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

Leilaka *** Chapter 13 ***

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*** Thirteen ***

    An absolute silence in the pre-dawn woke me with a start.

I lay there listening to empty silence. Not a breeze rustled the grass. Not a man snored. Not a horse chomped on grass.

Everywhere was utter and complete silence.

My body was feeling unusually good. Yesterday's fever did not seem to have affected it adversely in any way. Instead, it seemed to have done it rather well.

I felt stronger and more alive than I had since coming to this world. Standing up, I stretched until I felt every muscle come to life. The movement reminded me of the stretching exercises I used to perform as a maintenance regime with my previous body.

Carefully stepping over Connor's sleeping form, I evaded Brutus that was sleeping shamelessly on guard duty, and slipped away from camp to find a secluded spot where I could do my exercises in peace.

Removing my shirt, I draped it over a bush before slowly acquainting my new body with the unusual stretching exercises.

Slowly, surely, the muscles responded to the new demands placed on them. I kept up the work until I had completed the whole routine. Then I started again, working up to a slightly faster tempo.

The silence was still complete around me, starting to make me uncomfortable. At least an insect should have responded to my movements by now, but there was still no sound.

This experience seemed vaguely familiar, but there was no concrete memory that surfaced while I was repeating the third routine. As my balance was not affected, I did not perceive this as a physical problem.

I concluded my exercises as the first rays of dawn hit the mountains before sneaking back into camp without detection.

Curling up into my original position between Connor and Ishmay, I allowed my now tired body to go back to sleep.

Connor stirred behind me, then sat up and touched my wrist, assuring himself that I was cool and the fever broken. He felt my fore-head, his hand warm to the touch.

"Now where did his shirt go?" he whispered softly to himself.

That was going to be a tough one to explain.

I feigned sleep, breathing deeply and rhythmically.

Ishmay was also awake and moved away from us, intent on his own morning routine.

I could hear Marshall joining Brutus at making the fire. Brutus encouraged Marshall to sing me awake.

Marshall was agitated when he answered "You should have seen him yesterday. I am not going to do it again. He was sick the whole night and needs his rest."

Good for you, Marshall. It is high time you start thinking about friendship.

I lay there listening to the morning noises, thankful that I could hear again. I wondered why I had lost my hearing for a while and was suddenly not convinced that I had actually left to do those exercises.

"I found his shirt on some bushes near the pond" Ishmay announced softly in Elfen as he joined Connor at the morning tea, handing my shirt to him.

Well, that was confirmation enough.

The rest of the party was busy saddling horses and packing gear.