“Eric,” Lucy nodded back.
“The Lady tells me you failed.”
“But nothing happened. I walked through the archway, and nothing happened.” This was getting frustrating.
“Be that as it may, if the Lady says you failed, you failed.”
“So now what?” asked Lucy. Arguing that nothing happened did not seem to be getting her anywhere so she might at well try to figure out what was going on.
“I haven’t decided yet. I’m still waiting for other reports before I make that decision. For now, you need to return to your room and wait,” said Eric calmly.
Lucy nodded and left. Eric appeared calm and sounded calm, but he didn’t seem calm. Until Lucy had a chance to figure out what was going on, her room did seem the best place for her to be so she set off down the hallway in that direction. Hopefully in her room she would not run into anyone, and she could get her thoughts in order to figure out a way out of all this. She had to still be in the archway. The tent and the fire had all been an illusion. A test perhaps?
On her way to her room, she began to notice something, a mistake perhaps, or proof. There were tapestries on the walls, but they were blurry. Lucy walked right up to one and could not figure out what it was supposed to be. She generally enjoyed the tapestries, but she hadn’t studied them enough to know which ones were where. If the archway used what it found in her mind to create scenarios, it would not have accurate pictures of the tapestries because to her memory, they were blurry. This was somehow reassuring. She had to keep reminding herself she was still in the archway because everything seemed so real. She pinched herself. She felt real. She kicked the wall, not too hard just in case but hard enough to feel that it felt solid. She turned down the hallway that led to her bedroom, and waiting for her at her door was Darren. She mentally groaned. Considering the last bits of craziness, she did not want to know what the archway induced Darren would have to say.
“Ah, Lucy, there you are. I missed you. It’s so good to see you again. Where were you? Are you alright?”
“Good to see you too. That’s a lot of questions. Darren I’m in kind of a hurry, can we talk later? Then I’ll see what I can do about giving you some answers.” In her head, Lucy was hoping that later was going to be a long time from now or something was really wrong.
“We can talk later, but I want you to think about something. I want you to forget Justin. He will only ever put you in danger, and he will never adore you the way I do. Come away with me, and I’ll take care of you forever. We can go to a land and get a cabin or stay here and teach something or whatever you want. Please stay with me. Justin is trouble, and he always will be.”
“Darren,” Lucy sighed, but refrained from rolling her eyes. “Believe it or not, Justin has nothing to do with the many reasons why I have no intention of doing that. Besides, I don’t want to be adored, and I certainly don’t need to be taken care of.”
That said, she pushed past him into her room and closed the door.
“Think about it Lucy. We’ll talk later,” shouted Darren through the door.
Lucy sat on her bed and sighed. Darren was something she did not want to deal with right now. Leave school with him and move to a cabin? That didn’t even sound remotely appealing at this point in her life. She wanted to do something. She was doing something. You don’t abandon things part way through, and you don’t abandon your friends. Perhaps that’s what the test is. It gives you other options, chances, a way out if you want it. She didn’t want a way out that didn’t lead through that archway. The real one, not the illusion she had walked through. She had to find a way to deal with that, and then she could deal with Darren when it became a problem. What was she thinking? She didn’t have to deal with him. In all actuality, they did not have that conversation. Darren was not a problem, and she did not have a meeting with him later to discuss where she had been and what she had been doing. She was still in the archway. She had to figure out what was going on and how to get out of here.
Lucy thought and wondered, pondered and mused. Would the archway continue to tempt her with different options until she had refused them all in favor of the choices she had already made? Maybe tempt wasn’t the right way to put it. There was nothing tempting about Darren’s offer. How many things would she have to redo? How big and small would they be? Could she skip all that? She continued to sit on her bed, waiting for Eric and thinking. She wondered if there was a Justin here she could talk to? He might have some answers. He always had answers. Would they be right answers though? Or would they be answers she thought up that the archway used to give Justin dialog? This was all very confusing. She did not have long to wait before Eric summoned her. It was long enough to agonize but not long enough to go insane. Not knowing what was awaiting her, the walk back seemed very long.
“Lucy,” greeted Eric again.
“Eric,” Lucy greeted back.
“I’ve gotten a report from the Lady. Because of your actions, Maya, Gavin, and Justin are dead.”
“What?! I don’t believe you. Yes, the tent was on fire, but they were still alive when I left. If that was even them in the first place that is. I’m still in the archway.”
“I’m not sure I understand what you are saying. You keep talking about an archway, and I don’t know anything about that. The reports have to be true. They are dead. It is felt that since you brought them to Kleth in the first place, you are somewhat responsible.”
“Eric, listen to me. None of this is true. This is all some kind of mind game or illusion,” Lucy tried to assure him, but he was beyond listening to her.
“Because of this, we feel that it is necessary to wipe your memory and send you back to where you came from.”
“What?! This is ridiculous!”
“I assure you, it is not.”
Eric kept talking, but now it was Lucy who was no longer listening. What was the good of listening to a voice that was created by an archway from Lucy’s memories? It wasn’t even really Eric she was talking to. This conversation wasn’t even happening. What else could the archway do? It had already either made her think that she had traveled from Kleth to the school, or it had actually done it. It had placed her back in her nightmares, and now it was telling her that her friends were dead. She didn’t believe any of it. Whatever was going on, the archway was a deadly testing machine. Would it send her back to her bedroom before Eric came out of the closet? Would it make her forget everything? That wasn’t right! She had already made her choices. Once choices were made, you didn’t remake them, you lived with the consequences.
Then, Lucy got angry. This was the most pointless, irritating, irrational thing she’d ever done. What kind of test was this? Well, she wasn’t taking it! She wasn’t playing this mind game anymore. She’d had enough! She closed her eyes and concentrated, and let the anger course through her, and her power course through her, and she stepped out of the test. At least that was what she tried to do. The test didn’t seem to like that at all. Eric’s office disappeared. She was back on the plateau. The wind picked up and blew against her as a storm raged around her. Rain lashed at her body. She concentrated on bending, not breaking. She couldn’t let the storm break her.
Suddenly, she wondered why she should be the one to break. It could break. She didn’t need to stand against the storm. She was the storm, and she was angry. Lucy fought back. She accepted. The wind ran from her, and she was the wind. Lightning did not lash at her; it flew from her hands. Her laughter was the thunder. She had the power. She was the one that things had to bend for. She wasn’t playing their game anymore, they were playing hers. She now made the rules. She was the rules. She declared the game over! The thunder became louder. It became a roar. The roar focused into the sound of stone cracking, breaking and tumbling, crashing around her. Fragments flew in all directions. All of them missed her except one piece; the piece that cut a pattern into her left wrist.
She opened her eyes, as the dust settled. She was standing in the middle o
f the rubble of what was left of the archways. Her wrist was bleeding. She blinked, trying to take it all in. For a split second, she worried about Justin. Had he gotten out in time? Then, she saw him over with Maya and Gavin. They were all looking at her in shocked amazement. The Lady merely looked amused. She arched an eyebrow in Lucy’s direction. Lucy released all the power she had used and been holding onto. She let the violent storm inside die down, and the winds ceased. As the power trickled out and the adrenaline ebbed, her body registered the toll of using all that power. All her energy was gone. She collapsed into the rubble.
“That’s never happened before,” the Lady said calmly.
Chapter 52
Lucy wasn’t sure how long she was out for. Long enough for them to have moved her out of the rubble and place her on a settee near the throne. Long enough that everyone had relaxed enough to sit down themselves to wait for her to come to rather than hover over her checking to make sure she was still breathing. Not long enough for her to feel hungry. Not long enough for her to feel rested. She blinked and let her eyes adjust. She took a couple of deep breaths. Her wrist still hurt, but it was more of a sunburnt feeling than a jabbing pain. She yawned and stretched. This caught people’s attention.
“How do you feel?” asked Maya. Lucy wasn’t sure when she stopped crying, but her eyes still looked red. She wondered what Maya had faced.
“I feel like I tried to do Orin’s day of physical endurance three times in one week,” she said with a small smile, and they smiled back.
Maya offered her a glass of something hot.
“Lavender tea?” asked Lucy, and Maya nodded. “I think I need help sitting up first.”
Justin raised her into a sitting position. He had the tattoo on his wrist. She gave him a weak smile and took the cup from Maya. The Lady watched from her throne, head cocked. Lucy sipped her tea and began to feel better. Her throat was dry, and tea helped with that.
“When I realized what I had done, I worried if you had gotten out first or not,” Lucy said to Justin.
“I hadn’t taken more than a couple of steps when it began to shake. I ran towards Maya and Gavin in an attempt not to get crushed. What did you do?”
“In brief and simple terms? I refused to continue taking the test,” said Lucy.
“Is that a problem?” asked Maya, shooting a concerned glance at the Lady.
“Does the Lady have another test she would like to give me before I am worthy to talk to?” asked Lucy.
“The Lady is satisfied,” she said with a half smile. “Although, I do feel you owe me a set of arches.”
“We can discuss that after I’ve rested,” responded Lucy. “Since we’ve all passed your test, tell us about the Eye.”
“What do you want to know?”
“Where is it, for starters?”
“Here,” said the Lady moving her hand slightly, and they saw what had remained hidden before. On her hand was a ring. It looked like ice with water moving inside of it.
“Can we have it?” asked Lucy.
“A bold question,” commented the Lady.
“I’m feeling a little bold,” responded Lucy. “It must be the tea.”
“What do you intend to do with it if I give it to you?”
“Destroy it or take it back to the school. We’ll even let you choose,” said Justin.
“Then you may have it,” said the Lady.
“Just like that?” asked Justin amazed. “Why?”
“Because it has done much more harm than good. I would like you to take it to the school. You may destroy it there if you wish, but I want it gone from Kinowenn, and I want the word spread that it is gone. Then, people can stop searching for it, both the good and the bad. They can still search for Kleth if they want to. It will still be here. I am tired of the Eye and the mythology surrounding it. After all, it is only a tear.”
“Only a tear?” asked Maya puzzled. “I thought it had magical powers.”
“It’s more of a pretty good luck charm. It does have the power to help keep the wearer healthy, but there are herbs to do that. Some people mistake the effects of hard work and sensible thinking as magic.”
“That’s it?” asked Maya again. “Why all the stories?”
“Stories spring from many sources. This story sprang from jealousy. The fisherman gave the ring to his sister. She kept it as a good luck charm. She handed it down to her son who also kept it as a good luck charm, so forth and so on. The son also happened to be a hard worker, and while he worked he thought. He found ways to save money and ways to use what he had to make more money. He loved the sea and had many sons. Not all of them loved the sea so he bought a parcel of land.
Some of the sons fished, others farmed, and some left the area altogether, but all of them were thinkers and hard workers. The ones on land bought some sheep and their wives spun wool and made blankets and sweaters that were not only functional but beautiful. They made dyes not only from herbs, but from things found in the sea that their fisherman relations brought for them to use. The proceeds went to more land, more sheep, and fields to farm. One son enjoyed baking. The family helped him finance a bakery and supplied all his wheat. Eventually, through hard work, practical thinking, saving, and planning, the family owned most of the town. One of them became mayor, others became traders, all of them had large families, and eventually they essentially owned many lands and in turn a kingdom.
People who do not do well, or are lazy, tend to look at those who are doing well and try to find a way to get what they have. Some of them did not see the hard work and did not understand practical thinking. It had to be something else. It had to be luck or magic. Then rumors started of a good luck charm that was magic, and everything went bad from there on. People thought they would also have good luck if they had the charm.
Battles were fought. The mythology grew. Soldiers and peasants going into battle believed they would win because they had magic on their side, and those fighting against them feared they would lose because they had magic against them. If you’ve ever fought a battle, you know that morale is very important. Small groups of brave or stupid people fought their way in to try to steal the charm so they could have magic on their side.
It grew so ridiculous that I took the Eye, created Kleth, and brought it here. I tire of people still looking for it. I tire of people doing things for the wrong reasons. You had to kill people in self-defense simply because you were trying to get here. How many more people have to die for something that is only a tear? If you take it and people know it’s gone, they will stop looking for it. Here.”
The Lady finished her speech and handed the ring to Justin. He put it on his finger.
“If people know the Eye is real and that we have it in our possession, won’t we be in a lot of very real danger all the way back to Taran’s?” asked Lucy.
“I rather think that between the four of you, you can handle a lot of very real danger,” replied the Lady glancing at the archway. “Still, I will make things easier if I can. I will put you back where I found you. You can find your way from there. There are people here searching for the Eye. I will let them have a vision of me giving it to you and then I will return them to where they came from. I will be selective about those I choose to return. No one who lives ahead of you shall return. Only those who live behind, far to the north, or far to the south. At first people will think they are raving mad lunatics, but after the word travels that there are many lunatics with the same story, people will start to look and they will start to look where the lunatics were found. Hopefully, by the time anyone starts heading in the right direction, it will be too late to catch you.”
“How will people know we’ve left with it?” asked Gavin.
“Taran can handle that for you. He can say he saw you leave with the Eye. You can show it to him so that he can accurately describe it. He can let them know that you intend to keep it or destroy it. Either way, make it clear that it will never come here again. That should work.”
“Taran can take care of himself. I can help protect him, and he can always go to the school himself if things get too difficult for him.”
“If people are looking for us, it will make it difficult for us to come back and do other things here,” said Justin.
“Not at all. I said everyone would see me give you the Eye, and everyone would have the same story. I did not say that the story would look like you. There will be two men and two women, but you will look different enough to them that you will never look like any description they give.”
“I suppose we should get moving,” said Gavin, picking up his pack.
“You need not leave yet. I have prepared a room for you. You may eat here, rest, and leave in the morning. Lucy may be strong, but what she did took a lot out of her. She could use the sleep. Also, some of you still have questions for me. I’ll let Lucy stay and ask hers. That way she only needs to be moved once.”
The others went through the door behind one of the tapestries.
“Have you any questions for me?”
“Yes, but I’m not sure they are the questions you are expecting.”
“I love nothing more than an unexpected question,” she said implying a sense of humor behind a serious face.
“Were you the snake?”
“Yes,” she said simply.
“Why?”
“I knew you would figure it out if I pointed you in the right direction. You did very well.”
“Is there any advice you would give to me?”
“Learn to master your power before it masters you. Uncontrolled power can be dangerous. You are able to accept things about yourself when you need to use power that are harder for you to accept on a daily basis. Work on balance. Do not be afraid of yourself. That is the worst thing you could do.”
“The nightmares don’t make that easy.”
“That is one thing I can do for you. I will make the nightmares stop. For now. They will stay away as long as you are working on balance and acceptance. They will return if you cannot learn to control yourself and accept who you are.”
The Eye of Elicion: The Kinowenn Chronicles Vol 1 Page 40