“The last time I saw my mother was fifteen years
ago.” She mumbled quietly to Corran shifting against the cliffs, the raindrops
dripping from her long silver hair
“Why is
that?” Corran asked as he shifts with her moving the umbrella to cover them
both, shooting them into deeper shadows among the cliffs.
“I can’t remember like most things. She is the last thing I remember and is
never far form my mind.” She sighs and turns to look at him her eyes gleaming
in the dark. “I remember the way she looked, her long hair so like mine bound
back in a single braid. The way her eyes would seem to glow with her own
happiness looking like a bright summer sky. But most of all I remember the way
she smelled. Like fresh lavender after a spring rain.” She glances down to the
ground her fingers brushing over the small wisp of silver wrapped around her
wrist. “This is the only thing I have left of her now. The only thing that can
tell me anything of my past.” Corran listens silently his own eyes lowering to
the small silver band wrapped around Eden’s slender wrist.
“Do you remember nothing of your family? Of your name or where you came
from?” Eden shakes her head and staring silently at the bracelet, her fingers
grazing over the ancient etchings within the soft silver.
No nothing. Just what I told you about my mother and the fact that she gave me
this. This name that you call me, Eden, was given to me by the last people that
found me. I can’t even remember my age, but the doctors they took me to
presumed that I must be around 16, though there is always a chance that I might
be older or younger.” She shakes
her head slightly looking up into his eyes gesturing towards her head. “There
is nothing there. Just many blanks and a blackness that seems to shroud over
everything and anything that I learn. The odd thing though is that I remember
you.” She tilts her head watching him curiously. “I usually have forgotten a
person by now. They always fade from my memory, but you’re still there.”
Corran smiles slightly, not a kind smile though one of disbelief and wariness.
“It is most likely because I see you every day. I find you wondering through
woods, or hanging from sharp cliffs. I doubt there is anymore to it than
that.” Eden watches him silently, her eyes narrowed and searching him as he
speaks. A strained silence seems to spread between them until she nods and looks
away.
“As you wish.” She turns and steps from under the umbrella tilting her face
to the sky as the rain pours down upon her, drenching her to the bone. “Always
as they wish.” She whispers as she moves swiftly across the cliff top the
harsh wind carrying her whispered words back to Corran’s ears.
“Not everything is as we wish. When its you that we talk about the last choice
remains to be yours.” Eden laughs, though it is a hallow sound echoing off the
many cliffs and rocks surrounding them.
“Believe what you wish dear Corran,
but in life the last choice is never your own.” Eden dances on nimble feet
through the rain disappearing into the deepening fog shrouding the cliff top
till she disappears from sight. Corran frowns watching her a faint sigh escaping
him.
“Eden?” He
calls to the deepening fog, walking towards the spot the dancing girl had
disappeared. A faint frown creases his brow, as he gets no answer. “Eden?”
He calls again this time a little louder, but the only answer is his own echo
and the soft pitter pattering of the rain upon the rocks. He sighs again
accepting that she had disappeared again like the many times before. Corran
turns and walks away from the thickening fog towards the grouping of tress that
line the path leading to the nearby pub mumbling faintly under his breathe.
“Life is as you choose dear Eden. Choices are always to be made by you.” As
he walks away slowly disappearing down the path a pair of gleaming hazel eyes
watch from a nearby cliff.