What a crazy, old codger… Gavin thought to himself as he started off down the alley. About every fifth or sixth step, something squished under his feet, and Gavin vowed he would spend half a day in the shower, as soon as he found one.
The alley ended not too far away, intersecting another, and Gavin looked over his shoulder, saying, “Which way-”
Gavin found no trace of the old man; it was as if he had never been there. Gavin frowned and examined the alley for signs of a door that the old man might have entered, but he could find none, not even footprints in the filth.
With a sigh, Gavin turned and resumed his consideration of which way to go. Not seeing any difference to either choice, Gavin turned left and followed the alley.
Gavin found himself in a maze of twisting turns. The alley wasn’t more than three feet wide, for the most part, but every so often, it widened to five or six for a stretch. As he walked, Gavin considered his situation. He had no money; his dark-tan, homespun pants had no pockets. In fact, his pants were frayed and tattered around the ankles, not unlike the old man’s robes, and his belt was a length of hemp rope.
The bone-deep, throbbing ache was gone, replaced by a tingling sensation that was fast becoming unsettling; every nerve in his body felt like it was a crackling fire. What’s more, the tingling seemed to ebb and flow much like a peaceful but active sea.
I’m ‘supposed to be over there a ways,’ am I? Well, how am I supposed to know when I get there if I don’t know where I’m going? I should probably be going home…
Gavin froze in mid-step and looked all around him, though for what he didn’t know.
I don’t know where ‘home’ is. How can I not remember where home is? Or what I do? Or who my family is? What happened to all my memories? I can’t even remember my parents.
Gavin resumed walking, and he never noticed his pace was quicker than it had been.
I’ll bet that old man knows. He told me I needed to head this way. Why would he say that if he didn’t know me? Do I-
Gavin didn’t give a second thought to the semi-liquid goo he was placing his left foot upon, and his foot shot forward as quick as a skate on wet ice. Gavin lost his balance just as his legs were starting to resemble a wide A-frame. The collision with the alley floor drove the breath from his lungs, and for a moment, Gavin just lay there.
Gavin rolled onto his left side and started pushing himself to his feet. As he rose, he noticed something chiseled into the wall. A circle enclosed a ring of runes he didn’t understand. Inside the runes, another circle enclosed a single, large rune. The single rune looked like an arrow pointing up that only had the angled line on the left, and half-way down the shaft, a horizontal line extended right with two, vertical lines extending up from that horizontal line.
The whole engraving was covered in places with grime across uncounted years, and Gavin reached out to wipe some of it away for a better look. The stone just above the outer circle was rough, and a small piece about the size of a pencil’s tip jabbed into the meat of his hand and tore a line across the pad.
Gavin jerked his hand back with an “Ow!” His hand started to bleed, and Gavin saw he’d left some blood on the wall, as well. The blood began running down the stony surface, but Gavin wasn’t paying it much attention while he devoted his attention to staunching the crimson that pooled in his palm.
The moment his blood touched the outer circle of the engraving, the entire design erupted in ruby-colored radiance that burned away the grime covering it, and Gavin lost all interest in his bleeding hand. The tingling sensation throughout Gavin’s body flared to new heights, and the radiance began to pulse. It was several moments before Gavin realized the radiance was pulsing in perfect time with his own heartbeat.
Now, the tingling Gavin had felt since awakening exploded into an inferno. Gavin felt overwhelmed by what seemed to be a new sense, an awareness of power all around him just waiting to be manipulated. Gavin recognized at last that the radiance pulsing from the etching was in fact power bleeding into the natural world, and it strengthened into a bright fire, bringing with it an agony across his entire body unlike anything Gavin had ever imagined. Every muscle in his body went rigid, even those that allowed him to breathe, and Gavin felt a word being burned into his mind.
In an instant, it was over, and Gavin almost collapsed to his knees in relief. Gasping for breath, he considered the word he now knew. He didn’t know any other words like it; of that, he was certain, and yet, Gavin knew how to pronounce the word without error. He didn’t, though…didn’t even try a part of it. That word was somehow a key to the vast power Gavin felt all around him, ebbing and flowing like the currents of a vast, peaceful lake.
More than a little unsettled by his most recent experience, Gavin shook his head to clear his thoughts and turned from the strange etching in the wall-now dormant once more.
Some time later, Gavin found himself at yet another intersection. Off to his left, Gavin saw a busy thoroughfare, but something about that moving mass of people didn’t feel right. He turned right instead. A short distance ahead, what looked to be another alley came in from the left.
Gavin made the turn himself, stopping cold as his eyes widened. He found himself in a cul-de-sac and sitting at the far end was the most beautiful woman Gavin had ever seen: wavy hair that glistened in the sun that was now overhead; an olive complexion; and soft, feminine curves. Not even the strange mark branded into her shoulder could mar her beauty. Arms crossed across her midriff held a linen sack closed by drawstrings.
Gavin gazed upon her, his lips quirking into a slight smile of appreciation, and he didn’t even notice when she lifted her head and looked at him.
Despite her weariness, Kiri sensed the presence of another nearby. She didn’t know how, but she knew someone had arrived. All she wanted to do was lay her head back against the wall in peace, but she was her father’s daughter. She would meet this new arrival unbowed.
She lifted her head, opening her eyes…and used all her willpower to keep from smiling at the sight. A young man stood at the end of the alley. He wore only trousers, made of simple homespun at that, but there was a health, a vitality, about him unlike anything she had ever seen in a peasant before. How he stared amused her the most; it had been a long time since she had seen such innocence.
Her eyes drifting over his body, Kiri was struck by how handsome the young man was. Sandy blond hair cropped shorter than was common, clean-shaven, and a slender, proportionate form…she had no trouble picturing him dressed in the finest courtly attire, trading pleasant conversation with the elite of nobility.
Desire flared within her for the first time in oh so long, but with desire came the pain of the last two years. She couldn’t stop the memories, and she clamped her eyes shut, turning her head from side to side as she tried push away those unwelcome thoughts.
The woman’s motion jerked Gavin out of his reverie. He had no idea how long he’d been standing there, letting his eyes roam over her form, and he felt the flush of his embarrassment rise in his cheeks.
He crossed the short distance to the woman and knelt in front of her.
“Are you okay?” Gavin said.
The young woman opened her eyes and frowned as she said, “What do you mean? What is that word?”
Now, it was Gavin’s turn to frown. “What is what word?”
“Okay,” the woman said, and her speech made the word sound alien to Gavin. “I have not heard its like before.”