Reflections of the Past

The fire's light flickered upon the walls of the study in a constant battle to chase away the darkness of the night. There was a bit of a chill in the air signifying the close of another summer making way to autumn. But it was not the air that gave a sudden chill to Corwin this night. Since their return those several months ago, many things had happened that brought concern to Corwin's heart.


First, there was the demon that had been stealing the children of Camelot and it's surrounding lands and using their power to either enhance his own or perhaps just to sustain himself. His men were given to Ian's command to assist in finding this demon but thus far he had heard nothing that would be considered good news. He only prayed that the demon would soon be dispatched with no more loss of life. He found it unsettling that any being could willfully prey upon children. While he knew that evil tended not to place the same, if any, value on life except for their own, all that he was could not get used to the idea of that as an excuse for the heinousness of this deed. His own encounter with the demon had shown him only darkness within this creature. It was like looking into night sky with blind eyes; all you perceive is black emptiness that no light could ever hope to drive away.

Corwin had scouting parties all over the hills to the north trying to find this "magic mountain" but it defied their attempts. He himself had gone on more then a few of the scouting missions but had neither seen nor felt anything. This demon was very strong to hide so well, the power it must take to keep up such and effective spell was incredible. A fact that Corwin hoped meant that the demon could not be storing up power to use against the knights when the time came.


His thoughts drifted to his son, which gave him conflicting feelings of pride and worry. Kylan was growing so fast. It seemed not long ago he was running around with a small wooden sword that Rohan had made for him, protecting the castle from imaginary assassins or would be thieves. He wanted so much to be a knight like his father that he seemed to try too hard at it and usually ended up hurt or more often in trouble for terrorizing the staff claiming they were spies or some such thing.
Now Kylan was training to become a knight himself and a good one at that. But an accident a few days past also showed that his powers were becoming too strong for him to continue without learning to control them as well. The young Squire had been sparring with Rohan and was trying to learn a particularly difficult sword combination. He was becoming frustrated with himself and momentarily lost control of his anger and rushed at Rohan. As they made contact a surge of energy sent Rohan and Kylan flying apart. Neither was hurt but if that were to happen again who knows what the result would be. Kylan was inconsolable to spite reassurances from Rohan and Corwin himself. He agreed that until he has had more training in control he would refrain from sparring. Corwin sent a dispatch had been sent to Morninglord asking his permission, as Kylan's Knight, to begin his training in magic earlier that afternoon.

Perhaps it was fatherly concern or over-concern that Corwin wanted to see over this aspect of the training himself in that it was separate from Squire training. Although Morninglord was more then qualified to do this himself, Corwin felt no small amount of responsibility for the day's incident.


Then there was the man that was as much a son to Corwin as if he had been born of his blood. He had taken in Rohan as a small child when his parents were killed in a border raid on one of the southern villages. He did not hide what had happened from Rohan but in time the boy grew to think of Corwin and the people of Amber as his family and he was able to put it behind him. He grew up much the same as Corwin's own son was now. He aspired to be the best Knight the land had seen. He would guard all of Amber against its enemies. And so he had done, becoming Captain of the guard of the castle and Commander of its armies. But he too grew up so fast it seemed.

Then his life was cut short it seemed. Corwin could still see Rohan's face as he lay on the altar. He wept for a lost son not caring that he was not of his blood. Corwin had raised him and loved him as much as his other children. He blamed himself for this, if only he had gotten to Rohan sooner or if they had never even gone at all things could have been different. And then the guardian returned his life, but not without cost. First Rohan had lost his memories, although only temporarily. Then there was something else; Corwin could not tell what yet but something had changed in the act of reviving him. It was not something as simple as emotions and reactions from his experience it was something more….. something inside. But what was it, Corwin had no idea. He knew it would surface one day and when it did he would be there to help guide Rohan.

Since Rohan had regained his memories he had dealt with much but it also seemed he was avoiding much. He rekindled his love with Keera and they planned on a wedding but he had not allowed his work to go for more then the time it took to sleep and eat. Corwin had approached him about Keera and was convinced Rohan still loved her and wanted to marry her, but it was as if he were afraid that if he left something bad would happen. He refused to talk about why he felt that way; just that he knew something was going to happen. He did not know what nor would he say more then that.


All these factors were in Corwin's thoughts for the better part of the night but soon drifted to thoughts of he and Susan having a picnic and the children playing in the field, of Keera and Rohan falling in love, of the first time he held his children in his arms. A smiled crossed Corwin's face for the first time in many hours as he realized that in his long life the memories he held most dear were those he had made here with his friends and family. He stood and walked to his children's rooms looking in on each in turn before going back to his room. Susan rolled over as he entered, "What have you been doing love?" Corwin smiled as he answered, "Looking for reflections of the future in the past."