Attanya

Etan

Etan

            The drip of water into a bowl woke him; one of the Apprentice Healers was a foot away on a chair while she wrung out a shockingly white rag over a bowl. A man lay on a matted bed, awake for the first time in days. While confusion creased his brow, racks of coughing enveloped him; it pushed him to the point of screaming. Frustration from lack of control pushed him into a temperament; he shoved the young woman’s hand away from his face.

            “Stop struggling, this is only the beginning of the heat. Let me care for you now so this may end.” The Healer turned away from him; the green clad woman unstopped a small valve of clear liquid meant to be a sleeping draft. When the fevered man looked over, dark brown hair matted to his forehead from constant heat flashes, he groaned.

            Etan didn’t need to smell the odorless liquid that trickled from the lean bottle to know what happened when someone drinks it. One swallow of the tasteless liquid will send him into such a deep sleep that he wouldn’t know if a Dragon ate his legs off. Etan groaned again and rolled away from her so his sweat soaked back was all she could see. “No, I’d rather be sick.”

            Her youthful impatience betrayed in a sudden click of her tongue quickly followed by a sigh, she leaned forward and touched his shoulder gently. “That’s not for you to decide. Drink it and just get it over with.”

            His brain was still too fuzzy to come up with any argument, the room too stuffy for a clear breath of fresh air to help clear his fogged mind. The only reply to cross his lips was a trembling, “No.”

            The Healer gently pulled at his shoulder until he looked her in the eyes; the Apprentice smiled, composed once more. “Etan, don’t make me shove this down your throat.” After he shook his head yet again, exactly like a stubborn child, she rolled her eyes and put the bottle to the fair faced man’s lips. When she held it there entirely too long, a mental nudge forced his mouth to open to the fuming liquid. The bottle contained just enough to fill his mouth; the liquid found its way through his tightly clenched throat only to seep into his stomach without permission. The rush of heat that the liquid brought sent Etan back into a spiraling dream world that he had just released himself from.

            Much to his surprise, he followed the dream glad that it wasn’t darkness.

            It didn’t take long for the images to solidify to coherent dream trains. Etan realized that he was falling from the sky when a sharp focus snapped him to the world around him. A scream didn’t try and rip through his throat as the ground rushed up at him, only the curious knowledge that he was going to see her again kept the fear of heights from besting him. He closed his eyes just before the ground neared close enough to touch, when pain should have screamed through him but failed to do so he opened his eyes only to see the same crumbing barn stood before him.

            Like always, it was night. Tonight the moon was round; the landscape glowed with enough light to see a warped roof and cracked walls. He breathed deeply then walked to the entrance of the painted horse’s home. It smelled of fresh hay that tickled his nose; the sound of two being’s told him that she really was here again. For the past six moons this girl found her way into his dreams, she never spoke to him, almost like she didn’t know he was there. There were times when she slept in her bed made of strange paddings, or sat in a shiny metal moving object but for almost every dream that he saw her she was here resting in hay.

            His footfalls landed without a sound as he turned the corner to see a mare that stood a few feet from the lying body of a girl, her long golden hair matched the bright straw about her. Today she was on her side slowly and tore apart the grass that dares to get too close to her. Etan walked to her side, then kneeled; he leaned in close to her fascinated by his emotions at the sight of her. He longed to see her each time he slipped into slumber was amusing. The moonlight trickled down her sharp cheek bones while it touched every inch of her that it can, he can see the silent sorrow touched her features. He could see clearly how it darkened her features, it made her soft cheeks sharp.

            Etan knelt next to her and he wondered, why is she to troubled? She could not be much older than seventeen summers, no older than him, what could have filled her heart with such sorrow at such a tender age? The young man found that he wanted to hear her voice, for her gentle whispered tone to tell him what bothered her.

            Etan knew this was a dream, but to him it was very real. The hay brushed his ankles, the faint lavender scent tickled his nose, and they were as real as him. Abruptly, the girl twisted her head startled. Is someone coming? His reaction was the same and looked around; he searched for any sign of movement in the distance for the unknown visitor. A wall of fog rushed through the darkness, enveloped Etan, and sent him into a world of dark clouds that soon lost their shadows. His form began to change with the light, he became something else.

            He floated now, the air crisp, the sun peaked from below the sea of clouds. Behind him, a gentle tug made his body pulse through the air. As the world regained clarity, he began to hear a loud rhythmic flap. Etan didn’t need to turn to recognize the noise, blatantly understood, that he was flying. Knowledge bubbled through his mind in a way that only dreaming minds do, the knowledge that he was a Dragon was as normal as if he were always a Dragon.

            His awareness that tickled his dreaming mind wondered, was this real?

            Soon they descended into the clouds as the waves of gray fog parted, a strange landscape materialized below. Large boxy buildings formed; strange metal carriages bustled back and forth over strangely featureless road ways. A particularly drab concrete compound appeared below him. As he glided in closer, he could make out the shapes of young adults and children scurry to and from rooms, much like his school. As they descended they flew so close that they could see the looks of horror and disbelief on the faces of the people below, realization of his presence rippled through the crowd.

            Etan’s thoughts were disrupted as he noticed the flaxen haired girl he had become so enthralled by, after their claws crunched against the hard stone ground they found her in the crowd. The combined eyes focus on no other eyes but the sea blue ones that stared back at them. Fear crossed her face only as a joyful anticipation followed. Eyes layered with color stare through the eyes of the Dragon and into Etan, laughter filled his head as something else felt his curiosity. Another presence, so familiar to him, began to pull him away.

            His eyes fluttered open as his body jerks into a sitting position. As soon as he began to see the room around him again, he groaned. A beast must have walked through his head to cause the thumping and grinding that pulsated through his skull. It didn’t take long for a green tunic to come into view, a hand held out a single goblet of clear liquid. He mumbled profanities, and then reached out to grab the cup. After he smelled the indistinct smell of water, Etan drained the contents before he lay back with his arm over his eyes.

            “How long was I out?” Worn fabric cracked as the man moved, the scent of ink told Etan that the Healer in charge sat not to too far away.

            The man sat back on the short chair, a man appeared to be in his early thirties, though was actually in his late nineties, scratched at his mid-day fuzz. “Three lights.” Next to him on a hand carved table was a tray of bread and cheese, the Healer knew that the boy wouldn’t be able to down anything heavier for the next day. “Hungry?”

            For the first time since being admitted Etan nodded, he held out his hand to the amused Healer. Food was the only thing that kept him strong enough to fight off the sickness.