On Death's Honor

Chapter 19: Adria's Dream

Sometimes, I wished that a monster or a natural event (sickness, weather, robbery - something) had killed me a long time ago. Way before I'd ever gotten myself tangled up in things man wasn't set handle.

Because now it was too late. If I died now, I wasn't going to receive the chance to find out what happened after life. Too many targets on my back, all stemming from beings who had been around far longer than anyone cared to admit. A simple death wasn't in the cards for me.

And it was as terrifying as hell.

Maybe it was this reasoning that prompted me to fight when every bone in my body just wanted to rest. There was no knowing that the memories would burn away, no guarantee that the eternity I faced wouldn't simply be another replication of the things I'm already going through.

And fuck an eternity of this.

I leaned against the open doorway at the front of Orik's cabin, my sword casually resting in my left hand. The ominous clicking sound I'd heard minutes prior bounced around the surrounding trees, and I couldn't quite tell if they were getting louder or softer. All I knew was that it would be foolish to throw myself out in the open when I couldn't even tell the direction it came from, so I waited.

The thing was coming because of me, after all.

The sound of a board creaking behind me told me that someone was awake. I knew it wasn't Bogdan; the old spirit wasn't going to risk exposure with other mortals more than he had to. Too many questions.

He's probably lurking around somewhere, I thought. I wasn't sure if he could teleport the way he usually did in the state he's in, but I doubted he was still in the guest room Orik had let me sleep in. I kept my eyes on the dawning sky, wishing that I could drown out the insufferable roaring in my ears. Last night was barely more than a tease, and I had bitten far too much into it.

"You're already up," Orik commented. He sounded mildly surprised. I grunted.

"Told you. I can't sleep."

He stopped when he was close to standing next to me.

"Something's coming," he noted, not even asking about the sword I held besides me. It wasn't a question, but I nodded, anyway.

"Do you know what it is?"

I stayed silent for a moment, racking my brain for the proper term. It wasn't something people spoke about often. Rather, it was more akin to a feeling, something you felt but could never place a name to. As if somehow, that would make the problem less real, less scary.

To me, this tactic did anything but.

"Adria's Dream," I finally said. Spoken as if the monster seeking out my sent was a sort of plant or essence and not a living, breathing thing - because it wasn't. A grayver had more life to it than this thing did. Orik startled, tossing me a wild look.

"Are you sure?"

I gave a brief nod of my head, unsure if I should be surprised that he knew what I was talking about. "Yes, but you'll be fine as long as you-"

But Orik was already reaching for an axe leaning up against the wall.

"My boy's out there," was all he said before heading outside.

"Wait - what?" I stepped forward to intercept him, hesitating for only a moment. "I never saw him leave - and what the hell are you hoping to do with that?" Was he really expecting to fight a monster with a simple wood-cutting axe?

"He hunts in the morning," the big man said over his shoulder. "Right before dawn."

I swore, finally catching up to him.