Sleepwalker

Chapter Eleven: Beware the North: Part One

I sprinted toward him as quickly as my body would allow. Don’t most people run away from their nightmares? I wondered. Pushing through the brush as it whipped at my arms, I approached where he had been, but only it was a small tree. “Damn him.”

“I thought you were a lady, Genevieve. Ladies don’t swear.” Sleepwalker rested his hands on my tensed shoulders. When I yelped in fright and leapt away, he laughed.

“What are you doing here? Why are you following me?” I turned to him angrily. “Have you been following me since Yondrin?” I seethed quietly, wishing to stay unseen.

“Of course not! You always think the worst of me. Why, I just arrived. I am glad to see that I had such a nice welcoming party.” He beamed with grey-stained teeth.

I clenched my fists in frustration as I released a sigh. “As long as you’re here, I might as well get some answers out of you. What are you?” I wondered, edge in my tone.

“Your worst nightmare,” His voice had gone dark and deep, but the effect was ruined once he laughed at himself. “I like it better when we talk about you,” He sulked.

“The last time we talked about me, you dislocated my shoulder, so that’s not going to happen again,” I snapped matter-of-factly, crossing my arms over my chest.

“Ooh, touchy,” He teased. After taking a step back, he blended with the shadows in the forest. “How is the search for your mother going?” He queried.

I rolled my eyes. “I’m not even in Eirodin yet.” Then I realized something else. “This is not a dream. This is real. You’re real! What are you?” I marveled, suddenly amazed. “I cannot believe you are not a figment of my dreams, but an actual…thing!”

“A thing? Just what kind of thing do you think I am, Genevieve?” He sounded affronted as his mouth opened. “This kind of thing?” He snapped his fingers. His fingers hardened and pointed, becoming claws. His tobacco-crusted smile turned yellow and fanged. Nonexistent eyes gleamed a bright yellow from under his hood. His cloak tightened to his skeletal form and thickened into black fur. He snarled at me.

I bounded back surprised and terrified. “Stop that!” Watching his changing form, I gulped. Subconsciously, I rubbed my shoulder. That would be the least of my injuries…

His preferred form returned. “Not what you had in mind?” He frowned.

“How do you know my mother?” I demanded, balling my fists.

Another chuckle escaped his lips. “I told you, Genevieve; I know everyone.” He held up his hands defensively. His long fingers drew pictures in the air, rough outlines of a woman’s form. “Lovely, isn’t she?”  He coughed some sand into the picture and he watched it dissipate. “Ah, well, always another time to practice the arts.”

I snapped, “Do you enjoy teasing me?”

“Very much so. Your reaction is…cute, quite cute actually almost as cute as your boyfriend in there. What was his name? Anteater?” He pouted thoughtfully.

I blushed. “Armadillo, thank you. And he is not my boyfriend.”

“You are awful defensive about it. Also, I must warn you against taking the northern road. It would be better to take the western road and loop around.”

Imagining a map in my head, I thought of it for a moment. “That makes little sense. That would add at least three days to the trip, and I would pass through Dunver. Its only pleasant feature, I have heard, is the library. Beside that, it is a city of thieves.”