The Trials

Chapter Seven

The memories of father that seemed to have slowly disappeared over time seemed to come back in a flash at the mere sight of him. The man who I loved more than anyone else in my life was right there in front of me as if he was in some peaceful sleep. There was nothing purer than the love that a father offered. Mine was perfect. I know they say there is no one perfect in this world but he was. Everything he did for me, for my mom, he did out of love and to give us a better life. There was only one thing that I didn’t understand. Why would he risk it all to help someone that he didn’t even know?

After an hour of seeing and speaking to my father’s body, Dorian reentered the room. “I know that there isn’t enough time in the world but there are things we should discuss.”

“No, please. I’m not ready to say goodbye,” I muffled out softly. My tears had stopped but my heart was just as broken as it was when I first saw him.

“Riven, we have means to let you into his mind. From all our fallen, we collect their memories so we can see them any time we wish. In this world, you don’t have anything like that to help you grieve. Here, I can show them to you if you wish but we must speak before I can willingly show those to you.”

Who did he think that he was? This was my father, not his. If I wanted to see the memories they collected of my father, I should have the right to do it whenever I wished. “Listen to me, Dorian. I don’t care if you are the leader or whatever. This is my father we are discussing. If I wish to see his memories, I will do so.”

Instead of retaliating back, Dorian simply smiled at me. “Of course, Riven. If that is what you wish. I’ll have my second in command bring the memories in here for you. Once you are done, let him know and he will bring you to me.” He stared directly into my eyes as if searching for something. “I hope you get all the answers you have ever searched for and that by searching his memories, you can find some sort of peace.”

Dorian was much different than I expected. I understand that Erik portrayed him as the enemy for his own selfish needs but even knowing that Erik was lying, it was still difficult to see Dorian as anything but what I’ve heard all these years. When you come face to face with someone who was supposed to be your enemy and is nothing like you were told, you get this feeling inside your chest that you can’t quite explain.

As Dorian walked out, another man entered the room. The minute he laid eyes on me, he smiled wide. “I’m so happy that you are here. I’m so sorry about your father, Riven. He was a good man and deserved far more than what he got but we are forever grateful for his bravery.” He stopped and held out his hand. There was a smaller tube, similar to the one my father was in, but it was glowing bright green. “These are all the memories he ever had from the time you were born to the time of his death.”

“Um, how do I…?”

“Oh, my apologies. You simply open the vile. The memories will do the rest. I’ll step out to give you some privacy. I’ll be back in less than an hour to see how you are doing.”

Once he left, I opened the vile, eager to see the memories that belonged to my father. At first, it was just a strange smell, then it was like I was forced back in time as the first memory emerged. It was the day that I was born inside our home right in front of our fireplace. My father was crying while holding my mother who was holding me. They looked so happy together, completely at peace. Just like that, the memory faded, and another entered my mind. It was years later. I couldn’t have been any older than four. I was on my father’s shoulders as he carried me through the woods. He showed me all of his hunting grounds, hoping I would one day grow up to be like him when it came to hunting and providing food.

The very last memory was the day my father left for the last time. Tears fell over his cheeks as he kissed my mother goodbye as if he knew that he wouldn’t be returning. I was still such a small girl, not realizing what this meant of course. My father knelt to me and kissed my forehead. “I must go, bug. There are people out there that desperately need my help and I feel as if it's my duty to help bring peace to these newcomers as well as our own people. Take care of your mother,” he said as his voice began to slip away.

My eyes opened. I immediately pushed myself back, falling onto my bottom as I began to weep once again. I was thankful for getting to see these memories, but they weren’t enough. Nothing would ever be more important than getting to hold my father for real instead of just in memory.

Dorian’s second in command came through the doors, ready to escort me back to Dorian to finish our talk. He held out his hand for me to take, which I accepted. Unlike Dorian, this man made me feel at ease.

“Don’t worry, Riven. Dorian is as harmless as they come so long as you mean him or his family no harm,” he said as if he could read my mind.

I chuckled. “Is that another one of your methods, reading minds?”

He laughed. “Not at all. I can just read between the lines is all. Riven, you mean a lot to our people because of your father. Dorian has been promising them your arrival since he took over as leader at the young age he had to. He was only two years older than you when both your fathers were taken away. He faces a lot of the same pain as you do and probably understands you far more than anyone else here. Dorian only wishes to bring peace. He doesn’t like the women being executed as much as you do.”

“Then why kill them at all? Why not leave them alone? Why even have the trials in the first place?”

He stared at me with his eyebrows furrowed. “Riven, the trials do not belong to us. Erik set up the trials. We thought it was to keep us from getting close to him. Dorian will want to hear this right away.”

We walked down a corridor made completely of metal into a humongous room that looked nothing like the rest of the place that I had seen. It was habitable and more human than any other part.

Dorian stood as soon as he saw me. His second in command walked over to him and whispered something into his ear. Dorian nodded and his second left us alone once again.

“Caden brings to my attention that you were led to believe the trials were created by us. I assure you, Riven, that is not the truth. The trials were created by your leader shortly after my father’s death. The further it seemed that we ventured out, the more dangerous it became. We have been trying for years to come up with a plan of attack, but I assure you that attacking is the last thing that any of us want. However, your leader refuses to listen to reason. We are beginning to not have another choice in the matter.”

Not if I could help it. “Attacking my people is the last thing that you will do. Despite Erik’s bad leadership, I will stand by their side and fight alongside them if I have to. I know that my father wanted peace between our people but that isn’t going to happen if you begin attacking blindly. Keep in mind that those people are my family as much as these in here are yours.”

Dorian approached me, placing one hand on my hip and the other on the side of my face. “I understand your concern. We want nothing more than to reach a peaceful solution, Riven. I know that we have only just met but from the way your father talked about you all the time, it's as if I’ve known you my whole life. I trust you.”

How could he trust me? I wouldn’t trust me if I were in his shoes. There was something more going on here than what he was telling me, and I was going to get to the bottom of it, but first, I had to ask Dorian something that I’d been wondering since I’d woken up. “Where is my friend, the one that I was traveling with?”

“You mean Karoline? Caden has been informing me of her status. She is still in the forest and is doing quite fine. She is, however, looking for you. Would you like for Caden to gather her for you?”

“No,” I said a little too harshly. “I’m going back.”

Dorian’s smile faded. “You’re leaving? I don’t understand. I hoped that you would stay here at least for the night so that we may figure out where to go from here now that you know the truth.”

Oh, I had a plan alright, but he wasn’t going to like it. “The only plan that I have is to kill Erik and I’m going to do that alone. Once he is dealt with, our communities can live peacefully together. The longer that I’m here, the more suspicious he will get. I’m sure you have turned off my location which I’m sure he has caught onto. I don’t want him to know that I’ve met you or that we have had any communication at all. I will complete the trials, return to him, and finish this alone.”

I began to walk out of Dorian’s grasp, but he only held me tighter. “Stay. If not just for the night. It’s dangerous out in the forest at night with those creatures. You would be torn to pieces.”

“And what about my friend Karoline? I’m not just going to leave her out there all by herself and I’m certainly not bringing her back here to meet you, not yet. I will go back out there and protect myself and protect her the way my father taught me to. I’m sorry, but I don’t need you, Dorian.”

His face fell but his grasp loosened slightly just as he said, “but I need you, Riven.”