by Aaron Oster
“Yes. And we would appreciate it if you didn’t get in our way.”
He still wasn’t sure if the woman was an enemy or not, but he was prepared to have to fight his way out if needed, and he knew Sarah would back him up.
“Fine, but you may want to hear what I have to say before I go.”
“I don’t think I do,” Morgan replied.
“Vivian, is that really you?”
They all turned as Katherine slowly made her way over to the stairs, and looked up at the woman who had been her closest confidant for years. She resembled nothing of the plain looking woman Katherine had grown used to, but instead, looked the same as she had since the night Katherine had been stabbed in the back. She had a pale face, with slightly upturned brown eyes and choppy black hair. She had a slim, and athletic frame, with a silver stud piercing one of her ears.
Gwendolyn’s features softened, and a smile touched her lips.
“Yes, I am the woman you knew as Vivian, though that isn’t my real name. But I wouldn’t mind if you continued calling me that.”
Katherine smiled as the woman walked down the stairs and went to embrace the princess.
Morgan gave Sarah a questioning look, but she just shrugged in reply. Morgan shrugged back, then began heading up the stairs.
What was going on below was no longer any of his concern.
“Are you really going to leave before you hear what I have to say?”
Morgan turned, resisting the urge to grind his teeth once again, as Gwendolyn called out to them.
“I thought I already made it clear that I don’t care. Whatever is happing in the Five Kingdoms is no longer any of my concern.”
“Katherine’s room has been ransacked. The King knows that she’s a traitor, and has placed a bounty on her head. Is that enough reason to stay?”
Morgan hesitated when he heard that, seeing Katherine’s face once again go pale. He shook himself and forced the feeling of guilt down.
Katherine could take care of herself.
“Regardless of what happened, I’m still leaving,” Morgan replied, then turned to leave once more.
There was the sound of rushing air and Gwendolyn appeared before him. Morgan’s fists began rising, and his shield started to form around his body, but he wasn’t quite fast enough to avoid the blow that caught him in the side of the head and sent him staggering back.
“If I can’t convince you to stay, maybe that will.”
Morgan stared at the woman in incomprehension for a few moments, wondering just what on earth she was talking about.
The attack hadn’t hurt him, so what the hell…
Morgan staggered as pain flared in his head, and he slumped to the ground in an unconscious heap.
***
Sarah’s eyes flashed in anger and a second later, ten tridents made of ice were hovering the air before her, all of them leveled at Gwendolyn.
“What did you do to him?” she demanded, preparing to unleash the full might of her ability on the woman who had attacked Morgan so brazenly.
“Calm down, girl. All I did was restore the memories I’d modified,” Gwendolyn replied, already moving past her and down the stairs.
Sarah’s eyes followed her as she moved, preparing to launch an attack the moment she showed any signs of hostility. Crouching down near Morgan, she placed a finger to his neck. After a second, she felt a pulse and breathed a sigh of relief.
He was alright.
She turned her angry gaze back on the woman and commanded her icy weapons to level themselves at her.
“So. You’re the one that screwed up Morgan’s mind and modified his body,” she gritted her teeth in an approximation of a grin and began summoning more and more ice tridents.
“I’m going to enjoy killing you for what you did to him, you psychotic bitch!”
“Put those away,” Gwendolyn said, grabbing Katherine by the hand and dragging her to one of the beds.
“Yes, I modified his memory, but I have not seen Morgan in nearly ten years. The one who modified him to the extent you see today is someone completely different.”
Sarah faltered for a moment, unsure of whether to attack or not. She debated whether or not to trust the woman.
After a few seconds of reflection, she realized that she did not. She raised her hand again in preparation to send nearly fifty of the icy projectiles into the woman’s body. She knew Morgan would be upset that she hadn’t left her to him, but figured that someone like this was too dangerous to let live that long.
But, despite the multitude of weapons leveled at her, the woman continued to ignore her. Instead, she pulled Katherine down to sit on the bed and began a thorough examination of her body, while explaining what she’d discovered on her return to the palace.
Sarah hesitated when she saw that and turned her attention back to Morgan’s unconscious form. He’d fallen hard and cracked his head against the stone, though his body now seemed tough enough that a simple fall hadn’t done any damage at all. Her eyes flicked between Morgan and Gwendolyn a few more times before she lowered her hand.
She did not, however, dismiss her weapons, keeping them leveled outward and preparing to launch them as soon as Gwendolyn showed any sign of hostility. She lowered herself to sit on the step near Morgan and pulled his head into her lap, brushing a few strands of hair away from his face.
She would wait for him to wake up, and if Gwendolyn had indeed been the one to mess with his brain, they would kill her together.
***
Morgan floated in a blank void. Colors and images flashed by faster than he could follow.
Where am I? he wondered. The images finally began slowing and he was able to make out some details. It took him a few moments, but then he realized what they were.
They were his memories.
As one passed, he recognized it as the day he and Sarah had entered the academy. Another passed, and he saw himself fighting against Gimple and Squee in a dark alley. One more, and he saw Sarah materializing an orb of water, as she showed off her new ability.
They’re moving in reverse, he realized, as he saw himself fighting against a group of street kids who had moved into his latest living space.
But where was he, and how had he gotten here?
Suddenly, he remembered Gwendolyn striking him before a massive pain had wracked his head. Then, there had been nothing…
Morgan noticed that the memories had begun growing less vivid and clear, as they went further into his past. A jumble of gray misty memories passed by, which he realized must have been the time he was missing.
It took a few moments for them to pass before the color returned and memories from before then began showing themselves, though they were even fuzzier than the ones before his memory gap had been. They continued slowing down until at last, they stopped on a memory that he had long since thought was lost.
The day he had discovered that he was an orphan, and the people who had been caring for him had turned him out to fend for himself. It wasn’t the most pleasant of memories, as he’d only been about six at the time, but it was one of the defining moments in his life, so it had stuck with him throughout the years. He watched as a younger version of himself stood before the closed door, with tears streaming down his face.
Then, the memory abruptly shifted, and a new scene began to play out. Morgan stared, wide-eyed as the familiar settings of City Four vanished, leaving the crying six-year-old Morgan as the only fixture against a dark background. Then, slowly, color began returning to the memory, but this time, the settings were completely foreign to him.
Morgan watched as his younger self appeared, standing atop a large sand dune and staring listlessly out over a sprawling desert. The sun overhead seared down on him, but he hardly noticed at all.
Then, Morgan felt himself suddenly drawn into the memory. In the blink of an eye, he was standing right next to his younger self in a land he did not recognize in the slightest.
What is this place
?
His younger self turned to look at him, and Morgan had a moment of panic, not sure what to say. But his younger counterpart didn’t seem to notice him at all. His eyes swept right over him, as though he weren’t there, and Morgan realized a moment later that he wasn’t here physically.
He was somehow reliving a memory from his past, though it wasn’t a memory he ever remembered having.
Young Morgan let out a sigh, then set off at a brisk pace, heading down the far side of the sand dune. Morgan watched the smaller boy for a few seconds, before following. He supposed that he may as well. Though he never remembered having these memories previously, the more he saw, the more they began fitting into place, replacing the memories of City Four.
He followed his younger self for some time, noting the passage of time only by the position of the burning sun in the sky above. Young Morgan staggered suddenly and Morgan noted that he looked exhausted. His skin had turned an angry shade of red, and he was panting for breath.
He’s dehydrated, Morgan realized, then mentally kicked himself as he reminded himself that this wasn’t some stranger, but himself from the past.
These memories were his, but they had been tampered with. Not removed like his other ones, rather, someone had changed them. Most likely Gwendolyn, but the question still remained as to why.
Morgan continued following his younger counterpart, as the shadows grew long and the sun began to set.
Where’s he going? And what’s a child doing out in the middle of the desert alone?
As it became dark, Morgan expected himself to stop for the night. He was surprised when he kept on going, staggering along as the setting sun and the moon switched places for the night. Morgan was beginning to wonder how much longer he could keep on going, when his younger self suddenly stopped.
Walking up next to himself, Morgan could now see that he was swaying dangerously on his feet. His eyes were unfocused, and his skin blistered and red. As he fell, Morgan tried to catch himself, but as with the previous time, he passed right through him.
He winced as his younger self landed on the shifting sands and as his eyes began to close, the world around him began to grow hazy.
What’s going on? Morgan wondered, as his surroundings grew fuzzier and fuzzier. Finally, as the world around him went dark, it came to him.
He was reliving his own memories, so it stood to reason that if he passed out, he wouldn’t remember anything from that time.
Morgan waited for something to happen; for him to be ejected from the memory and back into consciousness, or back to the void where he’d seen all his memories passing. What happened instead was surprising. The world around him suddenly came back alive in a flash of vivid color.
Disoriented by the sudden shift, it took him a few moments to realize that he was back where he’d been just a few seconds previously, but his perspective had shifted. He was staring up at the face of a woman and she was holding something out for him. He saw a small hand reach up to accept a steel flask and bring it up to his lips.
Morgan was momentarily panic stricken when he attempted to move his arms and nothing happened. As his mind finally caught up with what was happening, he realized that he was in the memory, this time in the eyes of his younger self. He couldn’t make out the woman’s features, as young Morgan was taking huge gulps of the water, but he already knew who it would be.
“What are you doing out in the middle of the desert alone, little boy?” Gwendolyn asked him.
She looked exactly the same as the Gwendolyn he’d seen only hours before, with the exception of her hair, which was long and hung loosely down her back.
“I don’t know,” he replied.
His voice was rough after the long day of walking, and it rasped painfully out of his dried throat.
“Where do you live?” she asked, now looking just a bit more concerned.
“I don’t know,” Morgan answered again.
“What’s your name?”
Morgan once again answered that he didn’t know.
Gwendolyn asked him several more questions, all of which he couldn’t answer. By the time she was done with her questioning, Morgan had finished the contents of the canteen but still didn’t feel too good.
Gwendolyn rose from her crouch, then held a hand out to help him up.
“Alright, little boy. How about you come with me? I can at least take you to the nearest city and see if I can drop you off there. Maybe they’ll know who you are.”
Morgan stood shakily to his feet, but the moment Gwendolyn let go of him, he fell right back down.
“Sorry,” he said, as she gave him another worried look.
“It’s not a problem. You must be tired from being out here all day. Here,” she said, crouching down near him. “Climb onto my back, and I’ll carry you.”
Morgan looked at her doubtfully, but after a few moments of coaxing, he finally climbed on. Gwendolyn rose smoothly to her feet and began walking west at a steady pace. The sand crunched under her feet and the cool night air soothed Morgan’s burned skin. Eventually, he laid his head against Gwendolyn’s back and drifted off to sleep.
Morgan woke up as Gwendolyn came to a sudden halt. Stirring slowly, he cracked his eyes open and looked around, noting the sun rising above the peak of a nearby sand dune.
Gwendolyn looked back when she felt him stir and gave him a warm smile.
“Sleep well?” she asked.
Morgan looked at her in incomprehension for a few moments before the events of the previous night finally came back to him.
He nodded shyly, and she turned her attention back to the landscape ahead.
“Don’t worry, little boy. The West Kingdom city of Mitten is just a quarter of an hour away. I’m sure someone there will know who you are, as it’s the only city within a week’s journey by foot from here.”
Morgan nodded again as she resumed her earlier pace.
“So, you really don’t remember anything?” she asked again.
“No. The last thing I can remember is walking in the desert. I was going somewhere, but I can’t remember where,” he replied.
“Well, how about I tell you my name then. Would you like to know that?”
“Yes. You did save me, and it would be nice to know,” he said.
“My name is Gwendolyn, and I’m from the East Kingdom.”
“That’s a pretty name,” Morgan said with a smile. “Where is the East Kingdom? And what’s a Kingdom?”
Gwendolyn laughed at that, a light tinkling sound that made Morgan want to laugh along with her.
“A Kingdom is a place where a bunch of people live. Right now, we’re in the West Kingdom. In this land, there are a total of five, and I come from the one in the East.”
“What’s east and west?” Morgan asked.
Gwendolyn chuckled again, taking the time to explain the Four corners of the compass, as well as any other questions Morgan asked her. She was answering another of his questions as they came over the peak of the latest dune, and Gwendolyn stumbled in her tracks, coming to a halt.
Morgan sensed something was wrong and shifted around in her arms in an attempt to get a better view. Gwendolyn, feeling his movement, was quick to put her shoulder in the way.
“Don’t look, little boy. I don’t think you’ll want to see this.”
Her voice was somber, and Morgan wondered why the cheerful lady was suddenly so sad.
“Why? What’s wrong, Gwen?”
Morgan had had a hard time pronouncing her name, so she’d told him he could shorten it if he wanted to.
“Nothing too bad. I just don’t think you need to see this, is all,” she said, backing down the hill, so as to assure he wouldn’t be able to see.
It was then that the wind shifted, and Morgan caught the scent of something on the early morning breeze. Smoke, he realized after a few seconds, though he wasn’t sure how he knew that.
“Why does it smell like smoke?” he asked, feeling Gwendolyn’s body stiffen
up in response.
When she didn’t answer, Morgan began squirming again and this time he managed to break loose of her grip. Landing on all fours, he ducked under Gwendolyn’s wild grab and dashed over the crest of the dune. As soon as he saw the city in flames, he very much regretted that.
He saw Gwendolyn coming up to him out of his peripheral vision and felt a soft hand land on his shoulder. Looking up at her, he saw her staring down at him with sad eyes. He couldn’t understand why, but he suddenly felt a pulse of anger toward the woman and something feral inside urged him to attack her.
He staggered, as something hot flooded his eyes, and his body felt like it was on fire. He saw Gwendolyn’s eyes widen for just a split second, then she turned her attention skyward and shouted.
“Samuel! Get your meddling ass down here and tell me what you’ve done!”
5
Morgan stared at the woman for a few moments, and he felt the indescribable rage from just seconds ago melt away.
“Gwen. What happened to the city? And what’s happening to me?” he asked, feeling his bottom lip beginning to tremble as he looked down at the city below once again- or what was left of it, at least.
The city stretched on as far as the eye could see in all directions. Morgan wasn’t sure about size or scale, but he could guess that this was a pretty big city. A massive, sandstone wall marked a border surrounding it, stretching for miles in all directions.
The wall still stood tall, untouched and whole, unlike the rest of the city. It lay in utter ruin. Rubble was strewn about and fires raged in all the buildings that contained any wood in their structures. Smoke rose in billowing clouds, carried by the wind, and he could clearly see massive patches of sand and stone that had been blackened or turned to glass.
What could have possibly caused this much damage?
Gwendolyn bent down next to him and turned him away from the burning city. Pulling him into an embrace, Morgan buried his head into her shoulder and felt her arms wrap around him.
“I don’t know, little boy, but don’t you worry. We’ll find out soon enough.”