Forsaken Dreamscape (Nevermor) (42 page)

He
could see that she was shocked by his words, but he knew that his attempt at
cruelty was working.

Hold
on just a little longer and this feeling will pass,
he coached
silently, and as he forced himself to stare into her eyes, he prayed that he
was right.

3

Wren
looked back at Nix, flabbergasted.  How could he be saying this?  After all
they had been through and all the horrible things they had seen, how could he
say he did not care about the land at all?  His home!

She
knew he was trying to mislead her.  She could see his bluff.  He was being
purposefully hateful, even as he had confessed his feelings.  Perhaps his concession
explained why he would not go farther, but it did not cover everything that he
had been hiding from her – not near it.

She
nodded understandingly –
disgustedly
.  This was why, then?  This was why
he was leaving.  The real reason.  It had nothing to do with Rifter’s right or
wrong?  It was only because, somewhere along the way, he had decided that he
cared about her?  No, she did not fully believe that.

“That’s
it then?” she assumed.  The words were somewhat of an instinct.

“That’s
it.”

She
did not believe him.  There was a waver in his eye.  He did not mean all of
those words that he had said, yet she could do nothing but stare at him
incredulously.  While looking back at her, he was fighting something within
himself; she could tell.  There was something else he wanted to tell her.

Suddenly,
something caught her eye, and it surprised her to see it so much that she
gasped aloud.  There, at the corner of his harsh mouth, was a kiss.

Wren
stared at it, knowing it was one of those strange, elusive kisses that could
always be spotted but never claimed.  Even if one could manage some kiss from
those lips, that particular kiss could never be won.  It could not be stolen,
only given.  She looked at it with surprise and interest.  There was no
question whether she wanted it.  It was meant for her.

When
she opened her mouth, absent words came out.

“You’re
lying…”

The
intensity between them had become too much, and not only for her.  Nix snapped,
breaking through what he had tried so hard to maintain.  His hand slipped to
the back of her neck, turning up her lips to catch his.  A shiver ran through
her, flush down her neck.  She wanted this.

Nix
gave her that kiss she had been coveting, and the sensation of his mouth
against hers made her weak with desire.  She did not think of Rifter at all
then, willing to lose herself here – now – but at what only seemed like the
slightest taste of his lips, he pulled away.

“No…”
he breathed suddenly, and then he was gone from her.  “Not like this.”

Wren
stood there, confused and bewildered at his abrupt halt, but was not able to
find her voice.  Nix was moving past her.

He
did not say goodbye; he did not say good luck.  Nix passed beneath the flap of
the tent, leaving her alone.

Wren
knew she could not go after him, for if she did, she would be making a choice
that she was not allowed to make.  She loved Rifter, but she had willingly
betrayed him – not only now, but each time she had been comfortable without him. 
She had found new feelings for Nix – she had to admit that to herself – but she
knew she could only love Rifter.  She doubted him, truly she did, but things
would turn out right in the end.  He would remove those doubts.  Then they
could share in that love that she’d always dreamed about.

So
why am I still standing here, hoping Nix will return?

Wren
stood there for a long while, thinking he would come back.  When the wave of
finality rolled over her and she realized he was gone, she sank down onto the
floor.  There were no thoughts in her mind, only a hurtful feeling of
abandonment, but it was done now – too late.

She
curled herself upon the blankets, confused within herself as the hours of the
night passed by, cold and lonely.

4

Finn
looked around the circle at all their faces, trying to read how they felt about
his proclamation. 
Rifter is evil; Nix is lying
.  Mach seemed intrigued
by the idea, while Toss beside him appeared crestfallen, as if his own beliefs
had been crushed by the statement.  Calico gazed at Finn intently, urging him
forward.  He already knew that she shared many of his own thoughts, though not
all.  Sly only waited patiently for the sound of his words.  Finally, Finn
explained himself.

“I
say that Rifter is evil because, even though I have not seen him in quite some
time, I don’t believe that Rifter is himself in that body any longer.  I say
that Rifter is no more – dead – and the demon has taken over his body as a
vessel, like it wanted in the beginning.  On top of that, I believe that it was
Nix who killed Rifter.  That body is just a shell.”

Toss
gasped shortly at that.  Mach rubbed his chin with great interest.  Finn felt a
bit lighter for having put his beliefs out in the open.  He’d wanted to speak
it aloud, but at the same time, he was glad that Wren was not here.  He did not
wish bad thoughts on her.  She did seem to care about Rifter very much, and it
would hurt her to think he was dead.

Finn
went on to explain.  “Though Nix and Rifter both denied it, I believe that they
did, in fact, meet each other again when Rifter went looking for him.  I
believe that there was another fight, and I believe Rifter was killed.  Calico
has told me that Rifter has a long scar running fully down his torso, as if, at
some time, he had been cut open.  Oddly, even though he came back to us, I was
unaware of this scar.  I believe that to be the killing blow.  The demon
somehow managed to heal it and then took over the body.”

Finn
was not sure how they received what he was saying, but he did not want his
brothers to think badly of him because of his harshness.  Especially for Toss’
sake, he felt the need to backtrack a bit.

“I
know it seems strange that I would pick Nix for this murder over the Scourge,
but I do not believe that the Scourge has been back in years.  But the captain
is, I think, responsible for what happened to the island.  He brought on this
darkness that has destroyed us, but he is not the one to focus on now.  It is
the nightmare demon.”

Sly
folded his clawed hands.  His mouth twisted in consideration.  “Interesting
theories, though perhaps without full evidence.  However, Nix is a prominent
figure in my mind.  I have little doubt that he has a role in this, though I
cannot say what just yet.  But his involvement only concerns Rifter and
not
this corruption.  That much, I know.”

“I
agree with Finn,” Calico said to Sly, her voice rising up next. “We have had
discussions among ourselves, and while I believe that Nix is the one who gave
Rifter that great wound, I don’t believe Rifter to have died.  There was
something human to him still.  I was certain I saw it when I was with him.  But
perhaps also the demon was able to come out in him more often because the wound
had weakened him.  I cannot believe Rifter is evil – unless the demon is making
him so – and I know that Nix is not responsible for the darkness, but he could
have tried to help Rifter. Truthfully,” she said, lowering her head, “you all
could have tried a bit harder.”

The
boys looked as though they had all been slapped across the face.

“If
he can prove me wrong, I’ll be the first one in line to help him, love,” Finn
chimed in.

Sly
brought his knees up and folded his hands over them.  Behind him, his tails
twitched.  His ears leaned back in discontentment, but it did not seem to be
for Calico’s statement.  He seemed not to have heard it at all.

“Why
do you believe Nix killed, or harmed, Rifter?” he asked.

“It
was that look on his face,” Calico said.

“Yes,”
Finn said, taking it up. “We both saw it.  In the Vork tunnels when we were
looking for Wren, he got angry at something Calico said about him – about
Rifter.  Bloody scorching!  But it was strange.  It wasn’t the sort of anger
that’s really anger, you know.  It was the sort of anger that you force because
you’re trying to hide something else.”

“I
knew then it was because he was hiding something bigger,” Calico noted,
reflecting.  “There was something between Rifter and Nix that we didn’t know.”

Sly’s
face twisted.  What was this feeling at those words?

“Toss,”
he addressed, bringing the silent boy into the spotlight. “Do you have anything
you might be so gracious to add?”

Toss
shifted a bit uncomfortably in the grass.

“I
don’t really have much of a theory,” he said in his drawling voice.  “I can
only say what I know and what I have seen with my own eyes.  I saw Rifter
leave, and I saw him return.  Yes, he looked and seemed different to me, but I
must have seemed different to him as well.  We’d all aged.  I put it from my
mind.  I didn’t think on it much more at all until the day Nix left.  I saw
them cut each other–”

The
great boy paused, putting a hand to his scruffy face in thought.

“There
is one thing I’ve been thinking of.  It was something I said to Wren, and ever
since then I have had it on my mind, but no matter how hard I try, I cannot
seem to get at the way of it.  As best I can remember, after the fight, it was
Rifter who went to the ground before Nix.  Just afterward, Nix fled into the
trees.  They were both bleeding.  Wren told me that it was Rifter who cut out
Nix’s eye, because Nix has a damaged face, but I cannot quite say that it went
like that.  I do not remember a damaged eye.  And the more I thought on it, I
came to realize that if someone had suggested to me that it had not been Nix
that had been fighting before my eyes, I don’t believe I could insist so
without doubting myself.  Though I know it must have been Nix, I just cannot be
sure.  The memory is faded.  It’s a blur.  Since I can’t even remember this, I
don’t know how much my testimony will count at all.  I-I’m sorry.”

“Do
not apologize, brother,” Sly said, holding up his hand. “What you have said has
brought familiar ideas back to mind.  Unfortunately, nothing I have heard has
cleared those images.  I find that all of these theories and thoughts can be
supported by my choppy visions; however, I feel at the same time that I can
disprove them all.”

Mach
shook his head, drawing Sly’s attention, even though he could not see.

“There
is something else then?”

“It
all just seems so incredible to me!” Mach exclaimed, scratching his head.  “I
was unaware – or I’d just never heard this side of it before.”

“This
side?  You mean you know the other?” Finn asked with great interest.

“Aye.” 
When they all stared at him, he understood that he should elaborate.  “When we
left Rifter – Mech and I –

“Ah,
so you do remember after all,” Finn said knowingly.

Mach
sighed.  “I guess I was just a bit hesitant to admit it,” he said.  “I was
afraid of a lot of things, but most of all I didn’t want to know what you’d
think of me if I said that Mech and I didn’t care about answers.  We were glad
to be free of Rifter.  And when we left, we went straight out to join the
pirates.”

Everyone
seemed to lean forward at this revelation.  Mach went on.

“It
wasn’t because I believed all that shit about the Scourge coming back.  We were
young, angry, feeling reckless.  It seemed a natural choice.  For a while, I
lost myself to it, but eventually, I started to pay attention.  I thought it
would be the best way to separate what was true and what was false. 
Interestingly enough, they seem to date the time of the corruption back to the
same time that Rifter returned with the demon, which we know is not true
because the corruption began long before that!  We saw it that night, coming in
over the sea – a terrible black cloud.”

Everyone
nodded in agreement.

“That
doesn’t keep Rifter from being possessed, but it does prove that the darkness
was not created by him in the first place,” Mach went on.  “About the Scourge…
there was always rumor and dark uttering.  One rumor was that the Scourge had
greater intentions at the volcano than we knew of – that he had intended to
pull the land apart and open the mouth of hell to envelope this place.  Though
why he would do that to a world he wanted to control is beyond me.  But again,
this is rumor only.  I have no proof.”

They
had perhaps hoped that Mach’s evidence would have been more definite, but the
talk of the Scourge did ease their hearts somewhat about Rifter.  Even Finn
felt a tiny bit of relief that maybe, just maybe, he was wrong.

“Have
we helped at all?” Toss asked Sly hesitantly.  The wind tossed his messy hair.

Sly
clenched his knees and sighed.  What could he tell them?  It had helped, but he
still could not place everything together in a linear fashion.  Some things
would not fit in certain places because of facts that proved them
not
to
have happened at the time he’d thought.  Perhaps he would not be able to rely
on his visions and be forced to think this out logically.