Book 1: Chapter 14: Deafening silence.

Book 1: Chapter 14: Deafening silence.

Blood dripped from my ears. I could smell it as I staggered away. The world spun in a blurred rotation before me. Everything inside my skull decided to hurt all at once. And through it all, the crushing, desolate silence reigned. Both my eardrums were burst.

It hurt. Beyond anything I had felt in this world.

The pain inside throbbed between sharp and dull with every breath I took. I tripped and found myself in the dirt. Picked back up and clutched my head as I staggered onwards. Back to the house. Needed something. Anything.

Pain ruled my existence. How could a scream hurt like that?

Mandrake. Or something close to it. I realized. Never liked old folklore much.

Should have probably paid attention. Gods, it hurt. The sound had gone directly to my brain.

Chills went through me. I remembered that mandrake screams were fatal. Better hope these werent the same monster. My memories slogged together with the original Gareks as I tried to pick apart what was what. Not much success.

Pain was weakness leaving the body, my furred ass. I snarled, aware somehow. Trying to distract myself from the sheer, mind-numbing pain. Found myself at the house suddenly. Threw open the door and almost fell inside as a fresh wave of pain almost crippled me.

Why was that scream so powerful?

Sense of balance was horrible. I crashed into the table and dropped to my knees as I fought the urge to wretch my guts up. Thoughts came in sharp burst from the haze of pain. Gods it hurt.

I was a minotaur. This sort of pain was something Garek had never experienced. Magical fuckery.

Should kill the plants, I thought. I fumbled for bandages from the counter. Swiped away objects. Needed to stop the bleeding. Didnt want to pass out bleeding directly from my skull. Normal burst eardrums shouldnt have this affect on me. But this world wasnt normal.

I wrapped cloth bandages around my head. Was aware it didnt fix the problem inside. Didnt care. Just needed the bleeding to stop.

My hands trembled when I finished. Not good. Fucking mandrake. I glanced at one of Gareks spears propped up by the back wall. Should go and kill those plants right now. Realized it was a stupid decision made by anger. And for a while, I just sat on the floor, blood-stained bandages wrapped around my head. Alone in the silence.

That was worse than the pain. The absolute lack of any sound. Could be a war outside my door right now, and I wouldnt know. No chitter-chatter of birds. No sound of the wind. No gurgle of the stream. Couldnt hear the cows in the pasture. No laughter of the crows as they harassed smaller birds in the trees.

Nothing. I saw a bowl fall off the table right in front of me and didnt hear the clatter.

I needed a healing potion. But I had none on the farm. I staggered upright and leaned against the houses wall. Realized I had no clue where to go for one either. No choice but to wait for ishila to come back. Gods, I relied on that girl for so much now.

A tingling burn spread through my skull, and sensation began to return. I could faintly make out words as she spoke.

-an you hear me? The sound came from far away, but it was there. With a grimace, I nodded. Relief returned to her features, and her usual grin slipped back into place.

Your lucky ma believes in keeping the healin potions in iron flasks and not glass potion bottles, She grimaced herself. Tripped on the way here and nearly had to go back.

But you got here anyway, I rumbled. Gods, it felt so good to be able to hear things again. Thank you.

Her frown returned as I explained the mandrake and how to recognize them.

Theyre dangerous, She frowned. But so is everything else. We need wax and cloth to plug our ears when working with them. Wax for this, armor for the biters, and the acid. I think we should just build storage space for dedicated safety gear at this point.

You present an excellent point. I sighed. The wood I brought to erect a shed for the cows can be used for that instead.

Good. Dont wanna run home for my armor every time you want to handle the biter pods anyhow.

So? I grunted. I take the young couple received our gift with gratitude?

The lass snorted, a cheeky grin on her face. Her fangs appeared more obvious than usual as she grinned from ear to ear.

Gratitude? She asked. Have you ever seen someone burst into almost spontaneous tears? I watched both of them tear up real good when I told em it was a gift. Theyre just a small place without cows and were havin to buy milk at cutthroat prices from another farmer down the road, from what I understood of his blubberin. Real mighty overjoyed at such a neighborly gift. Tried to foist a whole bunch of hats on me when I asked bout one.

You didnt take them?

Eh, woulda been too small for you anyway.

I nodded, a happy smile on my face despite the pain.

Well, I cant work too much myself today, so were not doing anything. I offered. Care to stay for supper or somesuch?

She did, and the day faded as we discussed upcoming projects on the farm, what we needed and who it would be beneficial to get in touch with. Ishila seemed to be of the idea that once the fields were seeded, I should go and meet the neighbors. I didnt disagree. I couldnt stay holed up forever and just drown myself in work. Wasnt healthy. And if problem times came, I would rather have friends to call upon than a small bit of progress more in some project.

And so ended another day. A painful one, yes, but one well spent.