Things From our Past

[Enolx]

Maxis walked down the street after gathering some groceries from a local farmers market. As he walked down the street back towards his home he was stopped when a woman on the side of the street yelled " You are in grave danger." Maxis and many others looked around questioningly and found themselves looking at a woman on the side of the street in strange clothes. The woman looked exactly like he imagined a street side fortune teller to look like, although the woman was younger than he had imagined around thirty or so . Everyone on the street was trying to figure out who the woman was talking to. That question was answered when the woman walked up to him and began to pull him off to the side of the busy street, many stopped to watch what was taking place.


"I was told to find you and warn you," The woman said "A monster cloaked in darkness will come for you. He hunts for transgressions of the past. He will come in the night, every night until...." Maxis cut the woman off and backed away. "I thank you for your concern, but I think I will be fine," Maxis declared. Maxis had just gotten back to the city and he had already been stopped by a crazy person. He smiled remembering the last time someone had stopped him and tried to convince him that the moon landing was fake. As he started to make his was back down the street the woman yelled " It cannot cross water, you must surround yourself...." Maxis then took off down the street leaving the woman's warning behind.


When Maxis made it home he placed the groceries on the counter and sat on the couch. Moments after he sat down a woman came from out of a backroom. "Hey your back," She said as she dried her wet hair. She then leaned over to couch and kissed him. "Yea I'm back and you will not believe what just happened at the market," Maxis said " This crazy gypsy lady tried to tell me some shadow demon was coming for me, I was not prepared for that." The woman laughed and said "Don't tell me you ran away from her." Maxis tried to hide his embarrassment. " Hey I did not run, it was a casual brisk walk," Maxis stated " You know how crazies are in this city, I have almost been stabbed twice now." The woman laughed even harder and wiped tears from her eyes as she said "That is true, you have the worst luck. Any way what's for dinner?" Maxis wrapped his arms around the woman and pulled her over the sofa onto his lap. He then kissed her before lifting her and sitting her on the couch. "I have no clue, but it will contain love and eggplant,there was a sale on both. Maxis then kissed her once more before leaving to start making dinner.


After dinner the two of them retired to the bedroom. " Well it's almost night time," the woman joked " The monster is coming for you." Maxis wrapped an arm around her and said " Let him come, I will use you as a shield and make a grand escape as he kills you." The woman then hit Maxis in the side. " I will make sure you die first you coward, " The woman responded. As Maxis hoped into bed he laughed. "What are you telling me you wouldn't sacrifice yourself for my survival," Maxis joked "Worst girlfriend ever." The woman then threw a pillow at Maxis. "Yea I'm the worst," She said "Goodnight jackass." "I love you too,' Maxis said as he turned off the light.


Maxis drifted off quickly and a dream came to him just as rapidly. He saw a woman who sat in an old style tent across from a man who looked to be a solider from Persia judging by his clothing and weapon. Maxis was an archaeologist who studied ancient civilizations so it was easy for him to identify the man's attire. The two of them seemed to be talking. "One moment, I must try to save another life," The woman said to the Persian man. She then turned and looked directly in Maxis' direction and yelled "Wake up and run!!!"


Maxis snapped awake. He looked out of his bed through bedroom door into the hallway. At the very end of it he saw a large bungle of shadows that seemed to have a figure on the inside. "You should have stayed asleep," the figure said. Maxis looked at it and it's eyes were black and empty. Maxis' jaw dropped. The woman next to him shook herself awake. "What's wrong," The woman said "Bad dream." The woman looked at Maxis who was staring down the hall and she followed his gaze to see the creature that was walking towards them. She screamed and the creature charged.


The woman's scream riled Maxis back to reality. He grabbed the woman and pulled her out of the bed and into the bathroom. She had not stopped screaming and she kept her eyes locked on the creature. As it charged the light in the hall cut out. "Water," Maxis said as he turned on the shower "We need water." Maxis had not believed that woman once, he was going to listen this time. He let water flow over the floor and when the creature got close he stopped at the waters edge. "Your spring will not last forever," The creature declared "Your magic will falter and when it does I will consume you." The woman held on to Maxis and Maxis fiddled with the ring on his necklace as he always did when he was troubled. The creature then began to try to walk on the water. As he stepped on the water the shadows grew thinner but he kept taking strained steps. The woman panicked. "It's going to get us," She yelled. She then released Maxis and made a run for the window. "No!!!," Maxis yelled, but it was too late. As soon as she reached the window the shadow appeared outside the window and reached a shadowy hand out to grab the woman by the neck through the glass. As the creature started to envelope her Maxis sprang up. "It's me you want right," Maxis yelled " Well, come and get me." Maxis then sprinted off out of the bathroom. Maxis heard a gasp and a thud as his girlfriend was released. Maxis did not stop to look back.


" You can not out run darkness," The shadow bellowed and it came after Maxis " Darkness never tires, man always does." Maxis broke free of the house and made it out into the street. He then ran towards the square and the large fountain that resided there, his only chance of survival.

 

[Morigan]

Evangeline hung the newest addition to the Southside Art Gallery in the front room, in full view of the large glass storefront and people passing by. She aligned the canvas, making certain it was perfectly straight.


"There you go, Mr. Phillips," she said as she walked back to where the older man was standing behind her. "I think this one will sell quickly," she gestured to the large painting.


"I'm sure you're correct, Evan. I can't say how glad I am I decided to hire you as my assistant-despite that monstrosity in your face!" He laughed at the old joke between them.


"Oh, so funny Mr. Phillips…you know you like my nose ring! You're just jealous you don't have one!" Evan laughed, tapping lightly on the small silver hoop through her left nostril.


"Oh yes, you've found me out," Phillips joked, waving her off. "Go on home now, it is getting late. I'll see you Monday," he said, shooing her out the door after she gathered her things.


Evangeline, or Evan as most people called her, walked the few blocks from the gallery to her tiny apartment. She idly twirled a stand of her wavy dark hair around a finger as she planned out her dinner.


Now- do I actually have tomatoes for the sauce. That's the question, she thought to herself. Suddenly a pair of sinister, dark and hollow eyes flashed in her mind, startling her and making her falter mid-stride. She paused for a moment and shook her head, as if to clear the image from her mind. She'd had flashes of artistic inspiration before, but never quite so…aggressively. And never something that had made her feel so uncomfortable. She resumed walking home, though much more determined and quick in her pace. She locked the three locks on her door as soon as she passed through it, though once inside she calmed a bit.


As she set about making dinner, she looked at her reflection in the stainless steel pot, her gray eyes distorted by the curve of the metal. "I'm being ridiculous. I just need to draw it and get it out of my system- that's all." So she pulled out her sketchpad and charcoal, and set about drawing the ominous eyes as her dinner simmered away on the stove. When she had finished she set it aside, determined to not think of it again that night and fixed herself a plate of pasta. She ended up falling asleep in the couch, a documentary about wolves playing softly on the television and her plate from dinner still laying on the coffee table.


While she slept she heard a faint voice calling as if across a great distance: "Wake daughter of my Sight…he has almost accomplished his goal! You must fight! Go to the fountain…" Evan tossed and fidgeted in her sleep, unable to escape the voice. "Awake! He hunts this night!" The soulless eyes from earlier appeared in her dream, growing ever larger until Evan woke up in a sweat, sitting straight up on the couch. The image of the large fountain in the middle of town was imprinted in her mind, and though she knew it was ridiculous to take seriously anything from a dream, she also knew she was going there…now.


She walked out of her apartment, barely remembering to grab her own keys off the wall rack. She moved steadily, hardly registering her surroundings as she made a beeline for the fountain. Her dark hair was a wild mess and her clothes were in disarray from a restless sleep but she didn't care. Continuing on, the fountain came into sight, the sprays of water glittering in the moonlight. As she stepped up to the edge, Evan seemed to snap out of her semi-trance.


"Well, now what?" she said aloud to no one as she continued to stare at the fountain.

 

[Enolx]

As Maxis bolted down the street the creature followed behind him. Even though the creature was wrapped in shadows and made no noise it still caused vibrations to flow through the ground. As Maxis ran he kept his breath steady and even. He had always been good at running, it was all he did as a kid. Now he was happy that he did do all that running. It had been almost thirty minutes and the creature had not slowed down, luckily neither did he. As he dodged down the street under the light of street lamps he noticed that every light the creature past was snuffed out, it did not help his sense of dread.


As he juked down a back alley he noticed that the creature seemed to move like a human, other than the fact that it would pass through most solid objects. The creature could be outmaneuvered but it would quickly located him again and appear from no where. As he ran through the alley he passed a man on the other side of a dumpster. The creature was there for him so Maxis didn't worry about the man until he stood up to follow Maxis and positioned himself in the middle of the path. Maxis stopped and turned to yell "Get out of the way you idiot." His warning fell on deaf ears and the creature passed over him. Maxis watched as the man was enveloped by the shadow. Maxis took off again, so the gap between him and the monster didn't get any smaller. He did steal a look back to see what had become of the man. He was gone only some coins remained.


It had been and hour and a half. He did not know why but, he did not seem to be as tired as he thought he would be. Maxis chalked it up to adrenaline and kept moving. The more he ran the more he regretted that he did not live closer to the square. After some time of running through alleys in an effort to not have other people accidentally swallowed up he broke free onto a main street leading to the square. It was late but there was still a few people out. "Why don't you people go to bed," Maxis thought. He then didn't have to worry about the people moving out of his way when the shadow creature burst forth from the alley after him.


"You will not make it," the creature laughed " I can feel you slowing."


"O fuck you," Maxis said as he sped up, the fountain in sight. Most of the people around him were running into stores or down back streets to avoid what was chasing him. He could feel the monster trying to gain on him, but Maxis didn't let that bother him. He saw his goal within his sights and he was going to get there first, or literally die trying. Maxis was just a few steps away and as he jumped into the fountain he heard the monster roar the word "NO!!!"


Maxis sat in the fountain and looked at the creature. His eyes were now a glowing dark red, which seemed to pulse with anger. As Maxis watched the creature it's eyes returned to their normal black and Maxis thought he could see what might have been a smile.


"It seems you have survived," the creature said " I will continue my hunt. You will never know peace. You will not escape me again Almahdi . Our hunt will come to an end. Until the next night." The creature then walked away and vanished into the shadows.


Maxis walked over to the center of the fountain and laid on the base of the statue that sat there. "What the hell kind of night is this," Maxis said as he closed his eyes and relaxed. "From now on I think I will be a more trusting person," Maxis said as he opened his eyes and looked at the sky.

 

[Morigan]

As she stood with confusion etched into her expression she felt faint vibrations trouble the ground beneath her feet. She looked around curiously.


Surely not an earthquake?


No sooner had she had the thought than she caught sight of the source...a sinister, seething mass of shadows that seemed to be chasing a man straight towards her and the fountain. Inexplicably this seemed to be the origin of the tremors. The few people still out at this late hour were fleeing into shops or just anywhere out of the path of this...thing. Evan was too curious to be scared initially, but then she saw the eyes...the same eyes from earlier this evening! Fear seized Evan and though she desperately wanted to run, hide, do something, she could not; she was paralyzed with panic.


As the man and his ephemeral pursuer sped into earshot Evan thought she heard him curse at the shadow figure which had almost caught up to him.


Run! Run! she thought, although whether she was talking to the man or her self was uncertain even in her mind. Startlingly, the man took a running leap into the same fountain by which Evan stood uselessly. Almost instantly the shadow-thing turned and stalked off into the darkness and vanished as if it had never been. With its departure her heart resumed a normal rhythm and she began to breathe once more.


"Umm," Evan began as she turned her attention to the man who was now soaking wet and lying at the base of the sculpture that dominated the water feature. "Are you okay? Am I okay?" she mumbled the last part under her breath. "I need better ventilation in the studio I think...gotta be fumes..." she began talking to herself. "No, seriously, are you alright? What was that?" She returned her attention to the man.

 

[Enolx]

Maxis rose when he heard a voice directed at him, and he got up quickly. For all the running he did, he seemed to be just fine, he even felt like he could run some more if need be. When he rose he saw a woman with dark hair and a nose pericing. "Had she been there the entire time," Maxis wondered. While he was running he only caught glimpses of others, his mind was clearly elsewhere.


Maxis sat up to respond to the woman. " Actually, with everything that I have been through within these last few hours," Maxis responded " I am not as bad as I thought I would be. The answer to your question is going to make you think I'm crazy, but here you go. That was some shadow creature that is trying to hunt me down for reasons I don't know. Apparently it will keep hunting me down, so you may want to leave."


As soon as he said that, he heard a scream which sounded like it came from one of the shops. Maxis could not be sure because the lights in the direction of the scream were off. It then hit him. "The lights are all off," Maxis said. His fear was then realized when the creature flew out from the inside of a shop.


The monster didn't even glance in his direction it just crossed the street and tore after other people. "Is it just attacking anyone it can get," Maxis wondered "No if that was the case it would have taken Loral when I ran rather than letting her go to follow me." Maxis then looked around as lights began to fade everywhere. He saw a man strolling along. Maxis was about to tell the man to run, but it was to late the monster appeared next to him. To Maxis' surprise the creature move right past the man. "What, why?,"Maxis wondered. He then looked at the man again and noticed a long red and white striped pole that was extended in front of him. "He's blind," Maxis stated. The wheels in his mind started to turn and soon he had the answer. "He attacks the people that have seen him," Maxis proclaimed as he stood in the fountain. He then saw the beast step out into the street and face his direction. " What are you looking at me for," Maxis stated " We have already had our moment, twice." The creature then charged.


"What are you trying....," Maxis wondered. He then realized the answer. He had forgotten about the woman he had been talking to before the creature came back. The woman who had most likely looked at the creature. The woman standing outside of the fountain. Maxis plowed towards her as fast as he could through knee deep water. When he made it to her he wrapped his arms around her and swiftly threw the two of them into them into the fountain.


After wiping water from his face Maxis saw the creature just sitting at the fountains edge, this time not leaving or speaking, glaring at the both of them. Maxis gave the creature a smile and then turned to the woman in his arms. "Well it seems that you get to spend a wonderful evening under the stars with me and this fine shadow demon," Maxis joked " Lucky you."

 

[Morigan]

Evan tilted her head to the side, studying the man as he rose quickly. He seemed to be in remarkably good shape after running for his life. He told her she may want to leave and she silently agreed, and had turned to go when a shrill scream pierced the night.


"The lights are all off," he said as though that were significant for some reason. She discovered exactly why that was when the nightmare-shadow emerged suddenly, seeming to chase only certain people. She made to move towards the man with a cane, though she had no real plan when the creature passed him by…she stood puzzled once more, not having been able to take so much as two steps away from the fountain. She considered the man until she realized the hollow eyes were trained upon her. Almost as soon as she saw those eyes she felt arms around her and was falling into the water with the strange man yanking her out of the way of the creature's charge.


She sputtered and swiped her soaking her out of her eyes as she looked at the man she was suddenly somewhat wrapped around. "Demon?" was all she managed to get out at first. She then coughed up a bit of water with a decidedly unpleasant sound. Evan pushed herself upright, moving off the man's lap that she was half laying in. "So, it doesn't like fountains?" She backed away from the thing staring at them from the edge, though she did not back completely out of the water. "Or blind people, I guess…"

 

[Enolx]

Maxis released the woman as she pushed herself off of him. He then walked back over to the statue to lay down. As he looked up at the sky he could feel the glare of the creature still on him. " It's not that it doesn't like fountains," Maxis replied "It can't cross water. I have also just learned that it will attack anyone that sees it, unless I am obtainable, and if that is the case it will come after me." Maxis let out a laugh. He was surprised by how he was having such a crazy conversation as if it was normal and by how quickly he adapted to his situation.


Maxis turned to look at the woman and continued his explanation." The shadow left the blind man alone because it didn't see him," Maxis stated " It seems to only target me and people who have seen it. That explains why only some of these shops are dark and others are lit. The creature went to the ones that held people who had seen him. I guess he has to stay unknown or something and if this thing has been around before it has done a great job of staying hidden." Maxis stopped when he realized what kind of burden the woman must have been dealing with at the moment. Maxis then decided to switch gears. "How are you doing?," Maxis asked "This must be a real shock to you. Unlike me who had a strange encounter with a fortune teller to set me up for this even crazier situation, you were kinda dropped into it. Everyone calls me Maxis, it's nice to meet you."


Now that Maxis had a moment to rest he started thinking about other important things like Loral who he left at the house. He patted his pants for his phone. It was then he remembered that he had started the run strait out of bed. All he had on was some basketball shorts and his history channel t-shirt, he didn't even have on shoes. He couldn't complain though, at least he had something on. He turned to the woman who was in the fountain with him. "Just wondering, do you have a cell phone?," Maxis asked " I need to make some calls and do some research, while i'm stuck here. I left my house in a rush so I didn't have time to grab mine. Speaking of calls you may want to make some of your own."

 

[Morigan]

Evan listened to his explanations in disbelief. She sat down in the water, giving up her clothes as a lost cause. He explained the darkness and the way the thing operated and then suddenly asked her how she was doing.


"Well, this is not the best night I'v ever had," she said dryly. "Though it kind of fits with the afternoon I've had. I, uh, saw that thing's eye earlier today, when I was walking home. Like a vision or something. Just the eyes though, like a flash. I went home and sketched them- I thought it was some sort of weird fit of artistic inspiration..." she laughed wryly at herself, shaking her head and flinging tiny water droplets every which way. "If only that's all it had been. And then I fell asleep and had some kind of dream-vision telling me to go to the fountain. I walked here half asleep, almost like a trance..." she trailed off again. More to herself than anything she added, "I mean Grandma always said we had Gypsy in our family, but this is nuts." She sighed loudly. "My name is Evan. Well, Evangeline actually but that's a bit of a mouthful."


She sat quietly for a moment, fidgeting with her bracelets. When Maxis asked her about her phone she began patting her pockets. "I have keys," she pulled those from her pocket, "and one very wet phone," she added removing it from her back pocket by one corner. She held it up to the light and looked at it sadly. "I don't know if it's going to be much use," she handed it to him. "I, um, don't really have anyone to call. Just my Grandma and she's on the other side of the country." Evan looked down and began swirling a finger in the shallow water, lazily creating tiny whirlpools.

 

[Enolx]

Maxis listened to the woman's story in disbelief. He then stopped himself, remembering that his day sounded crazier that hers. From that point he listened to the woman, studying the words she said carefully. He marveled at how the woman spoke of seeing the creatures eyes, but he was particularly interested in when she talked about her dream that told her to go to the fountain.


Maxis patted the base of the statue in a "sit here" fashion after she gave him the phone. "It's fine if it doesn't work," Maxis said " It would just have given me something to do. While we are stuck here I have some questions to ask you. You talked about a dream like vision telling you to come here. Did it have a middle eastern warrior or a woman in an old tent? I had a dream involving those people before the chase started. The woman stopped talking to the man and looked strait at me to yell at me to wake up. If that didn't happen that thing would have got me in my sleep, so I was wondering if one of those people talked to you."


Maxis started to dry off the phone as he waited for Evan's response. Luckily the phones screen lit up. "This is good now I can call Loral," Maxis said as he noticed the phone was password protected " Can you open this for me? Also have you heard of a man called Almahdi? That shadow said that name like he was me. He also said that that person wouldn't escape again, which means someone has gotten away. If we can find that person we may find a way to escape, so any information would be helpful."

 

[Morigan]

Evan took the phone back and punched her passcode into the smartphone. "Here," she said handing it back to him as she sat where he had indicated. "Loral's your wife?" she asked because that seemed like a sane conversation amidst all these crazy happenings. "And no, I didn't see anyone, other than the demon thing's eyes," she gestured vaguely to where the shadow man lurked.


She looked down, idly playing with her dripping hair while she considered everything, trying to force it to make sense in her mind. "Uh, she did call me something though...daughter of-something. Oh! 'Daughter of my Sight' is what the dream-voice said. It was definitely a woman's voice though. Do you think you could like, talk to it? Tell it you're not this Almahdi guy? Is it an 'it' or a 'he' by the way...like a ghost? Sorry for all these questions, its just that I'm sitting in a fountain in the middle of the night with a stranger while a shadow stares at us." She started braiding her hair, periodically squeezing water out of it.


"I like the idea of making this stop, however we need to do it. Is there any chance I'm dreaming now?" She realized she was still flooding Maxis with questions. "Oh, sorry, go ahead and make your calls. Not like we don't have time," she smirked wryly.

 

[Enolx]

Maxis let out a laugh when Evan asked if Loral was his wife. "No she's my girlfriend," Maxis said " Although she might as well be my wife since she lives in my house more than I do." Maxis then listened to what Evan had to say as he typed in Loral's number and gave her a call. "Yea I will try talking to it in a second let me just make sure she is ok." Maxis called but he did not receive an answer. He hoped she was staying put in the water and that was why she didn't answer.


He put the phone down and turned his attention towards the creature. "Hey you shadow guy," Maxis said " I don't know why you are trying to find this Almahdi guy, but I'm not him. My name is Maxis." The creatures eyes flashed red at the name Almahdi. "You will not fool me Almahdi I can see you even as you are now," The creature responded. Maxis smiled. "Well at least he answers me," Maxis said " Just wondering can you hear him talk or is that just me?" He then turned his attention away from the creature back to Evan. " This is not a dream, I am not that lucky tonight," Maxis said " Although if you want to break down I would completely understand why you did. On another note you said something about a daughter of sight? Are you a fortune teller or something? I ask because you don't really look the part."


While he waited for answers, he used Evan's phone to search the internet for information about Almahdi or the creature.

 

[Morigan]

"Uhm, thanks?" Evan answered when he said she didn't look like a fortune teller. "What does a fortune teller even look like? I mean, it's not like they have a uniform or something." She paused thoughtfully. "I guess they probably have like, a crystal ball or something right? But it's not like any of that stuff is even real, magic and telling the future. That stuff is about as real as ghosts and..." she suddenly stopped talking, realizing she was trapped by a shadow demon. "Oh, right. Well, either way, no- I'm not anything crazy. Just an assistant at Southside Art Gallery. I have no idea what the dream-voice meant about 'daughter of sight'." She stopped talking for a minute, feeling like she was rambling. She did that when she was nervous.


Evan kicked at the water a bit, splashing little droplets around her feet. Eventually she spoke again. "My Grandma always said we had Gypsy blood. I never really believed her...but maybe that has something to do with it."

 

[Enolx]

Maxis searched through Google as he listened to Evan talk. " Your crazy there is totally a uniform," Maxis said " They always have some vibrant color on long flowing clothes, and they have that silk looking face cover. Then they have some kind of jewelry, like necklaces or a bunch of rings." He was looking, but nothing was really coming up from his search. He decided to just give up for now. " You work at Southside," Maxis said with a smile " Some of the latest items I came back with are there. The owners a good guy I like him." When she started talking about gypsy blood he decided to speak up. "I don't think that is really an issue," Maxis said " If I actually take the information from the dream as true then I would guess this started in the middle east, and they didn't have gypsy there. Least I don't think they did, but hey maybe you are a wizard of something. If you are try to find a way out of this for me."


Maxis then started to thing about what had happened and he came up with an idea. " That's just crazy enough to work, and I have the time to waste," Maxis said to himself before turning to Evan " I'm going to sleep you try to do the same. Maybe on of us will get another dream like the first ones we had that might help us." Maxis then pulled off his shirt, rang it dry, and balled it up to use as a pillow.

 

[Morigan]

"Yeah, Mr. Phillips is pretty cool." She was watching him scroll through the web browser and her phone for a while before he seemed to give it up. "Just call me Harry Potter," she said drily when he mentioned being a wizard. "Trust me- if I could undo all this or make it stop somehow, I would," she gestured around them, as if encompassing the fountain, the shadow-thing, Maxis...everything. It all still seemed insane to her if she thought about it for too long.


"How can you sleep with him lurking about?" She asked as she tried not to stare when he unexpectedly took his shirt off. "I don't know if I can even close my eyes with him around..." she glanced back where the demon was waiting. "Though I suppose hoping we have magic-dream-voices tell us what to do is the only real option at this point...god, that sentence sounds crazy when I say it out loud," she shook her head sadly.

 

[Enolx]

As Maxis laid down on his shirt he closed his eyes. " I live near west hill," Maxis said eyes still closed " From my house to here is about seven miles ,and I ran back streets. So total, I have ran about ten miles with my life on the line. If there was one thing I am sure I can do right now, it's sleep. Either way I have nothing better to do, I might as well try to be productive." Maxis then let out a yawn and quickly went to sleep after. A dream quickly came to Maxis and he watched it as if it was a movie.


" Almahdi," A man with shining armor and jewelry said " Our opponents have decided to challenge us to a duel for the land rather than have us waste lives on senseless battles. You have been chosen as my champion, go prepare yourself." "As you command my king," Almahdi said. Almahdi then walked back towards his tent. Once there he jumped on his horse and rode off into the distance. It did not take him long and soon he arrived at a broken down temple. Almahdi had made a habit of finding secluded places where he could go to relax his mind before battles. Once he arrived he climbed the side of the temple and sat on the roof looking over the land. It was easy to get up. His strong, lengthy, and slim build made tasks like jumping and climbing simple. While he sat, he pulled out a bag with some native fruit and his swords. He laid down eating the fruit as he let the unrelenting sun wash over his dark skin. Later he cleaned and sharpened his weapons, and after that he just laid their and took a nap.


When he woke up he felt refreshed. Almahdi got up reluctantly and prepared to return. He jumped off the roof landing with a roll and coming up next to his horse. " Let's go boy," Almahdi told the horse " We have work to do." He jumped into saddle and made his way back to camp. Once he arrived he was greeted by the king. " It seems as though you are ready," the king declared "We will meet our opponents on the grass lands between our two camps." Almahdi gave the king a nod and the two of them set off with a small squad.


Once they arrived they found that their opponents were already there. "This is your warrior," A short robust man with a large beard announced " Your empire is as good as mine." The king gave the man a smile. " If I had a dinar for every time someone said that." The king then turned to Almahdi and said " Make this quick Almahdi." The man let out a laugh. "This is the great Almahdi," the man said " I was expecting a much different person."" It matters not to me," The man said as he turned to Almahdi " I will give you whatever you desire if you come to my side, even all the lands of your king, so what do you say." Almahdi didn't say anything he just pulled out a sword and walked over into the open area. The man spat on the ground. "Well now that your attempts to take my general have failed, shall we begin," the king asked " I am looking foreword to your expression when your giant of a man looses." The short man became red with rage." Kill that man Asimir, " the man said " Show them why you are called the hand of the devil." The man then walked over towards where Almahdi was.


The two of them stood face to face. The man towered over Almahdi by a good two hand lengths and was twice his size across. He was build like a mountain and carried a massive sword that was about the same size as Almahdi. " I have heard a lot about you," Asimir said " Killing you will make me a very rich and famous man." Almahdi just shrugged his shoulders. " You are not the only one who thought the same," Almahdi replied " Come whenever you are ready." The man smiled as he pulled his sword off of his back. "You are really full of yourself aren't you," Asimir said as he moved towards Almahdi " I'll get rid of that smug attitude of yours." Asimir then flung his sword in a large horizontal arc attempting to cut Almahdi in half. Almahdi jumped over the sword and before the man could swing back he was already in close. Asimir tried to kick him but Almahdi just danced around it and got behind him. Asimir spun in a huge circle hoping to catch Almahdi unaware. He didn't. Almahdi climbed on to the man's back and as he tried to him off Almahdi sunk on of his swords down into the man's spine. Asimir dropped to the ground dead and as he dropped Almahdi pulled out his sword and jumped off. He walked casually back towards his king, cleaning his blades as he did. The king looked at the robust mans shocked face with a smile. " That's what I love to see," the king said " I also like the look of the land behind you that now belongs to me." The man stomped the ground in rage. "He cheated, this match is invalid," the man yelled " I will never give my land to a crook like......" The man was cut off when a sword pierced through his chest and he was taken off his feet. Almahdi walked up to the man and removed the sword he threw from the man's body. "Take your loss like a man and stop making excuses," Almahdi said " A man just died for your greed, show some respect." Almahdi then cleaned his sword again and made his way back to camp.

 

[Morigan]

Evan watched a bit amused as Maxis immediately fell asleep. She sat in the fountain, idly flicking the damp strands of her hair and watching him sleep, and hopefully dream.


What a weird thing to be hoping for right now, she thought. But there didn't seem to be much else to do about the situation. As the night wore on and Maxis continued to sleep, Evan eventually leaned her head back against the fountain, closing her eyes as she did. She may not be able to fully sleep out here, in public being watched by a shadow spirit, but she could at least rest a bit. She focused on calm, slow breaths, like she learned in her weekly yoga class- meant to release stress from the mind and body. Eventually she fell into a light sleep, fitful and uneasy.


As if from across a great distance she heard a voice.


"We have been commissioned to guard the Sacred Stones," the first voice said, that of an older woman.


"Why us?" a second voice asked. Evan realized this was the woman she had heard warning her earlier.


"The Gift of Sight is strong in me, and it will be strong in you, and your sisters. Seven sisters to protect seven stones."


"But the stones are scattered across the ends of the earth...will you truly send your daughters away from you forever?"


"This is greater than just our family, Sahri. We must keep the stones away from him. And they must not be touched by anyone without the Gift, or he will hunt them until he drains the life essence away."


"Yes mother."


"You, I am sending to the desert filled lands to the East. Your sisters will be sent out as well, but I will not reveal their locations- for your safety and theirs. You leave in the morning, my child."


"As you say Mother."





Evan awoke with a start. "Well that's interesting," she muttered to herself.

 

[Enolx]

The dream faded and Maxis awoke to the rising sun. He smiled, got up, and stretched. "This was a productive nap," Maxis said. The creature was no longer outside the fountain so Maxis finally relaxed. He turned the Evan who seemed to have woken up before him. " Well my sleep was quite informative," Maxis stated " That Almahdi guy is a bad ass. I didn't get any info on what our shadow friend was, but I do know Almahdi was a general and a great duelist which might make it easier to find information on him. What about you, did you have a dream?" Maxis then stopped realizing that unlike him Evan might not have been able to fall easily asleep. "I guess the first question is did you even make it to sleep."


As he listened to her reply, Maxis went back to Evan's phone. "I'm going to steal this for a second," Maxis stated. He then put his number into her phone, under the name fountain guy, and remembered her number as well. " She might be a good person to keep in contact with," Maxis said to himself as he handed her the phone back. "Also, what's your plan for today?," Maxis asked after she finished responding to his previous questions " I or we, only have until night to gather information, make necessary life arrangements, and figure out what we are going to do about the next hunt."

 

[Morigan]

"Yeah, eventually. I didn't dream, but I did hear the voice again...well two this time actually. Talking about keeping some one away from some sacred stones, and some sisters protecting them from people. It wasn't very clear." She watched him mess with her phone for a moment before handing it back to her. "What does some awesome, long-dead general guy have to do with you? Or, now I guess 'us'? And the next hunt...you mean tonight. I don't really want to spend it in a fountain again." She scrolled through her contacts and saw Maxis had entered his info as 'fountain guy', making her smile a bit.


Slowly she stood, stretching the stiffness of a night in a concrete fountain out of her body. "My plan is: go home, get changed, maybe go see a shrink," her sarcasm sounded harsh in the early morning light. "Sorry, I know its not your fault. I don't really have a plan...maybe go to the city library or something. You need to go check in with your girl though, right?" she asked him.

 

[Enolx]

A look of shock came across Maxis' face when Evan brought up Loral. "Holy crap I got so caught up in this I forgot about her," Maxis said " God I'm a shitty boyfriend." Maxis then jumped out of the fountain and took off towards his house. " I will talk to you later if I come up with anything," Maxis yelled as he took off down the street " Don't for get if it comes for you surround yourself with water, bye" Maxis then sprinted down the street leaving the fountain behind.


The run was uneventful and he liked that. He received a few looks because he was shirtless still and other looks because he wasn't wearing shoes, but that was all that happened. When he got home the door was locked. Maxis reached into the light fixture outside of his house to pull out the spare key that he taped to the inside. "Hey Loral where are you at," Maxis yelled as he entered. When there was no response he began to search the house starting with the bathroom in the master bedroom. The water was still on the floor, but Loral was nowhere to be found. Maxis then searched the rest of the house while yelling her name. Mid search there was a knock on the door. Maxis answered it to find his neighbor, a lovely woman about sixty, at the door. "Good, you are home," She said " The cops tried to reach you on your phone, but they found out you left it here so they left a note on the door. Some of the kids around here must have removed it. Loral was taken in by the police last night, I called them when I heard all the screaming." Maxis hugged the woman. "Thank you," Maxis proclaimed " You are a life savior, I will call them now to make sure she is alright." Maxis ran back into his house and grabbed his cell phone. He entered in Even's number before he forgot it and then he called the police station.


" West Hill police station how can I help you," A friendly woman asked.


"Yes, yes," Maxis said stumbling over his words in a rush " My girlfriend Loral Nightingale was picked up by the police after a disturbance at my house at 701 North Winchester and I wanted to know where I could locate her. I am her boyfriend Maxious Basara I just got home and my neighbor told me she was taken in by the police. They had left a message on my door for me, but is was not there when I got home so I just called the closest office."


"Alright," The woman responded " Let me see what I can do. One moment please." Maxis began to pace back and forth as he waited. He felt like he should be doing something, just waiting here seemed like a waste of important daylight. Although the wait was not more that three minutes to Maxis it seemed like forever. "Yes we did have a Miss Nightingale, but after some events that took place she was sent to a mental care facility," the woman stated.


"What a mental care facility for what?" Maxis yelled. He knew it was not her fault, but his emotions were running hot and he had to release this tension some how.


"Yes sir that is correct," the woman said calmly clearly use to dealing with hostile reactions " I wasn't here yesterday, but the report said that she kept talking about a shadow creature. When we arrived the next day she was alone in the building surrounded by water she had thrown on the ground. When our men questioned her about the whereabouts of the officers that are now missing and all she said the shadow creature got them. So now she is being kept at a mental care facility while we try to get information about what actually happened to the officers. We assume it's the same person that attacked her in her home but we can not be sure till her mental state stabilizes. She is currently at Millwood hospital under the watch of a police detail. If you get a chance we would like to talk to you as well mister Basara."


" I will head over to Millwood now," Maxis said "I will talk to your men there."


"Thank you sir." The woman said. Maxis then hoped into his car and took off towards the hospital. It wasn't long before he made it there and as soon as he entered and asked for Loral at the desk he was greeted by cops who barraged him with questions. He told them the whole story leaving out the part about the thing chasing him being a shadow creature. After an hour they finally let him go see Loral. She was sitting out in the middle of a garden enjoying the view. She perked up when she saw Maxis. "Your alright," Loral exclaimed tears forming " You look like hell though." Maxis smiled realizing what she said was true, since he hadn't had a chance to change or clean up. " Not looking to great yourself," Maxis replied " It's great to see your ok." They embraced for a bit before returning to business. "Where did you go," Loral said " The creature left for a bit, but it came back when I was with the police. It....it.......it" Maxis held her again. "I know I saw it happen also," Maxis said. Loral looked him in the eyes and Maxis could see her worry through them. "What are we going to do?" Loral asked " It may come back and they think I'm crazy so they are keeping me here. They might not give me any water." Maxis smiled to reassure her. "I have some leads, so I am hoping to find a way to stop this," Maxis said "For now act normal and get yourself out of here. Whenever night rolls around surround yourself in water. I may not get to see you for a while depending on how this works out, but be safe." Loral smiled growing a little stronger now that she had a goal and a ray of hope. " God what is this, it's like we are in a story," Loral said.


Maxis' mind started to work after hearing Loral's last comment. He grabbed her and kissed her before saying " God you always say the perfect things. I need to run." He kissed her again and pulled out his phone. "You are the best," he yelled "And don't you forget it." Maxis called Evan, but she didn't answer so he left a message. " I might know how we can get some more information," Maxis said as he moved back to his car " When I first looked I searched for historic events, it's one of my flaws as and archaeologist I look for history. I think I went about it all wrong. You said you were heading to the library. I need you to go there and look for fiction stories that involve people surrounding themselves with water to escape a monster, or people running away from a shadow creature, anything that sounds like our situation. You can limit your search to stories originating from Persian. I will meet you at the library if you are not already there. Also you will most likely get a call form the cop asking if I was with you last night. That is it, bye." Maxis then left towards his house to clean up before heading to the library.

 

[Morigan]

Evan slowly trudged home, her wet clothes uncomfortable as she made her way through the city. Eventually she stumbled into her apartment, nearly tripping over the soggy hem of her pants. "Well isn't this just great..." she muttered, stripping her damp clothing as she headed for a warm shower. On her way she saw her drawing of the eyes from the night before. An uncontrollable shiver wracked her body, and she snatched the sheet out of the sketchbook, wadding it up and tossing it in the trash. She continued to the bath, trying to put the evil stare out of her mind.


After an incredibly long, hot shower Evan was ready to face the weirdness she had stumbled into. She checked her phone and saw that she had missed a call from Maxis. As she listened to the voicemail, she gathered her bag and headed to the library. On the way she decided to give her Grandma a call.


"Evangeline! How nice to hear from you dear!" her grandmother said loudly into her phone.


"Nice to hear from you too Grandma. Hey, I've got a question...how serious is the gypsy thing you're always talking about? And have you ever heard a fairy tale about seven sisters?"


"Well, I'm always serious about our heritage you know. Shame on you for asking. And as for a story about seven sisters...well there is the one about the sisters who were eternal protectors of....oh, what was it...gems or something. Anyways, they swore to watch these magic gems forever, and so when they died, they were transformed into stars. You know, like the constellation the Seven Sisters? Why...what's this all about?"


"Oh, just wondering Grandma. I'm at the library, gotta get to work on a project. Love you, call you later okay?" Evan said.


"Sure sweetie, I love you too."


Evan hung up as she entered the massive wooden doors to the library. She found an empty research room and immediately set out to see what stories she could unearth. Time passed quickly, she'd hardly even realized it was after lunch until her stomach growled. She sat up, leaving the computer for a moment and surveyed her work so far. Two large piles covered the table: one with anything concerning Perian myths, shadow monsters, and demons defeated by water and the other contained anything to do with Seven Sisters or the Sight.


She munched on a power bar, her choice for lunch, when her phone rang. It was the cop, just like Maxis had said would call. She assured him that Maxis had been with her all night, in the city square. He seemed uncertain, but finally took her statement and hung up. "Weird," she said and shrugged. Maxis should be getting here soon.

 

[Enolx]

Once Maxis got home he cleaned up his house and then hopped in the shower. He enjoyed the steaming hot water of his shower a lot more than the freezing torrent of the fountain. He relaxed in there for a while before realizing that he was wasting too much time. After he got out he changed into a black shirt, cargo pants, and pair of his all terrain running shoes. After throwing his necklace back on he headed out of the door.


Traffic was not bad so he made it to the library quickly. He went to the front desk and asked if there was a girl who matched Even's description. The man behind the desk pointed to the back part of second floor. Maxis gave him a thank you and made his way up. Once he got there he saw Evan finishing a granola or something like it. She was hidden behind a two towers of books. Maxis popped out in front of her and said "So what have you learned." Maxis said as he looked towards the two stacks " It seems someones search has been quite fruitful."


As he waited for her to explain her findings Maxis pulled up a seat and grabbed a book from one of the stacks. As he read it the cover said Guide to the unknown Stars. Maxis scanned the and noticed it did not seem to relate to the shadow creature. " So what is the independent study about?" Maxis asked " There is a lot of books in that pile for it to just be break from reading about shadow demons."

 

[Morigan]

"Yes, there is quite a bit to search through. I've pulled most everything in the library related to the things you asked for, in the pile here," she indicated one stack. "The other is about the seven stones and sisters. Apparently there was a legend of seven protectors who were transformed into stars to guard some sacred gems. So we've got stuff for your dreams and my voices," she surveyed the piles. "This could take quite a while. Though I put the ones with the most legends and stories on top of your pile," she pointed to some very thick volumes. "A couple even have illustrations."


She stood and stretched, cracking her neck before sitting back down. "Well, let's get started."

 

[Enolx]

Maxis started to shuffle through books scanning them quickly. He had become good at speed reading after all the time he spent looking through ancient text and history books. Most of the books he went through seemed like they were just random stories, but they did have some similarities. After about the fourth book he decided to share his thoughts with Evan.


"I have noticed something from reading these fairy tales," Maxis explained "In most of them the monster only comes for the main character after he steals something. What gets stolen is different in most books, but there is one thing that get repeated." Maxis shuffled through two different books to show her exactly what he found. "See there, there, and there," Maxis said " In all of those cases a bright gem is taken. That is not the only thing that the stories have in common." Maxis started to smile as he felt connections starting to form. He planted some different books in front of her. " The other thing is that the different characters that survived all made the same stop in the middle of the story. How they defeated the monster is different, but how they figured out what to do is almost the same. They all went out to find some woman who lived alone in a remote area near where they stole their item." Maxis cleared all the books and returned them to their stack.


"So if you put this all together with what I will assume is real from my dream and your voices," Maxis said " I think that that woman from my dream and your vision knows the solution to beating the creature. So the real question for now is, what have you found? Because, if I am right your stories and my stories are actually one big story."

 

[Morigan]

Evan listened intently to Maxis, nodding as he made each discovery known to her. She sifted through her own piles, pulling out a handful of books as well.


"Here, look at this," she said opening a heavy old tome in front of him. The page was illustrated with seven gems. "This story talks about these seven stones that were scattered across the world, each one watched over by a sister. Apparently a great evil wanted to power of these stones, but the sisters protected them so that he could never find the gems. However, if a human touched the gems the evil being could find it." She paused, flipping open a couple different books to a similar story. "In some versions, he drains the life force from the person who touches the stone, others say that person absorbed the gem's sacred properties and the evil spirit drains that from the person. A few even say the spirit kills anyone who touches the gems simply out of jealousy. The main thing is, it seems like if you touch a magic gem, the bad guy hunts you down and kills you." She shook her head, hearing how strange her own words sounded. "This is so surreal. Having a serious discussion about magic and demons. But anyway," she continued, "there is also a part about each sister being turned into a star, which obviously seems like a metaphor for something. Supposedly they can watch over the stone throughout time and call on others to protect it and to fight the evil spirit."


She leaned back in her chair and rubbed the space between her eyes. "Ugh, this is gonna give me a migraine." She sat back up and looked to Maxis. "Seems we're in the middle of a fairy tale."

 

[Enolx]

Maxis absorbed Evan's words. He nodded as he listened and started to put pieces together. " So if I had to take a guess," Maxis said " This is how the story is so far. This Almahdi guy must have gotten one of those stones and the creature then started hunting him. What happened in my first dream must have been him talking to the woman from the my stories that shows the hero how to defeat the creature or whatever. By putting the stories together we can assume that the woman that Almahdi talked to was actually one of the sisters from your story." Maxis paused for a second to check if he was missing anything. " That's all I got for now," Maxis stated " Anything I might have missed?"


As Maxis asked his question, he pulled out his phone and looked at the time. He had been reading for a while and a large chunk of the day had passed. After checking a weather app he found out that sunset was only two hours away. "Man this sucks so hard," Maxis thought. "We have about two hours before night," Maxis told Evan " We should come up with a plan for dealing with the shadow. Also just to be safe, you may want to surround yourself with water too, we don't know if your on his hit list now like me. If you like, we could run some life threatening tests to find out. How is your running."


As he waited for Evan's response he started to think of possible plans that would limit casualties while increasing productivity. "I should probably stay with her," Maxis thought " If my theories are right, she is my ticket out of this crazy story. It seems like the best information we have is our dreams and voices. So if I want to learn more we need to sleep more, is basically what this is coming down to. I wonder if there is a way to link the dreams or something crazy like that." He was not sure for how long he was rambling to himself, but he stopped when he realized that he was glaring at Evan as he did so. Loral told him that he looked way to serious when he was trapped in thought. " Yea, I got lost in thought for a second," Maxis said " So if you said anything important you may want to repeat that for me, sorry." He then put away his phone giving her his full attention.