Coalescence

Chapter 17: Glimpse of the Past

Soon after, Malcolm passed out and had to be carried back by his squadmates. He ended up sleeping for four days, his body overexerted and exhausted. Carlisle had his wounds officially healed, but due to the nature of Hellfire it would never be completely healed. Malcolm woke up in the infirmary, surrounded by unfamiliar walls and rooms. He leaned up and looked around the stone walls, no one else in the room with him. Then the flood of emotions hit him, everything welling up from the past days. He put his head to his knees in his bed and cried for several minutes before wiping his eyes and staring down into the white sheets.

"Those damn Daemons, how could we let this go under our noses like this?" He lashed out and punched the wall to his left, putting a small dent in the stone. "I'll make sure they pay for this." He got up and left the room after finding his old clothes in a bedside table. He worked to navigate the hallways and ended up in a large central atrium. A huge table was set up down the middle with dozens of people surrounding it. Huge maps were hung from the high ceiling that stretched all the way to the floor, showing landscapes, territories, facilities, and borders between everything. The room was huge, ceilings up to thirty or fifty feet high in some areas.

Several people in full military attire passed by him, not paying him much mind. He was free to wander basically wherever he wished, weaving between groups of people and exploring the hall. He approached the opposite end and found a massive glass dome fused with the mountain. He could see the forest outside the citadel and the horizon far beyond it.

Bren walked up behind him and placed her hand on his shoulder, snapping him out of his trance. He turned around to face her and found a bright smile.

"Hey, you were out for a while huh?"

"Yeah, everything hit me so hard I just lost it."

"We were all worried about you, but we just let you get your rest. It did give me time to remember a bit more of my story though." She waved Malcolm forward and they found a spot on top of the glass dome outside to sit and talk, Malcolm grabbing some food on the way. From there, Bren told her story.

A few days after I was kidnapped, I was in the dark for so long. All I could feel was the rumbling of the road, and even that was dulled by the headache I had. The next thing I saw was a lab and chamber. Several people in robes and hoods were walking around, observing me and hooking me up to mechanisms.

I couldn't muster the strength to speak, nevertheless move. I was trapped, sitting around waiting for the next test to start. When everything lit up green, I was happy that I wouldn't be cast aside. I'd seen it happen to other kid's, they'd be taken away and never seen again. I wanted to learn what the final step was, the step that might lead to me being free.

That step came some time later, when they injected me with some lavender fluid. It felt like my body shut down completely, everything went blank as I lost what little control of my body I had. Then, it felt like I reopened my eyes and was in a new place. It was dark, cold, and terrifying. I couldn't see anything except this white orb a little bit away from me.

I crawled over to it, slowly reaching my hand out to touch it. As I grabbed hold of it, some kind of white energy started crackling out of my arm. Slowly and painfully, the orb flowed into my body through my hands. I felt this pressing in my chest, something like a strong heartbeat. As the orb disappeared, my arm crackled some more before I found myself in a new place again. This time, I got spat out in the middle of the Feywilds.

It only took a couple of seconds before a dryad found me. She swept me up and led me to her little alcove, taking care of the scars on my arms and neck. In the end, she ended up blessing me with her power and giving me a journal. That's where I learned my Art from, I deciphered Fey writings and made them a reality.