The Day My Dream Died

14 - Under

— 14 —

Under

//\\

    Lise feels pain, then opens her eyes. Her memory is immediate this time, but her attention is quickly drawn by the fact that... I'm awake. Blinking, just to be sure, she tries to push herself up. Cutting pain shoots up her left arm. She grunts—taking her weight off it—and lifts it to her eyes. Bandages wrap her entire forearm and hand. Her right hand is bandaged as well, each finger individually wrapped so she can still move them some.

    She tries again to rise, this time without the use of her left arm. Her abdomen is so tender she has to be careful, but she manages to prop herself up. Sitting on the floor of an unfamiliar room, not waking in the tower as she would have expected considering that's where she'd originally come to consciousness here. It's dim in the small room, the only light sources are a few guttering candles on a low wooden table next to her.

    More bandages encase her chest and stomach, along with her right thigh and a splint on her knee. Can I walk...? Though she'd come out the victor, that raptor had done damage she might never recover from. In truth, she didn't know how bad she was hurt, it had all happened too quick. Or it seemed like it had.

    Morbid curiosity leads her to unwrapping her left arm. A fat, silvery-blue scar trails from her inner wrist over her forearm and ends at the side of her elbow. It appears much further along the healing process than she believes possible in such a short time, but it hurts terribly. When she finishes unwrapping her hand, she finds several healthy fingers, and a pitiful, scabby nub where her pinky would once have wiggled. More scarring stiffens her knuckles, but the actual pain there is minimal.

    "If seeing that bothers you, I wouldn't unwrap your torso."

    Lise's head snaps to the source of the voice. Veiled in shadow, a young man sits in the corner, arm resting loose on his propped knee. Not a young man, still a boy...

    "Where am I?" She asks, ignoring his comment.

    "My master's meditation room."

    "You brought me here?"

    He shakes his head, then pauses to brush his dark hair back from his face before speaking. "You think I'm strong enough to carry you? No, the man brought you here."

    "Pelezel?"

    "If that's his name, yes. The one that came with her—the lady with the fiend in her eye."

    "Then yes. The man is Pelezel, the woman is Elineal," she explains.

    "Names are nothing."

    His response halted her question for a moment, "I understand, but names are practical."

    "Master said that names aren't real." He replies and he sounds offended.

    She pauses. She doesn't know why he would be offended by that, so she decides not to enter that territory. Not worth it. "What do you mean by 'the lady with the fiend in her eye'? Something else your master said? Who is your master?"

    He stares at her a moment, then blinks and looks away, "My master didn't say it... I can't explain it right. Sometimes I just see it in people's eyes." His vision stretches into the distance for a moment, then locks back onto her even sharper than before.

    She clears her throat, "And your master? Who are they?"

    "My master was Dejed's master. He isn't here anymore."

    "What do you mean 'Dejed's master'? The governor?"

    "No. He was..." He leans forward, struggling for the right word. "He was like you. And like the other two."

    "A dweller," she nods. That makes sense. "That would make you the almost dweller."

    He tilts his head. "What do you mean?"

    She waves it off, "Later. What is happening? I've been conscious in the undermind, but I don't know what has been occurring out here."

     "People were celebrating Belez's death until a couple moons or so ago."

    "Look, I'm not from this place, you'll have to elaborate a little more than that." She suspects that he is being deliberately opaque. "I can tell you're annoyed by my questions—stop making me ask them."

    He grumbles and a dark look creeps into his stare, but she can't make out any of his words. "Fine. Belez is—was—the evil beast of the mountain. We've hated him for over a hundred years."

    "Ah, the bird that tried to kill me."

    He frowns, "What?"

    She lifts an eyebrow, "What do you mean 'what'? How did you think I got hurt?"

    "I didn't think about it. You got lucky that woman was here, you would have died."

    She nods, "I figured it must have been her who healed me. What did she use to expedite my recovery?"

    He shakes his head. "No, my master healed you. She only killed Belez."

    "...What?"

    "It was my master's panacea that healed you."

    His response isn't in regard to what she is bothered by, but it might as well have answered both questions.

    "I see..." Her eyes widen, and a thrill runs through her as she realizes the implications.

    Before she gets carried away with the revelation, he cuts in, "What do you see?"

    She blinks, looking up, hand falling from her chin. "Oh. I've just had an insight." She chuckles, wincing at the stabbing pain in her ribs. "You see, Elineal made it sound like she was the one doing the healing. If what you say is true, that means she deceived me. Much as she seems to have deceived you." The boy frowns.

    Lise gestures to her bandages, "I killed the beast. Not her."