A Place To Bloom

The Returned

Ales tapped my cheek. "Wake up! It's your turn to see the old woman."

I hurt. My arms hurt. My shoulders hurt. My back hurt. My neck hurt. My wrists, my ankles, my hips, everything hurt.

My brain hurt.

I had pain throughout my insides, my outsides, and my in-betweens.

And it was morning. I rubbed my eyes enough to see clearly. Overhead, a large, black-and-brown spider fanned its legs out in mid-air at the center of a window. Beyond this, thick clouds filled the sky in a patchwork of grays, darker grays, and really dark grays.

Ales tapped my cheek. "Come on, man. You have to get up; everyone else is at breakfast."

Lifting my arms was laborious. My muscles and bones ached, and I had welts all about my wrists where the iron shackles had dug in. I tried to sit up, but my muscles forbade it.

"Come on, let's go!" He tapped me again, then took hold of my arm and pulled.

"I'm coming," I said. The air was thick and musty, but I didn't feel hot. Rather, my fingers were cold and trembling from having fasted for nearly two days, but the pit in my stomach stood in queue behind the pain in my bones.

With Ales's help, I was able to stand, somewhat, only I needed a few minutes for the dizziness to abate. I looked down once more at my bed with the feeling that I could simply collapse and stay there a few more years. By the time I was able to force some clothes on, I caught a glimpse of Ales rubbing his side, the spot where he'd been stabbed. "How are you feeling, man?"

"Ehh," he looked up at me. "Still hurts. Doctor still makes me drink that slimy weird shit. Earlier this morning I forgot; she sent your boy Taganu to remind me. They don't play here, man."

We stepped out of the old wooden barracks and onto the grass, and he continued. "Some milf came looking for you yesterday."

"Huh?"

"I don't know how the hell you go off to flirt with one lady and end up with another one bringing you gifts. Also, your boy Davod is no longer with us."

"What?" I stopped. My heart slammed against my chest.

Ales turned and laughed. "He's fine! Gods, you should see your face! Nah, man, so right after you left we was all standing around looking at one another. Davod goes to the shed to get a couple of those native bows and says we ought to get some practice in while we wait for Commander. Turns out Commander was up on the balcony watching to see what we would do. Now he's gonna be our captain, so Commander came and got him real early for some special training."

"Nice!"

A peal of thunder cracked overhead, and Ales started counting off on his fingers, "Geraln's in the medical ward with mosquito sickness; doc says he'll be fine in a few days. Kelint is on permanent wall duty. He's gonna serve his two years sniping fools who get too close then go home... bastard. We also got a couple new guys. Tobori kid, probably too young for this shit but he's a local, and some Goloagi dude fought in Kulun. Then they put some weirdo in charge of training us—Bear clan, loves the sound of his own voice. What else... what else..."

A sudden downpouring of rain filled the yard, and we were drenched. The thought of making a run for the nearest shelter crossed his face, followed by the realization that we were already too late. I was soaked through. My trousers, my shirt, my hair, and all in my boots were drenched.

"Oh yeah," Ales shouted above the clattering of drops filling pools around us. Water ran down his hair on all sides and sloshed across his face. "It rains a lot here."