Koehk'dhat. (Helen, Nero,?)
Hunger and sleep were strange in combination, did strange things to the mind. It was cold, but not cold enough. Too weak to shut them out, to still the fragments of thought that danced across his skull. His eyes slipped closed, drifted as his shoulder slid against the wall. The guards shuffled, moved in soft air behind the shining grey of the field.
He couldn't not hear it.
"Alleiki!"
Hie eyes jerked open, snapped his head back and he caught bulkhead. The pain sung and he seethed, rolled into murk-filled awake. His heart was hard in his side, beating with phantom fear, and he looked up into the lights. They were back on, blinding white and angry.
"Daeop! Nvimn! Nomaes'aehkhifv!" Shade danced through light and he was still, breathless. Naele's boot caught his leg, pushed it out from beside him and sent him to the floor.
"You've always been slow, to work, to command." Her voice was strange as he pushed himself up, moved back to sit. Twisted between languages he didn't know, speaking words he understood.
"Naele' ourhhe." He blinked into the light, but he couldn't see. It was too bright. His head tilted by degrees and his eyes opened again, peeled across themselves and he was awake.
The field was gone, crackling light silent, invisible, with no air to catch. Naele's arms, legs, were heavy, stuffed to the line with hard cold. He could almost feel his blood, sitting still in his limbs. The wall behind him was cold. Ayel wasn't there.
Something shifted at his side and he looked, tilted his eyes until he caught the side of a jaw, the sweep of still copper curls. She shifted, turned to him like listless dirt adrift in the Vautha.
A flash of heat and light popped beside his head. Something caught the field and he jerked awake, thin limbs tensed and cold, a chill path of dampness cutting down his back. His heart raced against his side and he pulled closer, buried himself in his coat.
Aehallhn.
Koehk'dhat.
He was forgetting.
He couldn't not hear it.
"Alleiki!"
Hie eyes jerked open, snapped his head back and he caught bulkhead. The pain sung and he seethed, rolled into murk-filled awake. His heart was hard in his side, beating with phantom fear, and he looked up into the lights. They were back on, blinding white and angry.
"Daeop! Nvimn! Nomaes'aehkhifv!" Shade danced through light and he was still, breathless. Naele's boot caught his leg, pushed it out from beside him and sent him to the floor.
"You've always been slow, to work, to command." Her voice was strange as he pushed himself up, moved back to sit. Twisted between languages he didn't know, speaking words he understood.
"Naele' ourhhe." He blinked into the light, but he couldn't see. It was too bright. His head tilted by degrees and his eyes opened again, peeled across themselves and he was awake.
The field was gone, crackling light silent, invisible, with no air to catch. Naele's arms, legs, were heavy, stuffed to the line with hard cold. He could almost feel his blood, sitting still in his limbs. The wall behind him was cold. Ayel wasn't there.
Something shifted at his side and he looked, tilted his eyes until he caught the side of a jaw, the sweep of still copper curls. She shifted, turned to him like listless dirt adrift in the Vautha.
A flash of heat and light popped beside his head. Something caught the field and he jerked awake, thin limbs tensed and cold, a chill path of dampness cutting down his back. His heart raced against his side and he pulled closer, buried himself in his coat.
Aehallhn.
Koehk'dhat.
He was forgetting.