It was a foggy morning and all was quiet. A perfect time for a walk. So thought Marcus Manchester as he walked out his door, if it could be called a door. His "door" was a piece of driftwood that he had found one day when the tide was low. He had brought it home and had carved it with a sharp rock to a rude ovular shape. His "house" was a cave that he had found during a rain storm. It had been his shelter and now it was his home.
Marcus walked out of his "house" and closed his "door" behind him. He started walking toward the river to get cleaned up a bit before taking his walk. He barely got to the river when a dark voice came from behind him, "At last I've found you, Marcus."
Marcus spun around and saw a dark man with black hair, a black beard, black eyes, black armor, and a cruel smile. And that face was the last thing he ever saw. He didn't even have time to release a scream of horror or pain. He simply rolled back his eyes, and fell to the ground, dead. And the dark man said one word: "Pathetic."
"You had enough yet, punk?"
Beronias, or Beron for short, was on the ground, his lip split from a serious punch and his nose bleeding, probably broken. "Had enough? Tom, I'm just getting' started," he said with a chuckle, "and now I'll finish it."
And Beron made good on his promise. He got to his feet and raised his fists to Tom. His opponent swung hard. Too hard and too slow. Beron dodged around it and boxed him in the left temple, knocking him out cold. "Now I've had enough."
Beron wiped the blood off his lip as if it would stop the bleeding. He was tired of doing this. It was a known fact that when it came to his girl, even a little insult would set off his foul temper. And when that happened, people got hurt. More specifically, the poor numbskull that made the insult. But that didn't alleviate the sense of guilt he got by fighting people who were less skilled than himself.
Beron made his way to his car: it was easily recognizable. It was a classic light blue Dodge Charger. His girlfriend, Destiny, was sitting in the passenger seat, not looking impressed. She got out of the car, a first aid kit in hand. She made Beron sit on the hood as she tended to his lip and nose. The nose was rather difficult because every time she touched it, Beron felt excruciating pain. She resigned herself to simply sticking some cloth into the nostrils to absorb the blood while he drove to the hospital to get it fixed. "You really got into it this time. Why'd you let him beat you so badly?"
"I guess I wanted to dramatize...OUCH!"
"Sorry. But look, next time you feel like dramatizing your fights, remember one thing: don't."
"If you say so, babe."
"I do say so. You're pretty lucky he didn't crack your skull open the way he was hitting you."
"Look I said sorry."
She looked into his eyes and smiled. "What am I going to do with you?"
"I could come up with a few suggestions..."
"Beron!"
"I'm just kidding. Except for one of 'em. Get your lips over here."
She smiled again and kissed him full on the lips. They both knew that it would always be like this for them. Nothing but true, passionate love.
As soon as he got home, he went upstairs to his room and fell right asleep. His dreams were filled with things that he couldn't possibly understand. He saw a man in black armor who looked like he had just stepped out of the middle ages. He also saw an old man with long, grey hair and a long, grey beard. He was dressed in rags as if he had been wearing them his whole life. His stench was unbearable to Beron, but the man in black didn't seem to notice. Beron heard the man in black say something to the old man as his back was to him: "At last I've found you, Marcus."
And suddenly the old man's eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed. And he heard the man in black say, "Pathetic."
He watched as the man in black raised his right hand and with a small gesture, made the old man's body disappear as if it had never been there in the first place. The man in black suddenly turned toward Beron, who wasn't actually there, and started to walk forward.
And Beron woke up.
Darkheart was sure he had felt someone. Someone had been watching him. He didn't know who it was, but someone had been watching him. He knew one thing: whoever it was, he or she had used magic. There was a mage out there somewhere. And he or she had seen him disposing of Marcus Manchester. Well, whatever. I'll deal with whoever it was later, thought Darkheart. And with a thought, he opened up a portal and stepped through.
Beron woke up gasping and sweating. His dream had seemed so real and yet at the same time it wasn't real. Who was that man in black? What happened to the old man? And how did the man in black make the old man's body vanish like that? Beron rubbed his temples and waved off the questions. He was being silly. It was just a dream. Wasn't it?
The next day started out pretty normal: wake up, take a shower, eat breakfast, and go to work. At least that was how it was supposed to happen. Unfortunately, Beron never made it to work. He started his car and pulled out into the street and a truck hit the side of his car at 80 mph. His car was launched a mere four feet before it started rolling over and over and over again. When it finally stopped, the car could barely be recognized; it was smashed beyond repair.
Destiny was sitting in math when her phone started ringing. Her teacher was sincerely annoyed. She checked it before going up to his desk to turn it in. It was someone she knew would never call her in the middle of her classes unless it was an emergency. She picked it up and said, "Beron, I'm not supposed to have phone-"
"This...this isn't Beron. It's Troy." Beron's younger brother by a year.
"Beron's....Beron's been...he was just in an....accident..."
Destiny's eyes went wide. "What?"
"He...pulled out of the driveway and...and a truck hit the side of his car...they said it must have been going 80 mph...the car was wrecked beyond repair...can you...can you meet me at the entrance after your school gets out?”
"I can meet you now."
"Alright...I'll be there in five minutes."
"OK." She hung up her phone, grabbed her stuff, and ran out of the classroom. She didn't bother grabbing her backpack out of her locker. She was too worried. Troy was in front of the school within minutes. He was unlike his brother. He drove a black truck which he
kept shining. Destiny got in and buckled her seat belt. And Troy took off.
They both remained silent all the way to the hospital. When they got there, Troy took her to the room that was Beron's. Beron was lying on the hospital bed, wrapped completely in bandages. He looked so terrible; Destiny couldn't hold her tears back. "That bad, huh?" Beron was barely able to whisper.
Destiny gasped and hurried to Beron's side. "I'm going to die soon."
"Don't say that!"
"The doctor said it. He..."
"He was wrong! You're not going to die! You can't..."
"Everyone dies, Destiny. It's my time, now. Don't cry for me."
"Don't talk like that. We haven't had enough time together."
"I...I can't deny that I would like a little more time, but...but I'm glad for the time...the time...we had...I...I...love...you...Destiny," and her name came out as his last breath.
Beronias Manchester was dead.
"Beronias...Beronias...wake up..."
Beron opened his eyes to find that he was lying on his back. He had no memory of how he had gotten there or even that he had died. His last memory was going to sleep the night of his dream. "Where am I?"
"You are in the Palace of Timeless Wonder. You will find that time doesn't pass here. You will also find that your memory is slightly faded."
Beron tried to remember what happened, but the result was excruciating pain. "Please, Beronias...do not try to remember what happened. We had to sacrifice your most recent memory to bring you here."
Beron looked around. He was in a white room, lying on a white bed with white blankets and white pillows. "King size bed, eh?" he said.
"It is indeed a large bed. You have been laying there for what would be a month of your time, healing."
Beron looked towards the foot of the bed, and standing there was a man in blue robes. He had golden, brown hair and a beard
which were well groomed and sea green eyes. He carried a white marble staff in his left hand and had a white belt with a golden buckle that resembled the sun. He was leaning rather heavily on the staff. Who are you?"
"Dariolus, the sky mage."
"Mage?" Beron started laughing.
"Is there something amusing?"
"Only the fact that there's no such thing as a mage or magic. I don't know what you're on, but I think its time I left."
Beron tried to stand up, but started to fall. Dariolus moved faster than he should have been able to and caught Beron. He helped Beron back to the bed and laid him down. "You must relax, Beronias. You suffered a lot of damage. We had almost given up hope of saving you."
"Saving me? From what, might I ask?"
"That...must wait for another time. For now, you must rest." Dariolus waved his hand in front of Beron's face and instantly, Beron slipped off into a dreamless slumber.
When he woke up again, he felt that he was less exhausted. He got up and walked around the room. The room was a large bedroom with white, marble walls. It had an open window at the side of the room, to the left of the bed. Beron looked out of it, and saw emerald green hills with flowers everywhere. The sky was sapphire blue with no clouds and with a shining sun that hung in the middle of the sky without moving. There were children playing to the left closest hill which was about twenty yards away. They were laughing greatly and when they saw Beron, they waved at him. Beron smiled and waved back.
He looked to his right and he saw a group of adults, listening to a fiddler play. The adults began to dance to the music, which Beron found to be quite a lively tune. He suddenly felt the urge to dance, himself. He let himself go and danced to the music, which moved through him to his very soul. He danced for what seemed an eternity.
When the music finally stopped, he was out of breath. He had never heard music as beautiful and moving as the song he just heard. "It's called the Song of Ages Past."
Beron spun around to see Dariolus. He flushed with embarrassment.
"Err...how long have you...um...been standing there?"
"Long enough to know that you feel at home here."
Beron realized that he did feel at home. He felt a sense of comfort and relaxation here. But something began to bug him. "There's one thing missing, though. Destiny. I can't live without her. Not even here."
"I know, Beronias."
It was then that it hit Beron: "How do you know my name?"
Dariolus hesitated before saying, "Because I...we read your mind when we saved you."
"Saved me? Saved me from what?"
"When you are ready, I will-"
"Tell me what happened."
"When you are ready I-"
"Tell me now!"
Dariolus stared at him with such an intense gaze, that Beron had to turn his head away. "As you wish, my friend. I will tell you what occurred the morning after you had the dream. Beron...I don't believe you are ready to hear this, but you deserve the truth. Beron...you were...killed."
"What?"
"You pulled out of your driveway and a truck hit the side of your car at 80 miles per hour. They had to pry open the car door and slice up the roof in order to get you out. They got you to the hospital, but you died four hours later, telling Destiny how much you loved her. Her name was your last breath."
"I...I don't believe you!"
"Then believe this." Dariolus crossed the room and placed his hand on Beron's head. The instant that his hand and Beron's head made contact, the memories came flowing back into him. He saw himself backing out of the driveway. He saw the truck that seemed to come out of nowhere slam into him. He saw the world spinning around him, as his car spun repeatedly. He felt the hard crash as the car finally came to a stop. He felt the pain, the agony, and suddenly, the fainting. He felt himself wake up to see a doctor looking at him. "Ah, you're awake. Good. Son, I don't know how to say this. Your...your body is in a state of disrepair. Frankly, I'm amazed that you're still alive."
"What?"
"Your spine is snapped. You should be dead. And your skull was cracked, but we covered it with a bandaged before your family arrives. Your heart is beating slower and slower with every passing minute."
"What...are you try...trying to...tell me, doc?"
"I'm saying...you're dying."
Beron started crying, and the tears started to sting against his damaged face. "There's...there's nothing...nothing you can...can do?"
"I dearly wish there were, Beronias. There's nothing we can do, but make you comfortable."
Beron lied there as the doctor left. He watched as his family came in and said their 'I love you's' and their 'please don't dies' which made him feel worse. Then he saw Destiny come in, escorted by Troy, his brother. He saw her look at him and begin to cry. "That bad, huh?"
She gasped and hurried to his side. "I'm going to die, soon."
"Don't say that!"
Beron could hear the despair in her voice. "The doctor said it. He..."
"He was wrong! You're not going to die! You can't..."
He found that he was crying, again. "Everyone dies, Destiny. It's my time, now. Don't cry for me."
"Don't talk like that. We haven't had enough time together."
He started feeling depressed because he knew she was right. "I...I can't deny that I would like a little more time, but...but I'm glad for the time...the time...we had...I...I...love...you...Destiny."
And the world went black. When everything lit up again, he saw he was at a funeral. Everyone was standing around a grave, wearing black clothes and mournful expressions. He saw Destiny and said, "Destiny! Look, I'm alive!"
But she couldn't hear him. It was like he was a...and he realized what he had been thinking. A ghost. He slowly walked toward the grave and looked inside. And there he was, white as a dove. He was wearing a white suit. Destiny knew that he would have wanted to be buried wearing all white. He shivered from head to toe as they lowered the cover onto the coffin. He wondered why they hadn't done that before lowering the coffin into the grave. And he watched as the funeral ended and everyone paid their final
respects to him. Destiny knelt to the ground and whispered, "Beronias. I love you always. Always and forever. And if I could ask for only one thing, it would be to have you back. I would give my life for yours." And, she kissed the marble tombstone before getting up and leaving with her parents.
Beron opened his eyes, which he had not known were closed, and looked around. He was back in the bedroom. He looked at Dariolus and cried. Dariolus simply said, "You are stronger than I thought."
Beron looked at him and said, "What do you mean?"
"Most men, when faced with their own death, go mad. You have not gone mad. You have a bit more will power than I thought."
"If I'm dead, what am I doing here?"
"Beron. We, the other mages and I, believe that you didn't necessarily die. We believe that you were spared by a force more powerful than any other, including magic. It is our belief that Destiny's love for you called you back from the shadows of death. And when we discovered that you were alive, we used all of our power to bring you here. It was no small feat, by the way."
"So, they've all been thinking that I'm dead for an entire month?"
"No. As I said, time does not pass here. Therefore it has only been a week."
"A week? I was stuck in a coffin, passed out, for a week?"
"Unfortunately. Look, we brought you here because we discovered that you are a mage, like us. But unlike us, you have a power that is beyond that of magic. You have a mystical power that is far more powerful than ours. It has been foretold that a mage of your power would come to fight the darkness."
"Me? A mage?"
"How do you think you were able to spy on Darkheart?"
"Who?"
"The dark man from your dream. He serves a dark and evil monster know as Malpatorn, the Emperor of Darkness, the King of Shadows, and the Lord of Evil. He found out that you were spying on him and had you killed."
"Who was the man he killed?"
"That...was your uncle, Marcus."
"Uncle Marcus? My father's long lost brother?"
"The same. He murdered your uncle, who was working with us as a spy. He was discovered and fled before we could transport him here.
We tried to find him, but Darkheart found him first. We mourn his death even now. He was a good friend. And he was the, to use the word of your world, husband of my younger sister, who still cries for him. He was killed the exact night of your dream, though he was on the other side of the world."
"I...I never even got to know him."
"You must rest some more. When your mind has fully recovered, I will show you more of our world."
Beron went to the bed and lied down. He closed his eyes and waited. Dariolus did his magic again, and Beron went into a dreamless slumber
The Gaian Gates of Horn and Ivory
