I unbelt my scabbard, take it in one hand, the hilt in the other, and in one fluid move, unsheath four feet of incandescent crystal. Its pure light falls on a field of carnage.

Blood dyes the snow red. Grunts mix with cries, groans and the clang of blades clashing. We charge. I inhale Cool Water and frown as cologne mixes with the metallic stench of blood and the reek of urine and feces released by the dying.We separate. She rides on, and I fall back towards a train speeding along the Hudson River.

“Tevra’s an odd name,” Jase says, startling me out of the story.

I grunt some nonsense about it being a family name, turn the page and dive back into the story, merging with her–Tevara–the knight. We were one again. We raise our sword, swing it at a mail-shirted fellow, slapping his blade aside before it could decapitate our downed friend. The unicorn under us pivots and kicking out with both back hooves knocking down two more.

“Holy shit Tevra, you’re fading!”

Hands pluck at my sleeve. We separate. She’s fighting for her life and her friends while I drift back to the northbound Metro-North train and the black mirror of the Hudson River. No, I have to go back. I read on seeking a connection, finding it and the losing it again each time Jase speaks to me.

I bolt from the train at the next stop and dump myself into a metal bench facing the river. Using the floodlights illuminating the cement platform, I read on. But she’s not there. Whatever magic allowed our minds touch across time and space was gone or all used up. The miracle had faded as quick as it had come. The floodgates had closed sealing the portal.

Darkness smote my soul
I sat alone somewhere between here
and where my soul longed to roam
Maybe everyone’s been broken
Maybe everyone’s been down
but the tears dampening the page
are cried cold by the rain
its wet call laid,
they don’t quench the fire
as I turn the page
seeking the one I admire.

Find the earlier parts of this series here.

If you missed a part, worry not. This will be available from Amazon in 2017.
The adventure continues tomorrow.

For the November Notes Writing Challenge hosted by  Sarah Doughty of Heartstring Eulogies and Rosema of A Reading Writer.