Chapter 33 – That Which Was Left Behind.

Calling it a shade was actually rather accurate. It floated there in the cave, a black apparition that had a roughly humanoid shape, though any form of definition was missing, its edges flickering as if it was fighting to retain its form. But, just as she had for Felicia, she could feel its presence, and knew that there was more to it than just that. More to him. She’d seen images of him in life, and his name was definitely masculine. More importantly though, he had the same family name as Alyther, assuming that surnames worked the same way in the realm that they’d come from, and she was certain that that was not a coincidence. She could even see the family resemblance, from the memories from Arianna, and her own of Alyther. Sure, this man had been a lot younger, but it was there.

As to how exactly they were connected, that was a different story. Soryen had died here over five thousand years ago, and Alyther had first come to their world twenty years ago. But that difference didn’t necessarily mean much. They knew for a fact that time flowed differently here, but as to the actual ratio? She had no clue. Callie guessed that they wouldn’t find out until they returned. Which was probably going to feel weird, but that was an issue for future them.

The cave was, to be honest, quite disappointing and very much normal, there were dozens of similar caves dotting the slope of the valley, the memories from the totem having shown as much. Callie had half expected something more elaborate for the resting place of a realmwalker, a person who must have had at least decent, if not powerful, magic, but perhaps it was just the stories that she liked to read that were colouring her expectations. After all, he had died here from his wounds, all alone. A place of respite perhaps, where he had hoped to recover, but that had not eventuated.

That Felicia had found the cave so quickly was a miracle, a miracle made real by the fact that just like her, Felicia could sense the presence of the ghost. Even without the snow, it would have been hard to find. It only had a small entrance, and an unremarkable one at that. Inside though, it opened up significantly after a few dozen meters, curved around a bit, but then didn’t go much further. A pocket cave. Enough for them to shelter in from the snow for a short time, as it probably had for the realmwalker, but that was about it. Maybe once it would have also been the home to an animal, but the presence of the shade would have long prevented that.

Callie stood just inside the cave mouth, feeling the coldness of the snow and wind against her back, Julia and Uriah beside her, watching. It was a strange scene. A small fox sitting there, her head tilted to the side in curiosity as the much larger shade floated in front of her, magic flowing between and around the two. White, pink, and blue, and a dark, almost acidic, black. Felicia’s magic, and Soryen’s. Or at least, what remained of him.

Time passed. She wasn’t quite sure how long. It wasn’t like they were in a rush right at the moment, Callie leaning into Uriah, borrowing some of his warmth, something she so deeply desired, her husband putting an arm around her, while Julia sat on the ground, one leg pulled in front of the other. Uriah’s flames danced around them, shadows dancing on the walls, lending an eerie atmosphere to the scene. It fit, in a strange way.

‘I never met Felicia as a ghost. But I never thought that we’d meet another.’ Julia sounded curious more than anything else.

‘Me neither,’ Callie admitted. ‘Felicia was quite different, though. She didn’t have the same presence as this one. Nor the level of magic I guess.’

‘She does now,’ Julia stated, ‘There is more to our bonds, I think, than any of us realise.’

Callie couldn’t help but smile at that. That was definitely an understatement, and truth be told, even though she understood the array on a fundamental level, that didn’t mean that she knew everything about it. Their magic, how it linked them all, and what it meant, there was so much more to it now.

A small burst of magic, a soft warm light enveloping Felicia, and then she was in her human form, standing there in front of the shade, a sad smile on her face as she reached out, her hand touching the shade before she stepped forward and gave him a hug. Which looked a little odd, her fiery orange hair in contrast to the blackness of the shade, Felicia somehow managing to wrap her arms around its incorporeal form. But hug it she did, before stepping back and reaching out again, hand gently touching what was probably its face.

Callie felt a small pulse of magic, as if something had been broken or severed, and then the shade started to slowly fade away, its body becoming lighter, its definition slipping away.

“May you finally find your peace,” Felicia said, tears running down her face.

And then Soryen was gone, the cave feeling different. Emptier. Its sole occupant for thousands of years, gone. The wind howled outside, stray snowflakes violently thrown towards them before lazily floating down to the cave floor. They walked up beside Felicia, Callie pulling her into a warm hug.

“Thank you,” Felicia murmured, hugging her back, silence regaining its hold for a little while longer.

“It was feelings and emotions, and images as well, as much as any words said,” Felicia eventually said as she let go of Callie and stepped back, brushing loose strands of hair away from her face and back over her shoulder, her eyes a little red. “His name, that much was crystal clear. A core part of who he was. His identity, that he didn’t want to lose. Part of what kept him here for so long.”

“What else did you learn?” Uriah asked.

Felicia looked thoughtful, her gaze distant, a finger playing with her hair. “Both a lot, and not much? He was... surprised that I knew that he was there, and that I could talk to him.” She shrugged, and then chuckled to herself. “I just told him that I’d died and been a ghost for a while too. He didn’t know how to take that at all.”

“I don’t think anyone would,” Julia stated with a smirk. “You are very much alive now, and I suspect that our witch here doesn’t even fully comprehend the significance of what she managed with you.”

Callie just gave Julia a look. Felicia was just... Felicia.

“He did give us permission to loot his stuff,” Felicia continued, turning and heading further into the cave. Well, a little further, as there wasn’t much to it. “Not that that would have mattered either way, and not that he thought that much would remain.”

Five thousand years was a long time. A really long time. Truth be told, even with Arianna’s images, she had expected there to be nothing, but yet, in the corner of the cave was a small bundle, a cloak on top, from which she could sense the magic. It had been enchanted, strongly. The skill involved, and the end result, far superior to anything that she had ever seen. Nothing that the Guardian’s had produced came even a little bit close, and it was also well above the subtle enchantments of Uriah’s spidersilk chain.

“It was hard to make sense of everything. Without context, some things just didn’t make sense.” Felicia picked up the cloak, giving it a shake, dust glinting in the fiery light as it flew everywhere. “This is probably best for Julia,” she then said, as she handed it to said vampire. “I got the impression that it helps conceal things, and well, she’s going to be the most in need when we return.”

Callie nodded, not disputing that at all. And vampires and cloaks, they kind of just went together, and she couldn’t keep the smile off her face as the thought leaked over to Julia. Who just laughed as she threw it over her shoulders. It suited her. Really well.

As to what had been hiding underneath that, it was a strange assortment. A rough bundle of cloth that she assumed had been his clothes. Just like everything there, the magic in it was strong, but she was not sure at all if she wanted to actually take them. He had died in them after all, and on some level, it just felt, well, wrong. A couple of small bowls, a pair of sunglasses that were a purple colour, a small short knife with the body of a cat engraved into its handle, and a piece of spidersilk chain that had, unfortunately, seen better days. A compass whose needle was currently spinning wildly, a bracelet that looked to be made out of rough, tightly wound, hemp. And finally, a small notebook.

That was, actually, quite a bit of stuff. How much would be of use, she didn’t know, but they did have space in the packs at the moment, that were starting to look somewhat worn as well, so she guessed that there probably wasn’t any reason not to take it all. But it still felt weird. Looting someone’s final resting place, even if they had been given permission.

She was actually very surprised that the notebook had survived. Paper and moisture did not mix well, even ignoring time, and the magic on it felt weak. Focused, but weak. A quick flick through the notebook didn’t reveal much either. The ink had lasted as well, a deep black on crisp white pages, all in a language that she couldn’t read. It wasn’t the tongue of the anomalies, as she could read that. No, that wasn’t quite correct. Just like for their world, there could be multiple languages present. It just wasn’t the only one that they’d found thus far.

You are reading story What Lies Within at novel35.com

“He was betrayed, Callie,” Felicia said once everything had been stashed or pocketed, staring back out into the snow as they sat near the entrance, waiting to see if it would ease or stop at all. Callie wasn’t hopeful. But sitting and resting like this was always nice.

“Hmm?” Callie replied, looking at Felicia. She had changed a little bit as well, hadn’t she. Since they’d formed the second bond. Felicia’s body was looking more toned, her features a little more defined, her eyes... her eyes revealed her nature now. Still the same brown as they were, but with flecks of red, and with a feral hint. She was more than just stunning. And as Julia had pointed out, like them all, she had a ring on her finger. A fox styled ring, exactly the same style as what she and Uriah had, but called into existence by their magic. It suited her, it really did.

“By someone he held close. Someone he had thought was a friend.” Felicia shook her head as she looked down at the ground. “Their image has long been twisted in his mind, into something hideous. The betrayer. I couldn’t even promise vengeance for him, not that he seemed to be seeking that. He was... in the end, he was just lonely, Callie. Just so lonely.”

Callie shifted a little closer to Felicia, pulling her into her in a warm hug. The thing about mental communication is that while you could express more than just words, it could have more of a pronounced effect as well. Her friend was now carrying some of Soryen’s hurt. She herself had known very much what it was all like.

“Thanks,” Felicia murmured, shifting a little, and leaning more into Callie. “This is nice.”

A sigh, and Felicia continued. “He came here to escape, somewhere where they couldn’t find him. But he was badly wounded, worse than he thought, and the conditions weren’t good. It seemed that the weather was much like it is now, unpleasant and unforgiving. Needless to say, he didn’t survive long. His magic, his gear, it wasn’t enough.”

“Why didn’t he just leave and go elsewhere?”

“He couldn’t. He was too weak to use his magic. And maybe other factors? I’m not sure.” Felicia shook her head, her hair tickling Callie’s face. “That was about what I got back when I asked the same thing.”

“That... is sad.” That he had died, and that he had been all alone. The images from the totem were still there, clear in her mind, and with what they had learnt, it made that much more sense. She didn’t know why Arianna hadn’t done anything at all. Perhaps she couldn’t? Things would have been different back then as it was. “We should see what we can learn about him.”

“Amber,” Julia stated.

“Yeah. Amber. When we get back, I think that we are going to need to find her, and have a chat.” As to if she actually knew anything, and then if she’d actually tell them, were both unknowns, but she had been rather friendly, ‘gifted’ her the bonding array, and she had turned Julia. Callie had no doubt that there was more to it all than just the potential connections that she had given as her reason, but in truth, she was their best lead. And her name had been near unpronounceable. That was unlikely to be a coincidence. At least one of the originals had to be a realmwalker, or the Source would never have happened, and she was certain that it wasn’t Riddling or Alyther. Otherwise the attack that had finally caused her to come out wouldn’t have happened.

Any hope that they might have been able to leave the cave that day quickly dwindled away, the snow storm growing in intensity again, the winds howling in fury as the temperature plummeted. They retreated a ways back into the cave and snuggled up for warmth as they re-examined the items that Soryen had left. She wasn’t the best with enchantments, and while Julia had been assigned to the enchanters, her knowledge wasn’t that good either. But, Julia did seem to pick up on a bit more than she did, figuring that the compass was somehow related to water, that she was never going to touch the knife again, and that the clothes would likely fit Callie’s child when it was eventually born.

The items also had a secondary benefit. They were examples of enchanting that had lasted the ages. Examples that they could study and hopefully learn from. At the rate they were going, their own clothes wouldn’t last, but infuse some magic into them, and perhaps they’d survive until they made it back, and could go shopping again. Callie was rather excited by both prospects, and it would give them something else to do.

It was hard to tell when night actually fell, the change in light only going from dark to slightly more dark, but it certainly felt late enough when they started to doze off. Still all snuggled together, the blankets that they had thrown over them, along with the cloak. Another blanket would have been nice, stone floors not at all comfortable, but they would just make do with what they had. Callie was really missing sleeping in a bed. At least the forest had been a little more comfortable with the carpet of leaves. Uriah was in the middle, with Julia behind him and Callie in front, Felicia in her fox form snuggled up in her arms. It was kind of nice. Though, she did prefer snuggling Felicia in her human form. It was interesting, Felicia seemed to spend as much time in her fox form as her human one.

‘Is it strange, that I do that?’

More so than anyone else, Felicia could pick up on some of her surface thoughts. Likely because she was her familiar, she assumed. Even though it ran on intent, it seemed that some aspects of the array were perhaps hard wired. They’d formed the bond out of a need for survival, and to give her something that she’d lost. She’d assumed at that point that was all it could do, but she’d been incorrect there, and had formed other bonds since. But their nature had been different, the desire behind them different. And magic was a living thing. She now had two wives along with her husband. Even though they had been declared as lovers. But only Felicia still had that connection as her familiar, her life now tied to Callie’s.

‘No? Why would it be?’

‘I’m a human Callie. Yet, I find my fox form comfortable as well. Natural. They’re both a part of me.’ Felicia sounded, not troubled, but more concerned perhaps?

‘An influence of being a familiar?’ A small part of Callie knew that if the roles had been reversed, that she’d likely feel the same way.

‘Perhaps? Even with the knowledge that we were given at the time, we really don’t have a full understanding of it, do we.’

‘No. That we don’t. But perhaps, over time, it’ll show us. Irrespective, Felicia, I love you. Just as you are.’ And that was the truth.

‘Is that weird to you? That the bond evolved in that way? You know, I was really happy when I discovered that I’d gained a ring, and that Julia had as well. Even if it took you a while to notice. It meant, and means, a lot.’

‘Even now, like this, I guess I can still be bad at feelings. Relationships are still hard, but I am glad, Feli.’

‘The mighty Witch, still so vulnerable.’ Felicia chuckled, and then she was enveloped in a soft glow as Callie felt her shift to her human form while still in her embrace. Her breath was warm, her hair tickling Callie’s face. Her scent, perhaps not so different from Uriah’s.

Another chuckle from Felicia, her lips teasing Callie’s as her tail brushed Callie’s leg. ‘But, thanks. I love you too.’

And then it became a lot more than just teasing, Callie happily replying in kind.