The Winter

Chapter 2

Dreams don't always mean something, do they?

Have you ever had a dream that's warned you of something? Or even one that's come true?

Pronunciation:

Hnefatafl - neffa-taffle

***

Sleep did not provide the escape from reality I hoped it would.

My dreams conjured up what I forced away while awake. Again and again, I saw Bruadar standing by the wall of the courtyard, a shadowed figure coming up behind him, the way he smiled before he turned. Then the silver flash of a blade. Those images morphed into the moon aflame while the sun froze, frothing seas battering against cliffs with such might that rock that had stood for millennia grumbled into the dark depths. Snow battered everything in sight, freezing pups in their beds and parents by their empty hearths.

The familiar crying of the dead haunted every visage that plagued me. I felt that now familiar tugging trying to lure me into across realms, but either I was too exhausted to follow, or even in sleep I was aware enough to refuse. My name was called again and again, and each time I didn't answer. Because I didn't want to see anymore. I didn't want to end up trapped in the dark with Narfi, or other damned souls, or risk showing up somewhere that Sköll could find me.

I didn't want more confusing scenes of a towering ash tree on fire, or tall standing gates being bombarded by steel and flame. Even the strange mouse feasting on a bloody heart amongst all the carnage was enough to make my blood run cold.

Why was I seeing any of it?

I wanted the dreams I'd had before; of running with my uncle and brother through sunlit forests of silver trees with their small petal leaves dripping like beads from thin swaying branches. . .

Was it Bruadar who was trying to get through to me? Or were the visions I saw simply my mind trying to work through all that had happened? It was becoming near impossible to deny the pull any longer but the more I fought the call, as if my powers were as much a part of my nature as shifting to fur.

Fear of what I'd see won out in the end.

My body reacted in a last-ditch effort of resistance, and my eyes flew open on a sharp inhale that startled the other occupants in Hati's den. My muscles seized all at once from the violent awakening, then relaxed to leave me limp in the bed staring at the roof. However long I'd slept, I did not feel rested in the slightest. I rolled over and squeezed my eyes shut with the intention to go back to sleep, but the moment my eyes closed, I knew I'd find no rest. Especially upon waking in bed without the male who'd promised to be there.

"Restless without your lover beside you?"

Just like that, Astrid brought a reluctant smile to my lips.

"It concerns me how comfortable you are referring to your cousin as my lover," I replied, my voice muffled under the first.

"It concerns me too," Farrin agreed, alerting me to who else was in the room.

Dragging myself to sit up, every small movement brought a tightening to muscles threatening to cramp up again. Yesterday's excursion was something that apparently required more than a few hours sleep to recover from. My gaze strayed to the tapestries hanging in front of the windows to see streaks of white light filtering through the hidden shutters; which meant I hadn't slept the whole day away. Dark drew in fast here so it couldn't have been any later than an hour or two after midday.

Astrid and Farrin had kept their promise to stay with me too. Sat before the fire on a mismatched chair and stool, a small table had been dragged from the far side of the room to sit between them with what appeared to be a game set up on a square board. The game pieces were carefully carved from what I could only guess to be a pale wood but they shone and glittered in the firelight like polished stone, some a darker brown to distinguish from each player. Faces adorned some of the pieces, others wearing helms or carrying long spears and shields.