• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

“No,” replies Dave. “Just to rip your head from your shoulders.”

“Then let’s have at it,” he says.

A murmur runs through the crowd as they await Dave’s response. Even though his anger is red hot, his wits are sharp and he knows that to go against Jiron is a death sentence.

“You all don’t even seem to care what I went through before I met up with James!” he shouts out accusingly.

“What? That you were a slave in the Empire?” he asks back. He spits on the ground and hollers back, “My sister was a slave in the Empire as was Miko! Don’t you even think to play that card with me! If you were any kind of man you would get over it and start living your life.”

Dave glares back at him, rage burning within him.

“But no,” he continues, “you keep whining about it like yours is the only life ever to experience hardship. The difference between you and the others is that they had the strength to carry on.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about!” he cries out. “Your sister and Miko went through nothing like what I did. Don’t even think for a moment to compare their pain with mine!”

Jiron can see a subtle change come over Dave, his rage beginning to subside and something else taking its place.

Dave’s voice gets a far away quality, “The darkness.” His eyes get wide and tremors seem to shake his entire body. The crowd around them begins to sense things are not going toward the fight they had been expecting.

Looking at Jiron, his eyes almost get a pleading look, “Pain in the dark. The biting and tearing. Voices, voices saying words you don’t know, but yet do. I…” His eyes dart around, almost as if he’s looking at something that’s not there. “They come for you. They are coming for you but you can’t escape. Wh…” He backs up several steps and then…

Noooooooooo!

…a blood curdling scream is ripped from his throat and the crowd nervously edges back from him.

James is suddenly there running past a shocked Jiron as he comes to his friend’s aid. “Dave!” he cries as he grabs his shoulders. “Dave, it’s James,” he says as he looks into Dave’s panic stricken eyes.

Noooooooooo!

Dave’s scream again echoes through the night. James strikes him across the face with the palm of his hand and it seems to bring him back to the here and now.

His eyes focus on James’ face and he asks in a raspy voice, “James?” then passes out.

James is quick to catch him before he falls. Looking to Jiron he says, “Help me get him up to our room.”

Nodding, Jiron comes over and between them, they carry him up to the room James and he are sharing. Removing the wet clothes from him, they lie him down on one of the beds. Again they see the patchwork of scars and burn marks from his time as a slave. James looks to Jiron and asks, “What happened?”

“I’m not entirely sure,” he says. “We were arguing and then he started talking about his time as a slave and then things went from bad to worse.”

“He must have had a flashback,” explains James. Using a finger, he pushes a lock of Dave’s hair that had strayed across his face to the side.

“A flashback?” Jiron asks.

Nodding, he says, “In his mind he was reliving his time as a slave.” Looking up, he sees the others there gathered in the doorway. “I think he’ll be alright,” he tells them.

“You need anything?” Miko asks.

“I don’t think so,” he replies. “Maybe some ale for when he wakes up.”

“I’ll get some,” he says and leaves to head downstairs.

To Jiron, he says, “It might be best if you all weren’t here when he comes out of it.”

“You going to be okay?” Jiron asks.

“I think so,” James assures him. Then looking to Dave, he says, “Him I’m not so sure about.”

Jiron moves to the door and before he leaves says, “If you need something I’ll be in the room next door.”

“Thanks,” he says.

Jiron closes the door and James can hear them outside as he relates to the others the gist of the conversation he and Dave had out front of the inn and what happened after.

A minute later a quick knock on the door and Miko walks in with a pitcher of ale and two glasses. “Thanks Miko,” James says.

“Anything else you need?” he asks, casting