Chapter 14-5

Almonihah had almost reached the peaks of the Dragon's Teeth, and beyond them the Lost Sea, when the first snows started to fall. While they weren't bad now, the half-dragon knew he should seek shelter before the storm got worse. Luckily—though he wondered if there was really any luck involved—he could see a cave in a nearby mountainside. He headed up the slope toward it.

It wasn't a particularly large cave, but it did have a bend in it which hid the back part from the entrance. In spite of that, Almonihah was sure he should have seen some sign of the bear before he came face to face with it. Later, he would chalk that up to just another of the weird things that had been going on during his quest.

For now, however, he was much more worried about not being mauled by an angry bear. At first he simply avoided it, but he knew that he couldn't keep that up forever. He could just leave, but somehow that didn't just feel right. Which left just one thing to do.

The next time it charged at him, he sidestepped it again and then jumped on its back.

He wrapped his arms around its neck and used all his strength to cut off the flow of air or blood or whatever he could to its head so it would fall unconscious. It took quite a bit of grim endurance to hold on, especially when the bear started ramming him against the sides of the cave.

Fortunately, it gave out before he did. First it slowed down, and then it slowly toppled to the ground. Quickly, the half-dragon looked it over. It wouldn't be knocked out for long, but it felt like he wasn't done here.

Something caught his eye about one of its paws. Lifting it, he saw there was a large thorn embedded in it... which was odd, given that there weren't any plants with large thorns around. Pushing aside that thought, he quickly pulled it out. He realized he didn't have anything to bandage it, so instead, he lifted the symbol of Naishia around his neck—the very one Llinos had been carving for him so many years ago, now finished by his hands—and murmured the one spell-prayer of healing he'd learned from the old Druid.

He felt the familiar wash of fatigue flow through him along with the healing power of the spell-prayer. He'd never practiced channeling Naishia's power like this, so even simple things like this tended to tire him out. This time seemed worse than usual, though—so much so that he had to steady himself against the bear with one hand when he was done. Which was a somewhat awkward position to be in when he noticed the bear's eyes were open again.

This time, however, it didn't seem at all angry. In fact, once it was back on its feet (and Almonihah had back away to a respectful distance), it ambled back towards the back of its cave, looking once over its shoulder as if to see if the half-dragon was following. With a bit of a disbelieving shake of his head, he did.

Once it reached the dark, sheltered back of the cave, the bear promptly settled down and went to sleep. Almonihah, feeling both the aches and bruises from their little wrestling match and the fatigue from healing its paw, decided to follow suit. Without really thinking about why, he settled down against the furry side of the bear and closed his eyes.

Normally, Almonihah woke almost instantly from sleep to alertness. It was a necessary survival skill in the wilderness. This time, however, he felt like he was languidly swimming up through layers of half-seen, half-remembered dreams. As he woke more fully he realized he had dreamed quite a lot that night, and not of the things he usually did, either.

He opened his eyes and stretched slowly. He felt good. Better than he had even before getting banged around by a bear, in fact, which was odd, as it seemed like he should still be bruised all over from his experience. Carefully he stood, noting again that he didn't feel the least bit sore anywhere, and walked outside.

It was spring.

Well, he was fairly certain it was spring. At least, there wasn't any snow on the ground, and the flowers were blooming, which was usually a sign that it was no longer winter. The half-dragon blinked in momentary incomprehension. Had he slept through the entire winter? And for that matter, where was the bear? He realized now it hadn't been there anymore when he'd awoken.

Slowly Almonihah sat down to think. He thought of the last year, of what he'd seen and heard and done. And he thought of what he'd dreamed. Gradually, a certainty began to form in his mind.

The Ranger stood and turned south and east. His Vision Quest was now over. It was time to go to the Line, and defend the life he'd been a part of for all of his life.

******

Sorry I didn't post this earlier... I had it written on Thursday but I just forgot to post it until today.

This is the end of chapter 14. If the last bit has a been a bit too slow and contemplative for your liking, well, things should pick up a bit in the next few chapters. And you'll soon meet Zakhin'Dakh!

Do note that Almonihah deliberately withheld the contents of his dreams.