The Primeval Era-Chapter 44: Dreams! I

Damian and the others moved to drag the bodies of Lukaku and his Warriors toward the bonfire. The corpses were heavy with the weight of the dead, their limbs stiff and awkward to handle.

Blood left trails across the stones as they were hauled toward the flames like sacks of fucking potatoes!

Even the astonished and scared captured women moved hesitantly to help, their fear of remaining idle outweighing their horror at handling the dead.

They worked in silence for the most part, the only sounds the crackling of the fire and the scraping of bodies across stone.

One by one, the corpses were fed to the flames.

Flesh Awakening Warriors first, their bodies catching fire with ordinary reluctance. Then Lukaku, whose Bone Tempering body resisted the flames longer before finally succumbing.

When it was done, the bonfire roared like a beast, devouring the bodies of Warriors of flesh and bone alike. The flames reached higher than before, fed by fuel that had once been living men. Smoke rose in thick columns toward the stars, carrying the ashes of the Sworn to whatever afterlife awaited those who had lived by cruelty.

Beside him, Grandmother Essun looked at the fire with a heavy gaze.

"There may be many things to think about come morning regarding this Golden Tribe and that Vassal Tribe."

Her voice was quiet, contemplative.

"But any worries and fears can wait until the morning. We have light and we have fire here. This is the safest place for us to be at this time of night."

She glanced at the darkness pressing close around their circle of illumination.

"I feel that it does not bode well for us if we try to trek back with all of these injured fools right now."

A gesture toward the Chieftain and others, who were barely standing despite their efforts to help.

"So let us rest, Tokoloshe."

Her ancient eyes found his.

"Today has been a heavy day for you. You lived. You died. You came back as Tokoloshe. And you have killed many."

She tilted her head, studying him with an intensity that made him uncomfortable.

"You are a young Tokoloshe, so the toll on you may be heavy."

...!

Damian looked at this Wisewoman and wanted to refute the many words she had said. He was not a Tokoloshe. He was not a ghost.

But man, he simply did not have the energy for it.

Well, he had boundless energy coursing within him, rivers of Mana that made him feel more powerful than ever before.

He simply did not have the energy to reply to her because it seemed like she would drag him into endless discussions about ghosts and Ancestors if he gave her the opening.

Grandmother Essun looked toward the Chieftain and others.

"These injured fools are barely going to be able to get a wink of sleep with all of these injuries and broken bones. We will take turns and keep watch."

Then back to Damian.

"Tokoloshe, you find a sturdy stone, look at the sky, and rest. Fall asleep, as we need you rested."

Her voice grew more serious.

"Come morning, come the days that follow, you may be working more than the rest of us if the words of that vile Bone Tempering Warrior were correct."

...!

Grandmother Essun was many things, but she always managed to be right and get to the roots of many things.

And she was right about this as well.

It was unknown how the next few days would come to pass, but they were bound to be heavy ones.

Lady Morgana. The Iron Serpent Tribe. The Sworn.

All of it pointed toward trouble that was far beyond what a small Dross tribe should have to face.

Damian could not help but shake his head grimly as he thought about all of it.

Why did things have to be this way?

Why did there have to be so much bloodshed across the Lands of Stone?

What was that Lady Morgana doing away from her Vassal Tribe?

And what did all of this mean for his own plans that had barely been fully set yet?

He did not know and could not say for sure.

But at this moment, even while feeling rivers of Mana surging within him, he began to feel a sense of exhaustion. The day truly had been long.

He had woken playing the role of farmer with no Mana. He should have died multiple times over!

He had discovered The Primordial Tongue.

He had created Vakochev’s Doctrines of Stone.

He had killed more than a dozen men.

All in a single day as could hid father ever call him a lazy bum again?

"..."

The though brought in waves of sadness.

He looked up at the dazzling sky above and thought about what each spark might represent. The Ancestor Road stretched from horizon to horizon, that river of light that supposedly led the dead to their final rest.

Were his parents up there somewhere?

Would they be proud of what he had done today, or horrified by the blood on his hands? What advice would they give him about what he should do from here? For himself? For them?

He did not know.

He could not know.

But he hoped!

"If anything comes, I will sense it and be up in a heartbeat."

He said such words calmly, not boasting but simply stating fact. His enhanced senses, his power, his newly reinforced bones, all of it would alert him to danger long before it could reach them.

Grandmother Essun smiled and rolled her eyes.

"Yes, yes, strong Tokoloshe. Find a stone and rest. Look to the stars, Tokoloshe. Look to the endless stars of the Lands of Stone that light up the way."

...!

She said to find a stone.

And truly, if one did not sleep inside their abode in the Lands of Stone, if ever they slept outside, it was common knowledge that one should not do something as stupid as making a comfortable bedding with leaves or branches or other materials.

This practice was called Stone Slumber.

It was exactly what the name suggested. When sleeping in the wilds of the Lands of Stone, one found a large and sizable stone to lie upon. Not for comfort. For survival.

The discomfort was the point!

Sleeping on stone kept you alert, kept you ready to wake at any moment if you needed to. The hard surface never let you sink too deeply into rest, never let you become so comfortable that danger could approach unnoticed.

Many had found caves or laid soft bedding in the wilds of the Lands of Stone, seeking the comfort that their bodies craved. They had fallen into deep slumber surrounded by leaves and furs and anything else that might soften their rest.

They did not wake up ever again.

Beasts came in the night. Enemies crept close. The darkness took them while they dreamed of safety.

But sleeping on stone saved many lives.

The discomfort was a small price to pay for seeing another dawn.

So after a heavy and grueling battle, after taking care of the burning and the wounded with Grandmother Essun and others, Damian looked for a stone to sleep on as his mind was filled with many things. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

He found one near the edge of the firelight, a flat-topped boulder that rose to about waist height. He climbed onto it and lay back, feeling the cool hardness press against his spine.

It was uncomfortable.

It was exactly what he needed.

The stars blazed overhead in their countless multitudes, and the fire crackled nearby, and somewhere in the darkness, beasts moved and hunted and lived and died.

And Damian Vakochev, Young Lugal of a fallen empire, Tokoloshe of the Purple Stone Tribe, closed his eyes and let exhaustion finally claim him.

It had truly been a long day and far too many things had changed.

But tomorrow would bring what it would bring.

And he would face it as he had faced everything else.

His heart beat its heavy rhythm even in sleep, a drum of power that never fully silenced.

And the Lands of Stone continued their eternal turning beneath the endless stars!