Disappear: Into Shadow

- CHAPTER THIRTY NINE -

A warm breeze had been blowing off the Mediterranean on the morning preceding the great fire. Beside the waters, rising high into the Egyptian sky was the white lighthouse of Alexandria. The ever burning flame at its peak could be seen for miles, even during daylight hours.

Dagan saw his early incarnation, Herodicus, sitting near the piers of the harbour, staring out to sea. He had lived as a scholar in residence at the Library. He paid no taxes, had servants, housing, his meals paid for and even received a salary. Dagan never remembered wanting to live such a life. It was the Shade who convinced him to take it on because of the task he must perform. The previous night, Shade had come to his earlier incarnation in a dream. The time had come to steal the next talisman. Unable to fall asleep again, he had come to the pier. Thinking over what he must do, he watched the sun rise until the burning orb had climbed high into the sky. Reaching its zenith, the midday sun was becoming too hot. Dagan saw the sweat rolling down the face of his previous incarnation. The scholar was twiddling with the iron ring on his finger. Spinning it over and over again, he felt the ruby in its setting. Tracing the engraved lines of the five pointed star, he pondered how to steal the forbidden book. Dagan listened to the thoughts swirling about what had once been his head. His awareness faded into the background and he allowed the memories to tell their story.

Herodicus was troubled. The night's dreams had left him unsettled. When he'd come to the harbour, the sun was still passing through the underworld. He sat on the pier, watching the waves slap against the hulls of the boats moored in the harbour. When the sun showed itself again he had not moved. Toying with his ring, he played over the dream that had brought him here. He had found the ring on the journey from his childhood home to Alexandria. Sleeping by the side of the road one night, he'd awoken with a terrible pain in his side. Lifting his shirt, he saw a darkening bruise just below his ribs. The whole event was strange, because he had been certain he'd swept the ground of all the small pebbles and stones that would have made sleep uncomfortable. When he rolled up his blankets he found the ring in the sand.

Since that night, Herodicus felt the ring had brought great luck and insight into his life and work. He studied the stars and whenever a solution eluded him he would touch the ring, spinning it around his finger while mediating on the problem. More often than not, the answers would soon come whispering to him. Thinking about his dream of last night, he fidgeted with the ring. No answers were forthcoming. What bothered him most was what he knew he must do. He considered himself a man of honour, not a thief. He had never stolen anything before.

The dream had started as a collection of visions scattered throughout history. Amidst visions of battles, death and horror, he saw kings and other men of power bowing to great conquerors. A hunter who killed his brother over the meat of a fallen stag. A great golden box and the dark eyes of a priest wielding a bloody knife. Soon, the abstract images fell away and the dream became frighteningly lucid.

Herodicus found himself walking through a dense fog with no visible landmarks. He heard twisted cackling from the fog's depths as shadows flitted through the grey haze. Two burning red eyes appeared before him. Just as he thought he could perceive a body, the eyes would slip further into the mist. A hissing voice spoke. It knew everything about his life, his deepest fears, his dreams; It even knew about the secret love he lost. Hearing the voice say her name, he wept. Lucinda had been the reason he came to Alexandria. They had been young lovers, yet kept their feelings a closely guarded secret. She was the daughter of a wealthy merchant and Herodicus the son of a successful, but modest farming family. They were not meant for each other.

Wealthy suitors came calling for Lucinda. Herodicus remembered the painful day in the hidden grove where they met. The scholar could still feel the tears running down the face of the young farm boy he once had been. In his loneliest moments he tasted their salt in his mouth. Promised to another man, she would marry within the week and go to live with him. They must say their goodbyes. When she left the grove he stayed there for two days and nights. He searched the stars looking for a sign this was a cruel dream, that there was hope for them.