"When did that change?"
"Well, not right away. I mean, I spoke to the prisoner as we started moving, and they answered, but that was pretty normal. I just asked them if they were ok, and they spat back in common about how they wanted to be let out."
"What did it say exactly?"
"I'm not sure I remember exactly, it was quite hard to hear over the sound of the carriage wheels and the normal sound of the city. She spoke very softly, like she was almost whispering, although it was a little louder than that. Anyway, I didn't really get all the words, she just said something like I'd rather be asleep in the meadow again, but I've had worse places than a cart . Sorry Pater, it was hard to be sure exactly what she said, maybe Lonnas will remember more?"
The man's hood shook slightly, almost imperceptibly, but Hendrik knew he'd said something important. "Not to jump ahead, Pater, but, can I see Lonnas whilst I'm in here, I, uh, I need to say a few things if I could."
The man pulled his hood down, soft light cascading across a grizzled, weather-beaten face, devoid of hair. A single tattoo adorned the man's almost-polished forehead. A black cross, he was a unifier. Despite his harsh features, his face didn't give much away as he furrowed his brow briefly in thought, always maintaining piercing eye contact with Hendrik. "She's been unconscious for the last 2 days. So far, you are the only survivor to have awoken. Besides a dozen walking wounded... A priest of Oghma has been beaten to death, two other temple guards are dead by unknown means, the two soldiers you pulled from that carriage are near-dead, and officer Lonnas is only hanging on to this life thanks to her strong spirit and our aid.
What you tell us here now may be the key to saving her life, and apprehending the prisoner. As shocking as this news may be, you must continue, even if you do not remember any exact details."
"Lonnie? I mean, officer Lonnas, was she with me when you found her?"
The man simply nodded, as Hendrik groaned in shame.
"Ok, I don't remember exactly what she said, but we talked for a little while, so let me think" Hendrik closed his eyes, trying to recall the conversations, "she said she was a shepherd... and just wanted to go back to her flock. She was worried about them straying too close to the rift and being taken by the army. Lonnas talked to her about farm work for a bit, they uh, I guess reminisced about spending lazy days sleeping off their tasks. Lonnas talked about her parents barn. I was checking the crowds outside through the slats. The prisoner talked about the barn with Lonnas for a bit."
Hendrik sighed in his seat, "They seemed to be getting along quite well, Lonnas seemed to put the prisoner at ease, it all seemed calm, peaceful. It was like, being sealed away from the world for a bit, away from the conflict and chaos. And I remember the prisoner was talking to us both then, about a place they used to go, they said it was where they think they got changed into... what she is now, that it was some valuable secret that the church wanted to torture her to get."
The severe man leaned forward, elbows on the table, "Did she tell you where it was?"
Hendrik slumped back in his chair a bit, "I think so, my memory is hazy, I remember some details she told us. She said... she said it was at the bottom of a wooded ravine, but she didn't know exactly where. She said we had to follow a trail to get there, that the Church, or any of the Cities would pay a fortune to follow that trail."
"Did she describe the trail? Where it started?"
Hendrik closed his eyes, focusing on the conversation, "Yes... she said it was a long way, so we had to memorize it, in case something happened to her. She said it started in the light, where the towers' shadows can't reach." Hendrik's voice became rhythmic, as if reciting a well known poem, "From the light, close your eyes and listen for the sound of flowing water... she made the sound, like a whisper... follow the sound of flowing water. Feel the air cool as you enter the shadows of the pines, keep your eyes closed.
Breathe in the air, feel the warmth, smell the earth, and allow yourself to follow, slowly, gently downwards. The path leads down, quietly, easily down. The sound of running water gets louder, breathe again, feel the slight tingle of moisture in the air, drown out the sound of rushing leaves, ignore the voices of your travelling companions. Allow the path to carry you downwards, allow the slope to move you downhill."
Hendrik slumped further down in his chair, still concentrating, as his voice became slurred.
"She said... She said, keep going, straight down, don't turn away, don't turn back. Keep your eyes closed, and as you breathe, as you ignore the distracting noise of the city, listen for the sound of rushing water, and the little voice waiting at the bottom. Walk towards it. Reach out for it, let it pull you into it's soft embra-"
Hendrik fell forwards onto the table, a loud crack as his head struck the boards. Without hesitation, the severe man slapped the side of his face and Hendrik groaned, opening his eyes and prying himself from the rough surface. "What happened?"
"You fell asleep"
"Uh, sorry, I guess I didn't get much sleep last night"
"You've been asleep for a few days. We were just talking about what the prisoner told you in the carriage. Do you remember anything else?"
"It's like, half images... like remembering a dream?"
"Try to remember, you may remember something that will help us"
Hendrik frowned, "Do I have to... Sir?"
The severe man simply nodded once, clear, resolute. Hendrik sighed.
"I was lying face down, on a blanket of silk and soft wool. Lonnie was there, nearby but out of reach, I could hear her. And the stream was talking to us, and we were talking back. It was like magic. My feet were shackled, so I freed them. Then my hands were shackled, so I had to free them too. Things don't make sense in dreams you know. The river said the same thing too. I could turn my hands however I needed to free myself. It made the river sound happier, I rolled into the middle of the blanket and it closed around me, it was so warm.
The river explained, you can only find the secret truth in your dreams, that you have to relax and let go, to try not to think of anything until you can fall asleep. I was moving, but if I wanted to feel the truth, I had to ignore it, to not think about it. The river said they would show me the truth if I didn't think. Clothes got in the way, you can't sleep with your clothes on, so I took them off, except my hands were still buried in the blanket, pawing at it, my face buried in it. My clothes were off and I was buried in it, not thinking.
I wanted to find the truth, I wanted to feel the truth. The river said I would start to feel good, to breathe harder, when I was near the truth. The better I felt, the less I had to think, and the less I thought, the better I would feel. It's so easy. Before I knew it the river was all around me, pulling me down into the blanket, I could feel it... everywhere. Grasping me, pumping me, consuming me. I tried so hard not to think, I really tried. But as the dream went on, it got harder to ignore it, the hands on my back, clawing at me.
The soft sensation around my waist pulling me down, the glorious suction around my cock. She was doing something to me. The river knew I was thinking, it asked me and I told it. It made me feel strange, like I couldn't breathe, my head was stuck in the ground somewhere, the earthy smell, no air. The fuzz filled my head again and I just relaxed, I stopped thinking, and the river spoke to me. I was immobilised, too peaceful to fight it, feeling too close to climax to think. All I had to do was listen to what it was telling me, no thinking, do what it said, I was so close. Listen, don't think, thrust, closer, faster... the blanket tensed around me, the river said it was time, time to learn the truth, to give in, fasster, don't fight it, surrender."
Hendrik gasped, hand in his trousers pumping furiously, eyes closed as he relived the moment. His body slumping down as he reached his climax.
The priest sat opposite simply waited, an eyebrow raised almost in mild annoyance, rather than shock or disgust. He hadn't seen this exact symptom before, but he'd seen stranger. He spoke softly, so as not to interrupt the recollection, shame would do no favours in getting the full story here. "What happened next?"
"Next... Next the river lay me down on a branch, I remember the feel of the solid wood. I heard the river speaking again, more distantly, it was talking about not thinking. It was talking about feeling good, I tried to relax more but it didn't feel the same. I was doing something wrong. Eventually the river told me why. You have to approach the site of the change in stages. That was the first stage. They said there were demons that guarded the next stage, that we would have to fight, and run. They said the demons would conjure images of what is familiar to you, and that we should use it against them. The river said to follow the shepherd, listen to the shepherd, they knew the way, and they knew what the river wanted. When I opened my eyes, I was lying next to the shepherd girl...
It was just like the river said. The demons were shaped like guards, we were outside a temple. I knew it. The shepherd girl said the next stage would take the form of a room of importance, a retiring room for whoever is in charge. The locations for each stage reflected places of power. I did well, after every fight, the shepherd took me aside, Lonnie too, told us how good we were doing. She told us when we were thinking too much, helped us clear our minds, used the dark spaces, put our faces in the blanket until we stopped thinking again, she protected us from demons, and we snuck our way to the next location, where we would get to feel good again.
The shepherd slayed the demon there, and took us into their bed. Something changed, it didn't feel good. It felt... empty, like silence, like emptiness. The river was still there, still talking to us. It got softer. Told us to stop thinking, to dream. I tried to tell it we were already asleep, but the shepherd girl appeared, she put something in my mouth, I tried to take it out, the shepherd girl bound my hands. The river said I needed to stop fighting it, that I needed to sleep. I argued, we were already asleep, it wasn't right. I struggled to tell the River it was wrong. The river didn't hear me, the Shepherd girl came, she... she said things... I can't remember, she spoke over my cries. She wouldn't listen, she didn't care, she just whispered in my ear.
