Role

Chapter 7

No, this was not a dream, well as much certain as he could be for he has had
them his whole life. Though Lanathalis prepared himself as best as he could,
he felt drawn towards the sound as ever. Finding his way through the forest
he soon came upon a glade which he had known so well, yet different. The
trees were the same yet they were not seeping blood. The water was not oily
black but crystal blue which ran pure and cold. Raising his head up towards
the waterfall, sat the figure he knew so well from his dream. Yet he had been
wrong, she was not a wood-elf but a Dryad. A dryad with beautiful hair
andeyes! She had eyes!

A sad smile upon her lips, she greeted Lanathalis much to his own surprise.
But should it? This place, this woman has haunted his dreams since before he
could walk as a child. And there sitting on a rock beside her was the book.
But how could that be so? And why did this Dryad have such a horrible thing?
Fear rose up in Lanathalis stomach that made him want to wretch, but the
dryad spoke to calm himself and that she was there to reveal all. As he
blinked, somehow he was now waist deep in the water with the Dryad standing
before him. With that sad smile, she reached out and touched him upon the
head and all his memories came rushing back.

Yes..yes! He did have four siblings and his parents! Oh how he had missed
them. Strange now to ever think he could have forgotten their touch,
forgotten their faces. That scene at the lake once again playing in his mind,
yet now different. Lanathalis was not playing with his siblings when the
hooded figures approached, but each made to sit in a line before their
parents. Walking with them, his parents and the robed figures seem to examine
and judge each and every one of them. Yet when they got to Lanathalis, the
looks upon their faces was cold and reserve. Like a scholar looking at a bug
which they sought to study, no emotion, no feelings behind their glare. As
they spoke among each other for a moment, panic soon set in as his siblings
were lead away by these figures leaving him all alone. As his parents
returned to him, Lanathalis reached out his arms as if to seek comfort but it
would be denied. His parents took him by the hand and lead him to the very
lake which he had thought he fell into while playing tag, but there were no
siblings. No laughter, no joy to be heard. His father picked him up finally
spoke to him with his mother standing there. 'You, you are lacking any true
spark of magic which could be nurtured. You are a blight upon this family and
serve no true value alive. Yet your sacrifice shall please them, and in such
you will serve a greater purpose.' Terror soon gripped young Lanathalis, his
eyes growing wide as his father threw him into the lake. That lake from his
nightmares, as he felt the hands grabbing at him, pulling him down beneath
the water. Yet this time he would not awake.