FSE

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The soldiers led the way into the night, Chris's horse being guided by the soldier still holding the reins. Chris shivered, not only from fear. The air was cold with the onset of winter and Chris had only in his haste put on his trousers. He snaked his arms around himself in an effort to keep warm.

The lead soldier rummaged in his saddle bag, pulling something out. Chris couldn't see what it was, but a burst of light suddenly appeared in a line up from the ground ahead of them, it rotated seeming to twist the landscape, then it shimmered and through it Chris could see broken warm daylight on green grass between shadows and in the distance a black shape loomed, it's top hidden by the arch of the gateway.

The soldiers steadily made their way through it, the horses didn't even so much as snort at this strangeness, but Chris's eyes were wild with fear. The soldier holding his horses' reins turned and gave Chris a malevolent look as if he could sense that he wanted to run for it.

Chris couldn't have even though his mind wanted too. The knuckles of his hands gripping the saddle were white with the strain, his muscles felt like they had seized up. Steadily he got closer and closer to the shimmering portal, drawn inexorably forward on top of his mount and then they were through, a gust of warm wind ruffled through his hair, Chris looked up into a clouded sky, his eyes drew down to the towering black monolith in the distance, sunlight breaking through from above setting lie to the blackness of it, showing the dark grey stone of the battlements as the shadow of the clouds were drawn away. Chris let go of the breath he wasn't even aware he had been holding.

It was a great sprawling castle, a huge wall surrounding it. A great tower rose up in the midst of it. Chris had never seen its like, he'd never seen anything bigger that a village hut in his entire life, the stories of old told of such things. Lost in the past of the dark times before his people, the Meeko, had started their wandering journey. Thinking of them he spun around hoping to see the wagons in the distance, a last farewell glance, but all he saw was the last twist of the gateway before it vanished.

The soldiers spurred the horses faster, leading them to what seemed like a road in the distance.

Suddenly Chris was thrown from his horse, stunned by the impact he watched helplessly as he and the soldiers flew through the air. As if time had slowed to a crawl he could see the oncoming ground, every blade of grass standing like upright daggers awaiting his descent. He crashed face first into them, the pain ringing through him like a huge bell bringing with it the bliss of darkness.

A hand on his brow brought Chris awake. He stared around him in confusion. Stone walls impassively glared back at him, he followed the hand on his brow upward to a grey sleeve wavering in his sight, following the sleeve further upward to a smiling face. "Your safe now" the smiling face of an old man said, his bald head reflecting the strange glow of light in the room. Chris thought it strange that he felt no fear, he did indeed feel safe.

"You had a nasty fall, but no more than that, Ukon here kept you safe" the old man glanced over his shoulder, Chris followed his gaze. He saw the gold burnished armour of the lead soldier, it was caked with dirt and red stains. "Thank you." Chris said, his confusion glistened in his eyes.

He sat up in the bed and took in the sights around him, his mind finally starting to function again. The strange soft glow of light came from a round orb hanging by a chain from the wood beamed roof in the small room. He was in a bed. A crisp white sheet lay over his feet. The old man sitting next to the bed on a three legged wooden chair reached over and picked up a glass on the bedside table and handed it to Chris. He stared at it in suspicion.

"It's only water, drink, you will feel better, I know you must have many questions, but I will be back to answer them later, I must speak with Ukon first. There is bread as well if you feel hungry"

Chris took the water, the smell of the warm bread finally got the attention of his senses and his stomach rumbled in anticipation, even though Chris didn't feel like eating.

The old man stood up, Ukon turned and opened the door for him and followed him out. Chris was left alone, the metal door clanged closed and he could hear the click of a lock. He sat in the bed staring at the glass of water in his hand, slowly he brought his other hand to his face, bits of dust and grit fell away at his touch and the memory of the ground meeting him so harshly rose like a cork bobbing in water. He rubbed his face, grass and dirt falling onto the crisp white sheet. He stared at them for a while, as if expecting them to answer the sudden surge of questions running rampant through his thoughts.

Unthinkingly he brought the glass to his lips and took a swallow of the clear water, the cold shock of it running down his throat and settling through his insides. He shrugged to himself. He didn't know where he was or what was going on, he was locked in a stone room probably in the distant castle. The man who had come to tear him away from the life he knew had apparently kept him safe, from what he didn't know. He would just have to wait until the old man returned and hope that some sense would come back to the madness that had taken over his life. He set the glass down on the table and picked up the bread, he saw no use in being suspicious of it, if they had wanted to kill him then Ukon could have just let him die he surmised as he tore a bit off in his teeth. Finishing the bread, he stood up. His muscles winced in protest at the suddenness of it, his shoulder and neck achingly reminding him of his fall.

He walked over to the door and put his hand to the cold metal, gripping the handle he pushed it down and put his weight slightly against it, the door didn't budge. He pulled on it with just as much result. He quickly looked around the room again for the window, but there was none. He was trapped. He lay down on the bed again, staring at the sealing. His mind slowed in a numbness that he couldn't explain and then drifted into sleep.

Again he awoke to a hand on his brow, the same old man sat on the stool staring at him. Chris looked into the man's eyes. They were a mellow green, age having dulled the brightness of them.

"Welcome child, you have slept a long time. I know you don't remember me, or who you are, but do not be afraid."

Chris stared at the man dumbly. "You're the man who was here earlier" he said into the silence.

The old man stared back at him with a stricken face. "You remember me?" he said in a quiet voice.

"Yes" Chris said, wondering if he had done something wrong or if the old man was senile.

"Interesting" the old man said, he waved his hand in front of Chris's face and spoke a string of meaningless words, his green eyes flashed for a moment. He peered at Chris in suspicion.

"Do you remember me child?" He asked.

"Uhm... Yes?" Chris said nervously.

"Fascinating" the old man said with a strange quality to his voice. He stood up suddenly and was out the room in a blink, the door snicked as it closed behind him.

Chris stared at it dumfounded. He sat in the dim light of the globe wondering what madness he found himself in. After a time the door opened and the old man in grey robes was followed in by another. The stranger stared at Chris on the bed, no one said anything. The man took a step forward, his forehead creasing, his eyes staring into Chris's.

"Hello?" Chris said to the stranger, wondering what was going on. The man ignored him and turned to the bald man who seemed like an excited child. "And? Anything?" The bald man asked of the stranger. "Nothing" the man replied, his voice sounding tired and strained. He strode out the door, his steps slow and seemingly tired.

"You are a very rare specimen" the old man said as he turned back from closing the door after the departing stranger.

Chris had had enough, he didn't know what was going on, but he was not going to just sit in this small room with old men peering at him and no one telling him what was going on.

"What is going on!?" He near shouted "Why am I here, where is here and what is so fascinating that I can remember!?

"Ahh" the old man said, pulling the stool from the wall and placing it next to the bed before seating himself. "You see, this might all be a bit much, but try and bear with me. I fear a lot of this is going to make little sense to you. Before I tell you what's going on though, might I ask who your people are?"

Chris didn't know what to make of the question, but his need for answers and his frustration over road his caution. "The Meeko" he said.

The old man shook his head, peering at Chris. "You are not one of the Meeko, they are all fair haired and mostly blue eyed. Have they then settled, are there other people like you with the Meeko?"

Chris grasped the old man's meaning.

"No" he said, "they are as you say, I'm an orphan, I'm the only one with brown hair among them. I don't know who my real people are if that is the answer you are hoping for. The Meeko are still roaming, they haven't settled." He looked up into the old man's rheumy green eyes, tears stinging his own. "Please? What is going on? Let me go, please?" he sobbed.

The old man reached out and put a hand gently on Chris's shoulder, he said a few strange words again that made no sense. Immediately Chris felt more relaxed, his sobbing stopped and he looked up at the old man in wonder.

"Hmmm, so your emotions are effected, just not your mind" the old man mumbled.

"I am sorry young one, you can never go back, the pact with the Meeko must be kept and since they chose you, here you will stay. It would have been easier if you weren't seemingly immune to some of our powers, you have this amazing ability..." the old man snorted to himself. "No need to ramble on about that I guess. You do know of the pact yes?"

Chris nodded his head "Yes, our people are to give up one of the young, not a babe and not an adult, but a young one that stands before adulthood when the seekers come looking. Four men will come and one must go with them or.." Chris's voice faltered.

"Yes, well" the old man shook his head as if trying to get rid of a horrid thought "No need for the rest. I am sorry that you have been brought into this and that we cannot make it easier by having you forget your past. Let me tell you why the Meeko made a pact and with whom at the very least." The old man took his hand from Chris's shoulder and placed it in his other in his lap. "We are at war" he said sadly. "We have been for decades, I won't go into great detail now, you will learn about it all in good time. Your people the Meeko and others wanted to flee this world, wanted to live in peace, something they could never do here, the war has been a long affair. People came to us and asked if we could send them away. We agreed on the condition that when we sent for someone, one would be given to us, as payment for the peace we granted. You see" the old man grew silent and his shoulders slumped as if the weight of the world had crashed down on them. "This war has been a terrible thing, our enemies have done things that I could not start to explain and so have we. We must continue to do so, the Meeko were a people with the gift of magic, not strong and limited in its way. Do they still do the song of growth?" The old man asked, his eyes had a faraway look to them as if he was staring into a past long gone.

"Yes" Chris answered, his own memories turning inward.

He walked over the hill with the people, finally being old enough to go with them for the song. He didn't have to stay behind with the children and the old and watch from a distance, he'd learned the song, he'd learned the dance, he'd proven he was one of them finally and was given the chance to join in the song of growth. It felt like butterflies were loose in his stomach and every time they butted against its walls a knot of anxiety bloomed like a flower. He was an orphan, his brown hair marked him apart from everyone, few of the other children would speak to him and only a few would include him in their games. Now he might be finally able to prove that he could be one with them and they would open up their arms to him.

The people ahead all snaked in a line forming a great circle, he as the youngest was the last to follow, but the lead had circled back and came to stand next to him.

A slow drum beat started as the musicians beat a heavy rhythm. The lead took up the beat, stomping his left foot down in time to it. All around the circle people took up the slow beat, he felt a hand lay on his shoulder and looked up at the man who was the lead staring down at him inquiringly. Chris remembered that he was to join in and stomped his foot with the next beat. The man smiled quickly and looked away. Women's voices twisted into the stomping beat, their haunting melody twisting in the wind, the sound was soft and slow, with it the women came snaking in a line as the men had over the hill, twisting through the men to make an inner circle. When the woman came to a stop their haunting voices rose like a fresh wind blowing upon a meadow and a new faster beat joined from smaller drums. The lead woman took up the beat, stomping down with her right foot and it was picked up all around the circle of woman. The lead man then brought his strong baritone into the mix and the men picked it up one by one, there were no words in the song, only sounds. The smell of fresh earth permeated the circle, as if the ground had been freshly turned after a soft rain. Chris caught himself up into the sound of it, let the rhythm become his all. All around him he could see the rapture taking hold of the singers, see their eyes shimmering in the dark night of a new moon. A hand suddenly broke him from the circle pulling him out. It was the lead man next to him. He gazed sadly down at Chris and motioned to him to go join the children and elders. "Sorry young one, but you don't have the gift of the song" he said sadly.

Chris's hopes crashed down around him like broken glass. He looked up at the man wanting to say he was wrong, but the man only put a finger to his lips and shook his head, again motioning Chris away before he rejoined the circle that stepped in time to the beat and closed up the space where he had once stood.

Dejectedly Chris ran from them, past the children and elders into the wagon camp, the haunting sound of bone flutes seeming to spring up in his wake. He didn't want to watch anymore, he was never going to be one of them, and he would never be accepted. He ran to the wagon he shared with his father the blacksmith, burst through the door and flung himself into his bed, pulling his pillow over his head trying to drown out the sounds of the song as it grew in strength.

His father came into the wagon and sat down next to him, putting a hand on his back. "I'm sorry Chris, I know how much you hoped for this" Jack said, he sat there rubbing Chris's back until he finally fell asleep, the sound of the song of growth still in his ears.

The next morning he woke before full light and slipped silently out of the wagon and made his way into the brightening day.

He stopped and stood where the children had sat the night before and stared out at the circle of trees that stood where the singers had stood.

"That is good" the old man said, bringing Chris out of his reverie. "I see that you must not have been able to join them in the song and it has brought you sorrow."

Chris realised that a tear had unbidden run down his cheek at the memory and he hastily brushed it away with the back of his hand.

"I remember the song. I saw it sung when I was a child." The old man said, "Not all the Meeko left this world when the others chose too." The old man paused a moment in thought, then shook his head. "This is going to be a difficult time for you, but please understand that we have no choice. Tomorrow the council will deliberate on what we are going to do with you. You are an enigma to us, we needed the Meeko with the spark of magic to... Ah, well, no need for you to know that now. I am sorry that you have been brought into this all. I will speak on your behalf tomorrow. I cannot lie though. I fear it will do no good. The pact was made and it will be followed, try to believe that what we do, we do for the good of all." The old man smiled sadly.

None of this made much sense to Chris. He couldn't understand anything of what the man was speaking of. War, him being unique, the Meeko having magic, none of it made much sense.

The old man gave him another glass with water. "Here drink this, you will feel better."

Chris drank the glass down, his head felt heavy and he lay it down on the bed. Once again his mind slowed in numbness and sleep overcame him.