CROSSFIRE Chapter 6

    A bright light flashed as Connie opened her eyes. She looked around and felt as her heart stopped momentarily. For she was back within the Tattered Spire. Connie ran up the steps of the obsidian structure to where the heavens were pierced by its daunting peaks. To her horror, she saw Hammer, Garth, and Reaver within the grips of Lord Lucien. The three heroes laid in a defeated heap at the madman's feet, an unspeakable agony laced upon their unconscious lips. Lucien saw Connie enter, but he did not speak. She looked up to meet his confrontation, the fires of vengeance blazing a trail of overzealous rage across her soul.


     The image she saw before her would forever burn itself into her subconscious, and haunt her forever more.


    The weathered eyes of the lord were flooded with icy malice. His pupils contracted, the driving force behind his insanity controting them back into the very nether regions of his demented soul. All color dissipated from his world; all form and warmth depleted forever. Only the auburn-haired Irish lass remained in his focal range. Connie's blue eyes shimmered with a chaotic mixture of bloodlust and remorse.


               There was only one thing left to do.


    Without any flair, she shot him in the shoulder. He yelled in pain, desperately clutching the bony area. Lucien glared up at his assailant.

"You! Do you realize what you've just done?! I was so close...now my power; no! My one chance...i-it's all gone! Curse you! I was going to end chaos!" Connie faced him and she began to speak.

"Chaos and suffering are not alone in this world. Do you know what makes a beautiful world, Lucien? It is triumphing over the things in an imperfect world that makes us stronger. When we get stronger, we pull from inside to better the world around us as well as ourselves! When you took away my sister and my dog, I never gave up. I triumphed not because I wanted to change the world; but rather because I knew that they would want me to be strong. To overcome my worst fears and losses. The world will never be perfect, but destroying it all will not fix imperfection. There will always be impurity in any world. It's up to the inhabitants of said world to choose how they will respond to tragedy. You have two choices; overcome and evolve, or let the evil consume you. I chose to overcome. You hurt me deeply, but I became the stronger for it. Without needing to change the world around me." The brave heroine concluded her speech, closed her tired eyes in solace, and gently lowered her pistol.

    Lucien listened to none of it. Her wise words had fallen on the deaf ears of a doomed madman. He pulled free his gun.

"I...will...not...rest...until you are DEAD!" He began to pull the trigger, but someone else shot first.

    With a surprised, airy gasp Lord Lucien clutched his chest and faltered. He staggered and lost his footing, falling to the deepest part of the Spire; impaling himself onto the sharp spikes below. A confused Connie looked up towards the source of the shot.



            Reaver was now standing, his gun still smoking.



    The pirate spun the trigger loop around his index finger before casually replacing the weapon within its holster. When the young woman failed to comment on his impressive shot, he grew smug.

"He was about to kill you. Do I not deserve a thank you?" Connie glared at him, and her face twisted in rage.

"That's not how I wanted it to end! You denied me my vengeance!" She roared. Reaver scoffed.

"Lucien's dead. What else matters?" He grinned. There was a strange sense to his words; the heroine couldn't explain just what it was, but nonetheless, it was a statement that she found logic in. Connie's temper began to cool as she looked down upon the madman's impaled corpse.

"Nothing. He got what he deserved in the end." In a brilliant flash of silver light, Theresa appeared before the four heroes once again. None thought to ask where she had been, or how she had survived.


                     Because none thought it important; at the time.


    The blind seeress faced Connie, a wise smile spreading out across her lips.

"Congratulations Connie. You have avenged your sister and saved the world from an evil madman. Now, you shall receive your reward. Take my hand." Connie nodded as she reached up and grasped Theresa's decorated extremity.

    She was teleported to the middle of a white room. At least, she assumed it to be a room of some sort. It was difficult to tell, because aside from heroine and the wizened ancient before her, there was absolutely nothing else around. Connie stood there, bathed in the surreal angelic hue of energy, completely unable to move. She couldn't hear anything, couldn't feel her hand when she reached up to touch her cheek. Sound, was nothing more than an abstract concept at that point. For this place, wherever it was; was dead silent. This began to frighten her. Even in the hellish bowels of the Shadow Court, Connie could still hear herself breathing. She could still feel herself being alive.


                      Here, she couldn't.



    The silence was then broken by Theresa's comforting voice.

"Be not afraid, chosen hero. You are far from in peril."

"Where are we?" The fazed young woman asked, still trying to get her bearings.

"You stand in the heart of the Tattered Spire. I told you once of this place, and the endless powers it holds within its very core."

"Yes. I remember."

"For saving Albion, the Spire has decided to grant you with a single wish as a reward. This offer extends to anything that you may desire; but bear in mind that its consequences will affect all of the land." Connie pondered her options for what seemed like hours, and then finally spoke.

"I wish for everyone who was lost over all of this could be brought back to life." Theresa smiled at Connie's selfless choice. She wouldn't have expected anything less from her faithful student.

"You have made a very noble wish. Now let it come to pass..."



    The Spire glowed a bluish arcane light, and a puff of beautiful smoke bloomed forth out across the tip. The ocean outside rippled in the wake of the climatic explosion, and the whole of Albion seemed to solidify in frozen time.

***************************

    Connie opened her eyes and saw the three heroes and Theresa encircling her.

"We heard everything." Hammer smiled, tears of joy streaming down her cheeks. "You could have been selfish; wished for gold or the like. But you wished for everyone's happiness, not your own. You have a truly gracious heart Connie. Thank you."

"You're welcome Hammer." Connie smiled.

"Oh, I think I might be ill..." Reaver groaned.

"I lost no one. I have been alone most of my life. But regardless, I can appreciate what you have done. You have my thanks." Garth gave a decisive bow in Connie's direction. "So, what happens now?" He asked.

"That is up to you. I can send each of you anywhere from here."

"I wish to return to Samarkand, my homeland." The mage commented. Reaver jumped in.

"Yes! Send me their too! I've been to Samarkand. Hot nights, exotic substances, and uninhibited people..." He purred. Garth looked at him, disgusted.

"It's nothing like that!"

"Oh, trust me, I'll find the exciting bits..." The pirate snickered. The mage shook his head in disdain.

"Fine. Just stay away from me."

"As you wish." Reaver grinned.

"Well, I guess this is good-bye guys." Connie bade a bittersweet farewell.

"Think you can handle Albion on your own for a while?" Hammer asked, nudging her friend. Connie looked up at the giant, teary-eyed.

"I'll certainly try."

"Aww, don't be sad Connie! I'll see you again someday; I promise. Let's keep in touch!" The warrior proclaimed, as she was teleported to the Northern Wastes. Garth smiled for the first time that Connie could recall, and waved goodbye. Reaver was the last to go.

"Good-bye Connie. I simply can't thank you enough for dragging me into this mess." Then, he winked at her. "Ooh, but you're ever so lovely, so I think that I'll have to forgive you my pet. Tatty-bye!" Connie shook her head as he was teleported to Samarkand with Garth.



    Just Connie, and Theresa remained.



"Thank you Connie. You have saved Albion. Your quest is now over. Feel free to adventure and explore the world as you see fit. Where do you wish to go?" Connie though it over long and hard.

"Knothole Island. I love the seashore, and I need a long vacation." Theresa nodded, and Connie disappeared into a strong white light.


    When she opened her eyes, Connie found herself in Knothole Island; where the next chapter of her story began...

**********************

    Connie made her way around the small seaside town, the snow falling upon her auburn locks, and chilling her shoulders. But she couldn't feel the cold. She could only feel the enormous loss within her aching heart.



                            Her best friend, was dead.



    She had loved Lance. He had been the only companion and comfort that she had known. It left her completed quest for vengeance with a noxious aftertaste. Did the ends truly justify the means; if it meant the loss of her only family?


    She rounded her way down the mountainside and walked up to the lookout point. There, she stood, taking in the scenery of frost covered fields and the icy sea. A single tear fell from her sapphire eyes. The world was so vast, so beautiful.



    And she was alone in it.



"Lookin' a wee bit down, eh lass?" A gruff voice came from behind her. Connie looked over her shoulder to see a wizened old man waving in her direction.

"Who are you?"

"Just a curious old man is all. Now, what seems to be the matter? A pretty gal shouldn't be cryin' on such a lovely day! Are ye alright?" Connie sniffed as another tear fell.

"No. Actually I'm not. I just lost my best friend."

"What happened to him?" The man asked in a thick accent.

"He was shot."

"Poor bastard. That's rough."

"He wasn't a man!"

"Oi? Then what was he?"

"He was a wolfdog, named Lance. He was my best friend; and now I'll never see him again." She sniffed. The man grinned, a wily twinkle appearing within his fading blue eyes.

"Oh, hey don't cry! Here, come with me lassie." The man beckoned to her. Intrigued, Connie followed along behind.

*******************

    "Where are we going?" She finally managed to ask. The old man halted in front of an ancient stone ruin at the top of the mountain.

"Wait here." He commanded. Connie, still curious as ever, did as she was bade, watching as he stepped inside. She heard a zap and a crackle from within. A part of her nearly chose to run in after the elder, to make sure that he was alright. But some unseen force kept her feet mounted to the snowy ground.


    Minutes passed, and finally the stranger stepped out into the sunlight.



              And Lance, was with him.



"Lance!" She cried, wrapping her arms around his fluffy white neck. Lance howled happily and licked her face. Connie then looked up at the man. "But how did you?" The old man pressed a finger to her trembling lips.

"Shhh! No need to thank me, nor ask any questions. Just enjoy him even more this time around." He winked. Connie nodded, tears of joy streaming down her chilled face.

"Thank you. I don't even know you; yet you have just given me the best gift that I have ever gotten." The man smiled slowly before abruptly turning away.

"It's the very least that I could do for you after all these years Sparrow..." Connie's eyes widened. Her blue irises danced with need and utter shock.



"Daddy?!" She mouthed, completely breathless.

****************

    Connie hadn't seen her father in years. The old man grinned at her one last time, before he began to dissipate into smoke. Connie frantically lunged towards the figure. She hadn't seen her father since she was six; and she wasn't about to let him get away from her this time! He hands made a mad grab at the wool cape around his shoulders. Instantly, she retracted her fingers with a trill of sheer terror. Again her eyes trembled as she stared upwards at her father.


              The being before her; was indeed, incorporeal.



                           A ghost.


    Her bones were now more chilled than the frigid winds that surrounded her. She couldn't speak. She could barely even see. Connie's mind was revolting against what it was attempting to process. She had been scared before in her life. She had battled eight foot hybrid wolf men, been trapped for ten years in the sadistic dungeon of a madman, and even penetrated the depths of hell itself to return Reaver's dark seal.


                 But that was before this.


    Now, she was faced with the spirit of a family member; the father who had abandoned Rose and her twenty years ago. An action that had inevitably led to this entire mess. The heroine just stood there, staring at the entity; positively mortified.


At that moment; she temporarily entered what she later realized, was insanity.


    Connie didn't know what to do. She couldn't take her crystalline eyes off what was in front of her. When the spirit smiled at her again, a wave of hot courage managed to find her faltering heart. In a tone bordering on hysteria, she screamed out to her lost parent.

"Why did you leave me?!" The form now levitated before her, opening his burly arms to his forsaken child. He was a dweller of light, and in death he had found his sought redemption. Yet, Colin Remswood was still partially trapped between worlds. Although not required, the honorable warrior could never hope to fully embrace paradise, without making peace with his beloved child.


          And that long sought time, had finally come.


"Connie. Please forgive me. I am truly sorry for what I did to ye and yer sister. I pray that one day, an enlightened heroine such as yerself can forgive me. Ye have already outdone me as a hero." Connie choked back the rest of her fear and rage, and locked eyes with the shimmering spirit. His glow was warm and soothing, banishing any and all of her nagging doubts about him into infinity.

"Daddy, is Rose safe? Is she alright?" Connie pleaded though the howling wind.

"Yer sister is with yer mother and I. And she will NEVER come to harm again. This, I can assure ye. Ye have done well." As the figure began to slowly fade into ice crystals, Connie grasped at the falling snow.

"But, I wasn't the one to avenge her! Reaver shot Lucien, I-I failed..." Her voice trailed off into a whisper.

"Connie." Her father boomed. "Reaver was right! If Lucien is dead, than vengeance has indeed been served."

"Why are you taking his side?!" She asked, suddenly enraged.

"Why not? He was correct!"

"He's nothing but a villan!" She sneered.

"That is what ye have been told. But people often hide their true natures; to avoid the truth." Connie stared up at the ghost, growing apprehensive.

"Which means?" She crooked an eyebrow. Her father laughed.

"My daughter. One of the greatest heroes of all time; yet ye still know so little about the real world."

"I know that Reaver was wrong. He is wrong. He's pure, undiluted evil!"

"There are some things in this world, even more powerful than good or evil; or life or death. There is something powerful enough to change the world in ways even the greatest heroes cannot. This Reaver, shall be the one to lead you to it." Connie shook her head. She couldn't imagine the debauched pirate leading her to anything of such majesty.

"Enough riddles! Just tell me what you are trying to say!"

"Perhaps, it shall be yer last quest to go and find out..."

"But I've already been on a quest for the last ten years! I became a hero all to avenge Rose. And then Reaver denied me my vengeance!" She cried, clutching her belt in fury. She shuddered as more tears forced their way past her eyelids. Connie clenched her teeth in bitter sorrow. "I-I...just wanted to make you proud. That's all that I ever wanted. To be a hero, just like you!" Colin's blue eyes gleamed with zest. A loving smile found his lips, camouflaged between his thick red beard and moustache. He held out his hand to that of his beloved daughter.


   For one fleeting moment, the laws of the universe were defied; and the living touched the dead.


"Ye HAVE made me proud Connie. And ye always will. Farewell." Connie retracted her hand, never wishing the tingling sensation of starlight and whimsy to leave her heart. She watched with aching longing as her father faded away.


    Sinking to her knees, the heroine remained silent; gingerly stroking her pet in the icy snow.

****************

    With a great yawn, Connie awoke in the small bedroom of the inn where she was staying. She got up and rubbed her head.

"What a strange dream..." She muttered.



       But as she rolled over, she found Lance snoring beside her.