Memories

Elayne is in a field of ashes. No — a forest, charred tree stumps dotted around her.

Osric lies in the distance, his head resting on a charred stump. A man looms over him — in a hooded cloak and owl mask. He tries to pry open a book.

When he finally succeeds, a blinding beam of light shoots out. Words mingle within it, traveling along the rays. He turns the book toward Osric.

“No, please! I don’t want to see this!” Osric screams, writhing and flailing as if his limbs won’t bend.

“Osric!” Elayne calls, trying to run to him.

But she’s trapped — trapped in a cage. A red cage of fire. All she can do is scream.

“Osric!” Elayne springs up. She’s in a dark room. Her scream echoes through it.

“Quiet down, will ya?” Margery throws a pillow at her from the other bed.

As her vision adjusts, she realizes she’s surrounded by wooden walls. Then she remembers — she’s in an inn with the girls, in the town of Velloran.

Banging comes from the wall to her right. “Get some sleep, girls. Big quest tomorrow,” Melina calls.

Elayne throws her head onto the pillow and slams her eyes shut.

>>>

The four are deep in a cave, tucked within the forest outside of Velloran.

Melina leads the way, torch in hand. "Mira, give me the quests again."

Mira rummages through her backpack and tosses Melina a piece of parchment.

She unravels the paper, revealing a picture of the giant spider on the poster. “Remember, this is what they look like. They’re called neiths. I’m showing you again, Elayne, because this is your first time fighting them, and you tend to forget things.”

“Hmph,” Elayne quietly objects, yet stares closely at the picture.

After her explanation, skittering sounds echo from above. Melina raises her torch. Three neiths — giant red spiders with white stripes down their bodies — crawl along the ceiling. They drop down together with an ear-splitting hiss.

"Positions!" Melina shouts.

Elayne runs up beside her, Margery takes position behind them, and Mira falls in behind her.

All three spiders shoot webs from their mouths. Melina jumps in front of Elayne, taking the spray of webs. She tries to hack through them but gets entangled. "Elayne, go!"

Melina’s words feel like a distant echo, and her mind drifts elsewhere. The dark cave gnaws at her, spitting up memories of being locked in a dark cage — memories of Osric saving her, and her dream from last night.

"Elayne!" Mira’s deep shout snaps her back.

She launches at the neiths as they spray more webs. Leaping over them, she points her sword downward and thrusts it straight through the middle spider’s abdomen. But the other two unleash another volley of webs, tangling her up. She rolls across the ground, ensnared in the sticky threads. The two spiders skitter toward her, mouths opening their crooked fangs dripping with saliva.

Melina’s armor clanks, echoing through the cave. She grunts as her sword whizzes into the head of one spider. A fireball streaks in, incinerating the next just as it lunges at Elayne.

"You alright, Elayne?" Melina asks, yanking her sword from the spider’s head and using it to cut her free.

"I'm fine," she mumbles.

>>>

The four sit around a fire, the orange light flickering against the blue walls of the cave. They hold sticks skewered with neith meat over the flames.

"We've got more than enough for the quest!" Melina says, idly playing with the neith eyes in her hand.

Elayne twirls her stick of meat over the fire, trying to get her mind off the battle. But she can't help replaying it, reminding herself that if the rest of the party hadn't been there, she might have died.

The feeling of being wrapped in sticky threads drags her back to the day she first met Osric — her legs tangled, bound by the mercenaries’ ropes, lying helpless while Osric bled out beside her. She can’t take it. Her chest feels tight, her breathing won't slow down. She starts smacking herself on the thigh.

"What's wrong?" Mira hurries to her side, grabbing her fist before it pounds into her thigh again.

Elayne looks up from the fire as tears fall into it.

"Tell us what's wrong," Mira insists, wiping away Elayne’s tears and rubbing her back.

Mira’s soothing presence calms her. She plops down, taking a big bite of her spider meat. Mira returns to her own.

"It's that boy again, isn't it? What did he do to you?" Margery shakes her head.

Elayne knows she can’t keep going on like this. Maybe talking to them will help her make sense of it. She feels she can trust them.

"When I was seven, there was this boy — Osric. He came and saved me. I was being held in a cage by some bad man."

>>>

Elayne tells her story, leaving out the facts that she’s a half-beastkin and that Osric is the sage. Her tale is interrupted as she recounts the argument they had the night they arrived at the mansion in the woods.

"Hold on." Mira stops her. "He was closing his eyes, leaning in... He was going in for a kiss!"

"I know. That's why I stopped him." Elayne's gaze meets the stone.

"Was it unwanted? This could be part of the reason why you're no longer together." Margery questions.

"I can't. If he kisses me, then I'll get pregnant." Elayne's eyes don't leave the cave floor, but she hears their sighs.

"That's not how you get pregnant," Melina says.

"But Papa always told me I should only kiss my husband. Because that's how you get pregnant... right?"

"Oh, no." Melina breaths out another deep sigh.

>>>

Her story is interrupted by Melina’s own tale. Explaining how babies are made.

"And then you'll get pregnant," Melina finishes.

"And then months later, the baby will be born!" Mira exclaims.

Elayne's jaw hangs open. She cannot believe what she just heard.

"You alright?" Margery asks. "Continue your story."

After a very long pause:

"I'm alright... I'll continue," Elayne squeaks out.

>>>

She continues after the argument, leaving out the parts where she was corrupted by the Necklace of Wrath and the mysterious way Osric came back to life.

"Hmm," Melina finishes the last bite of her meat. "Someone sent an assassin to kill him. You failed to protect him, and he nearly died saving you... no wonder he's mad."

"Melina!" Mira shouts.

"What? Am I supposed to lie to her?"

"Say it nicer!"

"The way you talk about him… You still want to help him, don't you?" Margery cuts in.

"Why? He says he doesn't need me!" Elayne snaps back.

"If you want to be with him, just do it," Margery adds.

“Exactly! Just go back and apologize. If he doesn’t want you, just say you’re stuck with me,” Mira nods.

"I can give you some training so it doesn’t happen again," Melina says, pointing to herself.

Elayne chews her meat slowly, slowly coming to the realization. She does want to help Osric. She wants to be there for him, like he was for her. She'll help him even if he doesn't want it.

“I’m going back!” she says, finally looking up at her party mates.