Dream in the Sky [Arthdal Chronicles]

Chapter 3: Birds Without Wings

For a full moon cycle, Eunseom's most exciting activity was looking out the tiny window of his room and watching the birds in the sky. After the doctor told him how serious some of his injuries were—he might have almost gotten his head split in half and his stomach ripped open—he had to accept that there was nothing he could do but stay put in this room for the time being.

Sometimes, he thought he was still dreaming. This room looked too much like the place of his dreams. No, it was the place of his dreams, the place he had visited so often in his sleep. Now he knew why: all the time, he had been dreaming about his brother's life.

So he was stuck in this dream—his brother's life—now. From his bed he watched the birds fly high outside the window, hating them for their freedom, and counted how often the sun and moon rose and set.

And since it was impossible to do that all day without dying of boredom, he taught himself to read and write the Aniartz letters, so he could read his brother's scrolls to pass the time.

He memorized the letters, but it wasn't enough to make sense of the scrolls yet. He'd tried to ask the doctor who came to change his bandages or the servants who brought him food for help, but they refused to interact with him beyond their duties. It was as if someone had ordered them not to speak to him. Maybe Tagon.

He could now understand how his brother felt in his dreams: imprisoned, alone, outcast. At least Eunseom had Tanya to keep him company and teach him about Arthdal and his brother's life.

"This is the Fortress of Fire. It's Saya's home. He's lived here all his life," she had explained. "I know it's not ideal, but please bear with it for a while."

"Do you live here, too?"

"No, I live in the Great Shrine. But it's not too far from here, so I'll come and visit every day," she had promised him with a sweet smile that made his heart skip a beat.

The Great Shrine, the place where the greatest priest of Arthdal lived. Or rather, priestess, who was none other than Tanya, his childhood friend. Or should he say Tanya Niruha?

"Is it weird?" she had asked. "You must think I have betrayed the Wahans."

But who was he to say anything? He too had become Inaishingi to fight Arthdal. Like him, Tanya must have realized that she had to become someone powerful in Arthdal to achieve her goals and protect the Wahans.

It suited her. He had always known that she'd become someone great.

Still, what he didn't like about this new Tanya was how little time she had for him. After he got over the worst of his injuries, she stopped fussing over him, arguing that it would be suspicious if she and Saya spent too much time together. And she was probably very busy. These days, she would come by once a day to stay for lunch, and then leave again.

So he bridged the time until Tanya's visits by reading and writing. The scroll he was trying to decipher, however, was giving him a hard time. Some of the characters just didn't make sense.

One of them looked hilarious. It looked like a horse's tail. Just like Helper's, Eunseom couldn't help but think.

He missed Helper.

Just then someone knocked. A servant came in and placed his lunch on the table next to the bed he was resting on.

"Thanks," Eunseom said. He didn't bother to check what today's lunch was. He knew it was either soup or porridge.

The servant bowed in response but remained silent.

Eunseom's eyes followed her. He wanted to try his luck one more time, hoping to get her to talk to him. "Hey," he said, "can't you help me out? I can't figure out what this letter means." He showed her the scroll.