Rogue Legacy by Jeffrey L. Kohanek (snow like ashes .txt) 📕

Lyra blinked in the darkness, once again drawn from a peaceful sleep by the sound of screams. She wished that they would find another place for Elden to sleep, somewhere far from where he could wake others. It wasn’t that she didn’t like the man, but waking in the middle of the night to the sound of screams was quite unsettling. She rolled over to her side, sending the hammock swinging.

“I see you’re awake as well,” Tiri said.

“I find it difficult to sleep with a man screaming a few rooms away. The curtains that cover the doorway do little to block sound.”

“True. At least you were able to sleep for a while.”

“Nerves?”

Tiri sighed. “Yes. I’ve often dreamt of my wedding, imagining my dress, a beautiful hall, some handsome man at my arm. Tomorrow, those dreams solidify into something real. I…I love Gar. I am just kind of…afraid.”

“Afraid of what?”

“I don’t know. What if I’m not a good wife? What if I disappoint him? What if he comes to realize I’m not who he wants to be with?”

Lyra reached out and put her hand on Tiri’s shoulder. “Tiri, you are the most lovable person I’ve ever met. Gar is a lot of things, but he’s not stupid. It was a grand stroke of luck when you entered his life, and he knows it. Gar’s also extremely loyal. He’ll pledge himself to you in two days, and I can’t imagine anything that could cause him to shift course.” She gave Tiri’s shoulder a gentle squeeze. “Don’t worry. You’ll be a wonderful wife. I expect that you’ll soon have numerous little Gar’s and Tiri’s running about, and you’ll be a wonderful mother as well.”

Tiri laughed. “Do you really think so?”

“I do. You just...”

The room brightened as the curtain was drawn aside.

“Excuse me, Tali.” Wuli held a torch as he stood in the doorway. “Elden Duratti requests your presence.”

Lyra rolled out of the hammock and stretched, wearing only her shift. The stone floor felt cold on her bare feet. She grabbed the blanket off her hammock and wrapped it about her shoulders as Tiri slid out of her hammock.

“You can stay and rest, Tiri.”

Tiri shook her head. “I can’t sleep, and I want to know what this is about.”

Lyra shrugged as Tiri wrapped a blanket about herself. The two girls ducked through the curtain and followed Wuli down the corridor, past two other closed curtains, and into the third room down the hall.

A single torch on the wall lit the room. Gar sat on a bench beside a square table, while Elden sat across from him. Upon seeing Tiri enter the room, Gar stood.

“Tiri. You did not need to come,” he sounded concerned. “There is much to do before the wedding and you need rest.”

Tiri chuckled. “What about you? You’re in the wedding as well. Why are you here?”

“Well, I’m Head Clansman and…”

“And I’m about become your wife…to rule by your side. Remember?”

Gar grinned. “Fair enough.” He indicated the bench where he had been sitting. “Here. Sit beside me.”

Tiri smiled and both sat side-by-side, their hands clasped together on the table.

Lyra turned toward Elden and found him staring at the table, appearing disheveled, exhausted. He seemed to have aged two decades since she first met him three years prior.

“What is this about, Elden?” Lyra asked. “Am I somehow…involved in one of your visions?”

Elden nodded. “Yes. Sit and I’ll explain.”

Lyra grabbed a stool, set it beside the table, and sat as requested.

“The visions began a little over a year back. I have them most nights. The nights where I avoid them are precious and too few.” His knuckles went to his face, rubbing his weary eyes. “Each night, I would experience a similar vision, depicting a series of future events that lead to the end of humanity.

“Night after night, I have endured this horrible conclusion, one without hope. Can you imagine what it’s like to live with this dark cloud hanging over you? I try to go on with my daily life, try to forget the pain, the suffering, the…hopelessness.

“Tonight, something different occurred. Things began in a similar manner, but there were new elements involved, key events that happen at just the right time, such that they shifted the vision and changed the result. More importantly, it gives me hope.”

Lyra frowned. “Why do you look so worn then?”

“These visions…they consume a lot of energy. I’ll recover by morning with some rest. However, I must record the details of the prophecy for future generations. It is vital that the information be shared with the right person at the right time.”

Lyra’s brow furrowed. “What does that have to do with me?”

“I’m getting to that.” Elden glanced toward Gar, who nodded. “There was more to my vision than what I will record…a series of events that begin now. If these events do not occur, the rest of the vision will never come to be, and we will be back where I was before: without hope.”

Lyra shrugged. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because it begins with you, Tali. You must leave Mondomi and journey southward, toward the free city.”

“No!” Tiri blurted.

“Leave?” Lyra felt confused. “Why?”

“I’m sorry, but if you remain, things that must occur cannot, and the one possible future that enables humanity’s survival will be forever lost.”

Lyra turned toward Tiri, whose lower lip quivered as a tear tracked down her cheek.

“I don’t want to go,” Lyra said. “My sister is about to get married. I want to be here with her.”

“This future we hope to avoid, it will mean the end of the Tantarri – the end of everyone.” Elden put his hand on her shoulder, his eyes pleading as he spoke. “I don’t expect you to understand. I only beg you to believe me.”

Moisture blurred Lyra’s vision, tears that she tried to blink away. Tiri was her only family. With Tiri, Gar, and the other Tantarri, Lyra thought she had found a home. Instead, she once again found herself banished from a life she had built, leaving her outcast and abandoned. She shook her head, not wanting to be alone again, unwilling to start over. Finally, she stood and fled, unable to stop the flow of tears.