The moment the stars appeared before him Kelson knew the dream was not a normal one. The flickering lights in the sky were too bright, alive as if they were jumping about in some crazed ritual. He recognized constellations; Aihnk with his great jaws open, clawing at the heaven’s in triumph of his return home, and cloudy Sael’s Path, southwest of the moons who were half full, just as they were when he’d gone to sleep.
No one familiar was near. Not Marinus, Inahra, Caridan, nor Gho or Vohrie or the other thirty people that had joined them over the past week. When he stood, he felt unsteady, as if the ground was tipping underneath his feet.
There was one presence, though. The night was so dark he couldn’t see anyone among the hard shadows of the trees at first, but he could sense them, in the back of his mind, in the hairs of his neck standing on end.
“You look afraid. You should be.”
Kelson whipped around at the voice to find his own face staring back at him. No, not his own; the same in shape, feature, and color, yet a different person. Avedis. His hair was longer by a forearm’s length, braided away from his face. His clothes were ones Kelson could not possibly have imagined himself in, rich and finely made, with intricate details his eyes could hardly follow. “Why should I be? This is a dream.”
“It’s not just dream,” Avedis shook his head, stepping closer.
“What do you want?”
“Hear me out, that’s all I ask. It might save your life.”
Kelson didn’t want to hear much of anything Avedis had to say. What kind of person would so readily invade someone else’s mind, hinting at threats and anger? He took a step backwards, feeling for his sword, though the weight on his hip was missing. Avedis only followed, uncrossing his arms.
“Turn around, and go back to Charisia, or wherever it is you came from. It’s where you belong. There is nothing for you in Ilaquoi except pain and death, I will make sure of that.”
“I’m just trying to find the truth,” Kelson said, his heart pulsing hard in his chest, “I want to know who my family is, if what Monelly told me is true.”
“The two of us speaking here is proof enough that it is. There is nothing for you in the city. Our father is an evil man, you will get no love from him; our mother is a broken woman, sickly and resigned.” He paused, one of his fists unclenching at his side, tensing as if he were waiting for something to happen. “And I already hate you. I have waited to become king for nine years, and if you think I'm going to step aside and let you have it…"
"I don't want to be your enemy.”
"You already are."
Kelson’s mind reached for words that wouldn't form. Before he could utter a sound, the trees around them and the stars shivered, and disappeared, and so did Avedis, all of it falling into blackness at once.
He woke with a start, feeling feverish and shaky. His mouth watered as if he were about to be sick. A dull ache rose in his head as he propped himself up on one arm, and looked about the dark camp with panic, trying to separate the visions from reality.
Through the treetops he could just see the moons beginning their descent, drowning in the predawn glare. There were mounds scattered all around him, his traveling companions still in the throes of peaceful sleep. Dark brown trunks rose up, narrow and high, topped by rounded, ovular caps of fluffy green leaves. A few days before, they had picked up mounts in Shillian. One of the hyuruks grunted loudly when it saw Kelson move and the sound startled him. He pushed away his sleeping roll and approached the hobbled animals. Their earless heads were raised, their eyes sharp, tails flicking away the insects that were rising with the sun.
“Shh, its all right,” he cooed, rubbing the sleek, muscled hide, combing through the thick mane hanging from the animal’s neck. He glanced nervously around the camp, but everything seemed in order.
Even as the dream began to fade from his mind, Kelson felt a darkness pressing in on him, a sense of dread and foreboding more powerful than when he had left Charisia. Was the nightmare just a product of his fears? Had pictures of Avedis’ face created such a potent image of his in his mind for him to see something like that? He pressed his lips to sleek, comforting fur, and felt as though he never wanted to sleep again.
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