Page 18 of Heart of the Hunted
"Here you go, Taredd," Arun said after a couple of minutes. "Sorry if I woke you."
"Thanks," he said, taking the offered plate. "You didn't wake me because I wasn't asleep, just resting my eyes."
"It sure looked like you were sleeping from where I'm sitting," Dain said.
"Well, I wasn't," he snapped.
"Okay, no need to get snappy with me," Dain said, holding his hands up.
"Sorry, I'm just tired, that's all," Taredd apologized.
"I know man, we all are," Dain said.
"Get that down ya, then you can get some sleep," Arun said, pointing to the food.
"Yeah, I'm going to," he said.
Taredd tucked in to the food as Arun took a seat across from Dain by the fire. They needed the heat more than he did. Arun had to rest his magic just as much as his body, so Taredd was more than happy to sit further away from the flames.
Dain was the first to finish eating, which was no surprise. Taredd was positive Dain didn't bother chewing his food before swallowing, just shovelled it in and swallowed it whole. It was the only explanation Taredd could come up with as to how Dain could eat so fast.
Taredd and Arun liked to take their time eating, savouring their food. Many times, Dain had complained, saying that they took too long, but neither of them cared. They would rather take their time and enjoy their meal.
Within minutes of Dain finishing his meal, he was snoring his head off, sprawled out next to the fire.
"I don't know how the fuck he does that," Arun said.
"Me neither," Taredd admitted.
"I wish I could fall asleep as easily as he does," Arun said.
"You and me both," Taredd agreed.
It didn't matter where they were, Dain always managed to fall asleep within seconds of closing his eyes. It took Taredd ages to switch his brain off so he could sleep. Tonight however, he didn't think that was going to be a problem.
"It's going to take me ages now, his snoring is going to keep me awake," Arun moaned.
Normally it would play a part in keeping Taredd awake as well, but he was so tired he didn't think anything was going to disturb him tonight. Not the cold. Not the solid rock. And certainly not Dain and his snoring.
