A Battle of Minds

This is the sixth and final chapter of a story, which mainly took place in the "Mind Control" category. I recommend reading the other chapters -- but for those who do not want to do so, here is a short summary of what has happened so far:

A strange locket has been influencing the fate of the small town of Leskow and especially of Laura, a young woman from this town, for several years now. At first, Laura was enslaved due to the influence of that locket, whose bearer can force anyone or anything to do his bidding, but eventually she managed to take possession of the locket. She crowned herself queen of Leskow and reached ever higher power, until an unexpected visitor appears in Leskow...

~~~~~

Everything is calm on the small clearing in the forest, near the shores of Lake Leskow. The town of Leskow, situated on the opposite shore of the lake, is quiet as well. The cobble stone streets empty, the windows dark. All people of Leskow have fallen asleep, most of them lying cuddled closely together on the big festival site right next to the lake. They are tired, but it is a relaxed and happy tiredness. The summer festival, organized for them by their queen, has worn them out. In their deep sleep, they do not know what is happening around them. They do not know, that this night their future will be decided.

The lake, on the other hand, is unmoved, unchanged. Its waters splash against the shore in little waves, uncaring of what the future might bring. The light of the moon is reflected by the water, as it has been throughout the ages. The lake continues its quiet existence; there might be people diving into its depths or islands rising out of them, those are minor changes. The lake has been here since ancient times, before this era and the one before. Its dark waters will continue to lie next to the forest, no matter what era comes next.

The going-ons of this night don't concern the forest either. It doesn't care what is happening in the human world -- even if those same humans cut down its trees, the forest remains uncaring. It does not know of future or past. The wind is rushing through the tops of the trees, rustling their leaves. The trees stand tall and unmoved, why should it be their concern that this very clearing is going to be the site of a battle?

Not just any battle, but the battle of the century: A battle that is going to decide not just the future of Leskow and its people, but the fate of the whole world.

No, the forest and the lake and the wind do not know of such things, nor do the people of Leskow. They are asleep on the meadow, or in their houses, if they still made it home, and do not know of this battle, though it is most of all their own fate that is going to be decided here, this very night.

***

"It's nice to see you again." Daniel was smiling. „And it is good to be back. I can see that a lot of things have changed around here."

Laura stared at him in disbelief. How could he talk like... like everything was normal?

"Aren't you happy to see me?" he asked, apparently drawing his own conclusions about her silence.

"What do you want?" Her voice sounded more nervous than she had planned, betraying the fast beat of her heart, rather than exuding the self-confidence that would befit a queen.

"What kind of welcome is that? Don't I deserve a hello, at least? But good," Daniel took a deep breath. "I am here to tell you that you have spent enough time playing queen now. It's time you let the town and its people be free again. And it's time you remembered who you are, Laura."

The queen felt anger rise up inside her. How dared he address her like that? Gritting her teeth, she tried to concentrate on remaining calm, on giving her face a lofty expression. Daniel's looked at her, his face open, friendly. His eyes gazed at her with the same fondness as so many years ago... How could he, after everything that had happened? For a moment, the memory of blood on the floor and a pale arm sticking out from behind a sofa flashed through Laura's mind -- and as if he could see the same picture, Daniel's expression grew darker. However, he continued looking at her expectantly, waiting for an answer. If she'd just ...

No! She would have none of this. He had disappeared out of her life, just like that. He had been gone for all those years, leaving her to suffer alone, and now he came back to tell her what she could or could not do? Was he trying to give her orders? Her! The queen!

„Laura does not exist anymore". Again, her voice did not fully obey her; it echoed shrilly through the forest. "Laura was weak, and stupid.

They

did whatever they wanted with Laura." She almost spit out her own name, and only now realized how much she hated it. This name, this word, did not seem to have any connection to her anymore. It did not belong to her, it wasn't her. "Laura is gone, she won't return, and you of all people can definitely not bring her back."

Daniel's eyes grew sad, though other than that, his face remained unmoved.

"Well," he said after a long pause. "If that's the way you want it... I wish you would find reason. I really wish we could do this in a sensible way. But if that's the way you want it..."

Without another word and without giving the queen a chance to ask what he wanted to say, Daniel turned around and left. For a brief moment, the queen considered sending some of her guards after him. Then she wondered if that would be of any use at all, or if it would just give him a chance to prove his own powers. She was almost sure that this was not the way to defeat him. No, before she decided on anything, she would have to think.

***

Leskow had changed. All the cheerfulness had been drawn from the little town. The sky was dark and cloudy; in the mornings, mist lay over the lake, the forest and the surrounding meadows. There was a tension in the air, no matter where you went, you could feel that something was about to happen. Nothing was as it used to be.

Of course, the people of Leskow went on about their daily business as always. They did it without a smile, however. Without as much as a word to each other, they did their work simply because they had to. The area around the festival site had been cleaned up within a few hours. The meadow itself, however, had been turned into a field of mud by the heavy rain: And it stayed so for several days, as a reminder of the great celebration. Other than that, no mud or dirt was seen on the streets, despite the constant drizzle of rain. Leskow continued being the pretty town it had become since the coronation of its queen -- and yet, everything was different now.

A few more times, the queen tried to push the heavy clouds away from the sky. She intended to let the sun shine through again, onto Leskow, and onto her island, hoping the bright warmth might give her the courage and happiness she was longing for -- but to no avail. She wasn't sure if Daniel's resistance was to be blamed -- after all she did not even know what kind of power he had -- or whether it was her own gloomy mood that was reflected in the weather. The queen spent hours of each day, standing at the window in her room on top of one of the castle's towers, staring out into the rain. Under the heavy clouds, the forest seemed as dark as her thoughts.

The queen thought about the future, she tried to think of strategies, of her own strengths and powers. Most of all, however, she thought of her opponent.

Daniel. Before seeing him by the lake, she hadn't thought of him in so long that she almost forgot he ever existed. And still, somehow, he had always been on her mind. Like a hidden thought, buried deep in her subconscious. A vague memory of times, when she was nothing but plain old Laura from twelfth grade, a nice girl, but quiet and not particularly noticeable -- and yet, somehow, she had been happier. Happier? No, how could she have ever been happier than now, that she had brought a golden age to Leskow? It was only his presence that upset her, that made her have these strange thoughts.

Daniel was a danger. He had to be stopped, if need be, he had to be destroyed -- with every minute she thought about him, the queen grew surer of that. However, this was not as easy as it sounded. Her power seemed not big enough to confront him. She had to grow stronger, had to learn to use the power of the locket even more precisely, so he would not be able to resist her.

Somewhere, deep inside the queen's mind, a small voice protested. The voice of a girl -- of the girl she had once been. This voice told her that she still missed Daniel. The voice of the girl wondered if Daniel might not be right in what he said. The queen, however, pushed those thoughts deeper into her subconscious. She was not that girl anymore; she would not listen to her voice. Maybe Daniel's sudden appearance even had its advantages, she pondered. Once she defeated him, she might be free from all that remained of

Laura

inside her. Maybe she could vanquish the last bit of weakness inside her mind.

When

she won the fight against him, she could finally be only the queen of Leskow, nothing else. She could make her old self disappear forever.

***

"Your majesty, one of your subjects has come to speak to you."

The queen turned around, surprise on her face. Once again she was standing by the window, staring out towards the dark sky and the churning waters of Lake Leskow, trying to ban all the unpleasant thoughts of the last days from her mind. A few ducks had appeared. Ignoring the horrible weather, they swam their rounds on the lake, and the queen had been watching them from her tower. The interruption, the voice of the servant tearing her from her observations, angered her -- and it took her a moment to fully comprehend the strangeness of this request.

Someone wanted to speak to her? One of her subjects? Her subjects were not able to want anything. They could not even think by themselves, unless she ordered them to want or think something. So why would any of them want to talk to her, when she, their queen, had no such plans for any of them?

With a mixture of rage and curiosity, she nodded towards the servant girl, who stood in the door frame motionlessly, waiting for her queen's orders. The girl in question had been her favorite servant for more than a few weeks by now, during daytime as well as at night. She was half a head taller than the queen, with long blonde hair she always wore down, on the queen's orders, and eyes, that most likely once sparkled each time the girl smiled. These days, of course, no one's smile reached their eyes anymore -- still, this young woman was surprisingly beautiful. When the queen found her, on the main street of Leskow, where she worked in a little shop, she had been surprised to not have noticed this girl before.

Now, however, as the weeks with this girl serving her were turning into months, she realized she was starting to grow bored with her. Well, replacing her servant was no big issue; she could attend to that later; first she had to see what it was about the person who apparently wanted to speak to her.

"Tell him to come in", she ordered.

Shortly after, the girl led a young man through the door into the small tower room. The queen, still standing at the window, once again turned around to look at her visitor. To her surprise, he looked vaguely familiar. Hadn't there been one night, many months ago, a particularly satisfying night...? However, there had been many nights and many men, so the queen could not be sure. She rarely bothered to remember the faces of the men and women she shared her royal bed with.

For a moment, the man just stood in front of the queen, silent, looking at her with what Laura believed to be scrutinizing eyes. Indeed, his whole expression was changed; he did not look as impassive as all the other people in Leskow did -- though the queen could still tell that he was not fully awake: He did not seem to find his surroundings strange, and he did not look scared. He just looked like he was being controlled by a different, somewhat more lenient power.

„What do you want?" the queen asked harshly.

"My master has sent me..."

"Your master?" Laura interrupted him -- though she already knew, who the man was referring to.

"My master has sent me", the man repeated, his voice steady, "to tell your majesty that she is requested today at midnight on the clearing in front of the hut. My master wants to speak to you. Alone."

After uttering these words, the man turned around, and before the queen could hold him back, he had left the castle, walking swiftly and full of confidence, his head raised high. The queen tried to search for his mind, make contact with him and get him under her own control, so she could force him to return. It seemed, however, that he was not part of her world anymore. She had not the slightest influence on this man.

***

Nervously, Laura glanced around. The trees stood motionless, the clearing was empty, and the little house at its edge looked dark and abandoned. It appeared that no human being, other than herself, had entered the forest of Leskow this night.

A sigh of relief escaped the queen. Her subjects had hidden well, the police men as well as her personal guards. Daniel would not be able to see them until it was too late. Still, even knowing that they were there, invisible in their hiding places, the nightly forest was somewhat creepy. It was quieter than it had ever been, reminiscent of an ancient time before the arrival of humans in this area. No, it was quieter than that: Even the animals seemed to have hidden away; no stir betrayed the presence of anything alive. It occurred to the queen that even the wind had calmed down. As if the whole world was holding its breath.

As the queen was standing on the clearing, waiting, a small cloud wandered slowly in front of the moon, and the night grew yet darker. Forest and clearing were barely visible anymore. Only when the cloud had moved on, and silvery light was reaching down towards her again, Laura could see him: Daniel was standing next to a tree, at the far end of the clearing. He seemed to be one with the darkness behind him. The queen could not remember any sound that might have hinted at his approach.

"You are here."

His voice was quiet, and yet it carried clearly across the clearing, reaching the queen like a whisper that was uttered directly into her ear. She shook her head slightly, to rid herself of the strange emotions this nightly encounter awoke in her. Before speaking, she had to clear her throat. When she addressed her enemy, she managed to do so in the imperious tone she intended.

"What is that important that I have to come to the forest in the middle of the night -- for you?"

"The past", Daniel replied calmly. "Your past, Laura. Try to remember who you were. Who you are. Try and be yourself again."

Again the queen felt rage rise up inside her, but the rage was mingled with a vague fear. She had to swallow hard a few times to push those feelings back down. Then she lifted up her chin defiantly and looked Daniel up and down. He was wearing old jeans and a torn shirt. As dark as it was, she could tell that his clothes were dirty and his hair unwashed. How could someone like him, scruffy and of no importance whatsoever -- how could he dare to give orders to the queen?

"I am myself", she answered in a cold voice. "I am the person I have always wanted to be. I don't know what past you are speaking about. I have no past that would be worthwhile remembering."

Daniel took another step towards her. The moon was still shining bright, no new cloud had come to cover it up again, and thus his face was now, that he left the shadows of the trees, bathed in its pale light. He had grown older, the queen realized, more mature, more serious. There was a deep sadness in his eyes that caused an unexpected sting in Laura's chest. She clenched the muscles in her chin, to shake off the sensation.

"Laura", his voice was pleading. "Don't you remember me at all anymore? Don't you remember

us

?"

The queen could no longer suppress her rage. She was shaking, as she turned around, facing the forest behind her and addressed her guard, whom she knew well hidden between the shrubs and bushes.

"Arrest him!"

She had meant to shout, but her voice came out strangely hoarse. It didn't matter, however. The moment she uttered the words, guards and policemen sprinted over the clearing, past their queen, towards Daniel. The silence of the nightly forest was torn by the sounds of their heavy boots, and a devilish smile crossed the queen's face. This was more like it.

Then, unexpectedly, it was silent again. Her men had reached a spot on the clearing that lay just in the middle between her and her adversary -- and there, they stopped dead in their tracks, apparently unable to move one step further towards him. Like bizarre sculptures, they had frozen in whatever position their bodies had been in, when they reached that spot. More than one stood in a somewhat precarious position, as if they were about to fall over, but so far, they were not even swaying.

"What's going on? Didn't you hear me? Arrest him!"

The queen's voice was louder now, not hoarse anymore, but shrill. She shouted at her guards -- though she knew that it wasn't her

voice

they obeyed.

At first, the men did not move at all. They remained frozen in place, many of them with just one leg on the ground, as if they had turned into stone in the middle of running. Then, however, very slowly, one took a step backwards, another followed, until all of them walked backwards, their motion growing fast. They were walking away from Daniel, back towards Laura, though they hadn't turned around as yet. The queen believed to feel her heart do a little jump of fear. What was happening? How could they manage to do something directly contrary to her orders?

Looking over the meadow, she could see concentration painted onto her enemy's face. A very familiar expression of focus. He was controlling them! He was taking them away from her, robbing their minds from her circle of influence! It looked like he was planning to send her own subjects after her, their queen!

The queen took another deep breath, controlling her anger and her fear. She had to concentrate as well -- if she wanted to stand a chance, she had stay focused on the issue at hand. And for the first time in months, she was fully conscious of her power, using it willingly to bring across her orders, rather than just relying on the fact that using the pendant had become second nature to her.

Sure, every now and then there had been occasions during which she was more aware of the pendant's power, for example when she was searching for someone's mind. Establishing a mental connection to people she had already found, however, urging them to do her bidding at every moment, had become natural. She didn't have to think anymore to do this. As her power had grown, this process had moved more and more into the background. People usually followed her orders without her even realizing she had given them. To the queen, controlling every inhabitant of Leskow was not any more complicated than breathing or seeing.

Now, however, she had to use all her inner strength to push against whatever made those men move back toward her. Little pearls of sweat appeared on her brow and she was shaking slightly, when finally they stopped walking backwards, and then, slowly, one by one, took a few steps forward again, toward Daniel.

His expression grew darker. His brow furrowed in concentration. Apparently he, too, had to use more of his strength now. He had to concentrate. The men stopped again, some of them took a few tentative steps backwards. Most of them, however, stood motionless on their spot, right in the middle between Daniel and the queen. Only the slightest trembling of their arms and legs indicated that they were still flesh and blood, rather than stone, and that they were exposed to an unyielding power. The queen wondered if the men might not get crushed by the onslaught on their minds, by the strength exuding from both her and Daniel. How much of this could a human brain take, without suffering some kind of damage?