A Dream?

(3116 words - Reading time: 15-20 mins)

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"How about up here?", Sorah asked me as he pointed at an elevated clearing off to our left side.
"Are you sure? Isn't it as bit close to the path" i said, looking up at the clearing, then back at the narrow and unneven path we had just from as it weaved its way further through the thick woods before dissapearing behind a nerby hill.
"Wouldn't it be better to find a spot a bit further away?" Sorah rolled his eyes at me, before taking a step towards me before putting a hand on my shoulder.
"You worry too much, you know that?" He said. "How many people did we cross getting here?
"None." i said.
"Exactly! So do you really think there's gonna be more people tonight walking around here?"
"Probably not", i admitted. Sorah let out a sigh.
"look, i understand why you're worried about people seeing you, but we're alone here, ok? You're safe here" I took a deep breathe. It was my first time travelling like this and so i was rather stressed, especialy given my current situation. This part of the country didn't have a high opinion of shapeshifters like me at all, and so when we left Sargassin, two days ago, Sorah had made sure we took the most secluded roads leading east, so that we would cross the least amount of people possible. So far that amount had been zero, a fact i was pretty happy about. Making sure i didn't slip on the still humid ground, i followed Sorah up to the top of the slope. There, he stopped and looked around as a smile quickly grew on his face.
"This is quite nice, right?" I nodded as i looked around me at the thick forest surounding us. The large trees held up a large red and yellow canopes that nearly completly hid the sky above from view. Still, some of the sun's waning daylight managed to slip through, making the foliage look even more fiery. On the ground, a tapestry of fallen leaves was ponctuated by some magenta flowers that had taken advantage of the last few weeks of warm weather to bloom. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, taking in all of the scents of the forests for a moment. The leaves, flowers and the rain-soaked ground all smelled quite nice and quite relaxing. That calm moment was cut short when i then caught the scent of animals too. I didn't recongnise most of them -No doubt due to my lack of outdoor experience in my hybrid form-, except for one. A wolf, not long departed, judging by the intensity of the odour. The smell brought unpleasant childhood memories started to bubble up to the surface and i wondered if i would need to do the same thing that i did back then if the wolf came back.
"Should we start the fire?", i said abruptly, trying to chase away the unwanted thought. Sorah looked up at me, a brief question appearing on his face, before he simply nodded.
"Yeah, probably. We should get it going before nightfall."
"I'll look for firewood then", i said.
"Don't bother taking it if its still wet. We don't have time to dry it."
"Right..." I looked around, but the ground here was quite damp and the sticks were small and wet. I turned to Sorah who had started to pick up rocks to contain the fire.
"I'll go look along the path we took here. I'll be back in a moment"
After he gave me a quick nod, i made my way down the slope. It didn't take me too long to find some larger sticks and began searching for dried leaves to start the fire with. Most were unfortunatly still humid, but some had dried enough during the day to be suitable. As i looked around, my mind drifted back to the wolf. Should i warn Sorah? Will it even come back? Shouldn't i be the one to deal with it if it does? But I really don't want too... A swarm of question still nagged at my mind by the time i finished collecting the firewood and made my way back to camp.
Sorah had already arranged the stones he'd collected into a circle near the middle of the clearing, so i placed the leaves inside in a pile and then put the sticks nearby while Sorah pulled out his flint and steel and started stricking it towards the leaves. It took a couple of failed tries, but eventualy a bright speck flew into it and ignited a small fire. Sorah and i then put the sticks in there and soon, we had a nice campfire going, just as the last sunlight left the clearing.
Sorah then sat down on a nearby fallen tree log and took off the bag on his shoulders and set it down to rumage through it. I sat next to him and did the same with my bag, pulling out my bedroll and unrolling it on the ground at a resonable distance from the fire, before sitting down on it, grateful to be able to rest on a dry surface. Sorah had done the same, yet also pulled out some of Akaela's ragout-filled pots for us to eat and set them down near the fire, as well as a weird looking leather case. He opened it to reveal a couple of small vials inside, filled with a clear liquid.
"What's that?" I said, stretching out my neck to see them better. He pulled one out of the case before putting the rest back into his bag.
"Potions. They prevent the need for sleep"
"Oh?"
"I'm gonna stay up tonight" He explained. I looked at the potions and then at him, confused.
"Why? Didn't you say earlier that it was safe here?"
"Yeah, but you don't feel that way, right? Plus, Akaela wanted me to try them out while i'm out here to see if i would be willing to take some with me while on mission more regulary. I said yes." He said, shrugging at that last part.
"Won't you get bored?" Sorah smiled at my question before started rumaging through his bag again. I was about to ask how many things did he bring with him when he pulled out a book.
"I'll read this. Its a book about the city we're going to. Aleida. Its in Essanian though, so i don't know how much you'll understand..." I smilled at him.
"Oh, its ok. You'll be able to tell me the important stuff anyways"
"Thanks, by the way" I said. Then, figuring that this pretty much settled the question had had earlier, i decided to tell him about the wolf. He seemed surprised, but not worried. He said that he wasn't sure if it would come back, but then explained that most animals do not like fire so even if it does, it won't get near them. This reassured me, not because i was scared of it -It'd be pretty silly of me to be scared of wolves, given what i was- but more because i was worried about the effects it would have on my Ikshai and myself. The conversation then shifted as he started talking about the plan for tomorrow.
"We'll spend the night here", He explained. "I'll wake you up early tomorrow, we'll finaly cross over these hills and should be able to reach Arghasi by nightfall."
"Sounds good." I said, before tilting my head up to the sky. The light blues of earlier had turned into deep purples. A myriad of stars had begun to appear, flickering to life as the sky darkened.
"Do you think it's gonna rain again?" i asked as i saw a couple of clouds drift in the skies above us. Sorah shook his head.
"No, i don't think so", he said. "I think we'll be fine."
As it turned out, we did end up being fine. We stayed up well after the sun had set, ate Akaela's delicious ragout and talked about various things, mostly related to him, as i didn't really care to talk about myself, and i had a lightmage in front of me who had gone on many adventures, of which i was eager to learn more about. Soon however, Veos rose from below the horizon.
I felt it as soon as it happened, but i managed to ignore it for some time, until its light began to shine through the trees. Because of my condition, broken tether and all, its presence and especialy its light made me feel nauseous. That was my signal to go to bed. Despite my relative tiredness, all too common for me during the past few weeks, i took me awhile before i finaly drifted off to sleep.

* * * * *

When i finaly did, it was in a restless state. So much so that i eventualy woke up again sometime during the night. My head felt heavy as i rose from the bedroll and looked around. Sorah was nearby, laying on his bedroll, fast asleep. I guess he changed his mind... or the potion didn't work. Veos was high in the sky by now, practicaly flooding the entire clearing around me in its bluish light. Despite this, i didn't feel nauseous at all, which i found rather curious. It wasn't affecting me in any way in fact, not even making me feel energized like it used to do before the accident in Gandasi. Just nothing.

Confused but also tired, i decided that i should try and get some more sleep, since by looking at Veos, i knew n=morning was still a couple hours away. Before laying back down to sleep, i casted a quick glance around me one last time to make sure everything was in order. Thats when i saw it. A wolf, standing at the edge of the clearing, near the slope we used to get up here. He was looking directly at me. Its golden eyes locked in mine as i stayed still, too surprised to do much of anything.

It was the first time i saw a wolf out in the wild like this, in its natural environment. Its territory. I wasn't scared of it, not really, but i wasn't sure how to react. Should i stay put and wait for it to leave, or should i scare it away? Would it decide to attack if i tried to scare it? I cringed at the though, as it triggered unpleasant memories from that cursed place. In the end, i ended up staying put and kept eye contact with the wolf. Its gaze wasn't aggressive i felt, but simply curious.

Nevertheless, i found myself wishing for the wolf to simply turn around and leave. I didn't want to have to scare it away, or beat it back if it attacked. It felt... wrong to me. Or was it my ikshai that felt this way? I wasn't sure. All this time, the wolf hadn't moved an inch from where he stood, and kept looking at me curiously. However, when i began to silently plead for it to leave, he then tilted its head to the side and took a step back, his grey fur further blending in with the dark woods that surrounded him.

I was startled by this. Did... did it understand me? I watched the wolf curiously as it continued to look back at me, with a gaze that seemed almost curious and... worried. Why is he worried about me? It felt like it was trying to tell me something, like i was missing something. That thought died quickly as i was startled by the wolf suddently taking a couple steps foward.

"Please, go away" I said, almost in a wisper, low enough that i wasn't sure anything audible came out of my mouth, but nonetheless, it seems that the wolf heard me and understood what i was saying however, as he then proceeded to bow down, its pointed ears tilting towards the ground. It then took a final look at me, turned around and barely made a sound as ran pass some nearby bushes and slipped away, into the night.

* * * * *

I don't remember what happened after that. I guess i had fallen asleep, since i was awakened up by Sorah some hours later. The sun had barely come up and the air still had that fresh. Images of the wolf encounter rapidaly resurfaced in my mind as i took a swig of the waterskin he offered me and debating internaly if i should tell him about the encounter or if i should keep it to myself. not.
"You didn't sleep well?", Sorah suddently asked me as he took back the waterskin and took a swig himself.
"Not really" I said, and after seeing Sorah's inquisitive face, decided to tell him what happened.
"I saw a wolf last night", I explained, and Sorah's face grew even more confused.
"You did? Here?" I nodded.
"Yeah, i saw it when i woke up in the middle of the night." I pointed towards the spot near the slope.
"It was standing over there, but it wasn't agressive or anything. It wasn't even moving at first." Sorah listened to me silently as i described what i saw, but his expression told me he wasn't being convinced.
"I didn't do anything to it," i added quickly, before getting up to my feet. "Eventualy, he went away on its own. Or i think so anyways," i muttered to myself after remembering the wolf's peculiar behavior before he went away. I turned around as i rolled up my bedroll and put it in my bag.
"Maybe it was the same wolf i smelled the scent of yesterday" I added with a shrug, before realising something weird.
"Actualy, i don't remember smelling anything when he was there..., so maybe not?"
"Mel..." Sorah said, with a concerned tone that made me turn to look at him as i got to my feet.
"What's up?"
"I didn't sleep last night" I looked at him, confused at first, before realising the problem: I very clearly remembered seeing him do exactly that during the wolf encounter.
"What do you mean-" I started, but stopped myself as i saw him retrieve an empty vial from his bag.
"That's the potion i drank last night, to stay awake," he said, showing it to me. Looking at it, i could see only a few drop of liquid left inside, which meant that he had drinked it.
"I... don't understand."
"We talked about this yesterday before you went to bed, remember? I agreed to stand guard for the night so you could get some sleep. I took it when i felt too tired to stay awake."
I bit my lip, unsure of what to think. That conversation did sound... familiar, now that he was describing it, but i still didn't remember it as clearly as what i saw hours later, which worried me. Is my Ikshai making me forget things? Already? If he stayed up all night, then... Could it really have been just a dream?
"You didn't see the wolf?" I asked him, my voice a bit meeker than i wished.
"No, i didn't," Sorah said, shaking his head. "I stayed awake the whole night and i didn't see any wolves, or any other animal for that matter, that came near us." He put a hand on my shoulder when i remained silent, confused as to what to think.
"Are you Ok?" He asked, searching my face for an answer. I really wasn't, honestly, but i still gave him a quick nod back, as i didn't want us to dwelve on this for too long since i had no answers or explination to give him anyways.
"Yeah..., i'm ok. I guess it was just... a dream, then," i said, aware that my words didn't sound too convincing, probably because it didn't really believe them. I know what i saw. It felt too real to just be a simple dream. Yet, it was the only explination that made sense.
"Definetly" He confirmed. "I think it's probably the ikshai that's influencing your mind and making you see these vivid dreams." He gave me a half-smile and patted me on the back. He then picked up his bag and swung it on his shoulders.
"Alright, come on," he said, waving towards the slope leading to the main path. "If we start walking now, we should arrive at Arghasi by day's end." I nodded back and he turned away to leave the clearing. I followed behind him, with my face likely painted with confusion as questions swirled around in my mind. Is my memory already degrating? Why can't i remember that specific conversation? Why did i see Sorah asleep, when he wasn't? Was the wolf not really there either? Was it all a dream? Why would i dream about that? What does it mean? Am i finaly started to lose my mind? Will we reach Aleida before i forget everything about myself and my memories? What about- I stopped, my foot half-way down to the ground. I pulled it behind me before kneeling down. This was the spot, right? Between those trees, near the bushes... I heard sorah called me, asking what i was was doing, but i was much too focused on what i was seeing. Even as he came closer, i could hardly hear his voice over the thumping of my heart, resonating in my ears. Not entirely convinced i wasn't hallucinating this too, i tentatively extended a hand towards the ground, then recoiled somewhat as i felt the cold dirt on my fingers. Its real... they're real. They look recent... , and -I took a sniff closer to the ground- They have no scent...
"What is it?" Sorah said, kneeling next to me. I turned to him, unable, or maybe unwilling to hide a smile creeping its way on my face as i pointed to the ground in front of me. His eyes widened as he saw what was in front of us.
"Those are pawprints. Wolf pawprints"