The Beginning Ch. 19-20

I recanted what had happened during my spar with Senga, and my experience with the weird dream from before, and Vaishnavi's brows furrowed deeper as I spoke.

"This is definitely a first," she mused, as she studied my defenses for a second time. "The good news is that your mind definitely hasn't been invaded."

"And the bad news?"

"It isn't a Bond forming, like I'd hoped. There have been instances where Companions have found it harder to bridge the gap between their realm and ours for the first time, and have only been able to communicate in short bursts. None of the instances described battle prowess, which is probably why Lisbet dismissed it, but I still held some hope."

"Do you need to check my memories, too, just to be sure?"

"No, I don't. An invaded mind feels wrong. To me, it almost seems like a slimy, oily substance is coating the portal into that mind. Yours, however, is completely clear. Your defenses are clearly intact. This isn't happening because you've been taken over by a Dark."

"That's a relief!"

"Partially, yes. The fact remains that we don't actually know what's happening with you. It may be a new Gift— which would put you at four, which is already unusual— or it could be something else. While it's clearly not malicious, I still think that we need to be cautious with how we proceed."

"What do you have in mind?"

"First off, we keep this quiet. Only Ronald, Lisbet, Senga, Swati, and myself should know for now."

"Not even Rishiji?"

"No, not even him. He's been on high alert recently because of the uptick in Dark activity, and millennia of wisdom or not, he's human and prone to making mistakes. The last thing we need is for him to share the information with Byrav, and for that to lead to another trial or you being arrested."

"Well, okay, that's fair. But what is this about increased Dark activity?"

"A story for another time. But for now, we tell nobody else. Understand?"

"Can I tell Rayka?"

"Well, I suppose so. If it manifests while you're with her, it'd be better if she could provide an external perspective as well."

Thoughts of being with Rayka caused flashes of everything we'd gotten up to the previous night to flicker across the portal to my mind, sending a blush rushing across my face.

"Not quite what I had in mind," Vaishnavi said, giggling, "but if it comes up, ask her to take notes."

"Can we leave now?" I asked, completely embarrassed.

In response, she terminated the Mindlink, the portal to her mind winking out of existence as she faded away. Right before I returned to my own body, I thought that I saw a flash of white out of the corner of my eye. Whirling around, I studied my surroundings closely, but it was all the same homogenous black. Shrugging, I returned and opened my eyes.

Vaishnavi had taken the delay in my rousing to notify Ronald and Lisbet about our plan of action. Ronald would pass it on to Swati, and Lisbet would bring Senga into the loop. All that remained was for me to tell Rayka.

I knew that she had her own martial practice sessions that afternoon, so I took advantage of the time I had alone to actually cook her a meal. When you have the ability to magic up a dish that tastes perfect every single time, your appreciation for a cooked meal goes up a notch. Both of us had a soft spot for Indian food and for seafood, so I made her some prawns in a rich mango curry, served with some Indian flatbread called "chapatis".

I had to go shopping for the ingredients, since we almost never stored food in the house, but managed to time it just right; it was almost done by the time she got home. She breathed in deeply as she walked in, and I could see her face light up as she realized what I was doing.

"I told you that buying a gas stove and utensils was a good idea!" she gushed, as she rushed to give me a hug.

"Go take a shower and get changed," I told her, as I took another puffy pillow of goodness off the stove, and rolled out the next chapati.

She nodded and left to do that, while I finished cooking and set the table. We sat down and dug in once she was done, a comfortable silence falling over our house as we enjoyed our meal.

"I'm stuffed!" she declared, sitting back with a huff and patting her belly.

"I'm glad you liked it," I said, chuckling at her antics.

"Are you kidding? I loved it! However, if this was your way to try to get me to agree to anal or something, it wasn't the best move. I'm too stuffed for you to stuff me tonight."

She smiled innocently, knowing full well that the combination of how casually she'd said that and the risqué nature of her statement would have me raging hard. Well, usually, anyway.

"Bad puns aside—"

"Hey, you know you loved that pun!"

"Bad puns that I loved, aside, that wasn't why I cooked. Rayka, we need to talk."

The smile was wiped off her face in an instant, and the mood in the room suddenly turned chilly.

"Not that talk!" I reassured her quickly, "Something happened while I was training with Senga today."

"Something bad?" she asked, seeming slightly relieved that it wasn't what she'd thought.

"Yeah, it was," I said with a sigh, going on to narrate the whole series of events that had transpired over the afternoon.

"Oh, honey," she cooed, walking over to sit in my lap and give me a hug. "I can't imagine how scared you must have been, imagining that you may have been compromised."

"It was terrifying," I agreed, hugging her tightly, my voice muffled by her breasts.

"Don't you worry," she said, as she stroked my head, "I won't let anything ever happen to you. You're safe with me, my love. Whatever this may be, we'll figure it out together, okay?"

"There's more," I said with a sigh, pulling back so I could look her in the eye as I told her the truth about my dream.

"I knew something was up with you," she whispered, cupping my face softly with her hands. "Why didn't you tell me? Why did you carry all this inside and try to shoulder it alone?"

"Because I love you," I responded, kissing her palm. "Like I told you, I don't know what all this is— nobody does, apparently— and so, I didn't want to worry you. I'm telling you now because I think they may be connected."

"Connected?"

"I don't remember it too clearly, but I think that my voice in the dream or memory or whatever, was the same voice that I heard in my head today."

"That doesn't make any sense. Did you tell the others?"

"No, because I'm really not sure. You know what it's like hearing your own voice. It's different when you hear it in your head, and different when you hear it on a recording. At the same time, there are some things that make it clear that it's yours. This feels like that."

"And you're sure it wasn't just your own voice? You've been getting really good with the quarterstaff, you know. You might just have been thinking moves through."

"No, that wasn't me. I may think of some blocks or counters, but without tapping into Battle Sense, there's no way that I'd be able to predict Senga's moves based on her positioning and posture. She's too good to telegraph herself that much."

"Yes, but—"

"There's also the fact," I interrupted her, wanting to come clean, "that some of the moves I made today are nowhere in my repertoire. They were so out there, that even Senga didn't plan for them. Rayka, I shoved my quarterstaff into the ground and used it to execute a backflip-kick, before yanking it out hard, just so that I could shower her with dirt. Does that even remotely sound like something I would think to do?"

I could feel the gears turning in her head as she searched for some way to refute my claim, but she came up empty. Sighing, I tapped her hip twice to indicate that I wanted to stand up, before starting to clear the dishes. She pitched in, and we made quick work of washing and drying everything I'd used that night.

"So," I asked, as I dried my hands, wanting to change the topic, "any chance you have some room for me-flavored dessert?"

She blinked like an owl, my sudden departure from the realm of the serious to that of bad pick-up lines taking her by surprise, before she burst into laughter.

"That was a good one," she chortled, wiping tears away. "Unfortunately, no."

I shrugged in response, my question having done its job and lightened up the atmosphere. We settled on just cuddling as we fell asleep, both our brains undoubtedly gnawing at the same issue.

*****

"Oh, how you have grown, my Hero," a voice that I hadn't heard in years whispered out through the darkness. "The years have been kind to you. This makes me happy.

"You are strong and you are growing wise, but neither strength nor wisdom can sway the course of time. And Time is coming. You have heard it. You have seen how it began. Now we will see how it ends.

"Your challenges will soon begin, my Hero. I hope for your triumph and mourn for all that you will lose. None shall ever pay a price as hefty as yours. Yet, you alone can.

"We will meet soon, my Hero. You will not know me. You will not remember. Those are the rules. This time, we must win. There cannot be another.

"We will meet soon, and all will be decided. The Beginning shall meet with the Ending. The circle will close. We must stand victorious."

*****

A/N: If you've enjoyed reading this tale, please consider voting for the story or leaving a comment or shooting me an email. You're more than welcome to do so anonymously. There's nothing better than reading that someone likes your work!

If any of you have any questions, I'd be more than happy to start answering them, as well. Thanks for reading this far!