Chapter 5

Quietly as he could, he slipped in through the door, locking it behind him. Looking around, he noticed the dining room was dark. Drats. He missed dinner. His heart was still racing from his encounter earlier that day. He dug around the icebox, searching its contents for leftovers.

"Well, what have we here," a voice called out from behind him. He practically jumped in surprise, before turning around and noticing it was only his mother.

"I just figured I would get some dinner…" Lazar began to explain, before being interrupted by his mother.

"You didn't stop back at lunch and you didn't come home for dinner! Dmitri even stopped by this afternoon asking for you, but you had told me you were with him. You owe me an explanation! Where have you been!" his mother angrily spat at him, her face seething with rage.

"I… was out-"

"Out where!"

"Over by Dead Thicket-"

"You want me to believe that lie!? I know you loathe that place-"

"-I swear I was there -!"

"-Where were you? Were you trying to spoil some poor girl's innocence?

"Ah! No, never!"

"Then answer me, dammit: Where. Were. You?"

Lazar had run out of things to say. He had given her the truth, or at least part of it, and she didn't believe him, so what chance did he have of her believing in the full truth? Lazar remained silent, head downcast in shame at the way he was being scolded like a naughty 7-year-old.

"Ach! If you won't tell me, then no dinner for you!" She said vehemently. Quickly, she stalked over to the icebox, slammed the lid down and locked it, take the key with her. "And tomorrow, you have full shop duty," she added venomously as she left the room.

Lazar sullenly trudged up to his room and laid down on his bed, counting the wood grains in the ceiling beams while gritting his teeth. What more could he have said? 'Oh yes, mother. I heard a noise in the Dead Thicket and I went to investigate, but then I was knocked out and taken captive by an Arisen who so kindly decided to release me.' Yep. She would absolutely believe that over anything else he could've told her.

He sighed and rolled over. That brought up another problem. Having full shop duty meant that he wouldn't be able to see the Arisen again until late, and he still had some doubts about her. What if he didn't return? What would she do then? Could she try to kill all his friends? Just how much power did she have, how much did she know, and just what was she doing in Novograd?

Eventually, sleep called to him, helping him to forget the pangs of hunger. He dreamt a strange dream, where people look like complete strangers, but somehow, innately, he's known them for a long time. He dreamt of running with a Dmitri that looked as though he were 7, and chasing a person, a woman, the Arisen. All around him, the world was spinning, slowly at first, but gaining speed as he neared her. He touched her hand, and the world flew apart like a shattered mirror. The ground broke underneath him, alienating him on his own allod. Dmitri drifted away on his own, with a sad, almost disappointed face, and the Arisen woman was breaking into dust on a third. He lunged for her allod, but fell. Down, down, down through the Astral. There was no ground. Falling through the Astral was like falling through space. There was no end. The space of the astral flew around him, shapes forming and changing, reminding him of the Endoplasmic Reticulum in a cell, the only support to his world. Then, he saw the light.

His eyes fluttered open to the light gently streaming in through the window. It was still early in the morning. The light was the first light of the day. Slowly, he got out of bed and ambled over to his wash basin. He ran a hand through his hair in a vain attempt to keep it from falling into his eyes before plunging his hands into the water of the basin and splashing his face with it. The water was quite frigid. Well, at least he was more or less awake now.

When he went down to eat breakfast, he could still feel the tense, upset vibes originating from his mother. She muttered something along the lines of "worthless, lazy boy" as she moved to another room, unwilling to come to another confrontation like the previous night. He winced slightly at her murmuring as he ate his breakfast.

The minutes trickled by slowly as he stood behind the counter. For the most part, it was a dull business. Few people stopped by in the morning, especially at this time of day. Occasionally, he would see a person or two passed outside the front of the shop, but generally, it was the same unchanging scene for hours.

As he was going through the register, making sure all the money was there and accounted for to pass the time, the tinkling of bells chimed throughout the shop. His eyes shot up toward the opening door. Dmitri entered the shop and made his way over to Lazar, smiling in an attempt to lighten Lazar's down mood.

"Lazar! Where were you yesterday? I looked everywhere for you!"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Lazar replied, somewhat sullenly.

"Now what makes you say that?" Dmitri began, putting a hand over his mouth in mock shock. "It's my duty to support you. You offend me that you don't think I'll believe you. So, now who is?"

"She?" Lazar questioned. Well, I guess It was a girl- Wait! How does he know about her? he suddenly thought to himself.

"Yeah, the girl you ditched me to see?"

"It… She wasn't exactly… wait! I did not run off to see a girl!" Lazar said, flabberghastedly.

"Oh really, now?" Dmitri replied, his mouth turned up in a crooked, suspicious smile.

"Yes!" he said in earnest, "In fact, I was taken hostage by an Arisen," he finished firmly.

"Really? And the zombie just let you… walk away?" He asked, making a little walking motion with his hands.

"No. Uh, actually, she said I need to go back today," Lazar said, quietly.

"Hmm… I'd really like to see this zombie who decided you were her toy now," Dmitri said.

"She wanted me to come alone, but honestly, I wouldn't mind you coming. Just as long as you don't tell anyone about her."

"Sure, sure. You have my silence. Where shall we meet?"

"At the lumber mill."

"What time?"

"An hour after sundown. That should give me sufficient time to close up shop."

"I'll be waiting for you, Lazar. You and your zombie girl," Dmitri chuckled to himself. Could Lazar really have found an Arisen this far into the land of the League? He highly doubted it. But then again, it was in times like these where you could never be too careful. He waved goodbye to Lazar as he left the shop to rejoin the company of Asimov.

Lazar watched as Dmitri left. Suddenly, for some reason, he couldn't shake a feeling of anxiety. There seemed to be something telling him that maybe he shouldn't have invited Dmitri along, that maybe he shouldn't have told Dmitri about any of this, that maybe he should have just plain forgotten about the Arisen altogether. Rethinking what she had told him, he doubted that she could find him in this city; the watchmen would catch her before she even got close. He smiled inwardly as he reflected on his foolishness. He realized, he wanted to stay back, to just sleep it off, but he'd already promised to meet Dmitri at the lumber mill, and he'd already "ditched" him once. His smile faded as he let out a soft sigh. Why couldn't he ever think things through rationally before jumping in to these half-baked plans?