The Reincarnated King (ManxManxMan)

Chapter Twelve: A Normal Court - Part Three

~Chapter Twelve: A Normal Court~

-boar lunges, its massive tusks narrowly missing me when I dodge, gouging a deep mark in the tree that had been behind me. The hound of Arawn laughs and drives a spear through Trwyth's right hind leg, making the boar squeal in pained fury. It spins around, ready to attack him.

"Hound!"

The mad god barely heeds my warning shout, just spinning out of the way of the boar's tusks as it runs by him while snatching back the spear he had left in its leg. "I've told you my name," the hound calls back, with just a hint of bite. "Use it."

It is only the loud squeal of the boar that keeps me from responding since it is a deafening sound. Furious, Trwyth charges the god again, intent on running him over, but he just disappears with a laugh right before the boar reaches him. The god then appears directly to my left and says-

"Wake up."

The fact that I am on my back when I was just a moment ago standing up, about to once again face down the boar, has me immediately rolling off the soft platform I am on and onto my feet. My hand flies to the sheath at my hip, but my fingers close around nothing, which is enough to make me pause in uncertainty. I refrain from actually looking for my sword, though, since I already know that it is not on me because its familiar weight is nowhere on my body.

This pause gives me the chance to realize that I am not still in the forest where we were fighting the mighty boar, Trwyth, with my small, handpicked group of warriors, and though the hound of Arawn stands not a meter from me, he is not dressed for battle, in his intricate, fearsome metal armor. He is instead wearing soft brown pants with a regal fur draped over his shoulders.

I take a deep breath and release it, calming my concern now that it is clear that I am no longer in a dangerous place, even if I am not all that familiar with this one. "I'm surprised you are still here," I comment, looking around the room curiously. I think I remember it, but I am not sure why since it does not look like any place I would have stayed before. It feels like Faerie, though, which is not a place I have ever wanted to wake up in.

My vision slowly starts to spin like the wheel on a moving cart, and I look towards the bed, wondering if I should sit down. I feel healthy, so it is likely that I was not gored near to death by the boar's tusks and thus suffer from blood loss, but it would seem that I likely hit my head at some point during the fight. It is the only explanation for why I would feel so dizzy.

It takes me a moment to realize that the hound has not replied, so I look back at him, half expecting him to have disappeared in the last minute, as he likes to do. However, he is still standing less than a meter away, simply watching me with shrewd eyes. The only change is that he has crossed his arms.

I frown at him, confused, and he just slowly looks away before saying, with a slight drawl, "You are not a complete waste of my time when I have nowhere else I need to be."

The backhanded compliment makes me chuckle and take a step forward to get in range to pat his shoulder, only for the spinning dizziness to suddenly grow worse. It would have knocked me off my feet if the hound had not grabbed my arm to hold me steady.

"What was that?" The teleporting man demands sharply, his grip on my bicep almost painfully tight, and after watching me struggle for a moment with nausea-inducing vertigo, he pushes me to sit down on the side of the bed.

I blink at him for a moment before dropping my head into my hands with a nauseous groan. "Sorry," I mutter, rubbing my face to try to dispel the already-dissipating dizziness. "That just, uh--it happens. It's a thing. Don't worry about it."