The Attack on Azjah Von Drachen Walde

[Azjah von Drachen Walde]

There were four open windows at the four corners of the compass, and the whole of Twilight Isle was visible. I wandered around the room with my arms wrapped around my waist as he indicated two plush chairs with a small table between them. I paused at the last window and turned to look at the chairs, and then my old friend before taking the chair on my right.

Brig selected a bottle and two glasses, and rose with a smile, “I’m afraid I only stock Oban here as it’s my personal favorite. Would you care for some?”

He moved back to the chairs and set down the glasses, pouring a dram into each glass. He picked up his glass and raised it to me, lightly touching the rim, “A drink long delayed is all the better when it’s finally taken.”

I touched my glass to his, “Indeed, and when shared with long known friends, all the sweeter.”

We sipped the scotch, and did the obligatory small talk. Finally, he sat and canted his head, “So, you seem much subdued this evening.”

I wrapped both hands around the glass, seeking an inner calm before lifting a cool, level gaze to his. “Not sure where to begin Brigath. Life took a turn I never, ever could have forseen. My sense of self has been, well, nearly destroyed.”

He gave me a frown, “If I hadn’t heard it from your own lips, I would have said that it was not possible for that to happen.”

I curled up in the chair, pulling my legs beneath me, “I would have told anyone who dared tell me that I could ever doubt myself like this that they were delusional. But Raavich managed what no one else could.”

He nodded slightly, “That sounds like the Azjah I know, but, who, if I may ask, is Raavich?”

“Brigath? How do you put a life back together that’s been…” I pondered a moment, took a deep breath and closed my eyes as memory washed over me, “Raavich is the leader of the Saar’Tzee rebels. He had Klinton kidnapped, tortured, and used as a bargaining chip to get me. I’m on his list to be killed for supporting the government he’s trying to overthrow. Well, past tense now. Eoin killed him.” My fingers tightened around the glass. “How do yo put a life back together that’s been shredded into unrecognizable pieces? I found out what it’s like to not be in control Brigath, of anything.”

He leaned toward me with a new depth of concern, and reflexively I tensed. “I cannot believe that anyone could damage you so much that you would not have one shred of yourself left.”

I shuddered, held out my hands and allowed the scars on my wrists to be seen, “Brigath, Raavich had me delivered in handcuffs, leg shackles, and left to the devices of his animals.” I blinked hard, fighting tears that I willed not to fall, and then turned to look out the windows behind me. Brig closed his eyes a moment, and I took a long sip of the scotch and continued to look out the window. “Eoin found me with two of them, he shot them in the process. Eoin’s never spoken about it. Thankfully Raavich is dead.” The images of Eoin standing in that doorway with those two animals and their blood draped over my sickens me to this day, and I forced those thoughts away before turning to face him again, and I know how lifeless my voice sounded, “But the night mares don’t go away.”

He shook his head slightly, “I can’t imagine they would. Not so soon. But for all that, and I don’t mean to belittle what you went through at all – if he had truly destroyed you, who you are, you would have died from it.”

I gave him a thin smile, “I know you are not Brigath, I would have never come to talk to you if I thought you might. I feel destroyed, a friend tries to hug me, Klinton tries to put an arm around my waist, and all that comes flooding back. I’m afraid the nightmares will never go away.” I took a sip of scotch and looked at him, “I used to like such attention, you remember?”

He chuckled softly, “At the risk of making a truly tactless joke, there was a time when handcuffs and leg shackles, properly velveted of course, wouldn’t have been a bad thing either.”

I flashed him a smile filled with fond memories, “There was a time, but now a simple hug is more than I can bear.”

He nodded somberly, “And I’m sure it will be for a while. You can’t expect to come back from something like that and be able to just sluff it off like some sort of business loss. I know you’re not used to being in a place where you aren’t in complete control.”

“It’s not a place I like Brigath.” I rose and paced the room restlessly. “I should go Brig, I’ve kept you too long.”

He frowned slightly, “Are you sure? You are welcome to stay as long as you like, even if you don’t wish to talk anymore this evening, I can offer you a safe room away from everything for a night.”

Wrapping my arms around myself, “thank you, I’ll take you up on that offer. You’re the first and only person I’ve told what happened. It’s, well, it’s the nightmares that haunt me, but the one I can’t talk about, if that makes any sense.”

He gave me a level look, “it does. If you like, I can make sure you have no dreams this evening as well. It’s not good to do that too often, but one night might do you some good.”

I thought about it a moment, and decided not to accept. “I hope you don’t mind that I take a seat beside you on the Isle, it feels safer.”

He gave me a good natured laugh, “are you kidding? It makes me look good! I’ve got something right with me if someone like you will hang around me.” He gave me a playful wink

There was a fleeting moment of remembrance, “you always knew just what to say, didn’t you?”

Blowing me a kiss, he rose to leave, “We’re two of a kind, I think. You and I.”

“In some ways, we are. Brig?”

He paused at the lift, “I’ll leave you here if you wish to enjoy the view for awhile… yes?”

“Thanks for letting me talk. It’s the first time I’ve put it in words. Yes, the solitude is something I crave right now.”

He smiled as he stepped onto the lift, “Anytime Azjah. Just step onto the lift when you are ready to go. Your room will be the next floor down.”

I remained in the tower room for several hours, and when I sought my room, I found one night of dreamless sleep.