Chapter 100

WIL CAME awake by slow degrees. A vague awareness of his own existence first, broadening back into himself, getting to know the shapes of his mind again, then reaching out, stretching into his body. The aches came next, stiff pain striating out through his limbs and pooling in his back, making him heavy and reluctant to move. The scent of wood burning, then the heat radiating from it, warm and comforting. The steady in-and-out of breath, the incremental rise and fall of his own body in its rhythm, except it wasn't... it wasn't him breathing. Ka-thump ka-thump ka-thump against his cheek, and Wil smiled, slow and drowsy. He knew that sound. He knew that cadence.