Brian Anderson: Of Gods And Elves

Gewey felt cold, smooth stone pressed against his face,and a terrible wind roared in his ears. He opened his eyes. Nothingbut pitch-blackness surrounded him. He remembered his fight withHarlondo. He felt his body searching for wounds the half-man hadinflicted. No injuries !

“We have healed you,” said a voice from thedarkness. It was soft and musical but neither male nor female.

Gewey tried to tell where the voice originated from, butit was as if it came from everywhere.

“Where am I?” He got to his feet as hisvoice echoed. “Who are you?”

“You are home,” said the voice. “Youare with us. We have been waiting so very long.”

“You haven’t answered my question.”

“There is plenty of time for questions. For nowyou must take your ease.”

A light appeared, piercing the darkness several yardsaway. He stood on a raised stone walkway, surrounded by purenothingness that went on forever. The only other thing he could seewas a silver door at the end of the path. Gewey crept forward,careful not to step to close to the edge.

When he was only a few feet away the door opened, andthe light dimmed.

“What’s in there?” he asked butreceived no reply.

He stepped inside the door and found himself in his ownhouse. A fire burned cheerfully, and a hot plate of roast lamb andhoney-split bread were on the table. Harman Stedding, his father, satat the far end of the table smiling at him.

“Finally,” said Harman. “Did you havea good day?”

Gewey turned pale and tried to back out of the door, butit was no longer there.

“What's wrong, son?” Harman asked.

His father was just as he remembered him, tall, and leanwith salt and pepper hair. Gewey had always thought he looked morelike a teacher than a farmer. He wore the green linen shirt andtrousers that he always had worn in the evenings after the day’swork.

“Who are you?” Gewey demanded. He reachedfor his sword, but it was no longer at his side.

Harman looked concerned and tried to walk over to him,but Gewey ran to the other end of the table looking for something touse as a weapon.

Harman sighed, shaking his head. “He told me thismight happen. Gewey let me explain.”

“Explain what? You’re not my father. Myfather is dead.”

Harman backed away. “Son, please. You’vebeen through a terrible ordeal. Let me help you.”

“Liar! Get away from me.” He found a knifeon the table and snatched it up.

Fear struck Harman’s face. “If you’lljust let me speak to you for one second.”

Gewey tried to calm himself and focus. “Speak,”he growled. “But if you come near me, I swear

I’ll kill you.”

Harman slowly pulled up a chair and motioned for Geweyto sit as well, but Gewey backed away and put himself near the frontdoor.

“You’ve been ill,” said Harman. “Veryill. Lord Starfinder took you to Gath for treatment.

You’ve been back for three days now.”

“Gath, eh,” said Gewey. “I was in Gath with Lee, and so far that's the only true thing you’vesaid.”

“I’m not lying, son. This is the third timeyou’ve lost your memory since you’ve been back. It’sthe medicine they gave you. Lee told me that the healer said thismight happen.”

“You expect me to believe that?” Geweysnorted. “You’ve been dead for two years. I buried youmyself.”

“Your fever is causing you to hallucinate,”said Harman. “Last time you lost your memory you thought youwere a God. You even told me I wasn’t really your father.”

Gewey glared. “This won’t work. Tell me thetruth, or I'll gut you right now.”

Harman bowed his head. “You’re not going tomake this easy are you? We really hoped being here, and seeing yourfather alive and happy would be enough for you just to accept this.”

Gewey raised his knife and readied himself to attack.“What are you?”

“I’m here to care for you,” heanswered. “You are with us now. Your body has been leftbehind.”

“My body? What have you done to my body?”

“Your body was destroyed. Only your spiritremains. However, you shouldn’t fear, we love you, and we willcare for you. Anything you want is yours.”

“You still haven’t told me who you are?”

“We are the first,” he replied. “Weare the lovers of the Gods. We have been waiting for you. We loveyou.”

“Return me to my body now,” Gewey demanded.“You can’t keep me here. You don’t have the right.”

“I cannot return you,” said Harman. “Pleasedon’t worry. Soon you will forget about the troubles of thatother world. Here you can be anything you wish. All we ask is thatyou love us as your kin had once done.”

“My kin? You mean the Gods? What do you know aboutthem?”

“We were favored by them, above all others. Whenthe Dark One trapped them, we were left all alone. We had you onceand should not have let you go. But we were betrayed.”

“You’re not making sense,” said Gewey.“Who betrayed you?”

“Felsafell,” he said bitterly. “Heconvinced us to let you go. Then he left us too.”

“You’re spirits. That’s what you are.What do you want from me? I have nothing to give you.”

“We only desire your love,” he said. “Itis everything to us. We need it. We are so lonely.”

“I cannot stay with you,” said Gewey as hemoved to the door. “I don’t belong here.”

“You cannot leave,” cried Harman. “Thereis nowhere to run. Soon you will forget. Soon you will love us as welove you.”

Gewey couldn’t help but feel pity for thecreature, but he knew he had to get away. He opened the door and ranfrom the house. The figure of his father appeared in front of him.

“Get away from me,” screamed Gewey. “Letme go.” He pushed his way past the spirit and ran in thedirection of town.

“You are with us.” The voice of the spiritcarried on the wind, following him as he ran.

Gewey ran until his legs burned. When he reached thevillage all the familiar faces he knew as a child were there to greethim, but Gewey ignored them and made his way toward Lee’shouse.

The trees and brush whizzed by as he ran at full speeddown one of the many roads Lee had built. Gewey stumbled to a halt.He couldn’t remember why he was running or where he was going.

“Wait up.” His father ran up from behind.“I’m too old to keep up with you anymore.”

Gewey stood there scratching his head. “Whathappened?” he asked. “Why was I running?”

“We’re going fishing,” Harman replied.“Don’t you remember?”

It was then Gewey realized he was holding a fishing polein his right hand. Harman carried one as well, along with a bucket ofbait in the other.

“Yes,” said Gewey after a long pause. “Ofcourse, I do. I’m sorry, I was just confused.”

Harman smiled warmly and threw his arm around Gewey’sshoulder. “That’s alright, son.” He laughed. “Ithappens to everybody.”

Gewey and his father walked for about three miles, to aspot along the Goodbranch River where they had fished since he was asmall boy. The sun shone brightly, and the birds chirped merrily, asfather and son sat on the bank near a large oak and fished throughoutthe day.

Gewey landed three nice-sized trout and Harman fourothers. His father always had better luck at fishing. As the sunbegan to sink closer to the horizon, Gewey lay back on the grass andtook a deep breath of the fresh spring air.

“Are you happy, son?” his father asked.

Gewey looked at Harman mildly surprised. “Ofcourse, I am. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I’m glad.” He stretched his arms witha satisfied moan. “I think it’s time we go home and eatsome fish.”