The Oreans

Chapter 54

Chapter 54

Embers

Pain was the one sensation dominating his body as he shifted to his side. His arms stung so much as though it was being pinched all over. His legs, too, felt like they were being pricked by a thousand needles. His torso, an unusually heavy load, was like a mass of bruises. Worst of all, his head ached so much he thought it might break any moment. So acute was his suffering that he could do nothing but lie still and wait for it to subside, keeping his eyes tightly shut.

What had happened to him? And where was he? He was definitely not in bed. Not anywhere in the palace for that matter. The surface he was lying on was hard and pebbly, having only occasional grassy growths. The air was thick and moist, and the sounds had a remarkable variety - a chorus of birds singing and frogs croaking, the bubble of flowing water and the faint ringing of bells.

Bells?

All at once, scenes flitted in his mind: Reishina walking down the aisle towards him, she putting a ring on his finger, then unconscious in his arms, he riding like mad with her leaning against him, a cottage hidden in the woods, his hand pulsing with aurea hovering over her bared back, Reishina holding on to him ... A fire rapidly spreading all about them, burning beams falling between them, the two of them fighting the raging inferno, a confused picture of the hellish cottage slipping away as darkness enveloped him fast .... Divan's eyes flew open as realization hit him, and he saw two very high walls of rock rising on either side of him, nearly meeting way above him and barely leaving a gap that showed dark clouds gathering across the sky. Through that gap also, reverberating towards him, was the most desolate sound he had ever heard.

Trying to ignore the sound, he thought over his situation. He must have fallen all the way from the top. No wonder he felt sore all over. It was a miracle that he was still alive. He must have been unconscious for some time though he could not tell exactly how long.

But Reishina, where was she? Sitting up carefully, he looked around and identified the source of the gurgling sound, a brook running just a couple of steps from him. Reishina, however, was nowhere in sight. She could not have... No, Reishina could not have perished in that fire, he convinced himself. She must also be here somewhere.

Clearing his throat, he called her name. There was no answer. He called again, this time rising to his still benumbed feet. Still it was to no avail. Where are you, Rei? He thought desperately and called again. The bells continued its mournful ringing while a lonely bird flew up towards the gloomy sky and sent a shrill cry, yet no Reishina responded. His head was now pounding more than ever and his sight blurring, but he fought it. He had to look for her. He supposed she passed out, too. That was why she was not answering.

He had only taken a few steps when he felt something odd down his back that had nothing to do with the pain he was still fighting down. It was as though a portion of the grass he had been lying on had attached itself on his body. Reaching with a bruised hand, he felt something warm and having a bizarre texture—a cross between that of feathers and vapor. It was running down the length of his body, only a little over his head up to the heels of his feet. Definitely not grass. Looking around he could not believe what he saw. He feared he was hallucinating. But the thing seemed as real as his hands. They were there, dazzling white before his eyes. But how come he had it? How come he had a pair of wings?

There could only be one explanation, fantastic as it was. He was an Empyrean. That race dismissed in most books as a mere creation of primitive people's imagination—it did exist.

I am an Empyrean, he reflected dazedly. The wings must have involuntarily materialized while he was in midair and broke his fall. That was why he survived. But why had he not sensed this thing before? And why was he here on land, apart from his people and with no memory of them?