Blue Rose, Part V

After dinner, Mari went back to the inn, and Sundan slept in an alley near it. Mari had much to think about that night, and didn’t fall asleep until early morning when it was still dark.1

Was it wise for her to let Sundan go with her? She didn’t even know if she should’ve told him that she was a witch. He didn’t seem to mind, but that was just on the surface. He could internally be planning to tell a witch hunter about her…2

Mari sat up in bed, gasping. She must’ve fallen asleep. She shook the thoughts out of her head; she couldn’t go back now, so there was no use worrying about him. Still, when she was near him, something didn’t feel quite right. But his eyes seem so innocent and genuine. Ugh, these thoughts did naught but confuse her. The sun was hardly rising, but she—they—had to get an early start. She found Sundan waiting for her outside the inn, leaning casually against the wall. His silhouette made him seem somewhat cold, for some reason. Unapproachable.3

Even so, she did approach him. He turned and smiled at her, and she forgot all her fears of something not feeling right. “It’s about time,” He said.4

“How long have you been awake?” She asked. “I thought I was the early bird!”5

He sighed. “Well, I’m not one fer waking up early, but it’s hard t’ get a decent amount o’ sleep, sleepin’ in an alley. I’ve spent years doin’ it, and ye’d think I’d get used t’ it, but it’s done nothin’ but make my back hurt.”6

“Well, I hope your back is well enough for you to walk all day, because that’s what we’ll be doing. Shall we begin?” Without waiting for an answer, she touched her neaklace and whispered the magic words, “Mencaen ny.”7

She was led inland, the opposite direction of the ocean and ports. Sundan ran to catch up with her. “Wait up!” He called. She hadn’t realized how fast she was walking, nor did she ever consider that bringing another person along would slow her down. Not that she was in a rush, really, but she didn’t want to slow down. The sooner this was over and done with, the better.8

She had closed her eyes. She could hear people beginning to wake up and prepare for the day. Another beautiful day, it seemed; the air was warm, and the smell and distant sound of the ocean was a comfort. Mari realized how much she didn’t want to leave the ocean, but she shrugged to herself. When she found the Blue Rose, she could easily move into a town by the ocean. It was exciting, the rush of people surrounding her, the ceaceless noise of conversations down the town streets, and especially at market places. True, the unpleasant smells of the town—garbage, waste, and rotten fish—mixed with the unusual April heat did disturb the wonderful smell of the water, but she could easily overlook that. Yes, that was what she would do. Someday.9

“How’re ye walkin’ with yer eyes closed, and not runnin’ into anythin’?” Sundan said curiously. She opened her eyes to see him staring at her.10

“I know the neaklace wouldn’t run me into a tree or any such thing.”11

“Yer puttin’ all yer trust in that thing?” He pointed to the gold glinting off her chest.12

“Yes, and you should be too. We would be wondering around aimlessly if it wasn’t for ‘this thing’.”13

“Aye, well I s’pose I shouldn’t argue with a witch, anyway. Er, I mean, a—sorceress? No…shamaness?” He bit his lip.14

Mari stifled a laugh at seeing him so nervous, trying not to anger her. “ ‘Healer’ will do,” She said calmly. “And you’re right, you shouldn’t argue with one, for I can do more than heal.” She swallowed hard as memories of her mother’s sad story flashed in her mind. Mother had stressed to her that she should never let her temper get the best of her, it did naught but cause problems.15

“Are ye alright?” Sundan asked softly, putting a hand on her shoulder. He must’ve seen the hurt look in her eyes, but when she looked at his, they showed nothing but pity and confusion.16

“Ow!” She yelled as something seemed to pierce through Sundan’s hand into her shoulder. She jumped away from him. “What was THAT?”17

He furrowed his brows, more confused than ever. “What was what?”18

She shook her head. For the second that the flash had run through her viens, a picture came to her mind, a picture of dying and dead bodies, of women weeping, and she could hear the haunting cries of the not-quite-dead.19

Now, recalling the picture in more detail, she found herself on her hands and knees; her legs were shaking and had ceased to work for the moment. She was breathing hard, and the sounds simply wouldn’t go away. She put her hands over her ears and tried to sing a lullaby that her mother used to sing to her to try to get the sound out of her mind.20

Mari felt helplessly weak. Sundan stood there, asking if she was alright, if she needed to rest, but he sounded miles away. What was going on? Finally, Mari screamed, “GO AWAY!” And the vision was gone. She didn’t even remember what it looked like. The evil that had seemed to loom over her had dissappeared, and she stood back up. “I’m fine, Sundan, really,” She assured him, but he didn’t seem to believe her. Forcing a smile, she said, “It just a healer thing.” It was a lie. It had never happened to her mother before; her mother showed no sign of ever knowing evil of THAT sort. ("Love," her mother had told her sadly, "Is the only evil in our lives.")21

All healers were capable of evil, but all were also taught to use their magic for good, useful things, and didn’t know how to chant curses or any such thing anymore. But for some reason, this evil didn’t feel like it came from Mari herself. It felt like it was some outside force.22

“Does it happen often?”23

“Hopefully not…I mean, no, it doesn’t. Let’s keep moving.” She lowered her head, not wanting Sundan to see the tears forming at her eyes. She silently cursed herself for being so emotional and crying so easily.24

They trudged on through the woods; land that hadn’t been possessed yet, that hadn’t been chopped down and claimed for humans. In fact, much of the country was this way. It was mostly populated along large rivers and the ocean. Oh, there were a few villages here and there, a few castles and forts, but they were rare. And there were still even some ancient tribes living deep within the forest. Mari’s mother had loved to weave tales about them when Mari was a child. She had never seen one and hardly knew their customs, but Mother had quite an imagination. She told Mari that they were healers, too, and that women ruled the tribes.25

As the sun set, Mari could hardly believe that she had been deasperately searching for the children this time the day before. It seemed much longer ago. They didn’t seem to be around any civilization, so slept in a small clearing, not far from a creek. Mari felt uncomfortable sleeping so close to a man, though they were quite some distance apart and he seemed to fall asleep right away.26

She was finally lulled asleep to the sound of his quiet snoring, even and slow.27

*   *   *28

White versus black. Good versus evil. Light versus darkness.29

The ones in white wore togas, and looked almost like angels—at least, the angels one would see in a neo-classicism painting. They were glowing, if only slightly, and held their mighty swords above their heads. They were chanting hauntingly beautiful songs under their breaths. Men and women alike stood together.30

The ones in black wore robes with hoods. The hoods were so large that their faces were simply shadows, all but their glittering eyes, almost a yellow color. They were grunting a war song and stared defiently at their opponents. They held in their hands various weapons, all bloodied and used. Daggers, axes, maces. Even the ground seemed to shrink away from these horrible creatures, the grass becoming a bit less green under them.31

Above them all swirled a blue light. It grew larger and larger…until it fell to the ground and dissappeared. As if that were some sort of signal, both sides flew at each other. The war was a gruesome one, and both sides lost warriors. In the end, though, the white side won. Where the blue light had fallen, a blue flower was sprouting. It was now theirs.32

The dark side shouted curses at them, but all were on the ground, wounded or dead. One still remained, though. He took off his hood to take one last look at the light side and their victory prize.33

Sundan's yellow tinted eyes stared at the Blue Rose, so far away from his reach.34

*   *   *35

Mari woke up, gasping, just like the night before. Her heart was pounding, and she put her hand over it, as if to try and slow it down. What a strange dream. She looked over at the peaceful Sundan, still sleeping.36

Shaking, Mari stood up. She had to forget the dream. She walked over to the stream to wash her face and get a drink of water. Suddenly, an idea came to her so quickly that she almost lost balance and fell into the creek.37

Did the evil force yesterday from when Sundan touched her have any connection with the dream?38