Resin, Second Chance

After midnight a low pulsing sound woke Owen from a deep sleep. From his second-story window he could see over many of the other buildings inside the city walls. He stood still and listened intently for a long moment. It was the same sound he heard in the square the day before. Something was different now. He could feel the sound. It was not a man-made, he was sure about that. It called to him. He needed to go back to it.

Owen felt a sudden clarity about the world around him. His senses told him that this was his moment, his purpose. He was sure his parents would understand. Nobody would notice if he left the house. He could easily remain hidden in the dark since he was small for his age. He swapped pajamas for pants, put on his favorite shirt, and tucked his hair behind his ears. Three rough iron hinges groaned under their load as he opened the wooden slat door to his bedroom. He slid into the dark hallway and dragged his fingertips along the granite block walls. Several guards would be on duty, but he was not worried about it. Avoiding them would be easy. Oil lanterns gave their locations away. Besides, three-foot-thick stone walls ensured that any sound he made would not travel very far.

After several twists, turns, and pauses, Owen climbed out a kitchen window. He proceeded toward the central square. With every step the pulsing sound grew more intense, but it was not the noise in his ears that got louder. It was an intensification of a vibration he could feel permeating his body.

He enjoyed the peaceful quiet of the city as he walked. Nearly everyone except for the city guards were asleep. The well-worn stones lining the streets felt cool on his bare feet. He zigzagged around buildings and moved in a stop-start fashion through the streets. His eyes had fully adjusted to the darkness. A clear night sky provided just enough light to see the colorless outlines of the buildings’ stone walls and thatch rooftops. Stopping and starting as he walked through town just felt like the right thing to do. Everything seemed so easy. Somehow, he did not see a single person or guard anywhere. He even missed the guards that paced the top of the city wall.

Owen followed the rhythmic pulsing sound to the city’s central square. The square was completely empty. Owen thought, was anyone else hearing it? When he reached the most intense point of the sound, he looked down. It was coming from deep below the square. He stood for a long moment and stared at the stone paver beneath his feet.

Owen could feel the pulsing sound move through his body. The sound felt intentional. It moved with purpose. It seemed to penetrate everything around him. With each pulse, the sound’s intensity grew in his mind. It felt good to stand there absorbing the intensity of it. An image of a glowing white cloud stuck inside a bubble formed in his mind.

A man appeared beside him and grabbed his right hand. “Owen, we must go. Your father sent me. Hurry now.”

Owen did not see the man appear or recognize his voice. He could not see him clearly. The man was a silhouette against the fiery backdrop of burning buildings. All around him rooftops burned, people ran through the streets, and some screamed in panic. Owen wasn’t sure how he could have missed the fires and the sound of fighting when he arrived in the central square. His focus snapped to a group of men with swords running toward him.

Owen grabbed at the man next to him, “Help, get me out of here.”

“This way, come with me.” The man squeezed Owen’s hand and yanked him forcefully out of the central square.

“What happened, what’s going on?” said Owen.

“A surprise attack. Assassins from Elodan started fires. The southern gate was destroyed. They’re everywhere. Come this way.”

Owen ran to keep up with the man as he led him to the stables. His hand was strong, and pain shot up Owen’s arm as he was pulled along.

“Who are you, and where are we going?”

“My name is Shay. I need to get you out of here. A team is waiting for us north of the city. They will escort us to safety. No more time to explain. Come on.”

Owen heard swords clashing and people crying out. Flames jumped across thatch rooftops and surged out of windows. The smell of burning flesh stung his nose. When they reached the stables, Shay deftly saddled two of the strongest horses. He lifted Owen onto one of the horses, and within minutes they rode toward the northern gates of the city. As they rode, Shay and Owen dodged fighting in the streets. When they reached the northern wall, the gate was smashed in. Jagged remains of timber burned on its hinges. A half dozen gate guards were splayed out, dead on the ground.

Owen trembled and his hands shook as they rode across farms to the northern hills. His mind was racing, he thought about previous wars fought for Vacilia. Three years ago, he was only eight years old during the last war with Elodan. He’d spent days hidden with other children in a basement surrounded by men and women who were too old to fight. He thought about the sights he had just witnessed, the scream of a man being stabbed, the smell of his essence spilled into the street, and the dead gate guards on the ground.

The road that led from Vacilia to the northern hills was several miles long. They traversed it much faster than Owen thought possible.

Owen was not sure if he should continue to follow Shay, “Where is the escort?”

“Just ahead.”

A moment later, Owen noticed the outlines of several bodies strewn across the ground. Suddenly, a man jumped out of the darkness with his sword pointed at Owen’s chest. Shay knocked the man to the ground with a swift kick. Owen darted his head back and forth as an arrow swooshed inches away from his nose.

Shay grabbed a lead from Owen’s horse. “They’re dead, we have to keep going. I know a safe place. Let’s go.”

A hard line of trees marked the edge of the hills. Owen kept his head down as they rode into them. By the time they reached the second ridge, the night sky had shifted from black to dark gray, indicating that sunrise was near.

Shay stopped in a valley between ridges and dismounted. “Trade horses with me. You are smaller and mine is tired.”

Owen did as he was told and mounted the horse that Shay was riding, and they took off again. The route they were on was unfamiliar to Owen. The northern hills were normally off limits. He was only allowed to travel in the area with an armed escort. Most people avoided traveling through them unless they had to.

Soon, the saddle beneath him began to wear on his backside and legs, but he dared not complain. He wished he were an accomplished rider like his father and brother. They hit the top of another ridge as the first rays of sunlight came across the land, illuminating a nonstop procession of steep hills and narrow valleys ahead.

Owen was worried about his situation. They had been riding for a long time. “Why are we going so far from Vacilia?”

Shay stopped at the question and turned around to look at Owen. The sun was up, and it clearly lit his face. Shay’s appearance seemed very familiar, though Owen could not recall where or when he had seen him before. His clothing was disheveled and mismatched, a collar on his jacket was tucked under shoulder-length, auburn hair. The skin on his hands and face was dark which seemed out of place with his reddish hair. Deep wrinkles covered the corners of his eyes as he squinted in the early morning sun. A scraggly beard hid part of a scar that was long and jagged. It looked as if the skin had been ripped apart from his right temple to his chin.

Shay said. “Behind you. Watch the top of that ridge. We’ve been followed.”

Two gangly-limbed dark shapes appeared in the distance. Owen jerked his head back to Shay. “What do we do?”

“We keep moving. We need to go to my safe place. Let’s go,” Shay said.

By late afternoon they descended into the northern territory of Aridun.

“How did we get here so quickly?” Owen said. He could see the expansive flat and dry valley of Aridun. He thought to himself, E-V-A is what Mom always said. Elodan to the south, Vacilia in the middle, and Aridun to the north. Owen suspected something was wrong. They were moving too fast, their speed reminded him of the magical enchantments his father could use on a horse.

“I took us on a shortcut. We don’t have much farther to go. If our horses last, we will be there by nightfall.”

Owen whimpered. “I can’t go any farther, my legs are numb, I’m thirsty and terribly hungry, this isn’t right.”

“You can’t stop now. You must keep moving,” Shay said.

Owen was scared, but he was too tired to argue. He relented and nodded at Shay to continue. They moved at a brisk pace, passing through Aridun as the sun set. Owen’s mental state had faded. The rush of energy he felt from their escape was gone. His head bobbed as they rode, his vision blurred. Before Owen realized what was happening, they were a mile into the desert, and he was surrounded by sand dunes.

“Next to that big rock. There.” Shay had his right arm raised. He pointed at a slab of jagged rock that stuck out of a sand dune in the distance.

“Okay, fine, let’s just go,” Owen said, completely defeated. He thought, this is the northern desert, we’re going to die out here, nobody makes it out alive.

When they stopped next to the rock, Owen removed one foot from a stirrup and fell off his horse sideways onto the soft sand.

Shay stood over Owen. He looked into Owen’s eyes and waved. “Follow me. This way.”

“Can’t you carry me?”

“No, I can’t. You need to power yourself. Follow me. Quickly now.”

Owen struggled to his knees. Every muscle in his body ached. He felt more tired than he had ever felt in his life. After a long moment he rose to his feet and stumbled as he followed Shay to the rock. Where Shay stood, a series of stone steps led into the ground.

He tried to think through the situation, but he was too tired to think clearly. Nothing made any sense. All he wanted to do was lie down and sleep. He closed his eyes for a long moment. When he reopened them, Shay was gone. A cold wind blew across his face. He put his foot on the first step, fell forward, and tumbled down the stairs.

Owen opened his eyes and found himself in a soft bed as a warm gentle breeze blew across his face. Gray stone walls were brightly illuminated by sunlight that poured through big windows. Through them he could see a beautiful blue sky with puffy white clouds. The air smelled of saltwater and he heard waves breaking in the distance. He was wearing new clothes and felt rested. He rose from the bed and looked from the windows. He realized he was in a tall building three floors off the ground, overlooking a beach. Clear, deep, aqua-blue water massaged the shores with picturesque seafoam at the edges of the waves. A door behind him opened and startled Owen.

“I didn’t mean to scare you,” Shay said.

Shay was exactly the same as the day before. He had not bathed or changed clothes. Even the smudges of dirt on his face were unchanged.

“Where are we and how did we get here?” Owen said.

“This is my safe place. We arrived a little while ago. Here, I have something for you.”

On the other side of the room a small wooden chest sat atop a white stone table. Owen walked to the chest as Shay opened it. Inside it he found a sparkling amulet with a fist sized red gemstone in its center. It had a golden chain attached to it. Owen stared at the amulet, transfixed by the gemstone’s depth of color. It had perfectly cut surfaces that refracted the sunlight into tight rainbows. To his amazement the gemstone seemed to be internally illuminated and pulsated with a familiar rhythmic sound.

“It’s for you. Put it on,” Shay spoke in a smooth reassuring tone.

Owen felt compelled to touch it. He reached into the chest. He brought the stone close to his face. Though it was obviously a stone, it felt warm and soft. He put the chain around his neck and instinctively clutched the stone at his chest. A rush of power surged through Owen and a sense of euphoria came over him.

“Thank you.” A deep guttural voice boomed in Owen’s ears.

He was suddenly wearing the same filthy clothes from the day before. The light in the room faded. Owen could see sand everywhere, and he realized that he was still in the desert. The pleasant room was an illusion. Pain erupted from the amulet at Owen’s chest and he cried out in terror. He reached for Shay, but he was gone. Owen was alone. The room dissolved around him until everything was dark and he could not see. The only light emanated from the stone on his chest. Pain shot through him, and he fell to his knees.

Owen tore at the gemstone. He tried to grasp it and pull it away, but it was attached to him. He cried as he ripped off his shirt. The stone had begun to move. Terror overcame him as small talons grew out of the stone and tore into the thin skin on his chest. Blood ran down his torso as it dug in. A sudden heat emanated from the stone and the smell of his own burning flesh made him berserk. He thrashed and groaned as the heat intensified and the stone burrowed its way into him. His arms felt heavy and useless. The pain in his chest subsided, and he fell to the ground unconscious.