Chapter 27

Signs of twenty seven

Freeman followed on of the creatures out of the room and down the hallway. They led him to a room he could rest and eat in. He did not realize it but he was suddenly famished. His guide left him and he ate the food that was there, it was a odd paste like dish. It tasted slightly nutty but was quite filling. When he finished his guard was lead to the room by his guide. They also ate.

“We are allied to these creatures now. They are going to provide troops and more importantly they are going to teach me what I will need to know to defeat them undead.” Freeman told them. “But first I need to grab some sleep.”

Freeman stretched out on a reed mat that was in the room. He immediately feel asleep.

He started dreaming. It was a odd dream it was like he was floating inside his own mind. He could see his own memories like they places he could visit. He floated down and visited some of his memories. Recent ones. He watched the battle at the free hold again. He saw the event again without the urgency he saw it the first time. It looked like the reavers were moving to attack the freehold. The freehold he found later was full of undead. Perhaps they were not there to attack his men. They had attacked the reavers first. He floated for awhile and thought about that. What of the reavers were his allies in that fight as well and he had turned on them and become the aggressor.

He went looking for other memories. Battles with reavers. In each case the reavers looked like they were about to attack helpless farmers. He could not find a single case where the reavers were actually caught attacking humans. There were lots of cases of humans attacking reavers. He watched again and again as he was in military groups that attacked reavers. He tried to find a single memory that supported the idea that reavers attacked indiscriminately.

He found none.

It is a hard thing to learn something that make you seem like a monster. It is harder to learn that the monsters you have been hunting are innocent. That you are the monster you have been hunting.

Freeman awoke.

He was alone in the dark room. He could hear his guards just outside. He got up and paced. Was it possible that the army he had been part of was hunting the reavers? Could he be part of the problem. He tried to think about the training he had received when he was first recruited. As much as he hated to admit it he had absolutely no evidence that what he had just dreamed was false. He refused to believe that he was part of that kind of a monstrous society. The creatures had cast a spell on him had altered his memories.

There was another dish set on the table. He sat down and ate again. This time it was a slightly chewy, rope like bar. It tasted slightly fruity. He washed it down with the pitcher of water that was on the table. He got up and paced again. If the reavers had not taken all those people over all those years who had?

He walked the dimensions of the room for a long time. He felt more tired than he could ever remember feeling. He was not ready to return to those dreams so he fought his tiredness. Finally he lay back down and returned to his dreams.

It was the same feeling he had before but this time he was floating in an alien mind. He was a bit afraid but he started to examine the memories. He was inside the mind of one of the reavers. He saw some of the same battles he had seen in his own memories but this time from the point of view of his enemy. It was odd watching humans form those alien eyes. The humans seemed monstrous. They were these small beastly creatures that attacked without care. They ripped at the reavers. Freeman felt himself die. Felt his reaver self die.

Again he awoke. He was coated in sweat. One of his guides was there.

“Are you ready to learn the truth battle leader?”

“What are you doing to my memories!” he demanded.

“We have done nothing to your memories, we have simply planted the suggestion that the brothers of the claw are the innocents and humans are the monsters. You need to be able to accept the truth even if it is not what you want it to be.” his guide told him.

His guide left him and Freeman again slept. He did not dream.

Freeman was awoken by his men. It was morning. He ate the food that was left in his room. He went with his men back to the surface.

“We have new allies in our fight against the undead.” He told his troops, they erupted in cheers. “I will need to return to them shortly. Be ready to move upon my return. We are going to take the battle to the foe.” Again the men cheered.

Freeman returned to the room his guide had set aside for his use. He talked to his guards. “Would you be able to fight side by side reavers?” he asked them.

“I would not like it, sir.” The youngest told him. I have seen them attack a farm. “They are cruel monsters.”

Freeman searched his memories. Yes, he had similar memories now. Whatever had been done to his memories the night before was no linger there. He felt a pang of regret though. He almost wished that the reavers were just innocents caught in the hatred of the human army.

He went in search of his guide.

“I am ready to learn the truth.” he told him.

“We are ready to show you the truth.” His guide told him. He led him to another room. The door was open but Freeman could not see anything inside. “Inside you will find two orbs. Hold the orbs and you well see where the undead come from. You will learn the truth. You may also learn how to destroy them.”

“Have you been in there?” He asked the small guide as he walked away.

“Once you know the truth you will not have to ask that question.” the guide answered.

Freeman stood outside the room for a long time. He thought back over all that he had learned of the undead. He tried to fix all that he knew in his mind in case his memories were taken from him again. He laughed at himself for awhile at his efforts. Maybe he was not ready for the truth.

More than once he took a step into the room only to retreat. More than once he left and went to his own room but he always returned to that blacked doorway. He knew he was going to have to go into that room if he wanted to defeat the undead.

He stepped into the room. He felt he way around the room. It was rectangular. Ten paces one one side twelve on the other side. He walked the entire perimeter and stepped back into the hall. He went back in. he kept one hand on the wall had searched for the orbs. He found one. It was hanging form the ceiling at about waist height. He let the orb go and continued around the room. He found the other orb. It was also suspended from the ceiling. He grasped the one orb and tried to strechand reach the other.

The two were to far apart for him to grasp both at once.

He was holding onto the one orb and straining for the other when ho lost his grip in the first orb.

It swung away from him into the darkness.

Ir swung back into him striking him sharply on the shoulder.

Freeman smiled, it was a puzzle a puzzle he could solve now. He grasped the orb and swung it. He groped in the dark for the other orb. He swung it into the darkness. He backtracked until he felt the first orb. He swung it again. He moved back towards the second orb.

It took him few tries to get them swinging properly. Then he just had to time it right to grab both orbs.

As soon as he held both orbs he knew the truth. He left the room gathered his guards and returned to his men. They were ready to move. He was shocked to see that the reavers were ready to go too.

There was close to seventy revers and at the front of the reavers was one of the small creatures that had been his host for the last days. He almost wished he could get the creature to take the truth back.