“How do you know my name?” I repeat slowly, my voice heavy with fatigue, forcing my eyes to meet his own. He just appeared out of thin air. This cannot be a normal man. 

The poorly dressed vagabond starts to laugh to himself. First, a low hum, like he’s trying to hide it, then immediately into an eruption of wind that shakes the grass and rustles the trees, like the whole world is laughing with him. But the campfire refuses to waver. 

“I am Gefrol.” He says with a flourish and a bow. “And I know many things about the world you live in,” he says, now smiling ear to ear. “It almost seems like an accident,” his eyebrows jump, “that you found a place with a pillar of hope; not to mention it being invisible to you, lighting a fire in said place, no matter how quickly it went out.” He stands up and starts pacing back and forth, opposite to the rhythm of the fire. “Then, despite your best efforts …” Suddenly, his pacing stops, and slowly turns his attention from the black sky to the orange fires. “You connected to the place!” He stretches his hand out to the fire, and it moves away from him like a child avoiding their parents’ hand feeding them greens. “And then you—”

BOOM

“Stabbed your sunblessed vessel into the shed, finishing the ritual and awakening you to my, Gefrol’s, godly presence!” He announces as clouds begin to gather above, thunder rolling in the distance, pointing at the spear on my back. I wrap myself tighter in my ragged habit. The freezing rains will extinguish the fires soon enough. I must find shelter away from this demon. I begin to take inventory of my saddlebag. I need to leave as soon as possible.

“I grabbed you from your mortal realm, and ripped you out of your time! To a hubspace in between time and place, leading you to a time when those that truly believe in something bigger than themselves, were threatened by hopelessness, and could win before all is lost!” He drops his arms as his voice falls in excitement, “Not unlike these years, where gods and hope are only forgotten myths burned as tinder against the bitter curse of the merciless Shades—”

I sigh loudly, bringing back memories of sitting in rooms full of children my age, bored from the ramblings of the elders and their blind acceptance of our history. I stand up; fatigue being the only thing connecting me to that horrible dream, interrupting his crazy rants. “I do not know who you are, Gefrol, or if that is even your real name,” his gaze softens, “but you cannot prove this to me—”

“Ah, but the campfire—”

“No!” I stop him before he begins again. “No more! No more wondering, no more curiosity!” He must have made this campfire here to trick me. I cannot escape these conmen. “I am here on a mission to reveal nothing but the truth to the world.” I begin to turn around and walk back the way I came. “What happened back there was nothing but an illusion made of smoke and lighting.” I point to the place where the shed once stood, now a path of mossy cobblestone. “My spear attracted the lightning’s call and caused me to pass out and experience an otherworldly vision due to the smoke I inhaled.” I turn back to this Gefrol, smoldering with anger. Yet he looks nothing less than pleased with himself, and while his face is turned towards mine, his eyes look above me. What does he see?

“Why do you refuse our existence, Lih?” He speaks softly. “Do you not believe—”

This is ridiculous. I tuck into my habit and make my way up the hill, away from this lunacy. Yet I can feel his gaze pressing—no, blazing, against my back. I refuse to look back at his smug, knowing grin, and those dangerously shifty eyes. All I need to do is keep my gaze forward, and I will find a path to those who ruined my livelihood with lies—

“Hey! Who goes there?” a light voice calls out. Up the hill, at that gravel base, I see a girl. She’s waving at me. It feels like an itch nagging at my mind, but her voice reminds me of someone—

I run. Something in my body takes over, and I cannot stop its path. I race to the top as soon as I hear her cry, memories and emotions flashing through my mind’s eyes—

My name was Sulumim—

I was woken up from a peaceful nap in a field of soft green under a sky of full blue by a girl with purple eyes, before returning to my blissful nap—

Overwhelming darkness forced me to rise and howls forced me to run, fearing for nothing else but my life—

I realized the horrible mistake I made leaving her in the shadowy forest, surrounded on all sides by wolves and fire—

As myself, I returned to the forest, resolve set in my stomach, hoping I was not too late—

I felt the purest extract of fear in front of true darkness—

I learned the strength that those I cared about could take on their own challenges—

But the fear that I might be incapable of taking on my own hardships embedded itself into my soul.

I arrive at the top of the hill, staring down at the girl. Dark brown hair, straightened from curls, and deep purple eyes. The girl who killed the Shade.

“Canthi?” I sputter as I fall to my knees, these feelings surrounding and overwhelming my mind—

Everything goes black—

… It almost feels instinctual.

SNAP

As time stopped its continuous spiral, I took my time making my way up the hill, appreciating the frozen world. The clouds above halted their drifting, and the falling rain froze, like the air could keep the droplets from reaching their inevitable destination. Fitting, as it seems. Lih passing out from exhaustion was not unexpected, but I expected it would happen under a tree or at the campfire, so I was quite surprised to see his adrenaline dissipate at the sight of this girl. 

She does look like her. I mused, just a few paces from Lih and the girl with purple eyes. I get down next to Lih, putting my arms around his body to support his sideways fall, and with a flourish—

SNAP

Lih falls shoulder first into my arms and the girl jumps back with a rude exclamation. She falls breathless, like her heart jumped out of her chest. She looks at me with hard eyes. Eyes that know suspicion. Eyes that have been tricked before.

She will be in good company then.

“Hello! My name is Gef, and this is my friend, Lih.” I point my chin to the unconscious man laying in my arms above the hard gravel mixed dirt. “We are lost travelers looking for our way back to our tribe’s cavedom. Can you lead us to a place for rest, posthaste? I fear we do not have the luxury to wait.”

Her gaze immediately softens at my plea, and she rises from the ground, dusting herself off. She wears a robe in shades of brown and green. “I can assist.” She glances at the unconscious body in my arms. “But this man is mistaken.”

Oh?

She looks back at the gravel path, seemingly leading to arrangements of grey stone structures. as I saw from afar. Her hair sways on the incoming rain cloud’s gentle breeze. “I am not Canthi.”

End of Chapter 5

Author’s Note: Welcome back to Sunblighted! I hope Gerfol’s reenactment and Lih’s reflection helped remind you of the story so far (but I wouldn’t blame you if not (⁠・⁠_⁠・⁠;⁠) ) You can reread the previous chapters on the “Tales from the Empty Notebook” authors page at brandeishoot.com/author/mgmail-com/. See you next time!

-T.E.N