In Times To Come

"This way," ushered the butler in training. His swift pace down the marble halls left no time for me to catch my breath.

Every few feet I could feel my head becoming lighter; spinning in a tizzy that made me sick to my stomach. A pillar, a window, a door; all of them gave me a distinct feeling of deja vu and it sent my mind reeling. I'm surprised I was able to follow the elf as well as I did, but I was slowly losing. To what, I don't know, but I felt desperate to regain control.

I closed my eyes and followed the sound of footsteps in front of me.

'Breathe,' I commanded myself. It was bad enough to be suddenly summoned, but being ill on top of that made it ten times worse.

There was a heavy click and I heard a massive door swing open. My eyes opened to a large, rectangular-shaped room. Down the middle of the floor stretched a long, red carpet. It started at the door and made its way clear to the other end of the room where it covered a number of stairs, on top of which sat a large throne. High pillars held up the heavy ceiling, each adorned with their own burning torch. However, it was what I saw at the other end of the room that made my jaw hang open.

Zarek stood by the great chair, gesturing and smiling in light conversation. Next to him stood the general who was probably laughing at one of his own jokes, while on the throne sat...

"Your highness," spoke Stefan loudly. In the blink of an eye all attention was on us.

I looked to the butler who was bowing low, his short hair practically sweeping the floor.

'They didn't tell me what to do!' I screamed in my head. 'What do I do?' In the moment of panic I grabbed my left hand tightly. Before I could even come up with a plan my head shot in the direction of a fast approaching figure.

His long, blonde hair fluttered behind him as he ran full speed. The large, purple robe flowed elegantly with his strides and his slippered feet made little noise as he drew closer. His attire threatened several times to undo from his body, but was held fast by a thick sash of pure white fabric. He was so close now; the brown of his eyes intently fixed ahead of him.

"Sara!" rang his light voice. His arms wide open, our bodies collided. A tight squeeze around my shoulders pinned my arms to my body and so I stood there motionless. My eyes were wide with confusion, but stared blankly. "Sara, my, Sara. You've finally come back!"

'Came back?'

He drew back from me as to get a better look. "Humans grow up so fast," he said. His voice was solemn and I could see some sort of sadness creep into his eyes. "But don't worry," he hugged me once more. "You'll never leave my side again."

'Again?' I wanted to push this stranger away, ask some questions, get some answers, but I was speechless and my body proved useless. It was hard to focus, to think of what to do next. My head was throbbing.

"Sara?" the voice echoed through my head. All of a sudden, the man in front of me began to shrink, the walls faded away, and the floor sprouted thick patches of grass. A young boy stood in a garden, gazing up at the passing clouds. He turned his head to me and smiled.

The pain began to subside and I dropped to my knees, dragging the elf down with me. There were a number of gasps as every body present instinctively dashed toward us.

"Sara!" sounded Zarek's familiar voice.

"What's wrong?" asked the man, still holding me. "Sara?"

I looked up at his face, trying to find his eyes, but my own were growing blurry. My lips formed a name, but my mind forbade me to speak it. Somehow, in my heart, I knew who this person was, I longed for him even, only my conscience held me back, insisting over and over again that I had never met him before.

"Don't crowd, let her be."

"Someone bring a fan!"

"Water! Water, too!"

Sometime later, my head began to still and I was able to focus my eyes. However, it took me a moment to remember exactly where I was and why.

"Are you alright now?" I looked up at the unknown elf and nodded. "Sara, do you remember me?" He asked slowly, clearly, like he was talking to a child.

'Did I remember him?' My mouth opened and the words came out in barely a whisper. "I don't know you."

Everyone was dead silent. The face close to mine displayed a look of extreme pain and deep sorrow.

It's one thing to be forgotten and it is a totally different thing to be the one forgetting. I felt solely responsible for the tears that held themselves back in the corners of his eyes.

"Zarek," he said calmly. "What is this?"

"I don't know," he answered in a defeated tone.

"But you knew about it."

"I did," he answered again.

"Why didn't you say something?" His voice suddenly became edgy. "You could have at least said something!" I flinched at the severity in his words. The man felt me tense and looked down apologetically.

"Just stay calm," instructed the general who was just as shocked as most in the room. "There must be an explanation. First off, perhaps you should introduce yourself. You know, start from square one until we can figure this all out."

"Square one?"

"That's right," he assured the elf.

He sighed and slowly removed his hands from my arms. "You're right." His face clouded over as he spoke. "Would you excuse us?" It was more a command than a question.

Everyone headed for the large doors and out into the hallway. Zarek gave one last mournful look before closing the door behind him.