The Remembered

by Michael J Sanford

  The men and women spread out to each take a seat around the table, and Wyatt noticed that they were not all adults. Four of them were certainly children, two roughly Lucy's age, while the other two were closer to Wyatt's. And there were a few gray-haired elders as well. As Wyatt sat next to Ms. Abagail, as she sat next to Lucy, he realized that the group of humans seemed to represent every age range, and both genders.

  "It's beautiful," Ms. Abagail said of the towering metal rose.

  "Very pretty," Lucy agreed.

  "It is more than mere beauty," the mustachioed man said with a smile. "Conrad, if you would."

  The boy of Lucy's age hopped up, climbed onto the table and walked to the rose. He poked the stem and immediately the open room atop Sanctuary swelled with heat and light. Flames erupted from the rose petals with a woosh. After the briefest of moments, it settled, but continued to brightly burn.

  Wyatt shuddered under the dramatic change in temperature. Lucy clapped her hands and Ms. Abagail said, "Oh, wow."

  Conrad hurried back to his seat and sat as if he'd done nothing special. A dozen more nonplussed faces inspected the newcomers.

  "Neat trick," Wyatt said. "And I thought I was the only one with magic—" He cut off his own words when he realized what he was saying. He may have once commanded magnificent magical power, but that had been before he had given away his amulet to the Bad Man.

  "I am Benjamin Light," the mustachioed man said, ignoring Wyatt's fractured assertion. He looked at Ms. Abagail expectantly.

  The young woman with the stripe of pink in her dark hair looked around, clearly at a loss for words. "That's Ms. Abagail," Wyatt said. "I'm Wyatt, and the short one is my sister, Lucy."

  "Hey," Lucy quickly retorted. "I'm not short."

  "Sure you are," Wyatt said. "Shorter than me, anyway."

  "Good things come in small packages," Lucy said, leaning around Ms. Abagail to glare at Wyatt.

  Wyatt shrugged. "I never said it was a bad thing. It's just a fact."

  "Well, it's also a fact that all of this is your fault."

  Wyatt opened his mouth to fire back, but shut it again. She was right, after all. Of all Wyatt's mistakes, giving away his magic and seemingly destabilizing two worlds was the most grievous.

  "Knock it off," Ms. Abagail hissed between clenched teeth, having collected herself. "Both of you."

  "Sorry," Lucy said.

  Wyatt just frowned, too preoccupied with self-loathing to render a response.

  "Please, forgive us," Ms. Abagail said. "We've had quite a night."

  "So it would seem," Benjamin said. "But we must discuss this matter. While you may find it amusing, we do not. Nothing that has occurred tonight, as it relates to the three of you, is ordinary."

  "Sorry," Ms. Abagail repeated.

  Wyatt raised his hand. "It's my fault, Ben."

  "Benjamin."

  "Whatever," Wyatt said. "Anyway, I should probably be the one to explain."

  Benjamin narrowed his eyes, but nodded.

  Wyatt looked around the table, found he had everyone's undivided attention, took a deep breath, and began to explain as best as he could the nature of their arrival. He stumbled his way through his tale, trying to keep to the highlights of the story. Surprisingly, he found it refreshing. And though he dreaded the moment of admission as related to the Bad Man, once he said the words, he felt lighter.

  "...and so here we are," he concluded.

  "Told you it was his fault," Lucy said smugly.

  Benjamin Light pulled on the edges of his mustache and leaned back in his chair. The rest of the Representatives shared silent looks.

  "You're Druids, then?" Benjamin asked at last.

  "Yes...w-well, n-no. I-I mean, I was. Not anymore," Wyatt stammered. "And you see, that's the problem. I think."

  "Lucy still is, right?" Ms. Abagail asked.

  Wyatt looked at her, stunned. "I...never thought of that. I guess. Well, she's the Mother. I think."

  Benjamin laughed at that, and it rippled around the table until it terminated at Lucy and Wyatt.

  "Hey, it's true," Wyatt protested, silencing the merriment.

  "Yeah," Lucy added.

  Benjamin looked at Lucy. "Young child, you claim to be the Mother?"

  Lucy looked down at her lap and fidgeted with her shirt. "I don't know. Maybe."

  "You still have your amulet," Wyatt said. "Show 'em."

  Lucy perked up at that. "Oh yeah." She stood up and withdrew an identical pendant to the one Wyatt had given up. A green gem set into a fist of dark driftwood swung from a hempen string. Instead of laughter, gasps ran along the table's border.

  "Your story...is true..." Benjamin said slowly. Wyatt couldn't tell if it was a statement or a question.

  "Crazy as it sounds, it is," Ms. Abagail said. "And trust me, I'm still getting used to it, too. I'm not a Druid, by the way."

  Still holding up her Druids' seed, Lucy looked at Wyatt. "What now?" she whispered from the side of her mouth.

  Wyatt didn't have a response, but he didn't need one, either. The small green gem swinging from Lucy's hand flared to life, turning every wide-eyed face into a mask of vibrant green. Lucy squeaked and let go of the string, but the gem stayed where it was, suspended by an unseen hand and glowing for the world to see.

  Wyatt expected a shower of sparks to erupt from the gem. He expected the magic seeds to take root and sprout ethereal vines bent on transporting whomever they touched to a different place and time. It was, after all, how his amulet had behaved.

  No sparks came to life, nor did anyone vanish from the tower room. Instead, the light winked out and the gem fell against Lucy's chest. Silence fell with it, but it didn't last. A rumble of distant thunder washed over the stunned onlookers.

  Wyatt, Lucy, and Ms. Abagail, looked at each other. "Uh oh," Wyatt said. Lucy looked close to tears. "But I'm still awake," she said.

  Wyatt slowly stood and calmly walked toward the balcony. He heard everyone else do the same, but didn't turn his gaze from the snowy landscape.

  "What's going on?" Benjamin's voice called from behind Wyatt. "What are you looking at?"

  Another roll of thunder sounded from the sky, louder than before. "Thunder never travels alone," Wyatt said.

  Ms. Abagail and Lucy flanked him at the railing. "I don't suppose you know what's going on?" Ms. Abagail asked.

  Again, the need for a response was rendered moot as a bright bolt of lightning lit up the world, cutting a perfect vertical stripe between the heavens and the snowy valley. The resulting thunder sounded like a bomb detonating, but even that was a distant nuisance to what now occupied the valley.

  "Oh my God," Ms. Abagail said, clasping a hand to her mouth.

  "Did I do that?" Lucy asked, grabbing hold of Wyatt's hand.

  "What in the Realms is that?" Benjamin bellowed.

  Wyatt still couldn't move, his eyes rooted in place more than ever, listening to the distant hum of engines and watching the steady stream of headlights. "Well, from where we're from, that's called a highway."

  "What wickedness have you brought upon us?" someone shouted after what seemed an eternity of silence.

  The protest echoed among the rest of the Representatives. Before, they had seen fit to hold their tongues, allowing Benjamin to speak for them, but now they all spoke at once.

  Below, cutting through the valley of snow, the busy highway hummed with the sound of engines, followed by screeching tires and the crunch of metal on metal. Wyatt watched in horror as chaos erupted on the foreign stretch of pavement and in the small room behind him.

  "Oh my God," Ms. Abagail said again, showing her propensity to repeat herself when under duress.

  "I didn't mean to," Wyatt found himself saying.

  Lucy crouched next to Wyatt and covered her ears. Just as she did, a streak of lightning ripped through the darkening heavens and struck a snowcapped peak. Stone and snow crumbled, sliding down the slope with increasing velocity.

  Most of
the Representatives fell to the stone floor, mimicking Lucy's position, but Benjamin remained upright. The solidly built man pushed his way toward Wyatt and grabbed him by the shoulders. "What are you doing?" he bellowed over the growing storm.

  A sharp wind wrapped itself around the Observatory, biting with frosted fangs. Wyatt stared defiantly back at Benjamin. "Everything I told you before was true."

  "You must stop this madness," Benjamin roared back, not giving an inch.

  "I can't," Wyatt said, pushing Benjamin in the chest. The man let him go, but stayed where he was. "Lucy," Wyatt called, turning and crouching in front of his sister.

  Lucy had her chin tucked to her chest, eyes pinched shut, hands pressed so tightly against the side of her head that they were white. Ms. Abagail knelt at Wyatt's side. "We need to stop this," she said with a hand on Wyatt's shoulder.

  "I can't," Wyatt repeated. "I think only she can."

  Ms. Abagail looked at Lucy and put her free hand on the small girl's back. "Lucy?" she asked cautiously.

  Wyatt could hear the roar of the avalanche and wondered how many people along the highway would be buried by snow and stone. He shuddered at the thought. It wasn't right for those of Earth to be punished because of his actions. Ms. Abagail was right about that.

  He put his hands over Lucy's and gently forced her to look at him. She squinted against the swirling wind, her eyes bloodshot. "Lucy, can you..."

  "I'm trying," Lucy said weakly. "But I can feel him."

  Wyatt's breath caught for a moment. "The Bad Man?"

  Lucy nodded. "He's here. I can feel him. Following."

  Wyatt looked around the Observatory, ignoring the cowering men, women, and children. He looked through the swirling snow and his own frosted breath. He eyed every crevice, corner, and shadow. Lucy shook against his hands and brought his attention back to her.

  "Not here," she said. "Out there. But he's close. He knows where we are. And he's coming."

  "Forget the Bad Man," Ms. Abagail said, leaning close. "Can you stop...whatever this is? Stop the worlds from mixing?"

  Lucy looked at Ms. Abagail and then at Wyatt. She nodded. "I think so."

  "Then do it," Ms. Abagail said.

  Lucy looked expectantly at Wyatt. He nodded.

  "Okay," Lucy said. She bowed her head again and scrunched up her face.

  Wyatt looked at Ms. Abagail and found her staring back. "This is bad, isn't it?" she asked.

  Wyatt hadn't been able to make sense of anything since giving his amulet to the Bad Man in an effort to save his own soul from sliding into darkness. But the answer to her question came at once, and he knew it to be right. "Yeah," he said. "It's bad. I messed up big time."

  The floor shook beneath them, and Wyatt instinctively moved closer to both Ms. Abagail and Lucy. Ms. Abagail did the same, both her and Wyatt wrapping themselves around Lucy. The slight girl was curled upon herself, trembling under the strain of whatever magic she was attempting to conjure or control.

  "It's working," Benjamin shouted, still standing nearby, turned toward the valley.

  Wyatt hazarded a look over the railing and saw Benjamin was right. The avalanche of stone and stone was still growing, but the highway had vanished.

  "Keep going, Lucy," he said as he watched the storm calm and the wind fall to a whisper.

  The avalanche met the valley floor, it too falling silent upon having completed its journey. Lucy gasped and fell against Wyatt. He caught her and wrapped his arms around her.

  "You did it," Wyatt said.

  "I'm sorry," Lucy whispered into Wyatt's chest.

  "Sorry for what? You fixed it. Whatever you did worked."

  Lucy didn't respond.

  "Well," Benjamin said. "That was certainly..."

  Wyatt stood, helping Lucy up, and faced Benjamin. Snow coated everyone and everything within the Observatory. The Representatives gathered themselves, shaking snow off their bodies and looking at Wyatt.

  "I don't suppose you have an explanation?" Benjamin asked.

  "I told you everything we know," Wyatt said. "We're from another world and it's colliding with the Realms."

  "And the girl...is a Druid?" Benjamin nodded at Lucy.

  "Yeah, I guess."

  "It wasn't truly a question. Her power is as obvious as it is troubling."

  "Hey," Wyatt protested. "She just saved us."

  "That may be, but her presence has also doomed us all," Benjamin said.

  "Wait," Ms. Abagail said, stepping forward. "How do you figure? Look, I don't know much about what's going on here, but we're trying to fix things. Give us a break. We didn't ask to come here, it just sort of happened. If Lucy can figure out how to better control whatever it is she can do, things will work out. We're the good guys."

  Wyatt smiled at that. Benjamin, however, frowned. "Trust me when I say that the free people of Sanctuary are entirely faithful to the Mother, and by extension, her Druids. And while we have prepared for this day to come, you must forgive me for fearing the outcome."

  "Outcome of what?" Wyatt asked.

  Benjamin looked to the other Representatives, clearly confused by something. "Surely you three cannot know so little?" he asked, turning back.

  Wyatt bristled and took a step forward, but Ms. Abagail halted him by grabbing his shoulder and giving him a look that stunted his impulse. "Let's just say that we don't know," Ms. Abagail said. "And keep in mind that we do want to help set things right."

  Benjamin sighed, walked back to his chair, and collapsed atop it, rubbing at his temples. "Please, sit," he said.

  Returning to the same positions they had all occupied a few moments prior brought with it a sense of déjà vu and dread. Wyatt couldn't help glancing at Lucy, wondering if her amulet would spark to life again, bringing with it an endless loop of unpredictable terror.

  "The Druids are a beacon," Benjamin said when everyone had settled into their seats.

  "Of hope?" Ms. Abagail asked.

  "Well, yes," Benjamin replied. "But that's not what I am getting at. They are also beacons for the Regency."

  Wyatt nearly fell out of his chair. "What?" he shouted.

  "The Regency," Benjamin continued. "Their use of the Mother's dark gifts allows them a certain...ability...to discern the Druids, should any exist in the Realms. Unfortunately, none have existed for many generations, and while that eliminates potential targets for the Regency, it also allows them to rule unchecked."

  "The Regency can track Druids?" Wyatt asked in disbelief.

  Benjamin nodded. "And vice versa. The Regents and Druids are two sides of the same coin. Two edges to the same blade."

  Wyatt fell back into his seat, stunned into silence. So that's how they always found me. That's how the Regency found Rozen and Athena. It really is all my fault.

  "And so now you see our dilemma," Benjamin continued. "Since its founding, Sanctuary has been the only place the Regency has no knowledge of. It has been a place where the once enslaved can be free. But with you here..."

  "The Regency knows where we are," Ms. Abagail said. "And where you are."

  Wyatt shook out of his stupor. "I say let them come. You said yourself that you've been preparing for this day. Well, then I think we're right where we need to be."

  "To what end?" Benjamin asked.

  "It's why we're here," Wyatt said. "Defeating the Regency is our mission. And if they know where we are, then all the better."

  Benjamin stared back, fingers twisting the ends of his mustache like a cartoon villain. "You are either very brave or very foolish to invite such evil."

  Wyatt stood. "I'm both," he said defiantly. "I know it doesn't make any sense. And I can't explain it all. I'm just asking that you trust us. We can help protect you."

  "While I can respect your voracity, we need more than idle boasts and promises. You're asking us to stand against the Regency," Benjamin said, standing as well.

  "You don't have a choice," Wyatt spat back.

  "Wyatt!" Ms. Abag
ail shouted.

  Benjamin waved his hand. "He's right."

  "So you'll fight with us?" Wyatt asked, feeling a familiar confidence build within him.

  "No," Benjamin shouted. "Sanctuary will fight to protect its own. It is you that I would ask to fight with us. Druid or not, you three do not command here. We are a city of equal voices and unimpeachable free will. Your being here threatens that, and the people of Sanctuary will die before that is taken away."

  Wyatt looked around the table and sat, pressed down by dozens of fiery stares.

  "What can we do?" Ms. Abagail asked.

  Lucy stirred at Wyatt's side and he turned his attention to her, putting an arm around her. Lucy resisted at first, but then shifted in her chair to slide closer to Wyatt. The warmth from the towering metal rose did little to rid him of the chill he felt.

  Benjamin cleared his throat. "To business, then. You can be sure that the Regency will pursue your Druid, and finding Sanctuary, will seek to kill two birds with one stone. It will be too much for them to resist. We should expect their full force. Which is a bit of good news for us."

  "And how's that?" Ms. Abagail asked. For once, Wyatt was happy to sit back and let someone else play the fool. "Not to sound like an idiot, but I don't get it."

  "It takes time to gather and march a full army. And knowing our location will do little to make the route any more hospitable. The snow and mountains will delay them for quite some time. How much will depend on their current location. We have many spies in many places, and should get a report in a few days should they commence the journey."

  "But we know where the Regency is," Ms. Abagail said proudly. "They're in our world. Earth. Well, sort of. I think. Right, Wyatt?"

  Wyatt sighed and looked at Benjamin. "Yeah, sort of. The Regency army is in the Gazaria. The plains, I guess. And the Gazarian plains are in our world. Or were. Hard to explain."

  Benjamin glanced around the table. The Representatives broke their usually stoic facade for hushed whispering among each other. Benjamin pounded the table and looked back at Wyatt. "Very good. The Gazarian Plains lie many leagues from here. It would take a full army at least four score days to cover that kind of distance. And not without severe losses." Numerous heads nodded in agreement. Benjamin smiled. "That will allow enough time to properly prepare our defenses. More than enough, in fact."