text: [Themes: fantasy, romance, fantasy]
  
  "Blessing." You whisper the words, and immediately the blinding light flies from the man's hand and into you. You don't feel any different at first, but as the seconds go by you feel yourself getting really tired. The fatigue spreads throughout your body and you know that at any moment you may pass out. The feeling reminds you of a story your dad once told you about him treading water for hours at a time. He said afterwards that he knew he wouldn't be able to keep it up forever, but he would continue for as long as he could.
  
  You sympathize with that thought as your body and mind betray you to their tiredness. When you finally feel as if you could not hold on any longer, you collapse to the floor beside Alessa. The last thing you see is the black light, the curse, flying from the man and into Alessa, and the man's face; a picture of sadness.
  
  You wake up hours later in the cabin. You peel your face of of the wooden floor and groggily rub your eyes. It takes you a moment to remember what happened, but when you do you leap to your feet confused. There isn't a single thing out of place in the cabin. You look all around for evidence of what you could've sworn happened here only moments ago, but you find nothing. Even your sword is back inside your sheathe. Nothing was amiss. Perhaps it was all a dream, you think relieved.
  
  With a sigh and a shrug you brush the dust off of your clothes and open the cabin door. You remember the struggle you had with the man moments before, and you laugh to yourself. Leave it to your subconscious to turn one of your favorite people into a scary curse giving man with emotional problems. Although... you do wonder why Alessa isn't with you. You were supposed to meet with her in this cabin after all.
  
  Your don't think to much of it, for you finally realize the time. In the distance the sun begins to dip down into the gray blue clouds. It was sundown, the time time your parents require you to be home. You immediately break into a jog. You Father could be quite strict when it came to you. If he caught you coming back late, then he would surely punish you.
  
  You jog into a relatively silent castle, although you hear sounds of eating and merriment coming from the main dining hall. As if to punctuate the point, your stomach rumbles in anticipation for dinner. Thankfully you only have to go up one staircase on the way to your room. You're careful to look through each hallway before entering in order to avoid a potential disaster with your dad, so in not too long you come to a solid oak door. Engraved on the wall beside it reads the name, 'Lucentia,' your family name. Without wasting any time you throw the door open and slam the door shut behind you.
  
  "Erron? What are you doing back so late?" You turn around to see your Father seated on at your desk with a grave look on his face. His deep authoritative voice is riddled with anxiety and subtle undertones of sadness. Something your dad rarely displays.
  
  You begin to mumble an excuse about knight training, but your Father interrupts you. "Never mind that. I need you to pack your things. We're going away for a while." The persona of a strong confident man your Father usually portrayed was gone.
  
  When you don't respond immediately, he raises his voice. "Quickly now. We must be going!"
  
  You don't question him and immediately begin to pack your travel bags with necessities. You're at it for a couple minutes when you realize your Father had no bags with him. "Did you already have your bags packed? you ask curiously. Any information you could glean from him would be useful.
  
  He looks around for a moment confused. "I must've forgotten to grab them. I'll be back, son. Stay here and pack. If I'm not back in fifteen minutes then go find Morden." He rushes out of the room leaving you even more confused than when you woke up in the cabin.
  
  You shrug and obey him. Even at his worst he still knows more than you do.
  
  It doesn't take you long to pack, and soon enough you're left waiting on your bed. A few long moments later you begin to hear shuffling outside, and shouting. You try to ignore it, but it soon grows to a point where you can't ignore it very well. That, and you're starting to get curious. The royal guards don't usually act so panicked, so maybe you should check it out.
  
  > stay in your room
  While you're certainly curious about what all of the commotion is about, you trust your father's orders. He wouldn't tell you to do something without a reason, so you wait.
  
  Around fifteen minutes later your door is opened, but not by your father. Rather, it's opened by the General of the Knights of the Holy Order, Morden. His presence is intimidating, but from your experience he's always been more or less kind. At least when he's not giving you knight lessons. Then he becomes strict and commanding. You might be the Grand Priest's son, but that certainly won't stop him from going easy on you in lessons.
  
  "Where's Father?" You ask, but Morden ignores you and walks straight to the window on the opposite side of the room. You take the hint and stay quiet while he looks around. When he's satisfied he closes the windows quietly, then turns around to face you.
  
  He speaks quietly, almost whispering, but his face tells you that the words he says mean just as much as when he would be yelling. "Your father is outside. There was an assassination attempt on his life when he left your room, ands he's asked me to accompany you to meet with him." While he speaks, he gathers a quill with ink and scratches a message on a piece of parchment on your desk.
  
  It reads, "There are people outside the door. Say out loud that you need time to pack. In the meantime, gather these sheets and start tying them together. Don't be conspicuous."
  
  You nod suddenly grateful for all of the lessons on reading you were taught. "Give me a few minutes to pack my things, and then we can go." You say this and hope to the Creator that that your voice won't betray you. You don't say anything and Morden doesn't offer anymore information, so you both work quietly to construct a makeshift rope. Beneath the surface, however, your mind is racing to try and comprehend the situation.
  
  From the things that have been said, and the way your father has been acting you take it that there was, in fact an assassination attempt on your father. That would explain his nervousness, as well as all of the commotion outside. You briefly wonder why they haven't already barged into the room if they were waiting outside, but before you can come to a conclusion your thoughts go to you mother. Your heart skips a beat, and you quickly turn to face Morden.
  
  "Where's Mother?" You mouth, and Morden immediately looks away from you obviously avoiding the question. You stop working for a brief moment, for the severity of the situation suddenly hits you. That's why Father was hiding in his room. He was hiding from the guards whilst waiting for you to return from the cabin. They must have already gotten Mother. With that sobering thought tears come to your eyes, and you resume tyirng the sheets together.
  
  When you and Morden finally finish, he turns back to you and says aloud, "Hurry up boy. We don't have time to waste." Then he immediately mouths to you, "Your father will explain everything later."
  
  He better, you think to yourself. Morden takes the newly made sheet rope and quietly opens the window. After a moment of securing the rope to one of your bed posts, he motions for you to climb down it. You hesitate for a brief moment, but remembering that your father is waiting you cast away your doubts and climb down the rope.
  
  For the first time since you've lived at the castle, you've decided that you hate your room. As son of the Grand Priest, you were given one of the 'best' with a view worthy of kings. So they gave you a room on the second floor. You always just took for granted the view, and it never occurred to you that you might have to use this as an escape route someday. You remind yourself to have a room on the first floor next time you live in a castle.
  
  The makeshift rope is sturdy enough, so despite your doubts you manage to climb down the rope without too much difficulty. Morden is different. He gets about halfway down the rope when you start to here the rope tear. The combined weight of his armor and a extremely muscled fully grown man were apparently too much for 'rope' to handle. It tears in half and send the armor clad General tumbling to the ground with a chorus of clanking armor.
  
  Morden is quick to get back on his feet, however, so he grabs you by the arm and starts to rush you off the castle grounds. It was luck that you had a window that led directly outside the castle. Once you and Morden have made it a fair distance away form the castle, you and Morden break into a run.
  
  The familiar features of the castle grounds blur together in a seamless picture of grey and green. You really hope Morden knows where he's going, because you start to feel faint. Fatigue starts to hit you again in an all too familiar way. You remember your dream about the cabin, and have a brief hope that if this fatigue is the same, then perhaps this nightmare of escape is a dream as well.
  
  The last thing you hear before you pass out is Morden's voice urging you to push on.
  
  > Dreams
  You're back in the cabin. Sunlight once again pours through the window, and once again the man stands before you. The choice is the same. Light is held in his right hand, and darkness is in his left.
  
  "Which will you choose? Protection or power?" Unlike the last time you saw him, the man seems to have regained his senses. His normally calm demeanor has returned, but his appearance is still that of an unkempt barbarian.
  
  Your gaze turns back to the balls of light, and you begin to reach for the man's right hand when you hear a voice.
  
  "Give me the curse." Her voice is melodic and terrible at the same time. Melodic because her voice cleared your mind of the fog that made you think this dream was reality. Terrible, because you remembered what happened when you were last awake. Your Father was nearly assassinated, and you believe your mother was. You climbed out of your window... but you can't remember anything after that. Perhaps the feel of armor against your skin, or the faces hovering above you, but nothing definite.
  
  You stop reaching for the blessing, and instead wipe the tears from your eyes. Out of the corner of your eyes you see the curse and blessing fly to whom they belong. You knew that yours and Alessa's fathers never really quite got along, but you didn't think the King would go so far as to assassinate the Grand Priest. Personal matters aside, this was an affront to the major religion of the entire continent. It was sure to cause an uproar.
  
  You turn around to face the speaker at your back.
  
  Standing in the doorway is Alessa. Sunlight seeps in through the door and glances off of her hair giving her the appearance of having a halo. Her face is a mix of despair, and her posture reminds you of what yours must've been when you realized the chances of your mother being alive were low.
  
  Under normal circumstances you would've been delighted to see her, but all her face reminds you of is the gall the King had to take your family away from you. "Why did he do it? Why did your father kill my mother?" You ask the question with your face a mask of sadness.
  
  Alessa looks shocked to say the least, but before she can respond, you continue. "I don't know why I'm asking you. You're just some mirage my mind must've made up, and you're probably only here because whenever I'm at this cabin, you're usually with me." You start rambling, and although she certainly tries to say something several times, you ignore her.
  
  Apparently it becomes too much for the dream Alessa, and instead of trying to overpower your voice with her own, she slaps you. You figured that since this is a dream it wouldn't hurt, but to your chagrin you are wrong. The force of the blow is more than enough to shake you from your rant, and you decide that this dream Alessa must have something important to say.
  
  You weren't paying to much attention to her until now, but now that she's much closer you can see the tears in her eyes and the frustrated expression etched onto her face. "First off, I'm the real Alessa."
  
  It has to be a lie.
  
  "Secondly, even if I was just a figment of your imagination..." A sob interrupts her sentence, "...are you seriously saying that you'd be this insensitive?"
  
  You flinch at that and look away.
  
  Surprisingly enough, Alessa reaches up, grips your chin, and faces you back towards her. As soon as she lets go, you turn your head back away from her. However you do take note of that. The real Alessa would've never done something so bold.
  
  You hear a sigh of defeat, and the pat of footsteps on the floor. "I'll be back when you're ready to believe me," Alessa says, but mutters immediately afterwards, "i can't believe my Father thought I could trust you."
  
  It's only when you hear the sound of the door close that you turn back around. You fall to your knees, and put your face in your hands. Too much was going on for you to think straight. If that really was Alessa, then you could already feel heavy guilt setting on your heart. But there was too much else going on. her father saying that she could trust you? as far as you knew her father didn't like you anymore than he like your dad.
  
  You hear a sigh behind you. "You two should really work together." It's obviously the man's voice, but when you turn around there's no one there. you sit there alone in the cabin, wallowing in your despair. It is then you decide that whoever took your family away from you...that person would recieve pain by your hands. No one harms your family and gets away with it.
  
  "He has to be blessed Cassius. There's no other explanation. You should be proud. Your son is the chosen of the Creator."
  
  "I understand, But why now of all times, and why someone as young as him?"
  
  "I've heard rumors. They say that the princess is cursed. Perhaps the Creator gave us a Blessed One to combat her, A cursed One." The voice you don't recognize manages to fill as much contempt for Alessa as possible in that last phrase.
  
  "Shush, I think he's waking." You figured you could fake sleep to hear more, but your father knows you better than you thought.
  
  You open your eyes to the room beyond. White walls, and sheets cover every inch of the room. The only colorful spots are the two men at the foot of your bed. Your father on your right, and the stranger on the left. While they both have dark hair with a streaks of grey, the similarities end there. The stranger Is much more heavyset than your father. He looks like he spent a few too many times at the dinner table instead of exercising. Your father is slimmer than him, but doesn't quite have the muscular body he had in his younger days.
  
  "Erron?" Your father asks as your eye open fully.
  
  "Father?" You respond, or at least try to. Your throat is dry beyond belief. You feel you haven't had water in days.
  
  "Get him some water,' your father commands the stranger before embracing you and smiling.
  
  "What happened?" you manage to croak out.
  
  Your father's joy at seeing you wake is replaced with a grim expression. "Wait until you've had some water son. Then we can talk."
  
  It isn't long before the one man walks back in with a goblet filled with water. You drink it greedily as your father begins telling you what happened.
  
  "Things had been getting bad for a long time. You know the King and I didn't agree on a lot of things, but it goes beyond that. He was passing more and more restrictions upon the Holy Kingdom. I resisted as much as possible, but in the end my resistance only served as an excuse to get rid of me. As you can see, he failed." Sadness fills his eyes. "Instead of killing me, he settled for getting your mother."
  
  So it was true. However, your guesses did nothing to stop the tears from flowing down your face.
  
  "When you were passed out for this past week, I was sure your mother wasn't the only loved one I'd lost." A week? There's no way. You only remember having the one dream, and even that dream didn't last that long.
  
  "A week?" you respond slowly before enjoying the last bit of water from the goblet.
  
  Your father nods. "Yes, You were out for an entire week." A pained smile reaches tour father's face. "But when i saw the mark, I knew you'd be okay."
  
  "What mark?" As soon as you ask the question you regret it. The stranger immediately goes on about how the Creator chooses people to serve him, and about the great honor it is. Your eyes start to glaze over, but your father manages to get the stranger to stop his lengthy explanation.
  
  "That's the significance of the mark, but to answer your question, 'What mark?' I'm going to have to have you stand up son."
  
  Your legs are a little shaky from a week of no use, but you manage to stand up and go over to where your father is standing. He turns you around so that you are facing away from him, and he tells the other man to go get a pair of mirrors before addressing you.
  
  "This is what the Creator has blessed you with." Your Father's hands brush the skin from your left shoulder to your right seemingly tracing lines onto your back. "where I've touched is where the mark spans. You'll see in a moment what the Creator has given you.
  
  As if on cue, the man from before comes into the room with the hand mirrors. Your father thanks him then takes them. With his help you position the mirrors at the best angles to allow you to glimpse at your back.
  
  Glittering lines of gold shine all across the top of your back. If you try to look at a single line you lose the picture, but when you try to focus on the elegant gold lines as a whole you see what it is meant to depict.
  
  "The saving wings of the Creator," the man remarks. "Said to only show when his followers are in grave danger." You continue to stare at the markings and marvel at how similar the wings on your back are to that of those of the Creator.
  
  You begin to hear your father's friend launch into another lengthy description of the "Blessed Ones" but your father stops him short.
  
  "Let's leave him be. He needs more rest. He's only just now woken up."
  
  Your father makes a move to leave, but you stop him one last time. "Father, can I go with you? You are going to fight back, right?"
  
  Your father turns back around to face you, and examines you for a good few seconds before the stranger interjects. "You can't possibly be considering this. Can you Cassius?"
  
  Your father responds, "Of course I can be. He's a Blessed One. Surely that fact will give our knights someone advantage on the battlefield. even if he is a mile away from the battlefield. And we can train him on the spot."
  
  You smile and start to agree, but your father continues. "But you might be of more use to us if you train here first, and then come help when you're ready. Here, as in the Academy of the Holy Order. It's a perfect opportunity to have you learn how to use your power as well. But, I'll leave the choice up to you. I believe the Creator will back any of your choices."
  
  You aren't sure about all of 'Blessed One' stuff, but you do know that you don't want to be away from your father if he might need your help. You couldn't stand to lose another one of your parents.
  
  Then again, you also see the wisdom in waiting here and training before you go out onto the battlefield. You wouldn't be very useful if you died after all.
  
  > go with your father
  While you're sure the Knight Academy would increase your usefulness, you decide that you're more useful now than later. What if everyone you wish to protect is already dead by the time your prepared? Besides, your father did say that they could teach you on the way there.
  
  "I'd like to go with you father."
  
  "Alright son. Rest up. We leave at first light tomorrow." He pats you on your back, then leaves the room with the stranger.
  
  You pack up your belongings, or at least what's left of them then leave to take a bath. You can't imagine that a week in bed does wonders for your hygiene.
  
  After that, you take a stroll around the Knight Academy. It is quite magnificent, and you're sure you would have had everything you needed had you stayed, but you've already made your choice. your place is at your father's side. The rest of the day goes fast, and before you know it you're already back in bed. One might think that a week sleeping would make it harder for you to fall back asleep, but soon enough you drift back into your dreams.
  
  Your dream is the same as it has been the last few times, except this time you're actually alone. No Alessa, and no shaggy haired man. Instead you go through your recent dreams, and a thought you shoved to the back of your mind finally resurfaces. When your father and his friend were talking you connected the dots, but you didn't want to believe it. That yours and Alessa's friend was the Creator himself. It didn't seem likely, but neither didn't being hunted down until today.
  
  You keep in in your head for when the piece of information might come in handy, and the next morning comes quickly. You and your father are allotted a wagon and several soldiers to ensure that you get to your forward camp safely. While waiting your father takes to teaching you the history behind 'Blessed Ones.' You learn that there role was to create peace on this world, and that often times they did so by focusing an evil foe. Most saw them as heroes, but you don't really understand why. The only thing people saw that was special about you was the golden mark on your back in the shape of angelic wings.
  
  Beyond that there was nothing else. These lessons continued for about a week before the unexpected happened. While gazing out the wagon window you see a glimmer out in the forest. you don't think much of it until you hear someone yell, "Attack!" All at once Dellandian soldiers start pouring out from the trees and to the wagon. Your own knights are heavily outnumbered, so you're father makes a split second executive decision. You both decide to run.
  
  You make it around twenty steps before several arrows stick into your back killing you. you only hope that your father made it farther than you did.