Chapter 2: Remembrances ----------------------- I remember... something powerful. Something horrendously powerful pulling me... but it never touched me. It was just... a force... And a rushing sound. A deep, deafening roar, drowning everything else. I was sliding closer to that sound. Sliding faster... sand was dragged into my clothing marking my path. I knew the wind would erase it soon... or maybe the motions of the creature. But did it matter? No traces would be left of the once-knight, Kindar. Not even a family. I was quite prepared then. Didn't matter. The world didn't need me. Perhaps, I thought, that this was the way that it was ridding itself of me. Swallowed whole by a creature that could hardly consider me a light dinner. I hoped it wouldn't be a painful way to die. And it wasn't. In fact.... It wasn't a bad way to go at all... I found myself drifting... floating on... no... it wasn't air. It was... then again, it really wasn't. I was floating in nothing. It was as if I were in the midst of pure black space. I was suspended, and nothing was around me. But it was a tangible nothing. Each bit of nothing would come closer for a moment, and it would flare, blinding me so quickly, that I had not even a chance to see the light before I saw... something else. Physical memories. It wasn't a thought of the past, but rather, I was there again. Cyan... "Thy mastery of the Parry is quite fair, Kindar, but I do not understand why the Dispatch is so difficult for thee." "Well, then, what do you suggest?" I asked. Cyan looked at me thoughtfully, his chin in hand. "I believe that the difficulty may lie within the grasp of thy sword. In a parry, thou keepest thy sword down, and thrust it upward to not only deflect thy opponent's actions, but to strike as well. But the Dispatch carries with it no thought of protection of thine own self. Rather, thou leavest thy self open in order to strike the blow with greater force." I thought for a moment. Then, grasping the blade, I parried a moment and then stood with the hilt facing out. My mind became clouded, and then blanked entirely. I blinked a moment, and looked at my surroundings. The dummy lay, nearly shredded, on the ground before me. My sword was in the sheath, and my arm rested in the ready position. I looked at Cyan. "Sufficient?" "Kindar, I truly believe that thou hast the talent to be one of the finest knights in all of Doma." He smiled, and I nodded. Praise was difficult to come by from Cyan. I took it graciously, and treasured it always. The light left me. Another piece of nothing crept closer. I could not see it, but I knew. I pulled toward me, and another flash. Mira... "Kindar, dear. The ceremony begins soon. I wouldn't want my own personal general to be late for his officiation," said a voice behind me. I turned, and she was there again. Her hair flowed so gently down her back. Eyes of the deepest sapphire regarded me with concern, yet affection. I reached for her and pulled her close. "Kindar, dear! I hardly think this is the time... no matter how much I approve," she said with a smile. I didn't let go. I couldn't. Every fiber of my being was fixed on holding her there. Every piece of my existence rested on keeping her in my arms. I had to. I simply had to! But I couldn't. The light faded, and with it, my love. I tried to cry, but nothing came. My eyes did not water. They hardly functioned at all. They did not move at my command. They didn't tear at my sadness. They could only stare into the newly-approaching emptiness. Mipza... The creature regarded me with interest. I sat quietly by the rocks looking back. I wasn't sure exactly what it was. It seemed to be reptilian, but it had no scales. Its skin was a sickly green color, its teeth sharp and ragged. Two eyes, black as purest night, looked out at me with interest. I wasn't sure how long we stared at each other, but human as I was, I soon lost patience. I took out the meat I was carrying and began to tear at it voraciously. It wasn't too long before the creature advanced a bit. I stopped. It regarded me again with those eyes. Again we stared at each other a while. Again, I returned to my eating. Again, it came toward me. It reached my side and looked into my eyes. Then the meat. It reached a strange claw forward, and I growled as I ate. It pulled back and looked at me again with those eyes. Eyes full of hunger. Eyes full of... strangeness. I froze for a moment. Something in me demanded action. I took a bone in my teeth and tore it free. The creature cocked its head a moment, and I threw the piece to it. We both set in hungrily to our tasks. It followed me everywhere for a while. I never determined what it was. I saw so many more when the world was ravaged, but they were nothing like the little creature that followed me. They were constantly attacking and rending everything. They ate more than I could imagine. What they didn't eat, they simply chewed, and what they didn't chew, they merely shredded it until it was no longer recognizable. But Mipza was different. It was a kind creature, perhaps tormented by its own alienness. But then... so was I. The nothingness pulled back and another came forward. It was smaller than the others, but more ominous. It was almost nothing, yet immensely important. It was... Mynsch... It was so short... yet so powerful. A few moments, I held him again. A few seconds, I grasped his frame in my arms and cried anew. I prayed. I pleaded with the Lord to return my son, but nothing would arise from it. For a few seconds, I begged anew for the life to flow from me into his own frame. I knew it would never be, but I knew it couldn't happen all over again. As the light faded, I heard something. I listened closely this time. It was... laughing... It was... horrible, evil laughing. I suddenly knew that if I were alive, I would stop at nothing to find that laugh again, and vanquish it from the world. Forever. And then I learned something new: Nothing in all of eternity can hurt as bad as waking up from being dead.