I always did my best to avoid sleeping deeply enough to dream. Rather than letting some dark tide take me away until morning came, my experience with sleep has always been one foot in rest and one in alertness. Perhaps it was simply how I functioned now, but even with my eyes tightly shut, a part of my mind was always listening, thinking, ready to react if the need arose. But this time was different. Dark oblivion left me floating, as though I were adrift in a peaceful ocean. The tides slowly brought me back to the shores of wakefulness, as I began to hear the world beyond my shut eyes again, but I still did not open them. Not until I recalled what had caused me to sleep.
Then I remembered what had happened just before I fell asleep, and rolled into a crouch. I expected my weapons to have been taken from me, but any Angran warrior worth his salt could kill without weapons.
And then my brain caught up, and I realized just how bizarre my situation really was.
I had been left in a rare dry patch of earth, not far from where we had fought our duel. That Greshan brat had cheated and put me to sleep. Had done so after trying to surrender—after prematurely declaring victory! But putting me to sleep seemed to have made him cocky; I was still alive. I wondered if he meant to make me his war captive or slave, but I was not even restrained. Did he think I would willfully serve him out of gratitude for being spared…?
Fool. I’d rather die than serve some Greshan dog.
Then I realized he wasn’t even paying attention to me. While waiting for me to wake up, my enemy had plucked the phoenix we had been fighting for…or had tried to. From the feathers all over him, he wasn’t very good at it. I knew I should keep my guard up, but I laughed.
Upon seeing me awake, he held his hands in a pacifying gesture. “Wait, wait, wait! I don’t wanna fight anymore, if I don’t have to! After all, you won…though I’d like to alter the terms of our deal just a little bit.” His gap-toothed grin returned. “But now that all that unpleasantness is over with…I’m Elian! S’good to meet ya!”
This Greshan brat…such a headache.
“What do you mean, change the terms of our deal,” I asked flatly. “It was clear. The winner takes the phoenix as his prize.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know! And since you won, you still get the bird, and I know I said I’d shut up and leave, too, but then I thought, hey. It’s getting pretty late, maybe we could share it for dinner instead, and in the morning, you leave with the feathers and bones. After all, they say meals are always better shared! That still sound like a good deal?”
My cheeks burned. Was he suggesting we…shared food? As strangers—as enemies! By the fiend, I knew Greshans were casual to the point of lewdness, but this…was he trying to escape with his life by seducing me?
No. That’s ridiculous. If he only cared for his own life, he could have fled while I slept. There must be something else he desired. My life, maybe? Perhaps he’s poisoned the meal? But no, it’d be far easier to kill me in my sleep, unless…maybe he lacked the stomach to kill me like a warrior? It would make sense, if he had never fought an Angra before—something I grew more certain of each passing second.
My stomach rumbled. Ugh, trying to puzzle out his thought process was the real work-out. Regardless of if he was really naive enough to share food and his name with his sworn enemy, or if there was some trickery at play, he seemed honest about not wanting to fight. I should play along until he gave me reason to kill him—and knowing his tricks now, I would be able to avoid them when it came time.
“Move over.”
“Eh?”
Without another word, I shoved him aside. My deft hands were far more adept at plucking and preparing the bird, but the way he hovered over my shoulder annoyed me. “Make yourself useful! Go build a fire!” I snapped. “But don’t you dare leave this campsite, dog!”
“My name’s Elian,” he grumbled, but did obey.
It wasn’t only more efficient that I took over preparing our meal; doing this also guaranteed he couldn’t poison me.
As we ate our meals, I demanded that the Greshan keep attending to the fire while I kept to the shadows. It was the best way, I figured, to keep an eye on him and ensure he did nothing underhanded, while also affording myself some privacy. From his incessant chatter, it seemed that a number of activities my tribe ruled could only be shared with family and betrothed, his city was much more casual about. I didn’t deign to respond to any of his attempts at conversation.
The phoenix meat was like nothing I’d ever tasted before. Typically, with a beast as magical and rare as a phoenix, we’d use as many parts as we could to craft weapons and armor. It was simply more efficient that way. So it was my first time eating one. The bird was succulent and flavorful, tasting like it has been heavily seasoned even without any spices. My tongue danced with heat as I swallowed. Quite good, I thought, and went for seconds.
To my amusement, it was the Greshan’s first time eating phoenix, too. He wolfed down his meal with abandon, making the heat all the more intense when he finally felt it. For once I didn’t scold him for leaving the firelight as he raced to the brook and dunked his entire head in the water. Instead, I laughed while he couldn’t hear me.
Eventually we agreed on a guard schedule for the night. I would take the first shift. Leaves gently rustled and the nightbirds chirped as the two suns set, and the night settled in. The canopy hid the countless stars above, but still, it was a pleasant night, even if I couldn’t relax. My shift passed without incident, and I roused the Greshan for his turn.
All evening I had watched him. If he was trying to get my guard down, he couldn’t have done a better job. He really did seem like a simple idiot, too kind for his own good. Maybe that was why falling asleep in his presence was easier than I wanted it to be. I meant to only feign sleep during his watch, but I found myself falling back into sleep, anyways.
I really should’ve tried harder to stay awake.
