Chronicles of Han Storm - Leilaka #1 (Fantasy, Adventure, Dragon Riders)

Leilaka ***Chapter 5***

*** Five ***

An extremely tall man with an unusually handsome face was standing in front of me. He opened his eyes and I wanted to back away from him.

They were as yellow as the full moons.

I could not back up, for my body did not respond to my signals.

"*You must make your choice soon or it will be made for you*" he warned.

This was the person who spoke through my being, who left me chilled to the bone with his icy vibrations. I wanted to know what he meant, but my body did not ask the question.

The image of the icy Shade faded and darkness surrounded me.

The blond-bearded face came forward once more. The exact same dream I previously had repeated itself. This time, I did not wake from the dream when the throat was slit.

Blood spurted everywhere.

I kept my eyes riveted on the ornate dagger, following the hand, then the arm, up to a body and a face.

There was no face, only a hood with two glowing coals in it.

The body raised the hand with the dagger and hit me across the face with the hilt.

I gasped, anger welling up inside me, resenting this treatment.

Someone called my names.

My names.

I concentrated.

Yes, I had more than one name.

I was many people.

"Krish! Han! Wake up, you are having a nightmare."

I came back out of the fog of memory.

Drake was shaking my shoulder.

"At last. I have been battling to wake you, you were thrashing about."

I did not have the heart to tell him that I was finally getting somewhere with my memory and now he had disturbed the thought patterns.

It was almost dawn anyway, so I started to prepare for the day's travel, refraining from speaking to my keeper.

I was feeling better by the time we reached the stables where Connor and Craig were waiting for us. The same redheaded lad that had initially led Bree up to me was holding his own horse, ready for travel.

"This is Marshall" Craig introduced the young man.

I judged him to be around fifteen or sixteen.

"Hallo" he greeted us.

I gave him a nod.

He seemed let down with my sullen attitude, pulling his lips to one side of his face before biting his lower lip. It looked funny and I smiled back at him.

It must have been his intention, for he beamed back at me with an even row of white teeth. The smile wrinkled his nose, pulling his freckles askew.

I gave my attention to Bree. I really could not afford a full-blown laugh right now. I might just injure my ribs again.

Today Drake did not offer a leg-up, so I had to pull myself up into the saddle. They were all mounted, waiting for me to figure a way out when Bree spontaneously knelt down for me.

*Thank you* I told her while she stood up.

"Neat trick" Craig commented. "You might become a horse-whisperer yet."