Bloodlines of the Ancient Pantheons

Chapter 278: CCLXXVIII. Memories In A Dream

He opened his mouth to breathe, when, opening his sharp teeth, he felt a foreign body wedged between them and touched it with his tongue.

Unable to understand what that soft thing was, he grabbed it with his fingers, pulling it out of his jaws.

When he discovered that it was a skein of brown fur, soaked in blood and saliva and half-chewed, a feeling of disgust pervaded his throat.

He turned to one side and began to vomit, realizing that against his will, he had just ingested something like 25 kg of raw flesh, including organs, blood, and cartilage parts of his prey.

When he finished vomiting, the stench around him became unbearable and he got up from the ground, leaving without thinking twice.

While still looking for a shelter where he could rest, hoping not to lose control of his body and his actions again, the Sun filtering weakly through the thick vegetation of that stretch of the deep forest began to set, slowly leaving room for the dark of the evening.

"I will spend the night here, in this forest. I have to stay away from every town nearby, it would be too dangerous. I need to find a more sheltered spot, away from everything and everyone" Dag thought, opening and closing his eyes, whose gaze was still clouded by red.

Although he was already at the most hidden point of the wood, where the artificial lights of the torches did not reach the slightest, he was perfectly able to see, distinguishing even the plants around him and the lizards that climbed the tree trunks.

It was as if he was getting used to all that power as if those so developed senses had always belonged to him.

With his belly full, but inexplicably grumbling again, Dag stood behind a rock face under a small ravine nestled in the trees.

Following his instinct, he sank to the ground, on wide, fluffy leaves, which gave some relief to his tired body and tried to close his eyes and fall asleep, hoping in that way to dispose of all the blood magenta absorbed by Roar.

Meanwhile, Gridd and Roar had come out of Skegg and found themselves at a crossroads, from which several roads branched out.

Reidar lowered himself to the ground, touching it with his fingers, trying to locate footprints that would allow him to guess the direction Dag had followed.

"These are the wheels of a wagon and these are probably the footprints of horse hooves... the captain chose to get out of Skjegg by climbing the walls, I doubt he went down one of these roads" he said, looking around and reflecting.

"But... if your speech is correct, how are we going to find him? Look, there are thousands of trees and wherever you turn there is a different forest! It's going to be impossible!" Gridd said, scratching her head.

As his companions tried to figure out the way to find Dag and bring him back to town, he had finally managed to fall asleep, ending that hellish day.

...

"The mouflon is a mammal that inhabits hilly regions with rocky areas in which to take refuge in case of danger. Despite its generally peaceful attitude towards humans and other animals, if provoked, it can be very dangerous. The male of this species, in fact, is equipped with two large curved horns and the front of his skull is particularly hard and resistant, allowing him to defend himself strongly in case of need..." Lady Ysabel said, explaining to her pupils the main features of the animal shown in the image on the book in front of them, during the natural science class.

"Wow, it looks really big and mighty! I think it's much better never to be in front of such an animal, I would die of fear! What do you think, Daggy?" Hiro whispered in a low voice, slightly bending his head toward his bench mate, intent on following the lesson carefully.

"The book says it is a fairly common mammal in mountainous areas... who knows if I'll ever meet one on my destination planet..." Dag replied, trying not to be discovered by his teacher as he chatted with his friend.

"Hahah! Tell me the truth... If you see it in front of you, ready to frame you, you would shit in your pants, wouldn't you? Look at those horns! Even a strong, mighty man would be knocked out!" Hiro replied, chuckling.

"Hiro, Dag... even today you are constantly chatting, disturbing your companions who are interested in the lesson. If I continue to get your buzz in the background, Lady Mary will accompany you to the dorm and you will be grounded for a week! Am I clear?" Lady Ysabel exclaimed, turning to them, who immediately looked down on their books again, pretending to be innocent.

"I'm sorry, Lady Ysabel, it's not going to happen again!" Dag answered without looking up, regretting having talked to Hiro, who was a tireless chatterbox and during the reproach continued undaunted to giggle under his head, risking angering the teacher.

"So where did we get to?... Ah, yes... the largest specimens can weigh about 40 kg and their diet consists mainly of..." 

The nanny continued to speak to the class, and Dag pointed his gaze at the picture of the animal by resting a finger on its horns and moving it on the sheet following their spiral shape, thinking back to the words of his friend Hiro, which made the lessons much less boring.

...

"Uh?!" 

He opened his eyes again, breathing hard, while in front of his mouth, his breath lifted the dust of the ground.

Immediately he touched his head and his hand flourished one of his little black horns.

For a moment, a smile lit up his face.

"What would you say about me, my friend, if you knew that not only did I meet many mouflons, but that two horns similar to theirs grew among my hair?" he thought, recalling the words of his friend, who had appeared to him in a dream more than once.

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