To The Ones Who Can't Dream

chapter 16 - The Cauldron

     After an uneventful dinner, Seren motioned for both Amren and Rhys to come into her room. As Seren sat down on her bed she said, "Rhys, we have some questions we need to ask you."
 
     Amren took the only arm chair so Rhysand sat down next to Seren, "Well, ask away."
   
     Seren took a deep breath, "What happened to the Book of Breathings?"
   
     Rhys looked shocked, apparently not expecting the topic, "Fae from another world created it about the Cauldron. After the war between fae and mortals, the book was split in half, one part belonging to the Summer Court and one part belonging to the mortal queens. Why do you ask?"
   
     Amren was the one to answer, "Because we were the ones who created the Book of Breathings."
   
     "I'm sorry, what?" Rhys practically yelped.
   
     Seren looked at him, "Amren and I arrived in Prythian long before there were such things as Courts. Back then, it was only the powerful and the weak. The Cauldron was taken by a male who wished to rule over the whole of Prythian. He used it for terrible acts and it was eventually decided that he had to be stopped before he wiped out the whole of Prythian. The Illyrians and us teamed up and worked together in order to get the Cauldron. After a war which obliterated many fae, we emerged with the Cauldron. Amren and I were picked to study it. We tried to figure out a way to keep the Cauldron's power contained but, it didn't like that."
   
     Rhys laughed, "You're referring to it as if it is a living thing."
   
     Amren simply said, "It is."
   
     Seren started explaining to Rhys, "The Cauldron is what made everything. It is as much living as we are. Amren and I created the Book of Breathings so there would be a written version of the knowledge we acquired. Eventually, the Illyrians grew scared of the power Amren and I possessed. Although the Valkyries tried to stop them, they forced us both in the Cauldron. The Cauldron was so angry at us for learning how to tame its power that it stole the vast majority of ours. When we were pulled out, we were still trying to adjust to the power loss when they locked us in the Prison."
   
     Amren said, "I do wish to find the Valkyries and thank them for what they did. Although they were not successful in helping us, the fight they put up for us meant a lot."
   
     Rhys looked at her guiltily, "The Valkyries died out during the war 500 years ago."
   
     Amren looked somewhat sad, which was very unlike her. There was an awkward pause before Rhys asked, "What was it like? In the Cauldron I mean."
   
     More awkward silence. Seren finally spoke up, "I have lived a very long life. And that is the worst thing I have ever been through. To be surrounded entirely by something that old and powerful. It felt like I was drowning in endless water for eternity while my power was stripped from me. I thought the torture would never end. When they pulled me out, I realized they had only held me under the water for a couple minutes. But it felt like a lifetime. I still can't force myself to go into cold water. Even a cold shower reminds me too much of the Cauldron."
   
     Amren looked sympathetically at Seren, "I refuse to talk about my experience but what Seren just said is almost exactly what it felt like for me."
   
     Rhys looked back and forth between the two of them, "Wow, I am so sorry."
   
     Seren shrugged, "It isn't your fault. You weren't even alive back then."
   
     After sitting in silence for a while, Amren finally stood up. "I'm going to go to bed. Goodnight Seren," looking at Rhys, Amren nodded, "Rhysand."
   
     When Amren walked out, Rhys also stood, "I should probably go to bed also. Goodnight Seren, I'll see you in the morning."

     Seren felt as if she was drowning. No, no, no, she thought. She couldn't be trapped in the Cauldron again. Sitting upright with a scream, Seren rushed to the bathroom and promptly threw up all the contents in her stomach. She sat by the toilet, repeating a singular thought in her head over and over. I made it out.