Chapter-15: Beneath The Full Moon
Diego blinked his eyes on a strange reality as he adjusted his loincloth. He found himself in the center of the circular stone hedge, lying in bed. A soft emerald blanket covered him from mid chest, down past his feet, while silk gold pillows comforted his neck and head. The small dome above provided a shielding cover from the blaze of the sun, yet the powerful heat and bright light waited at the outer edge of the stone hedge.
Diego moved the blanket aside with a kicking stretch and yawned. “When did I?” he asked as he sat up, trying to remember how he got into bed.
Despite his need for more rest, Diego moved to the edge of the bed and rubbed his knees. His muscles and joints were stiff and sore as he stood. He felt sluggish and dizzy with a dry mouth, while a sunken pain weighed his stomach.
Several steps into the light and Diego looked up at the strange day. The sun still watched from its high noon position as before. Clouds appeared to move, yet they remained in the same spot. Time, time worked differently in this place. And its static state left a chalky after taste to the surroundings.
Diego’s heart exploded into heavy drum beats as he gazed at the open green field. Where is it, he thought as he inspected the aftermath of his battle with the sun eagle. Blood, feathers and various gouges littered the green arena, all this he remembered. However, missing from this picture was the carcass of the eagle.
Alarms banged throughout Diego’s body, he thought: Where did the eagle’s body go? Boiling panic pumped in his veins as he moved with a desperate sense of urgency. He ignored the soreness and stiffness from his body, and he searched and reached. One after another, he found his weapons and made ready to attack again.
Diego looked for the beast all over the green acre. The grass field lay empty.
Sweat slid down his face, he jerked his head up at the blue sky. But he only found vibrant clouds and the inferno sun. And, glazing over the green trees, there perched no sun eagle in sight.
“Where are you?” asked Diego as he repeated his search. Still, he found no sound, no presence and no shadow that moved with dangerous intentions.
Instead, Diego found the long tailed emerald bird. His little guide. The small bird flew in large figure eights in the sky.
Chuey sensed Diego’s frantic search and flew closer to him. The little bird hovered in front of Diego and asked with a mild hint of concern: “Guerrero, are you feeling better? Are you ready for the next battle?”
“What happened to the body?” asked Diego. He held his staff in a defensive position and kept searching the sky. “Where’s the sun eagle?”
“Don’t worry about the sun eagle,” said Chuey, “its dead … the eagle is dead; it won’t come back.”
Diego persisted in a tense hold. “Fine, its dead; but … but where is it? Where’s the body?”
Chuey replied with an amused chirp. He said: “I got rid of the body, silly. Don’t worry, don’t worry about that. Focus on your next battle. We need to prepare for your next battle.”
Safety bloomed and spread throughout Diego’s core. And he finally eased up and lowered his guard.
Though, with the sun eagle explained away, another concern popped into Diego’s mind. He inspected his body. And to his surprise, all his injuries were healed—only thick scars and sore muscles remained.
“What happened to my injuries?” asked Diego. “How long did I sleep? How did I get into bed?”
Thank you
I appreciate your time in reading this blog post. Next Monday I will upload the next part of Chapter fifteen, Beneath The Full Moon, from my first novel: Guerrero of Passions.
Total Consciousness 