It took 30 strides of a galloping war horse to cross the plain from the gate to the edge of the woods, which gave him and the King—William in that generation—sufficient time to array the defenses and repel an assault. At the edge of the plain, the forest grew thick as it swelled and expanded through ravines, over plateaus, and finally fell away into a fjord many leagues beyond.
Yeor slowly grinned with self-satisfaction at the memory of that particular assault during William’s time, and then he returned to his contemplation of the time at hand, walking along the wall-walk at an unhurried pace. The wall-walk was the breadth of three battle-laden warhorses side-by-side; it allowed his meandering atop the wall to be more of a slow, long serpentine path rather than a straight line. His trek allowed him to stop and peer over the right edge of the parapet down upon the defensible plain. Then a few more paces to look out over the left edge to the business of the internal workings of the kingdom he had been charged with the oversight of since its creation—to both guide it and, with each passing generation, to choose the right man from the Waking Realm to lead its people.
Ahead, two figures approached having just made the climb up from the courtyard. It was three flights of a stone staircase up to the wall-walk; the steps were wide enough for three people to comfortably ascend at the same time. Once reaching the top landing, one stopped to straighten her gown. She gave a finger wave to Yeor, while her companion waited patiently for her to trim, tidy, and to catch her breath.
Yeor smiled fully at the sight of her as she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, a gesture that reminded him of many elegant women before her. How or why she had come into cognition to Oneiron was beyond his understanding. Since creation it was never heard of for a man or woman to pass between the two realms unless there was a dire need, and then only one was chosen to pass: Matthew, as the current need was. Now there were three; a quandary which he could not reconcile in his mind.
“Good afternoon, Yeor.” Alie greeted him with a slight bow, her etiquette having improved vastly since the first time she arrived.
“Ah, Lady Aletha, may the Creator be with you,” Yeor replied with his own slight bow.
“Oh, um…” Alie paused, then cleared her throat at having remembered the proper greeting, “ahem…and may the Creator be with you, Yeor.” Her blue eyes sparkled in the brilliant sunshine that caused a warmth in him that the heat of the sun could not replicate. “I hope you don’t mind the intrusion. I saw you walking up here and I grabbed Bartholomew and asked him to come along with me to visit.”
“Nothing to fear, my Lady. Always a joy to see you.”
Bartholomew, beaming from ear to ear to be in her company, slightly bowed toward the overseer in deference, but remained silent.
“Have you had a peaceful stay?”
“Oh gosh, yes,” she replied turning slightly toward the tower she frequents. “I’m so glad Bartholomew has been with me the past few times I’ve come; it’s really helped me get over the shock of what happened up there.”
“Yes,” Yeor stated frankly, looking intently upon her, “that was an unexpected attack—as indeed most are—and I am very grateful Matthew came at the right moment. We were all very worried the worst had happened when you fell.”
“I was so scared when I woke. I don’t think I slept at all the rest of that night. I even called Matt afterward.” Alie looked down, then back up at Yeor. “I’m grateful too that I’m over my fear now—I just love the peace and solitude of that room, and this whole place,” she exclaimed with a small lurch of her head, and her palms popping open at her waist.
Bartholomew’s head tilted to the side while she explained herself, as one not fully understanding what she was saying, but he continued to smile and nod in agreement.
“Lady Aletha, I am glad you have found peace again,” said Yeor. Then with his palms and arms opening wide as a welcoming gesture, he added, “And I am glad for your early visit. The sun is setting in both realms and it truly is a magnificent sunset to share with companions.”
Bartholomew readjusted his stance as he faced both of them, his back toward the parapet, and his teeth gleaming in the glow of the sunset as a result of his infectious smile.
“Bartholomew,” Yeor turned his head toward the King’s steward, “you, my friend, are such a joy to be around.”
Bartholomew blushed and bowed slightly without replying…and that’s when Yeor caught a glimpse over his shoulder.
“Step aside for a moment,” Yeor reached out and lightly touched Bartholomew’s arm; directing him to the side as Yeor quickly stepped past, closer to the parapet. Yeor’s eyes intently watched the woods. Squinting, he craned his neck over the wall, which drew Alie’s attention to the tree line: she gasped.
“Bartholomew!” Yeor spun around with fierce green eyes of a warrior that moments ago conveyed a benevolent host. “Quickly, send Xenonysis out and whatever of the war-band is available, now!” Yeor commanded while pointing to the tree line beyond the plain.
“What are they?” Alie blurted out in the middle of Yeor’s instructions as she strained over the parapet through an embrasure.
“A Cherem and—” Yeor said in a firm and measured tone.
“Are you sure?” Bartholomew interrupted with eyes wide, brows raised that scrunched his forehead to his hairline. “We haven’t seen one of those in—”
“Yes!” shouted Yeor, “Now summon the captain of the army! I want to know what it’s doing out there!”
Bartholomew slipped sideways and stumbled on the river stones; once he regained his footing, he bounded off like a frightened animal to search for the captain of the army.
The large creature had materialized right before Yeor’s eyes; only a few paces inside the tree line in the shadow of a large cottonwood tree; and in its grasp it pulled a smaller creature behind.
“Cherem?” Alie’s voice quivered, barely audible. “It’s huge!”
“Yes,” Yeor explained, not removing his glare from the tree line, “They are commanders of the enemy’s army, and few they are. They are rarely seen, very large; deadly, and extremely difficult to kill, my Lady. The smaller of the two that you see is what makes up their army: Imps.”
“Imps? Cute, mythological creatures that—”
“Nay, my Lady. Like much folklore in the Waking Realm, they are broken memories from Oneiron as men and women traverse here in their dreams to find restoration—misinterpreted and misunderstood; however, as you have experienced, they are not a myth. They are deadly, they are ruthless, and they desire your destruction; and more so the destruction of the One who stands in their way…your King.”
Yeor looked down at his side and saw that Alie had goosebumps on her forearms where the light blue satin gown did not cover and her hands trembled. When the short, gurgled squeals were heard from the Imp, Yeor snapped his head forward again while placing a hand on Alie’s shoulder.
The Imp splayed its arms and continued to squeal while being dragged along by the Cherem, which held it by the neck. The Cherem was at least twice the size of the Imp being pulled and it moved at great speed.
The sun had already descended in the sky and was now far below the horizon. As the Cherem sped along the tree line—pulling its soldier helplessly behind—it flicked its head toward the stronghold, and Yeor could feel its hatred as their eyes met in the fading light. The two creatures veered away from sight of the castle, mere shadows descending into a gulley beyond the trees.
A loud crack heard below, and to their left, caused them to look down as the great wooden and iron gates were opened, and five riders bolted out from underneath them through the open doors. A large warrior sat erect on a dark burgundy Friesian—the coat and mane glistened deeply in the fading light. He wheeled the Friesian around after several strides from the main gate and gestured up toward Yeor for directions.
Yeor pointed to the wood where the enemy had been spotted and Xenonysis wheeled his mount around again and sped off with the other four mounted warriors
in the direction of the enemy.
Turning to Alie—who was now trembling throughout her body—Yeor gently gathered both her hands into his and said, “My Lady, forgive me, but you should leave now. Peace be with you.”
Then…she vanished.
21
KNIGHT WITHIN
Shortly after leaving the office, Alie got the dreaded call from the dispatch coordinator, Nicki, who informed her that the graveyard dispatcher called in sick. Not having been offered the choice to decline—seeing it was her day off—Alie felt it was a matter of being voluntold instead of having the autonomous pleasure of volunteering to help out with a shorted schedule.
It always flustered her to have last minute notice, and notice that didn’t involve a choice in the matter, but she reasoned there was nothing else going on in her life, I might as well work. She figured a nap on the couch would help her ready for the shift coming up in a few hours. The dream jolted her awake.
She had to call. Her dream was unnerving, and the anxiety she felt in the pit of her stomach was too much to handle. She had to find out, desperate to reach out to ease the worry, if that’s what it was. To hear his voice, it eased so many fears—it had relieved tension in the past, and she began to feel he was her safe place to run too.
“Hello?”
“Oh God, Matt, I can’t believe you picked up. I thought this would go to voicemail,” Alie said, but deep down…
“Oh hi, Alie,” Matt’s voice lightened considerably. “Well, I’m about to clear a call and go back into service. You caught me at just the right time. You aren’t going to believe this.”
“What?” she asked nervously.
Matt told her about the welfare check and the bewildered man in his soiled underwear. The freshly burned mark on the kitchen floor, the gas to the stove left full-on without any flames from the burners, or the oven; and the unusual footprints on the kitchen floor in front of the oven door that matched footprints on the back deck outside and the impressions left in the snow.
He told her of the tracks that led across the backyard to the property corner, and coming face to face with a creature that he had not only seen glimpses of in the recent past, but the same creatures that he fought off when trying to save her in his nightmare. Then he described seeing a much larger creature pulling a smaller one forcibly along the trail and back up the other side, only to disappear before his very eyes.
He explained to her that he met with Randy shortly afterwards. He told him that the guy they checked on, all of a sudden went crazy the moment he got him in the ambulance. He started yelling to let him go and that ‘they’ were coming after him. Randy said the man became so agitated and violent with the paramedics and himself that they had to sedate him to calm him down.
While the effects of the sedation began to take hold, the guy told Randy of fighting off monsters with black eyes that broke into his house; of how he lit alcohol on the kitchen floor to keep them at bay, and…that was it, the man passed out strapped to the gurney.
His voice brought a calm to the storm that raged in her; yet her stomach tightened even more on hearing his account of the two creatures. Alie trembled as she told Matt about her dream, and although she tried to keep it from happening, her voice faltered when she told him of the two creatures that came out of nowhere as Yeor looked out past Bartholomew. She stood up to stretch in an attempt to work out the tightness in her gut.
“You okay?” he asked after hearing her groan quietly.
“Ah, I’m okay, just stretching,” she replied. “No! I just lied to you, Matt. I’m not okay. I’m pissed! Nikki told me to come in to work an overtime shift tonight without even having the courtesy of asking me if I had anything going on, on my day off! And now I’m scared to death because of this dream I just had; somehow, you seemed to have experienced the other half of it in real life. No! I’m not okay, I’m an emotional pile of shit!”
Silence.
“Ugh…” Alie sighed and then headed to the bathroom to begin to get ready for work. “I’m so sorry, Matt. I try not to get upset like this. I’m just…I don’t know what I am right now.”
“All of this is unnerving, but like I promised,” Matt took a deep breath, “I’m gonna figure this out. I need to talk to Jake. He comes on about the time you’ll be starting your shift tonight.”
“Will you at least come in and say hi, you know, see me when I get there?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Promise?”
“I promise, I’ll see you at twenty-one-hundred,” Matt assured her.
“Hey, Jimmy,” Matt stopped to greet the dispatcher as they passed each other in the foyer of the sheriff’s office.
“Hey, Sarge, how are you?”
“I’m good…you going home now?”
“Yeah,” Jimmy replied with a shrug, “Alie came in a tad bit early to relieve me. I have to be back early in the morning to cover the day shift tomorrow due to vacations.”
“Wow, we are short. One sick tonight, another on vacation tomorrow.” Matt made sure to make eye contact with Jimmy, “Well, thank you, sir, for your hard work around here.”
“Thanks,” Jimmy sheepishly grinned.
“Well, you have a great night and sleep fast.” Matt patted the dispatcher on the shoulder. Both laughed and Jimmy shrugged once more, nodded with a smile, and departed.
Alie saw the two exchange words in the hallway, via the computer monitor that was dedicated to observing the various security cameras throughout the building. Even though the camera in the foyer had a microphone, she had the volume turned down so she could focus on the police and fire radio bands in case one of the field cars called in.
Her anticipation rose as she watched Matt turn from Jimmy and walk toward the first security door. She twirled her bangs with a finger and deftly switched camera views with the other on the keyboard. She watched him enter the first door and walk through the secured hall between doors.
With the help of the camera, she watched him pull his key-fob out of his pocket and swipe it across the keypad, all the while her breath quickened slightly and she unconsciously began to bite her lower lip.
click
The second latch snapped open and the door quickly swung wide. Alie couldn’t help but smile, tuck away her twisted locks, and jumped up to greet Matt as he came around the corner into dispatch.
Without realizing it, she ran from her seat and met him in the middle of the room, almost plowing into him with arms opened wide. After ramming into his body armor, she buried her cheek into the crook of his shoulder and chest for a moment. His handcuff case dug into her stomach slightly but she didn’t care about the slight discomfort of all that he had on.
“Um…I’m sorry.” Alie stepped back a bit while holding onto his forearms. “Just a little excited to see you, I guess.”
“Oh my, imagine, someone who is actually excited to see me!” Matt chuckled, beaming from ear to ear. Then he firmly, yet gently, drew her near and returned the hug.
“Mmm…” escaped softly as she tried to slow her breathing. The tingling that ran through her was more than the anticipation that grew a moment ago while watching him go through the stages to enter the secured center.
Then the thought hit her, Oh my God…we’re still at work! The heat welled up into her cheeks as she found herself blushing. She pulled herself away from him, her smile grew while she peered into his blue eyes; she patted his chest with her palm. “All this armor. All your stuff,” she said as she now tugged at his cuff case. She blushed, smiled, and tried to find the right words to escape her own quandary. She stammered, “It’s…like there’s a knight within…all this armor, and gear, and weapons, and…”
Matt continued to look at her without any reply. She saw him whisk his eyes toward her lips and slowly scan her face until he met her eyes again. She immediately did the same without thinking.
She imagined the room had begun to shrink until the walls encased both of them while they exchanged glances. Just herse
lf…and this sergeant, whose blue eyes held her like a tractor beam. Her anticipation grew till it was almost unbearable. She tilted her head ever so slightly in his direction. She started to tremble when Matt leaned slowly toward her, tilting his head gently. He stopped with a fraction of space between them.
“Um…” Matt gulped as he looked up to the ceiling. He cleared his throat. “Whew…I um…”
God Alie, get ahold of yourself girl, you’re at work, she upbraided herself. She stepped back again. Flushed, yet smiling, she shook her head slowly.
“Sorry—” Matt started but didn’t finish.
“No, no, Matt, I’m sorry, it’s just…” Alie searched for the right words. What do I say now?
“Well,” Matt began with a long sigh and gently touched her lips with his index finger, “…hey, no need to say sorry, not at all. Maybe I should just go plunge into a snow bank outside to cool off right now.”
Both laughed out loud. It was the first time she’d laughed all day. What a breath of fresh air, she thought. Alie noticed a different glimmer in his eyes during that brief moment, encased within invisible walls around them: peace and happiness gleaming from him. Such a contrast from the struggle, self-doubt, and strife that she normally saw.
Was it because he was in my arms? A question that haunted her throughout the night.
The laughter broke the unseen pull that held her close to him, and she finally found the strength to return to her console. She put on her headset that she had flung off when she ran to greet him, and stood smiling as she pretended to study the computer screen—all the while her mind racing, Dammit, why are we at work right now!
“Thank you though,” he said. He looked down and started to doodle with his index finger on the extension of the console that served as a work desk. “I haven’t been greeted like that in…I can’t remember when. And, it’s been a heck of a day already.”
Shadows of Reality (The Catharsis Awakening Book 1) Page 15