Of The Sea : John Murphy

Spreading Like Butter

I felt a damp sort of something dab gently against the under of my eyes, waking me from my deep and empty sleep. Voices pulled me further into the clear as I felt too weak to function.

"She's back with us." A gentle voice called, possibly to others in the room.

Blurred shuffles surrounded me and I felt my eye being pulled open. Faces scattered my vision and I squeezed my eyes back to a close.

"Chief, Thea? Can you hear us?" It was Sanna who was bent over me.

I groaned internally at the bitter taste in my mouth and the pain I felt in my gut. I struggled to open my eyes to a slit and squinted up at the dimly lit room.

"Of course she hears us, she's not dying." A rougher voice muttered.

'That's what you think' I thought to myself, feeling 100's of miles under the weather.

I pressed my hands flat against the fabric that covered the wooden table.

"She wants to get up." Áki's deep voice growled.

With strained muscles, I tried my hardest to get up right.

A firm hand gripped my arm and slid under me and pushed my back up, sending faint swells through my head but the sense of being up woke me that little bit more.

"She shouldn't be up, she should be resting!" Sanna argued.

My stomach constricted and I felt a faint gag fight its way up my throat but I kept it suppressed. "Outside." I muttered.

"You heard the chief." Áki retorted and hooked me under the arms, lifting me off the table effortlessly.

When I was able to rest my feet on the ground, it did not feel quite like it should. My bones ached from the balls of my feet and my muscles dissolved at any effort I made to use them. "What is wrong with me?" I asked with a hoarse voice.

"I'm not sure, chief." Sanna dipped her head. "Which is why you must rest, we don't know what effect this sickness may have on you."

I ignored her and turned away, my hand gripping tighter on to the fabric of Áki's shirt.

He pulled me outside and at the smell of fresh, salty air, I let go of Áki and lurched forward, emptying my stinging hot gut. Blood spilled on to the pebbled dirt and covered my hands which were planted firmly in the ground.

I spat out the remaining metallic fluid from my mouth and pushed back up. "Call a meeting, Trigeda has made a direct attack at our clan, this just became personal."

I stepped away from Aki and stumbled into the hall, struggling to even reach the chair as my legs wobbled like a newborn calf's and my head spun like I had swallowed a barrel of ale. This sickness felt very much like my downfall but I would not let the others see that. Sanna followed after me and wiped the blood from my skin with warm water, her eyes filled with worry.

Soon the room filled with our unit's most elite and they sat quietly and patiently while I kept hydrated and wiped away my seemingly never ending flow of blood escaping my body. "You probably all know why I have called you here."

Murmurs of agreement rippled down the table.

"Trigeda, or more specifically Ton D.C. has decided to go against me once more. And this time we shall show no mercy."

"Chief, are you suggesting war?" One pitched in.

I took in a hearty mouthful of water and winced through the pain it gave me as it slid down my throat. "Perhaps not yet, it hasn't come to that." I mumbled. "But we will not stand by and let this happen again, Thore, I send you to the mountains, make sure our alliance with the Ice Nation is still secure." I turned to another. "I send you and a small crew of your choice across the narrow sea to bring back anyone who is willing to follow. Do not disappoint me."

I leaned back in my chair and looked to Aki with pleading eyes. I was far too weak to continue.

He nodded, understanding my wishes and turned the table's attention towards himself. "The rest of you, do your jobs, but train when any sort of free time is available. And when you are beyond the wall, make sure you have more than one weapon and eyes on the back of your heads." He growled. "Now leave the chief to rest and get on with it."

"Thank you, Aki..." I smiled, leaning my forehead into the palm of my hand. "Now go make sure they get a move on, we don't know how much time we have."

He nodded and departed, leaving me in the almost silence.

Bells and waves and the strong voices of men yelling from one end of the beach to another pulled me back into a sleep, only to be startled back awake at the sound of the hall door slamming open.

"Thea!" Edith called loudly from the other side of the room.

I looked up and saw Sanna standing faintly beside her, blood dripping from her nose and the under of her eyes darker than the night.

"The sickness you have..." She looked to my weakened healer. "It's spreading."