A dream for the dead
He awoke, sweating the soft bed and silk sheets, and he stumbled to his feet. He ran to the bathroom, still dripping sweat. He leaned over the sink, his stomach churned, tears from his eyes, and he threw up in the sink. He wiped the sweat beads from his forehead and leaned over the sink again. He looked up in the mirror, an image of himself stared back, two eyes of brilliant purple crimson stared at him, his own eyes he threw up in the sink again, and looked back up at the mirror, the figure was no longer shirtless, it was wearing a fine, woven black coat with accents of black stone taking the form of armor plates his hair was longer braided with beads of black stone in it a half crown on his head. He began hyperventilating and collapsed on the floor of the bathroom. The words “betrayer of my brother” echoed in his own words in his mind, and his vision faded into darkness. When he awoke, an elven woman was standing in front of him, tall and regal, beautiful. Behind her stood another elven woman, shorter, yet holding a greatsword on her back. The regal one told him, “You ok?” and held her hand to his forehead, “I'm not sure I'm making the right decision here,” he said to her. She leaned in and gave him a hug that steadied his fear. She said in a soft voice, “We're never really sure we make the right choices until we've made them. It's ok, I'll be there for the final push, we'll do it together.” She extended her hand to him. Her hands were soft as silk in his mind.
He closed his eyes and opened them again. He had a blade in his hand, armor on his body. A thunderstorm raged in the sky. He found himself on a hill surrounded by other warriors. A man with ears like a cat rushed him. He parried the blade and forced his own through the man's abdomen, causing him to squeal. Another came, he deflected the blade with his own and brought his blade down on the next man's neck, cutting halfway through before pulling the blade free. A young human woman with Eyes of polished jadeite and a scabbard in her left hand and a blade in her right yelled out, “Hold the line, we need to buy the sisters' time.” he moved to block another assailant, and heard the crash of the steel on steel, and he closed his eyes again.
He opened his eyes again. He was in formal attire at a ball. An elven woman in a fancy dress walked out, flanked by another shorter elven woman with a sword on her back. She proceeded to pull a ceremonial sword and a bottle of champagne; the pop caused him to flinch his eyes closed. When he opened them again, he was in a room. The tall elven woman held a newborn, she said, “In another life, had we been born in a different place and time, she would've been ours and not just mine. I wish for you to find me in that life, should we exist at the same time”. She stood up and walked over to him, her eyes glowing. She generated a flicker of white flame and placed it in his hand, “to find me then.” he closed his eyes, basking in the sunlight in the sunroom.
He opened his eyes. He was in a burning castle. He ran through the corridors, the shouts and screams accented by swordsteel crashing into each other. He ran to the sunroom he found the elven woman there. She was lying on the ground, a puddle of red spreading out from her. He lifted her, he said, “I'm here, I'm here, I'm here now.” he held his hand on her wound, he yelled, “Help, help me, someone help!” She smiled weakly, “I think it's a little late for that,” she coughed trails of blood dripped from her mouth. She said weakly, “Remember our promise.” She held her hand to his face; it was slick. She smiled again and said, “Find me then.” She faded out there, her body went limp, and he closed his eyes.
He opened his eyes, and a blade of black stone came down on the neck of another man, cleaving it clean off. Another rushed him, and he brought the sword down in an arc, severing the man's torso in two. Another attacked him, and he parried expertly and plunged it into his opponent's neck, twisting and pulling the head off with violent abandon. Another came, and they attempted to strike from above. He caught the person by the throat, his fingers covered in armor of black stone, crushed the throat, and tossed the corpse to the floor. He closed his eyes again.
He opened his eyes, and he threw three heads onto the floor in front of the pale-eyed woman in the courtyard. They rolled on the floor, he lunged forward, crossing stone with steel, an expert display; none had the better of their opponent. He closed his eyes.
He opened his eyes, and he was on his knees, a blade through his chest. He frowned and reached down to feel the wound. He closed his eyes.
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Rosario awoke screaming, feeling his chest tears streaming down his face. He rolled off the bed, crashing to the floor. He couldn't catch his breath. Senarre opened the door to the room. He was balled up, shaking against the side of the bed. He had his hands against his head. She walked over and sat next to him. “You okay?” he looked over to her, pale and sweating, “Wha-who-where.” She laid her arm over his shoulder. “It's okay, breathe in focus, you're safe.” He rapidly shot his hand to his chest, feeling for a wound, but nothing met his fingertips. He began to steady, “You've been asleep for a while; it's been two days. Paulida took the liberty of disinfecting and stitching up your shoulder while you were out, which should leave a cool scar.” He said, voice trembling, “Thank you. Paulida took Kian out hunting, and they scored a deer. The plan was that if you didn't wake up, in three days we'd take you back to Forge to try to find a doctor or something.” He steadied himself. “Are we still on the lake?” She shook her head, “We still got no coolant solution?” She shook her head. She said, “Paulida found a patch kit that was supposed to be used for the raft in the deck containers.” He pulled himself onto the bed, wiping the sweat and tears from his face. “I'll try to see where the line is damaged and fix it, then I can probably make that work to fix the coolant line until we can make it to a place that has the facilities to fix it,” Senarre said, “a drydock?” Rosario, exhaling, waved his hand and said, “nah, it's a civilian model we should be able to skirt by on a mechanic should also be able to help patch up the damage to the outer hull and perhaps even give her a new coat of paint besides we cant take it back to Forge the carrier stationed there has our likeness and likely to scramble fighters the second our tag pops up on their monitors”
Rosario was kneeling over one of the opened deck panels, the cool air accenting the warming sun. He shouted, “Kian, start her up on full throttle.” A voice from the door said, “Sure thing.” The engines began whirring, the fluid began flowing through the exposed rubber piping beneath the deck panel, and a few spurts under pressure began dripping out of the line. Rosario grabbed it and wrapped it with the sticky rolled patch tape. “It should be good enough. He closed the panel and headed back down the stairs and passed Paulida, who was cooking on the stove. The smell emanated throughout the cabin, and the scent of basil drifted in the air. Kian sat in the pilot's seat, fiddling with the panels. Rosario slid down the ladder. Senarre was standing over by the lounge area, sifting through the records on the shelf. She said, “Nothing newer than twenty years old.” She picked a record and placed it on the player, and dropped the needle down on it. The sound that came out was that of a guitar playing slowly and smoothly. She said to him over the music, “Paulida said we'll discuss our next course of action over dinner.”
“Ace and king,” Rosario threw his cards down onto the table and skewered another mouthful of venison and potato on the fork. Kian threw their cards down, “22 dammit.” Paulida threw down his cards and said, “17 good game.” Senarre threw her cards down. “30, this game is rigged, what are the odds of three face cards in a row?” Paulida said, “By the way, I meant to ask earlier, but who's the kid?” She gestured towards Kian, and they spoke up, saying, “I'm not a kid, I'm 19, just small for my age.” Senarre raised her voice and said, “No way you're 19, you've gotta be 15 max.” Kian said, “nope, it's true, big sis Vina is twenty five and we have a six-year age gap.” Paulida cut in and said, “Alright, what's the next move we need to get the ship repaired? I know a mechanic who can get the job done off the books and quickly in Serinissima, but that's easily a three-day flight without stopping, assuming we are burning the engines hot. Can they handle that ?” Rosario said, “I patched the lines as best as I could with what we have. I don't think we have many other choices because the flight to one of the other drydock cities would be farther. Steelwork is easily a week to eleven days by air, assuming full speed, always having a pilot, and having enough food, so I vote for Sernissima.” Kian said, “I heard they have nice beaches there and museums too, I guess.” Senarre smiled and said, “The Esparza arms factory is based there, so I'm down.” Paulida said, “It's settled then, well set out tomorrow morning.”
“Kian said into a microphone broadcasting his voice down to the lower deck, All systems check, prepare for takeoff.” The ship grumbled and lifted off smoothly. After a while, he said, “You are now free to move around.” Rosario threw himself longways on the couch. Senarre sat at the table with a chessboard, playing against Paulida.