Book 10: Chapter 40
I don’t know how long I slept for, or rather, passed out for.
When I opened my eyes, overhead was a brown and silver cloth. It was quiet all around. Dead silent. The silence was particularly spooky. I had experienced such silence before. I had either gone deaf or I was dead.
I opened my mouth to call out, but I couldn’t make a sound despite my best efforts. I shouted with all my might, but I couldn’t hear anything.
‘Am I mute or deaf?’
“Oh, you’re up.”
Ling Yue pulled the curtain to the tent open just as I started to ponder my condition. She carried a basin over to me. Her ears twitched with excitement when she saw I was awake. She came up to my side and placed on my head a towel that she took out from the basin. I felt an ice cold sensation on my forehead. Ling Yue looked at me and clasped my face. I noticed her eyes were red, though her pupils had changed dramatically. I presumed they were tears.
“Ah, you don’t need to speak…”
Ling Yue pressed down on my mouth just as I went to speak. Voice soft, she explained, “Your throat has been damaged. You’ve… lost your voice… If possible… Queen Vyvyan should be able to help you once you return to the elven lands… So, let’s make a trip back… Let’s make a trip back to treat your throat.”
I sat up and touched my throat. Nothing felt wrong to me, but I couldn’t make a sound regardless of how hard I tried. All I could make was a hissing sound. It was as though somebody had slit my throat open, causing all of my air to escape my body. I looked toward Ling Yue, and she looked back at me. She swung her tail gently and in a muffled voice, said, “Philes has been sent back. His body was sent back to his home… So, you don’t need to worry.”
