Etherea: The Lost Daughter

6

Torrin found Nia in the library the next morning, curled up on an armchair, with a book of battle strategies abandoned on the floor before her. As he took a moment to take in her beauty, Torrin noticed the pain twisted on her sleeping face. As he put a hand on her shoulder to wake her from whatever plagued her, Nia voiced a name she should not know "Bradan" she called out, desperation in her voice "don't go in Bradan. She is not me; I am not her; she will only fill your head with lies" Nia continued, fear mangling her expression. Only once her screams started did Torrin shake her to consciousness. He understood then, her memories must be linked to her mothers. All Fae knew the story well. Riona had travelled with his uncle Bradan to an oracle and that oracle burned Bradans mind away. His uncle still lived, barely, an empty shell of the man that once was. The oracle, if it even was an oracle, had turned his brain to soup. 

Nia woke, wide eyed, to a face so similar to the one in her dreams she screamed once again and gripped his arm "don't go in Bradan, don't go in" she begged desperately. Torrin gently took her hands in his own "breathe Nia, it's Torrin, Bradan is safe" not a lie, but definitely not a whole truth. He decided it best to wait until she had calmed to explain what plagued her dreams. Her chest rose and fell rapidly until her breath finally steadied. Nia blinked twice as she realised the face in her dreams was in fact different and it was Torrins blue eyes boring into her own. Nia released the death-grip on his arm "I'm sorry, it was just a bad dream" she reasoned. Torrin wrestled with a thought, should he bring her to that strange woman? Torrin made a mental note to find out more about the man in the tree. It sounded ridiculous. A man in a tree, what use was that information? Galeria was not a place one would wish to search blindly, many souls had entered; many had not returned. 

"It was not" he began with a sigh as he pulled a chair before her and sat "I think you are seeing your mothers' memories. I must tell you the truth, we found someone with answers to what you are. It seems that your magic is linked somehow, it is possible that you are also linked with Riona and that she is also a Fate-Swayer. We are still trying to find out exactly what it means" Torrin knew it was not an adequate explanation, but it was all he had to offer "who is this someone?" Nia asked, sensing that Torrin had not been exactly successful in getting information from them. Torrin shook his head and ran a hand through his copper hair "she is not to be trusted" he simply replied. Nia groaned at this "Torrin, please, if someone has knowledge of what I am then I must speak with them. Who is your source of information?" She pushed as she rose, her bones aching from sleeping in the armchair. Nia made a mental note not to fall asleep there again. 

Her waiting lilac eyes drew another groan from Torrin "if I say no, you will only figure a way to find her yourself, won't you?" He asked and received a pleasant surprise when she laughed. Tension eased from her shoulders and Torrin found himself smiling in return "you are correct" Nia agreed, finding delight in his smile "you have been a pain in my ass since you arrived, you know this right?" Torrin asked as he rose, Nia followed suit with a wide grin "ah, but how boring your life must have been without me" she quipped back, her nightmare forgotten "we can only go to her at night, so don't pester me about it yet. It is time to have some food and if you would like to, we can continue to train while we wait for the moon to rise" Torrin extended a hand to help her stand. Nia took it gratefully and stretched her limbs, her bones cracked and creaked from sleeping in such an awkward position. 

Nia yawned as she stepped towards the door "for someone who sleeps so often, you're awfully tired all the time" Torrin commented, Nia scratched her neck sheepishly "in truth it feels as though I haven't slept at all" Torrin frowned at that "there was a tea my mother would make when we were children, when we feared the non-existent monsters beneath our beds" Torrin smiled sadly at the fond memory and Nia found herself linking her arm with his "I do wish I could have met her" Nia said softly, sensing his sorrow. "As do I, she was a close friend of your mothers and I believe she would have doted on you as if you were here own" Torrin knew this to be true, it was her nature to take care of others.