Dark Children

TWOVisions-1

‘Come inside.’ said The Guardian, ushering them both in towards a small wooden table. ‘Please, make yourselves comfortable.’

She looked to her daughter, who was clearly in awe of The Guardian’s presence. Stories of Rayna’s adventures were widely known amongst the forest dwellers and were a source of inspiration to her daughter prior to the incident, back when Rarni still possessed a blithe disposition.

‘You mentioned that the name of your daughter is Rarni, am I correct?’ asked Rayna, once all four were properly seated.

‘Yes, that is correct.’

‘Then, you must be Lyra.’

‘You know of me?’

‘Of course – we both do.’ replied The Guardian, who turned her attention to Kirika. ‘Nathanar told us about you in his report, he…’

The Guardian ceased talking mid-sentence, her attention now fixed on Kirika, who seemed intently focused on her daughter. There was a strange silence whilst Kirika studied Rarni. She wondered, indeed, she hoped, that the renowned scrier saw something the rest of them did not. Bringing Rarni to one of the vale’s most powerful scriers had been her final throw of the dice – she prayed that her last hope of salvation for her daughter would not be in vain.

‘Rarni,’ said Kirika softly, before placing a small wooden comb upon the table. ‘My name is Kirika. I am a scrier. Will you permit me to hold your hand?’

‘I don’t understand.’ said Rayna, clearly confused. ‘Kirika, what is going on?’

‘I will let Lyra explain.’

‘Lyra, is there something the matter with your daughter?’ asked Rayna.

‘She has been having nightmares.’

‘I see.’ said The Guardian. ‘Forgive my seeming lack of empathy, but, are such things not common amongst young Freylarkin?’

‘These are different. I am certain of it.’ she replied, vehemently. ‘The visions started after Rarni’s a*******n. They have been growing more intense since then, becoming increasingly frequent and darker in nature.’

‘Darker?’

‘When I hear Rarni’s screams, I run to her. I find her lying in her bed, awake, but not awake. Like in some kind of trance, caught in the space between places – somewhere that I cannot reach. I try to console my daughter as best I can. However, it is not enough.’ she said, wiping the tears collecting along her lower eyelids. ‘I fear the damage these visions are causing to her soul; Rarni is no longer the carefree child that I raised. Though she will not recount all of the details to me, I can sense that the images she has borne witness to haunt her.’

‘Could the Soulmancer have retuned?’ asked The Guardian, turning her attention back to Kirika. ‘If so, do you think that it is somehow responsible for Rarni’s nightmares?’

‘I do not believe that the Soulmancer has returned. Nathanar’s report on Xenia’s account suggested that the Soulmancer had an alternate agenda, one that lay beyond the vale. If Xenia’s account is accurate – and I have no reason to doubt it – the Soulmancer would not concern itself with the vale. However…’

‘What is it?’ she asked, impatiently.

‘The way you described Rarni’s nightmares, or visions, as you put it, interests me. Your daughter’s experiences sound more akin to scrying.’

visions‘Kirika, how is that possible?’ she asked, astonished by the renowned scrier’s outlandish suggestion.

‘Nightmares fade rapidly; they lose clarity the instant the sleeper awakens, leaving only a lingering fear that rapidly subsides. From what you have told us, your daughter’s experiences sound different. Rarni,’ said Kirika gently, now focusing her attention on her daughter. ‘How much do you remember of your visions?’

Rarni said nothing, instead lowering her head, avoiding eye contact with their hosts.

‘I realise that this is a difficult subject to talk about. Therefore, will you permit me to scry your past instead, so that I may see for myself that which torments you?’

Her daughter continued to remain silent.

‘If you permit my scrying, I believe that I can help you.’

‘Rarni, it breaks my heart that I am unable to help you with whatever it is that troubles you. However, it is possible that this kind Freylarkin can help you, where I cannot. Will you please allow her to at least try to help you?’

canAgain, Rarni remained silent, lowering her head even further. She turned to Kirika once more. The scrier continued to focus her attention on Rarni, looking for a sign, the consent needed to trawl through her daughter’s troubled past. Without any warning, Rayna leaned across the table, stretching her arms towards her daughter. The light bringer wiggled her fingertips, causing gentle sparkles of light to dance across the table towards Rarni. The soft twinkling lights cast ephemeral shapes across her daughter’s face, quickly garnering Rarni’s attention. Rarni tried to keep a straight face whilst more and more of the sparkles spilled from Rayna’s fingertips. They bounced across the wooden surface towards her daughter, before tumbling over the table’s edge into Rarni’s lap, like the Eternal Falls crashing onto its rocks below. A thin smile formed on her daughter’s face.

‘They are beautiful.’ said Rarni suddenly.

‘So are you, when you’re not being sad.’ replied Rayna.

‘I do not want to be sad.’

‘Then allow my friend to help you. She’s very good – but I don’t tell her that, otherwise her head might grow too big.’

She smiled as her daughter laughed quietly, the first time since the a*******n. The sparkles became more energetic, bouncing enthusiastically towards her daughter, lighting up Rarni’s entire face before spilling onto the floor where they quickly faded into nothingness.

‘It tickles.’ said Rarni, now giggling quietly.

‘I can do this all cycle.’

‘OK, she can help.’

‘Who can help?’

‘Your friend.’

‘Which friend is that?’

‘Kirika.’

‘Oh, you mean the one with the big head?’

‘Yes!’

She laughed, watching as Kirika gave The Guardian a brief sidelong look of disapproval, which Rayna and her daughter found highly amusing. The forest dwellers often talked of Rayna’s unusual dialogue and otherworldly ways, and now she was witnessing proof of the rumourmongering. The Freylarkai were typically a formal lot, rigid in their ways. Therefore, seeing her kin from a fresh perspective was a refreshing experience. She admired Rayna’s unconventional approach. Notwithstanding repeatedly flouting the norm, The Guardian seemed to bring the best out of people, regardless of her strange demeanour. Now, she saw first-hand how The Guardian emboldened those around her. The once familiar warmth of Rarni’s carefree disposition suddenly radiated through the cracks forming along the surface of the porcelain doll that had replaced her daughter, following the awful a*******n. Despite the growing laughter around the table, she could not hold back her tears of joy that glistened in the light of Rayna’s ability, sparkling as they fell upon the wooden table.

‘I cannot…thank you both enough.’ she stammered, struggling to clear the sudden lump in her throat. ‘Until now, Rarni has not opened up once since the…abhorrent event. Finally, my daughter is…returned fully to me.’

‘You do not need to thank us.’ replied The Guardian, before showering her daughter with one final flurry of twinkling lights. ‘I suspect that the difficult part is yet to come.’

As the last of Rayna’s light dissipated, she slowly reached across the table.

‘Rarni, will you hold my hands?’ she asked softly, giving the child a warm smile.

Lyra’s daughter tentatively placed her hands upon the table. She continued to reach forwards, slowly, until her fingertips touched those of the child. Turning her hands upside down, she pushed her fingers underneath Rarni’s own, before clasping the child’s hands firmly.

‘You will not feel a thing – I promise!’ she said, hoping to ease the child’s fears. ‘Oh, you should probably know something else before we start: my head is not that big.’

Rarni smiled, before releasing another weak laugh, no doubt caused by Rayna whom she sensed was playfully mocking her from the periphery of her physical vision.

Hundreds of images flooded her mind’s eye the instant she engaged her second sight. She travelled backwards rapidly through time, disregarding the visions leading up to their encounter. She saw Lyra shaking her gently. Then afterwards, disturbing images of Freylarkin butchery as she ran, whilst desperately seeking to evade what appeared to be lupine attackers. The images were not akin to those plucked from one’s dreams or dark fantasies – they were too lucid for that. The perspective was all wrong for someone of Rarni’s height and the glimpses she caught of her hands suggested that they belonged to someone of working stock, as opposed to those of a child. It was clear, to her at least, that the images she bore witness to belonged to another and not Rarni. For someone of her ability and experience, it was easy to understand why Lyra’s daughter felt so frightened by the images; they were not dreams, but instead, actual events that had transpired, witnessed from the perspective of another. She continued to sift through the galley of grim imagery, looking for clues that would reveal more of the child’s story to her. The nature of the attackers, the attire of the victims and what appeared to be a distant farmstead told her everything that she needed to understand the source of the imagery. Even so, how had Rarni made such a connection, she mused. The child was no scrier; at least, the typical signs were not present. Yet somehow, Rarni had acquired the visions of another, something that, to her knowledge at least, was only possible through scrying.

The familiar room, its occupants and the wooden table snapped into focus once more. The others were staring intently at her, no doubt seeking answers that only she could provide.

‘Rarni, you have been scrying.’

‘What!’ Lyra blurted out abruptly.

The child’s mother was clearly both confused and concerned by the frank diagnosis.

‘How is that even possible? Rarni was not born early in the pass. The colour of her hair--’

‘Has darkened.’ said Rayna, quickly interjecting. ‘Nathanar described your daughter’s hair as being blonde in his report, her eyes a pale blue. Yet that is clearly no longer the case.’

‘Her hair has darkened considerably. Although I must confess, I did not notice the alteration of Rarni’s eyes.’

Lyra lowered her head suddenly, cupping her face with her hands, and began to sob.

‘I am a terrible mother! How could I let this happen to my daughter?’

‘This is not your fault!’ she said, rising suddenly from her seat. ‘From what I understand, this change in your daughter began after the abduction.’

afterShe circled around the wooden table towards Lyra, before embracing the distraught mother, comforting her.

‘You had no way of predicting the events that unfolded in the arena that cycle. If anyone should have known, that person was me.’

shouldShe continued to comfort Lyra, whilst Rayna saw to the child, giving Rarni an enormous hug.

‘You’re a brave young Freylarkin.’ said Rayna, pulling Rarni up onto her toes in a tight embrace.

Rarni said nothing, but she could tell that the child was sad seeing her mother in distress.

‘Scrying is a powerful ability, Rarni. It is fortunate that you are still young enough to be trained to wield your newfound power responsibly.’ she said, earnestly, before returning to her seat. ‘You have been given a gift. When used appropriately, scrying can help our people enormously. However, the images you saw concern me, as does the manner in which your ability has manifested. How you are able to trigger your ability without any apparent contact with the source of the visions is alarming.’