with white mane and tail neighed in terror and reared.

"She won't hurt you Nightwind, she's a Goddess who saved me. Let me get her on your back and we'll ride out the storm!"

The man had only taken his eyes off of her for a chime, but he couldn't find in the tall waving grasses.

"Goddess! Where are you?" The winds died down and the sky turned to night. The only source of light was the dim flicker of faraway stars.

[Fela Meason]

30th Day of Summer, 511 AV The pain was intense like fire in her veins. Fela flexed her claws...wait...claws? She had shifted without realizing what was happening. She heard the man's voice say something, something would hurt? Well she was already hurt so how much mo- Her inner thoughts were abruptly ended as she felt the tug of the stone tip of the arrow. It quickly exited her skin and left her shredded muscles behind. A cough tickled it's way up her throat in a spray of blood. Fela could feel the it dripping down her muzzle and sinking into the ground below, like a tether. She felt tied down and her body would not obey. She could not move, like a stone she lie helpless in the tall grasses. Her body had become numb and she could no longer feel any blood flowing down her side. The sound of a horse approached and the man spoke lovingly to the creature. Fela's little feline lips curled back into a semblance of a smile, his kindness with this animal touched her. The wind died and everything went still, just another peaceful night. Out of the ground vines appeared each coated with small blue flowers. Fela had never seen anything like them before. They were beautiful in the starlight. They started to curl and wrap themselves around Fela's legs, she struggled against them but found herself still unable to move. They wrapped and curled tighter and tighter covering her entire body and shielding her from view. The ground was opening up, swallowing her whole. She sunk into the ground deeper and deeper feeling the shifting dirt and crawling insects against her skin. It was becoming a struggle to breathe as dirt started to fill her nose and mouth.