Her sharpened heart was a razor blade
flaying apart the love we made
Outside the entrance to the cave, a powerful storm was raging. Barian looked back at the girl shivering by the fire and with one motion, rolled a huge boulder over the opening. The silence was surprising and very welcome. Barian knew the young woman was terrified of the lightning . Now the only light and sounds came from the crackling fire and the soft snuffles of their horses. On the far side of the fire lay an old man holding an infant. They are all one with her, thought the warrior as he took is food pack off one of the horses.
They are all the same person. Every being on this world exists as three except for me.
Yvonne smiled at the young man to show her appreciation for his kindness. Now she truly felt safe and knew her selves to be safe also. She held out a soft sweet roll towards the man and was relieved to have him accept it."My name is Yvonne," she said ,"These are Von and Evey." The baby sniffled and Yvonne reached out for her . Von, the old one,handed her the child and stood up to stretch his aching body.
"I am called Barian," the young man said and began to eat the bread. Thunder rolled loudly causing the infant to cry. Yvonne began to rock the baby and sing an old Valperian ballad.
Barian was surprised but sat down on a low rock to listen. "How do I know this ?", he whispered to himself , not realizing the girl heard him with her powerful hearing abilities.
"Where snowflakes meet embers here in the dark, whisper the runes of the ice and the spark. Bring forth the sleeping hearts that yet beat,called they will answer and bow at thy feet."
Barian looked up and caught the green eyes watching him intently.
The baby was sleeping and Yvonne handed her to Barian. The warrior didn't like it but he took the child to give the others a rest. Evey opened her eyes at that moment and a chill went through the man as he saw how similar the child's eyes were to Yvonne's . "Do you know who you are?" Yvonne asked.
Barian coughed and ran his hand through his bright red hair as he held the child in his lap. "What do you mean?" he asked though he knew what she was asking.
"Why did you help us escape from that horde?" the girl queried," You could have just rode on by and ignored it all."
The wind picked up outside and flying debris slammed against the boulder. Barian handed her the baby and went to quiet the horses. He was glad to get away from the questioning girl.
In truth he was not really sure why he stopped to help. He wasn't really sure of anything.
Barian stroked the horses mane and spoke quietly to soothe her. In his pack he carried the scrolls of the wise ones of his people. He was moved to withdraw one and read it. The letters began to move and change until they formed the face of a child.
The girl smiled at him and whispered,"You cannot be three because you are the New Way." He gasped and dropped the scroll as Yvonne approached him from behind. She reached down to retrieve the message but cried out in pain . "Only the chosen messenger may touch the scrolls of the Song Gardens," said Barian as he reached out to examine her injured hand.
Yvonne staggered back holding her stinging fingers. "Who are you?" she asked him,"What kind of magic is this?"
Barian noticed then that the child in the scroll had the same eyes as Yvonne and the baby. He suddenly was sure of one thing, she needed to see the scroll and hear it too. "Please," he urged
"I mean you no harm. Come and sit with me and I will show you but you must not touch these again. I fear the next time would be fatal." They walked back to the fire to see that the other two were sleeping soundly. Barian knew Yvonne to be the primary and most powerful one of the three. Yvonne gently covered her family with furs from their packs and then came to sit beside the red haired young man.She poured a dark drink into a container and set it over the flames. Nothing was said until she had poured them both cups full of some aromatic beverage.
Barian drank deeply and immediately was sorry for doing so.He coughed and sputtered and cursed until Yvonne chastised him for being too loud. It was a very strong alcoholic concoction . It was sweet and delicious but should be sipped, she informed him, albeit a little late.She laughed a lovely tinkling sound which he found enchanting and which caused him to chuckle as well.
He tried another sip and this time it went down smoothly because he was expecting it. Wiping his mouth and auburn mustache with the back of his hand, he relaxed and reached for his pack of scrolls.
Holding her hands out to the fire, the girl said,"Why are you not three? Were they killed by the Strangers?"
Barian answered without thinking,"Yes, but I don't remember what happened."
Yvonne reached out and gently touched a gash on his forehead that was covered with dried blood. He did not flinch but it took all his self control not to do so. He knew he was never three so why had he answered in that manner? It was as though he had been programmed to say that.
" Will you help us return to our home?" she asked him. " It is almost time for our melding and I know we will never make it without help."
"Who will you be after the Melding?" he asked. He somehow knew that when the three became one she might not be anything like the girl before him.
Yvonne jumped up and walked quickly away from the campfire. Barian hesitated for a brief moment and then followed her .He watched her wringing her hands in the shadows and said, "I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?" A deep voice from behind him answered,"Who are you?"
Barian turned around to see Von standing there with a knife in his hand.The red headed man put a trembling hand to his head and whispered,"I don't know."
"You can't be One of Three for if you were you would know not to ask such a thing under penalty of death. It is a divine decision that we never dare to question."
The ground began to shake and the huge boulder blocking the entrance was broken in two.A shrieking began that forced them to cover their ears and sent Yvonne running to grab up the baby.A massive scaled hand reached in through the cave entrance and grabbed Barian and Yvonne. Von caught the child as it fell from the woman's hands.
Outside of the cavern a whirlwind tore through the forest carrying Yvonne and Barian aloft. They held each other in terror in the creature's palm. Insane laughter echoed around them as the air became thin and they lost consciousness at the same time.
Yvonne awoke in a cold white cloud. Vision was limited to her hands in front of her face but she heard Barian calling her name.She reached out and touched a warm face.Jerking her hand away she yelped "Barian, is that you?"
Barian's voice answered from ten feet away,"I'm over here Yvonne. Keep talking so I can find you."
A hand reached out and grabbed her while another one clamped over her mouth.
"Isn't it sad that you can't remember who you should be?" a velvety voice whispered in her ear."You two are supposed to be together in every lifetime but alas here we go again.Every time it seems to get more difficult to accomplish. We should just give up be we are hopeless romantics."
Yvonne tried to break free and scream but she couldn't.
"Just breathe," whispered the voice and nearby she could hear a similar struggle going on.
The hand moved away from her mouth and she gulped in a big breath of cold white cloud.A flash of memory came to her. She was riding a horse with a dark haired woman, holding her around the waist as they galloped across a field of flowers.
Then the woman's hair turned red and the vision ended.
"Rissa!" Yvonne cried, and felt an overwhelming wave of grief.
The voice whispered close to her ear,"It's alright, your soulmate is here."
Dark energy filled the room. The cold white cloud began to swirl to shades of crimson and indigo and Yvonne heard Barian cry out a name so very familiar to her."Trystan! I need you!" he pleaded as though in great pain. Yvonne did not hesitate , but rushed toward his voice as her captor released her.
Yvonne and Barian clung to each other as they found themselves in front of a fireplace glowing brightly. "Is it really you Rissa?" whispered the girl.
"Yes,and you are Trystan. I know that now." said the man.
A conjoined entity walked into the room holding a baby. One head was old and feeble while the other was young and beautiful.
The older woman said,"I have given the rest of my days to form your child. Take her and make her the royal ruler of this land.
Please do not waste anymore time with your foolish denials.The Universe will not allow it. If you refuse your fate this time then we are finished with you both.
Yvonne took the child and smiled as the old one slowly vanished. The young one who was left ,handed Barian a drawstring bag made of red leather. "All the answers lie within." he said and walked into the fire.
Yvonne felt her knees go weak and would have fallen save for Barian's arms around her. He pulled her down to sit on a rug in front of the fire that had taken the mage a moment before.
They gazed at the baby who had red hair and green eyes. "They have joined us within this child." the girl whispered in awe.
Barian was filled with memories of their past lives together and leaned in to gently kiss his Soulmate.
"How could we have forgotten?" Yvonne asked.
"The Black Clones!" said Barian "They are all powerful and did not want this to happen."
"But what about my other family?" Yvonne wondered.
"I don't think they were real," answered Barian.
He wrapped his arms around the woman and the baby and stared into the fire in deep thought.
The baby slept and Yvonne leaned her head against Barian's shoulder in exhaustion.
Barian gently lay them down on the rug and covered them with his cloak. Now he turned his attention to the red leather bag.
Seven steel and seven shells wrapped around a soft center.
Six men and five maids biding through a dark winter.
Four worms a crawling free, one for you and three for me.
The words were sewn into leather the color of blood.