Paragon - Book I

Questions and Answers

Blurred patches of green and beige and red blot in front of her, swimming in and out of vision. Allayria tries to blink, but she can't tell if her eyes are open. Somewhere, in the distance, there is some commotion, and trickling in the back of her head is an understanding of it, but the words won't string together.

The collage in front of her seems to tilt, then reorient itself, but even as she narrows her eyes it won't sharpen into sense. Light is peeking out between the green and she feels a searing pain across her skull.

The sounds sort themselves out before her vision, and it suddenly occurs to Allayria that what she is hearing are voices. Moreover, familiar voices.

"Can you hear me?" they're asking.

Then it seems to her that the beige forms are faces, and she blinks again. It's frustrating—even in this vague, intangible delirium it's infuriating she can't put all these simple pieces together. She shuts her eyes for a moment and waits a second, a minute...

Ben and Iaves are crouched over her, staring intently down into her face.

"She's back," Iaves says when her eyes connect with his. "Hey, kiddo: how do you feel?"

She grunts and then, discovering the rest of her body, she tries to sit up.

It's a terrible idea, and she realizes it even before they get around to saying so. The world spins and Allayria slumps back, her head caught by someone's hand.

"Don't get up; just lay here for a moment."

As the world comes into focus once more, she begins to piece back together from the fog of memory what has happened.

"Are they gone?" she croaks, trying to look around from her place on the ground.

"Yeah," Ben says, "and so are we. We took down the rest and then came up here, the hills in the west. You've been out for a couple of hours."

He reaches over and his fingers brush tenderly across her temple.

"Let me know when it hurts."

He begins probing across her skull and only stops when she flinches. He presses, lighter this time, at the area, and then smiles.

"Good," he says. "You're very bruised and you're bleeding, but I had thought they cracked your skull open."

"You're positive they didn't?" Allayria responds, laying two fingers on her forehead. Even that simple action sends the world tilting at odd angles.

"It feels alright to me. You'll be sporting the Jarles colors for a couple of weeks of course..."

"I've always thought black and blue looked good on me."

Allayria hears both Meg and Iaves snort.

"And you can't sit up," Ben continues, "but you can't go to sleep yet either. Do you want anything?"

"Water," she admits, and the back of her throat tickles.

The night is rough, to say the least. They don't dare light a fire, but they also don't dare allow Allayria to fall asleep. They settle on one person staying awake with her and rotating shifts throughout the night. She and Meg pick up their conversation from before after a hurried and embarrassed "thank you" is exchanged, and then Ben talks to her about her next round of conditioning and what to expect when they arrive at Solveigard.

Iaves is much more relaxed about the whole thing and lets her rest her voice while he regales her with tales of his various mishaps. Rex lays at her side—a soft, warm presence that is almost more comforting than the sounds of her friends' voices. When it is Ben's second turn for patrol he asks her to produce a small fire on her fingertip and leans in to examine her pupils, all the while asking her about her memories of the incident. He frowns, but ultimately decides that it is safe for her to fall asleep, and she drifts away to the rhythmic sound of Rex beside her.