“Never thought you’d be alive.” a voice, muffled, enters Jeremy’s ears as he wakes. Darkness covers his eyes as he feels a man’s shoulder against his abs.
“Never thought you’d stay.” The voice was feminine. “Open the door. You’re the one with the key, aren’t you?”
“Of course I am.” Small rods metal clashing against each other as the door creaks open. “In you go.” The voice felt strange to Jeremy as gravity shifted downward, setting him down on a chair. “We must make sure this boy is going to help us. If not, we have to throw him somewhere he can thrive, away from this place.” What did they mean by that?
I swept into their minds to see, but there was hardly much. Only the plan and the expectation of execution. Jeremy sat there groaning in pain, bandages are wrapped around his neck as a piece of the wound peeks out of the bandage. Burns maybe?
“He’s waking.” One of them speaks.
“Let him,” another comes in. “What’s good putting him out. Might not like us afterward.”
Curiosity and laziness fill one of the men, “Who’s going to stay and watch him.” Their heads nod as if they needed some place to be.
“I’ll stay here.” A deep voice creeps in the men’s ears. The two men looked at the man in surprise.
“Don’t you know how long you’ll have to stay?” one of them explained.
“Of course, we’re not sure,” the other shouted. “But the days seem like they might turn to years. Maybe decades.”
“Probably after the war,” One of them looked at the other as their tales swept the air back and forth.
“Don’t call it that!” The man was angry, a war was no war when it was for freedom. Freedom. The word was the only thing in their heads. They found a new neighbor, stabbed them in the back and now they want to do the same.
Jeremy began to move, bag over his head, the two men walked out as the shrouded person stayed staring at him. A tired moan burst out from the black rags on Jeremy’s head, footsteps heading towards him, a chilling smooth voice enters his ears, “Are you awake?” Calm and relaxing, but worrying at the same time. With what little life Jeremy had left in him, he answered.
“Who… Are you… You?”
The deep voice entered his ears again, a soothing relaxing one. He didn’t know whether to trust this person or call him a kidnapper. “No one of your concern, but I want to help you.”
A gallop of hooves hit the dirt as sounds of men scream “Hyah” are coming outside.
“What was that?” Jeremy spoke.
“Nothing.” That soothing voice was so charismatic to Jeremy. “Let me remove that rag over your head.” A gentle touch over his head, dragging the black vision away from his eyes, shedding bright, intense light upon him. The light begins to dim, a man bent down in front of him being covered by a shrouded hood and black armor upon his chest. There was no skin to reveal what he looked like, only his eyes. A glowing, bright, blue pair eyes that intimidated Jeremy.
“Does that feel better?” He replied with the same soothing voice.
“Who are you,” ignoring the question.
“Like I said before, I’m of no importance.” Jeremy raised one eyebrow. He tries to scratch his head, but the bonds behind the spine of the chair prevent him. “Sorry for the restraints,” he giggled, “We wanted to know if you were with right mind.”
“We?” Jeremy replied.
“We call ourselves the Red Banner,” the man got up and walked behind Jeremy while taking out a knife from his waist. “If you haven’t noticed, there is a race of people out there that are being enslaved by a madman some call a king. We want to change that.” Jeremy’s arms are free, slumping down as soon as they get the moment of release. “We just waged war with your owner’s farm. Finally makes ourselves known to the world.”
“Wait, you’re the terrorists?”
“Is that what they call us?” he smirked and let a giggle. “We only killed men who did so much wrong in this world, raping women, taking children’s lives and even torturing men while they watched it all happened. They all needed to pass the void once in their time.”
“But they were people,” Jeremy muttered.
“They weren’t by the time the King took power.” He walked in front of Jeremy, standing this time. His hooded cloak waved against the air revealing a sword made of royal, Keltic Steel along with bolts wrapped around his leg. He could see a tail. He was one of his kind.
“I know many people call us monsters, murderers, but we wish to only bring back our humanity. I ordered our many men and women to attack your farm so I can reach you and your father, Khal`En.” Jeremy’s eye’s flared.
“How do you know my Noama?” he cried.
“Noama? You know our native tongue?” His didn’t react to his surprise. “I see. I was with him in his tribe. We were basically family, caring for me while my father hunted. Even his poor wife was such a sweet ma’am during her care. My parents and I considered each other family, your father and mother. I wanted to reunite ourselves-”
“Where is he?” He interrupted him with a worried frown curving around his face. He looked down in sorrow as those bright eyes began to dim a bit.
“We found him, but…” he couldn’t say it. His voice began to jump as he spoke, a quivering pitch of high and low, feminine to masculine. Jeremy didn’t notice.
“But what?” He reached out towards Jeremy, grabbing his arms and sliding them down to his hands, holding them as he took a knee looking up at Jeremy. A single tear fell down his face.
“No,” he muttered. “No! How!?” He screamed. “How!? Tell me!” He clenched Jeremy’s hands, struggling to let out this frustrated sadness out. Trying to flail his fists at this cloaked man. He didn’t want to embrace this fact, his only caretaker, the only person to actually show him love and friendship that can’t be replaced. He kicked and tried to leap out of his chair as the man rested his head on his clenched fists until he gave up on his disbelief and fell on the man’s hands holding his. The man released his grip on Jeremy and let him in his arms, letting him cry on his shoulder.
I felt somehow responsible for Khal`En’s death, feeling as if I was the one who let that bolt hit his shoulder. Beyond every other death, every other soul I let enter the void, I felt nothing. No guilt, no sadness, only the relief of a wandering soul, freed in either the Void or the Pit. But this one… I feel regret. His father means something to me at this moment as I watched the tears and sorrow dwell in front of me. He was the only soul I ever regret putting in the void. Otherwise he would have been reborn.
Jeremy spoke out his cries, “I want to lie down.” He proceeded to get up as a jolting pain ran across his back and legs.
“Don’t do that,” the man said. “You have a lot of injuries from the attack.” The man picked him up, carrying him in his arms, setting him down a beautiful bed in what feels like a newly furnished room. A green blanket was spread across the bed as well as fine furs and skins decorated around the room, gape-mouthed animals and creatures displayed giving it an English Dream emotion to it.
The man pulled out a familiar box from under the bed, a torn box. As Jeremy saw it, his eyes lit up with somber joy. “I spoke with your father before he... “ He paused. “He told me to give this to you.” He brought it up and placed next to Jeremy on the bed. He opened it and found an ashy book and a rusty, golden campus.
“I hope this is enough to show you we mean no harm to good people.” He walked out of the room as his glowing eyes glared at me. I could feel them on me as he traced my movement with his head. I followed him out of the room watching his eyes and mind, knowing whether or not he sees me. I stepped in front him and he stopped.
“What you, spirit?” I felt lips form against a face that wasn’t there before, luscious ones that appeared on a feminine face. Beautiful arms extended through my body as I controlled them.
“How can you see me?” I answered.
“What are you and why are you here?” He ignored me.
“I am what most men call Death.”
“You don’t have a name?” I searched in myself to see if I did, but there was nothing.
“The Gods haven’t given me one.” I felt a tear fall down my feminine face. Why am I showing emotion?
“Well, with name or not you must leave.”
“I cannot.”
“Why?” he yelped.
“Jeremy is an interesting soul,” I replied. “He makes me interested in life more than any other soul. My hands guiding his father to the Void is the only soul I felt I was involved in, that I had to have done something to stop it-”
“But you had no choice?” I looked at him as another tear fell down my face. “How long have you followed him?”
“Since his father’s capture to slavery.”
“Oh my…” His voice was feminine for a moment as he said that. He covered his mouth as his other have glowed a bright yellow for a moment. He looked embarrassed for some reason and spoke again.
“I hope you mean no harm and I hope you send a message to the Gods that we need help and faith.”
“I can’t make promises,” I replied as he walked to the walked in the kitchen to make something for Jeremy to eat. My beautiful features began to fall back into myself, my feminine face with luscious lips and my slender, calm arms were gone in an instant as I looked in Jeremy’s room reading the book of legends with rivers of tears down his face.