SWNOVELS Chapter 2
In Alec’s absence, Talia had turned to Eliza for instruction in the art of combat. Now, she stood within the center of the dueling ring squaring off against Rowan. It had been she who had broken the news to Rowan when he had arrived in Valascaana and attempted to call upon his dear friend whom he had not seen for many a year. Though his company in no way replaced Alec’s, it brought her peace to hear from someone who remembered Alec differently.
Rowan had also proven to be an excellent sparring partner. His fighting style was similar to that of the knights. He had been trained for several years before he left on a secret voyage, but his style was more fluid and adaptable. She had found in him a friend and a challenging rival.
“You are moving too slowly, RE..LI..NA.” Rowan mocked knowing Talia’s true identity. The two battled back and forth staring intently at each other all the while. Talia allowed her body to participate while her mind wandered off to thoughts of her missing love. She found herself back in that marble room, kneeling beneath the oculus that was to be the sight of her demise. She could see Alec rushing to save her and the terrible price that he paid in his own blood to do so. She shuttered for a moment as her mind noticed the blade her body had not dodged. She tipped her sword up to deflect the blow.
Are you alright?” Rowan asked having realized that her heart was not in the fight. Talia nodded her head.
“Quite, though I perceive that I may be drained from today’s activities. Might I ask your leave for today?” Rowan raised his sword to his face, slashed across his body, and off to the side as a salute of dismissal. Talia bowed her head as she curtsied and, stowing her things, began to walk back towards the Kaldur family residence where she had been staying, under the alias of Relina Kaldur, daughter of Marec Kaldur. As she walked up to the door, she could hear Baldur and Aurick, Eliza’s pet dire wolves, which she found six months ago at the close of their travels across Valascaana. Talia slowly opened the door as the now massive wolves nearly met her at eye level.
“Hey boys, might I come inside?” The wolves took turns licking Talia as she passed them by and began to walk towards the upstairs where her room was located. First, Talia stepped into the bathing room and began to fill the large basin with water afterwards lighting a fire beneath to warm it. Having finished preparing the basin, she walked across the hall, opened her door and walked inside attempting to collect her thoughts. She could see the images replaying constantly within her mind; she was again reminded of her lack of strength when she needed it most. Talia removed her armor and stripped down to nothing but her undergarments and, dropping down to a plank position on the floor, began to press her body up and down, nearly touching her face to the floor each and every time.
Sweat began to pour down from her face and she rolled over to her back to begin working her abdominal muscles, as she had watched Alec do several mornings, until they ached from exhaustion. Talia slowly rose from the floor. She was drenched in her own sweat and straining to breathe. She looked herself over in the reflective glass.
“It is your fault.” She whispered to herself. The same soul burdening thoughts that had once haunted Alec now plagued her mind. Though everyone assured her of the opposite, in her mind there was only one answer. Her weakness had caused the “deaths” of two people she loved. She looked from the glass and fetched the robe from atop her chest. Talia walked across the hallway into the bathing chamber that had grown quite warm in the last several minutes.
Taking care to shut the door behind her, Talia peeled off her remaining clothes and allowed them to fall onto the floor. She stood there, naked, as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath before stepping into the washtub. Talia laid her head back and allowed herself to sink deeper within, until she was submerged to her chin. There she closed her eyes and after a moment, fell asleep.
Talia’s dreams flashed back to the three days that preceded her rescue from the Goddess Spire. She watched herself being dragged through the streets of Valascaa, her hands bound. She fought, kicked and screamed to the best of her ability, but the cloth they tied over her mouth made it difficult for her to do much. She had always accepted that in the end, her fate was to offer herself up to Aneira, but she knew at this point that Alec was going to die. Tears began to stream down her face as she was thrown into the back of the carriage. She blamed herself for Alec’s current state, she knew better than to use her visions to alter fate.
Her dream flashed forward for an instant and she was thrust nearly a full day ahead, when the pain started. There she was again, back within her body as Angelica and Belias stood over her, baring instruments of pain. Angelica had been fond of her lightning and passing a massive surge through her until Talia was forced to seize. Her stomach clenched so tightly that after a moment when Angelica withdrew her assault, the bile from Talia’s stomach spewed out in front of her.
After the lightning came the flame and, once the flame subsided, there came the blades. She could hear the screams of the others in the prison, their flesh being rendered from their bodies in a similar fashion as her own. Angelica told Talia that the High Priestess was the embodiment of Aneira’s revenge and this was her way of enacting her own personal vengeance towards the holy mother for betraying her and casting her out of grace. To Talia, the only thing that mattered at that moment was the pain and finding a way to survive it. She was different from the others. She knew that she would not die. They would never allow it. She knew that, should she fade, they would bring her back. She was fated to die tomorrow.
The following day came quickly. Talia’s insides cried for sustenance, her body for rest. She had been beaten unconscious that morning and moved to the oculus at the top of the goddess spire. She had seen what it was that they intended for her and had laid eyes upon the evil that her death was to bring forth. Now she knelt on the ground, securely shackled and chained atop an altar, directly beneath the oculus. She began to despair and in her anguish, she turned to the only solace she could find, Alec.
Just as she had begun to forsake hope, there he was, staring down the army of the Forsaken, ready to die for her. She had thought that Alec was dead and now that he was alive, her despair quickly changed to an alarming sense of joy and an overwhelming dread. She had prevented nothing. Her visions had all pointed to this and she had failed to prevent him from becoming a part of it. She cried out for him as he stood staring down Angelica as she revealed her true self to he and Marec. Then she felt Belias’ aura of extreme evil approaching from across the room. She shuddered at the horrors he had committed and the things he intended to do in the near future.
Next, there was only pain and a battle. Her body was thrown backward as she was overwhelmed with pain, the intensity of which she had not experienced even in the days past. She screamed until her voice cracked and her lungs strained to gather air. Before long, she could feel her body forcing itself into trance in order to stay alive. The pain she endured far exceeded that of normal human limits and it was only her gifts that allowed her to endure it now. Talia wished she could reach out and end it herself. The pain was too much, too unbearable to describe.
The pain stopped. The light faded from her body and she fell to the floor, near lifeless. Her eyes wandered to the level below her and she watched as her love was being dragged into her sight, blood oozing out of him. She began to cry, not only was she soon to die, but she had caused Alec’s end as well. She could feel her heart slowing, her eyes fluttered for an instant and that was when Alec called to her. Moments later, she was free. She looked down and locked eyes with Alec as she rocked him in her arms and then his eyes grew lifeless, dull and empty.
Talia snapped forward, waking herself and nearly colliding with the opposite side of the tub wall. She sat with her head between her knees rocking in the water as she thought to herself of what would have come next had she not woke up.
The healers told her that it was just the stress that she had endured, which seemed conceivable enough, but she could not help but feel that along with her trauma was attached a warning. More and more, she grew anxious and fearful that it was not she, but Alec that was in danger this time around, and he was more helpless now than she had ever been.
Talia stood in the tub and reached for a piece of linen to dry her wrinkling skin. After she had finished, she stepped out and wrapped herself in her robe. She opened the door, exited the washroom and quietly walked across the hall and entered her own room. Talia walked to her vanity and, after drying her hair sufficiently with her towel, began brushing it. First, she brushed her hair until it lay flat across her shoulders, then she began braiding her hair with a combination of purple, red and pink blossoms. Having finished, Talia walked to her wardrobe and chose a rather elegant emerald dress, which beautifully accentuated her long flowing auburn hair and radiant shamrock eyes. Talia looked about, slipped on her casual shoes, and taking several deep breaths left her room to tend to Alec.