Chronicles of Carnezia (Book 2): Wilderness

Chapter 5: Stones

Chapter 5: Stones

            It was odd to be back in this room and it was only when I laid out on the bed that I realised how tired my body felt. My legs suddenly became like lead and my eyes seemed just as heavy; not long after, I was snoozing away on top of the sheets. I dreamt over much of being in the Yok Hills again and the old dragons that I met; it was hard to imagine the real impression they gave when you were so near to them. Their magnificence and stature was something you could only comprehend when you were with them.

            Flickering my eyes open, I woke up in a groggy haze and put my hand over where my pendant lay on my skin under my top. Looking at the window, I saw it was night time but couldn’t be sure of which night it was. I could have slept for a few hours or well over a day. There was a short rap, on the door and it creaked open (unfortunately there was no lock) and Ky poked his head through.

            ‘Oh, you’re awake. I knocked earlier but you were totally out of it,’ he said.

            Sitting up and rubbing my eyes, I shuffled my feet on the floor. ‘Yeh, and I still feel tired. Did you want something?’

            He shook his head and stepped in but stayed close to the open door. ‘Not really, just to see how you were or are rather.’ He sounded very odd. ‘Well, really I was wondering why you even bothered to come here,’ he confessed.

            ‘Really? Well, that’s for me to know and...’ I stood up and walked over towards him. ‘For you to find out, if you’re lucky enough to.’ Pushing him out the door, I poked my head round it and smiled at him. ‘But for now, I want to sleep so I’ll see you later, maybe.’

            We did see each other later but half way through the next day. I woke up in the same fashion as the night before and my stomach was empty that I felt sick; it would easily subside the sooner I had something to eat. It was when I headed downstairs that I bumped into Ky again. He was limping but I didn’t bother asking why as he would just give me some excuse or change the subject.

            After breakfast, I took Aspen from the trough and jumped into his saddle as he began to trot off out of town; not that I expected anything else, Ky was soon with us, riding on Murtal. It was an odd sensation, having him following me around nearly everywhere all day and even when I headed out of town to see Frain.

            When we reached him, the purple dragon looked very satisfied and pleased with himself. It didn’t take long for me to spot the huge pile of fish he had spent the day catching and was now flicking them into the air with his tail and snapping his mouth around them. Although he hadn’t shown it, when we stopped he showed no sign that he had seen us but spoke so that I could tell.

            ‘You took your time long enough. Are we leaving soon?’ he asked, throwing another fish in the air and almost missed it.

            ‘Hmm, no, we aren’t. Why?’ I asked him but he remained silent. ‘I see you’ve been busy. No deer around?’ He swung his head signing his disapproval of there being no woodland.

            All the while, Ky sat on Murtal and neither of them moved; Murtal was a little twitchy being this close to Frain but then again she didn’t spend every day in the same vicinity as one.

            ‘You might find some further to the west,’ Ky commented. ‘There is a small wood or forest there.’ As he spoke, I remembered myself that there indeed was an unnamed forest; Doran, Hydra, Frain and I had all passed it whilst we searched for the five eggs we had saved. Frain probably remembered; it would just be the distance that he didn’t want to travel without me.