Trail of the Gods_ The Morcyth Saga Book Four - Brian S. Pratt [138]
Nodding, she says, “I guess we could all do with a rest before trying to reach Kern.”
“That’s the spirit,” he says, giving her a big smile.
As Jiron comes down from the top of the pile, he says, “If it hadn’t been for all we’ve already come through, I wouldn’t want to stay down here either.”
“You’ve seen worse?” she asks.
“Oh yeah,” he says, coming close and sitting down next to her. “I’ll tell you about it sometime when your imagination won’t run away with you.”
“That bad, huh?” she asks, unconsciously scooting slightly closer to Jiron.
“Oh man, yes,” he says with a laugh. “You get into interesting situations if you stay long enough with James.”
They sit down along the sides of the corridor and break out what little rations they have left. Most of what they had from last night is still on their horses. James sits along the wall on one side of the corridor while Jiron and Aleya sit on the other.
“I’ll take first watch,” offers Jiron after everyone’s done eating. “You two try to get some sleep.”
“Very well,” agrees Aleya. Resting her head against the wall, she closes her eyes and tries to relax.
James stretches out against the wall, lying on his side and trying his best to use his arm as a pillow.
Jiron sits there next to Aleya and listens to her breathe as she slowly slips away to sleep. He’s never felt this way about anyone before. Oh sure, he’s had his share of girls, but none had ever touched him as this one has.
Once Aleya at last succumbs to sleep, she begins tipping to the side until her head at last rests on Jiron’s shoulder. He moves slowly and works her head down until it’s resting on his lap. Using his fingers, he gently moves the hair off of her face and watches her as she sleeps.
Chapter Twenty Four
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Jiron’s tired. He’d let the others sleep while he kept watch the entire time. It isn’t that he didn’t want to rest and allow James a turn at watch. It was just that every time he tried to get up, Aleya had stirred so he settled back down so as not to disturb her.
When at last the light had faded from the opening at the top of the rubble blocking the corridor, he waits another hour until night has completely set in before waking the others. He almost doesn’t want to, Aleya using his lap for a pillow gives him a warm fuzzy inside.
Shaking her shoulder gently, he says, “Time to go.” When she fails to wake up, he shakes it a little more vigorously and repeats himself a little louder. “Let’s wake up!”
Coming awake, she sits up and at first begins to panic in the dark until James’ orb appears to dispel the dark. “You stay awake the whole time?” James asks him.
Nodding, he replies, “Yeah. You two seemed to need the sleep more than I.”
Aleya produces three strips of jerky and hands each of them one. “This is the last I have,” she tells them.
“Thanks,” they say in unison as they rip a piece off and begin to chew the hard, stale meat.
Leaving his orb with the others, James climbs to the opening at the top and gazes out. He can’t really make out anything outside in the dark of night. Some light filters down through the trees from the stars overhead, but it doesn’t do more than make indistinct shadows.
“I don’t think anyone’s out there,” he says. Finding a hand sized flat rock, he begins scraping away the debris, enlarging the hole.
“Just be careful,” Jiron tells him. “Don’t make too much noise, or someone may hear you.”
“I will,” he replies as he continues clearing away the dirt and rock. When he at last has a hole large enough for him to squeeze through, he sets his rock down and turns back to the others. “I’m going to cancel the orb so it won’t attract anyone’s attention,” he explains. After seeing Aleya’s nod, he plunges them back into darkness.
“Follow me,” he says as he begins moving through the opening.
Once he’s through, Aleya moves to