Blood Ties

Chapter 8: Goliath's Games

When Trisa awoke in a half daze, she found her body lying limply in Goliath's arms. As he was carrying her Goliath was mumbling, half to her half to himself. "Lucky I found you, and not somebody else I thought I felt the magic in the woods, but shhh will keep that between you and me little lovely. Silly girl could've gotten yourself killed. Hmmmmm."

He held her gently, but firmly under the knees and behind her back, her face pressed to his muscled chest. Trisa drifted in and out of consciousness, confused at what she's just heard. He knew it had been her in the woods releasing all that magic, yet the Barbarian leader didn't seem intent on persecuting her. That was just plain weird; she drifted once again to sleep.

She returned to consciousness at the sound of his sandals gently tapping the stone corridor she'd run through earlier that night. Before she knew it, he was placing her in bed brushing her hair off of her forehead. Trisa continued to feign sleep, imagining it would be incredibly awkward to have a conversation.

Trisa tried desperately not to tense at his touch. She didn't very much like being touched in such a tender fashion by a person she didn't know it was intrusive somehow. "You're lovely for a Maji you know. I always thought Fae were supposed to have the most captivating appearances, but then I've only known a handful of Fae as it were." He was talking to her has if she were still asleep like everything he said was more for himself, as if he'd wanted to tell someone such things for a long time, but had kept such thoughts quiet among his Barbaric companions.

"It's nice to sense somebody's magic, but it does bring about problems.... I'm a leader in a rebellion you know. The face in the fight against injustice, not for justice mind you, but against certain crimes that just can't be allowed to ...." He drifted off voice stricken. He leaned down and whispered into Trisa 's ear "We're going to have a lot of fun."

After Goliath had left Trisa's room, she laid there until she drifted into a restless sleep. Trisa began to have the one reoccurring dream that had been with her every night since she'd left the Kingdoms. The dreams always started the same with new additions as the days passed. Colton is the only person Trisa wanted to be around. Throughout their life, though it always seemed Trisa's ties to Seventh's Royalty got in the way. She'd have to spend weeks or months of time away from her best friend during school or banquet seasons. Their friendship had remain rock solid, though, not a moment of regret between them.

This dream twisted that all around exposing to Trisa all of her subconscious fears. Colton was his perfectly amiable self, his beautiful hunter green eyes, wavy dark brown hair, and his now lean muscled figure.

Colton is smiling at her with his boyish grin. When suddenly Ryi appears pulling Colton aside, starting to gesticulate with grave and disparaging expressions. Trisa tosses and turns in her sleep as she tries to run towards them, but no matter how many steps she takes she never reaches them in time. The only audible words that can be heard are those uttered from Ryi's lips, as he shoves Colton's shoulder, "She left you for a reason." Words dripping with a seething anger Trisa doesn't understand.

In a swirl of misty white the scene changes, the burnt up forest of Barbarous surrounds her, and Goliath sits in a tree above her, light emitting from the palms of his hands. Not quite like the radiating glow of a Magi's magic, but almost like a light. Humming a low baritone tune with soft slurs into lighter tones. Goliath playfully swirls the iridescent light between his hands. The song he hums, it's familiar to Trisa, but she can't quite place it. Her head tilted in curiosity as she watches the soldier. Ducking behind a tree Trisa watches, as the fearsome becomes the playful, finding it disturbingly endearing. Goliath begins to make iridescent shapes from the light, a women's face begins to form. A tiara starts budding on her head when suddenly the trees begin to vibrate and scream. Piercing screams in pitches so painful Trisa once again finds herself slumping against a tree. The dream shatters. She sits bolt upright her room glowing orange. In slack jaw terror, Trisa turned to find her headboard on fire.