Dreams of the Oracle

Chapter 20

Ashur awoke on a long table. His headache was only a faint echo of what it had been. Opening his eyes, he looked around. He was covered in a thick woolen blanket. The room's walls were entirely earthen, so he was probably underground. A small wooden staircase led up to a wooden trapdoor.

Ashur looked up and saw a couple of simple lamps hanging from the ceiling that gave off faint light. From the smell he judged that the candles were made from pigfat.

Suddenly, he realized that his legs were feeling pretty good. He stretched them experimentally, smiling at the painlessness of it. He pulled the blanket off. His trousers had been cut off above the knee and his legs were unbound. Gruesome scars ran across both knees and down the shin of his right leg.

Slowly he began bending his right leg at the knee. He bent his leg more and more until the knee was perpendicular to the table he was lying on. He caught his breath in amazement. Then he brought it back down and tried his other leg. No pain, no stiffness assaulted him from either leg. There was magic at work here.

With an effort he sat up and turned so that his legs were hanging off the table. His feet just barely touched the dirt floor. Taking a deep breath, he began slowly putting weight on his legs. He steadily increased the weight until he was standing. He almost laughed. What had happened to his legs should have crippled him for life. With a big smile on his face he stretched out his right leg to take a step.

The smile quickly fell as his knee suddenly buckled underneath him. He tried to save himself by putting his weight on the other leg but that knee buckled as well. He face planted into the hard packed earthen floor with a groan. He lay there for a moment trying to dispel his frustration and disappointment. Then he heard a gasp from somewhere above him.

"What do you think you're doing?" came a stern, girlish voice. There was the sound of someone descending the wood stairs. "Haven't you done enough harm to your knees already? How do you ever expect to walk again?"

Ashur's frustration at his condition suddenly turned to anger against this newcomer. He raised his head to tell her exactly where she could walk to.

His eyes lifted and beheld the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. His voice caught in his throat as he looked up at her fair skin and curls of auburn hair. His blue eyes locked on her large dark eyes. For a moment, time seemed to come to a standstill. Her dark eyes drew him in. His heart pounded in his chest and ears and he struggled for air. He stared up at her from the dirt.

She looked down at him scornfully, and he suddenly realized she had been talking that whole time.

"W-what did you say?" he asked intelligently.

She sighed in exasperation. "I said give me your hand so I can help you get back on the table where you belong," she said, extending her hand.

He looked at her sun browned, gentle looking, perfect hand. He thought of his own large, scarred, and calloused hands. He took a breath and enclosed her hand in his. A tingling sensation ran down his arm. He tried not to smile.

She grabbed his wrist with her other hand and with a heave half dragged half lifted his arm to the empty table. Then she let go of him and backed away taking a couple of deep breaths.

"You will have to lift yourself with your arms mostly," she said stepping up to him again.

Nodding, Ashur brought his other hand up to the table and with an effort lifted his body off the ground,

"Hold yourself like that," commanded the girl. She quickly slid around behind him. Then with an effort she grabbed both his ankles and pulled the lower half of his body onto the table. Ashur turned himself over and stared at the wooden rafters trying to get a hold of himself. Then he saw her face above him.