Chapter 39: Counting the cost

When I awoke I was a little confused for a second. I sat up suddenly and looked around. D'ar'Beth just turned her head away in amusement.

I groaned as my body let me know that it was not happy with the amount of abuse I had subjected it to. It took me a few seconds to realise that not all the aches and pains were actually mine. We had bonded so closely in the Sword Dance that I hadn't let go of it completely. After a little thought and experimentation, I realised that it was no longer something that I had to do consciously, but that it would now be a natural part of how I operated. I made a mental note to explore the ramifications later ... the most immediate effect was that it seemed as if I had multiple pairs of eyes, hands and feet.

I stood up and took a step, before tripping over my own feet and falling down again. The sense of "expansion" of myself from a single individual to being part of a larger "group" would take some getting used to.

I got up again, and gingerly took a few steps. My head seemed to clear quickly and I could feel myself re-adjusting.

"[You'll get used to it quickly enough, ]" D'ar'Beth's voice echoed in my head.

I looked at her quizzically, as I realised that there was something different about her. She seemed to be more than before.

"[What's different about you?]" I asked her.

"[Nothing, ]" she replied "[the real question is what's different about you.]"

"[What do you mean? It's just the Sword Dance that seems to have lingered?]"

"[No. It's a lot more than that. You {taste} like a new hatchling.]"

"Hatchling?" I queried aloud, '"What the hell does that mean?"

"[It's not important now. You need to focus on our immediate needs. When we are safe and secure, then we can have a long talk about what has happened.]"

"[I'll hold you to that, ]" I told her, still puzzled by what she had implied. In the background to her mental words I got the sense of what looked/felt like large wings sheltering a clutch of eggs. All I could relate it to was an eagle sitting on it's nest.

I decided to follow D'ar'Beth's advice and turned to the immediate situation. Now that I had had some time to adjust, I could separate out what aches and pains were mine, and which belonged to others in the Finger. I made a quick check and realised I could pretty much disregard the various cuts and bruises on my own body. There were a few more serious wounds on some of the others though, with, I suddenly realised, a missing arm.

As I realised that, another realisation struck me. It wasn't just my Finger with me, but that of Desrae, and it was her arm that was missing.