"My name is Absalom, and this much i know to be true. I am not as old as i appear to the world. My reason for coming back is unclear. But i have a purpose that i must uncover before this life ends...." These words had become etched into my memory, much like a reoccurring bad dream. The only difference was that my nightmare was so much more than just a figment of imagination, more than just an element of fear created by my subconscious as an effort to provide needed insight to a certain situation in my life. No,these words in the passage above are a reminder of who I am. More importantly they are what i am so far.
All glimpses of my previous life with Calina, my sweet daughter Alluia, my brave little soldier Cyprian, all of the fond times flashed through my memory, and when i awoke from my blissful silence i awoke in an other unfamiliar place. This time, however, there was beautiful girl crying for my attention, no dust ridden cobblestone home, no farm nor field. As it happened to be, there was nothing. No life around for miles, all that stood around me were ash covered remains of buildings. Perfectly frozen in time, people, houses, buildings that were once full of congressional, public, and private events. Then, from the ash covered ground, i arose. In the very near horizon loomed a relic of this towns past, mountainous in size, and by the looks gargantuan in its destruction. Many weeks later, after wandering around looking for any signs of civilization, a kind-hearted traveler gave me the information i sought. Pompeii, the year 500 Anno Domini, under rule of a new power. A man known as the King of the Ostrogoths, King Theodoric the great and his kin. As i bid farewell to this kind-hearted soul i couldn't shake the feeling that for all that i had missed in time, not much had changed.
This town is far different from the one i just ventured from. Full of life, joy, more importantly food. I should eat.
These where my first thoughts. I wasnt worried about what little i had on, nor how badly injured my feet where from walking without covers for my feet. All these things where suppressed by the overwhelming hunger I had. As I walked through the town that I had been dropped off in, I took in the sights and sounds around me. The marketplace was the epicenter of both trade and daily social interaction between the townsfolk and the rest of the world. While looking for a place to eat I ran into a familiar face.
She was in the marketplace browsing the fruit stand. Apples and grapes filled her hand woven basket to the brim. Her smile sent out a warmth into the world around her that could be felt by all who gathered around her. Tailia, this was the name she went by in this lifetime.
Something about this woman felt familiar, comfortable. At the time I had not yet drawn the conclusion that would make all my past remembrances make sense.
Walking through that crowded stretch of market made one thing very clear, this town would be my new home in this lifetime, and I had found someone precious to me. A person that I felt I lost forever. I found Caelina.
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The first months in this new world were spent shifting from job to job. First I was a farm hand, then a tavern hand, after that I worked as an undertaker for the local church. None where told of who I truly was, for fear of being tossed to the executioner on heresy charges.
Finally, I found my way into the Italian armada. I was a soldier once again. The intense labor that came with being an armada soldier were new to me. My lives prior to this were spent solely on land, and the only time I went to water was for a drink or to fish. Nevertheless i learned the ways of the sea easily.
My first battle was both exhilarating and terrifying. Cannon fodder seeded the entire bow of our gargantuan ship. As the enemy seemingly had won our battle, somehow their stash of gunpowder was set ablaze. I always assumed that a stray cannonball hit the underside and caused the explosion. But nonetheless my first encounter with sea warfare was over in an instant, and with out victory we watched as the enemy ship sank, and captured, or all together executed, what ever stray enemies survived the explosion.
Years went by aboard that old sea swaying ship. By the time I returned I was 5 years wiser to the world around me, but the entire time I spent making my way back to that little port town I was thinking of one thing only. My Caelina. Although I suppose it only to be fair to call her by now she is know now, Tailia.
I made my way from Naples to a place now known as Benevento. This was the town that I was left at by the kind traveler. As I marched through the once lively town, I had come to fully grasp how long I was away. The marketplace had all but been abandoned by its customers and merchants. The only thing left untouched was the tavern at which I had worked before my life on the sea. Hoping to find a familiar face, I stopped in. Little did I know this was where I'd run into a very familiar face, by the whiskey cask near an old portrait painting of Theodoric the great, I only knew this was of him thanks to a little piece of gold plated lettering that adorned to base of the picture frame. Alone, glowing in the candle light, as beautiful as she was in her previous life, stood Talia. She was a bar maiden. And I was in the mood for a strong drink.
"I feel like I've known you my whole life, maybe even longer. It's an odd yet comforting feeling. I hope this doesn't unnerve you. " Talia was as sweet as I could remember her being before. Trying not to smile to giddily, I said "I was just about to tell you the same." This brought both of us closer, and as we spent the rest of the night on each other's hearts and mind, telling stories of the life we had lead up until this very moment, I couldn't help thinking how much I wanted this night to go on for eternity.
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The sun rose up in a peculiar mood on this beautiful fall day. In such a way that it made me uncomfortable. 3 years had past since my fortuitous meeting with Talia in the tavern. They had been the best three years of my lifetime thus far. We married, decided against having children, both of us were at the point past child birth and raising. After all we were well into our 30's. Shocking news for modern times but back then this was quite old. We owned a home bought with savings from my days in the navy, it sat close to a cliff that overhung the sea. It was a cute home, with stone walls, a decent living space, and a barn attached at the back. Every day we spent time together out in the barn cleaning stalls, feeding the hens and cattle. Usually we would capture the sunrise as it peaked over the water covered horizon. But not this morning. For this morning, as I walked to see the morning sunrise with my Talia, we gazed not in awe, but horror. For sitting just at the edge of our horizon sat the full force of an invading army.
With the army to our backs we packed our house in a hurry, only grabbing the essentials. And only as much as we could evenly carry.
For we knew all to well what this meant. That war was here, and as lucky as we were to leave when we did, we knew just how quickly not just ourselves, but the entirety of our homeland would be engulfed in the blaze of war.
To speak plainly, I never cared to know what army decided to challenge ours. Much like that very same army did not care who Talia was to me, nor what carnage I was capable of committing. We had escaped back to Naples where we thought we would be safe. Weeks went by with no news on the invaders, we had become blinded by a false sense of security.
It began in the late hours of the night, when most were asleep. However for some odd reason I could not bring myself to fall into this state of peaceful slumber. Something inside of me knew all to well the horrors that awaited me, and deprived me of the rest which I sought. Looking back I only wish that I had known how horribly the extent of what was to come would be.
She died in my arms, surrounded by bloodied clothes and cannon fire. Her body torn the ribbons by the very same cannon fire that now surrounded her lifeless body. As I watched my life fade from the one whom carried my world with her, the only feeling I felt was rage. To which end I sought was no more than utter annihilation of the people who took my life from me. And that is exactly what I was going to do, and what was done. Emerging from the dilapidated remains of the building we took shelter from, I was released like a caged beast upon its tormentors. Unarmed I was more powerful and threatening that and army that stood one thousand strong. For my wrath had no limitations, and was reaped into all that donned the enemies armor. From my origin point, which was in the center of the city, I made my way through brigades and platoons or soldiers, viciously tearing heads from bodies, organs from abdomins, gouging eyes from skulls, and as I stood drenched with the blood of and army, my hunger for death only grew.
I marched from the center of Naples, to its westwardly outskirts, patrolling the parimeter like a tiger entrapping its prey, then started my descent into the thicket of battle. Annihilating every bastard that stood before me, for they barely resembled the ones who took my love from me, at this point that fact was of no condolence. I was drowning in emotion, tears streaked my blood soaked face, rage eminated from my battle worn body. And all I could see before me was Talia, laying lifeless under a starry midnight sky.
In a single night, with minimal help from the armies of Italy, I destroyed what was left of the army that took my love from me. One would think that the town of Naples would be grateful for the carnage I had wrought within it. The local government however saw my service as an unholy act of God, and strung my body by all four limbs. Then they militia were ordered to a bout of target practice for the new spear battalion. I died from bloodloss two days later. And they left me up there for a week after as a message. I thought this was it, I thought I'd finally, after all this time, I'd greet my families in the afterlife with open arms. For a brief second I remember hearing their loving words, so close as if I could almost hold them. Then I was pulled away. Cast down yet again.
To what, I hadn't a clue at the time.
YOU ARE READING
The Lives That I Have Lived
Historical Fiction"Have you ever felt like you're not really meant to be in this era?" This was a question asked to me when I was young. My brother Wilhelm was the one who asked. I didn't have the guts to tell him the truth. That I don't belong to this time. That I'm...
