The Fallen

by R. L. Drummond

  Two more comets crashed to the ground as Tellan fought on valiantly and as the swirling steam clouds revealed the figures of two more people clothed in magnificent golden armour, Reya heard Tellan shout out to them. As the two newcomers fearlessly rushed into the battle, Baldur collapsed onto the ground with breathless relief and a great choking alarm seized Reya when his vision began to flit in and out of blackness. Baldur’s senses had dulled considerably from the pain and severity of his wounds and Reya felt a peculiar emotion within her that she recognised as incredulity at how quickly his injuries had drained him of stamina. She realised then with a shock of sorrowful pride that her father was not frightened of his approaching death…if anything it stoked the fires of his warrior wrath and lent him strength to his determination that he would not die quietly. Reya could feel how heavy her father’s eyes were as they fluttered drunkenly and as he forced himself upwards into a desperate stagger, she realised with a sinking of her own heart that he had lost too much blood to come through this battle victorious.

  When she felt the instinct that someone had breached her personal circle, she slashed outwards desperately with her double headed axe and Reya felt the agonising pull of wounds as Baldur staggered terribly. He blinked furiously against the convoluted darkness that crowded his vision, and as he stumbled back clumsily, a golden light blurred within his periphery. Reya gasped when a firm hand grasped the shoulder strap of Baldur’s armour and as her father was hauled upwards, she wept in joy at the sight of her Uncle Tellan’s bloodied face. Baldur collapsed to the ground once more and as Tellan stooped and wrapped his arm around his commander’s waist, Reya could see how wide Tellan’s eyes were in their alarm. Tellan’s breath huffed noisily in her father’s ear as he surged upwards with a grunt of effort and as he took Baldur’s weight against him, Reya could hear the unintelligible muddle of Tellan’s voice as he shouted for Baldur to stay awake.

  Tellan swore as he searched desperately for somewhere safe he could take his commander and, at the realisation that the light in the distance denoted shelter, he hitched Baldur upwards and began to drag him. He barked an order at the bowman by his side and Reya watched through blurry eyes as the bow was immediately hooked across the man’s chest. Her heart tightened at how reverentially the bowman gathered the great axe, held in hands that trembled at the plight of his commander and with a last nod at Tellan, the bowman strode forward purposefully. When Baldur’s other arm was lifted and wrapped around strong shoulders, Reya gasped at the sight of Jenko, his face a rictus of concern as he stared agape at the extent of her father’s injuries. Jenko and Tellan shouted at one another in desperation, words that she could neither hear nor understand, for Baldur’s head lolled with the toiling motion of their journey after the bowman. Reya could hear how her father marvelled at how quickly the blood fled him and within that thought was a sorrow that she knew came from her father: a horrible sadness that his brave men had followed his descent.

  Baldur’s eyes flared awake groggily at the commotion of a tremendous bang and with it came the terrified screams of a female from somewhere nearby, but Reya could not see through the hazy fog of her father’s agony. There was a sudden cacophony of breaking ceramic and clanging tin, and Reya gasped in fright at the unexpected sensation of her father’s body being heaved upwards onto a hard surface. More screams followed, but the fear within that feminine voice had swiftly given way to anger and Baldur’s blurred vision blinked through pain and blood as the head of a broom was slapped incongruously across the bowman’s back.

  Tellan’s voice spoke calmly then, in spite of how the broom was brandished at him and a woman’s voice argued back hotly. But within the hitch of a breath, her tone became full of concern.

  There was a clattering of hurried feet on wood and when Baldur felt pressure upon the wound that pumped so much blood from his stomach, he gasped in new agony as stars burst across his already limited vision. His eyes fluttered open with the disembodied hope that he could orientate his surroundings, but all that filled his vision was a honey coloured blur that flurried above him. A great, wheezing gasp for air seized his lungs emptily and as Baldur’s eyes closed once more with a heavier darkness than Reya had ever experienced before, she panicked that she had finally died within her dream.

  Reya started at the sensation of a great impact pounded upon Baldur’s chest repeatedly and with the insistent pressing of someone’s mouth upon her own, precious air was breathed into her father’s body. Reya trembled with utter gratitude when her father’s eyes fluttered open once more and as she watched from within him, eyes of the most beautiful violet he had ever seen captured his gaze entirely. His vision slowly cleared into ragged clarity as Baldur lifted his hand, and Reya watched with a stunned heart when he gently touched the cheek of the woman she knew instinctually was her mother.

  Reya opened her eyes and it felt to her that she didn’t just wake from her dream, but had unveiled the last truth behind a great secret she had never been aware of. She lay there in silence as she simply stared at the grey clouds above, their sombre glow a clear message that she had slept most of the day. Her eyelids fluttered slightly when she registered the hushed voices of Tellan and Jenko somewhere nearby and, given how bruised her innocent manner had become lately, she was unsure whether they spoke quietly out of respect for her slumber, or if their conversation was not meant for her. She lay there for a little while longer until the chill of the evening air began to creep insidiously under her skin, and she curled into a ball beneath Tellan’s overcoat, closing her eyes once more. But her mouth twisted in dissatisfaction when she realised that the chill had suffused her deeper than she had thought and so, with great reluctance, she gathered herself to her feet.

  When Reya stood, Tellan’s overcoat fell unheeded to the ground and as she cast her eyes along the landscape before her, confusion rang a sharp tone of discord within her mind. I…I brought us here? She thought bemusedly and her frown knotted as she drank in the breath–taking view that was laid out before her in the sombre sunlight. A great, green fielded valley stretched further than her vision could see and in the distance there were tremendous snow–capped mountains that jutted majestically into the sky. The setting sun sifted softly through the thin clouds on the horizon and with its tip–toeing ascent, came the crystalline sparkle of a wondrous lake, its silver mirror alive with glittering splendour. Reya’s breath hitched in her throat at the beautiful sight that she had dreamed of seeing with her own eyes for so long…but the wonder that filled her heart was bitter sweet without the reassuring presence of her father by her side.

  Papa…She thought sadly and her eyes became heavy as the memories of her dream played within her mind once more like the remembrance of a terrible tragedy. She had come to expect the witnessing of events through her father’s eyes now, but what she hadn’t expected was to see her mother within such violence. Baldur had only ever described her to Reya, but she had known exactly who she was as soon as she had seen her. She had her mother’s eyes…“your eyes are very unique.” She remembered with a shudder.

  Reya gulped as she played through the scenes of her dream with a detached analysis she would have once considered to be cold, but after the trauma of the past few days she felt entirely numb already. She could no longer avoid the irrefutable truth that her father held an incredible past that he had kept hidden from her, a past that had been filled with war and a darkness that she was never meant to know. Belial was a part of that darkness and she knew now that her father had been the demon’s nemesis; a deadly rivalry that had spanned countless years and ultimately saw him murdered before her very eyes.

  Baldur had been a powerful warrior long before he had ever become her father; but it was more than that, she realised with a bell toll of comprehension. He had been the leader of a proud group of warriors, each of them as ancient and fearsome in battle as he had been. Reya had felt the incredible strength and vigour that had flooded his veins for herself; within her dreams she had felt how powerful a
being he had been, an almost electric vitality within his soul that she could never know.

  Her eyes fell to the floor with deep confliction when she finally voiced the reluctant thought that had crept into her soul. I’ve never felt that way because…I’m not like him. She thought with sombre intuition.

  A smattering of hushed conversation reached her ears and she turned her head towards the sounds with eyes filled with pained anguish. Tellan…She thought sadly; she was not like him, either. Or Jenko.

  She remembered them…but her memory was not simply from the dreams she had had of them, but from somewhere deeper within her, something dormant that had awakened with the death of her father. Baldur’s horrific murder had forced Reya to abandon her innocent outlook on life and with it came the new, terrible knowledge that the man she had called uncle held a hidden past as well. She had tried to ignore the first time she had seen him in her dreams, fighting beside her father through enemy after enemy; she had wanted to cling onto the last shreds of childish ignorance as hard as she could. But now it was unavoidable…an irrefutable knowledge that was reinforced by the dream she had just had.

  Her Uncle Tellan – in the same way as her father – was not of this world. She had seen his descent from the heavens with her own eyes, the comet that had scored deep livid gashes in the ground…and she had seen the fervour in which he had defended her father in the face of Belial’s wrath. Reya shook her head in frustration and it felt to her as though the befuddled contents of her mind rattled about her brain like dice in a cup: what did it all mean? And how did she bring them here? It was like she had been given a book that had been composed of muddled words, with no grammar or sentences that could make its message comprehensible. She understood what she had been shown on a level that she couldn’t quite identify, but she couldn’t frame it well enough for her mind to grasp fully…she needed answers.

  With that final realisation that weighed upon her like a fallen boulder, Reya turned fully towards the voices that spoke so softly and wrapped her arms around herself. She inhaled a deep, shaky breath and timidly walked closer until she could hear the happy crackle of firewood, and with it came the sight of Tellan and Jenko sat on the ground.

  The hours had been busy for them, it seemed; Jenko’s ruined waistcoat was laid out on the ground with a bed of unusually large leaves set on top. There was an oddly shaped bowl there too – Reya had no idea where it had come from – and within it was some form of sticky liquid with a small sliver of tough bark. Beside the bowl was a dagger she recognised as Tellan’s, its blade covered with the same dark, viscous substance that he currently smeared onto the wound on his forearm with another sliver of bark. She watched them in silence for a moment, for words had failed her at the sensation of countless memories crashing into one another like the waves of a powerful tide. She had seen them do this before, using sticky tree sap to seal their wounds…but paradoxically, she knew she hadn’t.

  “Ah there you are.” Tellan’s smooth rumble broke through her morose thoughts, “Come and get something to eat, you must be starving.”

  Reya instinctually glanced in the direction of Tellan’s pointed hand and at the sight of the skewered lumps of meat that roasted over the fire, she suddenly realised with a stab of horror that the little bowl was a tortoise shell. Even as her stomach growled at the smell of roasting meat, queasiness seized her throat and she felt disgusted at herself that she would want to eat such a defenceless, little animal.

  Jenko caught the curl of her mouth and he grinned wryly, “What’s the matter? You’ve never had snapper before?”

  Reya neither lifted her gaze nor replied, and Tellan and Jenko exchanged careful expressions that were heavy in their silence. A flicker of flame light illuminated the small silver amulet that hung from a thong around Jenko’s neck as he shrugged his naked shoulders, and indifferently returned to the treatment of his stomach wounds.

  “I don’t know about you,” he explained philosophically as he scowled in his task, “but I’m not in the habit of carrying crockery about my person and tortoises already are bowls with legs, after all. Might as well cook the thing afterwards, otherwise it’s just a waste of good meat. It’s up to you.”

  Reya opened her mouth in response then, indignant of his brusque tone as her eyes filled with tears and in spite of how her belly rumbled, she blurted, “No.”

  “Fine then, suit yourself.”

  Tellan held a hand out instinctually for Jenko’s silence as he watched Reya with wary eyes, troubled at how aggressive her manner was. It was such a stark contrast to her usual sweet, innocent nature that bitter apprehension prickled at his flesh and he felt compelled to ask, “Sweetheart, what’s wrong?”

  Her violet eyes were filled with horror when her wounded gaze flickered between the two men and as she clicked the pieces together in her convoluted mind, she said with grave comprehension, “My dreams…I know you…I’ve known you both since before I was even born, haven’t I…”

  Jenko’s eyes snapped upwards at the strange tone of Reya’s voice and as he flashed his gaze across at Tellan, he saw how drastically his comrade’s face had bled of all colour. “Tellan.” He hissed with urgent portent.

  But Tellan had already sensed that Reya was dangerously close to the edge of a precipice that she had no place to be near and he knew that if she lost her balance now, then she could lose her sanity. “Reya, my love–” He began and stood with his arms out for her.

  Reya’s eyes suddenly burned with a hatred Tellan had never seen before and it cut him to his very soul that her innocence had been tarnished by something so ugly. “How dare you call me that.” She hissed.

  He balked at the sting of her words, the rusted metal of them that pierced his heart in a wound so deep that it stole the strength of his core. “Reya, it’s okay–” He said gently as he stepped forward in an attempt to soothe her.

  But Reya jumped back from the gesture she would have once accepted lovingly and cried louder, “No, Uncle Tellan! It’s not!”

  She then looked at the faces that stared at her as though nothing within the world had ever been as fragile and her voice wavered terribly as she went on with slow anguish, “My Father is dead. Don’t either of you realise this? He was killed before my very eyes by a man I have never met…but I know exactly who, and what, he is.”

  Jenko glanced at Tellan warily; humans held emotions that were so fragile and complex that he rarely entertained them whenever he became exposed to them. But with Reya, he felt instinctually that what she felt now was far more than she could deal with, and he could only hope that Tellan was strong enough to bear the terrible burden of her anguish.

  She looked directly at Tellan’s trembling face as she continued on with inexorable agony, “Soldiers came to our home, Uncle. They destroyed everything and everyone I have ever known…and that man…he was a demon. A demon!”

  Tellan’s eyes dropped sadly; he didn’t know what he could say to her…In spite of how much he and Baldur had endeavoured to keep her safe, Belial’s return had forced her to face the incredible truths that had become so agonisingly exposed. If anyone had ever found out about Reya’s lineage, too many questions would have been asked and with that curiosity came the threat of exposing Midgard to the horrors of the War Beyond. But how alone she must have felt in this moment…Tellan’s heart bruised empathically with the sheer force of his adoration for her.

  “And now I learn of gateways and planes…” She said with a numb shake of her head, “What else is there you would like to throw at me?”

  “Gateways…” Tellan repeated stupidly; he had hoped that the traumatic exhaustion of opening the gateway would have erased Reya’s memory of last night’s escape, but his stomach sank at the realisation that he was drastically wrong.

  “I know, Uncle.” Reya replied with grave significance and Tellan’s jaw twitched as she stared him with such resolute anger, “I was the one who brought us here.”

  “Reya–” He began, only to be interru
pted by her quiet rage.

  “Everything I have ever known…it’s all been a lie.” She whispered and wrapped her arms around her little body in a childish attempt at comforting herself.

  “That’s not true, Reya.” Tellan interjected softly.

  “It is, Uncle!” She argued and her face trembled terribly as she stared at him through unshed tears. Her mouth quivered in utter pain as she whispered, “But you aren’t even that, are you?”

  Tellan bristled at the question and his heart felt as though it would burst within his chest as he returned her anguished glance with one of his own. This was the moment he had feared for so long; he knew now that from this second, nothing would ever be the same between them and he felt the death of her trust within his soul.

  “I…” He started and with the heat of Jenko’s eyes upon him, he swallowed the pain in his throat and continued in a heartfelt murmur, “I have watched over you since the day you were born. I may not be your uncle by blood, Reya, but I have loved you ever since I laid eyes on you. Everything I am, I am for you…you are the daughter I can never have.”

  Something in the way he said that made Reya start and her mind whirled in a vortex of emotion as she whispered with cold apprehension, “‘Can never have’…why am I so precious, Tellan? Why can I see my father’s memories? Why can I open these gateways that are so important?”

  Jenko and Tellan looked at one another awkwardly, neither of them sure of what they should do now that Reya had become so glaringly aware she was something far greater than she had ever been led to believe.

  “Reya, I don’t think–” Tellan began in trepidation.