Encroaching Darkness

Chapter 4

The interior of the barn was cool and filled with a dusty, dim light. Animals in their stalls slept quietly, waiting until Adelia and Tam came back in the evening to feed them or work with them further. At the back, Blasa's destination, Barnaby and Stardust stood with their heads over their stall doors, whickering softly to each other. Petting Barnaby on the side of his face, Blasa slipped into Stardust's stall and sat down in the far corner, where it was dark, cool, and out of sight.

Heaving a sigh, Blasa drew her knees up to her chest and buried her face in her arms, closing her eyes and watching little specks of color dance behind her closed eyelids. Slowly, the little specks she called her friends began to bleed together to form an image, and Blasa groaned, praying whatever she was about to see wasn't too awful.

The colors solidified into a bloody hand, the tan skin and bright red blood vibrant against the deep green of the grass it laid in. Bare feet and the hems of tan pants were at the bottom of her field of vision, and Blasa recognized them as her own feet and the pants she was wearing, down to the freckle on the inside of her big toe.

Before she could see who the bloody forearm belonged to, Blasa was pulled out of her vision by Stardust nuzzling into her hair. The girl looked up at the horse, reaching up to softly stroke her cheek. She smiled as the roan rubbed her velvety grey nose around on Blasa's face, drying the tears that the girl hadn't realized were on her cheeks. Stardust's deep brown eyes stared back into Blasa's grey irises, and she rubbed the girl's cheek with her nose again, blowing Blasa's pale blonde hair off of her forehead with her warm breath.

The door to the barn squealed open again and a bright beam of daylight speared through the darkness of the barn.

"Blasa," the girl heard her name, floating to her in Once's voice. By the tone of his voice, he was clearly concerned, and guilt began to well up in Blasa's stomach, but she didn't answer him.

"Blasa?" Tam's voice was up in the loft, worried.

Light washed over the interior of the stall, and the shadow of a head fell over Blasa. Looking up, she was met with the worried eyes of her mother. Adelia climbed over the half-stall door and sat down in the hay with her daughter, wrapping an arm tightly around the girl's shoulders. Blasa leaned against Adelia's shoulder, closing her eyes. Adelia laid her cheek on her daughter's hair, hugging her tightly and sighing.

"You don't have to feel guilty, you know," Adelia whispered. "I'm sorry we never told you, baby girl."

Turning into her mother's side, Blasa buried her face in Adelia's shoulder. Adelia wrapped her arms tighter around Blasa's thin body, hugging her close.

"Del?" Tam sounded worried. He also sounded much closer, and the hay and dust had stopped coming from the loft, so he was probably down on the ground now. "Did you find her?"

"In here," Adelia called. Blasa whimpered, hiding her face in her mother's chest. Adelia's hands rose up and wound into Blasa's long, elbow-length hair, rubbing her scalp comfortingly. "We aren't mad, baby," she assured the young girl. "We were just worried because we knew you were upset and then you vanished."

Blasa frowned, her eyes still closed, her cheek still resting against Adelia's chest. "I'm sorry, Mama..."

"Blasa, it's alright," Adelia kissed her daughter's head. "As long as you're okay, nothing else matters to me. I'm so sorry we've made you feel left out or out of the loop or however we've made you feel by not telling you everything that happened. It's hard for me to talk about it, and I didn't realize I was hurting you by keeping quiet." Sighing and cradling the girl in her arms when Blasa crawled into her lap, Adelia held the twelve-year-old close to her. "You're my world, Blasa. My daughter, the light of my life. You are the most important thing in the world to me. More than the world itself, you are the center of everything in my life."

Curling up against Adelia, Blasa closed her eyes, willing away the tunnelling of her eyesight which signified the approach of a vision. Adelia was still talking; Blasa could hear the intonations of her words, the timbre of her voice, but she couldn't make out what she was saying.

"Mama," she whimpered, clutching the sleeve of Adelia's sweater as her vision went out completely, the world fading from brightly colored and detailed to little more than featureless grey fuzz in front of her irises. Her eyes unfocused, and she laid in Adelia's arms limply, staring, unseeing, at the vertex of the wall and the floor.

Adelia, not getting a response to what she had said, craned her neck to look at Blasa's face. Seeing the girl's pupils blown wide, her mouth hanging slightly open, and her arm flopping limply to the floor when she was moved was enough to make Adelia's blood run cold.

"Tam," she cried, "Tam, there's something wrong with Blasa!"

Adelia gathered Blasa's limp limbs into her arms, trying to keep the girl's small body off of the floor. Tam's boots pounded across the cement of the barn floor, and the more muted sounds of Once's soft-soled shoes followed him. The two men threw open the stall door, entirely disregarding Stardust, who stood in the corner, docile and quiet. The roan stood, unmoving, her soulful brown eyes watching Blasa with an almost human-like worry.

Tam knelt down in front of Adelia and Blasa, but before he could scoop Blasa into his arms to take her back to the house, Once took one look at the girl and practically pushed Tam out of the way. Once gingerly took Blasa from Adelia and cradled her in his thin and wiry arms, holding her tightly and muttering quietly to her. He spoke too low for Adelia and Tam to hear him, but slowly, Blasa began to come around, first blinking slowly then groaning. She looked up at Once, then immediately, she burst into tears.

The old man gathered Blasa more into his arms and cradled her gently, rocking her back and forth and shushing her. Adelia, feeling helpless, scooted over closer to Once and rubbed Blasa's head comfortingly.

"What did you See, child," Once asked after Blasa's sobs had begun to subside.

"Death," she whimpered. "Lots and lots of death."

"Whose, Blasa," Adelia asked softly.

Blasa burst into a fresh waves of sobs. "Everyone's," she wailed. "All of you! Dead and gone and lost forever, all without figuring out what happened to us!"

"Oh, baby," Adelia crooned, stroking her daughter's hair. "Are you sure it wasn't just a day-mare?"

Once gave Adelia a look that said, We will discuss this later, then returned his attention to Blasa, who was clutching his coat like her life depended on it.

"The future can be changed, right Once? Please, please tell me that what I just saw isn't certain," she begged, sobbing and clinging to his shirt.

"Of course it is not certain, child. Nothing is set in stone until it happens." Soothingly, Once rocked Blasa back and forth. "Would you like to go discuss the vision alone?"

Blasa nodded, always finding solace in Once's insights on their seemingly shared abilities. The old man stood, still cradling Blasa in his arms. Adelia stood too, kissing Blasa on the forehead. It was obvious on her face as she followed Once out of the stall that she was reluctant to let go of Blasa's hand, which she clutched with a vise-like grip until Tam reached out and pulled her back, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

Once paused, turning to look over his shoulder at Adelia with a kind smile. "I will take care of her, Adelia," he promised, shifting Blasa in his arms so that he could reach over and give Adelia a one armed hug and then pat Tam comfortingly on the shoulder.

"We know ya will, Once," Tam looked worriedly at Blasa, but wrapped his arm tightly around Adelia so that the girl and Once could have their space.

Hey guys! I'm sorry this chapter is a day late. I guess I must have lost track of what day it was at some point over the weekend! Anyway, since I'm here, what do you think is up with Blasa? If you read the first book, do you think there's any connection to what she told Once about at the end? Let me know; I'd love to hear what you think!

Catch you on the flip side! (Of the page!)