Chapter Two: Kaleb

A short chapter where the now older Daniel talks of his Dreams to Kaleb a man that has opened his home to Daniel.

 

Chapter Two

Kaleb

 

 

It was dark and the only noise Daniel could hear was the slow , steady beating of his heart.  It was the way his dreams had always started. He would find himself lost in some endless pool of black. Then the voices would slowly call to him. The first one was his fathers, "Run Danny, run, go to Uncle Roarks and don't stop till you are safe." He could see his father lying on the ground before him, his eyes slowly dimming as a masked man stood over him, blood dripping from his hands and face.

The man in the mask would turn towards him and laugh; slowly he would raise his head to the sky and howl to the heavens in crazy pleasure, then, darkness would come engulf him once more. The next voice was one he barely knew, it was a woman's voice and she was always crying, "Not my baby boy, please god not him."

The woman was beautiful, with golden brown hair that fell to her waist and bright, piercing green eyes. Her skin looked soft and smooth and she emitted a kind of ethereal glow that surrounded her only enhancing her beauty. She was kneeling next to a motionless body surrounded by giant evergreens. Slowly she would turn towards him and speak through the tears streaming down her face, "Almost home sweetie, your almost home."

The darkness would come again and Daniel would wake up dripping with sweat and breathing heavily. "Just a dream," he whispered and then reached for the lamp on the nightstand next to his bed and flipped it on. He looked at the silver crescent through the window, the stars glowing in the vast emptiness of space. He could feel his father and the mother he barely knew watching him from atop their perch on one of those angelic orbs. It was this thought that had kept him alive, in fact, it was the only reason he had made it this far in the first place and he wasn't going to fail them.

Daniel got out of his bed and knelt down on the ground. He put his hands to his lips and kissed both index fingers, then closed his eyes and softly began to pray, "Oh Selunia, goddess of the Moon and stars, keeper of those long gone, I ask for the strength to continue on my path and the power to destroy evil wherever it my hide. I wish to come to the Dark Castle and destroy the evil that fills its halls," he kissed his fingers once more and continued, "For my father, John Ashland, and my mother, Mary Ashland, please help me to succeed.

He got up to his feet and began to walk to the window when a knock on the door broke the silence.

"Come in," he said.

"Ah, master Ashland, I thought I heard you walking about up hear," the voice sounded raspy and tired, the body it came from looked just as worse.

Kaleb was ninety five years old (or young as he often reminded Daniel) his face was wrinkled and dry, resembling the bottom of a dried up lake bed more than a humans. Where there were no wrinkles, scars were present, he had seen many battles in his life time and his deep blue eyes showed it. He could often be found staring into nothing but emptiness for hours, his eyes empty and hollow, his breathing slow and steady, you could almost hear the screams that invaded his mind and the pain that filled his heart.

Daniel walked towards the old man and helped him to the desk underneath the window he had just finished praying to.

"I didn't wake you did I?" he asked.

"No, no, don't bother yourself with that," Kaleb said and sat down on the chair that Daniel pulled out for him.

Not soon after a small brown and white dog jumped onto his lap, "Smokey here woke me up," he looked down into the dogs eyes and slowly stroked the top of its smooth black head (which it apparently enjoyed because his tail began to wag and thump the side of the desk adding more noise to the quiet room), "You needed to got the bathroom didn't you boy," he said in the half baby, half adult voice most people thought was appropriate when talking to an animal.

Daniel laughed and began to pet the back of the dog’s neck. He turned towards his bed and sat down facing Kaleb.

Kaleb looked up at Daniel, "So….,” he paused a moment, trying to fight the right way to put it, “are the…”

"Yes," Daniel interrupted, "they seem to be getting worse though.”

“Are they still of your mother and your father?” Kaleb asked.

“Yes,” Danile replied. He paused a moment, lost in his thoughts. “I believe I am running out of time."

"Why is that?" Kaleb asked.

“In the dream my mother is always crying and….the body she is kneeling over….I think it is supposed to be me.” Daniel stared down at Kaleb, “Perhaps it means I have spent enough time here and that if I linger any longer this is what my future will hold.”

 Daniel got up and walked towards Kaleb and gave him a gentle hug, "You have been kind in taking in a lost stranger like me. I don't know how I can every thank you enough. However, I believe it is time fore me to move on."

Kaleb embraced Daniel and spoke, "It was my pleasure. I couldn't have asked for a better house guest than the one I got," he let go of Daniel and smiled at him, "the years of friendship and loyalty is all the payment I could have ever asked for."

Kaleb's eyes began to glaze over as he looked at the skinny young man that stood before him, His tattered hair, clothes that were worn and almost too small, "Promise you'll come and say goodbye to Smokey and me before you set off,"

Daniel walked to the door and turned back towards Kaleb, "Wouldn't think of leaving without doing otherwise," he smiled and turned back towards the living room, when he reached the door Smokey let out a small yelp and Daniel was gone.