Sunrise Gate

Chapter 21

Chapter 21

The sounds of birds singing in the distance wakes me. Slowly, I open my eyes and regain my conscience, the world still blurry while my stomach aches horribly.  Laying down, I look upwards to see a ceiling made from the wood of Snow Whites - a deep brown, hardy wood found in the trees all around these mountains. The ruffling of jute cloth under the sheets tells me my armor is gone but replaced by some simple gown. Where did I get this?  The steady beat of an anvil fades in, drowning the songbirds away with every clash. The familiar sound drives me back home, a sense of safety and security, that feel of Ebonhawke calling its citizen back home. Adam, I remember, How is he? I miss him. I lay there with these thoughts on my mind, the sounds cradling me gently as I come to my senses.

A voice quietly approaches me, “You’re awake.”

“What?” I refuse to move but continue to look up until I recognize the voice is Demi’s. “Yeah.”

“How do you feel?” she speaks in a calm whisper.

“Rested.” I don’t look at her but I feel her come to my side and sit on the bed next to me.

“Good,” she says.

“The better question, is how are you?” I ask her, careful not to prod too much. I want to know where that ice blast came from.

“Fine. Same with Athair.”

Athair! He had to meet his people like this! I sit up, asking “Where is he? How did his people accept him?”

“Shh…” Demi puts a finger to her lips, lowering me back down. “The Shaman said you need to stay calm and let the Spirits do their work.” She takes a moment to let me settle on my back again, lowering the pace of my heart. “Athair is okay, he’s pacing out on the balcony. He just wanted to be left in private for a bit.”

“What of his people, though? Are they okay with him?”

“I don’t know yet,” she says. “After you passed out you were horribly cut and bruised, your armor caved in all around your waist where they had beat you.”

“Athair’s cuts though…” I interrupt her.

“Are healed.” Demi says.

“But all across his back, they slashed at him but he refused to move until you were safe… I saw the blood spill from him.”

“And the Shaman dealt with them, even the deepest ones,” she says.

“But I saw him gutted...” I say thinking back to the fight.

“That’s what we need to talk about, Lyra.” Demi said, waiting for my response but I sat there with none. “When you entered the opening in the cave, the light bleached the area… you couldn’t anticipate the bandits that were waiting there in the intensity of the light. It’s almost ironic,” she smiles, “but they were the opposite of ‘hidden in the shadows.’” She stopped to ensure I was following.

I gave her a nod, “I remember this.”

“Right,” she cautioned forward, “it wasn’t until after they dropped from the ceiling and ambushed you that I want to talk about. Do you remember up until them?”

“Yes,” I say as I recall being pinned against the wall while a man drilled his hand into my stomach relentlessly. I can feel the pain right now.

“Good. After you passed out for the first time - at least I think you lost consciousness - you were on the floor, and I called to you but you laid there paralyzed. And then Athair began to speak… did you hear what he said?” she asks.