A Difficult Dish to Swallow

We were in the room that was used for lunch, eating a meal of mutton stew with plates of bread to eat with it and a small dish of butter to use with the bread. We had finished our morning training with Orion and Astrid. I knew I was getting better, and I could see the results each day. It felt good.

I slurped another spoonful of the stew, getting a piece of potato in the mouthful as the others talked. “So what d’ya think Anoir is gonna bore us with today?” Korin asked, his beard a mess of spilled stew. I thought I could see some chunks of food in it.

Sybil shrugged her shoulders and simply grunted, returning to her stew. Cleo finished her mouthful of bread before speaking, “I don’t know, I think she said we were going to move on from just learning the different types of monsters though”

I recalled that she said something about dungeons when she spoke with me the previous day. I opened my mouth to tell them, but nothing came out. I tried to form the words, but my breath caught in my throat, I tried to suck in some more air, but it felt stuck in my throat. It wouldn’t reach my lungs. I started to panic as I tried to take a breath again but found myself unable to, I can’t breathe I thought to myself.

I jerked away from the table, my chair scraping across the floor as I clutched at my throat with both hands. The others looked at me with a startled expression at my sudden commotion. Why couldn’t I breathe? Was I choking? Was I going to die to a stew? I made futile attempts to suck in air but to no avail, my fingers pressed against my throat, hoping to dislodge whatever may have been stuck there.

“He’s choking” I heard Rayall’s voice announce as he rushed over from the other side of the table. I felt him move behind me and wrap his arms around my waist, gripping me and jerking me roughly towards him. He continued doing that and I felt like I should have been coughing but my throat wouldn’t allow me to. I was scared in that moment, a wave of terror rolling over me as the thought of _what if they couldn’t help me _passed through my mind.

My vision was beginning to blur at the edges, I hadn’t taken a breath of air in so long. Rayall was still trying to help me cough up whatever may have been causing my dilemma. It seemed that my mind was moving faster than anything else, a thousand thoughts hitting me with full force. What if…

I blacked out.

I woke in the almost familiar dark emptiness split by a beam of eternal light. Lilith was in her usual position, basking in the light as her cloak fluttered in an unfelt wind. “Lilith” I whispered.

She turned around with a serene expression on her face, she looked beautiful as always, her golden eyes meeting my own. A wave of emotion went through me at the sight of them, too many for me to grasp a single one.

She walked closer towards me, her face taking on a more sorrowful look. “Oh Aucus, my child. As good as it always is to see you, I hate knowing how much pain it takes for you to come here” she let out a longing sigh, “I look forward to the day that we can meet properly”

I nodded my head, barely understanding the words, though her voice comforted me beyond any measure of reason. I saw her reach towards me and felt her stroke my cheek with a cold finger. “I am proud of you Aucus. Your abilities have improved so much since we last met, though you still have a long way to go if you are going to survive your future”

I nodded my head, “Will it get easier?” I croaked, feeling a need to collapse into her arms.

She smiled at me, a sorrowful thing. She shook her head, “No. It will become more difficult for you, though I have only seen so far. Perhaps when we meet things may change…” she trailed off at that and remained in silence for a moment. “That’s where my vision ends” she whispered quietly; it didn’t feel directed to me.

“When will that be?” I pleaded, ever since I had first seen Lilith, my life had became more and more difficult. I just wanted hope for it to end.

“So very close, and so far away” she whispered. “If you lived in this place, time would lose its meaning to you too” she said, gesturing to the abyss that surrounded us.

I nodded my head, “You’re not very good at answering questions, you know” I said

She smiled to me, “Questions tend to have a habit of answering themselves in time” she said as I felt a warmness around my neck. “I hope that the next time we see each other will be when we meet properly. I suspect not though” she said, her golden eyes sparkling at me.

I blinked and awoke once more in the hall that I was eating my lunch in. Sara and Cleo were stood over me, their hands clutched to my neck with a soft light emanating from them as they muttered something that I could barely make out. I sucked in a refreshing breath of air, and leaned on my arm, pushing myself upwards

“Aucus! Are you okay” Sara said, I could see tears in her eyes as her hands remained on my throat, still healing me.

I nodded my head as I felt a strength surge throughout my body. “Yes” I croaked in a hoarse voice, my voice cracking as I spoke.

I looked around and saw everyone in the room staring at me, I blushed at the attention I was getting. “Help me up” I said quietly to Sara, my voice still sounding broken. Her and Cleo’s hands moved under my arms as they aided me in rising to my feet, my hand reaching for the table to balance myself.

On one of the tables across the room Zarin was sat with his training group. He was watching me with an intent expression and looked disappointed at my recovery, I didn’t know how but whatever happened had been his fault.

“Thank you” I muttered quietly to the girls as I sat back down in my seat. I tried for another mouthful of the stew, but it hurt as it passed down my throat, I couldn’t eat any more. It was a shame; the stew had tasted quite nice.

We left the hall early, everyone a little shaken by what had happened to me. We arrived at the library early and found that Anoir was already there, a little surprised to see us so soon but also looking pleased by it.

I could still feel a cold touch on my cheek where Lilith had stroked me. It was strange, though it didn’t feel uncomfortable, more like a comforting presence. I had decided not to tell Anoir about what had happened to me at lunch, I was okay now and that was the important part, it did no good to dwell on it or have people fawning over me. I chuckled at that thought, Anoir wasn’t exactly the fawning type; except with Orion it seemed.

Anoir taught us about dungeons in her lesson, giving an overview on their typical layouts with the simplest being straight routes with a large chamber at the end housing a powerful monster that had claimed dominance in the dungeon; the more complex dungeons were sprawling labyrinths that unprepared adventurers were known to get lost in and never reappear from. It was for this reason that they were so sought after, the lost adventurers having left behind their valuable gear and equipment that they had entered with. In past lessons we had discussed the various types of monsters that could appear in dungeons, so she skimmed that section in her lecture, instead moving on to traps. There seemed to be a near endless variety of traps that we may fall victim to in a dungeon, varying from illusioned floors, to trapped chests, to rooms rigged to collapse. It seemed that monsters could be the least threatening part of a dungeon.

As her lecture came to a close, she instructed us to finish reading the chapter as usual. The others left for their favourite spots in the library, whether that be the comfiest seat or closest to the books that they were interested in reading. I remained at the table, wanting to speak with Anoir about the request I had made of her at the start of the week.

She gave me a questioning glance as she saw that I had remained, “Can I help you, Aucus?” she asked

“Uh, yeah. I was wondering if you had found out anything about my visions. About Lilith” I said, a little nervous about her answer.

Her eyes lit up at the question and she smiled at me, “Yes, actually, I have. I do like to have a bit of a challenge, and with how little you gave me to work on it has certainly been that. I have a few texts that seem promising, though it would help if there was anything else you could give me to work with so I could narrow it down”

I thought for a moment, I had already described her as best I could and there was little else that I knew about her. “I’m not sure. She seems very powerful though, like more than any adventurer.” I offered, it wasn’t much to work with but if she had some found some leads already then it could help to narrow it down.

She nodded her head and wrote it in a pad, “I’m not certain of anything yet, but there are some things that look very promising. I don’t want to say anything now in case I’m wrong, but I’ll read what I have again and let you know as soon as I am more sure” she said, sounding almost eager to do so.

“Thank you, Anoir. That would be a huge help” I said, grateful that she was taking time to help me with my problem.

I looked at the book in my hand, the prospect of finishing the chapter wasn’t exactly enticing to me at the moment. I was drowning in new information this week, both from Anoir’s lessons and everything that Orion and Astrid had been teaching me. I sighed and looked around at the others in the group, glimpsing a couple of them throughout the library already reading. I thought I would let them study and catch a break before we met up to train some more in the gardens.

I strode through the library, sharing a grin with Korin as I passed him on my way to the exit. I walked through the grand doors that heralded the entrance and groaned when I reached the other side. A spindly messenger of bad news was waiting for me. Calendis.