The Keys: A Tale of a Beginning and End

Chapter sixteen

I could only speculate what would happen if we didn't have all the keys, maybe one of us would die in the process. What about the forth, Prescott's reincarnation, would we still be able to pull off our plan that's been in the making for about a century. Now I understood why Zander was starring into the fire. It helped as a distraction from the pending question at hand, thinking about it now we have a lot left to do before we go up against Dragmar.

I turned to Zander "Why don't you go to sleep, I'll take watch." He continued to stare of into the fire briefly before turning to me and saying "Not yet. I'll take watch with you for a while but I won't rest now." When he left it at that I understood why and didn't ask him any questions. I knew every time he closed his eyes he saw his mother, calling out begging him to save her, that's why the only time he slept was when he passes out from exhaustion. So we sat, complete and total silence surrounded us, except for the occasional crackle from the fire.

Some how I managed to convince Zander to put a blanket on, and to lean against a tree trunk for support. He was so relaxed at this point that he started to doze off. I was sitting next to him, mainly because that tree was the closest to the fire, I was also making sure that he wouldn't get jolted awake by his dreams. After a few minutes he moved slightly, but other than that seemed ok, he slowly slide down sideways and ended up with his head on my lap yet again.

Zander wasn't in as much anguish as he was the first night we met, but he still twisted and turned as if he was trying to escape something. If Rosalind was awake I would have asked her how to comfort people, she was more emotional than me after all. I patted his head a few times, that is the only way that I know how to comfort someone, and he didn't twist as much.

About 3 hours later I had grown weary, I didn't want to wake Zander for his turn again, for all I know this could be the last time he sleeps for a week. I started to twirl my hair to help keep myself awake, but after awhile I realized that I wasn't twirling my hair it was Zander's.

For some reason it made me relax, it seemed to help him as well. He stoped moving in his sleep all together and his breathing seemed to steadied out. Looking down at him now his face seemed so peaceful and calm, he didn't have his facial features all scrunched up in worry and thought, but relaxed and smooth. I couldn't help but close my eyes, I was extremely sleep deprived for some reason. Closing my eyes I went to sleep, not waking the next person up for patrol wouldn't make a difference, nothings gonna happen. That's what I thought until I woke up in some strange place the next morning.