exhaled loudly.
“You really know how to screw people up don’t you.”
He stood motionless.
Alex turned away to stare at the frozen tree line.
“So where does my brother fit into all this? I thought he was supposed to be the one being woken up.”
He watched her, so thin and frail looking, yet he had already seen that there was strength there.
“We were betrayed,” he said before sighing. “Look, this is not easy to tell you, Alex.”
She turned to look at him. “Well, you’ve done a pretty good job so far, so why not rack it up.”
He looked away again, unable to meet her stare.
“We believed your brother was the chosen one, the Warder who would take over from Gwen.”
“I know,” Alex interrupted. “I’ve had to listen to it all for the last five years, but I didn’t realize it was going to be real.”
“Can I finish?” he snapped at her.
She held her hands up.
“Sure thing.”
Falk took a deep breath before continuing.
“The energy is tainted. There is a river of darkness, a force of evil. It is the source of power for those who follow the Dark.”
He raised his eyes to meet hers.
“Those like your brother.”
Alex stared at him, her mouth open.
“What the hell are you talking about? Paul is not evil!”
“He was trained in all our arts, told things, shown things, things that should never have been in the hands of the Dark.” He breathed deeply, anger rising within him. “He led them here Alex, led them here to kill us all, to stop the awakening. Look around you,” he raised his arm to sweep around the clearing. “This is all his doing.”
She stepped closer to him, her body shaking.
“What are you saying? That you fed him all these lies and it was just bullshit?”
Falk stepped backwards.
“We were tricked Alex. Somehow Myrkur hid the dark energy within him.”
Alex felt her own anger boiling up inside her.
“So you drag him into your world, fill his head with dreams and ideas, and now when it’s gone wrong you just abandon him?”
“There is nothing I can do,” cried Falk. “He is a pawn of Myrkur, of the Dark. It is out of my hands.”
Alex was incensed. “And you seriously think I am going to hang around and play along with you now after hearing this?”
“Alex, please...” He gave up and began to back away, for he could take this no longer.
“I must search. Look for any survivors, for Serenti.”
He turned and ran towards the Oak, and as he moved away from her his form seemed to blur and then he was gone, and in his place a sleek, dark-colored falcon clawed its way into the sky, sharp wings beating furiously, and then she lost him from view against the inky black of the night sky and he was gone.
Alex looked around in disbelief, anger searing through her. The silence was complete and total, the empty clearing mocking her. For a moment she could not speak, but then her anger got the better of her.
“Yep, just run off and abandon me, you feathered freak,” she shouted to the now empty sky and felt better for it. She looked around again seeing nothing but frozen trees and dark shadows.
“Jesus, what the hell do I do now?” she said out loud, trying to keep from panicking. She pinched herself hard, twice, but she did not wake up.
“This is no dream Alex,” she whispered to herself. “You’re in it, and in it deep.”
She began to walk towards the great Oak for it seemed to promise at least a sense of security.
“I have to keep my head here,” she chided herself quietly. “Not lose it or anything.”
She reached the tree and sat down on the platform under its great frozen branches.
“I’m warm, I’m in no immediate danger so I will wait.”
She rested her back against the solid ice-cloaked bark, grateful that despite whatever he had done and said, at least his warmth spell was working.
“Okay, let’s reason this one out. He’s a man, although right now I guess he’s a bird, but mostly he’s a man, therefore, after his little hissy fit, he will probably feel guilty, especially about abandoning me, so will come back. Then he will tell me he has figured out how to get me back to reality, how to save my brother and this Nicola woman, and therefore the world, and everything will go back to normal.”
She surveyed the clearing, empty of everything except the twisted, frozen bodies. Now that she was alone they began to