The Fall of Dewan

Chapter 16 Dream

 Genevieve shot up from her sleep early the next morning, so early the sun had not yet risen. She had a terrible nightmare, similar to the ones she used to have about the battles at the wall. This one wasn't about the wall though, it was about where they were now. She dreamed that they were ambushed by Almorian soldiers, surrounded before they could realize what was happening. There had been fighting, swords whirling through the air, she heard Ohamed screaming in pain and saw him falling to the ground and then she was grabbed from behind by two Almorians and dragged away.

When she woke she was covered in sweat and breathing heavy, it had been a long time since she'd had a dream like this one. The dreams she had of the silver solider and Artemis fight still happened often, but they always remained the same, having a certain blur to them that helped remind her that they weren't real. This one had felt real, as real as any she'd ever had before. She sat for a long moment. Ohamed, who had been keeping watch from in a nearby tree, was staring at her with a curious and concerned face. She didn't know what to do. Her parents had made her swear to never tell anyone about her dreams, and she had done her best to do that- the most she did was confide in Addy that she had nightmares about the war. But what if this dream was like the ones about the wall? What if this dream was about to come true? She tried to wipe the sweat off her face as she stood quietly. She looked at Ohamed who had climbed down from the tree and was heading in her direction, then at Archibald, Agnes and Alice's sleeping bodies. She made up her mind, she had lost enough people already. If there was even a possibility that this dream would come true she needed to try to prevent it. She walked over to Ohamed and said in an urgent tone, "We need to go. Now."

Ohamed looked at her questioningly, "We still have another hour or so before the sun begins to rise, let's let the others get more sleep."

"No!" She cried at him, panic was beginning to set in now, she didn't know how to make him understand without revealing her secret. "We need to go! Almorians are coming this way. We must leave now!"

Ohamed looked at her with concern in his eyes, "Genevieve how would you know if Almorians are coming? I've been in that tree for hours, there's no one within a mile of us"

"Please Ohamed, they are coming, I saw it please" she begged.

"Genevieve whatever you saw was only a dream. Go back to bed, try to get another hour of sleep and then we will go"

"No! Sometimes my dreams are more than just a dream. Please Ohamed we must go, don't make me demand it! Please!" Desperation was heavy in her voice.

Ohamed looked at her for a long moment, then finally said, "Fine, go prepare the horses, I'll wake the others. But Genevieve we will be talking about this later."

Genevieve ran and got the horses. when she returned the others were all awake and ready, things packed and on their backs. They all gave her questioning looks but Genevieve ignored them. "Let's go!" She cried at them, hurrying them to their horses.

Ohamed took the lead as they rode away. They rode west, heading uphill through thick forest. The horses galloping as fast as they could before Ohamed finally gave the sign to slow, They had reached what appeared to be the top of the hill which ended in a steep cliff. Genevieve was frustrated, thinking that Ohamed had gotten them lost and wasted valuable time, but Ohamed made no move to turn around, instead hopping down off of his horse.

Genevieve anxiously questioned, "Ohamed what are you doing? We need to keep going!"

But Ohamed remained calm, "Genevieve we are miles from where we woke, and look the sun is just now rising. From this overlook we can almost see the entire forest, let's rest for a few moments and see if that dream had any validity to it."

Genevieve did not want to stop, she was still devoured by the fear of the dream. But curiosity got the best of her. She also wanted to see if the dream had been true, or if it had just been a childish nightmare that she overreacted to. "Are you sure we are safe up here? We can see everything, but can people see us?"

"There is good tree coverage behind us that we can blend in to, we will stay low and leave our horses behind the treeline out of sight. Besides if your dream is correct, the soldiers won't be looking for us here, they'll be looking three miles to the east" he said pointing in that direction.

Genevieve looked to Alice, Agnes and Archibald for their opinion. Archibald nodded, hopping off of his horse, Alice sat for a long minute before also hopping off. She seemed to have lost her will to give direction, no longer wanting to take the lead of the group. She was not openly disagreeing though, which Genevieve expected that even in her defeated mindset she would have if she truly thought this to be a bad plan.

Agnes tied their horse to the trees and tended to them as the others crept to the edge of the cliff. Ohamed pointed in the general direction of where their camp had been and they all sat in silence as they scanned the forest for movement. They saw nothing for about an hour, until the sun had fully risen, then they spotted the first solider. After they spotted one they spotted nearly thirty more. The soldiers were right in the area where they had been a few mere hours ago.

"My gods" Alice said quietly, "You were right," turning to look at Genevieve.

Genevieve didn't really see this as a victory. All it confirmed was that her dreams held truth to them. That scared her more than it comforted her. She backed away from the edge saying, "Okay we've seen enough, let's put some more distance between us and them."

No one objected. They all crept towards their horses, got on and rode off. Ohamed once again taking the lead, this time leading them north again.