Chapter 17-1

Chapter 17: Refuge

Almonihah returned from consciousness only slowly. The first thing he became aware of was the smell of the room around him. At least, he was pretty sure it was a room—the odors around him seemed like cut wood and earth, like the cabins of Ranger Headquarters would smell. The smells seemed... much more intense, somehow, or perhaps he was simply much more aware of them. Certainly there seemed to be a number of them he didn't recognize.

Next he became aware of the sounds in the room. Someone was breathing near him... probably sitting, given that it sounded close to his level and he was laying down on his side, on what felt like some furs. The person was holding mostly still, just moving occasionally.

Almonihah frowned a bit as these thoughts sunk in. It was... odd for him to figure this out. Normally he didn't get this much information out of smell and hearing, despite the emphasis Zrathanzon had put on paying attention to all his senses. He wondered if it was just because he had his eyes closed, so he was paying attention to his ears and nose more.

So, he opened his eyes. He was, as he had thought, in a cabin. He was pretty sure it was at Ranger Headquarters, given that Commander Imlloen was sitting on a chair next to him. The elf noticed Almonihah open his eyes.

“Are you actually with us this time, Almonihah?”

Almonihah winced. His voice seemed loud after he'd been listening so intently to the near-silence in the room. He tried to respond, but his voice came out as a raspy mumble.

“Here.” Imlloen held a waterskin out to the half-dragon.

Almonihah tried to sit up, and almost fell back down. Instead, he eased himself back down and slowly grabbed the waterskin with one hand. After a couple of swallows, he felt like he might be able to speak again.

***

Short post. I got kind of distracted over the weekend. But yes, Almonihah's not dead.