When Minds Collide

 

Entry #7

I have not written in this journal since before I joined CrIsis. I have decided to write in it now. This entry will be about the Minotaurs Xerx’ses and Kom’Var. I am writing this to sort through the memories. And to help make sure I remember.

Xerx’ses asked for my help. He wanted to share the memories and experiences of what he experienced with the Adraodan and his wife, Laval’liere with Kom’Var. Of course I told him I would help. I told him I would think about how best to do that. After considering all my abilities I realized the only way to do this was for us all to bond our minds together. Once I knew what could be done I talked with Xerx’ses and Kom’Var. I told them what I could do. What I said to them went something like this:

First: The memories would not be permanent. They would only be clear for less than a day. Then they would be fleeting, like a dream. In a month they would disappear entirely.

Second: I could help make some of those memories last. I would work with Kom’Var to insert those memories he wanted to keep into his mind. It would be best to do that within the first few hours after our bond.

Third: Both Xerx’ses and Kom’Var needed to consent to this. I know that Kom’Var is a magical creation of Xerx’ses. I know that Kom’Var can be ordered to obey by Xerx’ses. But I would not do this if Kom’Var was forced.

Fourth: My memories would also get transferred to them. When we bond minds nothing is held back. That did not bother me but if it bothered them I could make those memories be forgotten until they fade.

Fifth: Their memories would also be in my mind. If that bothered them I wanted them to tell me. I could make their memories be forgotten in me if they wish.

With their permission we proceeded. First I bonded minds with Xerx’ses. He saw my memories of my rite of passage. All my adventures and brushes with danger in the Woods. My friend Red Snow. The beautiful Night Rain. Everything with Moli and Lopan. Going back and joining the Wolfen army as an Iagia Comitia. The slaughter. Becoming a Xavia Comitia Promotia, then a Xavia Comita. The interesting Fighting Moon. My rejection by the elders. Leaving the tribe permanently. Working with Moli to teach Eastern settlers how to respect the woods. And everything else.

I thought I was prepared to receive his memories. I was not. The flood of raw memory and emotion poured into my mind faster than I expected. His whole life lay bare before me and I became lost in it. He has led a fascinating and tragic life. These are things I know about him now that I think I should not forget.

How becoming a Wizard and going through his training ostracized him from the childhood friends he had grown up with.

His tribe’s rune weapons in their vault would tell him stories, and he learned from them.

At ten years old his first/birth father died destroying a demon incursion while he was with A’zad.

That his mother took up wielding Saraph. The weapon has known him all of his life. That was the weapon he presented to his wife.

The jealousy which drove him to try and win the heart of his childhood crush. Her life-mate retaliated by trying to burn him alive in his tower. He only survived due to his brother Zeelik, who is now deceased.

When Isis grabbed him, shortly after leaving his home, and when he started with CrIsis.

His memories of Overkill, the first non-Minotaur that treated him like a individual. Moments of great sorry which stood out as if still fresh in his memories: Overkill’s first daughter dead in a box with buttons sewn over eyes, and Overkill’s death in a lava flow. And the hope which The Nameless Man’s new spell, Athanasia, filled him with for the future of Overkill and his family, but for The Man with No Name’s family. For Xerx’ses’ family.

The five days Xerx’ses spent to bury the 203 members of his tribe after they were betrayed to Utu worshippers.

More and more memories. I could fill books with them. Of course people already have. I remember most of the rest now from when I read the true books. But now it was as if those memories are all first hand. The winning of the Lopanic Games. All the intimate moments he has had. The slow shift in his worldview. That was very interesting to me. I could tell he used to think like I do. But his experiences have jaded him. All these events, everything he experienced with CrIsis, they have changed him. Will it change me too?

This was not the first time I bonded minds with someone. But I have never been so overwhelmed as I was today. I nearly drowned in Xerx’ses memories. I thank Apis that I didn’t. I recovered and I bonded minds with Kom’Var. He had many of the same memories but I did not become overwhelmed in the bond. I do not know if it was because I saw them already or if it was due to Xerx’ses now being a “Demigod.” Kom’Var focused on the new memories. We sat for a while so I could help insert them into his mind permanently. Kom’Var should now have those memories of what happened with Xerx’ses during his time among the Adroadan Minotaurs.

Doing this made not only Xerx’ses and Kom’Var happy, but the memories about the Goblin King and the transformation magic he used gave hope to Annie that she and Kom’Var could have a future too.

And that was something which happened.

Note: This is an excerpt from Silent Dream’s journal. It was written in Elven on the 20th day of Gryphon, in the seventy-second year of the Great Wolfen Empire.

Image Credits: All done by AZ_RUNE.

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