Chapter 36: We Remember

Chapter 36: We Remember

Chapter 36

We Remember

Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, hah, hah, hah," Sylas was jolted awake, fighting for breath. It felt like he had nearly drowned; like a man would feel gasping for breath after swallowing mouthfuls of seawater. But he wasn't drowning, at least not with water.Updated from novelbIn.(c)om

He was shivering and was covered in sweat from head to toe. It was cold. Terribly cold. The kind of cold that pierced through any and all layers of clothing and latched itself onto the skin, burning. Looking around, he saw the thick layer of trees all over, and the fog dancing in-between them. Leaning against some of the trunks were the other threeall with their eyes closed, but also with quickened breathing, as though they were living through a nightmare.

Sylas felt weak in his knees, unable to even sit up. All he could do was continue lying down and try and push the memories back. But they wouldn't listen, burning through easily. He remembered. Remembered the figure in the sky, the voice that spoke into his mind. Remembered the quest and utter lack of information he'd gotten through it. Remembered the bone-chilling terror that eclipsed even dying thousand times over.

He never wanted to see that thing again. Never wanted to face it or anything like it for as long as he lived. Never wanted to unveil the secrets behind the quest or who the Condemned were or what they wanted. He didnt care. He didnt dare care. His initial curiosity was the cause of his current suffering. If hed only obeyed the natural order of things and proceeded inland, he would have never been exposed to reality.

New save point Ignorant Awakening has been discovered.

Would you like to overwrite your previous save?

YES/NO

Sylas stared at the window, almost instinctively pressing yes but holding back in the end. It wasnt up to him, he mused. He didnt get to make that call this time around. If the three lying unconscious wanted to forget he would press no and never speak of it again. To him, it didnt matteryes or no, the choice was the same. He would remember. Remember every excruciating detail, every ounce of horror. It was permanently etched into his memory and would stay there until he truly died. But the other three they could forget. If they wanted to forget, hed help them.

A few minutes later, he managed to recover some of his strength, barely sitting up. He still fought with his mind, trying to push back the memories and ignore them. But they flooded him, over and over again. He couldn't erase the image of a thing being lowered via harnesses made out of chains, lowered from some abysmal dimension into their own. He couldnt forget the pair of dead, hollow eyes locking onto his, and he couldnt forget the scraping, soul-freezing voice that spoke into his head.

The first to wake up after him was Ryne. The young girl opened her eyes shakingly, her lips parting as though wanting to scream, but no voice came out. Her teary eyes sought anything remotely warm until they landed on Sylas, who smiled gently at her.

Were safe, he said, swallowing back his own pain and gently ruffling her hair. Its all going to be okay.

T-t-t

Dont speak, he interrupted. Dont even think. Enjoy the nothingness. Conserve your energy.

Whether she listened to his advice or not, Sylas didnt need askhe could see in her eyes, the horror repeating on a loop. He suspected that others didnt experience the chained figure, at least not to the full extent which was, in such a tragedy, a silver lining.

geez, you three are nuts, Sylas sighed, leaning back. He was surprised. Taken aback. Perhaps for the first time since his coming here, he was surprised by someones decision. He was almost absolutely certain they would choose to forgetand he even wanted them to forget. That kind of terror if he could forget, he would. For them to so readily decline the salvation, and entirely because of him Ive a feeling youll be cursing me out soon enough once the night terrors strike. Why did I follow that stupid Prophet? Aagh, he should eat some shit!

Pfft, ha ha

Perhaps, Valen chuckled. But at least well be in it together.

The truth is, we have little to do with that army, at least for now, Sylas said, glancing at the three. God already told me Id gone astray in my mission. We are still far too weak to hold that reality close to us. As such, we will remember it but we will not raise armies against it, not yet anyway. For now, our duties lie in manning the castles walls and defending the scattered groups of invaders. We will live through the winter and into the spring. And, naturally, not a word of what we had seen to anyone else. That includes your Master, Ryne. At least for now.

"" a good deal of tension seemed to evaporate at that momentknowledge that they needn't actually face and fight that many dead was like rain after years of drought.

So, we remember?

We remember.

Aye, we remember.

"Yes, remember." The three replied after taking deep breaths, nodding. They had clearly steeled their resolves well beyond the human's normal capacity. But, they had to, considering what they had seen.

Sylas looked at the window floating next to him, sighed, and chose Yes. A new one popped in its place right after, informing him that a new save point, Ignorant Awakening, had been initialized. It was over. The choice was made. One they would remember forever.

Well need to hurry with the fixing of that hole, Valen suddenly commented. Ill assign you twenty more men. Rush them.

Yes, Your Highness, Tenner replied. I will also restart harsher training regimes, taking batches of twenty and polishing them.

Good. Do we have any really good archers?

Aye, a few.

Have them train anyone remotely good with a bow. Well also open the forge again and dump most of the reserve materials into producing more weapons and armor. Ryne, what would you need to start producing defensive talismans? Any kind would be beneficial.

Not much, Ryne replied readily. Clean, husk-woven pieces of parchment, and a mixture of black ink and tyrent seed.

"Hm, I'll send the messenger immediately to quadruple the supply of those for the next shipment. We'll cut it close but should make it in time. Also"

It was a good distraction, Sylas mused, focusing on defending the castle over defeating the army of the dead. He leaned back, relaxing, as the plans had little to do with him. He wasn't a strategist, and he wasn't someone who could optimize the logistics of the castle defense. He'd just remain there, by their side, moral support, a cheerleader, tossing a quip or two to rekindle their spirits every once in a while. Hopefully, the winter will pass with no big troubleah, shit, I just jinxed myself, didnt I? Fuck.