Character Sketch -- Betwixt and Between

Another character sketch -- I didn't realize I had so many of these.  Ideas for NaNoWriMo for years!  

Betwixt and Between

     I am lost and alone, a memory of a memory. I am Cailin. I am the daughter of a human bard and a Warrior of the Fae. I am Cailin. I was fighting to end the siege of the Unseelie Court and the Nameless Dark against the Seelie Court. I felt pain, a ripping, tearing dissonance. I am Cailin. There – thrice named should mean ritually whole, factual existence. Why am I not more grounded? More solid? More substance than form? I hear voices from time to time – whispers on the wind. When I arrive where the whispers bide – no one is there.

     I sing back the Music and Magick stolen by the Nameless Dark. I am a song on the air, a voice on the wind. I step between the folds of time, in the creases of the veil between the worlds, searching for my lovers, Morgan and Tiffanari, searching for my comrades, RuneHawk and Richard – even for my Commander, Morloch, though for all I know, he would spurn me and name me traitor. They said that I might die, as my mother was human. Amidst the Chaos on the field, I feared Death. Drew my sword and dagger and fought against the Dark. I felt that searing pain, the snuffing out of the music, and was convinced that the Shadow Lover had claimed me. Then I awoke, stiff and sore, heart-sick and soul-sick, to find no evidence of a battle ever happening in that place. Even if we lost, even if the Starborn and the Dragonkin did not come to our aid, even had the forces of the Dark overtaken us all – Blessed Danu forbid – there would be bodies. There would be blood, and spent arrows, and broken swords and shields upon the field. I woke to sunshine, and the scent of flowers, and silence.

     I am Cailin. I hallow once more the ancient sites desecrated by the Nameless Dark. I sing the songs and the music renews the land. Soon, I will finish this work, as I have only a handful of sites left to visit. I search the open minds in the night, to find someone to answer my questions, to find someone to help me find my way back to my time, my world. I am Cailin. Besieged by doubt, loneliness, and despair. Lovers, comrades, commander – find me! Help me! I am Cailin. I am Seeker. I am Warrior. I am Bard. I will know the Truth!

 

©Michelle R. Owings-Christian, October 23, 2008