Heir of the Dragon

The Soulless

For an hour already, my head had been doing the strange things it did when teetering on the edge of sleep. The sounds of the birds in the trees behind me and Ochie's gentle breathing would begin sounding far away, and for half a second I'd lose the ability to hold my head up.  This unpleasant jerking motion had been frustrating the first time it'd happened. It was now bordering on enraging. 

I was lying against Ochie's side, my legs sprawled out on the rock outcropping in front of me.  Unlike myself, the big wolf had had the sense to sleep last night. Now, tendrils of morning warmth were licking away the cold night, and sunlight was slowly filling the valley. I had a beautiful view from where we sat. We were relatively high on the mountain, and the earth sloped steeply downward below the rock we had perched ourselves on. Off to my right I could see the path the giants had taken out of the valley, the earth darkened by the wheels of carts and hooves of cattle. Now the land seemed too quiet.

I had begun the journey with them two mornings ago, but had quickly realized that I needed to know exactly how close Foul's army was.  Mostly for the sake of my sanity. The giants would be slower than an army. They had herds and young one's and were carrying their livelihood with them, and for some reason I felt that by riding back to this valley to watch for the Ghere I could somehow protect them better than I could traveling with them. Perhaps it was the sleep deprivation, but maybe if they got too close I could set them off coarse or contrive a distraction. It was unlikely, but for the sake of my sanity, I had come back anyway.

Time was wearing on and I was growing worried. The army should have passed through yesterday. I had stayed up all night thinking for certain they'd travel at under cover of darkness, but still nothing.  Had they gone another way? Had I missed them somehow?

Through the fogginess of exhaustion I'd begun to imagine the Foul's army overtaking the Giants in my absence and couldn't help but feel a little sick with indecision. 

My head dropped suddenly, and I forced it back up and peeled my eyes open wider. I was fighting sleep out of pure stubbornness now, and I wasn't sure how reasonable it was to continue avoiding it. I'd woken Ochie with my sharp movement and he was looking at me inquisitively.

I met his two toned gaze for a moment, and then rolled my eyes.

"Yea, okay." I mumbled.

I scooted down and laid my heavy head against the pleasant warmth of his side, pulling my cloak over my eyes.

"As long as you'll keep watch for me, I'll rest for a few hours." I said, my voice muffled under the fabric. I felt the wolf snort softly in response, and lay his head back on his paws, shifting slightly to get comfortable again.

His steady breathing beneath me was like the rocking of a mother's arms, and it soon became all I knew; it and the warmth of my own breath under my cloak. Sweet darkness quickly enveloped me and I was soon lost to the world.

Somehow I dreamt pleasant dreams. The whole of them were filled with memories of the giant's sweet chorused voices; full and rich. I'd never heard music like the kind the giants had created for us at the feast; deep as the sea, and broad as the sky; tender as a flower, but powerful like the lioness's love for her cubs. It made one want to fight and cry and lie in an open field of grass in a thunderstorm all at once. 

I dreamt in a strange stream of images; memories of the faces of my friends. Most were of Shadaii; his rare smiles, the way he looked when he spoke of weighty things, the warm fire lit glow of his eyes. It felt a little like wandering; like walking through a misty forest with these images in the trees like leaves. Or perhaps it was an endless maze of hallways with tapestries of their faces hung on all the walls.