Dread: Part 3

Brayden continued following the scent of his mother, which was somehow vivid in his mind. She smelled of burning wood, a smell he had always seemed to notice about her, but never as strong as now. Near her, a different scent seemed to drift. It smelled of dirt and hay, so Brayden assumed it was a horse. Annoyingly, his sword clanged against his armor while he ran, distracting him from any other sound than the crushing noise of the road beneath his feet. Sweat bunched above his brows and suddenly his helmet was uncomfortable. Carrying it now in one hand, he wiped his forehead with his other hand. Not much further now, I can smell her scent heavily.
Ahead, the sun was beginning to rise over the distant cliffs and the dew on the grass shimmered. Soft breezes began to flow throughout the plains and Brayden began to slow to enjoy the feeling of peace. Wildflowers swayed in the breeze, bright and colorful against the green grass. Smiling, Brayden gazed away from the road and admired the grasses fully. A thudding sound of hooves made Brayden look up and saw a horse charging him. In panic, he dropped his helmet and moved to draw his sword, but quickly sheathed it once the horse stopped before him, breath heaving into his face.

Atop the gray-and-white horse sat a woman who was coated in mud and bloody rags wrapped around her arms. Tears began to dribble from her blue eyes as she fell from the horse. Darting down to catch his mother, Delora, Brayden tried to examine her arms. Slowly, he peeled away the bloody cloth and found her arms coated with dried blood, but it seemed there were no wounds. Brayden sighed with relief. Her face had dirt caked in it, just like the rest of her body, and dark circles had grown beneath her eyes. Strangely, her body was hot to the touch, so Brayden assumed she was fevered.
Before he could try to awaken his mother, Brayden felt a presence judging him heavily. He looked up and stared at the horse, it stared back, somehow with contempt in its blue eyes. The sun burned bright behind the strange creature, outlining its figure while the wind blew its mane forward.
"I'm being intimidated by a horse." Brayden murmured. At his words, Delora's eyes flicked open and stared blankly at Brayden for a moment, before realizing what she was looking at.
"You're not dead, oh thank the Lady on high." Her eyes darted to her own arms, staring at them in disbelief.
"What were the rags for?" Brayden began to lift his mother up to allow her to stand.
"There was this terrible beast an-and his claws, they dug into my skin... but how am I not harmed?" Her pale fingers touched her arm. Brayden remembered when it had started. His friends and fellow guards turned to half-man half-beast creatures and ripped the remaining guards apart, but had ignored Brayden. He could still hear the harrowing screams echoing in his ears. Shuddering, he let his mother's feet fall to the ground and she stood shakily. She moved to mount the horse again, but her arms appeared weak and every move made her quiver. Brayden helped her back onto the horse and climbed behind her, assuring she wouldn't fall from the horse.
"This mare saved me from the beast, and has since proven to be my favorite horse multiple times." Delora tried to smile weakly.
"If only it could sprout wings and fly us to Mirror." Brayden smiled back while the horse began to turn and canter down the road. He noticed Delora cringed away from Brayden's arms, as if he had a thousand spiders crawling over his skin.
"Mother?" He asked.
"Your arms... for moments they look as if they're the beast's, but then they're not. My mother always said seeing things that aren't really there is the first step to insanity." She closed her eyes, clearly worried for her own mother's health.
"Perhaps you are a prophet mother, and that symbolizes something. Think of you being a prophet, heh." Brayden chuckled.
"Maybe it is because I am tired, Brayden. But if I had fallen asleep back there..." Her voice trailed off while her gaze fell ahead them. Brayden saw for the first time how torn up her nightgown was, and began to wonder how much the beast had attacked her.
"Look," Delora shouted, "there's the outline of the walls!"
"We'll make it soon then, and then we can tell them everything." Brayden closed his eyes and imagined a soft, fluffy bed embracing him. The horse beneath them seemed to hear their excitement and began to gallop. Brayden held tight to the horse's neck and felt himself slipping regardless. Ahead, Brayden spotted a single rider trotting forward to meet them. As the stranger's horse came closer, Brayden noted it was not prepared for battle, and neither was the rider. His gaze flew up to the rider's face and he saw a soft, welcoming smile and a white silk cloth lined with gold cloth wrapped around the rider's eyes, the ears of the rider pointed sharply around brown hair.
"Welcome, Lady Delora and son." Thremm's voice sounded of melted gold, melodious to the ear. Behind her, a group of riders were charging into view, the head of the group seeming flustered beneath his helmet. Brayden began to get off the horse to kneel before the Queen, and as he got down on his knees the other riders arrived.
"Prophet, you can't just charge away from us!" spoke a red-faced man in a gray cloak.
"I had a vision from Elma earlier today, two hawks would swirl above this road and then fly towards the city. I had just understood what it meant, Dan." Thremm spoke with confidence, but her luxurious voice made it seem patronizing. Dan wheezed and patted the neck of his black stallion. Delora jumped off the side of the horse and landed in the dirt, her legs shaking for a moment.
"I will ask you why you have come after we return to my castle. I feel I will enjoy an explanation." Thremm reached out and patted her tan fingers on the neck of the gray-and-white mare.

-

They had stabled the horses quickly and then servants moved to take care of Delora, while Brayden was left alone in the study room of the castle. A great sculpture stood in the middle of the room, a shrouded figure mounted on a pegasus, its wings outspread behind it. The hand of the figure reached forward while the other wrapped around the pegasus' neck. Dual staircases ran around the sculpture, leading to a second floor filled with empty desks and extinguished candles. Bookcases were on the main floor, filled with books of varying contents. Most of all, white and gold were common colors in this room, white being the color of the marble in the floors and walls while gold lined it and decorated many parts of the room. Paintings decorated the walls, visions of glorious angels and portraits of some nobles Brayden couldn't identify. He whistled idly in the empty study.

Delora arrived eventually, her skin cleaned and her hair braided into a single braid down her back. She wore a gown of the color brown, like wood, Brayden noted. Its sleeves drooped almost to the bottom of her thighs, and her feet sat in small light-blue slippers. A strange color combination, until Brayden realized what it meant. Blue was the color of house Hawke, brown the color of house Wood. Brayden's breath caught in his throat as he recalled holding his father and bringing him to his supposed death. He shook the memory away and looked back at the sculpture.
Thremm's entrance to the room was sounded by a swishing of cloth and the soft shutting of the wooden door. She wore a robe of gray with a white cloth wrapped around her neck, but the same cloth was wrapped around her eyes. "Hm, I feel as if the news you bring is not shiny nor happy." She sighed, "But speak this news freely, you are the only thing I've seen of Land's Nest in awhile."
"The guards, my father, they all turned into strange wolven creatures and attacked my people." Delora's hands shook, so she grasped them together.
"It wasn't all of the guards, however, some remained normal, but were killed by these wolf-men." Brayden watched as Thremm's smile turned down, to a frown.
"Just as I feared. I've been having strange visions lately, of creatures similar to what you speak of, but tearing at my skin. Then, I see visions of a woman who cries but breathes flames, burning away the creatures. I am not certain what they mean, but Our Lady Deliverer does not always send clear messages. In fact, I believe the woman in my visions to be a magi, but there has not been such one born in the last hundred years." Thremm held her chin as she spoke.
Creatures tearing at her skin? Mother felt similarly... Brayden glanced at Delora, who was now looking down at her arms, then back to Thremm. Shockingly, Thremm was looking at his mother as well, as if she knew.
"You may stay here as long as you please," Thremm continued, still looking at Delora, "I hope you do stay long."