Echoes of the Past

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen: A Dance With The Past 

Dull clouds swam through the darkening purple sky over Toolin. Accompanied by a few faint stars, the bright moon of Dendo bathed the town in its grey-green light.

James stood on the roof of Tabetha's house, taking in the warm evening air. He leaned on a railing and looked out at the lights of the town below. On a lower level ahead was the flat roof of the rest of the house, the tops of the houses across the street showing beyond it.

The desert air had a distinct earthy, muddy quality to it, and somehow also felt cleaner than the air in Tyken Town. A melodic music was rising up from the street; a soft tune of bells and harmonic singing from people below. It would have been soothing at any other time, but right now his mind raced with troubling thoughts.

He saw himself as if looking from the outside, seeing an overview of his existence. He strove to comprehend who he was, even if he could hardly understand who he once was. The man that Sam had described sounded so different to the person James was today. He could not even imagine being someone who fought so bravely. Who lead assaults and took charge of situations. The son of someone who sounded so powerful.

What would James do if, or when, the Dark Sorcerer ever found him? Or his father's rival, Doon? Now James had the name of the man responsible for his memory loss, he would have to learn as much as he could about the warlord. A shiver ran through him as he thought about the big forces at work around him. The impossible scope of the galaxy out there, and his possible connections to it all.

He had a lot more to learn, and a lot more training to do.

He still couldn't quite wrap his head around everything that had happened these past few days; how he had got caught up in the investigation into a hidden army that was being formed by thousands of abducted people from all over the galaxy. He hoped that it would be a simple matter of finding the right proof, and sending the authorities to Higero Jaxx. And let them deal with him. All he really wanted was to just be able to move on with his new life, and to start his own search for his father, who was still out there somewhere. Or so James hoped.

The old man who first revealed James's true past to him, Den Keenosh, had once said to him: You don't want to end up a lonely, grumpy old man, and not have the fond memories to know you were truly loved, that you lived your life to the best of your potential.

James shook the thought away. He knew that Den was right. He had to remind himself to be strong and to keep moving forward, and not dwell on the past. Both pasts. His old military life and his two years in Tyken Town. He was his own person now, and he would have to learn to be whoever he was. Only moments earlier he had promised Sam that he would be stronger from here on out. And James had already proven he was still weak when faced with challenging moments. This is what he wanted, though. He wanted to know everything about his past, even if it was a lot to take in.

He cursed himself. He was fed up of continually promising himself that he would try harder and be better, and constantly letting everyone down.

Movement came from behind. He turned to see Tabetha stepping out of the roof hatch that led back into the house. She cleared the last rungs of the ladder and approached him.

James paused at the sight of her. A white gown was wrapped around her body, held tightly in the waist with a wide silk sash. Her hands were lost in voluminous long sleeves, bare legs showing under the flared hemline that reached mid-thigh. Her dark hair was brushed and straightened, bordering her heart-shaped face.

"I thought I will find you here." There was a gravelly undertone to her soft voice. She slid next to him, standing close and watched him with her heavy, sleepy eyes. She smelled like warm honey.