Rise of Heroes

Chapter 5 - Choices of Fate

“Choose.”

Jaden frowned, realizing he had his eyes closed. He opened them, turning in the direction of the voice, only to find Tamara looking at him. Stunned, he simply stared at her in utmost surprise. She was sitting next to him, legs crossed under her white satin dress. Her pitch-black hair was braided carefully to the side, falling heavily around her left shoulder, and to top it all off, she didn’t carry a single weapon on her. She even wore heavy earrings matching the bracelets on both of her arms, and as he looked at her closer, there were hair ornaments sparkling in her hair as well. Her posture was relaxed, idle even, and her long fingers were playing with the fabric of the dress as she smiled at him.

He couldn’t remember the last time he saw his sister in a dress — even as children, she would steal his clothes when their mother forced her into wearing a dress and took away her wooden sword. Eventually, the queen gave up on trying to make her act like a lady, which Tamara celebrated by throwing all of her dresses out of the window of her room. She never wore jewelry either apart from a single golden ring with the family crest on it and even that she wore on a cord around her neck.

Jaden took a brief look around — they were in the middle of a field, tall grass and flowers covering the earth as far as his eyes could see. The colors were so bright that he had to squint his eyes and blink a few times to get used to their vibrant glow. His attention switched to the sky — it seemed so blue, without a trace of a cloud; and the sun, the sun was warm and vivid and beautiful.

He couldn’t decide what bewildered him more — the fact that his sister was wearing a dress, or all the bright and breathtaking sight surrounding him from all sides. There was no way this could be happening. Any of it.

“Choose, Jaden,” Tamara urged him, and he finally returned his attention to her. Her gray eyes met his, and she nodded toward the ground. He followed her gaze, curious to find out what she was talking about.

There were three items lying between them, all of them placed on a separate silver platter. Jaden frowned, ready to swear that those items were not there a moment ago. In fact, he could swear he himself wasn’t anywhere near such a field a few minutes earlier when he drifted off to sleep in the uncomfortable bed in the inn.

‘A dream. This is all a dream,’ he thought, only slightly surprised. It had been a while since he had one of those.

“Choose,” the voice insisted, but this time it did not belong to Tamara. Surprised, Jaden looked up, only to find himself staring breathlessly at a young girl. He had never seen her before, of that he was absolutely certain, for she was so exquisite that he could never forget a face like hers. Her long, wavy red hair spiraled around her shoulders like silk, absorbing the soft sunlight and giving the girl an enthralling glow.

She wore a crown fit for a queen, yet she seemed so young, so innocent. Her bright blue eyes stared at him with warmth, in a dear, loving way. She reached out and placed her hand on top of his knee. Her touch was so real, so sweet, sending a jolt of exaltation through his body. “Choose, Jaden,” she whispered, her melodic voice making his heart race.

He looked down again, examining the items more carefully.

The first one was a broken blade, its hilt richly decorated in gemstones and white gold, but the blade itself was shattered, only a small part of it remained attached to the hilt, useless just like its other pieces lying around.

The second item was a single blue rose. Its azure petals were fully opened — dark ocean blue mixed with a bright, sapphire tint on the edges. There were more thorns on the stalk than a normal flower would have and a single decoration wrapped around the stem — a thin, black ribbon shyly floating in the air around the flower.

The last item was a crown, inlaid with pure gold with a big red gemstone in the middle, befitting only a king. The gemstone was not the only thing dulling the spark of the gold and Jaden needed only a second to realize that the crown was covered in thick, dark droplets of demon blood.

He had no idea what to do, what those things meant.

“Choose,” the voice changed again, and he looked up to meet the next person his dream brought forward. His younger sister, Estelle, was now looking at him with a smile that made him shiver; her doll-like face was calm, but there was a spark in her eyes that he had never seen before. “Choose,” she said once more.

“Why?” he asked her, not sure if there was any point. “Why do I have to choose? What am I choosing? What is going to happen if I choose?”

She tilted her head, her lips turning into a smirk.

“Choose.”

“No!” Jaden said firmly, jumping to his feet and taking a step back. Estelle didn’t move, she just kept staring at him with unnerving calmness. He kept retreating further and further away and even though he knew it was all a dream, the tall grass, and fragrant flowers felt so real as they brushed against his hands. With every step, the sky grew darker, fearsome clouds suddenly covering the sun and hiding the last bit of blue above. The grass, the flowers, the trees — everything began to wither. When he looked back at his little sister, she had disappeared, and so had Tamara and the other girl, with no trace they had ever been there.

He was alone in a wasteland now, with only ashes and stone to keep him company.

Jaden kept stepping back, his eyes goggling at the sudden change of scenery. Then even the gray started darkening, drowning his world in endless darkness. Before the last glimpse of color disappeared from his sight, Jaden turned around, ready to run.

Instead of facing a wall of blackness, he found himself inches away from another person — another girl he didn’t know, yet she seemed vaguely familiar. His mind only registered wild chestnut hair and brown eyes before she raised her hands and cupped his face.

“Wake up!” she ordered, her voice quiet, but at the same time so piercing, his entire body shook by its call.

Kicking off the blanket and jumping out of the bed, he looked around, breathing heavily, his hand already squeezing the hilt of his sword. His eyes landed on the naked figure in the bed he had just left, and he pointed the sword toward her while she rubbed her eyes sleepily. The girl froze as she noticed the blade, scared eyes widening in panic. He recognized her then — the girl that was giving water to the horses, the innkeeper’s daughter. She had come to his room again after the town had grown quiet and the moon had risen high in the sky.

Jaden awkwardly lowered the weapon, and she just sprung from the bed, grabbing her dress and cloak and rushing toward the door, not even bothering to put her clothes on first. The door slammed shut after her, and he let out a frustrated sigh as he looked around.

Everything had felt so real, too real.

He could still smell the flowers, the fresh grass, and the moist earth they were sitting on; he could still feel the fading warmth of the sun and the chilling grip of the darkness that followed. And the people in it — the appearance of Tamara and Estelle he could understand, he’d been thinking about his family before he went to sleep. But what about the other two?

The red-haired girl refused to leave his thoughts. Oddly, he did not particularly want to part with that image, but he had no time for empty dreams and desires.

And the other one.

Now that he was awake, he could not remember her face at all. She was the only one who didn’t make him choose, who actually helped him wake up. Jaden wondered what made her seem so familiar, even for the brief moment of their encounter.

A knock came on the door and he went to open it. As he did, Tamara was just about to knock on his face, her attention clearly directed toward something else. Jaden cleared his throat, making her jump.

“Am I going crazy or did a naked woman just run out of here as if there were demons on her heels?” she finally asked, her face holding a mix of amusement and surprise. “What did you do to her?” Her smile twisted into a frown as she got a better look at him. “Or she to you?”

Jaden simply shook his head, returning to the room to get dressed. By the time he sheathed his sword, Tamara was impatiently tapping with her foot. On their way to the camp, he told her about the dream. He had had nightmares before, pretty grotesque ones, but never one so vivid, so real. He just couldn’t shake off the feeling that it had a greater significance, a deeper meaning that he couldn’t understand. One thing was for sure, it did not feel like just a dream.

“I have no idea what it means,” she said as he finished. “A broken blade? That doesn’t sound good to me. And a blue rose. But blue roses don’t exist.” They passed by a group of soldiers who were swiftly saddling their horses just as another one was putting out the fires. “And what was the third one? A bloody crown.” She shook her head. “All of those sound like omens to me. I’m sure if our mother was here, she would be able to think of something. She is disturbingly knowledgeable about omens and dream interpretations. Or Reinhart, I bet he’d love to dig into his books for the meaning of it.” A faint smile appeared on her lips and she turned to face her brother. “There is one thing I clearly understand about your dream, though.”

“What’s that?”

“The red-haired girl,” Tamara grimaced. “You may not remember, but I’ve told you this. Some years ago, before father got sick, he forced me to go with him on an official visit to Anamir. I met both Elaine and her sister. They were very young, especially Elaine, but their hair was as red as they come.”

Jaden couldn’t hide his surprise, but his sister was already turning her back on him, her attention redirected toward one of her warriors walking toward them. Jaden was still pondering over the idea of dreaming of his wife-to-be, so he failed to hear Anitra’s cheerful greeting. After she snapped her fingers at his face, he finally decided to put the dream aside and deal with the present.

“Good morning,” he said, shaking his head.

Anitra glanced at Tamara for a moment, and the two of them nodded as if they understood each other without words.

“Take care of him for me. He’ll probably need it,” Tamara said, patting her brother on the back. Jaden grimaced, and she grinned, walking away from them. She had not made more than five steps before she started shouting for everybody to get into formation. They watched the group move out with Tamara and General Mayern at the head until the swirl of dust forced them to go inside.