As Kayle walked through the woods the blood loss from the bites started to take a toll on his mental state. He took his jacket off and cut off the sleeves to make low quality bandages. He wrapped it around his calf and his forearm where he had been bitten. He felt his heart slowly rise in tempo and his eyes strain while focusing. He knew that he needed to rest and get water in his system. He kept hearing sounds around him. Like a deep hum that intensified when walking in one direction: akin to a metal detector telling the way. He also heard what sounded like footsteps of something heavy trailing him but every time he checked he saw nothing. It had to be something 2-300 pounds he guessed. He knew his own heavy foot fall well enough to know what something of comparable stature sounds like. No matter how well trained or how spread out a step, something that heavy always made a noise.

His mind drifted from the sounds as he walked. About his past life to now. He didn’t miss it so he moved on quickly as his leg started to throb and ache causing him to fall. His head fell on a surface root and his mind went spotty. He tumbled down a small hill and found his resting place on the ground with his head at the bottom of the hill and his feet and legs up higher. The rush of blood almost made him nauseous. All he could think about what how much his leg hurt. It felt like it was burning. He knew this wasn’t normal as he had lost liters more blood before. It got worse as he thought about it and focused on it. Until 20 minutes later after just lying there and concentrating, he heard the foot falls get within seven feet of him. His adrenal glands pumped him full, and he was up on his feet in seconds, but he just saw dense forest coverage of large deciduous trees, maybe oak he thought, and foliage he didn’t know the name of. No sign of anything nearby. He let his mind slow again until he saw the broken twigs from where the thing of his mind had been. His army ached thinking about another fight, but his leg felt… normal. Normal was the only word he could use to describe how it felt. It didn’t feel tired, but it wasn’t bursting with energy like old muscles waiting to be used again.

The sun was down, and the only light was the bright full moon overhead. It was just enough to see the broken twigs he heard earlier.

“Who’s there!” He yelled out.

Only the wind lightly carrying leaves gave him any response. The humming now gone.

“I FUCKING KNOW YOU ARE THERE” He screamed as the stress hormones were kicking in.

A small figure stepped out from behind a tree. It was hooded in a dark color thast he couldn’t make out. He couldn’t seem much more of the silhouette from them being in a tree’s shadow. The figure was maybe 5’2” at most he guessed, so how the hell did sound so loud. To be fair he thought, He was hearing things so maybe it wasn’t as loud as he had guessed. But if they were that small why did he hear them at all?

“Okay no-“ He started staying but was cut off by the figure.

“Why are you here?” It said with a threating inflection to the words, but Kayle didn’t care about that, he cared about the voice being feminine.

“What the fuck? Look lady I’ve had a fucked day, and I don’t want any cases against me so please promptly fuck off.”

The figure reached into her cloak and pulled out a hunting knife. The Blade glistening with moon light. Kayle flinched back a few feet.

“WOAH Okay lets settle down, I don’t want to hurt or be hurt here.” He felt for his knife but it was gone ‘The fall!’ he thought. ‘Damn, a one sided knife fight with a bad arm’

“You shouldn’t be here, Its holy lands.”

‘holy lands? What the actual fuck’ He wondered.

“Okay okay look I don’t want to be here and in fact I’m leaving!” He was backing up while speaking.

She moved closer. ‘Shit, this isn’t good. She’s maybe what, 6-7 feet away? I wish I had my piece real bad right about know.’ The more he thought about it the more it felt real. The want for a weapon he was familiar with. He could feal the stippled polymer grip in his hand. The weight of the metal frame.

She moved closer “Tell me why you are here!” she demanded.

“Woah woah wo-“ He lifted his hand in a plead for peace but saw his right hand holding the gun. Real and heavy in his tired arms. “ahhh-what the fuck?”

She froze at that as well. They both stared that the conjured item.

“What are you?” She whispered out with a hint of fear in her voice. “WHAT IS THAT?” She demanded.

“Uh a uh Glock? I think?” He said, forgetting she was there and opting to stare at the fully solid and real gun in his hands.

“You are a Veiled mage aren’t you, you scum.” She accused and took a combat stance with her knife.

“wha- Fuck is that?” He questioned.

He was backing up more until she charged at him. She had gotten halfway before he even knew she was rushing him down. He panicked and pulled the gun down on her and squeezed the trigger. The sharp click of the hammer hitting nothing made his heart sink. He opted for plan B and tried to pistol whipped her as she got within range. He had the timing wrong, and she had got a good swipe across his chest with the pistol swing going right next to her and she dodged out of the way to his left. The wound hurt but it wasn’t deep, just a mean cut that would leave a nice scar. He was still moving and that was what mattered. He shot out his left hand to try and grab her as she maneuvered around him and he got hold of the robe, but she just slinked right out and promptly returned the attack with a stab to his side. It wasn’t a clean thrust and was just superficial across his side. He responded with the failed stabbing by dropping the gun in his right hand and twisting to grab at her again. He missed and both stepped back. ‘how as she so fast’ he thought

He saw her for the first time as she stepped away from him. She was shorter than he had thought with a head of thick golden hair put up in a high pony tail. Her face was still obscured by the shadow of branches over head.

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“Look why the fuck are we fighting? I was trying to leave this damn place.” He said through heavy breath from the blood loss exhaustion.

“You are a damned Veiled mage, and I can’t let you leave this place.”

“What the fuck is that?” He pleaded

The confidence in her assertion seemed to start fading away after seeing him clearly after seeing his pathetic state. Covered in his own blood and halfway dead already.

“If you aren’t a Veild one they, why are you here?” She said still defensive

“I don’t fucking know man” he sighed. His limbs feeling heavy and every breath-taking immense effort.

“What is your name?” She asked, after a minute.

“Uh K-kayle Herrmann.” He said as his vison drained from his eyes. He nearly toppled over but fell to a knee. “Damn”

The woman was shocked to see him fall. Doubts started to fill her mind. Did she get it wrong. Was she wrong for attacking him. He didn’t even have a weapon on him. Was the summoned item fake. She looked for the black metal item where he had dropped it but it was gone. ‘Ah hells’ She thought and rushed over to the man after putting away her knife.

He couldn’t even see her as she bent down in front of him. Just heard the muffled sounds of her coming near. He expected the sharp pain to come any second but felt nothing. He just focused on the blood missing from his body. He felt how thin it had become and how it made his skin clammy. He felt his body crumpled further onto the forest floor, he felt her turn him over with his face up to the sky. His blood, his thin as water blood barely sustaining his body. He was running out of water too in his system. He felt her hands on his chest and arm and side. He gave it little mind as he just felt the blood. He focused on it to the point where he lost his hearing and feeling in his body. Or maybe it was just death catching him. He felt as if he were like that for a year before his heart felt like it was thicker. His veins felt as though they had honey through them, warm soft honey. It felt like a heart attack through his whole body. He wanted death now. The pain was awful, the worst he had ever felt. Every vein, every capillary in his 6’4” body ached with the worst stretching pain he’s ever felt. Then as quickly as it had started the pain stopped. If felt wonderful. He felt blood, thick, heavy blood pumping through his veins. Felt the beat of the heart in his neck and ears. His hearing coming back to him in waves with each pump of his heart. His vison filling up like water. He could see again. The back stone he was staring up at made him wonder if he had regained sight but as it came back more, he could see glints of orange light in his peripheries. He turned his heavy head in the direction of the light and saw a small fire on the ground several feet away from him. The light was overwhelming his newly reacquired sight, so it was hard to see much else. In time the light dimmed to his eyes and he saw a figure sitting by the fire. They were in a cave for what he could tell. The figure looked over at him and the pale skin, and bright hair of the figure shone against the bright fire. They walked over and stood over him. They knelt down and checked his pulse in his neck. Their face hidden in darkness from facing away from the fire.

“Your awake.” The woman said.

Kayle tried to respond but his mouth was sand dry. His tough sluggish and his throat a tube of sandpaper.

She looked at him and walked back to where she was sitting and picked up something. She came back and put it to his mouth and water flooded his mouth. He couldn’t swallow properly so some spilt out of his mouth. The water that stayed worked its way down his throat. Once the water was gone in his mouth she added more. Until he was able to swallow properly. If felt amazing.

He could talk but his voice was still mostly gone. “Didn’t you try to stab me.” He choked out.

She was silent for a few seconds. “I overreacted.”

“Right” He agreed. They were both silent.

“What happened.” He asked.

“You had blacked out to blood loss, and were screaming a lot so I brought you here.”

He thought on this. “Why am I not dead.”

“I don’t know.”

“NO, I mean why didn’t you kill me” He coughed hard after raising his voice.

“Oh.” She started. “I was sorry for overeacting.”

“Was?”

“Still am and I hoped that tending to you would make up for it.”

He didn’t ask more about it.

“Why a cave?”

“Because of troops.”

“Troops?”

“Empire troops, they wouldn’t be happy finding either of us here.” She sat down now.

“Why?”

“Because they placed a cordon on this forest and you were screaming quite loud.”

“Cordon?”

“Do you always ask so many questions?”

“Only to people that try to kill me.”

Her cheeks flushed red with anger and self-hatred. He couldn’t see it.

“They placed a cordon after a bright white light was flashed in the forest and doubled down after a second vermilion light went off.”

“When was this?”

“The first light was the day, I found you and the vermillion light was one day ago.”

‘one day?’ He thought

“How long was I out?”

“A week now.”

“Oh.”

She stayed silent.

“Why were you in the forest?”

“I was investigating the light.”

‘Could have caused the light?’ he thought. The statues did seem pretty magic, so a bright light wasn’t off the table.

“Who are you?”

She hesitated for a long second before reasoning that he had a right to know,” My name is Vahda.”

He felt his eyes getting heavy and his brain asking for a rest. “Right, well Vahda I’m going to sleep now.”

Before she could respond he was asleep.