Chapter 32
Darkness.
Heaviness.
Exhaustion.
It was rather comfortable.
The sensation of awareness was decidedly less so.
A tiny thread of it came down to slowly. . .slowly. . .to draw her gently up to the surface.
At first she protested thinly, wanting to sink back into peaceful oblivion, but her senses had other ideas.
Relentless, her ears opened up to catch faint sounds, pulling her consciousness up further.
Too weak to fight, she had no choice but to comply.
A faint noise in the farthest reaches of her hearing gradually grew more into focus as she was nudged from the darkness surrounding her.
It sounded like a group of people talking in quiet voices.
Confused at this, she tried to open her eyes, but they felt like they had stones lying on top of them.
The darkness pulled at her.
'Come,' it spoke softly.
'You needn't worry yourself with that. Give in and rest. You know you want to.'
She nearly obeyed, but her common sense told her otherwise.
'No!'
It exclaimed, pushing her up again as the darkness gently pulled her down.
'You must wake up! Open your eyes! You can sleep later, but its time to wake up now.'
'You can wake up later,' the darkness reassured her.
'Come with me now.'
'There won't *be* a "Later" if you sleep! Wake up Now!'
Her other half shouted at her rigorously.
Avalina tried to resist the darkness, but the moment she had started to fight it, it immediately seemed to gain strength and began fighting her back.
And she wasn't strong enough to conquer it.
Feeling her brief moment of strength leaving her, Avalina fought harder in desperation.
Feeling herself sinking again, down into the pitch, she tried to scream, but all that came out was a soft whisper.
"Help me."
'You're alone, remember?'
The darkness reminded her.
'No one will help you. Come with me, and be safe.'
Terrified, she fought harder, feeling something wet trickle down her cheek, whispering again.
"Please."
And instantly, there was someone there.
And they were speaking her name.
"Avalina, you're awake! Guys, she's awake!"
A burst of background noise followed, which soon morphed into voices.
Forcing her heavy eyes open, Avalina couldn't make out anything.
It was all just a blur of fuzzy shapes and washed-out colors that didn't mix.
But she could hear the relief and joy in their voices, and it, in return, relieved her.
"So tired. . ."
She whispered weakly, trying to alert them to her problem. She didn't want to go back to sleep!
Instantly something gently shook her shoulder, forcing her to open her blurry eyes a little more.
"Oh no, don't you go back to sleep yet!"
A voice gently chided.
"Yes, you're going to drink something first."
Another voice spoke.
Gentle pressure on Avalina's back slowly raised her a little, her shoulders and head supported rather comfortably.
Feeling the rim of something being pressed gently against her lips, she opened her teeth as the fluid came washing into her mouth.
It was warm and tasted so good. . .she swallowed as quickly as she dared as the inside of her mouth came alive, as if it had not been used in some time.
It tasted so Good! Avalina didn't think she had ever tasted anything this good.
"Not too fast," a voice gently scolded. "Don't want you choking now."
The cup was empty in a matter of seconds, but she was still thirsty! She needed more!
A moment passed before a fresh cup was pressed against her mouth.
This time, instead of something warm and slightly salty, it was cool and tasted like the ice that froze below a clear spring in the winter.
More slowly than before, she drank it all, before being overcome with another wave of fatigue.
They lowered her gently back onto the bed.
"That's enough for now."
"You can rest now if you want."
"Yep, you're safe with us!"
Avalina felt the truth in those words and was comforted.
Closing her blurry eyes, she let the darkness immediately sweep her away, knowing it was safe now.
After visiting Avalina yesterday, the image of her sickly face had not left his mind.
Or the unpleasant feeling that had settled on his shoulders and worked its way into his chest when he had been in the room with her.
It refused to leave him.
It was like an annoying servant you couldn't inflict harm on because you couldn't even see them.
He bared his fangs slightly at the thought of them.
The door to his chambers burst open, crashing back against the wall.
The Horned King had became rather used to these spontaneous entrances and barely flinched at all as the Invisible burst into the room.
His surprise wasn't even noticeable.
He had came to the conclusion that nothing the Invisibles did could surprise him anymore.
But alas, nobody on this side of the grave can ever know everything there is to know, not even someone as old as the Horned King.
He was reminded sharply of this when the Invisible grabbed his hands, yanking him sharply up from his throne, and began to drag him around in irregular circles, screaming at the top of its voice.
"She's awake, She's AAAAAHHH-WAAAAAAAAAAAAKE!"
It bellowed, pulling him madly around. (Actually it sounded like two voices)
"She's Gonna Live!"
The Horned King had been so taken by surprise at this behavior, he had accidently allowed himself to be pulled all over the room in eccentric circles before he snarled furiously at them to release him immediately.
Which they did.
Throwing him backwards right into the seat of his throne.
Landing with a thump, he yanked his stole off his face, snarling something obscene.
He opened his mouth to say something particularly nasty to them, but his door was promptly slammed in his face.
The bellowing voices could be heard for a very long time before they gradually faded, filling this end of the castle with silence once more.
Standing up, the Horned King thought over what they had said.
At least, the parts he had made out under all the screaming.
Avalina was awake.
Straightening his robe, the Horned King gracefully sat down again, splaying his fingers slowly over the stone arms.
'So she lives,' he thought, feeling a tiny spark of approving. . .pride? Moving inside him.
The tiniest hint of relief crossed his features for a split second before returning to normal.
'Impressive.'