Dreamcatcher - Nimra Series - BOOK ONE

Memories Forgotten

Leaving Crystal Deer was the easy part of our journey, we arrived back home in good time and managed to avoid any living being as we cut through the vast forest. I had told Ayla I was going to go out hunting for our food for this week, assuring her I would be back before nightfall. I had left Ayla a few hours ago, but I had a strange feeling that tonight wasn’t the night I was going to find a prized Deer or Wild boar. It seemed as of late the forest creatures had either run away or hidden deep in the earth. The air was crisp and you could see your own breath. I had wrapped myself up in a fur-lined cape under my green cape. We used an animal for almost everything from clothing, meat and the bones for weapons.

A twig breaking nearby stopped me suddenly, rising my bow and arrow up to strike at any given moment, ruffling of brushes and the noise of something running brought my hunting instants forward and within seconds I was off. The ground moist from the light rain that covered the forest hours before, trees whipping out to grab me as I followed my pray, one flick on the side of my face causing a nice red mark but this did not stop me and finally I came to a clearing in the forest. My first thought was to back off and get in the shadows, I very rarely liked being out in the open as anything could get me.

The moon was starting to rise while I stood there scouting, I had no idea it had become late and I’m sure Ayla was bound to be getting worried about me, even though she knew how was fast I was with a sword, how light I was on my feet and my bowmen ship had improved under the watchful eye of her. The wind wrapped itself around me as I looked at every corner hoping to spot the creature I had run after, my hood falling from my face exposing my long red locks. My feet moved softly as I scanned the area and soon a shadow appear from the opposite side, it grew taller and taller as the creature almost blocked out the moonlight. I raised my bow ready to attack should the creature charge at me but it just stood there for a few moments taking in the scene around it and for those couple of seconds I was lost in its image.

Soon enough the creature began to move forward, I raised my bow even higher and began pulling the string close to my body ready to fire, normally I would have shot whatever it was by now without a second thought but something was holding me back, the voice inside me telling me to wait, wait until the creature’s face came into the light. Finally, it was standing only a few feet away, if I were to take even three steps forward I would be standing in front of the creature.

Now at this distance, I could see it wasn’t a creature of the woodland, no it was a man standing almost six foot six tall, his face was covered by cloth, his armor was made of pure silver and had swirling patterns on it, they reminded me of home. In his hand, he carried a large sword and on his back were another two, his body was muscular you could tell that by how his clothing hugged his body. I admired his weapons and for some reason began wishing if I could see how heavy one of his swords were, after all they were made for a man of his size. I caught him looking at me, scanning me the same as I did him, his eyes a pale blue almost like pools of ice. He began to shift his body and this brought me back to the situation at hand, I tightened my grip on my bowstring and aimed to fire but all he did was remove the cloth from his face and drop it to his shoulders.

His face was very harsh, he had a long scar going down his right cheek, his eyes looked like they had not seen sleep in weeks, he had pointed ears like that of the elf tribes and his hair jet black with a strip of silver on the right side. It was the ranger from the Inn, I could see him more clearly now.

“You.” I heard my voice ring in my ears, I did not mean to speak, and I didn’t want to draw attention to myself any more than I already had.

“You really do not remember me do you?” His voice was deep, but also very gentle.

“You’re the ranger from the inn.” I was starting to lower my bow.

I felt a pitch in my heart and my inner voice was telling me to speak to this man, ask him more questions and find out who he really was. My necklace wasn’t burning on my chest so I knew he wasn’t going to harm me but that still didn’t help with the feeling in my heart, I had only just met him but for some reason, it felt as though I knew him from another time, another life. I didn’t feel like this earlier.

“Princess, do you really not know who I am?” He took a step forward and I returned that with a step back, I started to raise my bow again ready to shoot at him. I wanted to keep the distance between us, how did he know I was a Princess? No one knew that other than Ayla and Seniya and I was sure I didn’t give him any hints earlier and of course, my appearance was different.

“Giselle.”

I looked up at him, his eyes looking deeply into mine as if they were looking into my soul or to see if I would react to my name being called by a stranger. It was then I felt as if I was being knocked backward in time to a place I had forgotten about, to a world I had locked away to not be reminded of.

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“Giselle, darling aren’t you ready?” My mother’s voice was suddenly behind me and my heart began to ache, I had not heard her voice in so long but how was I hearing it now? What was going on?

“Almost mother, has everyone arrived?” My voice was heard coming from the balcony of the palace room, my room.

I had been taken back in time to witness this very moment, it was the ball of my tenth birthday, my mother had insisted on throwing it, even after father had forbidden it. The bedroom was decorated in pearls of purple, pink and ivory shades, it was my bedroom back home before it was destroyed by the civil war. The flashback brought tears to my eyes as I was then flung to a different moment on that night and I was standing in the middle of the ballroom as guests danced around me, enjoying the music, eating the wonderful food and chatting away to one another.

It was as if I was watching another version of me, I was so small back then. I could see myself standing in a group of four other little girls, I was dressed in a beautiful pale green gown with lace trimmings, my little princess crown placed firmly on my head. My mother dressed in a matching outfit sat on the thrones at the head of the room, Xendious sat next to her sipping a goblet trying to look happy. I turned my attention back to my younger self to see a tall boy dressed in a navy blue suit with tails and his black hair tied up in a ponytail, he walked over to little me and bowed. I seemed to be beaming with a smile as I looked at my four friends, they no sooner step back and I raised the boy up so I could look at him before taking his extended hand and gently pulled him to the dance floor where we spent the rest of the evening dancing, talking and getting to know one another.

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Just as I felt as if my mind was back in my own body I was still stood in the clearing and the man was now standing closer in front of me, my bow lowered from my face as I finally realised who he was. He was the boy from that very party, the boy who spent his summer at the palace, the same boy who no sooner turned into a man and was the man I was supposed to marry that morning. My voice caught in my throat as fear crept up inside of me, was he here to take me back to my father? To face the consequences? Was he here on orders to kill me? I looked up at him as his eyes turned softer and his body moved closer to mine, I couldn’t move, I couldn’t breathe. My entire body was frozen.

“Shadowbane.” My voice came out as a whisper, he smiled a half-smile.

Without me protesting he pulled his left arm around me and drew me closer into him and for a few seconds we stood like that, his arm was tight around me, my arms rigid with fear as I contemplated what was going on. I could smell his skin, he smelt of ash and copper but also of home. His arm was firm, tight but not tight enough to crush me, I could feel his chest rise and fall calmly as he took me all in.

I allowed this for a minute or two before pulling away, removing his grip of me, I picked up my bow and arrow and began to back away. He noticed my movements and followed me as I moved further and further into the forest behind me. His eyes were full of worry now, I needed to get away from him, even if my necklace wasn’t telling me he was a danger, my instincts were telling me otherwise.

“Giselle please, I’m not here to harm you.”

 By the time I heard his voice I had already turned around and was running back into the woods, I knew plenty of hiding places he couldn’t get to me and I didn’t want him finding out where my home was. By now Ayla most likely had a search party ready to find me but I didn’t wish for any harm to come to my friend so I decided to stay in the darkness of the forests tonight and would head back in the morning light. I could hear his voice in the distance as the shadows took over my body where I disappeared into the night. If he meant no harm to me then he would leave me be, I didn’t want to be found or rescued or worse.