Please read the Authors Note at the bottom!
Enjoy x

________________________________

Chapter 41 | The Nameless Boy

*

"If you don't love
Y o u r s e l f
you won't recognise
when someone
else
d o e s."

- Bridgett Devoue

*

NATHANIEL

He stood alone in a blue world.

The vibrant, pulsing colour surrounded him like an endless ocean, stretching out on either side as far as the eye could see. He thought he heard a sound, but when he turned his head, he realised he no longer had a head to turn. He had become an existence only, a lonely soul floating through an infinite sky.

I will not forget. He told himself resolutely. I cannot forget. They are counting on me to remember.

He wandered on, further and further, repeating the words like a mantra.

I will not forget.

I cannot forget.

I must remember.

I will not forget.

I cannot forget.

I must remember.

In the ceaseless stretch of blue, a ripple appeared, like someone had thrown a stone in a pool. Nathaniel paused to study it, watching as the ripples spread further and further until they reached his bodiless form. And with the ripple came a warm wind.

Weren't you supposed to remember something? The wind asked him.

Nathaniel frowned. That's right. He had a purpose. The mantra began again.

I will not forget.

I cannot forget.

I must remember.

The wind laughed at him. What are you remembering? It asked playfully.

Nate paused, looking towards the wind that had coiled and danced in front of him until it became a small whirlwind. The tail of the whirlwind touched the surface of the unbroken sea of blue and suddenly a hole appeared beneath it. Small at first, Nathaniel watched the hole carefully. And gradually, the blue space around the hole began to warp and bend, as though it were being sucked away like water down a plug hole.

Rapidly the hole began to expand.

Nathaniel recoiled away from it, slowly at first before breaking into a run. But no matter how fast he ran, the hole continued to grow, devouring the blue world around him, even as the wind danced laughingly at his side.

Its going to catch up.

As soon as the thought entered his mind it became truth and the black hole collapsed around the edges of his vision, dragging him under and consuming him entirely.

And as then as quickly as the hole had appeared it vanished, and the blue world became a still ocean once more.

*

When he awoke, he was nameless and bewildered. He sat up shakily, the rocks beneath his hands pressing into his skin and almost immediately became aware of the presence of someone in front of him.

Upon making eye contact, he saw a boy. The boy looked at him critically for a moment before his blue eyes cooled and he nodded, seemingly satisfied.

"I told you I was not important," the boy said cryptically, rising to his feet. "You will remember more once something you are permitted to remember is put in front of you." The boy turned as though to leave, and he noticed there was a beautiful blue stone clutched in the boy's palm. "For now, stay here. You will be safe enough. Afterwards, you will be free to leave. Do you understand?"

The nameless boy nodded his head, feeling slightly bemused. Even if he was free to leave, where was he supposed to go? As the other boy retreated, he watched him go, gradually taking in his surroundings.

He appeared to be in a cavern. It was rather large he supposed, and he could just make out the dome shaped roof, towering high above him. The space was lit by several light sources he could not understand. Two of the lights came from glistening golden cages that seemed to be holding, (he rubbed his eyes quickly), what could only be described as dragons. The other lights were fainter and glowed an ominous red. Each red light encased what his heart told him was a person, within its circle. He stared at the one closest to him, but it appeared as though the person was lying facing away and he was unable to make out any features.

Did he know any of these people? He thought, looking towards the two figures that stood in the middle of the formation. Did he know those people?

It seemed that the boy knew him. And knew what had happened to his memories.

And the nameless boy's instinct told him that those who removed other people's memories and drew weird circles with other people inside were generally up to no good. But then why, when the boy had looked at him, did he feel as though he trusted him?

Was he on the bad side too then?

There was an ache in the back of his skull that had been consistently pounding since he had opened his eyes. He raised a hand to the back of his head and grimaced when he felt the lump of dried blood, matted into his hair and pinched the bridge of his nose in an attempt to alleviate the pain.

This was too confusing. He opened his eyes again and resigned himself to staying put for the time being, as the other boy suggested. Whatever was happening, it didn't seem to currently involve him in any way. And his head hurt.

He licked his lips, suddenly noticing how dry his mouth was. He chewed the inside of his cheeks absentmindedly, to try and coax some salvia to wet his tongue. The boy had bent down in the middle of the cavern for a moment, to draw something it seemed, but now he had straightened and was stepping away to the edge of the cave, leaving the man alone at the centre.

The man bent to place two stones down on the ground before him, one red, one blue before straightening. He seemed to breath in deeply, steading himself before lifting his hands to begin forming a series of complex signs with practised ease.

The nameless boy watched in amazement as the ground beneath the man's feet began to light up in chunks, starting in the centre and moving systematically outwards towards the bodies at the edges. As more of the ground was illuminated, he could see that a diamond shape was beginning to form, unfurling from the middle point like a red rose.

At about half-way, the ground began to shake.

The nameless boy jumped in surprise, his hands reaching out to either side of his body to steady himself, but it was a fruitless attempt for it seemed that it was the very ground beneath him that was unstable. He scrambled to his feet, holding the wall for support.
In the centre of the formation, the man seemed unbothered by the movement, if anything, he continued to create hand seals with increasingly intensity.

Looking across the cavern, he could see the other boy was also unperturbed, but he found that the sense of unease inside him had been growing with increasing intensity and now raged in the fore front of his mind.

This was not right.

He watched as the light from the diamond finally reached the inner sides, stretching to touch the two bodies placed within reach. A few seconds later the light had reached the bodies at the corners as well as the dragon cages, the change seeming to rouse the beasts that had previous lay dormant within.

With fierce roar one of the dragons unleashed a column of fire at the bars of its gilded cage. The nameless boy threw up a hand to shield himself from the flame, only to stare aghast, as the fire rolled off the bars of the cage as though they formed a solid wall, trapping the inferno within.

Struggling to comprehend what was happening, the nameless boy could only look on as the bodies trapped within the smaller circles began to glow, becoming enshrouded in a tangible, red haze. The haze seemed to warp and shift around them, intensifying as the floor continued to tremor and shake beneath him, as though it were alive.

His gaze focused on the prone form closest to him. The red haze around this person was particularly thick and as he watched, a wisp of it separated from the rest and began to float towards the centre of the diamond, like a small, red, fog.
Once it reached the man standing in the middle, the fog appeared to be sucked down into the red gemstone that pulsed at the man's feet. Soon that tendril was joined by more and eventually the mist solidified further, until it was as though a thick red string connected the figure on the outside to the stone in the centre.

The boy who could not remember anything looked at the formation that surrounded the unconscious figure. His fingers twitched.

I must remember.

The purpose sprung into his mind where it took root and grew like a weed.

I must remember.

It was not just the floor beneath his feet anymore, now even the walls were sliding and shifting.

You're standing on it.

Standing on what?

I must remember.

The Nyx.

I cannot forget.

Now all of the beings surrounding the diamond were connected to the pendant at the centre by a red string of light.

Like the red string of fate, the nameless boy thought randomly to himself. This seems like the time. Wasn't there something I was supposed to do?

The man in the middle had seemed to realise something and a sinister smile spready slowly across his face, his fingers flicking through the signs faster than before. The boy stared at him, thoughts elsewhere.

Just stay here.

I must remember.

I cannot forget.

I will not forget.

Before he had realised, he was moving, the nameless boy was staggering across the rolling ground, towards the figure closest to him. As soon as he came within reach, the boy who could not remember anything other than the job he was supposed to do, was lunging for the body swathed in red, with the sole intention of pulling it from the circle.

Break the circle, he thought furiously, his fingers scrabbling against cloth, even as a furious roar echoed out around the cavern. Break the circle, break the thread.

He heaved with all his might, but the dead weight of the body was too heavy.

"Stop him!" The roar was inhumane with rage and, but he ignored it, his sense of urgency rising. The head of the body was now out of the circle, he could see the haze dissipating-

And then suddenly he was knocked to ground, the air huffing out of him in one breath, his shoulder screaming in protest as it was crushed into the rock.

"What do you think you're doing," the other boy hissed, his face white with anger, "you'll be killed!"

"Let me go," he panted, struggling beneath the weight of the other.

"No!" The other boy grappled with him furiously, smacking his face to the side. "Listen to me! If you interrupt this, he will not hesitate to kill you!"

Forcefully he was dragged up and hauled away across the shifting ground. He watched in despair as the prone figure he left behind was encased in the red haze once again.

"It's almost done," the other boy said shortly, dumping him on the ground at the edge of the cavern before flopping down next to him. "Stay here," he flashed a small silver blade, making his intentions clear, "next time I will not be so kind. You're lucky Master is currently occupied, or you would already be dead."

"What you are doing is wrong," the nameless boy protested.

The other boy raised his eyebrows, "Do you even know what we are doing?"

He shook his head. "No, but I can't just sit back and watch those people die." He pointed towards the figures.

"Not all of them will die," the other boy said nonchalantly. "Master needs their energy to raise the Nyx. As long as they have enough power, they should survive." He looked out at the array and the nameless boy followed his finger as he pointed. "The Dragons have lost too much magic already, they will probably not survive," the other boy stated offhandedly before pointing to one of the smaller forms, "she probably won't either, she's too badly injured. But I think the rest of them should be alright."

The nameless boy decided he heavily disliked the others careless tone. It was as though the lives he referred to were nothing more than dirt under his shoe.

"You can't just play God with people's lives," he ground out angrily.

The boy's blue eyes roamed over him critically, "You don't even know them. Why do you care so much?"

"Because," he said, "people are not just something to use and throw away. They are important."

At the word 'important' the other boy's eyes widened, and for a moment he paused, seemingly lost for words. But then his eyes narrowed in distain. "You don't remember what's important," he scoffed, turning away. "Just sit still and watch."

Another tremor jolted the rock beneath them, and the nameless boy cried out as he fought to steady himself under the shifting surface, his retort lost on his lips.

The red light in the centre of the formation was becoming more intense now and it swelled and warped around the man in the middle, as though it were building to the point of bursting. The nameless boy realised then that the red light was actually being manipulated by the man, moulded by his hands into the signs he was creating, and each seal began to thrum with power.

The man appeared to be reaching a limit now, tension rolled off his body in waves, the slick sheen of sweat visible on his face under the red light. His black hair lifted around him like a cape, swirling suspended in the air. His animalistic eyes filled with warped fervour as he let out a primal roar of exertion, finishing the final seal and thrusting his hands skyward.

The was a moment of absolute silence before the world around them erupted into complete chaos. A thunderous burst of red light exploded inside the cave, spreading to each rocky corner before condensing back into the centre and drilling into the ground with colossal force.

The blast pressed the two boys back against the wall and near him, the nameless boy heard the sickening thud of flesh meeting stone as the smaller figures surrounding the diamond were thrown back from the impact, one figure crumpling just out of his reach.

The silhouette of the man in the middle was barely visible against the light, but the boy could tell he still stood, strong against the blast. From above the thunderous crack of shattering rock came a stream of manic laughter. The sound was unnerving, and the boy felt his skin prickle in response. A moment later the laughter was swallowed by a deafening boom from above and the boy looked up to see a fracture in the ceiling high above. As the rock split more, the sound of grinding stone became unbearable and the rubble raining down from above increased in size.

"Move back against the bars," The other boy yelled to be heard above the noise, coming to his rescue yet again and pushing him out of the way as a particularly large rock fell down from above. He shoved him until the both of them under the lip of the cell entrance, their backs pressed back against the bars as far as they could go.

"What's going on!" He yelled back, but the others reply was lost as the ground around them groaned loudly in protest.

The nameless boy looked down in horror to see a crack appear directly between his feet. The small tear paused before a moment, before it ruptured fully, aggressively zig zagging across the ground until it reached the diamond formation. Only then did it swerve violently, continuing on a path that seemed to follow the lines in the stone precisely. The red light was condensing back into the centre now, pulsing strongly as rubble continued to fall, piling up within the boundaries of the diamond.

It seemed as though the man in the middle was untouchable however, and he stood unscathed as the rock rained down around him. His arms were thrown out widely to either side, his head flung back as his mouth stretched wide with laughter the boy couldn't hear. He saw the man's lips press together to form shouted words, that were also deafened by the chaos around him, before his chest expanded, filling with laughter once again.

The fissure in the ground jolted urgently towards the place where it had begun and paused for a split second before joining, completing the diamond.
The nameless boy grabbed the bars of the cell just in time as the floor beneath their feet caved in, dropping a good half a meter down. A small shelf was left, where the bars dug into the rock and it was there that the two boys stood, looking down as the floor in front fell further away.

It was almost impossible to comprehend what happened next – all the nameless boy could see was the rock rising and dropping away around him, as though it were alive.
High above, the fissure in the ceiling tore through to the outside and as the rock split apart, a stream of grey light bullied its way through, dulling the red glow that saturated everything within the cavern.

That's the sky on the outside. The boy realised this fleetingly, his thoughts chaotic.

The colossal sheet of rock that used to be the ceiling seemed to shudder and tremble, giant, flat slices of stone peeling away and falling to the sides as the rock stretched and expanded, revealing more of the sky.

The ground beneath them was still shifting, the main destruction seeming to focus around the edges of the diamond, but the rest of the floor had been cracked, creating pillars of stone that retained the original floor level, while the excess surrounding them fell away.
It was on these pillars that most of the bodies lay, having been saved by the initial impact that threw them back to the cavern walls, where the rock was most stable.

The golden cages holding the dragons had dissipated, whether by chance or on purpose, the boy did not know. But the crazed man seemed unconcerned with anything other than what was happening in front of him.
Perhaps he had realised, like the boy had, that the Dragons were no longer a threat, their great black bodies were slumped lifelessly on the shaking stone, the red cord that had bound them to the centre broken long ago.

Water rushed in then, the ocean furiously racing to fill the deeper fissures, and it pounded hungrily at the boy's feet, causing his eyes to widened tremendously as he gripped the bars tighter than before, his heart pounding in his throat.

What's going on? He was afraid. And even though he could not remember anything about himself, he thought fleetingly that he had only felt fear like this once before. Am I going to die here?

The water gushed to surround the edges of the diamond formation that had remained mostly unscathed in the chaos. The water level began to rise, and the boy looked on as the ravenous ocean crept closer and closer to the man who was grinning wildly in the centre.

And then just as the water was lapping at his boots, the diamond shaped rock finally shifted.

The boys heart filled with fear as the rock seemed to pull itself upwards out of the ocean, water streaming off the sides and obscuring the shape that was forming below. Higher and higher the diamond rock soared and the man on top of it was climbing now, stepping confidently on rubble that had seemed to have become welded into the original stone. The rising stone platform seemed to slow its ascent, and then, ever so slowly, it began to tilt