<USS Avalon> "Attrition"

Attrition
Elissabeth Marksbury, 
Bryce Quinn, 
and The Shadow


She stirred in restless sleep. Elissabeth knew it wasn't going to be an easy 
night, having come home to find Bryce still not there. Not that she expected 
him to be. But she had hoped. And with heavy heart retired for bed. Dreams of 
protecting Kaylee and Anthony and Bryce haunted her as she failed miserably and 
each time she looked up to see the mysterious man named Yul staring at her and 
shaking his head.

Turning over in tangled blankets, she drifted into REM sleep once again. 

***

She found herself on a dark hill underneath a crystal clear sky. The twinkling 
stars and the brightly lit half moon was the only thing that illuminated the 
evening twilight. Millions upon millions of tiny suns so far away. Then she 
heard it. The whispering. Coming from within the forests that surrounded that 
solitary hill, they came.

"Lyryn..."

"You know who you are..."

"You know where you come from..."

"Help us help you..." 

She looked around, not quite sure how she'd gotten there. The voices came from 
everywhere, surrounding her, but managing to avoid being pinpointed. Where was 
the comfort of the desert and the sandstorms? What was this place and why was 
it so cold? 

"Can you hear me, Lyryn?" A voice asked, coming through the throngs of nearly 
inaudible chanting. In the darkness a pair of ice blue eyes shined and a dark 
silhouette emerged from the forest below. Taking a few steps up the hill, he 
stopped short. "Lyryn, do you understand?" 

She silently shook her head, knowing that even in the darkness the figure would 
see and know. 

"You're fighting a war, Lyryn; a long and brutal war of attrition. The enemy, 
you ask, is yourself. You've been fighting another form of you - a false one. 
One that was imprinted on you to protect the knowledge that is so sacredly held 
within you." The figure took a step, a boot crunching grass as the movement was 
made. "You know this, don't you?" 

Confusion frightened her, assualted her senses. "Tel?" she asked hesitantly, 
feeling that fight or flight instinct take hold. Though it was more like flight 
at the moment. 

"Yes." 

"I don't like this place." The voice was quiet and that of a scared little 
girl, not the woman he knew. 

"You'll be stuck here forever unless you do something about it. Lyryn, you are 
being suppressed by the will of corrupt officials. You have the right to live, 
you have the right to claim your own individuality." He took a step closer, his 
eyes still glowing with blue fire, "Listen to me, and I can help you." 

She reached out for his hand. "I'm listening." She swallowed back the fear of 
her surroundings, hoping he would take her hand and lead her far away from this 
place. It was so cold. 

Tel grabbed her hand, twirled her around and wrapped her in his embrace. The 
night winds shifted and diminished. The voices that were ever-present faded 
into obscurity. Tel whispered in her ear, "You are a life worth treasuring. 
Lissi isn't your enemy. She can be your ally and confidant. You must make 
amends with her." 

She closed her eyes, leaning her head back against his shoulder. "I miss you. 
Stay here with me." 

"I can't, not this way. Lyryn, you must do this. For both our sakes." 

"You left. There was no reason to stay out there. She didn't want me, you 
didn't want me. I'm in my place now." She looked around. "But not this place. 
It's cold. I like the desert." 

In the blink of an eye, the desert appeared before them and the sand rose up to 
meet them. A hot August-like sun beat down on them with a hot tenacity. "I 
wanted you, you know I did. It was something that I had to do." 

"You told me you wanted to leave." 

"It's ... complicated." 

"Then explain it. All of it. Trust me. You know me. All of me. And I don't know 
you. You won't even let me see your face." Once the darkness had disappeared, 
replaced with bright sunlight, he'd kept her wrapped tightly in his arms from 
behind, so she couldn't turn to look at him. 

"It's not the right time..." 

"It's never the right time with you!" She struggled to remove herself from his 
grasp. 

"I'll reveal myself if you surface again! It's the only way for things to work 
out the way they need to." He held her tightly, not letting her go. "You must 
believe and trust me, Lyryn! You must!" 

"What am I supposed to do?" she cried, "Tear down these walls and expose myself 
to her? She's on a witch-hunt. You know I'll just complicate things." Tears 
stained her face but her arms were pinned and she couldn't wipe them away. 

"She's trying to find me!" He shouted. 

"And you want me to protect you again! Why? So you can be safe and then leave 
me once more? Is that it?!" 

"No! Stop!" She was thrashing too hard for him to hold on. He pulled on her 
hard, taking a step back and throwing her helplessly over the edge that was 
just meters behind him. 

She screamed as she fell.

***

Elissabeth sat bolt upright in bed, having woken herself with the scream. Her 
breath was ragged and her face was wet with tears. Noises from the other room 
drew her attention. "Bryce?" she called tentatively. 

He peeked in, "I'm just grabbing some of my stuff, I'll be out in just a couple 
of minutes. No need to call security. Well, not like you'd tell me you were 
doing that anyway." Quickly, he darted back into the other room to collect his 
belongings. 

"Wait, please," she said, untangling herself from the blanket and nearly 
stumbling out of bed in the process. 

"What is it?" 

Haunted eyes stared into angry ones as she caught up to him. "I don't want you 
to go," she said simply. 

"Do you want to tell me what you're doing that involves Section 31?" 

"No," she sighed. "But if that's what it takes to keep you here, if you can't 
trust me... then I will." 

Bryce sat down. "Talk." 


                
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