The Eternal War: The Dragon's Valkyrie

The Night Glade

It wasn't her vision that came first but hearing that returned Saidy to the conscious world. The babbling of water crashing over stones and roots wound its way through the forest into Saidy's ears. She stirred—her eyes still numb. In fact, all of her body was still numb—a small discomfort from the fire that had engulfed her every nerve before.

Saidy laid there, listening to the serene sounds of the forest. They were a relieving difference from the murderous wood they'd run into. Saidy drifted between the world and dream as she slowly regained feeling in her extremities.

However, it was Ash's tongue lapping at her face that finally revived her. A smile grew across her face as she threaded her fingers through the wolf's fur. She embraced him with one arm, stroking him with the other.

"You're alive," she whispered, "Praise Leyellen."

Clinging to his coat, Saidy hoisted herself up, pulling herself from an encroaching moss that had threatened to cover her. Ash sensed her weakness and bowed his head so she could support herself on him. The forest was dark. Saidy reared her head toward the sky. Glimmers of sunlight shone like stars against a dark green canopy. No birds sang in this forest either. Only the rustling leaves in the gentle breeze and the babbling water broke the soft silence that permeated throughout the wood.

The musty smell of dirt filled Saidy's nose. She clung tighter to Ash's fur as her foot stumbled over a root. Ash halted, allowing her to regain her balance before continuing a short while further. The wolf kneeled, allowing Saidy to crawl around a bit to find the stream he had led her too. The water was as dark as the forest—only the subtle changes in the air's temperature and the moistness of the ground allowed her to find the brook.

She cupped her hands deep into the water. Her skin rippled at its touch. She drank as she listened to Ash's tongue smacking the surface next to her. Finally, she reached for her waterskin on her belt and allowed it to inflate with water before plugging the mouth with the wooden cork.

Having felt refreshed, Saidy stood with vigor once more and stared into the endless dark that surrounded the tree trunks.

"Which way?"

Her head darted about as she tried to orient herself. She hadn't paid attention as to the direction they'd entered the wood in, nor did she remember the one she'd come from. The black was too thick to know if she'd be walking in a straight line but staying in one spot would be certain death—if not by orcs, then by wisps.

She clambered onto Ash's back, seating herself in the saddle once more: "Find the druids, boy."

Ash simply shook his ruffled fur back into place. She hadn't expected that command to work, but she hadn't any other to give. Saidy sighed, and kicked Ash's sides, causing him to jump forward and begin walking into the gloom away from the water. She guessed that because all water eventually snaked to the sea, that north must be on the side of the stream where the water flowed to her right.

The landscape remained unchanged as they walked. Saidy couldn't tell if days or weeks had passed—such was the absence of time. She only knew that she slept when she could ride no more and woke when she could dream no longer. Her only clue that she'd not gone in a circle thus far was the fact that she heard no water since she and Ash embarked.

Only the muted thud of the wolf's pad falling onto the ground broke the silence that forever hung between the trees. Saidy slumped forward in the saddle, her eyes began to pull themselves shut as she listened to the strong breath of her friend.

"I think that's enough for now, Ash," she said, willing him to stop, like he had somehow learned to understand her.

"You're giving up?" a voice whispered back.

Saidy shot up: "Who's there?"

The leaves rustled in response. Had it been the wind the whole time? Did she only dream that the trees whispered to her? The sound had been so faint; she wasn't even sure it had been made. Regardless, the shock of hearing anything other than the leaves and her wolf had sparked a surge within her. She felt a chill run through her veins as her heartbeat quickened.

The forest toyed with her like this for some time, waiting until she was on the verge of ease, then the trees would whisper something else to her. After what may have been hours, Saidy shook her head and concluded she could evade sleep no longer. The call of her dreams tugged at the edges of her consciousness, and she halted Ash.

The wolf curled itself around her as she laid her head on its chest. She never remembered feeling safer than when surrounded by the wolf; accept, when her father held her after a nightmarish dream.

Back then, Saidy feared the oni to the point that they would invade her dreams almost nightly. The reality of one of those dreams becoming true nearly tore her psyche apart. The chill of the wind reminded her of the cold stone floor she slept on for years. Her body quaked, and she held tighter to Ash, pulling her cloak closer as well. Memories of the conditioning filled her mind.

She remembered how the whip would tear at her flesh. She felt the weight of her Dolletus' boot on her head as he shoved her into the stone for just existing. She remembered how he would come in the night and wake her, chain her to the wall, and leave her there for days just to terrorize her.

She recalled mistaking her bucket would be cleaned every day and drinking water that had mixed with her own excrement, vomiting it back up. She remembered the desperation and depravity as she drank that same water again and forced her stomach to hold it just to survive.

She remembered the darkness. It was the same darkness that surrounded her now, but that darkness carried more weight to it. She was free now. She knew that because she could feel the soft tickle of the wolf's fur on her nose. She could feel the cool dampness seeping between the seams of her armor.

I am free... she reminded herself. It was something she did every night when the darkness threatened to claim her. After months of freedom, the darkness still came for her. However, Saidy could feel its horrors growing weaker with each new ray of sun that graced her skin each morning. Although she still wondered, would she be brave enough to really face the oni again if they really did come for her?

"So, it is a girl."

Saidy's eyes shot open. A piercing dread filled her. This time, the voice was not a whisper.