Christel awoke and the noon sun was a bright flare in his eyes. He winced and raised his hand to block it out, and then rolled over in a field of fragrant tulips, feeling the morning dew soak into his clothes. Once on his feet he brushed himself off and tried to figure out where he was, only to see with great alarm that there was no horizon; only a field that ended with an impenetrable wall of light. He hoped he was dreaming. “This can’t be good.”
The only object of interest was a faraway tree that stood atop a hill; it had a wide twisted trunk and pink leaves that fluttered in a gentle breeze. Christel trudged through the flowers to get to it, and when he was close enough, he saw a woman standing idle beside it. The woman was familiar somehow; she wore a crystal-blue dress and her hair was black as pitch but faded to silver-white on the ends. “Hello,” she said with a charming smile.
Christel approached her cautiously. “Hello,” he replied. He glanced up at the tree and over the fields into the wall of light. “Where am I? What is this place?”
The woman brushed the hair from her pretty eyes. “This is my garden. I have others, wonderful places beyond the light out there, but this is favourite.”
She reminded Christel of Ariana, and he began to understand. “I was attacked,” he said. “Hazel, they took Hazel and carried her away, and that woman, she hit me and it felt as though I had been pierced by lightning.” He suddenly groped down at his chest to see that there was no wound. An impending feeling of dread washed over him.
“If you’re wondering if this is one of those ‘am I dead’ moments you needn’t worry. This is a dream, a vision I slipped inside your mind while you lay unconscious on the beach.”
“I know you,” said the thief. “You’re the woman from Taelliwey, you sold me my watch. Merida’s fabrics!” he laughed. “Who knew you were the Merida.”
“That is one of my names, yes.” She glanced down at her body. “This form was created to allow me to speak with you, my true nature I fear is beyond human comprehension, thus I appear to exist in a form the human mind can understand. My sisters and I have been very interested in you and your people of late, it seems once again you face a great threat, and it is up to you as to whether your kind will endure.”
“You’re talking about Ludovic,” the impending doom returned. “Is it true what they say about her? If Grey Skull succeeds what will she do to us?”
Unlike her sister Ariana, Merida the goddess of time did not grin and step about seductively. Her eyes were as serious as Christel’s, though there was little fear in her voice. “The story is more or less how your scholars have it written, but there were a few minor mistakes. What’s important right now, however, is that you understand that you have been chosen to make a decision. When Garn Pallerii threatened the world Ariana chose your friend Arlandra as her champion to defeat him, and in a similar way I am choosing you as my champion to defeat Josiah Avenberch, given you have what it takes.”
Christel didn’t realise the way he stepped back. “You won’t let them release Ludovic though, will you? You stopped her before so you can do it again.”
Merida shook her head. “The first time it was our own doing that caused harm on the world, thus we were bound by oath to betray one of our own and seal her away in that infernal void.” A tear rolled down the goddess’s pale cheek. “You should know that I am greatly conflicted. Part of me wants you to fail for if you do then our beloved Ludovic will be free. Grey Skull belongs to your world and their actions alone will be your reckoning; we cannot interfere directly.”
“Oh,” Christel said. “So it’s all up to me. Look, I’ll be going after Avenberch but only to get Hazel back.”
Merida gestured caution. “Careful Christel, or your love will blind you. I’ve watched over your kind for thousands of years and I’ve seen people so driven by emotion that their actions have been impractical to say the least.”
“But you said yourself that it’s my decision to make.”
“That I did.” They both stared over the fields.
Christel thought he was going to wake up, but still the goddess stood quietly by his side. He felt afraid and wondered if she knew the depths of his anxiety, the uncertainty that clouded his thoughts. He asked, “Will you at least tell me what to do?”
She had anticipated his answer, and smiled. “Your friends have already been quite busy in adhering Grey Skull’s progress. Right now they are up in the mountains trying to obtain one of the Sacred Stones before Grey Skull can – their plan it to keep one piece out of reach to keep the world safe long enough to bring Grey Skull down, which is quite intuitive I should say. What you need to do right now is get my key back.”
“The key… my watch! The watch you gave me, that’s the key isn’t it.” He waited until Merida nodded, then went on, “What does the key do? Why give it to me?”
The goddess laughed. “Humans can never just do things; they’re always asking questions. The key and the five stones collectively create a gateway to other worlds. I created the key as a gift to my servants long ago, enabling them some degree of control over the flow of time, even if they were unaware of it. Ever wondered why bullets never hit you when you were so sure they would?”
“The key protected me…”
Christel had failed to notice the great radiance sullenly closing in, enveloping the fields of tulips in a torrent of light. The ground beneath his feet began to vanish and the leaves disintegrated from the great twisted tree. I hope I’m waking up! He thought. For a moment there was nothing, and then he opened his eyes and sat up, suddenly hearing the distant crashing of waves upon the shore. I’m back. He stood up and looked over the desolate remains of his camp. A terrible pain shot through his chest and he saw that his skin was raw and blistered. Oh… He ignored that for now. Sam, Arlandra, I need to find them. I need to save Hazel.
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