That night Tara dreamt she was lying in Keegan’s bed looking out the window. Keegan was asleep next to her and the moon left a pattern of pale light across the blanket and his bare back. She realized that the sky was not right. The stars were in the wrong place. Gaia looked closer than usual. Then the star began to move in a slow circular pattern. The shadows in the room began to dance as the stars grew brighter. She rolled over to wake Keegan when she noticed there was something strange written on his back. She couldn’t understand what it said and she reached down to touch the black letters. Her hands became covered with a viscous black substance that seemed to jump off of his back, blurring the symbols. She looked at her hand and the black substance began to move across her skin, pooling in the palm of her hand and somehow being absorbed into her skin there.
Keegan rolled over and looked at her with annoyance in his eyes. “You ruined it.” He accused.
Tara climbed out of the bed and backed away. Suddenly she was standing in the middle of a field. The stars were still circling around in the sky and there were strange lights all around her. She could hear in the distance the sounds of battle. She started to look for the source of the sound when a short old woman jumped in front of her. The woman’s eyes were glowing lightly.
“Not yet.” The woman said, “Now wake up.”
Tara’s eyes flew open and she looked around the campsite. Most people were asleep except for the man on watch. She sat up and rubbed her shoulders. They ached a bit from sleeping on the ground. The sky was starting to lighten so she decided to get up and prepare for the day. She walked around and stretched, moving around as much as she could because she would soon be stuck sitting in the wagon. By nightfall they would be in Brita, the end of their journey.
The day passed uneventfully and that evening John was bidding her farewell. John offered her the opportunity to stay with the caravan, working as a guard but Tara refused. She knew that she had best be on her way. The sooner she found Eldan the sooner she might be able to find a way to go home. Chances were good that Eldan would simply tell her that he had no wish to marry her, if the way he had acted was any indication.
She wished John the best of luck in the future and walked away from the caravan. The rest of the day she wandered around Brita, looking at the market. She briefly considered selling the necklace Keegan had given her, but she couldn’t bring herself to part with it. There was something different about it, she could sense a different aura around it. Perhaps she was beginning to subconsciously imbue it with her essence, she had heard of items taking on special powers after prolonged contact with an individual. |
