069

Soon after eating Gregor fell into a deep sleep. His body lay on it's side no the ground with his hands close to his face. It was the only position that he had found comfortable enough to sleep in. Most nights he struggled to sleep, struggled to find a comfortable position on the ground, but after so much his body let go, and Gregor was almost asleep before he lay down.

Gregor was awoken by voices. He hear some Skulled Ones talking, their voices were getting closer and closer until one of them seemed to be standing directly over him. Cautiously Gregor opened his eyes and found that night was fully upon him. His eyes began to adjust themselves and once they had he was able to make out the slight outlines of objects highlighted by the moon. The men continued to talk, seemingly oblivious of Gregor and then something heavy was dropped to the ground with a grunt. 'The soldier.' Gregor thought to himself.

The skulled ones spent some time working on the soldiers bonds, Gregor could feel their anxious tugs on the horse pickets in his own bound hands. In a few moments they were gone. Gregor waited until he could no longer hear their voices and then turned towards the soldier.

"Ave soldier," Gregor said in a whisper, "what is your name? What brought your Contubernium to attack these men? What news? Does the Electorate know of these invaders? Are you all right?" Gregor paused for a moment and caught his breath. "I'm sorry, I've ached to talk with you since I knew you were alive. It's been almost two days since you were conscious and the questions have built up inside of me."