Green embers

chapters 28-30

Chapter 28

I left the palace shortly after the sun started to set. The sky is red but it is still cold and windy. On my way to the garden, I realized that Reif wasn’t going to be there on his usual duty as my bodyguard. Although he hasn’t been there for more than a week now, I always find myself walking toward the garden and then at the last minute trace my steps back to my room. This time, I went just as far as the palace's ivory steps and sat there. I might as well wait for him and the others now that he’s going to be back soon.

I think about what Merek said, about the dream-hunter in Arkana forest. I wonder how such men look like. Are they scary-looking, creepy, and hunch-backed? No, that’s too judgmental of me. Just because one is a bad person, doesn’t mean one must be ugly. I cross my arms on my knees and lean my head sideways against my forearm. I close my eyes and try to imagine. If the troops are back, I'll definitely sense the noise of their arrival. I began drawing the dream-hunter in my mind. First of all, is he a he or a she? I wonder at that a bit and decide to make him a ‘he’. After all Merek didn’t say dream huntress, did he? After I got that established, I picture a long black cloak, all the way to the ground and a hood over his head. Merek said he'd be careful not to be exposed if he enters the capital city, which means a long dark cloak would suffice in his disguise. Then again, he'd look too conspicuous. I decide to unravel the hood and make his head seen. I throw in a cane while I'm at it. However, he might not be an old man so, I guess the cane's out. Slowly, slowly, the elements I’ve set to draw the dream-hunter fell into place. Even the surroundings came together. I found myself standing in front of him, gazing at his tall figure. In my mind he isn’t too old. His black cloak covers his limbs, his black hair; long and wavy, his beard; overgrown mid-way down his chest. It’s funny how the scenery is like. We’re both standing in front of each other in the thickness of a black forest. The version of me wonders why the surrounding seems so familiar. My imaginary dream-hunter starts to walk toward me. I must've drawn him too scary-looking because I start to walk away, afraid of him. He approaches, his piercing black eyes look straight at me. I turn around to run but I can’t move my legs. I try to move but I feel paralyzed. I look down and I find myself knee-deep in blood. A cry of panic starts to build within me as the hunter approaches to get me.....

My eyes sprang wide open at that instant. I found myself immediately gasping for air. I look around me. I must've dozed off because I was still sitting on the palace steps only this time it was dark. There was something else that was strange. Almost instantly, I heard the sound of a horn resonating from the castle towers. I look around and see soldiers running from the castle towards....

''Reif, Conrad!'' I was up on my feet before I gave orders for my legs to move. The sound of the horn was announcing the return of the men! Without thinking, I found myself running as fast as my legs could carry me. The noises were getting more intense than ever. ‘Victory or loss?’ my head racked with the unsettling question. Then I stopped...

It was chaos! All four gates were wide open, as streams of soldiers by the hundreds were entering the royal grounds. Torches were lit up at every corner; soldiers were running back and forth. I still can’t tell if it is a victory or not but the sight of soldiers dragging their injured comrades, the stretchers spread in front of the hospital grounds, the lady healer running around giving orders to the uninjured to pile them in and fetch water from the wells, was a deeply unsettling sight. Everybody was shouting an order to someone but it didn’t cover up the wailings I heard. There were so many injured men, I felt my heart pounding in an unsettling rhythm about the meaning of all this. I begin to move again, squeezing through the bodies of men, in search for my friends, hoping they're not lying on stretchers or wailing in pain. The noises ring in my ears as they push through and as I push through. I look as hard as I can, moving from one uniform to another, trying to find one that’s not drenched in blood. I was starting to feel hopeless when...