Thread: Meet the Author [Goody + incendo]

It was reassuring to plot with Mara about how to best go about killing Gammon and not incite the ire of the locals. Finally, Mahon was starting to accept that Mara was on his side and not actually an ally of the Demon Lord in disguise, although he did wish to argue with her about the presence of dragons. Did she not know? What if he'd misunderstood the flight of the white and silver creature up above? At the time, no one had been looking up to regard the thunderous growling beast, making Mahon think this was an ordinary occurrence for the people here. But maybe they simply weren't observant? Maybe nobody else knew of the dragon? It would be something Mahon would have to address at a later time when he knew more about what he'd witnessed. When Mara insisted upon her ridiculous explanation, Mahon shook his head faintly, rejecting this truth. Fine, she might not be working with Gammon but for some reason, she was trying to deceive him about his origins. His determination was shaken somewhat as she apologized for what she put him through, the responsibility weighing heavily with guilt in her voice and her brows contorted with sorrow for him. It was unnerving how resolute she was, how much ownership she was taking for this creation tale she was weaving and Mahon shifted in discomfort. Not that he resented his life or had any bitterness towards the tragedy and grief that had happened to him. But it felt odd for her to take responsibility for it, as if he might blame her. He didn't expect her to be able to prove this tale of hers, so, he blinked with a frown of interested curiosity as Mara left his side to approach the shelves of books. With an air of expectation, Mahon blinked at the book she brought to him, his eyes taking in each detail as she stroked a hand on the cover with her name on it. First, of course, he recognized a map of Pas in the background, a strange tingling in his limbs and back as he read the title Defeat the Shadows, Book One of the Pas series. The warrior's face in the foreground was not his own but...it looked very similar to him and there was a chill on the back of his neck as he looked at the green eyes and the firmed gaze of brave determination, feeling a kinship with the face despite not recognizing it. He almost didn't take it from her, reluctant to cross the bridge into knowing. But Mahon had never been a coward and his desire to understand what had happened to him pushed him to grasp the tome in sure hands, opening the cover and turning the pages to discover the truth she was trying to get him to see. Glancing up at the chime, Mahon watched Mara leave his side to answer the door, absently turning back to the book and the promise of understanding. Opening it to a few dozen pages in, Mahon traced his eyes over the neatly written, uniform text, settling in to read the narrative, Some days, he tried not to think too long or hard about the loss he'd suffered. Other days, like today, it was inescapable. She wished to wed him, yet there was no one from his side to invite. He was without history, everything beginning the day he met her. It felt a little odd too that she would demand this now, Tiger being almost 4 years old Click to expand... Abruptly, Mahon stopped reading, ice lancing through him, his knuckles white as they gripped the edge of the book. What...what was this??? This was... These were his thoughts. His private thoughts. Things he'd contemplated and considered one of the frequent days Lily teased him about making her his wife finally. It hadn't mattered much, their dedication and love for each other going beyond the bounds of any local lawmaker or status symbol, the town they'd settled in small and unconcerned with such things. Yet she'd grown up in a feudal city where her parents had wed and she had an idealized idea of it. Despite the decorum usually dictating the man in the role of asking, with Tiger already 3 years old, it seemed like Mahon would never get to it. So, Lily had brought it up brazenly, as was her way, bold and teasing. And it had brought to the surface a bunch of considerations regarding family and lost connections since he'd been a man tormented by loss long before she and Tiger were eventually taken from him. Licking his lips and panting softly, Mahon looked at the cover again, his eyes searching the unknown warrior's face before he turned back to the pages and flipped further into the book. Stopping to read again, Mahon gritted his teeth over a low groan of denial as once again his own internal, private thoughts blazed upon the page, as if he'd printed them himself by merely thinking them. Nooo... he growled through clenched jaws as the realization hit him it was true. Mara was telling the truth. Horrified and a flash of rage bursting within him, Mahon released another ragged growl before chucking the book away from him, pages fluttering violently before it hit the book shelf and settled on the floor. Panting, Mahon ran a disturbed hand through his hair, shuddering slightly as it settled upon him with a calming certainty. In Pas...he had lived his life exactly as he remembered it. But somehow, here, in this America, Mara Seward was a writer of stories and tales and she'd connected to his memories and his life, putting them down to paper as he lived thoze events. He refused to admit that she actually created him, that going a bit beyond him as far as what he was willing to stomach with acceptance he might just go insane if he had to accept that reality. But he did accept that somehow his life, his story had reached Mara and that she believed she had created it, without knowing that he was a real life being somewhere else in another time and place. As such realizations settled upon him, Mahon grew calmer, his frown softening as he glanced to Mara, waiting her return to the place where he sat. When she did, he nodded pensively as he said, We definitely have a deep connection across our worlds. I see now that you have knowledge of me that no one else could possibly have and it is quite possibly why I was brought here to this place. In any case...I thank you for showing me my book. He wasn't quite sure what else to say. It was deflating to have his anger burn so hotly and bright one moment, only to have it dissipate as he was forced to reconcile her possibility for having access to such knowledge. Standing from the cushioned seat, Mahon faced her, his gaze searching her plump, pretty face, really seeing her as someone connected to him for the first time. I thank you for finding me and helping me. It'll be a struggle since things seem so different here but I am willing to do whatever it takes to defeat Gammon. I do not know why we are connected as we are but it is quite possibly for the purpose of destroying the Demon Lord once and for all.