I am aware that my inner dialogs are less than enthralling and make for poor storytelling. I am adjusting the coming narrative and hope that it is an improvement.
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I walked the past for nineteen of the real world's days. That was over three times my normal duration and, as far as I can determine, is unprecedented. At least to have returned from. Two weeks is the normal limit for a young and healthy compendium to walk before the body fails. I was neither young nor healthy.
"Food. I need food. Now please." I croaked out as I tumbled onto my side. My entire body felt like one continuous cramp. "Soup and bread please!" I said as Nigel sprung into action.
"If you didn't discover something profoundly important I'm going to be very angry with you." I heard Reilen's voice say as I felt his hands begin to massage my left leg. "Everyone else is upset over having to sit here so long. Cysalla and I are upset over you taking such a risk and endangering your health!"
"I went back 17,222 years." I said after sipping water. My stomach was knots and I didn't want to make myself sick. "Returning was slowed a bit by my desire to not experience certain things twice."
"What? Why would you...brace yourself. I'm going to straighten out your leg." Reilen said and immediately did what he had warned me that he was going to. I screamed involuntarily because it felt like my muscles were trying to tear themselves in half. "Don't make this absurd. You're lucky you even remembered the way back. Now the other leg."
"No!" I shouted but was ignored. I am not a strong man in terms of physical fortitude. I wept as he forced muscles of arms, back, and neck to resume their proper position, while I moaned out, repeatedly, "Bastard!"
"You're lucky Nigel cares for you so deeply." Reilen continued, prudently ignoring my tears. "He bathed you and kept you as clean as he could. Considering how rigid you were it wasn't easy."
"Have mercy!" I begged as he began working on the knots in my muscles. I felt as though my limbs were filled with fire. "Please stop hurting me!"
"You were gone for so long that your body went through alcohol withdrawal." Reilen said gently as his hands did far less gentle things. "You're sober. If you choose to immediately return to your addiction, that is your choice. Just know this much. I love you very deeply and wish that you wouldn't. I'll love you either way but I just wanted you to know, now, how I feel about the matter."
"When you hear what I know you may take up drinking yourself." I groaned but felt oddly light and empty. I couldn't recall the last time I'd been sober without feeling horribly sick. "When Nigel returns please go bring Cysalla here. But no others!"
"The entire group is worried. Some are angry." Reilen said as he helped me take another sip of water. "Don't you think that hiding things from them will increase their distrust and dissatisfaction?"
"What is happening now was well planned long ago. The barricades are falling. More and more will be coming through." I replied with my eyes squeezed tightly shut to minimize the pain from the light. "Do you think they will understand let alone welcome this news?"
"I'll trust your judgement." Reilen said and patted my shoulder softly. "Nigel is here. I'll be back with Illa shortly.
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"I found the last point of influence from Original Beings. It was 17,222 years back. The final lock was implanted." I told my beloved companions as Nigel massaged my still knotted up shoulders. I sipped coffee, not brandy. "The pattern was heavily reinforced. There had been no pressure of humans in the region yet. The original design was part of the fabric but also the geography itself."
"That's not unusual." Cysalla said to me as her love washed over me. "This is different though?"
"This region was the final test. To see if humans, after seventy-five thousand years of miscreancy, had learned enough, could show enough redeeming qualities,to justify being given further chances." I answered and took some reassurance from the concern, both physical and emotional, shown to me. "Where we sit, this very spot, once held apple orchards. To the west there was wheat. South was pasturage for livestock. That dry riverbed once held water enough to irrigate thousands of acres. None of this vanished naturally. Mines poisoned the upland with toxic runoff. Excessive use of chemical fertilizers destroyed the fertility it was meant to enhance. The aquifer was systematically drained with full knowledge of the damage being done."
"But why? How would they benefit...oh. Greed. No thought for the future. Just about what THEY could take." Reilen said and sighed as Cysalla pulled him more closely to her with her arm around his waist. "Just precisely what does this mean for us?"
"I can't honestly say. The Original Beings are not beholden to us in any way. We are a toxin in this place which is an inheritance they are reclaiming." I said as Nigel's touch reminded me, viscerally, that I wasn't alone. "They are returning from elsewhere. Perhaps there is an elsewhere for us. Someplace that, if we prove ourselves worthy, we may be allowed to go to."
"How would we go about locating this?" Cysalla asked as she kept my will temporarily strong with her love. "How will we know what it is?"
"That would be in your realm of expertise. Since the act has yet to come to pass I know no more than you." I said without being engulfed by my usual sense of inadequacy. "You two are closer to what was intended. If the way is there to be found, you'll find it."
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"I apologize for putting you through such a trial." I said to Nigel after Reilen and Cysalla went off to explain things to the rest. "I had no idea that I would go do far and be gone so long."
"They told me." Nigel said and nodded towards the retreating couple. "How difficult it is on you, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Doing what you did. You trusted me to keep you safe. I am honored to have been given the task."
"I'm well read but that does not make me a wise man." I said as my body ached in a steady fashion that indicated days of recovery would be needed. "I don't always display common sense."
"It was a misunderstanding and I overreacted." Nigel said as he let me lean on him as we slowly made our way towards my actual tent. "I don't do so well socially myself. Are you in pain still? Would you like some brandy?"
"Will you stay and talk with me a while?" I said as the lure of escape hung before me. "When we get to my tent?"
"If you'd like me to." He said and I think, perhaps, that he smiled.
"Well then. If you will stay, I think I will forego drink." I said and tried to keep my urges at bay through the kindness of others. "I drink far too much. Mayhaps it is time to change that."
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