The Day The Music Died

Chapter 5

This time, while Ivon listened to the chilling melody, as it was less distant this time, he could make out some of the lyrics. The voice was distinctly feminine and as he thought back, it seemed to be the same voice as last night.
"Oh come weary traveler, stay and rest well. Trust your worries in me, and your troubles shall quell." It seemed like such strange lyrics, speaking in old, fancy Domatian. The more he listened the more he was convinced that these creatures were capable of speaking his language, but it was clearly out of date.
"Broth, mead or brew, poured into your glass, but be wary dear friend, it might be your last. Backstabbing, false friends and thieves they may be. Be wary of all, oh take it from me. I once sored free, over sapphire skies. But little did I know, it would be my demise. Trick me once, and the shame is on you,. But the shame is on me if you trick me two." Once again, Ivon felt his eyelids growing heavier and it was getting increasingly harder to stay awake. He tried to heed Zephyr's advice and not drift off while listening to the song that told the story of a person in high power, who trusted the wrong people, that made too many enemies. People got jealous and eventually, others rebelled against them and that started their downfall. After a while, Ivon found it impossible to keep his eyes open and he finally caved in to the pleasant and uncanny tune.

Zephyr shook Ivon awake the next morning with a panicked expression on his face.
"Ivon, are you okay? You're covered in cuts and bruises... What happened?" The bombardment of questions made Ivon's aching head spin. He tried to sit up and immediately regrated it, pain exploded all throughout his body, like being stabbed with a million daggers repeatedly. Zephyr saw Ivon's pained expression and winced from the pain it brought him.
Why is my head so sore?  Why is my entire body so sore. It's all aching and throbbing and I wish it would just stop.
"What did happen?" Ivon's mouth was parched, and his voice was raspy, he was in desperate need of water. Without him saying a word, Zephyr quickly ducked out of the tent and not a moment later, he was back with a flask of much desired water. He didn't question where his friend had gotten the mystery canister, instead, all he could think of was gulping it all down.

"Wow, you're really thirsty," Zephyr mused, "So what happened last night? You look as if you've been hunting a really, really big animal and it picked you up and shook you like a ragdoll." Ivon was surprised at how accurately Zephyr's description mirrored how he felt.  After Ivon had drunk a good amount of the water, he shook his head to try and clear his thoughts, to no avail. They were still as muddy and clouded as when he had woken up. Ivon tried to think back to what had happened the night prior but the last he could remember, he was lying down in his bed and fighting for consciousness against the sweetest voice he ever heard.

"I'm not quite sure what happened, but I know it was nothing good," Ivon finally replied after too much awkward silence.
"Obviously," Zephyr mused. "You look like shit." Ivon couldn't help but laugh at Zephyr's snarky remark. He tried to smooth out his ruffled hair, to no avail.
"Here, let me do it," Zephyr came over and ran his fingers gently through Ivon's hair, doing a much better than Ivon thought he could ever do. He could feel a warm blush rising to his cheeks. After what felt like far too long, Zephyr pulled back and looked at his work.
"There, now you look much better," He smiled, then added under his breath "Like a rooster, but better."
Ivon quickly reached his hand to feel his hair, expecting it to be spiky and sticking up. He let out a sigh of relief when his hair was lying flat and perfectly shaped.
"You bitch," He punched Zephyr in the arm, "I thought my hair actually looked like a rooster's, so thank you for nothing, you useless blonde."
"We should get out of here, it's past dawn already." Zephyr advised, backing out of the tent, and Ivon followed closely after. The moment he stepped a foot outside the tent, he heard somebody shout
"GET DOWN!" An arrow came sailing over his head, and with a gut-wrenching sound, flew straight into Ellisar's chest.

-AUTHOR'S NOTE-

I'm thinking I'm going to start doing shorter chapters but there will be more of them. If you guys actually want less quantity but more quality chapters let me know cause right now I'm torn.
Anyway, stay safe, stay hydrated and remember to be nice to each other. (Even though there's only like two people reading this right now lol)