Another Lost Soul

Chapter 22

When we arrived back in Jalaiah's city, Han was being dragged behind us. We tied him to the floorboards in the kitchen, leaving him to sit in a corner with a minor concussion from earlier.

"We can't kill him, he's too well protected." Alenor spoke loudly, angrily. I stood in the back bedroom with my stomach at my feet, slowly pulling my sleeves down in front of the mirror. Blood littered my clothes, scrapes and bruises from the fall id taken smeared across my skin.

My hair had fallen darker, leaving me worried as I tried to recall what happened to River. I hadn't seen him recently. Not that I could remember if I had or not. I wouldn't put it past myself to forget.

"Amir." Atticus entered the room quietly, flinching when he saw me. "Are you alright?"

"Im doing fine."

"I'm sorry that bad things keep happening to you."

I glared at his reflection behind me. "It's not like those things don't happen for a reason. If you've come to make me feel better about tonight, I don't want to hear it. You're alive, be happy about it instead of choosing to be upset."

"I'm not upset, just worried about you."

"I'm perfectly fine."

He looked in the mirror and slumped. "Your hair."

I pulled a strand of my hair in front of my eyes and huffed, a bit disappointed. "I haven't forgotten anything I've learned since I woke up from my coma. I'm okay."

"Are you sure?" He slid a hand onto my shoulder but I gently pushed it off and stepped away from the mirror, sitting down on the bed to hold my head in my hands.

"No."

"What are you?"

"Alenor's apprentice." I quickly answered his question without hesitation, my leg bouncing anxiously.

"And what are you hiding from?"

"Han. The guards."

"Why?"

"I-" I felt a string in my chest snap. My words started confident, but quickly cut off to silence as I realized that I had no idea. I wasn't sure of the answer. "I don't know."

"What's your name?"

I swallowed. "...Amir."

"Full name."

"I don't know."

"It's okay if you don't know."

"No, I-" I jumped up and began pacing back and forth. "I swear-...I swear I knew, but I forgot."

"Relax. It's normal to be forgetful in your position." He cocked his head, concerned. After a few moment of silence, he gently spoke again. "Do you remember how we met?"

I looked to him, any trace of his memory leaving my mind. The more I tried to dig through my brain, the faster I began to forget things I'd known only a few minutes before. "No."

He seemed hurt by that, but relaxed more than expected. "Do you know why Alenor is upset with me right now?"

"I don't even know who you are."

His lips parted slightly, his eyes falling from my own to empty space. "Already? That's no fair." He quickly frowned and grabbed the door handle. "Give me a moment, Amir."

He left me alone in a room I suddenly didn't recognize, my breath growing heavy and my head fogging from the inside. I began to feel dizzy.

I desperately began to search the room for something I recognized. I felt a bit nauseas, everything in my head disappearing at once.

My fingers trace over books stacked on the bedside table, they dig through drawers full of clothes and objects I would consider purposeless. My feet move swiftly around the room, heart pumping as fast as it can as I manage to find absolutely nothing of worth to me.

"Will you be quiet? You're slamming things." Alenor burst through the door, annoyed. His piercing eyes quickly diminished by my expression. Once he saw me, his shoulders sunk. "Hey."

"Alenor." Finally. Something I knew. Something I recognized and remembered. I felt my heart leap toward him in hopes of latching on so I'd never forget. "Hi." I took a long look at him, pushing my hair behind my ears to hide it's dark color.

"What's happened to you?" He gently cupped my face with both hands. "Did you hit your head too hard?"

"I need you to go get Jalaiah." I listened to my shallow breath, watching him search for recognition in my face.

"No, you can talk to me."

"No I-...he-...." I walked past Alenor and put the door in search of Jalaiah. Alenor followed me, trying to grab my attention any way he could. I ignored him once I discovered the man I searched for was nowhere near.

I headed outside, cold air blowing the hair out out of my face and sending chills up my arms.

"Amir!" A loud and angry voice screamed out from behind me. "You will not ignore me like this! Talk to me!"

I turned around, eyeing a grey-haired man who clearly wasn't happy with me. "What?"

"Where are you going?" He ran to me, grabbing both of my arms in a panic. "What's gotten into you?"

"Um...I'm not sure. Can you help me find General Jalaiah? He's got black hair and-"

"Amir. Talk to me, not Jalaiah."

"Who are you?" I stared at him, his violet eyes an inch too far from my heart.

His pupils grew, hands slipping from my arms and falling limp at his sides. Fog smeared his lips as he let out a deep breath and tore his eyes from me.

"Hello?" I tried to speak to him again, but he only walked away from me and into a small house with a red door. How odd.