Jovan's Gaze

Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

The healers helped me onto their wheeled stretcher, the softness of the bedding coming as a shock to my body. Days of heat and harsh sands, blisters and scorched skin, unending thirst and hunger, all of that gathered together with the confusion of the last few hours to create a perfect storm which seemed to cloud out reality. I felt swept up in the moment, as though lifted from the ground by fierce winds which whispered words like 'fear' and 'change'. I held the sides of the stretcher tightly, as though the softness of its cushions would keep me safe, or its metal frame would anchor me. Everything seemed to happen and then flee from the grasp of my understanding. I had no time to think upon what was occurring. I did not dare let go of the stretcher to reach out and grasp at those fleeting moments of understanding. I did not dare.

The crowd watched quietly as I was helped onto the stretcher. They could see the pain I was in, and it was a small comfort that when I winced, the faces of many around me were filled with concern. Regardless of what sort of people these were, that they felt worry at the sight of discomfort was a good sign. Kronan cruelty had obviously not taken hold here. Perhaps it was merely well hidden.

The two healers used broad straps to secure me to the stretcher, and were careful not to lay them across skin too parched to bare them. They used small bandages, soaked in the same sort of slimy medicine used on me in the hut, to cushion the straps where they touched my skin. It helped, but even the pressure hurt. I did my best to bear the pain, though I could feel its sharp claws digging into me like a bird of prey. Soon, the pain would carry me off.

As the healers finished securing me to the stretcher, the cordon of soldiers helped clear a path for our small group. The crowd moved willingly, and though they still watched me as though I were some bizarre curiosity, they seemed to mean me no harm. Whoever the one angry man had been, he seemed to have no compatriots here, or at least none I could see. Still, both Danlis and Jin were at my side, watching the crowd carefully.

"We're with you, Jovan," the captain whispered to me. "You're safe."

I nodded, and lay back on the stretcher, allowing its softness to take hold of me. I quickly felt the exhaustion in my body flood my mind, like a damn burst forth. I felt my eyes begin to close.

I did not even remember falling asleep, but when it came, I welcomed it with a willing embrace.

***

The courtyard of Skyreach Keep seemed so very green, and so alive. The ground was covered with grass, not the gray stones I recalled from my visits. The grass was wet, and my blistered feet were soothed by the cool dew. No, not dew. It had rained here recently. The ground was soaked beneath the grass, though I could not remember a single drop of rain during any such visit. Even before the war, rain was rare around the keep. Still, it had rained here very recently. The statues, stretching out in two rows before me, were still wet. Birds perched atop several status, tweeting merrily, and watching me as I moved.

I walked between the rows of stone sentinels, examining the stone lords as I passed them. They were not cracked nor weathered, as I recalled them being. They all seemed as though they had been carved out mere days ago. The edges were still sharp, and the details clear. The statues almost seemed real, alive, save for the gray hue of the stone. The walls of the courtyard seemed much less worn.

The sky above me was clear, with wisps of clouds overhead. The sun shone brightly, warmly, and it embraced me. The pain of my desert ordeal was gone. I looked down to see my clothing restored to me, my sword at my side. My leather coat weighed down on my shoulders. It was a familiar weight, and far more welcome than the scorching sun. Still, I was without my boots. Where had they gone to?