Chapter 308 - The Dream before Death (III) (1/2)

Aegin felt like he was pulling himself up out of the depths of the ocean, but was having to drag an enormous weight with him. Gods above, whatever that Djinn had done made him feel like he'd just been beaten within an inch of his life. Aegin blinked his eyes open, taking in the stars far above him. Was this it? Was he awake?

He twisted to get up, and g.r.o.a.n.e.d at the weight of his limbs. He must be awake, movement had been seamlessly easy in the dream, and he'd felt no pain there either.

Now…now he could feel everything, most of it unpleasant.

He was on the ground next to the fire he'd been sitting at with Cara.

Cara!

His eyes sought the old woman out. She lay sleeping on the ground like he'd been. She appeared unharmed though.

Aegin pushed himself to his feet, then moved to her side. As he heard her heartbeat, a burst of hunger assaulted him and he slapped a hand over his mouth.

Nope. Not the time.

His instincts practically burned to feed. Suddenly, the heaviness in his limbs and the aches made a whole lot of sense. Whatever he had done to get out of that dream the Djinn had invaded, it had cost him a lot of energy.

Still, he couldn't feed on Cara.

Swallowing back his hunger, Aegin put his arms under her and lifted her body, moving her inside her Bein. After he'd laid her on her bed, Aegin straightened and stepped back out into the night, his eyes immediately tracking towards where he'd last seen the Djinn.

Not there. Though all of the other refugees were, and they were all asleep on the ground.

Aegin frowned, if the Djinn was able to walk into all of their dreams then…he needed to find the Djinn before it discovered anything it shouldn't know.

But the only thing Aegin remembered about his appearance was that it was a boy, and that it's eyes were that eerie blue.

Aegin gritted his teeth, if the Djinn was asleep like everyone else, then it would be harder to find him. Aegin scented the air, then immediately stopped, his hunting instincts on the verge of pushing him to feed on all the defenceless humans who lay sleeping around him.

He couldn't hunt the Djinn either then. Aegin frowned, standing here wasn't going to do anything.

Aegin rapidly moved forward, moving through the Refugees and checking them one by one for any signs of the Djinn he'd seen. There must have been a few hundred of them, and it took even him several minutes to do so. As he was approaching the last of them, he spotted a familiar figure on the edge of the group.

Sevis lay on the ground beside a couple of Red-Eye Tribesman, and there, behind them, was Tigin. Aegin moved to them quickly, leaving the unchecked Refugees untouched as he came to Tigin's side and tried to shake the big guy awake.

”Tigin!”

There was no response. Aegin frowned, if trying to wake them the normal way wouldn't work then…

Aegin's gaze travelled to the vein in Tigin's wrist. He clenched his jaw as he felt his fangs extend.

”Sorry buddy, but this is going to hurt,” Aegin said, ”Just a sip. Just enough to wake you up”.

Aegin, knowing that indecision was not something he could afford right now, lifted Tigin's wrist and plunged his fangs into the vein. He paused, pushing for pain. Pain would wake Tigin. He felt Tigin flinch as he gulped a mouthful of blood, his hunger rearing it's head to take more. Aegin pushed pain into Tigin again.

Tigin's eyes snapped open and Aegin took another mouthful before he gathered his will power and pulled away, l.i.c.k.i.n.g the wound closed. He looked at Tigin.

”Sorry buddy, but you needed to wake up, we've got a Djinn here to find before it causes more damage,” said Aegin, then, as the paralytic in Tigin's system wore off, Aegin moved to Sevis' side and did the same.

”It…It was a dream right?” asked Tigin as Sevis wakened and Aegin stood.

Aegin looked over his shoulder at Tigin's confused expression.

”Yeah,” said Aegin, ”But apparently the Djinn can walk into your dream and make subtle influences. If it's walking through everyone's dreams, it's only a matter of time before it finds out something it shouldn't know. Where's Rima?”