Chapter 12 - Knight and Day
Hal slept restlessly, his dreams plagued by horrid thoughts. Images of being submerged in cold darkness. Choking, striving for another breath. Any breath. Air. Cold fresh air constantly denied him. Each time he tried to struggle against the interminable blackness he frustrated himself, needing the air even more.
Other images. Pain all around him. Painful sights: children lying dead, torn open like sacks of grain. His leg, an inflamed appendage that screamed with every step he took. His lifeblood trickling down to his ankle, mingling with the leather of his sandal-boot. Sticky. Feeling sticky. His blood and the children's. Tasha, at the back of his mind, saving him from death. Dying herself. Being hurt. Killed. Worse.
A figure. A very dark figure, swirled in crimson and holding a staff. A staff that glowed. Very bright; very dark. More blood. All over the place. Enough to swim in, to drown in. More figures. One small, slender, dark figure. Face covered with a hood, unrecognizable. Flames. Surrounded by flames that one was. Hal knew without knowing how that that one was a wizard.
Second figure. Impossibly large. Not human or dwarf or anything he recognized. Four legs, long tail and neck. Almost serpentine head. Many teeth, razor sharp. Very dark, very large. Wings? Not on a creature that large. Impossible. No creature could be that strong.
Last figure. Tall, humanoid, wide. Strong looking. Bald or balding. Still very dark, no features distinguishable. Big sword. Very big sword. Blood all around that one. It seemed to cling to him while he reveled in it. A mad parody of decency and decorum.
Back to the figure with the staff. It loomed over Hal, riding a wave of mist and blood. It was impossibly huge, encompassing his whole field of vision. Deep down in the pit of his stomach, Hal felt true fear. Worse than the thought of drowning. In truth, he would have done much to regain his familiar nightmare in exchange from the one he was experiencing.
The figure seemed to regard Hal from all angles. Upside down and inside out. From somewhere in the back of his mind, Hal recognized the figure. He was that Xir being that Garn and Tasha continually discussed. What's he doing inside of my head? Hal thought frantically, hysterically. I am nobody! I can't do anything useful. Gods, I can barely keep my feet from tripping!
The figure, Xir, continued to regard Hal. Searching for something. Anything. Finally he stopped. The figure reared back and laughed. Howled with it. Rolls of laughter shuddered the dark figure's body. Energies burst forth from the staff and set the mists and the blood to roiling. The laughter became hysterical. Frighteningly so. Hal was wrapped up in the energies and held aloft. Xir swung him about, rattling him like a child would a small toy. Hal began to scream. PATHETIC! Xir roared, the mere sound of his voice rocking Hal to the very core of his fragile mortal being. YOU ARE OF LESS CONCERN TO ME THAN A CHILD! More energy burst forth, striking Hal like lightning. Pain, greater than anything he'd ever felt before coursed through his limbs like wildfire. He was submerged in the mists, swallowed by the blood. Drowning again. In the background he could still hear Xir's maniacal laughter reverberating all around him.
Hal snapped out of the dream, sitting bolt upright on the hard table. Cold sweat dripped off his nose and the blanket that had covered him was flung across the dark wagon. He sat there, staring wild-eyed at everything. His breath came in heaving gasps and his heart raced, pounding in his chest like a herd of stampeding horses.
The big man stayed like that for several long moments, not wanting to move, not sure that he was even able to move. He crossed his immense arms over his barrel chest and held himself tightly.
Cautiously Hal peered around, trying to get an idea of his surroundings. He recognized swiftly that he had been lying on a table. When his eyes completely adjusted to the dim light, he took in his surroundings..
Off to the side lay Garnthalisbain, wrapped up snugly in his bedroll and cloak. The mage shifted briefly for a moment, seeming almost to awaken, then resettled into his former position, sliding back into the depths of sleep.
Almost completely hidden by the dark shadows was Lanarra. She lay huddled up in one corner, her arms wrapped around her knees. As before she remained completely motionless and made absolutely no sound. The only reason Hal even noticed she was there was from the way the dim light reflected off the whites of her eyes. Lanarra had yet to sleep a full night since the incident with the Sunraiders. If Hal hadn't been so personally shaken himself he would have felt more compassion for the woman at that particular moment. As it was, it was a struggle for him just to keep from shuddering in fear.
That bothered Hal deeply. It had been a very long time since he'd admitted to himself that he was afraid of anything. Growing up in the wild as he had, having no one but himself to depend on, he quickly learned that a frightened animal was a dead animal. Fear caused a being to freeze up and shut down, leaving himself vulnerable to all sorts of predators.
That was how deeply his dream affected him.
The hardest part to accept was the fact that it didn't really feel like a dream. Not like a normal dream at least. Hal couldn't think of any way to explain it, especially not to himself. He was certain that he didn't have any of those mind abilities like Tasha did, (he was quite sure that one needed to be intelligent to use said abilities). So he couldn't come up with any sort of explanation for why he saw what he saw.
With a fierce effort, Hal tried to shove the thoughts aside. They almost, but not quite, slid behind a protective mental wall and lay in waiting there. He had enough other things to be concerned about.
With a small degree of shock, Hal noted that it was rapidly approaching sunrise. Cursing softly to himself for forcing someone to take an extra shift at watch because of him, Hal tried to slide off of the table and take his place on watch.
He moved perhaps half an inch when his leg cascaded rivulets of pain directly up his frame. Hal grunted involuntarily, gritting his teeth with all of his might to keep from crying out. The big man swung his gaze to his wounded leg then, noting for the first time that his pants had been torn open to reveal his wound.
He was heavily bandaged from the top of his thigh to just above the knee. At one time the rags had been a clean white in color. Now there was a faint stain of blood showing through, just another testament to how badly he'd been injured. Hal grimaced. The sharp pain had drastically reduced to a dull ache once he stopped moving, but that didn't keep it from hurting.
Still determined to take a shift on watch, Hal tried to lift himself off the table using nothing but his arms and good leg. He got about halfway up when all the strength drained from the big man's arms faster than water would from a leaky bucket. His hands slid out from under him and he collapsed back to the table with a loud thud and an explosion of pent up breath.
There was a commotion to his immediate left. It was soft and hardly noticeable at first, but definitely there. A woman's voice softly spoke his name, very groggily.
For an impossibly giddy moment, Hal thought it was Tasha that had spoken. But then Renora's head peered over the edge of the table. Her eyes were colored with dark circles, indicating a lack of sleep. A severe lack of sleep. Her gaze swept over Hal's whole form before focusing on his face. At that moment she realized Hal was awake and became much more animated.
"Oh!" she exclaimed softly. With a small flurry of movement she scrambled up to her feet. Hal, concerned that she might hurt herself somehow, tried to sit up and slow her down. However, Renora placed a hand on each of his shoulders and forced him to lie back.
"Don't you even think of getting up yet, big man," Renora said softly, not wanting to wake anyone else. "You've been lying there for almost three days and I'm not going to..."
"Three days!" Hal exclaimed, trying to sit up once again. He was astonished when Renora casually forced him back down to the table. So astonished that he couldn't say a word more.
Renora cast a look back at Garn cautiously. "Shhh," she softly admonished. "The mage needs his sleep. He's been hard pressed to receive any at
all. What with you and Lanarra, the twins... He's had his hands full."
Hal took a better look at the mage than he had before and was forced to agree with Renora. Garn looked like he hadn't slept in a week. His face was lined and his brow furrowed. And this while he was asleep! Hal sympathized with the mage's condition and swung his gaze back to the dark-haired girl.
"I'm sorry," Hal whispered. "I didn't realize." Taking his first real good look at himself, just by running his gaze down his frame, Hal was astonished to note how much weight he'd lost. He had to admit, even to himself, that he could hardly ever look scrawny. But it was a definitely noticeable difference.
At that point he also noticed that Renora hadn't taken her hands off of his shoulders. He cast a curious glance up at her for a moment but let it pass. It wasn't as if it bothered him.
But Renora seemed to sense something from his gaze and abruptly snatched her hands away, her face flushing a bright red. Once again Hal tried to sit up. After a fair amount of struggling he finally managed to prop himself up onto his elbows. Even so, the exertion of getting into that position and maintaining it was more than just a fair bit.
"You should really lie down," Renora said, coming out of her silence.
Hal shook his head slightly, a few limp strands of hair flopping about. "No," he panted. "I've been .. lying down for .. long enough." He paused long enough to take a deep breath. "Why am I... so weak?"
Renora reached out and helped Hal pull himself into a sitting position. Once he had both of his legs swung over the side of the table and had his back more or less upright, he felt much more at ease.
"You're weak because you've lost an awful lot of blood, Hal." Renora explained as she stabilized the big man's frame. Certain that he wasn't about to topple over, she stepped away and grabbed a cloth. "Also, there's probably the fact that you've been lying flat on your back for nearly three days. So your body wouldn't be too used to moving just yet. No, don't do that... " Hal immediately stopped prodding at his bandaged leg. Renora returned with the cloth, dipping it into a washbasin on the way, and pressed it against Hal's flushed features. "Garnthalisbain will let you know when the bandages can come off. And not before."
Hal sighed pleasurably at the cool feel of the damp cloth as it somehow managed to wipe away the pain and anxiety caused by his dream. Hal closed his eyes and just enjoyed the cleansing sensation. A slight trickle of cool water rolled down his face and dripped off the tip of his chin, splashing him in the chest. He chuckled softly, the effort causing him a bit of pain. Opening his eyes, Hal saw Renora staring at him intently.
She quickly changed her expression with a smile and quiet chuckle of her own. "You are a frightful mess, aren't you, big guy?" Hal was about to reply that he had no idea for he'd yet had the opportunity to check his appearance in a mirror. But Renora ran her fingers through his hair, pushing it back, away from his face; taking away Hal’s voice for a moment. "Oh, you're not that bad," Renora amended as she wiped the cloth about his neck. "I'm just certain that you wouldn't declare this moment as a personal best."
Hal wordlessly submitted to her attentions, nodding occasionally to let her know that he was paying attention. Renora continued to talk and wipe at his massive frame with the damp cloth. At long last she yawned hugely, her mouth open so wide that Hal had a more than ample view of the back of her throat.
When Renora finally regained her composure she looked at Hal abashedly. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said. "I've just been having some trouble sleeping."
"Why?" Hal asked quietly, concerned for the girl's welfare. "Have you been... dreaming about the Sunrai... uhm, about those... uhm... been having nightmares?"
She turned away from him then, wringing out the cloth and dipping it into the water again. "Not particularly. I mean, I suppose I will have... nightmares for a long time. But that hasn't been what's bothering me."
Hal frowned slightly in confusion. "Well... then what's wrong?"
Renora turned back to Hal and started to wipe the cloth at the back of his neck again, reaching around from the front this time. Hal noticed that Renora was biting softly on her lower lip in what appeared to be concentration. He also noticed that her face was very close to his right at that moment.
"Well, Hal," she began slowly, with obvious uncertainty. "I've been... worried, about you." Seeing the wide eyed confusion on Hal's open face, Renora quickly explained. "I mean, you've been out cold for almost three days. You were starting to show signs of never waking up. We couldn't get you to eat, you would only accept water. It took almost two hours for your leg to stop bleeding." She rattled off her reasons for several more moments before she finally realize that she was repeating herself.
Flustered, Renora put down the cloth and forced herself to look Hal in the eyes. He met her gaze calmly, though still a bit confused. "Just seeing you, lying there on the table. Unable to move, unable to wake... It tore at me, Hal." She enfolded one of his powerful hands in both of her tiny ones. Astonished, Hal noted that there were tears forming in her eyes.
"Renora .." he began, then stopped when she started to lean in closer.
"You saved my life, Hal. You' re the first man I've ever met that was genuinely nice to me without expecting anything in return." She smiled slightly at him then while he leaned back, surprised. "Even your friends expect something out of me in one fashion or another. But not you." She chuckled softly then, leaning in even closer.
Hal continued to lean back, not certain what else he should do. When he finally leaned back as far as he could, he noted that he didn't have the strength to keep himself upright. With a muffled yelp, he lost his balance and fell back to the table. Waves of pain coursed up through his leg then, complaining about the sudden jarring sensation. He lurched out and gripped both sides of the table as he gritted his teeth to keep from howling. Off in the back of his mind he heard something crumble.
Renora was right there, concern splayed all over her face and her cloth in hand. "Oh, Gods!" she breathed. "I'm so sorry, are you all right?" Hal grunted slightly through his clenched teeth and made several other strangled sounds. At that point he realize that his hands were still clenched around the table but were, at the same time both right in front of his eyes. It was then that he noticed the chunks of the table that he had torn off.
"Hal? Say something, Hal." Renora was right there, trying to make certain that he was all right. She wiped at his face again with the cloth. "Hal?"
When the sensations from his leg faded to a dull ache, Hal finally released his grip on the chunks of table and let go of his pent up breath. He looked up at Renora and tried to smile. "At least," he panted as he showed her one of the chunks of wood. "I'm starting to get my strength back."
Renora's face grew confused for a brief moment. Then she began to chuckle softly. "I'm sorry," she said again.
Hal looked at her questioningly. "For what? I fell all by myself. You didn't have anything to do with it."
She laughed again and rested her head down on his barrel-like chest. "You know, Hal? I think that's what I like best about you." She tilted her head back enough so that she could see his face. "You're so forgiving."
The confusion Hal felt easily manifested itself on his features. "Huh?" he said with superb eloquence.
Renora smiled softly. "Never mind, Hal. It's not important." Then, to Hal's complete astonishment, Renora moved up his body and softly kissed him on the lips. She smiled again. "Not important at all." Then she moved away to dip her cloth in the washbasin again while Hal watched her in continued confusion.