Chapter 69
You know, you never get over combat.
I don't think you ever do.
.
—Audie Murphy,
most decorated American soldier from World War II
.
MIKHAIL
My nightmare about the fat lizard is interrupted by a woman screaming. I stumble off the floor, my heart racing, back to the sleeping quarters with my sword already drawn. In my former bed, Pareesa fights off an imaginary enemy.
"Don't do it! Mikhail! Run!"
She lets out a heart-wrenching wail as she claws at the stitches in her jaw. My sword clatters onto the floor as I gather my fairy general into my arms. She punches and scratches, giving me a back-elbow to the nose.
"It's not real, Pareesa! You're just having a nightmare."
She awakens, sobbing, her eyes ringed blue with terror.
"It's not real," I promise.
But it was real. U
