Lest we forget... – The Forlorn Hope 2
by Soghla' Terri (Tell) Hope & HoD Ro' Matlh & Soghla' Jared

Previous EntryNext Entry
Post Details

Title   The Forlorn Hope 2
Mission   Lest we forget...
Author(s)   Soghla' Terri (Tell) Hope & HoD Ro' Matlh & Soghla' Jared
Posted   Sun Oct 17, 2010 @ 10:38am
Location   Breyberris Mine
Tag   Ro', Jared
'Deep inside my heart is crying
I comfort myself but know I'm lying
The deepest part of me is dying
All I see are shades of grey'.

There has always been an inn on this site for the last three hundred years. It's a beautiful spot restful and peaceful. But now the Breyberris Inn is an empty burnt out shell of its former self. Before the war it was different, she would come here with Mal and fish or enjoy a meal together. They would walk across the old stone bridge to the south side and hike up the very muddy slope to the Tor and enjoy the spectacular views across the valley. All that was gone now and the bridge is now a pile of rubble on the river bed. All she hears is the sound of the water falling over the old stones. They say that all water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was, like her. There is a whisper of a breeze in the few trees remaining on the battle scarred land. There are no birds left, no animals, no insects, they are all gone.

Tell, Timor and Parez lead everyone down the worn steps to the north side of the bridge. She plans to take them on the 'Hunters Path' that leads to the village and then to the mine. She hasn't been here since she was eight and that was with her brother, nearly twenty two years ago. He was three years older than her, always the adventurer, always the one to take risks

Her brother had taken the Hunters Path to the mine, she hadn't wanted to go, it was too dangerous. The mine had been closed up for many years. But Aidan had called her names and said that she wasn't brave enough to go on this voyage of exploration. So eventually she followed him along the twisting winding path.

The entrance had been blocked up for many years. with wooden boards and it didn't take Aidan long to loosen one of them and discard it. He crawled inside first followed by his reluctant sister. He tried to tempt her further in but she stayed close to the entrance. He'd found an old power source and when he turned it on, the old tunnel dimly lit up and cast grotesque shadows on the floor and the grey dank walls

Aidan was ecstatic and wanted to explore further. Despite her pleas he went on, calling back to her now and then telling her what he had found. Then the lights dimmed as the power began to fail before finally going out altogether, she called him, he said he was on his way back. She then heard the rumble and he stumbled and fell.....

His body was never found despite everyone's efforts. Part of the mine floor had disappeared taking her brother with it. His scream still haunts her dreams to this day.

The walk would be slow she knew that. The smaller children would have to be carried when the path became much to difficult. They started with Tell in the lead then Parez and Timor bringing up the rear.

The walk first started off relatively flat and the group was sheltered form the open air by the skeletons of trees. It had been a nice walk once. They all moved like grey wisps of smoke whose tendrils fanned out in and around the forest floor. Hundreds of years ago this whole area had been a sacred place, a place of peace and worship. There where ghosts here, she could feel them all around her, watching and waiting.

"Log on" she asked

"Were on the Hunters Path Mal and I don't like it, I don't like it at all. This place gives me the creeps and I could swear that its haunted by Aidan and by something else. I have the feeling I am being watched but scans show that there is no activity around us. If only you were here. You'd keep me on the straight and narrow, you'd keep us safe. I cant do this Mal, I'm so scared."

"Log off"

Ro' and the Klingon marine moved cautiously behind Tell as she continued along the corridor and began to descend a long spiral staircase.

The survivors came across stone steps that had been hewn out of the solid rock. The steps had once wound their way down to the river bed with a rail embedded into the rock wall. Now the hand rail had gone and some of the steps had disappeared into the river. The soldiers had to help lift some of the civilians over to the other side of the steps where the path flattened out again. This took time and now the path twisted to the right and up a steep incline that would take them to the village.

This valley had once been covered in a thick dense forest with the river winding its way through it. Ahead the landscape had shaped itself once into a 'V', cutting into the surrounding hills. But now the landscape was battle scarred and burnt to a cinder. They couldn't afford to rest, they were out in the open, a stain on the barren landscape just waiting to be brushed off.

This was what miletus had become. The sanctity had been burned away by the relentless assaults of a murderous and bloodthirsty enemy. The Miletuns had pulled out everything they could pour into the defence of their home till there was all but nothing left to defend. Forests were ashlands. Seas were poison ponds. Mountains were cracked and levelled for resources.

The small village was just over the next rise and they could rest for a little while before the final leg of the journey. She knew the village well. This was where she grew up and hadn't been here for almost ten years. Her mother had refused to leave. She still grieved for her lost son believing that somehow one day, he might return.

"Log on"

Are you still alive Mal? Are you still there?
I'm at the village, we can rest for a little while here. I know what your thinking, I said I would never come back and yet here I am. I've been carrying a little girl Mal, she has no family, no one. she could be our little girl. I so much wanted a baby.
It doesn't feel right here, something is wrong. The walls of the houses are barely standing and yet there is ripe fruit hanging from the trees in the gardens. The smell from the bright red Tarafruit hangs in the air. They are ready to eat Mal. My mouth waters at the thought of biting into it and I want to go and pick it off the trees. We all feel the same but we darn't go anywhere near them. The hud tells me its booby trapped and................NO

Alise had wandered into the garden and had started to try and pick the fruit. Because she was small no one noticed her go.

"ALISE" she yelled

The little girl turned and smiled at Tell before the explosion ripped her small life away from her. Tell had to be held back from rushing in there to retrive Alise's body that lay crumpled and broken against the rubble of the opposite wall. She pushed the others away and fired on the other houses in anger and shock.

Ro' and the Beq flattened themselves to the ground as Tell screamed and fired into the corridors walls around them. Then she started to walk on again. The two Klingons followed at a near crouch.

It was a while before Tell could move. Tears came unbidden to mourn for a young life so cruelly taken.She wiped the tears away before the others could see and turned to face them. She had lost people before, friends fellow soldiers. Nothing like this though and the pain twisted inside her like a sharp edged dagger. It began to rain and she was thankful that it hid her tears.

They made it up the last rise to the mine. The sudden change in the weather might aid them as this path led them out into the open. She hadn't been to the mine since that fateful day with Aidan. The path had grown over through the years and the entrance to the mine tunnel was hidden by scrub. But she remembered the way as if it had been surely tattooed on her heart.

She felt suddenly very cold as if a thousand souls were floating like vapour in front of her bearing down on her. She stopped dead in her tracks looking around, every fibre and nerve in her body screamed at her, there was death here and she should go no further. It was foolish to come, there were too many ghosts. Tell stopped where she was she needed time to think.

Parez came up to her side wondering why she had stopped.

"What's wrong sir" she asked "Have you sensed something" and she looked around nervously. The hud wasn't picking up anything but she was aware of an uneasy feeling in the air.

'This isn't your war' a small voice echoed in some far off place in Tells mind 'It all happened a long time ago.'

"We have to move quickly" replied Tell more bravely than she felt and looked around at the pitiful little band of survivors she was trying to save. They shivered in the rain and she knew they were aware of the area in which they were in. This place, this whole valley had once been revered and blessed. Tell moved them on and the spectres evaporated into thin air as the group walked through them.