The Shadow of Eons

Chapter 19

They were travelling for five hours when the sun finally came up. More marshes had appeared along their path, and as a consequence Jonas and the others were covered in mosquito bites, in addition to the more commonplace bleeding scratches that were the result of the invasive brambles. They were so tired that Lucille and Agatha simply collapsed once they arrived at a small clearing in the middle of the forest. They were asleep almost before they hit the ground.

"Go to sleep," Marta told Jonas when he looked at her questioningly. "I'll keep watch in the meantime. I've dealt with worse."

Jonas had also dealt with worse, particularly when he was fleeing wild bears in the Northlands, but he had much shorter legs now that he was a woman, and he sorely felt the aftereffects of the long hike. He lay down on the grass-covered ground and was out like a rock.

During his sleep, he dreamed that he was home in Barrowtown, eating a hearty dinner with his family. Brianna had made roast chicken with potatoes and greens, and there was also fresh bread baked just that morning. The chicken was steaming in Jonas's mouth as he bit into it and its juices ran down his throat. Simply bursting with pleasure, he could not help but tell his wife there and then what a pearl she was to him.

"Don't talk with your mouth open, dear," his wife told him graciously as she cut some more chicken and placed it on his plate. She had her hair down and was wearing an apron. Jonas liked it when she had her hair down, because it made her look like a princess; but he dared not say this in front of the children.

"Mama," Agatha asked, reaching for a slice of fried potato, "Can James come for supper tomorrow night? He always helps me with my studies, and I think he is a good influence on me."

"My, my, you do have the penchant for copying my every turn of phrase," Brianna laughed. It was a marvel to see, because her face lit up and her inner light permeated the entire room with her presence. Everyone at the table laughed with her: Agatha, Jarron, Devola, and Jonas himself. Jonas marveled at the ethereal quality of the scene; it was a moment he would want to remember and cherish forever. And there had been so many such moments.

"Of course he can come," Brianna was saying. "But dear, don't you think you are a bit young to have a boyfriend? After all, the minimum legal age for marriage in Escelion is twelve, and you are only eight. . ."

"We can always fake her age, Mother," Jarron put in in his deep baritone while he speared some greens on his fork. He brought them to his mouth and chewed, and then his eyebrows furrowed: "This salad needs dressing," he said, bringing some more greens to his mouth. "But it's good."

"Yes, we do have fresh vegetables, my love, but only royalty has vinegar," Brianna sang, as she finally sat down and dug into her own meal. "Perhaps you can go to Escelion and steal some from their stores."

Suddenly, there was a deafening roar, like some terrifying monster out of the jungle had invaded their home and was there to kill them all. Jonas could smell acrid, rotting breath, and he knew that the creature was near. He looked around at his family, but they had all disappeared, gone to gods-knew-where; he was alone at the table, with only the enormous quantity of food there to keep him company. Jonas began to turn around to get a look at the beast. The doorway behind him was just coming into vision when the whole scene vanished.

He woke up. Hands were shaking him, causing him to shout out in confusion. "It's okay, Jonas," he could hear a voice saying. "You just have to get up. We need to go now."

"Go?" he said, gingerly getting up and shaking his head to clear the sleep away. "Alright. Lead the way."

"We have to get as far away from that tiger as we can," Jonas heard Marta saying. "It has a good sense of smell, so we have to move quickly."