Forever Soldiers: The Tyrus Chronicle - Book Four by Joshua P. Simon

Author:Joshua P. Simon [Simon, Joshua P.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Joshua P. Simon
Published: 2016-09-04T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 32

I awoke on my back. A starry night sky hung above me. Even in my foggy state of mind, I understood that a lot of time had passed since my last moment of awareness. I only hoped it had been hours and not days.

Myra leaned into my line of sight. “Pa?” she asked hesitantly. “Are you awake?”

I shifted my gaze to meet hers. The tightness in her jaw spoke of how much she worried. It extended to her neck, shoulders, and arms. More than despair had caused that tightness. She was on guard, poised and ready to react, should the need arise for her to defend herself from me. That was one of the last things I had wanted to think about with awareness returning.

I opened my mouth, licking unbelievably dry lips.

“Pa?”

“Is he up?” I heard Lieutenant Dar ask in his raspy voice.

“I think so,” Myra answered.

“Water,” I whispered.

Her face flooded with relief.

Dar came into view, kneeling next to me on my other side. He eased my head up as Myra brought a cup to my lips. I didn’t fight against the help as I normally would have. I felt unbelievably weak while I took the first sip.

Expecting water, my mouth puckered at the bitter taste that greeted me. But I didn’t pull away from the unknown liquid. I was too thirsty. After draining the cup, Dar eased my head down.

“That tasted like piss,” I managed, trying to add some levity to what I knew was an awkward situation.

Dar seized on my comment. “And how do you know what piss tastes like, sir?”

The flicker of a memory that involved me crawling through a latrine on the way to a D’engiti tent with a destruction globe flashed across my mind. I closed my eyes tight to stop the memory.

I could no longer keep up the levity when I replied, “You don’t want to know.”

“Lieutenant Dar put it together,” Myra said. I was glad she changed topics.

Dar continued, “I know I’m a bit old to be an apprentice, but about a week ago I had asked Vered for the opportunity. The boy helping him at the apothecary isn’t showing much interest. Anyway, Vered gave me a few things to bring along in case we ran into trouble.”

I tried to get my elbows under me.

“You sure you’re ready to sit up?” Myra asked.

Rolling to my side, they steadied me as I pushed myself up. “Gods, I don’t think there’s a part of me that doesn’t hurt.”

“Not surprised,” said Dar. “You had your entire body clenched tight for hours. Also why you’re so weak.”

I bobbed my head gingerly, until it dawned on me what I had missed. “Gods, Sinsca! What—”

Myra placed a hand on my chest, speaking calmly like hushing a worried child. “Everyone is fine, Pa.”

“How?”

“It’s probably not a good idea to revisit that right now,” said Myra.

“Tell me.”

She stayed silent for a moment, lips pressed into a thin line. After a heavy sigh, she began to recount all that I had missed.

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