The Tellanon

15. Anderin

Sometimes, when you're really afraid, you remember something. Usually that's something random, a very sweet memory. It's never really useful in any way, more of a distraction.

It was what happened to Emyra that time, when the madmen were attacking them.  Their nails were their only weapon, but they were long and sharp.  Alea bolted at the sight of them, and ran to the back of the cave, so far away it was hidden in darkness, and behind the attacking foe. Emyra lost sight of her, but did see Aswad running after her before her view was blocked once again by the mass of enemies crowding around her, and her memory took over all of her mind. She remembered a time with Berren, two weeks after they had met. It was the first summery day, and all of Merrón was out on the streets. Emyra and Berren were stretched out on their backs on their stony beach. Their feet were in the still icy water, and they enjoyed the hot sun together silently. Emyra felt at peace. Some birds passed overhead, the sky was cloudless, the sea still.

"Have you seen mountains?" Berren asked suddenly.

"No." Emyra said. "You have."

"They are beautiful. And dangerous, my mother says. They say there are people there who go mad. They say you can't kill them. They say they aren't people anymore. They say they are already dead"

He had said some other things, but Emyra wasn't listening. She watched a seagull fly away, listened to the sounds of her city. The warmth and light made the moment absolutely perfect.

"My mother says there are kingdoms in the sea." Emyra said.

"Do you believe her?"

"I believe everything I don't know." She said, smiling.

Haida screamed. Emyra opened her eyes, and felt tears well up in her eyes. She stepped in front of Haida, shoving her behind her. Haida had never looked so much like Lynn before. Lynn was dreamy and fragile, and Haida was too dirty and, well, too different before. But now, they were both frightened little children.

Serin was stabbing left and right,  fighting alongside a snarling Ash, but Emyra was frozen. The two children huddled together behind her back, against the smooth stone wall. The exit was too far away to reach, and whatever lay at the far end of the cave couldn't be good. They were trapped.

"Emyra!" Serin called, in a slightly higher voice than usual, as Ash lay his head on his paws and whined. "They won't die!"

Emyra looked, and, indeed, there were no corpses. They say there are people who go mad. They say you can't kill them. They say they aren't people anymore. They say they are already dead. It was a riddle. Everyone asked it when playing a game of riddles, but no one could answer it. Emyra's mother, who had loved riddles, used to ask it until it drove them mad. There wasn't a proper answer.

"How do you kill what is already dead?" Someone would ask.

"You cut off its head."

"You kill it with love

"Like you would a human."

"You kill it with light."

"You kill it with life."

"You forget it."

No one could agree on what the answer was. No one knew, but if she could find out, she would live. If she did not, she'd die. Emyra closed her eyes and imagined. Her imagination came up with the College. It was empty, and dustier than she remembered, but the light grey tiles on the floor were the same, the arched windows of stained glass, the luxurious furniture and high bookshelves were the same. The same sandstone walls climbed high, the same deeply coloured carpets lay on the floor. Emyra walked around and disturbed the dust on the floor. Her fingers traced the books, until she finally found the right section.