Torion had come to a conclusion. He would get out. He knew he could do it. He must be able to. He had come from another world. He could go back to another world.
He closed his eyes and focussed, wishing really hard that he was somewhere else. Back home, wherever that was. He opened his eyes. Nothing. Just the same stark room.
How had he done it before? Was he deluding himself? Something about opening a gateway. Forming a tunnel. Yes! That's what it was.
He reached out with his mind, pushing on the fabric of the universe. He pushed a little harder. Pain blossomed in his skull. He remembered the pain. Pain was like that. You always remembered it occurred, but never how bad it was. Pain was the great educator, but if you could push through it, you could achieve anything. He remembered that. He pushed some more, until the bulge he had created started to split.
Just a little more.
Something blocked him, closed up the tear he had created.
He let out a gurgle of frustration, spit sticking in his throat.
A second later Marrow Tend was beside him.
“You don't want to go to the Lethe, trust me.”
Furious, he shouted back. “I want to leave! This place is awful! I can't remember anything here!”
“It isn't this place, it's that your memories have leaked out of you in the Lethe. You need to rebuild them. Leaving won't help that.”
“How?”
“Through concentration and effort. Through time. Through commitment.”
“It hasn't gotten better! I've been trying!”
“It's only been three days.”
Three days? Is that really all it had been? He didn't know; he couldn't remember properly.
“I think you're lying. I can have new thoughts, new memories, I just can't recall them.”
“That's correct. Your mind is leaky.”
“Is there anything you can do?” Torion felt defeated. Nothing was working. He didn't know whether to trust or despise this man, but he was the only one who paid him much regard at all.
“There is, in fact. In a realm you are probably familiar with, Neron Alarast, a war is beginning.”
At the name Neron Alarast, his mind conjured images of lush forests and valleys, impossibly tall, snow capped mountains, endless mudflats and verdant fields. He gasped. He knew this place. He was familiar with it.
“Go on,” he said.
“I have certain restrictions placed on me, which I took on when I became steward of this realm. If you help me, I will become able to help you. If you agree to help us in this war, I can help plug those gaps. You're unlikely to be able to recover everything immediately, but the rest should, eventually, come.”
Marrow Tend must be ridiculously stupid. He expected him to believe this? That he could help all along but just wanted to get him to fight? This was probably all his doing anyway. He would agree, get his memories, then escape.
“What does it involve?”
“You'll be working to prevent Garon, who we are all a part of, from being destroyed. It's not really a difficult choice – if you do this, you will be working towards preventing yourself from dying. And I mean truly dying. Not in the form you are in here, not a death like the lost souls floating in the realm of forgetfulness. A true death. That realm will be consumed. This realm will be consumed. Anything and everything you have touched, everything you achieved will be gone. All your ho9pes and dreams – nothing.”
Had Marrow Tend been taking orangeweed? This was crazy. Though, he had demonstrated a not insubstantial amount of power. Perhaps he should believe him. Maybe he would fight after all.
He could always make up his mind later. The important thing was to regain his self. And escape, of course.
“Okay, I'll do it.”
“Great! I was hoping you'd say that. Suitable people are difficult to find. I think someone keeps killing them. Shall we get started?”
“I don't see the point in waiting.”
Without any further warning, Marrow Tend began to waver slightly, his skin rippling like water in a pond. The ripples snaked out as bands of multihued colour, coruscating in fluorescent bands. Other ripples appeared around the room, gravitating towards the larger ones coming from Marrow's body like a swarm of minute worms. They coalesced onto the the large tubes, which reached towards him, touched his face, passed through skin and bone. They embedded themselves in his brain, wrapping around the nodes and sinking in between the folds.
He could remember! All he had accumulated. The wealth of experience flooding back to him. He had always regarded his possessions as the most valuable thing he had obtained, overlooking his memories, which were the tools he took for granted. Who had done this to him? That upstart girl. Rain. He didn't know how he knew the name, but that was it. He would get his revenge. But how? She was so powerful! He would have to be smarter, rely on her inexperience.
“That's the best I can do. The memories will sink in properly when Garon is free again. My powers in that area are somewhat limited. Unfortunately, if you try to run from the war, my weaving will unravel.”
Torion did not like the sound of that.
“What would happen then?”
“Oh, you'd most likely end up back here. I'm not sure how damaged you'd be.”
He mentally cursed. This was not right. He was supposed to be free! Well, this Garon would have to be saved, somehow. Besides, if that meant he would get his memories back for good, he could then work on his revenge. Both against Marrow Tend and against Rain. He'd send them both to the Lethe, that would serve them right for putting him in this situation.
“I should go now. Get started on this war.”
“Very well. Good luck!”
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