Dayane's Arc

Chapter 9 of 29

Dayane had seen enough of the storm and the flowers. She wanted something new. She spun in place and pictured a place far from this one. When she opened her eyes, a thin line of golden light glimmered on the horizon. She grinned and ran toward it. The light pulled her fast. The grass faded. The bright sky dimmed. Soon she stood in a dark place. Cold stone pressed under her feet. A heavy black lantern hung above her, wrapped in thick iron chains. The chains creaked. The air smelled damp and old. Then she saw him. A minotaur sat against the far wall. His shoulders were huge, his fur dark brown, his horns long. Chains bound his wrists to the stone. He did not fight them. He only stared at the floor, quiet and still. Dayane stepped closer. "Hello," she said softly. "Who are you?" The minotaur lifted his head. His eyes searched her face. "I do not know," he said. His voice was low and slow. "I had a name once. I cannot find it." He pressed a fist to his chest. "I forget everything. My home. My mother. Even my own hands." Her chest tightened. She hated seeing him like this. She reached out her will, the way she always did. She pictured his lost memories rising back to him, whole and clear. The golden light behind her began to move. It curled off the wall and drifted toward the minotaur. It wound into a bright spiral above his head. The chains around his wrists went loose. The spiral sank into his chest and glowed there. The minotaur gasped. His eyes went wide. "I remember," he whispered. "My name is Toron. I remember my mother's voice. The green hills where I ran as a calf." He laughed, deep and warm. "I remember all of it." Dayane clapped her hands. "Yes! That's wonderful!" she said. Her whole face lit up. She had done a good thing, and it filled her with joy. Toron stood. The broken chains slid off his wrists and rang against the stone. He looked down at Dayane with tears in his eyes. "You gave me back myself. Thank you." "You're welcome," she said, still beaming. "You should see the sky. It's not dark everywhere." But as Toron rubbed his wrists, his smile faded. He looked back at the dark room, at the black chained lantern still swaying. "There were others," he said slowly. "Others chained like me. When I forgot, I forgot them too. They are still here somewhere, in the dark, forgetting." Dayane's smile slipped. She had freed one. She had not known there were more. She looked past Toron into the shadows, where the light did not reach. Her joy turned into something heavier. She had opened a door, and behind it waited more than she had planned to give.