The Zharastvi (Chapter Two)

My watch passed uneventfully, and for that, I felt grateful. But morning came too quickly, and I woke to the sound of Benno’s booming voice.
“Get up, you lazy oaf! Or you’re going to miss breakfast! Damn, but what I wouldn’t give for a nice cold mug of beer right about now!”
I felt a booted foot kicking me, and I rolled over.
“All right! I’m up!”
For breakfast we had the same food as the night before, but I couldn’t about to complain.
“We should reach the Siroky in two hours,” the trow said as we finished our meal. “Then it’s off to the monastery at Klid Zahrada.”
“I thought you said we were going to Radovan.”
“Don’t talk with your mouth full, boy! And I did say we were going to Radovan. And we are. Just not yet. I need more information from the library first. Don’t worry about it; the sea air will do you good.”
“Whatever you say, Benno.”
Soon we started off, making good time through the forest. A breeze came from the west, keeping us cool, much cooler than we should have been at that time of year. I didn’t complain, since the wind now spared us a march in the oppressive heat.
“So, Vali,” said Benno. “What’s your story, boy? What were you doing living out in that temple, when there was a perfectly good trow village a stone’s throw away?” He grinned at me. “Are you a thief, or some other such rutterkin?”
“Hardly,” I growled. “I am a merchant’s apprentice. Or I was. It was over two years ago that our caravan was attacked by the Zokej out on the Prazdy Moors. They killed everyone, except for me.”
“How’d you get away?”
“I jumped into the Siroky, that’s how. After they left, I was going to try to reach Felsengarten, but once I reached Pilzstadt, I didn’t have the energy to go any further. I found that temple and decided to stay there.”
“Humph. Why didn’t you live with the trows, instead of lurking in the woods like some kind of goddamn outcast?”
“They didn’t want me. They wouldn’t take me in; they just gave me some food and told me to go to Felsengarten. I figured they didn’t want me in Felsengarten, either.”
“Very interesting.” The trow regarded me intently.
“If you say so, Benno.”
The ground began to slope gently down, and we would soon reach the river. I had no idea what plan Benno had for getting across the waters, but he was Zharastvi, as he often reminded us. I hoped to see some fantastic magic. You didn’t find many Zharastvi in Moravia, so when one showed up, you wanted to see him in action. Of course, I would have wanted the opportunity to come under different circumstances.
Before long, we reached our destination. The great brown river spread out below and before us, wending its lazy way down through the moors on its way to the sea. I looked across to the woods on the far side, to my homeland, Moravia. I realized at that moment that I hadn’t missed it. I had nothing to miss. My parents, my relations, and my master were all dead. I had no money, no land…nothing to gain by returning. I wanted to feel excitement and joy upon my homecoming, but sometimes things don’t turn out the way you expect them to…or want them to.
“So, great Zharastvi,” I said, “what is your wonderful plan to get us across a mile’s worth of deep water? Did you know it’s infested with wodniks?”
“Har har, you simpleton! That’s just fairy tales! There ain’t no wodniks in the Siroky!”
“Well, I’m not swimming across, if that’s your plan.”
“It certainly is not my plan, boy. Any dolt can flounder in the depths. I intend on using a Word of Water. You’ll see.”
“Benno!” Krina suddenly cried, and I whirled around. She pointed behind us, and I saw a moroi running at us through the trees.
“Quick, into the water!” yelled Benno.
We ran down the embankment and splashed into the river, swimming as fast as we could away from shore. The horrible scream of the fiend sounded above us, and I glanced up to see it flying overhead. I dove underwater and swam furiously until I ran out of breath.
My head broke the surface, and I looked around. Benno and Krina splashed close by, and the moroi screeched again, passing low over the water towards us. At the last second, it veered upwards and passed us by.
Another shriek sounded from my right, and I saw another fiend flying towards us from the edge of the forest, about half a mile away.
“We’re not done for yet!” cried the trow, as if guessing my thoughts.
The moroi turned in its course and picked up speed, coming at us right over the surface, its spear held at the ready to skewer one of us as it passed. My eyes stayed glued to the horror before me, and I resigned myself to a grisly death.
Benno closed his eyes and pointed at the fiend, and it seemed the trow struck it dumb. Its wings furled and its head drooped, and it veered down and crashed into the river. The water began to boil and hiss, and great gout of steam rose into the air. The moroi thrashed and screamed in agony, trying desperately to free itself from the burning river. I watched in utter horror as its flesh seared from its body, revealing the yellowish bones beneath. With a final hideous wail, it sank down into the water, which continued to roil and churn. The stench made me nearly vomit.
“Look out!” I screamed, as the second moroi dove at us from on high. Benno repeated his spell, and the fiend went limp in mid-air, crashing down into the water a few feet from Krina. She struggled to get away from the thrashing horror as the river consumed it. I nearly gagged from the fetor of seared flesh.
We made it back to dry land, and I realized then that I had lost my spear in the river. It didn’t matter; it wouldn’t stop the moroi.
“What spell did you use on them?” I gasped. “I’m impressed!”
“Har har!” The trow slapped my back, hard. “So am I, boy, so am I. All I did was use a mind power on them to put them to sleep. I was hoping to drown them. I certainly didn’t expect the water to burn them up, but it makes perfect sense. Evil creatures and water usually don’t mix.”
“Thanks be to Matka,” I breathed, realizing that my body shook in fear.
“That’s enough goddamn excitement for one day!” Benno grunted. “Fighting fiends is making me thirsty!”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “There’s an entire river right there, Benno!”
“No, you dullard! When a trow says he’s thirsty, he means for beer! First thing we’re doing once we cross over into Moravia is find a tavern, where I can sit with my feet up to a nice hot fire, a tankard in one hand and my pipe in the other.”
“That sounds good to me…if we can get across the river.”
“Blast you, boy! You still don’t have no faith in poor old Benno, eh? I guess I’m just going to have to go ahead and make a believer out of you. Girl, get over here. You both need to touch my sword for this to work.”
He unsheathed his blade, and immersed its point into the water. Krina and I both touched the cross guard.
“Tenaga kata mangairi,” said the trow. “Let’s go.”
He walked into the water, and amazingly, his booted feet floated on the surface. He turned around and waved, grinning mischievously.
“Come on in, the water’s fine! Har har! See, I told you I had a plan! No river’s going to stop a Zharastvi…or a trow!”
“Where was he two years ago?” I muttered to Krina, and we followed him out onto the Siroky.
I had never been spellbound before, and I found it a unique experience. My feet touched the water without sinking into it, and the surface felt like solid ground, if a bit spongy.
“How long is this going to last?”
“Long enough, boy, don’t worry.”
I didn’t say anything, but I had my worries about the wodniks, whatever Benno said. I knew that they could jump up out of the water and pull us down by the legs…I tried not to think about it, and staying close to Krina and Benno, I muttered prayers of supplication to Voda, the water goddess.
Twenty minutes later, we had crossed the Siroky, and put our feet on the solid ground of Moravia. This side of the river looked just like the east side; dense forest and undergrowth. We stood in Northern Moravia, in the forest named Dreva Tremova. It housed hundreds of varkolac, zradit, ogres, roaming packs of vicious wolves, and other unknown horrors.
“The monastery is on the seacoast,” said Benno, “to the north and west of here. If we make good time, we should get there this afternoon, or evening at the latest. But first, I need to find out if Bogdan’s still spying, and teach him a lesson if he is.”
“I thought you took care of that last night?” I said.
“So did I, boy, so did I,” grinned Benno. “But like I said, that Bogdan’s tricky.”
The trow closed his eyes and put his palms to the sides of his head. I watched him intently, but nothing happened for several long minutes. Then he frowned and pulled his hands away, slapping himself hard in the temples. His eyes snapped open.
“What was that all about?”
“I found his mind-link this time. It was buried deep, which is why I couldn’t dislodge it last night. And I taught him a lesson he won’t soon forget!”
“What lesson?”
“Our good friend Bogdan is going to spend the next ten minutes in agonizing pain, and that’s more than what he deserves for sneaking into people’s brains!”
I could only stare at the trow. The more I learned about Zharastvi, the more I realized the dangers of trifling with them.
We walked on, heading northwest. At mid-afternoon, Benno suddenly stopped us short by holding up his hand.
“What?” I whispered. I heard several harsh voices raised in laughter, followed by a man’s voice, screaming in pain. It came from ahead and to the left, but we could see nothing, for the land sloped steeply down ahead of us.
Quietly we crept to the edge of the slope, and stared down upon the scene before us.
I saw varkolac, six in number. Folk also called them dogheads, because they resembled nothing more than upright walking dogs. They stood over seven feet tall, with hides of reddish-brown fur and muzzles harboring sharp yellow teeth.
These wore some type of crude leather cuirasses, with short swords in baldrics slung over their shoulders. These utterly vicious, stupid, and cruel beasts were also fond of eating human flesh, and they delighted in torturing their victims before the kill, which is exactly what they now did.
They had captured a man, and had used vines to bind him, upright and naked, to a tree. They now crowded around him, laughing sadistically as they took turns inflicting pain upon the man with their fists, their claws, and their blades.
“We must rescue him,” whispered Krina.
“Of course, girl. I can put them to sleep, or…”
“No need. This ends now.”
She stood and raised her sword. “Moravia!”
She ran down the slope. The varks all whirled in surprise, fumbling for their swords.
“Damn it all!” Benno unsheathed his blade and hustled down the slope after her. I stood mesmerized by Krina, by her strength and her speed; I had never a seen a warrior battle so well and so fiercely. Benno held his own against half of them, his blade whirling in a vicious arc that kept them well at bay.
I broke out of my stupor and ran down the hill towards the bound man. His sword lay on the ground near him, and I picked it up and frantically sawed at the vines holding him.
“Can you fight? My friends need help!”
I cut the last vine, and with a low groan, he toppled over onto the ground. The man couldn’t stand, let alone fight.
My eyes went back to the battlefield. Benno stabbed one of the varks in the gut, felling it. Moments later, Krina hacked one across the throat, and it dropped.
Then Benno cast a spell, and flames billowed forth from his sword, igniting his two foes. They screamed in agony and ran, but before they could get three paces away, the magical fire engulfed them, and they dropped to the earth, burning and smoking fiercely.
The magic distracted Krina, and a vark breached her defense, slashing her arm. She cried out, but it only served to enrage her. She seemed to double her strength and her speed, slowly overcoming the beast. Benno ran to her aid, and together they slew it. Moments later, Krina dropped the last one, impaling it on her sword. The vark screamed and its legs buckled. Krina yanked the blade free and buried it in its skull. The battle ended.
I ran to her. “Krina! The way you fight! I…”
She whirled on me, and her face had changed; contorted in hatred and rage.
“Where were you, Vali? Why didn’t you fight with us? I taught you how! How dare you disgrace yourself and me!”
She struck me dumb. She had never shouted at me before. I had never seen her in such a state.
Her hard eyes scanned the battlefield, resting on the wounded vark that Benno had dropped with a blow to the face. It whimpered through a shattered muzzle as it tried desperately to crawl away. Krina strode over to it and plunged her sword into its back. The thing yelped, then went limp.
“Shit-eaters!” she cried. “You all deserve to rot!”
She threw her sword to the ground and came over to the man. I helped her roll him over, and she gasped in shock.
It seemed that the varks had been torturing him for hours. Innumerable bruises and bloody cuts and slashes covered his entire body. I felt sick to my stomach.
“Dragoslav?” Krina cried suddenly in a grating voice. “Is this Dragoslav?”
The man’s head moved slightly, and his swollen eyes struggled to open. His mouth worked feebly. “I…am…he…”
Krina’s face went white, then red, and she began violently shaking. The tears spilled from her eyes and down her cheeks as she struggled to compose herself.
“What have they done to you, my friend?”
She screwed her eyes shut, but the tears wouldn’t stop. I wished more than anything that I could help.
Benno came up behind her. “He is not well?”
“They’ve slain him, Benno. They’ve slain him! I vow that before my days on this earth are done, they will all rot on the ground!”
“I can heal him, girl,” said the trow. “I can heal him. But I am going to need time, and quiet. I can’t be disturbed during the process. We need to find someplace to hide, in case there are any more varks about.”
With a ragged breath, Krina quickly composed herself. “Right.”
We searched the surrounding area, and found a large patch of tall ferns. Krina and Benno picked up the man and moved him as gently as they could. Krina set me the task of gathering his gear. Next to the tree lay his belongings; his clothing, pack, armor and weapons. I also stomped out the flames of the burning varks and moved all the bodies and their gear into another part of the fern bed. I covered the bloodstains on the battlefield with dirt, so that any other varks that came wandering by wouldn’t find any evidence of their comrades’ slaughter.
Once we settled in, Benno helped Krina bind the wound on her arm with some cloth from his satchel, then he began his healing magic.
Dragoslav lay on his back on the ground among the ferns, and the trow knelt beside him. Bowing his head, he remained motionless for long minutes, then laid his hands on the man’s chest. I watched for a few minutes, but nothing seemed to happen, so I lay back in the ferns and rested. Krina sat close to Benno and the man, watching with worried eyes their every move.
The quite and peaceful woods nearly made me fall asleep. Perhaps I did, but at the sound of Benno’s voice, my eyes opened and I turned my head.
“It is done,” the trow said softly. He stood up and groaned, rubbing his knees. “Damn, I ain’t as young as I used to be I guess.”
Krina went to the man’s side. “Dragoslav? Can you hear me?”
His eyes opened.
“Yes. I thank you for delivering me from the hands of those brutes. I am forever at your service…Krina?”
“Dragoslav!”
Krina actually smiled for the first time. The man sat up, and they embraced warmly.
“It is so good to see you, by the grace of Matka! Has it been lifted then?”
“No, dear friend,” she said. “Not lifted.” Her gaze flickered from me to Benno before returning to the man “But we should talk alone of these matters.”
“Very well.”
“I will let you get dressed.”
Krina walked out of the fern bed. I looked at Dragoslav, now completely healed, with not a mark of trauma left on his body. He struck me as a stern man. He seemed to wear a perpetual scowl beneath his sunken dark eyes and short black hair. He wore a short black beard, braided into a single braid, which denoted his pure Moravian heritage.
“How you feeling there, sir?” asked Benno.
The man glanced at him, then at me. “I feel much better now, thank you, sirs. But how? I was near death. I felt it…”
“I am Zharastvi, that’s how.”
“Then I am forever in your debt, Master Trow.” He bowed his head respectfully. “Thanks be to the Mother.”
“Well, Sir Dragoslav, get your clothes on and go talk to the lady. Vali, come with me. We need to get you armed.”
We walked through the ferns towards the vark corpses.
“What’s that all about?” I muttered. “She can’t talk to him in front of us?”
The trow slapped my back. “Har har! A girl’s got to have her secrets, I guess.”
“And she’s got more than most girls.”
“No matter, boy. Here, let’s get you a proper weapon. We’re getting into vark country, and we must be prepared.”
He led me over to one of the dead varks, and unbuckled its baldric. He adjusted it to my height and I put it on, adjusting it further to fit.
“There, how’s that?”
“Good, Benno.”
“You handy with a bow?”
“I’m not bad.”
“Then grab one up, boy, and you’ll be the proper swashbuckler.”
I took a bow from the same vark and slung its quiver of arrows over my other shoulder. I took a few shots with it just to get used to its feel, but I missed my target tree with all three arrows. Benno laughed heartily.
“I spoke too soon, boy! By the love of all that is good and holy in this world, don’t do that again! You’ll embarrass yourself! Who the frig taught you how to shoot like that?”
“My master did, as a matter of fact.”
“I’m so sorry,” he chuckled sarcastically. “Keep the bow, but don’t use it if we get into another fight. Unless you want to defeat the enemy by making them laugh themselves to death! Har har!”
“Very funny, Benno.”
I didn’t feel like joking. Something about seeing Krina with that man upset me. I didn’t know him, and seeing that they had a connection made me realize how little I knew about her. I felt that soon I would lose her to her old life, a life of which I knew nothing. I didn’t want to share her with anyone. I didn’t know what I would do if I lost her.
Benno wandered off somewhere, and I stayed and practiced my archery. After missing a few more shots, I had enough, so I went to find Krina. I saw her and Dragoslav standing very close, talking in front of a hoary tree. Dragoslav had a muscular build, that much I had seen, but now his height amazed me. He stood at least a foot taller than Krina. I wondered again how they knew each other.
They spoke briefly. Dragoslav went back into the ferns and armed himself. When he emerged, I realized his true status. He wore a knee-length hauberk of chain mail over black breeches and under an orange tabard emblazoned with the device of a coiled black dragon. His diamond-shaped wooden shield shared the same design. At his side hung a sword, sheathed in a black leather scabbard. I looked upon the trappings of a knight of Moravia.
“I am Sir Dragoslav Kral, of Ostrava, at your service.” He bowed in courtly fashion.
“Benno Burkhardt of Felsengarten.” The trow returned the bow.
“I’m Vali.” I bowed awkwardly, not knowing the proper protocol.
“Pleased to meet you both. May the blessing of Matka shine upon you and your families for evermore.”
“And you as well,” said the trow.
“Thanks.” I didn’t know what else to say.
“So tell me, Sir Dragoslav,” asked Benno, “what brings you to Dreva Tremova? It is no place to travel, unless one is seeking misadventure.”
“This I know all too well,” said the knight. “I was adventuring in these woods, since we have had reports down in this area of ogre sightings along the King’s Highway. This afternoon I took a drink from a spring, and instantly I fell into a deep slumber. The water must have been enchanted, or maybe poisoned by the dogheads. The next thing I knew, I was bound to the tree, surrounded by the vile brutes. It was by the grace of the Mother that you appeared when you did.”
“Dragos,” said Krina softly, as she came up behind us. “You said ogres. It wasn’t…Zabijak…by any chance?” Her voice grated, and her face darkened.
“No, lady,” said the knight. “Unfortunately, no. We have yet to hunt down that monster.”
“That’s good,” said Krina softly, turning away suddenly. It seemed that her entire body stiffened, and her hand went unwittingly to her sword.
“All right,” Benno cried, “now that the rescuing’s done, we need to get out of vark country. The King’s Highway shouldn’t be too far away.”
“Pray, Sir Dragoslav,” said Krina. “Walk with us. Let us find the road together.”
“As you wish, my lady.”
As we walked, I noticed that Krina and Dragos fell back so they could talk. They spoke so softly that I couldn’t make out any of their conversation. Obviously, they didn’t want to include the two of us. I debated whether I should ask Benno if he knew anything about this Sir Dragoslav, but I didn’t want to get into it right then. It still hurt that Krina had scolded me, so I said nothing. But I needed something to take my mind off of these uncomfortable feelings.
“Benno, tell me about the Zharastvi.”
“Eh? What’s that, boy?”
“Tell me about the Zharastvi.”
“Oh, okay, now Benno’s a minstrel, huh? What do you want to know?”
“I don’t know. How do you become one?”
“You got it all wrong, boy. You don’t become one. At least not of your own volition. You’re chosen. There can only exist twelve Zharastvi at any given point in time. Only those born under the full moon, and with the Secret Sign on their heads, are eligible to be chosen. Of those, most don’t hear the Call. And of those who do hear the call, some refuse it.”
“So there are only twelve of you? Where are the others?”
The trow shrugged. “I only know of three others in the entire continent of Nadani, and they’re city folk. The others probably lead solitary lives in the wilderness somewhere.”
“What’s the Secret Sign?”
“A birthmark, on the scalp. Roughly in the shape of a pentagram.”
“And what’s the Call?”
“It’s a beckoning, that comes to the Chosen as they pass into adulthood. It comes in the form of a dream. A vision of a lady in white, the goddess of the moon, Luna herself, who beckons the dreamer to come forward and follow her into a dark and foreboding forest. If the dreamer has the courage to follow, the lady leads them into a dark cave, and there she teaches them how to tap their innate mental powers. At the end of the lesson, if they have been granted the Elemental Powers, the dreamer is shown a vision of where to find his or her very own Elemental Conduit.”
“What’s this Elemental Conduit?”
“This here.” The trow reached behind him and unsheathed his sword, handing it to me. “There are four types: staffs, swords, amulets, and chalices. See the gems? Those allow us to channel our powers through them in order to control the elements. ”
The sword had four round gems imbedded along one side of its hilt; a diamond nearest the blade, then a ruby, an emerald, and a sapphire. The sword itself seemed amazingly light and well crafted.
“So this sword is magical?”
“I guess you could say that, yes. Without it, I wouldn’t be able to channel the Elemental Magic.”
“Where did you find this one?”
“Deep, deep in the Zlostny Mountains, in the tomb of a long dead member of my order. That’s usually where they’re found. Zharastvi are buried with their conduits, whenever possible, so that another may take them up when the time is right. This one’s named Grundstof.”
“Interesting.” I handed it back to him.
Soon we emerged from the woods onto the King’s Highway, the wide dirt road that ran all the way from the capital city of Radovan in the southern part of the kingdom, through the cities of Kourim and Mila and Ostrava, and continued through the Dreva Tremova to the River Okraj at the northern border of Moravia.
Dragos came up to us and bowed respectfully. “And now, Benno Burkhardt, if you will excuse me, here I must take my leave. Fare you well. Fare you well, Krina.”
“I will see you in Radovan,” she said.
They embraced, and the knight turned and walked away, heading south down the road.
“I’m glad to know I haven’t lost my sense of direction.” Benno pointed to the north. Another road, this one smaller, branched off from the highway, heading west. We walked up to the junction. There stood a tall gray stone marker, carved with arrows pointing north, south, and east, and with the inscriptions, “Ostrava, 20 miles. Tiszalok, 6 miles. Klid Zahrada, 1.5 miles.”
We started down the road to the monastery, and within ten minutes, we came out into a great clearing and stood before the monastery at Klid Zahrada.
The monastery itself stood within a great walled fortress with six towers, surrounded by gardens, grain fields, and fruit orchards. The road led through an apple grove, and wound its way through the fields to the gatehouse of the abbey. Blue-robed monks filled the grove, busying themselves with picking apples.
“Good morrow!” called one of the brothers who stood nearest us, a portly man with a shaved head. “What brings you to Klid Zahrada?”
“Rest and some study in your fine library, my good brother,” said Benno.
“God speed, then, travelers.” The monk smiled, and went back to his work.
We made our way to the monastery. The drawbridge lay open over the deep dry moat, and we walked over it and through the gatehouse. We stood within the outer bailey and in front of the temple. To the left, hugging the wall, stood several small wooden buildings. Benno led us to the first of these and knocked on the door. No one answered, so he opened the door and stepped inside.
“Good, this one’s empty. These rooms are for travelers and guests. You two can settle in; I am going to see the abbot.”
Benno left us. I unbuckled my baldric and dropped it on the floor with my bow and arrows. The small room had little furniture; only a round table with two chairs, a washbasin on a stand, and two beds. Krina laid her sword on the table. I didn’t look at her. We hadn’t spoken since the fight with the varks. I wasn’t about to talk to her until she apologized for yelling at me.
She seemed oblivious to my miserable mood. I lay down on one of the beds and closed my eyes, trying to relax. Krina busied herself with making a fire in the fireplace, and soon the sound of the crackling logs and the fragrance of the smoke lulled me off to sleep.
Some time later, I heard Benno and Krina talking.
“He’ll kill me if I return,” she said. “That much is certain.”
“I think I can make him see the error of his ways,” said the trow. “Especially in light of recent events.”
Krina laughed bitterly. “You would be the first person who ever did that!”
“You’re under my protection, girl, and there are plenty of knights on your side, good knights like Sir Dragoslav, and the other Kavalirs. We need you. Moravia needs you. And he knows this. Don’t worry, girl, reason will win out in the end…”
The voices faded away as I drifted back into slumber.
When I woke again, darkness had settled outside the window. Benno sat in a chair by the fire, smoking his pipe, with a clay tankard in his hand.
“Well well, the dead awaken! You snore, you know!”
“Sorry,” I yawned, getting out of the bed. “I’m hungry.”
“Well, you’re in luck. I got some vittles here from the kitchen. We got a vegetable pie, some fresh bread, and some spiced pears.”
“Where’s Krina?”
“Oh, she’s out and about. Visiting the abbot, I think.”
I went over to the table and helped myself to the food. It tasted delicious; I had forgotten the flavors of real food.
“And here’s the best part.” Benno filled a tankard from a small keg on the table and handed it to me. “Zalokian beer, from Arguvan. Called Growlbark Black. Almost as good as our mushroom beer from Stonehaven. Certainly better than the swill from Moravia, har har!”
The dark beer tasted bitter and burnt at first, but after a few more swallows, the flavor mellowed. It certainly tasted better than any of our Moravian brews.
I sat at the table with Benno, and we ate and drank for a few hours. I had no stomach for such strong drink, and it set my head to reeling. Benno spent the whole time regaling me with tales of his exploits and of life with the trows up in Felsengarten. I had the feeling that if I had passed out on the floor, he would have kept on talking.
“All right, Benno,” I finally slurred. “I need sleep.”
“Who needs sleep, boy? You got it easy tomorrow.”
“G’night.”
I stumbled over to one of the beds and collapsed on it. The room began to slowly tilt and revole around me. I realized that I had drunk too much beer, and I started to giggle into the pillow. I passed out soon after.