Chloe's Prayer (Part 1)

The center of the room was a raised platform four feet off the floor and about twenty-five feet square. An elaborate iron railing along three sides stood about waist high with a wall completing the fourth. Fifteen people were in a heated argument on the platform. Chloe sat along the stairs on the right side leading up to the floor. She watched intently as the people quibbled.

Fabian, a tall muscular blonde warrior, stepped forward and spoke, “We can certainly hold down the church here for as long as we need. We have provisions, we have weapons, we have everything we need to survive the next few invasions.”

“We need to leave, this is just a very temporary solution to our situation, we can meet up with the others in the west.” Emil the elder responded.

As they continued there arguments Chloe found herself staring at the weapon resting on the railing in front of her. It was Emil’s sword, four feet long with a serrated razor sharp edge and a pointed hook at the end. It was pure beauty in weapon form, she thought. The blade had a bluish black tint to it that refracted the light in an entrancing way. Then she felt it, a presence.. no, two presences, that did not belong here. She searched with her minds eye into the room.

“We will be perfectly safe, Jance and I can easily protect all of you,” Fabian said as he advanced on Emil slowly and deliberately.

“That is nice,” Chloe chimed in, “but did you realize he’s already possessed?” She pointed a finger at Fabian. He shot her a death glare and swept quickly through the remaining space between him and Emil. In an instant Emil was on the floor limp, his head angled awkwardly from his body.

Chloe jumped up from her place on the stairs, leaping over the banister she grabbed Fabians sword and landed delicately on her feet a short distance away from him. He started to rush her; she sidestepped bringing the sword up level with his neck and then pulled hard forward. His body being carried by the momentum continued on, but the head lingered on the blade.

“We will get you,” the head garbled as it slowly fell to the floor. Chloe stared at it for a moment before swinging the blade around her and catching Gonfit across the waist separating him into two as he was leaping at her. She knelt down and whispered a prayer for both their souls and went back to her place, taking the blade with her.

“What will we do?” A small boy run up to Chloe and looked into her eyes expectantly.

“What’s your name? And are you fast?” She replied.

“Arwen, and certainly I am, fastest out of all the kids,” he beamed.

Chloe reached into her satchel and pulled out an ancient looking tome, flipped though a bunch of pages until she found the one she was looking for. She tore a section of the page off and handed to the child, “Take this to the east, the direction of the rising sun. You keep going and don’t stop until you find someone named Gar. Give this to him.” The boy nodded and was off.

-V-

Start Over

I found myself driving mindlessly. The road in front of me, meaningless. The road behind a fading and forgotten memory, like an elusive fly. I tried to figure out where I had been for the past few months, but every grasp at the past ended in a thick fog in my mind. Snow flurries we in the sky now; slowly dropping in the distance and whipping by my car as I approached them. In the rear view mirror I could seem them settling back on their path to the ground as if I had never been there.

The cityscape seemed so far behind me now, nothing but fields around. I swear I was just immersed in tall buildings, making fast sharp turns. Feeling the extra gravity press me back into my seat. The excitement imprinted on me like a kiss from a long lost loved one, felt forevermore. But now, there were no curves, nothing to add to the feeling of movement. The world was passing around me at what felt like a snails pace.

The sun glinted and blinded me from something on the horizon. My mind raced around all the possibilities of the cause. A companion for my ride? A bridge to a new land? A town? The drive to the object seemed to last forever. And, alas I was broken to learn it was a simple sign posted on the side of the road. It read, “10 smi to Forgict.” I wasn’t entirely sure what to make of this. The sign was a cool metal, but the text on it looked hand written, it was sort of elegant and sloppy at the same time, if that’s even possible.

I looked down at the gages in my car, it seemed this was the first time they had any meaning. The fuel gage was strangely dropping fast to ‘E’. Something was pulling me towards this place. Who am I to go against a greater plan? On top of that, what else could I do? I drove on.

As I crossed into the town the snow abruptly stopped. It almost looked like summer outside of my windows. I chanced it and lowered the driver’s side. A blast of fresh warm air slapped across my face. It forced it way up my nose and pressed on directly into the back of my mind. Wildflowers and clouds were the only thing I could focus on for that moment. I drove right into the center of the town and found myself stopped in front of a statute of a beautiful women with expansive wings extended behind her.

Compelled I exited the car and walked up to the sculpture. Her hands were above her holding a sword that seemed to be engulfed in flames. I locked eyes with hers, and in that brief juncture the sword burst into real flames. Her face broke free of the stone; I could see tears streaming down her face. And then she brought the sword down.

-V-