The Voice

Renat woke in the morning hoping that it all had been a horrible dream. Unfortunately the willow's branches tickled his nose and reminded him all too clearly of everything that had happened the night before.

Attempting to sit up, the prince realized just how much of him was broken. His throat was raw, probably from a combination of screening, and the retching caused by inhaling too much water. His arms and legs ached beyond compare. In short, he could never remember feeling so poorly, not even after being blown up by his own experiment.

On the bright side, the lizard had not come after the prince in the night, or he would be dead by now. That was a small mercy which Renat was not willing to take for granted. Likewise, the rain seem to have finally cleared, and the sun was peeking out overhead. With this trusty guide, he should be able to find his way back to the fortress.

Renat rolled onto his stomach and groaned as pain racked his body. Peering out at the glassy river's flow, Renat could not help but wonder at how much the surface of the body of water had changed.

He wondered how far downstream he actually washed. Having no landmarks, Renat viewed the unfamiliar terrain. No matter what, he assumed that he was very far from Oblivion and that he had a long way to walk. 'I suppose it is better to get going,' he told himself.

The only one of Renat's possessions which he had managed to retain through the whole ordeal was a small ornate knife. Renat clutched it against his belt, remembering the beautiful wife that had given it to him. "I'll find you," he told her as if she could hear.

He was hungry, but hunting was not really an option for him. Anything he could possibly catch right now he was too weak to even try to kill. His is only hope was to find some berries or something else that did not require anything but foraging.

The man tried to sit up and suddenly felt ill. "Strike that," he said aloud, "I'm not going to eat anything just now."

His head swam just like his body had been the night before. The sensation made him nauseous. Renat collapsed back onto the grass. Even with a little bit of rest, he was still utterly exhausted.

"No respite for the weary…" the scientist turned his head to one side and coughed up remnants of river water mixed with things he didn't want to think about.

The grass next to him was dyed red. His cheek was resting in a pool of blood. It was still wet. Was he still bleeding? It would make sense why his head was clouded if it was broken open.

Renat knew his body had been scraped and bruised in many places. A few of his ribs were likely broken from when he was thrown up against the wall of Oblivion, and his right wrist was either sprained or worse while defending himself against the lizard's attack. All things considered, he felt quite fortunate that he was alive at all.

But Renat had not realized until his cheek landed in the puddle how much blood he had actually lost. He wasn't a doctor, but it seemed like he had let out far more liquid that he should have in his body. It was a serious problem that he would need to remedy.

Releasing the knife at his waist which he had been clutching, Renat used his left hand to feel around his scalp. Sure enough, a deep cut had split his dark hair, which was now matted with blood.

"That's not good…"

It took a bit of work, but the young man ripped a piece of his tunic away and held it to his aching head. It only took a moment for it to be saturated, but he had no other option but to keep it pressed to the wound.

The throbbing took a while to slow, but Renat tried to be patient. Losing consciousness again would not gain him anything. Tying off the cloth as best he could, the prince wrapped his head tightly to stop the flow of blood.

When he felt the pain was as reasonable as it was going to get, the scientist rolled onto his stomach again and slowly pulled himself to sitting. It was a grueling task.

Moving his head as little as he could, the scientist tried to gain his bearings.

"How far downstream did I float?" Renat's thoughts were muddled, so he had to speak to keep himself on task.

If he had been able to think more clearly, he would have remembered that the wave washed him northward, but as that defied logic, the thought did not occur to him.

He scanned in vain hoping to see the city in the water. Alas, it was nowhere to be seen.

"If I head upstream, I should be able to see Oblivion eventually…" he paused, "unless it's underwater."

His chest ached from the fear that the words he said might be true. Last night the thought of Mairwen being safe and sound at the top of the wall kept him motivated to return to her. If she were gone, he would be devastated.

Having only traveled to this place in the dark, he had no idea how high the mountains were to gauge the water's depth. Even if he did, he wasn't sure he could make proper calculations with his head feeling so out of sorts.

"Mairwen is alive. I would know it if she were not…We will be together before nightfall…"

The confused prince drug himself to his feet and began his labored walk northward. His gait was unsteady, but stayed along the shoreline to keep his bearings.

"It cannot be too far," he said, each step growing harder.

The prince was thirsty, but the idea of drinking from the river which had tried to take his life was unappealing to him. What if something came up from the water and tried to pull him in?

"That wouldn't happen," the scientist bent down and scooped some water into his mouth. With all the grass, dirt and debris that had been washed up into the current, the mouthful of liquid was gritty at best. He forced two more mouthfuls down his throat before calling it done.

His thirst was not slaked, but it was far better than before. When he made it back to Oblivion, they would surely have fresher water or at least a way to clean it. Then he could drink as much as his heart desired.

"Just keep going!" He urged his body to move.

"Where are you going?" A voice asked him.

"Back to Mairwen, my wife. She will be worried." The prince said as if the answer was obvious. He made it three more steps before the voice accosted him further.

"Your wife worries too much. She should know you are never going to return…"

"How can you think that?" The prince asked himself, only to realize he had never answered his own questions before. This external conversation with his own conscience was something entirely new. "I am actually going insane!" He cried as he checked to see how much he was bleeding from his scalp.

"You seem sane to me. Especially for a dead man…"

"I'm not dead yet," Renat answered angrily. "The wound will heal."

There was a pause. The scientist thought he had won the argument with himself and began to feel quite proud of his accomplishment.

"You really aren't afraid of me, are you?" The voice seemed amused.

"Should I be? I've never been afraid of my own shadow before." Renat was beginning to be annoyed by the voice's attitude. He tried to turn his nose upward, but the dizzying nausea prevented him from being successful.

He stumbled backwards and landed in a pair of strong, hairy arms.

"Ohhh you think you are talking to yourself…you really are crazy…putting you out of your misery might actually be a favor…"

Renat did not have a second pair of arms to catch himself, and he certainly did not want to be put out of his misery anytime soon. Something in his mind suddenly clicked.

"You mean…you are real?" The man could barely process his own words.

"I am not in your imagination, that's for sure," the voice chuckled darkly.

"Enough playing!" A second voice barked angrily. "You are taking too long. I'll kill him myself!"

Anxiously, Renat craned his neck to look up at what had caught him from falling. Sure enough, it was two wolfish creatures like the Empress had described in their communications.

One looked amused while the other looked furious. The amused wolf looked at the prey in her arms with a malicious grin. The tan wolf might have kept him from falling but she did not wish him any goodwill.

The second wolf, black as night, bore his teeth and snarled. Lifting his mighty arm back above his head, the monster brought down a killing stroke aimed right at Renat's chest.