Mirage Part Three

Mirage Part Three (Conclusion)


Fear, Wisdom, Courage and Dreams




Chapter 5

"Go forward, see if they need any help." Varnes shouted to one of the Rebels that was lingering behind. The soldier nodded and ran forward. Varnes looked out over the field and took quick stock of the situation. The rebels were out on the plains of Ysndar, about a mile from the castle and just outside the city gates. Some rebel inside the city were fighting and the rest of them were out here, fighting the get past Hezron's men so that he could get to the gates.

The fighting was thickest only about three hundred feet from where he stood. Already, he had received an ugly scar across the side of his head. He had been caught by an arrow and now had a bandage over the wound to stench the bleeding.

"Sir!" It was Kya. She burrowed through the many bustling bodies around her and got to the General. "Sir, there are some men wounded in the front. They need backup. The other troops are moving forward to take their position."

Varnes didn't wait another moment. Brushing past her, he dug he way to the front. He saw a group of men fighting to keep the position by the door. He trudged forward and killed one of the enemies as he tried to make it past.

He made it to his second commander, who was pulling out with a heavy sword wound. "Commander!"

The man turned to see the General moving towards him. "Yes sir?"

"Get in the back and have them clean you up. I'll take your place here."

"You have a death-wish then, sir. No one can hold this position for long."

"That was an order." Varnes shouted. The commander turned and brushed by him. The General moved into the gap left by the man. He fought his way in and helped to defend to space.

After about ten minutes of hard fighting, Varnes began to feel the fight take its toll on him. He began to slow and his muscles were turning to jelly. The enemy pressed forward, more and more of them coming forward. Varnes fought hard, his sword singing death. But he knew that this battle was his last one.

Then, as the enemy began to push past him, he felt a sword pierce his side. He dropped his weapon in his pain. Another sword harmed him further. He fell to the ground and felt the world began to swirl around him.

As he lay there, staring up into the sky, he remembered the one thing that he had wanted more than anything else. He saw the clouds begin to turn dark in his vision and he felt the maiden's of death press their soft fingers around him. He remembered his longing for this war to be over in his life, whether it ended with his life or it ended when the war was over. He knew that he had wanted so badly to never have to enter the field of battle again.

Then his eyes closed forever.

Long after the line of battle had moved past his position, a young girl walked across the field, toward the dead General. She knew of his wish.

"And it came true..." Kya said. She reached down and covered his face with a clean sheet of cloth.

*                    *                    *

Keil almost dropped his sword in shock. He felt his limbs weaken with fright. How could this be real? He stared at himself, standing wrapped in a black robe, glaring down at him.

Hezron's face vanished and was replaced by Kya's. "Do you not love me?" Hezron asked in her voice. "Am I not what you wanted?"

"No, you aren't real." Keil spat.

The face melted again and he saw Nicodemus. "She is as real as I, is she not?"

"Yes, but neither of you are real." The boy replied.

He saw his own face again. "What's the difference?" The mocking question came.

Keil could not understand what he was trying to say. Of course they weren't real. They weren't him. So why did he keep showing him these things?

Hezron covered his face again and the images vanished. "But you wouldn't understand. The truth has been kept from you for a long time."

"What is the truth, then?" Keil asked. "Surely, it would not come from you."

"Truth can come in many forms." The sorcerer replied. He turned back to his throne and ascended the steps. "But, I fear that here, you gain no truth at all."

"What are you doing?" Keil asked. He stepped forward, emboldened by Hezron's withdrawal. "Do you fear me? Why do you not destroy me?"

"I do not bring you to be destroyed. I bring you here to fear me." Hezron said. Inside his words Keil could feel something almost like a secret joke. "Then, I shall destroy you."

Keil's wonderings were suddenly put to rest as he heard a crashing noise. He turned and saw a portion of the wall break apart and a great creature slithered out of the hidden aperture. Keil swallowed in fear as he recognized what it was.

Megolith eyed the boy angrily, remembering all to well the fight in the woods. The giant reptile felt his lust for revenge burn hot inside of him as his red forked tongue tasted the air, longing to feel the flesh of this insolent boy between its silver fangs.

Keil felt fear take over again. His grip on his sword slackened and he felt the terror like a thick glaze of ice over his mind, freezing his whole body in the eternal lock of death. Keil's sword slid from his nerveless fingers and clatter to the stone floor.

Megolith's eyes flashed and he opened his jaws. With a terrible bellow of rage, he rushed forward. Keil finally felt his limbs begin to move again. The Snake's head dove forward and his fangs ripped at empty air, grazing the boy's neck. Megolith had to swerve in the other direction to prevent his head from striking the wall.

In that moment, Keil saw Megolith's eyes. In the woods, Rameus had slit the left eye open with the tip of his sword. Now, the wound had healed and the Snake could see again. He remembered Hezron's power. He could make things simply happen without hardly thinking of it. Then he remembered what Kya had said;

"You can make anything happen, hardly with any effort. All you have to do is imagine it and it happens, just like what you did to Torus the first day that you came here. You have the same power that Hezron possesses."

He could make anything happen. He saw Megolith turning away and took the moment to look around the room. Statues lined the walls. He had an idea.

Staring hard at the nearest statue, he thought as hard as he could. Move! He told it. Nothing happened. Without confidence, you cannot win" Kya had said. He tried being more confident. Move! Nothing happened.

All you have to do is imagine it and it happens...

Keil tried it. Move! The statue by the wall didn't move. Then Keil imagined it moving its arm.

It moved.

Confidence welled up inside of Keil. He could win this yet. He had unbelievable power if all he had to do was imagine and it happened.

Megolith had turned around now. The Snake rushed forward again. Keil imagined the statue stepping forward. Megolith never saw it coming. The stone Dragon stepped in front of him. The long tail whipped out and broke itself over the Snake's head.

Hezron cried out. Megolith shook his head in dismay, shaking the bits of rubble off of it. He turned to the statue and lurched forward. He tore into it, tearing it apart. He was easily twice its size and the statue looked fragile. The dragon shattered to pieces as the Snake smashed into it.

Then the Snake turned his attention back to Keil. Keil tried to reform the stone beast, but something was blocking him. He felt fear. He lost his confidence. He looked over at Hezron and aw his hand stretched out at the statue. Keil figured that he must be preventing him from reforming it, using his own Magic.

With a curse, Keil turned and ran. Megolith gained on him in only a heartbeat. Keil dove under a stone table. The Snake bit down on it and the stone broke away. Keil picked up one of the pieces of stone and threw it into the Snake's eyes. It reared back and roared in pain again. He shook his head violently to get the rocks out of his eyes.

Keil reached out with his mind a second time. His sword whipped across the room, towards him. Megolith turned his head and looked at Keil. Fear.

The sword stopped and clattered to the ground again, several feet away from him. Keil looked up to where the throne was. Hezron was intervening again. The Snake dove forward. Keil suddenly understood. Hezron's power grew whenever Keil was afraid. Hezron fed off of his fear.

*                    *                    *

Keil made a life or death decision. Taking a wild gamble, he dove for the sword. Megolith swung his head down at him, bent more than ever on killing him. Keil tried to reach the sword, but it was too far away and time was running out.

Over those next few moments, time seemed to slow down, fear illuminating every tiny split second of it. Keil saw the Snake's great looming head only feet away, terrible fangs gaping to take his life and body between its razor sharp edges.

Keil did the last thing he could think of. He reached for his useless dagger and held it up in front of him, knowing that a simple dagger would do nothing to help him.

Then something strange happened. There was black and red all around. Flames flashed through the air and sank into the Snake. Megolith shrieked in pain and threw his head back. The monster began to writhe and wail. Keil felt every muscle in his body go limp from the horrible din. The creature shook back and forth, knocking rocks from the tall ceiling and crashing into wall. Eventually, it began to go limp and the spasms stopped. Its last breath left his open jaws and the dead monster sank slowly to the earth. The ground trembled slightly as the gargantuan body struck the ground.

Keil opened his eyes slowly. Between his hands was a smoldering red dagger. A Stone Dagger. He had used it an accident, the one power that he had left which Hezron could not fight.

Standing up, Keil tossed the useless Dagger to the side. He knew that it only worked once. Shakily, he reached forward and touched the carcass of the Snake. It did not move. Relief flooded through him. He had killed the monster.

Keil stepped up to the base of the steps ascending to the throne upon which Hezron sat. The sorcerer looked entertained. "You have slain the beast. That is impressive."

"Yes, perhaps." Keil said. "But it will not be as celebrated as the moment that you die. That moment is now, Hezron. You die in this moment." Keil put out his hand and blue lightening spewed out. The fiery blue light shot straight through Hezron.

Hezron stood where he was, completely unharmed. The lightening had burnt a smoldering whole in his robes, but nothing beyond that. Hezron laughed at the look of shock on Keil's face. "How can you slay me when yet you still fear my power? You cannot kill me. I am always here."

Then Keil understood. He knew what the man was speaking of. "You are Fear, aren't you?"

Fear laughed again. "Yes, and yet while you fear me, my power grows ever stronger feeding from you."

"When I fear you, you gain power. What about the fears of other people? Do you not feed from them?"

"Nay, only those in Tresgar. Only in the land of your making."

"What do you mean?"

"Tresgar is real, yet it is not real. Only from your fears do I feed, yet I feed from all those in Tresgar." Keil saw the riddle in his words, but did not understand it. Hezron went on. "And now, young boy, you die." From the evil man's glowing palm came a great flood of fire.

Keil refused to fear it. It was not real. He knew that the flames were made only from his fears. If he did not fear it, it could not harm him. The flames passed over him. Just as he had suspected, he was left unharmed. He faced Hezron once more. "You cannot harm me, because I know your secret. To fight is to feed, but to fear is the same. Without fear, I have power over you."

Fear looked taken aback. He had not expected this child to understand so readily.

Keil stepped toward him. "I do not fear you." In his heart, he felt that fear melting away. He felt more confident with every step that he took toward the false King of Tresgar.

Fear began to feel his power ebb away. His own fear turned on himself as he began to fear for his own life. With a wail, the last fraction of his power flowed away and he simply vanished. The black misty form inside of the robes flowed out and the cloth floated to the ground. Then everything was silent.

Keil took a step closer. He saw in the piles of cloth, a boy. He saw himself, laying on the ground, dead. He stepped away again in shock. What had he done?

*                    *                    *

Kya, Simeon and Jolar all ran into the room. Kya sprang forward and took him in her arms. "Keil, you did it! You killed him! How did you manage it?"

Keil remembered what Fear had said; ‘She is using you'. He pulled away. "Kya, how did you know that I had won?"

Kya looked a little confused. "You are safe. I can see that Hezron is dead. He lays before his throne."

"And yet you are not surprised at his appearance? You knew that he was dead before you entered the room."

Kya looked surprised. "Of course! I never doubted that you would defeat him."

Keil suddenly drew away and pulled his dagger from its sheath. Simeon and Jolar looked stunned. "What are you doing?"

"I'm getting a little of the truth. I am going to take it by force if need be." Keil replied. He turned to Kya again. "Who was he?"

Kya did her best to look confused again, but Keil could she that she was not. She had known everything, but what interested him more was what she still that he didn't. "What do you mean?" She asked. "He was Fear. Do you not remember what I told you? I said to you that only confidence and bravery could vanquish him."

"Why didn't you tell me straight out?"

"Because you have to understand it for yourself. You have to figure it out. In order to defeat him, you had to not fear him. You would have been nervous if I had told you in the first place. I tried to make it clear to you that you had the superior power. I thought that this would be enough to hold him at bay."

"There's something more..." Keil whispered to himself. There was silence as the two of them faced each other. Keil spoke again, stilling pointing his weapon at Kya. "If he was Fear, than who are you?"

Kya smiled sweetly. "I am your wishes. I am everything that you wanted, but couldn't have."

"So when I want something that I cannot have, it makes you stronger?"

"No. I am quite simply your wishes. The only thing to strengthen me would be to grant us those wishes. That is what I am here to do."

"How is this possible?" Keil sounded almost panicked in his confusion. "What's going on here? Who am I, really?"

"You do not remember."

"Then show me." Keil almost begged.

After a moment of thought, Kya seemed to come to a conculsion. "Very well. It seems that you will not cooperate any other way."

Keil screamed as pain rocketed through his skull...

*                    *                    *

Back in the Hospital, Carol jumped back as he suddenly began shouting. A nurse ran into
the room. "What happened?" she asked urgently.

Carol looked frightened. "I don't know. He just started shouting. It's almost as if he's in pain."

Chapter 6


Keil sank down onto his knees, overcome by the intense pain. He saw everything in a flash. The accident, Carol, Kaltag, Kya, the cube, his Creations. He understood it, saw it and remembered. Then he remembered his name... Kyle.

Then the pain stopped. He sat on the floor, panting heavily. He glared up at Kya, his wishes, his imaginary friend... or maybe, as it turned out, not so imaginary. "Why did you do that?" He shouted at her.

She didn't flinch at his rude behavior. "It was how you would have imagined it. It would not be as real if you did not feel it the way you imagined it, Keil."

"Stop calling me Keil. And you can forget about things being real now, because I know what's going on."

"Do you?" Came Kya's cryptic question.

"Yes. You are nothing but my wishes. Fear, however, was stronger than you, so you wanted me to destroy him so that you could have dominance."

"Perhaps, but then what is Tresgar?" Kya asked.

Kyle paused. "It is a Creation."

"Yes, a Creation. Who's?"

"Mine."

"No. Mine."

Kyle felt confused again. "What? What are you talking about? I'm the only real person here. This is all make believe. It is just a trick of my own mind."

Jolar and Simeon vanished. Kya looked around at the room as it began to dissolve. Kyle realized that he wasn't the one doing it. It was simply Kya.

"Do you not see?" She asked, waving her hands at the beautiful scenery that brust from the ground all around them. "This is not your power. Only the power of Make-believe can make these things happen. They are not real in the real world, but in Tresgar, anything is possible."

Kyle took a cautious step. "You aren't wishes, are you? You are everything that I imagine or want. You wanted to make it real. You want to grant those wishes."

Kya turned and smiled at him again. "Was it not an adventure, Kyle? You always dreamt of all these things happening to you. You always dreamt of being the Hero, being a savior, saving the world from some terrible evil. You always longed to meet a mythical creature in real life, but you knew that you couldn't, not in your world."

"Tresgar is not real either. You only made me think that it was real so that you could fulfill the spirit of my wishes, but not my wishes."

"But I did fulfill your wishes, Kyle. I gave you what you wanted. I gave you what you imagined." Kya told him, a sweet smile on her lips.

Kyle felt disgusted. "I do not want what isn't real. I have gained nothing here. How do you have so much power over my mind. Why is it that you can manipulate what I see, think and feel?"

"You chose to give me that power."

"No I didn't. I never did anything of the kind."

"Yes, but you did." She turned and waved her hand. The scenery vanished and Kyle saw himself, sitting alone at home. He was imagining. He remembered this from many years ago. A friend of his had invited him over, but he declined. He wanted to stay home and imagine rather than be with the real world.

"You gave me power when you revolted the real world." The image faded. Kyle saw himself facing Fear. "But the reason for it was your fear of the real world. When you began to fear the world and replaced the world with me, you gave Fear more power than I."

"So you wanted me to kill him so that you could have complete power." Kyle surmised.

"Yes." Kya confirmed.

Kyle thought it through carefully. Then something occurred to him. "Then why are you telling me this? How is it that I only began to understand after I had slain Fear?"

"I had not anticipated that when you no longer feared the world, you would no longer have need of me."

"And you're trying to convince me to stay?" Kyle felt more and more revolted by the idea. He wanted home. He couldn't stand another minute in this place.

Kya looked sad. In barely a whisper, she replied. "Yes. You belong here. Don't you see?" Kyle couldn't see what she was getting at. How would he belong here? "You are happier here."

Kyle thought hard. No, he wasn't happier here, he told himself. How could she say that? What about his friends and family? Then he began to remember how miserable he was in the real world. How could he go back to such a place? "No, Kya, I want to go home. I want the real world again."

"That is only because you do not possess the will that you once had. You do not remember what it was that gave you pleasure." The wishes and lust in Kyle's imagination came flooding back to him, baring him upon on a wave of euphoria. He longed at once to have these dreams and wishes to be fulfilled.

Then, out of the darkness in the back of hid mind, an rusty old gear began to turn. Kyle felt all of his wishes come true... but then some where blocked from him forever. In granting himself these wants, Kyle realized that he would be giving up so much more. What about those things that could only come true on Earth? Suddenly all the wishes of Kya felt like empty promises. They meant nothing to him. They were not real.

As it was with Fear, the power of Want began to wane. Kya lingered still. "Please, do not abandon me. I know that you do not truly want me to leave."

Then, Rameus and Nicodemus where beside Kyle. Nicodemus spoke. "Kyle, do you understand now?"

"Yes, I think that I do, but I do not know who you are."

"I am Wisdom."

Kyle almost laughed when the truth struck him. "That's why you and Kya had such a tens
e relationship. Kya knew that in the face of Wisdom, she had no power, though you had no power over her either."

"But why did I not have power over her? Why did Fear not have power over her? Why do you only have power to control her, Kyle?" The old man asked him.

Kyle did not know. He thought hard. After a minute, He gave up. "Why do you ask me this?"

"You do not have to answer, Kyle." Kya said.

"Hush, you are in not position to be trying to manipulate him." Rameus told her. Kya turned away and ignored him.

Nicodemus answered Kyle. "You must answer because only then will you truly understand. I cannot simply tell you because I do not know. I am merely a part of you. Fear was, as well." The Wizard's face vanished and Kyle saw himself again.

His face lit up. "So the only reason that I can control her is because I am the only who holds agency. I can make choices, but you can't."

Rameus laughed and thumped him on the back. "You're a smart lad."

"So who are you? Why did you play along with her in this?" Kyle asked.

"I am Courage!" Rameus said boldly. "You and I being the same person," Here, he turned to Nicodemus and gave him a broad wink "And having lots of great Wisdom on our side, we knew that you would figure it out."

"What makes me different? Why am I able to choose for myself and yet the rest of you, though being me, cannot act on your own?"

"It is because we are but mirror of your conscious mind. We represent certain things about you and we are magnified as characters in you little adventure. We were what you wanted us to be. You did this all on purpose. You meaning ‘we', by the way."

Kya turned back to them. "Please, Kyle, you know that you want to stay. You know that you will not be happy here. Please, stay. There are so many things more that you can experience."

It was tempting, but Kyle figured it was probably a waste of time. Or was it? He began to remember again how he was rejected in the real world. What about here? He had had so much excitement, friendship and love here that he almost floated off the floor just thinking about it.

Kya extended her hand out to him.

"Do not do it, child." Wisdom warned.

Kyle turned to Rameus. Bravery seemed undecided. "I had great fun here and I got to see more about myself than I ever have. I would like to stay longer, but then I think about the adventures in the outside world. It is a dangerous place and has need of brave men like us. I think we be of use out there."

"What about love? Here, I have friends. I have no such thing out there." Kyle responded.

Nicodemus sighed with frustration. "You do not honestly think that. You know as well as I do that Carol absolutely loves you. What about Marcos? You was always nice to you, even if you were a little jealous about him and again."

Kyle was stunned again. "Do you really mean that about Carol? You think that she really likes me?"

Courage laughed. "Its takes guts to admit it, and sometimes only your imagaination can admit to you what you won't admit to yourself. We already knew that she liked us. That is the way it is with most boys your age. They can be kind of blind at times."

"But then again, we already knew that." Kyle responded with a touch of humor in his voice.

Kya stretched her hand out farther to Kyle. "Please. You may have friends up in the real world, but imagine what friends you could have here. Imagine what kind of love you could experience."

"Yes, imagine, but that is all." Kyle replied woodenly. "Imagine is all I would ever get to do."

Nicodemus smiled. "Well put lad."

"I know." Kyle replied.

Kya looked desperate.

"In my opinion," said Nicodemus. "You should not do it, but then again, my opinion is a little bias." He joked.

Kyle looked from Wisdom to Courage to Dreams. Which did he want?

"Choose quickly, boy. You time may be running out. Time is precious. Life ticks away while you try to choose what it is that you truly want. Don't waste it if you already know what your decision is." Wisdom advised.

Kyle turned slowly toward Kya, the desire burning once again. He reached out toward the hand. He felt the question burn hotter in his mind. Did he really want to do this?

*                    *                    *

Carol watched as the nurses held him down against the mattress. He had been in this fit only for about fifteen seconds now. He was tossing in his bed and the IV administration unit was in danger of being pulled out of his arm from all the tossing.

Suddenly it stopped.

Kyle stopped moving completely. Carol stepped forward and touched his arm. The warmth was beginning to fade. She looked over at the monitor the showed his heart rate. Slowly, the speed of his beats was decreasing. The numbers grew large as the length between beats increased.

120... 130... 135...

He was dying.

Then the numbers leveled off. His heart rate went back to normal. Carol stared in shock.

Kyle's eyes slowly opened. His head turned.

"Carol?"

His friend came forward and grabbed hold of his hand. It was warm. "Kyle?" She asked in a hushed whisper. "Are you real? You aren't a ghost?"

"Are you?" Kyle asked, almost jokingly.

Carol shook her head in disbelief. Kyle's parents rushed into the room. They were crying and laughing with relief.

His mother had tears all down her cheeks. "Are you alright? What happened?"

Kyle smiled at her. "I have a long story to tell you guys. Whether or not you believe it is up to you, though."

Chapter 7

Long after the family had left and gone home. Kyle was sitting, enjoying his last night in this hospital. He sat back, all the lights turned out and the doctors had left the room.

Kyle lay back, thinking silently about his adventure in Tresgar. Is it worth writing about, he wondered? It could make an amazing story. If it was done right. He wondered also if anyone would understand exactly what it was about. He hardly believed or understood it himself.

No, he decided finally. He wanted to spend a little less time in the world of fiction for a while. He wanted to have fun with his friends. His real friends. Not Kya. She was fine for filling gaps.. maybe. But she was not a real person. Nothing could beat a true, real friend.

Just then, one of the lights turned on. An invisible hand seemed to have flipped the switch.

"Hello."

Kyle turned and saw Kya standing by the bedside.

"Hello, what are you doing here?"

"You know as well as I do. You wanted someone to talk to."

"Perhaps..." Kyle admitted to himself.

There was silence for a few moments. Then Kya reached out and touched his shoulder gently. "Will you never come back?"

"Maybe.. someday, but for now," Kyle said. "I think that I want a little bit of time in the real world first. That is what I truly wish."

Kya smiled. "As you wish." She turned away and walked from the room. Kyle watched as she left.

When Kyle looked back to the bedside again, Nicodemus was standing there, smoking an old pipe. "Wise words lad."

"And bravely put." Rameus said from the corner of his bed. "I couldn't have said it better myself."

"She isn't evil, you know."

"Yes, we do." Nicodemus replied. "But contact and submission to such a potent power as dreams and imagination should be carefully handled."

"Yes, I understand that now." Kyle responded. "In fact, I understand that just as well as you do."

Then they were gone. The invisible hand flipped the lamp switch and the room was plunged into darkness again. Kyle turned over in his bed and closed his eyes.



    This is the conclusion to Mirage. Thank you for your reading and your advice.