Silver Wheel: Beginnings

I became aware that I was lying on a wooden floor. It was hard and slightly warm, which suggested I was inside. The next thing I noticed was that my hands were bound behind my back and that my feet were tied together. I also got the feeling of being really high up. I had a banging headache and I had absolutely no idea where I was or how I had gotten there.
I slowly opened my eyes and looked around me. The room itself didn’t look like much. It had a desk and chair, a few book selves filled with books on herbs and healing, and a small seating area. There was a cabinet filled with different herbal remedies and herbs hanging from the ceiling to dry.
“You’re awake then.” A steely voice said from off to my right.
My head snapped to the sound. “Sage” I breathed. He was sat to my right looking very stern. “What the hell is going on?”
“You don’t remember?” He asked.
“Remember what?” Just then everything came back. “I… I never…” I attempted to sit up, only to wince in pain.
Sage was by my side instantly, worry now clear in his eyes. “Slowly now; you have a bash to your head.” He said, placing a hand on my shoulder to prevent any further attempts.
“From Zac?” I asked. From the look I got I had guessed correctly. Sage got up and walked away, putting the small room into silence. “Did I hurt any of you?”
“Flint and Zac have a few burns… Other than that no, you didn’t.” He said.
Tears started to form in my eyes. “I didn’t mean to… I don’t know what I was thinking… I would never intentionally hurt any of you.” I said.
“Hey, I know that; we all do.” He said, coming over again. He lifted my head and helped me sit. “Thanatos is responsible for this, not you. He was the one who made you do all of that.”
“You don’t understand; I… I wanted you all dead.” I whispered. Sage looked up from cutting my bonds.
“What do you mean?” He said.
“It was as if I saw you, but I… I didn’t… I can’t explain it.” I finished weakly.
“As if you were not you.” Sage said for me.
“Yeah. I hated you all for some reason, and I certainly didn’t want to go back with you. I wanted to stay with Thanatos and learn how to…” I stopped, realising what I was saying. I looked at Sage. “I…”
“I understand.” He said simply. He had finished untying me, and walked away. He went over to the shelf and pulled out a book. “There is a plant that sort of… allows you to play tricks with people. It is best used when put in food or drink.”
Something flashed through my mind. I was tied up somewhere and Thanatos was trying to get me to join him. When I refused he left. A few minutes later he returned with food and drink. I remembered eating them and then feeling slightly odd…
“I bitter after taste…” I muttered.
“Yes, there would be.” He said, looking back at me. “Well, now you have your answer; you weren’t in your right mind. Obviously it is out of your system now, so you should be fine.”
The room fell silent again. “Sage, where am I?” I asked, looking around again. “and where are the others?”
“This is my tree house.” Sage explained “I come here sometimes if I have wondered into the woods to get herbs and I can’t make it back before dark. The others are just down at the base of the tree, thinking it best that you woke up in here without us all. After all, we had no idea what was going on.”
“Well, that made five of us.” I said. Sage laughed slightly.
“Hold on, how long have I been away?” I asked, suddenly realising that I must have been gone a while.
“Two days.” Sage answered. “I took us half a day to get to Thanatos’, and the same to get back. You were gone from a while before we realised you were missing, and then it took a while to find you.”
“Sage?” I heard Zac call from outside. I could hear a faint beating sound, so he must have been hovering by the window.
“Tell the others they can come up!” Sage shouted to him. The beating faded away as Zac went back to the others.
I soon heard footsteps coming closer to the house, and then a trap door opened in the centre of the floor. Zac, followed by Dylan and finally Flint came in and stood around, all of their eyes staring at me. I kept my eyes on the floor. I couldn’t look at any of them, knowing that I had been trying to injure, or worse kill, them all. I heard approaching footsteps and I shrank back against the wall I was sitting against. The footsteps stopped in front of me and the person crouched down. He then placed a hand under my chin and lifted my face. It was Dylan.
“I’m sorry.” I muttered, tears filling my eyes again. He stared at me for a moment, and then pulled me into a hug.
“I forgive you. I know you didn’t mean it.” He whispered in my ear. I hugged him back, not really believing that it could be that easy; nothing in life was easy.
“Thanks you,” I whispered back. He then helped me to my feet so that I could apologise to the others.
“I’m sorry. I…” I glanced at Sage, who nodded encouragingly. “I didn’t know what I was doing. I would never hurt any of you intentionally.” My voice caught.
“I knew you wouldn’t” Zac said, his eyes brightening. I could see that he was glad to have me back. He came over and give me a hug, which I gladly returned.
“Flint…?” I asked shakily, turning to the demon.
“I didn’t think you would.” He said, although I could see that he was not as willing to accept my apology as the others. I looked at him with sad eyes and nodded. I knew that it was too much to expect for them all to welcome me back with open arms.
“Come on now, let’s get you back to the house.” Sage said, opening the tap door. “Zac, it might be an idea for you to help her down.”
Zac nodded and walked over to me. I guessed that Sage meant for him to fly me down. I didn’t like the idea much, but I wasn’t feeling too steady on my feet, having been leaning against Dylan or the wall since waking up.
The others made their way down the trap door and Zac lifted me up. He then walked over to one of the walls, which I now noticed had another trap door in it. This one, I realised, was designed to let someone walk onto a small platform which served as like a landing pad for Zac. We walked out onto the landing pad and then Zac took off. It then noticed how high up we were; at least 30 feet off the ground. I was now glad that I had let Zac carry me down as I probably wouldn’t have made it that far.
“I’m sorry.” Zac said in my ear.
“You have nothing to be sorry for.” I replied.
“I could have killed you.” He said seriously.
“I trust that you wouldn’t. Besides, call it pay back for what I’ve done.” I said, avoiding his eyes.
“All even then?” He asked.
“Even.” I replied.
Once we were at the bottom, we waited for the others to finish their climb down. It took a few minutes, given the height, but we were soon on our way home. I ended up being carried by Flint, who was refusing to let anyone else take me. I insisted that I could walk, but they would hear none of it.