Eclipse: the Beginning

“Mother, try not to push yourself. You get well when you rest. I can take care of things for you.”

“Boaz … my time is short….”

“Oh, but I know you will be well soon, Mother. The wind told me you would not suffer much longer.”

“Boaz … I need you to promise … promise to look after your older brother …. No one will understand save you now ….”

“You know I always will, Mother. Please do not talk this way. We should be joyful. Lady Mary says joy is better medicine than light magic.”

“Boaz … I pray you never lose your strength of spirit. You will need it more now than ever ….”

“Mother? Mother, hold on! I will fetch Lady Mary!”

“No … Boaz … please stay ….”

“But ….”

“Boaz … I only wish Bazak were here …. I love you both so dearly …. You resemble your father so ….”

“Mother! Mother, wait! Bazak is in the armory with the other men! I can bring him back! Please wait, Mother! Stay a moment longer!”

“Cry not … my love …. You were right … I shall suffer no longer ….”

“Mother! Mother, do not go! Mother!”

Samuel gasped as he awoke. Tears were falling down his nose, running across his cheekbone. Another dream with only voices? This one had such grief. Samuel wanted to hide beneath his blanket to weep. Blanket? He blinked in surprise to find one lying over him. Where was he?

The Nomad glanced about. He saw an odd table that appeared to be the side of a tree trunk, hollowed beneath and sanded flat on top. There were some bottles and plates on top of it. He wondered what their purpose was. A wooden trunk rested on the opposite wall from the table. There was a box with a blanket on the lid. To see more, he sat up, pushing the blanket back a bit.

“Oh, wonderful,” a familiar voice spoke up from behind him, “you have awakened. I am glad since I have food and water for you. Are you feeling ready to eat?”

Samuel glanced behind him. In a tall window, a young man sat, smiling back at him. He blinked as he tried to recall why the youth felt familiar. When the amusement began to swell in his chest, a smile spread on his face without his knowledge. He started to remember a similar wave of emotions from before he fell asleep.

“A bite would be nice. Thank you,” the empath replied. “Forgive me, though. I seem to be a bit foggy from before I nodded off. May I ask your name?”

“You are a considerate person, Samuel,” the young man said, cheerfully. He stood from his perch to walk over to the table. “You may. My name is Boaz. I believe this is your first time asking, though. Ha ha!”

“Boaz?” Samuel gaped back at the Wingie. That was the little boy’s name from his dream. Did that mean the emotional vision belonged to him? What did it mean? He needed to get a grasp on these powers before he lost himself in questions.

“Yes, that is how you say it,” Boaz laughed lightly. He pushed the table closer to his patient. “I apologize on the humble meal, but we are limited to the storerooms and kitchens for now. I hope it is pleasant to your stomach, though.”

“Oh please, don’t apologize,” Samuel protested, waving his hand in front of his face. “I’m more than grateful for anything. It’s not as if I were a monarch. Your hospitality has already been beyond expectation, and I thank you for treating my friends and me so kindly.” The Nomad bowed his head, touching his forehead to the floor in humility.

“For not claiming to be nobility, your demeanor is liken to any ruler I have ever heard of,” Boaz said, reaching around the table to help Samuel rise. “You should bow to no one, Samuel. I have seen this in you already. Please, sit with me.”

As the young man ate, the Wingie watched him with a small smile. Samuel’s thoughts drifted about the dream he experienced. Boaz had some connection to it, but he hesitated to leap to the conclusion that they were the same. He had to learn more about why he experienced such odd dreams.

“Do you mind if I ask you a question, Samuel?”

“Not at all. Though, I cannot promise the clearest of answers.”

“What is your birthday?”

“October the thirty-first, why do you ask?”

“October?” Boaz blinked curiously. A plumb of confusion grew within Samuel’s chest. Oh, great, the calendar was different as well? Just his luck! “What month is October?”

“Ha ha, just pulling your leg there, mate. I actually,” Samuel paused, uncertain if it were safe to tell the truth. He glanced into the Wingie’s eyes. The chocolate brown pools held no ill will at all. If anything, he saw a familiar expression that he missed from his younger years. The youngest matron at the orphanage had made the very same gaze at him years ago. Against reason and logic, Samuel felt he needed to tell this young mystic the whole truth. Let Celestial rip him about it later.

“You carry quite a burden to force a pause that troubling,” Boaz rested his cheek in right palm. “Perhaps it was more than curiosity that drew me to you. As a mystic, it is my duty to help all who require it. As a Wingie, it would honor me if a comrade of the keeper of the Arm of Zion would allow me to aid them in their journey.” A brighter smile spread across his lips, sending a ripple of reassurance over Samuel’s spirit.

“Boaz … do you … do you believe there could be a world apart from Aurora?”

“A world apart?” Boaz glanced out the window behind Samuel. His eyes were wandering, absorbing the idea. “I would have to say no.”

Samuel dropped his head, feeling foolish for asking at all.

“Still,” Boaz noticed the youth glance up at him. “If there were, and someone tried to tell me of such a place, I would be a fool to dismiss it. Tell me of this ‘world apart.’”

Samuel smiled brightly. This was the first person, aside from those who already knew he was not from Aurora, he had spoken to about Earth. As attached as he had begun to grow to this world, he had yet to shake off his homesickness for the one he came from. Sometimes, talking about home was the closest he came to easing that ailment.

For some time, Samuel talked the mystic’s ears off about his home world. From electricity to automobiles, Boaz listened closely with sparkling eyes of interest. The Nomad felt the intrigue coming from his newest comrade, and it only encouraged him to open up to him. After he finished telling the Wingie about airplanes, Boaz held up his hand for a pause.

“Your home is filled with many wondrous things,” he said with a light laugh, “but you have yet to speak of yourself. Why is that, Samuel?”

“Well,” Samuel thought of a reason, “I suppose there’s not much to say. As a mystic, you could probably tell me more than I know myself.”

“A true Nomad,” Boaz replied in an airy voice. “Seeking answers to who you are, you know little to nothing of your own being. Would you like me to try helping you find some of those answers?”

“How?” Samuel stared back at the young mystic. He recalled that Grandmother Wingie had shed light on his past. If that was what Wingies were capable of, perhaps he would discover the answers he had been looking for, and maybe more ….

“According to Lady Alma,” Boaz said in a soft voice as he closed his eyes, “Nomads appeared after the Great War. Many were soldiers who had lost themselves during the struggle, but there were just as many who had been influenced by Darkness – robbed of their memory. The guardians and mystics took it upon themselves to help these people. Ever since, mystics with strong ties to their element have divined the paths of Nomads. They are called Seers.”

“See … ers …?” Samuel blinked. Something felt very familiar about what he had said. The Great War? Why did he feel a pit in his stomach just thinking about it? It had been mentioned far too many times for his liking.

“I am one of those mystics, as my mother before me,” the mystic continued, opening his eyes to look the empath in the eye. “I knew there was a reason I was drawn to you, Samuel. The wind guided you and your companions to Mt. Aion to seek answers to questions which burden each of you. I am your fated Seer.” Extending his right hand across the table, palm up-turned, the Wingie beamed with excitement. “I hope I am worthy to find your answers for you.”

Samuel looked down at the palm. Grandmother Wingie had said things would come to him in time. Raphael had believed the Wingies held the answers to his powers and purpose. It seemed too easy that this would fall into his lap without some effort. Although, considering their journey thus far, perhaps he had gained interest on that effort. Hesitantly, he lifted his left hand to grasp Boaz’s.

“I only hope I don’t confuse you as you try to help me.”