When Twins War: Book I

Chapter Twenty-Two

For three days the nomads camped near a wellspring, while Gerald lay on a soft mat in a tent. He had developed a fever and Anna had tended him. He grew very fond of her. She was quiet and timid, yet there was a strength in everything she did, laced with an unusual beauty that he thought he had never before seen in his life.

He slowly recovered and was eventually well enough to sit up. He had learned from Anna that the man with the wrinkled face, who constantly visited them, was her father. His name was Dersanna. Her mother had died many years ago during a goblin raid. She felt it an honour to her mother to nurse him back to health. This only led his affection towards her to grow all the more. Dersanna had noticed, of course, as a father would. But Gerald was not aware of his keen eye.

He had also learned that the nomads were on their own journey to the Twin Cities to find trade and buy stocks. Battles with goblins were not unusual for them, but the goblin raid that had attacked the Dernium army was an anomaly. Dersanna said they were highly organised, and that this was starting to become a regular occurrence. He was very worried about it. Goblins were not known to be highly calculative or tactical.

It was the fourth night of Gerald's recovery. He awoke, sometime in the night, in a familiar daze. He had grown used to waking up in the night with some feeling of strangeness, for he was still running a fever and recovering from his wounds. But this night was different. There was an unusual stillness about him, a very strange peace. It was beyond the usual stillness of the desert, as if creation was poised, waiting for something to happen. Something in him felt as if the world was shifting – that something around him was moving and reforming. It was not that he could see anything, he just had this sense that destiny had considered him for a moment and everything had shifted to run in a new trajectory.

But he was not alarmed, for this shifting seemed good. He sensed as if a peaceful invasion was occurring, and that something was coming, somehow, and that it shouldn't be feared. He tried to fix his racing thoughts and understand that he was only experiencing feelings, familiar feelings that plague every man – but there, just for a second, all of his life made perfect sense.

He didn't know what it was, but he could sense something – or someone. He came to realise that he couldn't move his arms or legs, as if he was completely paralysed. Was this because of his injuries?

A cool breeze suddenly blew in to the tent, soothing and peaceful. And then, without warning, an exceedingly tall man with white long flowing hair walked in. He was wrapped in a glorious, faint, uncanny light. It shone as if it was telling Gerald a story, a story of who the person was -- not his status or position, but who he actually was. It told a story of how the man was at one time magnificent, or was to become magnificent. The light didn't fade or glimmer but seemed as if it was part of the very make up of the man.

He seemed to know exactly what he was doing, moving swiftly and deliberately, without any noise whatsoever. He stood looking at Gerald for a moment with piercing dark, almost black, eyes, giving Gerald the impression that here was a man of deep wisdom. His face wore no clear expression. He appeared to be wearing a white robe with a glorious golden breastplate of armour, precious stones blinking and dazzling as they were wrapped in the man's glory. A long but thin white beard was tucked around his shoulder.

There was also a familiarity in the man's eyes, as if they both knew each other from somewhere before. Gerald wasn't sure if he was really awake or was still dreaming, but tried to move his arm and found himself still paralysed.

As if it was the most normal and natural thing in the world, the man sat down beside Gerald's mat and looked around for a while, keeping very quiet.

"It is difficult for me to see you," said the man at length, his voice quiet and confident, but otherwise quite normal sounding. "But we felt it necessary – indeed, I felt it necessary."