The disembodied voice sounded again, only this time amused. It drew the next words out silkily, almost singing them. “I have a gift for you.”
“I don’t want it.” My voice was barely a whisper as I tried to see who was speaking.
“I hope you enjoy it. You’ll see what I mean soon enough.” A deafening laugh rebounded off the walls, making it hard for me to think.
Covering my ears, I screwed my eyes shut as I tried to free myself. As my airway closed from the effort, I sat up abruptly.
I was in bed gasping, my heart trying to race out of my chest. I rested my elbows on my knees and sucked in as much air as possible until my lungs gradually expanded. I stayed there for what felt like ages, breathing in and out, and then his warmth was at my side.
Beru slung an arm over my shoulders. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. Just a bad dream,” I wanted to keep my dreamwalking a secret. I didn’t want to worry anyone, especially him, until I figured out why it kept happening.
“You kicked me in your sleep. I hope you weren’t thinking about how mad you were at me.” He leaned closer, giving me a nudge.
I smiled at his sudden playfulness, trying to push away the darkness. “You’re safe. I was just doing farm work. I’ve always hated the chores Father gave me.”
Beru narrowed his eyes slightly, pursing his lips as he considered my reply. I could tell he didn’t believe me, but thankfully he didn’t push. “You okay to try to get some more sleep?”
“Yes.”
I laid back down, facing away from him. I couldn’t sleep though. Even as my eyes burned with exhaustion, I made myself stay awake. I could feel him watching me, concern radiating from him, but I remained on my side. I couldn’t share my concerns and I couldn’t chance returning. I wasn’t strong enough to escape there twice in one night.
When Sade slipped out of bed several hours later, I debated joining her at the campfire. Maybe if I told her about my dreams, she’d understand.
I heard Iri greet her and decided to wait, not wanting Beru to find out about last night just yet.
He was happier in the present and I worried if he knew what I was seeing it would bring back horrors he didn’t need to experience.
I closed my eyes for a moment, lulled into a twilight state by the comforting sounds of the breakfast preparations. I wasn’t sure how long I dozed, but Beru’s hand on my back startled me awake. I did my best to remain still and appear to be asleep, but when he moved closer it grew more difficult to pretend.
“Are you awake?” He rubbed my back, a gentle shoulder to mid-back caress. It should have been completely platonic, even parental, but it sent tingles down my spine.
I didn’t move.
He slid closer, the heat from his chest almost touching my back as he leaned over, whispering into my ear. “Are you hungry?”
His breath tickled, and I had to force myself not to squirm.
“I’m trying to sleep.” I made my voice sound as gruff as possible. My reaction was bothering me, and I needed to put some distance between us.
“I’m going to get some breakfast. Want me to bring you back something?”
I shook my head but didn’t turn it. “I’ll get up soon. Don’t worry about me.” I closed my eyes again, hoping he’d take the hint without me having to say anything hurtful.
“I do.” He paused. “Worry about you, I mean.”
I didn’t know how to respond. It was the first time he’d displayed anything other than his normal emotionless self when it came to me, and it confused me.
“Are you slackers going to get up? Daylight’s a-wastin’!” Sade’s strident voice shattered the fragile moment and granted me a reprieve.
“Coming.” I slipped out of bed and away from him. When I touched my cheek, trying to cool the heat I felt, I wiped encrusted drool off my chin. Great. Just perfect. I heard the slap of his feet on the ground and knew he was following.
“We have venison, venison, and more venison. Take your choice.” She smiled proudly as she held up a platter of shaved meat.
I picked up my plate, scooping a fair amount onto it, then moved to sit next to her. He took the rest of the plate and sat beside Iri.
“We should start cleaning up soon. I want to get in as many miles today as possible.” Iri cleaned his plate, then placed his dishes in the wash bucket and gave them a swirl.
Beru chewed for a moment, then swallowed. “How much ground do you think we can cover?”
Iri looked resigned. “Not enough. We need more horses.”
I rubbed my face, feeling defeated as he pointed out the main deficiency with our travel arrangements. “We don’t have any more coin.”
“With more horses, we could make better time.”
I couldn’t argue with that.
We’d taken turns walking next to the carriage or jostling around in the back of it. If we each had our own horse, the ride would be smoother and faster, and maybe I wouldn’t ache so much at the end of the day. Maybe I wouldn’t dreamwalk every night.
Something else was bothering me though, and I couldn’t shake the strange restlessness I’d woken up with. Was it something from my dream, or my confusion about Beru? I didn’t even realize I’d been jiggling my leg until Beru rested a hand on my knee.
“Are you okay?”
“Just want to get on the road.” I leapt to my feet, dumping the rest of my drink on the fire.
“Astor hasn’t eaten yet.” Iri looked at me strangely.
I doubled down. “We have to get going. You know how he is. If we wait, it’ll be midmorning before we go anywhere.”
“She’s right,” Sade agreed, standing beside him. “He can eat on the road in the carriage if he can’t get up with the rest of us. If we don’t break camp now, it could be another hour or more until we get on the road.”
Iri nodded, his face set in a surly expression that made him look even more dangerous than usual and retreated to the sleeping area. Beru followed, and together they woke the slugabed magician and began to pack up the sleeping pallets.
“Did you sleep okay? You seem off.” She picked up the clean cookware, bundling it up before throwing it haphazardly into the back of the carriage.
“Okay enough.” I didn’t want to talk about the dreamwalking now. I needed a break from everything, and particularly that. The moment had been lost earlier, and now after some distance I didn’t want to bring it back.
She nodded and didn’t push. We’d become good friends on our first adventure, and she knew me well enough to leave it alone when I answered in short sentences. Awkwardly, it made me want to tell her again.
“I just—” I stopped, unsure of what to say. I needed to tell someone, and she was my best option for honest advice with a side of discretion.
“If something is wrong, just tell me. It’s clearly not doing you any good carrying it all by yourself.” She placed her hand on my arm, her eyes inviting me to trust her.
“I ain’t the only one needing beauty sleep from the looks of you ladies.”
We whirled to see Astor yawning as he staggered up behind us.
Clearly restraining the urge to smack him, she narrowed her eyes and nodded toward the food. “There’s a plate for you in the carriage.”
“Umm, guys? I don’t think I ordered that.” He took a few steps back, his hand shaking as he pointed to something behind the carriage.
We turned.
At first, I wondered if he was bothered by the amount of meat. Then I saw the long black legs approaching in sets of eight.
They crept toward us, some the size of a bird, a few as big as our horses. By mutual unspoken agreement, we started inching toward the fire, trying to get Iri and Beru’s attention without letting the giant spiders out of our sight.
“This is a little outside my comfort zone.” Astor stepped behind us, using Sade as a shield.
“Really? No kidding.” I looked at Sade. “Have you ever…?”
“No.” She neve
r took her eyes off the nearest spiders.
I made eye contact with Beru as we reached the smoldering remains of the fire. The surprise on his face told me he’d never seen anything like it either.
“Keep coming toward the fire.” Iri picked up several large sticks, stoking the fire with one, then handed the others out.
“Don’t worry about that.” Astor took the stick, brandishing it. “I’ll be staying right beside it until they disappear. Which I’m hoping will be any second now.”
“Aim for their heads. They’ll protect themselves with their legs.” Iri stepped around the fire, placing himself in front of it. He would be the first line of defense between us and the spiders, the fire the second.
“So, is it true their legs…?” Astor began, stopping to swallow hard, his eyes wide as he stared at a dog-sized one approaching Iri.
Iri ran toward the spider, calling out his reply even as he leapt. “Are poisonous? Yes. Don’t let them strike you.” Using the force of his body to shove his stick into its head, Iri dispatched it with one blow.
Astor hooted. “So that’s all there is to it?”
I smiled at his instant confidence, hoping it would help us all get out of this in one piece. I wondered why he wasn’t using magic, instead of brandishing his stick awkwardly, but chalked it up to lack of training. Before I could ask, Sade ran toward another spider which had snuck up behind Iri.
“Don’t hesitate. Move!” She jumped and slammed her stick into it the same way Iri had.
Then the spiders seemed to speed up.
I copied Iri’s battle strategy to claim the life of the smallest spider, which had scurried around the fire and was approaching us from the side. Dreamwalking had exhausted me and knew I was slower than usual. But I couldn’t afford to mess up.
If the spiders were as deadly as Astor feared, we wouldn’t get a second chance.
We fought silently, each of us leaping and eliminating approaching spiders while Astor stood pale-faced almost in the fire, occasionally lashing out when one came too close to him. As we executed them, their eerie screams pierced my soul, leaving me oddly cold.
As their numbers dwindled, I began to relax. Out of nowhere, the remaining spiders stopped advancing and dispersed into the trees. It as if someone had sounded a retreat only they could hear.
Iri looked toward the forest, his face set in grim lines. Without dropping his weapon, he turned to me. “Someone’s testing us.”
I stood still, recalling the dark voice from the prison. Was this the gift it had promised?
Chapter 10
I tried to convince myself the spiders were a consequence of being in a new land with new creatures, but after we left, I noticed Sade and Iri whispering as they walked behind the carriage.
I wondered if they thought the spider attack was more than that, but they didn’t say anything to me, and I was too scared to ask. It was bad enough being attacked, but worse if it turned out those creatures had intentionally been looking for us.
Beru was taking his turn guiding the horse while Astor and I rode in the back to rest our feet.
Astor scanned the woods, sitting vigilantly instead of slumped over like usual. “You think those things are still out there?”
“Hard to say.” I sat opposite him, rubbing the calluses on my burning heels. Long days of walking hadn’t been kind to them.
“How long until we get there?” A bag shifted and fell with a thump causing him to whip around and check behind him as if he’d thought a spider was attacking.
I smiled sympathetically, pulling my sock and boot back on with a wince. “A while yet. We’re heading as far west as possible.”
“Shouldn’t you heal yourself?”
“I need to rest first. My energy is low, and I’ve got to keep as much as I can in case we need to fight again.” I glanced back at Sade and Iri, who were still deep in conversation.
“I wonder what they’re talking about.” His eyes narrowed as he considered them.
“The trip, I imagine.” I looked at what we had left for supplies. It was enough for maybe two or three days.
“We’d better get more,” he followed my gaze.
“The next town. We can see about getting some horses too, if we can make enough money. My feet can’t handle walking much longer and we’ve got a long way to go still.”
“How far to the next town?” Astor called out to Beru.
“Whoa!” Beru pulled back on the reins, slowing the horse to a stop. “One more sitting and we should be there.” He jumped off the carriage, making his way to the woods without another word.
“Should we stop him?” Astor stood, obviously debating on leaping from the back of the carriage.
“I don’t think he wants to empty his bladder in front of us.” I kept my back toward the trees, allowing him some privacy as I gave Astor a pointed look.
He had the grace to flush before following my example.
Sade came up to us, holding her hands out. “Break time! Pass me the cups.”
I handed her the bag of cups.
She managed to fill two from the water barrel before it ran dry, then split them evenly into five before shooting me an apologetic look.
“We’re out.”
“You take mine.”
“Everyone drinks.” She gave me a look, handing me a partially filled cup.
I accepted, unwilling to start an argument when she got that look on her face.
Beru emerged from the woods looking refreshed. He nodded his thanks when Sade passed him a cup of water. He drank it in one gulp, then jumped back in the carriage seat.
“We need those horses.” Iri wiped his mouth. “We can’t travel all the way to the coast with one carriage and horse. We should be switching the horse on the carriage at least three times a day to keep it healthy. At this rate, it will drop dead long before we get there.”
“Next town’s not far.” Beru called back to us.
“That’s all fine, but we still have no money.” Sade pointed out the unfortunate truth as she put the cups back in the bag.
A slow smile spread over Astor’s face. “The local governor has more than he knows what to do with.”
“And he’s just going to hand his horses over to us.” I crossed my arms, wondering if he’d lost his wits.
“We could borrow them and return them on the way back.” Astor took some venison from his pocket and bit a piece off as he looked between us for our reactions.
I wrinkled my nose in disgust, ready to tell him how dumb he sounded when Iri jumped in.
“Let’s try a more reasonable route first.”
“What’s more reasonable?” Sade shrugged.
I stared at her. Surely, she didn’t think Astor’s idea had merit.
“I’ll figure it out by the time we get there. Let’s push on.”
Iri nodded to Beru, who whipped the horse.
It began to walk at a slow pace and Astor jumped off, exchanging places with Sade.
I groaned in pain.
She held her hands up. “You stay. Iri still wants to walk.”
I looked out to see Iri teasing Astor by imitating his long strides and chuckled. When I looked back into the carriage, she was punching a sack into shape to use as a pillow. She closed her eyes, leaving me alone with only my thoughts for company.
Beru glanced back, occasionally making eye contact but not speaking.
We didn’t bother to stop again until we reached town, luckily with daylight to spare.
Beru pulled into a corral on the main street, then hopped out to tie up the horse and carriage.
“So, what’s the plan, big man?” Astor jumped in the carriage, leaning forward to include Beru in his question.
“We take bets,” Iri replied, searching in his pack for something, before finally pulling out his last few coins. “Astor, you stay and keep an eye on our things.”
Astor leaned back on his crossed arms, placing his hat over his eyes. “No problem, boss.”
“I’ll fight.” Beru stepped forward and volunteered.
Iri clapped him on the back and walked toward the center of the town with Sade following close behind.
“You sure you want to do that?” I tried to hide my concern, looking between him and Iri. Based on size alone, would Iri not be a better bet?
“I’ll win.” Beru gave me a half-smile, leaning over the side of the carriage to check out the suspicious sound coming from the floor.
Astor was already asleep and snoring loudly.
“You’re pretty confident.”
“Yup.” He didn’t look away from the snoring boy.
“I’m sure Iri would do it if you wanted to back out.” I pulled the latch on the back of the carriage up, locking it.
“Nope.”
I sat down on a shady bench next to our horse, watching as he took refuge from the heat behind the carriage. I couldn’t help but wonder how he was able to turn his emotions off and on like that.
He was a completely different man from the one who’d lain beside me last night. This was the emotionless warrior, without a hint of caring for anything or anyone evident on his face.
The sun had already begun to set by the time Sade and Iri returned, and it was clear from their satisfied smiles they’d managed to secure a fight.
“How many bets?” I stood and walked toward them.
“Enough for two horses.” She winced at my expression of dismay. “It’s a start. More people will bet when the fight starts.”
“It’s not enough for Beru to fight for.”
Iri banged on the carriage to wake up Astor, who jumped up and grabbed an empty bag to protect himself. Iri chuckled at his reaction. “They’d pay us not to see you fight,” Iri joked.
“We got food as well.” Sade pulled a small bag from behind her back.
We descended on the food ravenously, excited to have some variety for a change after the venison and grain.
“Where is the fight?” Beru stretched his arms, yawning contentedly.
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