In the Absence of Light

Chapter 5: Time Between Time

AN: I welcome suggestions for my cast of characters. I am trying to think of who would work well, but I am struggling a little. Thanks for reading. :)

Chapter 5: Time Between Time

Time. I might have felt it slipping away if I paid attention to it. Why would I pay attention to it though? I was confined within the small complex. Even the horses were allowed out, and I was held within my prison; falling into the routine of exercise. I trained, I trained others, and I trained horses. Day in and day out, the days wore on, the routine ingrained, the thought of freedom slowly escaping from my prison.

I moved like a wraith down old worn walkways and the other women even forgot to fear me. They did not try to interact with me, but easily forgot the power that walked in their midst.

I was like a legend of the past that was already forgotten before it was even told. I was routine, and once routine, I did not exist.

But my once sharp mind fell into decay, and like the old worn path I walked, my mind fell into the rut, and I forgot to think. I lived life by the day, able to sense everything in my direct surroundings, but acting more than thinking. I forgot the city around me that was falling into the same decay my mind was in; the rut of following one action, and not thinking new thoughts.

I stopped keeping track of the time that passed, and let the world run away without me. I stopped noticing the white washed wooden plank buildings with their plain black slate roofs. Just like the rest of the city with its unpainted building and wooden tiled roves, the fancy buildings of the priestess's complex were plain and forgettable to me now.

Things I used to notice, like the cobble stones under the dirt, faded away to simply walking along the path, my mind lost in some other time.

At night, I went to my cold bedroom that was fit for my icy heart, and amidst the absolute blackness of my room, I fell asleep in a stupor, and amidst the same absolute blackness I awoke.

"Dyrana?" I jumped up, a knife in hand. My reactions were slow and lethargic compared to how they used to be. Previously, I would have been up and ready to fight before a person stepped in my room,, but someone was here, by my door. They had my door open to the new light of day.

"My Lady?"

"What?" I cleared my throat shocked by how much my little used voice grated on my vocal chords. I tried again, and the voice that came out was closer to my old clear voice, "What are you thinking, entering my room! I could kill you girl. I could kill you in a single second, and almost did."

The girl didn't know that I was still asleep when she walked in. I felt like I was fully awake again, and I realized how much I had slept within my own mind.

The thin light filtering through the door showed a priestess slightly younger than me. They left so young, and she obviously had come back young. Or maybe, I was getting older. How long had I been here?

"I... I was umm, I was sent to, umm, to wake you. Today is, umm, today is the umm, today is the day when the umm, when the goddesses leave their, umm, hosts." I was already tired of the girl's stuttering mumble filled talk.

"Go away. I will be there." I waved my hand at the young priestess, and the door closed and locked with the priestess locked outside.

Today the experiment would end. Today, I might find myself the head of the dark priestesses. Today...

I shook my head to clear the thoughts away. It wasn't something I normally did, but today was a strange day, and I needed my mind clear and focused, not retrospective.