Dreamwalker's Bride - Chapter 295

Chapter 295: Wake up, wake up
Ford’s eyes opened slowly, and he blinked to clear his blurred vision.

Mia’s concerned face was above him, and he tried to smile.

“Are you all right?” She asked slowly. “Are you hurt?”

It took him a moment to process the question. Of course he was hurt! His broken leg still gave him pains, and his ribs weren’t completely healed yet. They kept him from breathing too deeply.

He felt them more keenly than before.

“I’m fine,” He lied, trying to sit up. His bruise side screamed in protest, but he pushed through anyway, determined not to appear weak. Why wasn’t his magic working?

“Clearly,” Anaisa said dryly. “But we’re glad you’re awake, at least.”

Ford looked around. He was at the edge of the forest, near the river. The sun had almost set, and the glowing remnants of the raging grassfire smoldered on the other side of the water.

“It’s gone?” He asked, remembering the chimera. Daniel hopped down from a tree and bounded over.

“Yup! It was either young, or very weakened. Did you see how it only spit sparks and smoke, and not fire? A full strength one would be half again as big, and sustain flames for a minute or longer. Of course, records are unclear as to their origins of who observed such things and survived…”

“That’s enough for the moment, Daniel, thank you.” Anaisa lifted a hand to rub her temple. “We are grateful for your knowledge.”

“And even more grateful that you hid us all from that thing,” Grandpa added to Ford. “Although, it was a bit strange not being able to see my own feet. Rather fond of the things after so many years walking around on the two of them.”

“Sorry,” Ford mumbled. He felt exhausted, but he sat up straighter and rolled his head from side to side, stretching his neck and trying to wake up a little bit.

“Overusing your power can do that,” Grandpa told him more quietly. “Be careful in the future.”

“Just don’t come running at us with a chimera chasing you, and it’s a deal,” Ford blinked at the older man and covered a wide yawn.

“Don’t go back to sleep just yet. We need to get some food in you,” Anaisa warned with a glance across the river. “The fish, I’m afraid, is a bit overcooked.”

“You mean ‘burnt to a crisp’, Mama.” Daniel told her seriously.

“I know, Son. It was a joke,” She explained with a small frown.

“I can try to catch some more,” Ford offered.

“We’ll make do with other food,” Mia said a little too quickly. Ford glanced at her, and she colored. Was she that worried about his well being? He smiled slightly until Grandpa laughed.

“Poor Mia,” He chuckled. “Never did like the taste of fish.”

“We have plenty of other food,” She defended herself. “Let me get it cooking.”

“Are we safe here?” Ford looked around a bit more. “Will it come back?”

“I’ve been looking for a safer place to spend tonight, but there isn’t one,” She offered lamely. “I suppose I should begin doing that every night before we make camp… if occurrences like this are likely to recur.”

“I’m not sure it was necessarily likely to occur,” Seth looked out over the scarred, burnt land. “We’ve been crossing the grasslands for over a week and a half without any sign of fires.”

“Grass grows back at ten to twenty times the rate of many other plants,” Daniel piped in. “It could be that the chimera’s presence in the grasslands is what prevents it from growing into a forest. Given that there is a very mature forest right on the other side of the river, it stands to logic that this side does not suffer frequent fires.”

The adults stared at Daniel, who grinned broadly. “A year ago when we were in the capital, I got bored and read the gardeners’ books on horticulture and nature. I thought it might help me be a better farmer like Papa.”

The sudden mention of Trace put everyone in a more somber mood. Mia stood and moved to prepare food for everyone. Ford watched her movements before realizing Seth was watching his eyes.

Suddenly the forest they occupied was fascinating to observe.

“I haven’t seen trees like these before,” Ford pointed at a few near the edge of the forest that were different from the others.

It was a lame change of subject, but it seemed to work. Daniel shared some of his knowledge of trees from his books, and Anaisa put in one or two facts about plants that were also present in the royal gardens.

The utterly mundane conversation seemed ill-placed when they were seeking to rescue a man from dragons after just being almost eaten and burned by a chimera.

But at the same time, it was very fitting. There was no rush to have those heavy conversations. Mia said they were as safe as they were going to be for the night.

Ford took a moment to gather his thoughts a little. The sunlight was now nearly gone, and the eerie red glow of the wasteland that was so shortly before a beautiful grassy plain gave Ford pause.

If they had been in the midst of their journey, there would have been no outrunning such a fire. The fact that the wind had been going in the other direction had probably been instrumental in Grandpa’s survival, as narrow a squeak as it was.

And the chimera… if it was real, how many other things would they encounter as they progressed? This was beyond the bounds of where humans normally traveled, but not by all that much.

It seemed too much of a coincidence that three types of beings that had been relegated to myth and legend had been discovered by the little group in so short a time.

Ford frowned. Was it as short a time as he thought? The rumors of ghosts in the mines before he’d run away nudged at the back of his mind. Had these things always been around, and just ignored until now…

Or was something changing?