Chapter 28Later that night, Gryss sat drowsing in a chair by the side of Jeorg’s bed. He stirred and muttered something as a subdued knocking drifted into his vague dreams. It was followed by a low, dutiful bark from his dog.
The knocking came again, followed this time by a more querulous bark. Gryss’s dreams wavered and began to slip back into the echoing inner darkness from whence they had come. His eyes opened uncertainly.
The knocking was turning into a persistent tattoo, though it was still subdued and discreet. For a timeless moment, the sound mingling confusingly with the fading remnant of his dream, Gryss decided that Jeorg was trying to rise from his bed. The prospect brought him sharply to wakefulness. As both his vision and his mind cleared, however, he saw that Jeorg was stil
