The Emeralds

XVIII

For a while Rainer wondered if it was his brain playing tricks on him and he was hearing some hallucination again. In a way, he feared that his fever was returning again, because the stories he was hearing were truly bizarre and incomprehensible to the rebel leader. Soon, however, after some time, the voice he heard began to gain color. Rainer knew the voice, but wasn't quite sure who it belonged to. It wasn't until he heard a story about an enchanted sword stuck in a rock and a Slavic dragon living in one of the local caves that Rainer knew who the sender of these strange stories was.

From time to time, the wolf would widen his eyes slightly and silently listen to the voice of Colin lying next to him, holding the book in his lap. Rainer didn't know exactly by what miracle the fox had survived all those days when he was plunged into an agonizing state and could not protect him. From time to time, to make sure that Colin was not a phantom, he would gently place his hand on his hand or leg. Despite his scant strength, the man would apply pressure to the boy's coat to see if it was really him. Whenever he did this he heard the man's reassuring words. Colin would say "take it easy," "relax," or "I'm here." He could feel that fluffy fur between his fingers and the boy's warm skin, which made Rainer smile despite the immense pain.

The fox really spent a lot of time with the wolf. However, it got to the point where Colin would disappear for hours and leave Rainer alone in his cave. The man was then always nervous about what was happening to the boy. This lasted until the wolf's strength began to return to him more quickly, and he himself began to form longer sentences composed of more words. The boy half-wordedly explained to Rainer what was happening, but the man still didn't fully understand. He was not the only one telling him what was going on, but also Liv or other visitors to his part of the cave.

According to what Colin told him, the wolf shouted the fox's name in a fever for the first few days. He reportedly threatened that if anything bad happened to the teenager, Rainer would rip everyone's heads off. Reportedly, in a fit of fever, the tone of voice and behavior of the rebel leader was so terrible that it didn't even occur to anyone to drag Colin to jail again. Instead, the fox stayed in Rainer's cave always in someone's company, just in case. Axel was also expected to survive, although his rebels didn't treat him as leniently as Colin. The bull continued to stay in the prison cave tied up with several ropes and under the watchful eye of a doubled guard. Axel, however, had nothing to complain about. After all, he was still breathing.

The man guessed that everyone was expecting his recovery to raise important issues with him that required his personal decision. That's probably also why until something happened no one bothered him with details about the issue of the failed prisoner escape, the war or Noa and the whole related process.

The latter's case, however, was really important to Rainer. However, as long as he could not move with his own strength, he could not do anything about the man's case. The man seemed to understand for the moment who had murdered the guards and led the fugitives out of the hideout. Although rumor had it that Colin and Axel had pointed to Noa as the one who had helped them escape, Rainer guessed what had really happened. Thinking about it, the wolf honestly smiled under his breath. The fact that Colin pointed to Noa was a very clever play on his part, even though the black fox was in fact not the one who helped them escape. According to Rainer, Colin once again confirmed his cleverness, intelligence and prudence by not pointing out the real helper of the fugitives. With who actually did it, Rainer was yet to talk when he gained strength. He knew that solving this case would not be as simple as it might seem.

Noa, who had blatantly lied while testifying during the "three-judge" period, was himself now accused of treason. This ploy must have caused consternation and confusion in the camp, which helped Colin survive. Arguably, Noa was now seen as a madman willing to kill Colin only to then release him and buy into Magnar's favor. As a result, he was imprisoned in one of the cave cells and was guarded by sentries, presumably for his own and others' safety. However, he was not treated like a prisoner, except that he was not allowed to leave the cave until the matter was cleared up.