Aveyond: Rhen's Quest

Chapter 34: Aftermath

Her eyes flickered, then opened, looking at the marble-white ceiling.

She positioned herself slowly to sit upright, ignoring the ache throbbing inside her head, and looked around. She was in a strange yet familiar room. Her backpack and her sword lied beside the bed. Someone helped her change to lily-white dress. And then she realized...

She was not at Ahriman's Castle anymore.

Talia walked into the room and quickly walked to her side when she saw her.

"Oh Rhen, you're awake," she smiled. "How are you? Are you getting hurt?"

Rhen found her voice, "Just a little bit inside my head. Where am I?"

"You're back to Aveyond," said Talia calmly. "Your friends brought you back, saying that you've been out cold all the way here. Are you well? What happened back at the castle?"

Rhen did not feeling up to have a recall and answered with a shrug instead, "Where's Lars and the others? How are they?"

She rose up, but Talia pushed her down gently, "Calm down, Rhen. They're all well. They went back home after all these mess. I've prepared some clothes for you. Go change it. I'll let the others know you've woke up."

~~~

"My dear Rhen," Devin hugged her when she walked to the main hall. "Good to see you alive."

"Good to see you too," Rhen hugged him back. "I dreamed about you and mother."

"Oh? What was the dream about?"

Rhen quickly described the dream that she had. As soon as she stopped talking Devin hugged her tight, "Your mother will be so proud of you."

She let go of him, wept her tears and walked towards the others. The Oracle was standing in front of the door where Rhen obtained the sword.

"Good to see you, sword singer. Did you rest well?" Rhen nodded. "Congratulations for destroying the demon. You must return the Sword of Shadows. The druids will watch over it again. Hopefully it will be forgotten forever."

Rhen handed the sword over to the Oracle, then followed her into the room. The elder put the sword carefully into the sword case, covered it with a silk cloth, and placed it onto the pedestal, safeguarded with ancient magic. After walking out of the room the door magically disappeared.

"Now it's time to determine your fate. You have many important choices of you," the Oracle eyed Rhen. "Which path will you take, sword singer? Will you become a queen? Return to your village? Or become a hermit like your father?"

The questions rang in the air for a seconds before the elder continued, "Think wisely, child. Let me know if you've decided."

She found Eithera conversing with Dameon. They both greeted when she came up. Eithera excused himself to help Oracle with some chores.

"The other druids have gone back to their temples, but Stronghold was destroyed with Ahriman. He's stuck here for a while," he noticed Rhen was not paying attention. He rested his hands onto her shoulders, "You have a hard decision to make. I wish I could go with you, but my duty is here."

"Can you not come with me?" he could feel the sadness in her voice.

"I'm an immortal bound to the sun, my love. Dameon changes over time... they would only hurt us in the end. I wouldn't bear to watch you grow old, while I remained young."

"How sad," Rhen hugged him tight, and the priest brushed her violet hair. The hug lasted for seconds, but to Rhen she wished she could hug him forever. Life is unfair, time is cruel. How she wished she could live with him for eternity. She pushed him away gently, tidied herself and sought the elder.