As their journey continued, Thalion woke every day with a new story that Vondran had given him which he then shared with Lyri, Eldrin, and Kael. Mile after mile, as they walked toward the horizon he told them of the heir's life and all the things that he had experienced or learned. At some point, Thal realized that Vondran was mentoring him to become the king he hadn't been able to be when he was alive. It was as if Vondran's consciousness was joining with Thalion's, but that wasn't something he shared with the others.
One day he woke to tell them that they no longer needed to travel by night, that they had left the danger far enough behind them that they could continue walking in the daylight. What he didn't tell them was that they were getting closer to their journey's end and they would need to be able to see distant landmarks and enemies.
They spent that day foraging for food and supplies in the forest, which were much easier to see since they did not need to rush to be on their way as the moon rose.
"You know, Thal," Eldrin began as the four sat relaxing on the edge of a small pond, "if I were a theorist who specialized in dreams, I would say that there is a great chance that some of yours have been more like nightmares lately. Not only might you be having dreams that Vondran is giving you, but you might also be having just normal dreams of your own. How can you tell them apart? Do you ever feel like his thoughts and memories enhance your own? Or is it more like an out-of-body experience where you enter his?"
Thal looked at him and blinked several times. "To be honest, I've never even thought of that. It has happened so gradually that I think now many of my dreams before I first heard his voice in my head were actually things he was showing me. Sometimes it's almost as if we are one in the same."
Kael looked over at Thal, "Before I encountered the man and the gnolls, I would sometimes see myself through your eyes when I'd been rude or dishonest about something. A part of me would want to take back whatever I'd said or done because I could see the hurt that I was causing. But then I would just continue to do it. It took me a while to realize that everything I decided not to change, I was actually choosing, and I began to dislike myself more and more every day. I don't want to be that person anymore. I want to be more like the three of you."
[This is an ongoing chapter a week story that began with the first Words for Wednesday for 2025 on 1 January. I'm hoping to continue it through 31 December, the last Wednesday of the year. To start from the beginning, click on the Words for Wednesday 2025 label to the right and it will pull up all of the weekly posts, beginning with the most recent. To start from the beginning, continue to click "Older Posts" at the bottom of the page until you get to 1 January 2025, then click "Newer Posts" to read the next date. You can thank Blogger for the inability to list them by chronological order under the labels.]
