Elfborn

Introductions

When Max sank back into sleep, it was a dreamless one, wrapping the young Hybernian in warm blankets of black unconsciousness, letting his body heal itself and regain its strength. In order to do that, his body drew on what little reserves his body had left, stored deep within his tissues.

These reserves were quickly consumed, leaving his body wanting more, needing more to complete its work of restoration. And so it turned to the consciousness, urging the deeply sleeping young man back to the land of the living, this time for an entirely different purpose than before!

Slowly Max felt himself wake once more, his eyes opening to the same twilight dim interior of the covered wagon that he had awakened to before. This time, however, as he became aware of his hunger-knotted stomach, rumbling even as he carefully rolled over, his nose came alive to a hundred scents, each as distinct as the next. And none of them identifiable. Certainly not as food, anyway.

Max groaned as he rubbed at his nose, tingling with overload. Why hadn't he smelled all those things before? 'Probably because I was still half unconscious,' he silently noted with a mental laugh as his stomach growled loudly once again. 'Bone and ash! If I don't get something to eat soon, I think my stomach will start to eat me!'

Carefully he sat up, not wanting his head to start spinning like it did last time. Still, as he came erect, he felt quite lightheaded. Not sure whether it was the lack of food, or the fever, he was more than ginger in his movements, keeping his eyes half closed while he slowly turned his head to reduce the spinning sensation that still threatened to overwhelm him.

It was as he looked into the wagon's interior that a door in its right hand wall opened without warning, letting the young woman that he had seen before, slip in with a cloth-covered basket. From it wafted the smells of fresh bread, enough to make Max's mouth water like a river.

The young woman smiled brightly when she saw Max sitting up, closing the door swiftly behind her before she stepped towards him.

"Good," she said in that smooth voice of hers, now colored with pleased satisfaction. "You're awake. I brought you some food, thinking you might be hungry."

"You knew I was going to wake up?" Max rasped, his voice still thick with sleep, his expression puzzled. The young woman nodded confidently, placing the basket on a counter before flipping off the cloth to reach inside. She quickly drew out a round loaf of freshly baked black bread, a wedge of hard cheese, some kind of sausage and some dried fruit. These she placed onto a wooden plate before kneeling beside Max's bed.

Looking at the food, Max almost couldn't restrain himself, his stomach now growling in time with his heartbeat, or so it seemed. Seeing the ravenous look in Max's eyes as he stared at the food, the young woman laughed with delight, a shimmering sound of joy that uplifted Max's spirits just by hearing it. She put the plate in his lap before she reached for a full water skin.

"Now, you must eat slowly," she instructed as Max took a big bite of the sausage, it's spicy meat filling his mouth in a most pleasing manner. "Even though your stomach calls strongly for food, it has been dormant for over seven days, now. If you eat too fast, you will become sick and will lose everything that you've eaten."

Realizing that the young woman was right, Max paused before stuffing a piece of cheese into his mouth. It would be a shame to wolf all this good food down, only to bring it back up a moment later, all that goodness wasted. Nodding his understanding, he held the piece of cheese in his hand as he slowed his chewing, making sure the food was well masticated before he swallowed it down with help from some water out of the skin.

Though the water was tepid and stale-tasting, to the hungry young man it was the finest wine that Noran's and Ibis's vineyards could offer, going down cool and clean as it swept the mouthful of sausage before it. Max took another long swallow before turning to the cheese, smiling at the young woman before taking a measured bite.