Black Crystal Part 1 - The Origin

Chapter Forty ~ A New Threat

December 21st, 1816.

Columbia River Bridge City of Hood River, Oregon and Washington Border.

Another dream had haunted Garen's subconscious that night, at around the same hour the moon in Hood River went red. It had been a long time since he had a dream like that, but it haunted him as if it was real. He could hear screaming, gunshots, swords clashing, and the terrifying sounds of blades running through flesh and blood splattering on a hard floor, though he didn't see any of it. All Garen could see was darkness, and in the darkness, he started to hear a familiar voice.

"Nohr! Maevis!" the male voice exclaimed. "Fall back!" It was the voice of Garen's father, John Sleadd.

The darkness slowly faded into the image of the Capitol City. Garen could see bodies everywhere as a slightly younger version of John came running through them. He ducked and fell to the floor at the sound of a gunshot, quickly retaliating and standing up to shoot back with his rifle. John turned back the direction he was running.

"Fall back!" he shouted. "Nohr! Maevis! Protect the kids!" The image started fading to darkness again as soldiers in long, grey jackets and armor underneath them, uniforms unfamiliar to Garen, surrounded John. The terrifying sounds faded to silence and were replaced with the sounds of running footsteps. The darkness slowly became the interior of the Portland Castle. Maevis and Nohr were running through the corridors of the Castle, holding young Lenora and young Xander. They finally stopped running and turned around, both of them panting out of exhaustion and covered with blood.

"They're coming for the kids," Maevis whispered, tears forming in her eyes. "Why is the Chancellor doing this?" Nohr didn't respond. Either that, or he couldn't respond from being so exhausted. Finally, he turned towards a door and opened it.

"In there," he panted, pointing to the door.

The image faded to darkness again, but he could hear Nohr open the door as he and Maevis hurried on in. Garen could hear the door close, and then utter silence. It was silent for what felt like a very tense eternity. Garen's heart skipped a beat when he heard footsteps echoing down the corridor of the Castle. Lenora and Xander whimpered a bit, and finally, the footsteps seized, but an unfamiliar voice spoke.

"Glad to see you've come to your senses, King Nohr."

* * *

"I'm surprised you caught on. I didn't think you'd receive my message."

The sound of that familiar voice woke Garen up from the nightmare. He opened his eyes and he saw a young man that he hadn't seen in quite some time, someone who appeared to not age at all. It was J. M., the peculiar man he met in the Rogue Mountains. J. M. smiled kindly and leaned up against the wall.

"I'm glad you got it," he said. "It's about time your side of the story made some actual progress." Garen looked at J. M. with a confused expression and sat up in his bed, rubbing his eyes.

"What in the world are you talking about?" he yawned groggily.

"That dream you had just now," J. M. began, "what was it you saw? Bloodshed? Warfare? Death and destruction? And even people you know. Isn't that right?"

Garen looked at J. M. with shock. "Who are you?" J. M. chuckled and paced around the room.

"Jakob," he said. "The J in my name stands for Jakob. And, as you already know, I'm an author. I know your past, present, and your future, though the future is always a bit fuzzy, especially since there are so many roads you can take to make your story move forward—but I needed to give enough of a hint as to what you're supposed to do next."

"What are you talking about?" asked Garen, but there quickly came a knock at the door. Garen turned around and saw John come running in.

"We need to get a move on," he said, his rifle in his hand. "I never thought I'd say this, but we've got another threat coming our way. Something certainly much smarter than demons."

"Okay." Garen turned around, but Jakob wasn't there.

"Oi, Garen!" Diedrich yawned, waking up from his slumber. "What's with all the racket?" Garen lifted Diedrich from the ground and put him on his shoulder as he grabbed his sword and approached John. They nodded at each other and started running down the stairs.

"What's going on, dad?" asked Garen. John looked around the corner before he headed towards the front door.

"Greycoats," he replied. "Soldiers of the Washington Province. They've got the biggest and most ruthless military in the Cascadia Region between the Washington, Oregon, and California Provinces." John's glance turned towards the floor with a distant look in his eyes. "They are awful, awful people..." He looked at Garen with a sorrowful expression. "I hate to ask, but if we had to kill people, would you be ready for it?"

Garen nodded in response and kept his sword close at his side. "Might as well prepare now if I'm ever to be a Knight."

"What in the world are you two talking about?" Diedrich asked. "I mean, I literally just woke up! A bit of an explanation would be highly appreciated! Maybe a bit of coffee, too..."

John looked out the window at the massive amounts of soldiers heading towards the south. "My God..." he whispered. "There are so many of them. I think they're heading for the Capitol."

"What!?" Garen hurried towards the window and saw them. Hundreds upon hundreds of soldiers dressed in long, grey jackets over thin, leather armor. They were armed with sniper rifles tipped with bayonets. Just like in that dream... Garen thought. What was it that Jakob was saying? He needed to give me enough of a hint so I knew what to do next? "Those are the Greycoats you were talking about, right?" Garen looked over at John.

"Unfortunately so," John sighed. "My blood boils when I look at them, but at the same time... I'm terrified by them." Garen was hesitant to say anything, but finally he did.

"You've fought them once before," he said. "Haven't you, dad?" John looked at Garen with a confused expression, but he nodded.

"I did." John's confused expression returned to being a solemn one. "I fought them ten years ago. Lenora was just eight years old, and Xander was ten. The poor kids... I studied hypnotherapy to make them forget it, but I knew that it never worked on them."

Garen watched the Greycoats with terror, realizing that they were the same people who caused so much bloodshed in his dream.

"The War of 1806..." Diedrich sighed, watching the Greycoats pass by. They were all marching in unison. "Who could ever forget that bloody battle? Oregon vs. Washington in the most brutal battle in the Cascadia Region... All because that damn Chancellor Guinness wanted the Oregon Province all to his damn self. He almost killed the King and his kids so he could have the Queen for himself."

"You don't think they're attacking the Oregon Province again, do you?" Garen asked. Immediately, his heart was racing at the thought. After seeing all the death and bloodshed in his dream, he did not want to watch history repeat itself, especially knowing that Lenora's life would be on the line in that case.

"Lenora's birthday is tomorrow," John whispered. "The Chancellor's son... he must have advanced on her since she's coming of legal age to be wed to him." John and Garen looked at each other with absolute panic.

"We need to stop them!" Garen exclaimed. "As soon as possible!"