Nameless

         He silently crept through the shadows, his unreadable green eyes searching every corner of the darkened street.  How long had it been? he wondered, in some distant part of his mind.  How long had he been forced to live friendless and alone, always afraid for his life?  It seemed now that he had never known another time.  His sister was all that drew him on, some faraway hope that he might somehow see her again.

         He took a quick breath and darted forward, hoping desperately that he had timed it right, that he would reach the tower in time.  The spectral building loomed before him, even more menacing when wreathed in shadows.  He paused before the small back entrance, just a fraction of a second…
         
         And the guard came around the corner.  A shout, a curse, and he was through the door, racing up the spiraling stairs.  His heart pounded in his ears as he sprinted upwards.  It was all for nothing now, he knew.  But something would not let him stop.  He could not give up, not after he had gotten this far.

         Somewhere below him, he heard the sharp slam of a door closing.  He slowed, listening, his breath loud in his ears.  It was agony straining his ears to hear his enemy’s next move.  What he heard chilled his blood and made him suddenly terrified: silence.

         He sat down to catch his breath, his fear a fist clamped around his heart.  Why would they just leave him?  He knew that his sister was somewhere in this tower.  The only reason the guard would abandon pursuit is if a trap was already in place.

         He sat frozen in the darkness for a long time, the paralyzing fear never leaving, never abating.  His mind was fading.  He could barely remember why he was there, why he had bothered to make such a dangerous journey at all.  It would be so much easier to stay there, letting his cares drift away into the dark oblivion surrounding him…

         He and his twin sister never knew their parents, and as such, the lack never bothered them.  They had been taken in by an old hag, who told them of their magic.  She taught them to control the wild and unpredictable power, and then to use it. 

         The twins at first did not realize that the power they possessed was anything unusual.  Lei sent them away at the age of fifteen; she said they had to try the world for themselves.  The only thing she told them was to be discreet in the use of their magic: for there were those it would do well to be wary of.

         They traveled always from town to town, never settling in one place again.  Inside towns, they usually worked odd jobs to earn enough coin for supper and a room at the local inn.  On the road, twins practiced their magic by hunting.  Soon the twins became adept at using their magic both as a weapon against wild beasts and as a defense. 

         The twins learned quickly not to display their magic; such power was neither welcomed nor tolerated.  They listened among the people, and learned that their kind of power was rare indeed: on one hand; much sought; on the other, well destroyed.

         Because of this negative and thus dangerous atmosphere, there developed between the two of them a bond, then; a sort of link between their minds.  They could read each others’ moods, and often their thoughts.  They could easily call each other, even at a distance; and as they communicated often through this link it grew easier as well.

         Three years later, he woke up alone.

         …Then he was standing, and moving, stumbling forward.  He tried to stop; he didn’t want to meet whatever fate awaited him.  His legs would not obey him, moving up, up, always farther up.  As he climbed, he gained more strength, more confidence, but still wary, every wary, but of what? …His mind wandered; he could remember nothing and everything.  Disconnected thoughts floated around him, teasing him.  He kept moving, kept climbing, kept trudging forward…

         Suddenly he was aware of voices above him.  Though distant, he immediately and instinctively recognized his sister’s voice.  Her call cleared his mind and shook off his numbing lethargy.  All at once, he realized why he did not stay sitting on the stairs: she had called him.

         He ran then, racing up the stairs as swiftly as he could.  He wondered briefly if she would recognize him after all these years and immediately discarded the thought.  The bond between the twins was stronger than any other he had ever known; it was the only thing that had enabled him to find her without hesitation.

         He threw open the trapdoor at the end of the stairs without pausing to think and leapt onto the open floor that was the tower’s summit.  His sister and a stranger struggled at the tower’s edge, opposite from where he was standing.  His sister was obviously flagging, her magic nearly spent.  Then her eyes locked with his, and for a moment he didn’t care what happened: they were together once again. 

         He ran over to his sister and placed his hands on her shoulders, feeding her power.  That’s when he saw who they were facing, and instantly he realized why the guard had let him escape into the tower so easily.  From a distance, the cloaked and hooded figure seemed human, but now, gazing into its soulless, burning eyes, he knew it was not so.  This was a creature of magic, existing through and because of magic…dark magic.  There was no known way to defeat them: shadows they were.

         The dark creature threw magic at them, savage dark magic of any and every kind.  He poured all of his power into his sister, but knew it was to no avail.  There was no end to the brutal assault.  There was no escape, no defeat…only death.

         A sudden thought dawned on him, and he was simultaneously struck by its simplicity and its lunacy.  Before he could have sufficient time to reason through his spontaneous plan, he tore his hands away, ran at the shadow, and thrust it off the edge of the tower.  It worked perfectly: the creature apparently could not keep itself from falling.

         Neither could he.

         They were falling, locked together.  The feel of the dark magic was elusive, yet sturdy; hot, yet cold.  It pierced his skin and fogged his mind.  He thought somewhere in the back of his mind that he did not want to die, but that it was worth it to save his sister.  He looked calmly toward the ground rushing up to him, thinking that it was odd it was so close already. 

         Abruptly he heard a voice: his sister’s.  “I love you, Vy…” her voice faded.  Her face appeared before his mind again, then disappeared.  Vy: he had a name again.

         When the creature hit the ground, it immediately dissipated into the air.  Vy assumed that it was not dead, simply gone.  The impact of the fall must have weakened it sufficiently to flee.  Vy then became aware of the fact that he had never felt that impact, but he was standing on the ground nevertheless.

         That was his last coherent thought.

         The void in Vy’s mind where once was his sister’s bond was instead filled with unmeasurable pain and loss, driving him to his knees.  Vy cried out “Kier!” knowing he would never have cause to again.  His sister’s name, finally remembered, echoed in his mind, endlessly tormenting him.  Kier was his twin, his only family…and she had used the last of her power, the last of her life, to save his.

         Vy recalled all their life together: the joys, the sorrows, all up until Kier was taken in the night.  He had spent seven years searching for her, and had finally found her…only to lose her again, for good.

         When at last Vy stood, he had no idea how long he had kneeled in that same spot.  He touched his face and found that it was wet with tears.  He wiped them away dispassionately.  His heart with all his memories was locked up tightly, and Vy knew he would never be the same again.

         A thought flickered through his mind, streaking through the void his twin’s death had made.  He smiled, but there was no joy in it.  He clung to the shadows now rapidly filling the gulf left in his mind.  Thoughts that were not his…thoughts of darkness.  Though he did not know it yet, his eyes were now black, and seemingly depthless.

         He looked once more at the tower draped in shadows, then turned and walked away: nameless once again.