Journey to Psitharis

Chapter 9

Nine

Needless to say, after such a traumatizing night, the possibility of falling asleep and having pleasant dreams was pretty slim. So when I awoke in the foggy haze of Psitharis I wasn't surprised. Instantly I decided to check around for the soldier. "Hello? Are you out there?" I called. "Can you hear me?"

It wasn't long until I was greeted with the harsh sound of a man calling back, "Where are you?"

"Just follow the sound of my voice." I called back. "You'll find me." It was funny. The first time he held me at bay with a sword it scared the crap out of me. The second time he apprehended me it was painful but not wholly unexpected. And now I was actually seeking him out. I guess the recent events in my real life allowed me to accept my fate in the dream world. They say if you die in a dream then you die in real life. Maybe I was thinking that wouldn't be such a bad way to commit suicide. Death in a dream, which probably looked like a heart attack in real life. Maybe I was resigned to that fate. Who knows?

I felt his hand reach out and grab me on the shoulder, saw the sword come up to my chest as he grabbed me in a tight embrace. "Honestly, is this necessary?" I asked. "After all, I let you know where I was. It's not like I tried to run or anything."

"Why do you keep disappearing?" he demanded. "Are you some sort of sorceress?"

I was getting tired of this guy. "Kind of hard to explain, especially when somebody is holding you so tight you can barely breathe." He loosened his grip on me slightly, lowered the sword but kept it at the ready. "I don't know how to explain this. Long story short, I'm kind of stuck between two worlds, this one and the one I usually live in. When I disappear from here I wind up back there. I don't know what kind of time elapses when I'm gone from here. By the way, how long was I gone?"

I don't think he was entirely convinced. "Days." He responded. "I sat here and waited. You said we would meet again. So I waited. What else could I do, report to the queen I had lost you twice?"

"Well, I'm back. I don't know for how long, but I'm back. And I don't see any real point in running until I get this whole deal straightened out with your queen, because I've never met your queen, much less plotted any acts of treason against her. But me disappearing, well that's going to happen...a lot."

"You will try to escape again?" he pulled the sword back up to my neck.

"I can't help disappearing." I replied, exasperated. "But I also don't see any point trying to get away from you either. So if I do disappear it won't be long until I return. So your only choice in this matter is to stay where you are and wait until I reappear. But while I'm here I won't try to flee. This is all just a stupid dream anyway, so what the hell?"

"A dream?" he was bewildered.

"Yeah, it's pretty much a dream to me." I answered. "Sorry to bust your bubble, but you're little more than a figment of my imagination. It's not like you could actually hurt me or anything. I sleep, here you are. I wake up, you're gone. Simple as that."

I think I made him angry, because from out of nowhere the jerk produced a tiny knife in his other hand and sliced my arm. It wasn't deep, maybe just a little deeper than a paper cut, and only about an inch long. But he proved his point. I grabbed my arm, crying out in pain, swearing up a blue streak. Some of the words he had never heard, but from the tone he could tell they were not nice.

"So, I cannot hurt you, eh?" He was gloating. Seriously, I hated this jackass. He handed me a cloth to tie around my arm so it would stop bleeding. My imagination was working overtime. I actually felt that. Guess I had to be cautious in this dream world from now on. I took the cloth, mumbled something akin to "Thanks, jerk." and we moved onward.