Turns out he was dumb enough, but he was smarter about it. He found me again the next night, at my favorite pub. This time, he kept a respectful distance and waited for me to respond to his presence.
“If you can be civil, you can sit down,” I told him, pointing at the stool next to me. “We won’t talk about my looks or that stick up your ass.”
He took a wary step closer. “I am unarmed,” he informed me sternly. “There is no stick, anywhere.”
I sighed. “What are you doing here?”
“I represent a special team assembled by The Tanrys Court," he began, as if carefully reciting a memorized passage. "We seek the lost colonies of Lyramir. We sensed elfsong in this world, and I came down to investigate.”
Lost colonies? "MY elfsong? No, that’s impossible, it’s gone. I’ve been silenced.”
“Clearly not, since I found you. I have not yet located the others.”
“There are none, not that I’ve found, and I've looked.”
“You’re alone? But how? How did you end up in this place, separated from the others?”
I shrugged. “Something exploded, and I got blown off the ship, and apparently off the world entirely. I was in and out of Torpor in the Void until I unintentionally landed here about fifteen years ago. You’re the first Lyran I’ve met since - well, whatever happened in 7261. What happened, anyway?”
He blinked at me a few times as he processed my story. “You’ve only been here fifteen years? How does the calendar here compare to ours?”
“It’s maybe five days off,” I estimated. “Why?”
He stared silently at me for far too long, clearly dreading something, and then turned to Joe the Bartender. “Give her another of those, or stronger. She’s going to need it.”
And then he told me I’d been floating in the Void for over three hundred years.
-----
Joe had my back, and whatever he poured for me was appropriate for the news.
Three hundred years, out in the dark. I shuddered. I'd tried hard to forget the whole thing, but it haunted my dreams.
“It’s 7584,” I mumbled, trying to wrap my mind around the current year at home, if there still was a home. “Tell me what happened,” I finally choked out.
“In 7261, The god Lorgan came after Lyra. The damage their battle caused made the world uninhabitable, and wounded Lyra greatly. Many lives were lost, and we were forced to flee. We split into colonies and parted ways.”
“And now you’re trying to find them all again? Why?”
“Lyramir has been restored. Lyra calls her people home.”
“Did my parents survive? My companions? I was the year 7000.” Lyran elves controlled the population by having babies in batches. A dozen or so, every 50 years, raised as a group so they’d have a strong bond and similar life experiences.
“We’ll have to review the records we have available on the ship. What is your name?”
It had been so long since I’d used it I couldn’t remember for a moment. “Wilrhyn. I’m Auglathla.” It sounded strange in my ears. “Aggi. And you? I don't know you.”
“Alpinia. Rowan. You would not have met me, then, I was born in the year 7250.”
He’d been a mere toddler when Lorgan struck. I recalled the extravagant celebrations that birth year, which meant that he was a companion to a member of the royal family. He probably expected the same amount of respect and obedience. Figures.
“And you sailed here? On a ship?”
“In a way. We are traveling through the Void in a great flying ‘ship’ made by humans. It’s steel,” he volunteered, half in warning. “Not a pleasant way for us to travel, but there are some comforts aboard. I advise you to pack comfortable clothing, blankets, and as much fresh fruit as you can.”
“Wait, are you expecting me to leave with you?”
“Yes, Lyra wants you to come home.”
“Do you think I’m going to drop everything and go off with a complete stranger?”
“We are not strangers. We are Lyran, one soul.”
He said it with the utmost sincerity. I tried not to roll my eyes. “But I’ve got a whole life here! You can’t just expect me to abandon everything and everyone at someone else’s whim.”
“Lyra calls her people home.”
“You were looking for whole colonies, not me.”
“Lyra calls her people home.”
“Are you going to chant that until I get up and go off with you?”
“Don’t you want to be back where you belong? Among your own?”
“I’ve been silenced. I’ll never fit back in.” Not that I'd ever quite fit in to begin with.
“There was enough to find you from the Void. You can be restored.”
“On a spaceship?” How did he even have one? That kind of technology didn’t exist in our worlds.
“A minor inconvenience, but it seems quite safe.”
Seems? “Through the Void?” I asked in a smaller voice.
“Ah, I understand now. You won’t be alone, not this time,” he said gently.
I shook my head. “No thank you. I’ve made a new life here. I have good friends. I’m happy here.”
“You must -”
“I mustn’t do anything! Now go on back to your ship and your mission. I’m sorry you came down here for nothing.”
He was getting flustered now, he must have reached the end of his memorized lines. “My mission is -”
“- Probably to tell people it’s safe to come home if they want, not to drag them back kicking and screaming. What are you going to do if a whole colony says ‘no, we’re good here?’ Start a war?”
“You cannot ignore your Maker! Lyra calls -”
“No!” I slapped my hands down on the bar and hopped off the barstool. He backed away, assuming a fighting stance.
“Take it outside!” Joe ordered.
“I’ve had enough. I’m going home,” I told him, and then turned on Rowan, who still had his hands up defensively. “MY home. Now leave me alone.”
Once again, I ran.
Photo Credits
Head: Lelutka - Skyler
Body: Belleza - Jake
Skin: CCI - Elven Male
Hair: No.Match - No_Karma
Clothing: FATEplay - Feredir - Quagmire
Aggi:
Head: Lelutka - Raven
Skin: The Skinnery - Eve
Blouse: Blueberry - Reachless Dress & Top
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