Chapter 4
Unknown
Iwoke up again, and while I still felt like I was underwater, I felt a little closer to the surface.
This time, I was able to take in more of my surroundings. I still had no sense of who I was or how I got here. I could at least see where here was.
I appeared to be in a large room with an ornately carved table with a glowing crystal in the middle. To the left of the table was a grand staircase that led to the upper level. It was the same place I’d awoken last night.
In front of me, I saw a table with scrolls and journals strewn about.
Beside me were books upon books in shelves that went up impossibly high.
Though it would have been impossible for them to go all the way up to the ceiling, as I looked up, it was as if I were looking endlessly up to the top of the shelves, where I could see the tiniest pin prick of sky.
Where was I?
Then a noise startled me. It was the deep rumble of a great snoring beast. I searched to find the source of the sound. It was the rumble of something, alright, but not a great beast. Rather, the rumble of a snoring orc who had fallen asleep at one of the tables on a mess of scrolls and maps.
There was something about him that called to me. I couldn't really put my finger on it, but I couldn't seem to pull my gaze away from him. There was something about his mossy green complexion and the way his tusks stuck out of his mouth as he lay with his head down, drooling on a map.
While he was still an enormous orc, he didn't have the massive frame of the warriors I'd seen before.
His hair was pulled back in a neat braid, revealing the piercing on his pointy ears.
And the way his tunic fell loosely around his shoulders revealed the bare skin of his appealing chest. A hint of a black tattoo covered his chest, and I found myself wanting to slide the tunic down further to show it to me in its entirety.
Then maybe I could see the broad expanse of his muscular chest.
Why was I thinking like that?
Yet as much as I wanted to go to this orc, I was still stuck. I still felt weighed down and couldn't move. These wakeful moments had grown longer. This one felt even more vivid. I felt more alive than I'd felt in a long time, if I'd ever been truly alive.
What was happening to me? A panic started to rise, but then the sinking feeling came back, and I began to sink under water.