Chapter Two
Smoke filled his nose, burning his lungs as he breathed it in, almost suffocating him until he blew it out in a long wheeze that left him dizzy and nauseated. But his body was so starved for air that he breathed in again almost immediately. A cough tore through his chest, wrenching him sideways, though he could barely move because his arms were caught under an unidentified weight. Slowly he opened his eyes, the heaviness of an extremely long sleep making even that simple task difficult and causing his head to feel muddled and full of cobwebs.
An orange blaze filled his vision and he closed his eyes against the sharp pain that stabbed through his temple. Belatedly, he became aware of the heat warming his body, almost blistering in its intensity because he was far too close to the fire. Turning his head away, he forced his eyes open again only to stare into a pair of grotesque eyes, their lids open wide, the irises clouded over, unseeing. Dead eyes. He’d seen dead eyes before. A tangled memory of dead bodies came to him. He moved his head away as far as his body would allow to see the rest of the face. The head’s mouth was open in a silent scream.
He opened his own mouth to call to someone, but nothing came out save a hoarse cry of anguish. He jerked back but was caught by that same unidentifiable weight as before. Only now he knew. Now, as he looked around him, as he took in the sheer magnitude of the eyes staring at him, he knew what that weight was.
He was in a death pile. Slain warriors had been stripped of their clothing, their identity, and piled high to be burned. It would save the hassle of burying the bodies and keep the vultures at bay.
He had no memory of how he’d come to be here. No memory of a battle and he didn’t recognise the men. The only thing he knew with any real certainty was that he wasn’t dead, but he would be if he didn’t get away. Wrenching hard on his arm, he managed to pull it free from the man lying on it. The force of the movement made him roll to the side, landing in a heap on the dirt next to the bodies. He lay there for a moment, fingers pressed to the ground as he tried to get his bearings.
Taking stock of his body, he made sure that all of his limbs were in good working order. Aside from some scratches, everything seemed to work. He was nude, but he’d have to deal with that later. It hurt to breathe, though. Now that he was opposite the fire, he could take his first breath of fresh air. It still burned going in. Pushing himself up to his knees, he groaned as a wave of pain moved through his head. His hand went to his forehead and found a crusty gash there. The blood had matted in his hair.
He pulled his hand away and the world went dim before it tilted and started to spin. He had to press a hand back to the ground to stop himself from toppling over. Now that he was aware of the injury, a constant pounding had begun in his skull and wouldn’t let up. A wave of nausea moved through him and he groaned as he fell forward, retching into the dirt. Nothing but bile came up.
He ran a hand over his chest and it felt grainy, as if his skin was covered in a fine powder. Bringing his fingers to his nose, he smelled cold ashes. How long had he been asleep? What battle had got him here? Trying to remember only made his head feel clouded and dark, so he stopped trying to remember. Ignoring the lurch in his belly, he forced his head up to look around the clearing just to make sure no one was there. Right now he needed to get to safety. Whoever was in charge of these bodies probably wouldn’t be happy to see him alive when they returned.
A path led away from the fire through the trees. He’d go the opposite way, through the forest, and put as much distance as he could between himself and this certain death. But he couldn’t stop himself from taking one last look at the dead. If he’d battled with them, one of them should at least look familiar, but he didn’t recognise any of the faces he could see. They were strangers. Walking around the pile of men—there were at least a score of them, maybe more—prodding as he went, he hoped one of them would still be alive, but their flesh had already hardened.
Dead flesh. Dead eyes. There was nothing but death here.
Glancing around the clearing again, he saw nothing he could take with him. Their clothing had all been taken, burned probably or scavenged by the victors. There were no weapons. The large
