48 AL: SARAH

They went back for their packs. Grandmother didn’t like to be separated from her gear. Fully loaded up again they set off following the blood trail. Two turns later they found another body. This time it wasn’t a bear.

Clothed in yellow wizard silks, the player was stretched out on the floor. Three crossbow bolts were embedded in their back. The fabric around the bolts was stained blue. Sarah remembered how the standing player they saw was short and stout. Laying on the floor this one appeared long and thin. It was definitely the same species. It had the same gray-brown fur and white ivory tusks.

Grandmother touched it gently. She turned its head to study its whiskered face. She placed a hand in front of its nostrils looking for any sign of life.

“I think it is dead,” Grandmother announced, “but I have no idea how to check its vital signs. It is cool, but I don’t know what its normal body temperature is.”

“I can try healing it,” Ellen offered.

“Yes, do,” Grandmother said, stepping back with alacrity. Ellen cast the spell, but nothing happened. The only way to see if a healing spell worked was by observing the patient's reaction. Grandmother reached forward and pulled the three bolts from the player’s back. “Try again,” she said.

Again Ellen cast but once more there was no change. Grandmother accepted that the player was beyond their help. Todd was correct about the players hands being modified flippers. Its bare feet were also flippers, mounted at the end of very short legs. Sarah might have thought them incapable of walking upright, if she hadn’t seen the other player.

Todd was inspecting a large hammer that lay on the floor nearby. He grunted as he tried to pick it up. He managed to lift it from the floor. It was far too heavy for him to use as a weapon. He leaned it against the wall. There was a smear of blue on the surface. Drops continued down the hallway.

“The trail continues on from here,” Todd commented. Grandmother turned her attention to the floor stains.

“You’re right,” she commented. “Let’s keep going.”

They found two more dead bears. The first was clearly killed by a chopping blow that cleaved through the breastplate it wore. A ruined great sword lay on the ground beside it. The second bear was wearing tattered leather and was armed with equipment closer to the last bears Sarah’s party fought. It carried a knife and crossbow. The knife was junk, but the crossbow was quality. Ellen claimed it. She tied it to her pack, not wanting to learn a new weapon against unknown opponents.

She already secured the breastplate Grandmother handed her earlier to the pack. Sarah realized it too must be quality. The addition of the crossbow made Ellen’s load a little heavy. Alex offered to carry one of them for her. As they switched the armor over to Alex’s load, Sarah collected the bolts and quiver, even though they appeared to be in poor condition. She wanted to see if they could be repaired.

The blood trail was getting easier to follow as the drops became larger and closer together. The trail was close to one wall. There were blue smears on the wall, where someone brushed against it. This was not good news for whoever was leaving the blood. A large blue smear on the wall right before an intersection premised the end of the trail. Barely around the corner, slumped against the wall, was another player in orange. An alarming puddle of blue was spreading across the floor from where they lay. The edges of the pool were starting to dry. A large ax, very similar to the one they saw the first player carrying was laying on the floor nearby. A large chip was missing out of the blade.

“Your turn Todd,” Grandmother announced.

“What?” Todd said clearly confused.

“Healing spell,” Grandmother said.

“Oh, sorry,” Todd said. Sarah could understand his confusion. Of all of them he healed the least often. As a red wizard he could heal orange and purple wizards. There were no human orange wizards and Grandmother was the only adult purple Sarah ever met. As a yellow wizard, Sarah could heal orange or green. Since the majority of crafters ended up with green magic Sarah did a lot more healing, but her healing magic was at a lower tier than Todd’s. It made sense to have him try.

Todd leaned his spear against the wall and rested his hand on the player's head. He cast a tier three heal with his off hand. Todd did almost all his spell casting with his off hand, that kept his main hand free for his spear.

The player jerked and made a high squeaking noise. Sarah jumped back, startled. The pool of blood under the player rippled as the nanobots embedded in it tried to return it to the player’s body. The dried edges of the pool didn’t change. That blood was too old and already dead.

Todd kept his composure and cast again. Realizing a bit late that every effort would count, Sarah stepped forward and started casting the tier two heal spell that she knew. A shining bar of copper started to push out of the player’s torso. Grandmother squeezed in between the two of them and pulled it out of the player. It was the tip of a blade.

Todd cast again and the gaping hole closed. Healing was an extremely painful experience. Sarah was surprised the player didn’t pass out. At each cast it continued to emit high pitched sounds and twist its body. Grandmother checked the wound.

“Ok,” she said to them. “That’s enough.” Sarah and Todd both stepped back. They were breathing heavily, like they ran for miles. The nanobots in their own blood were making them pay the price for using magic. Sarah sat down suddenly. She remembered how Alex and Todd cast over and over again when Grandmother was caught in the trap. She had a new appreciation of the effort they put in.

Sarah pulled the water flask from her belt and took a long drink. A few long deep breaths later and she was feeling more aware. She looked around to update her situational awareness. Alex and Ellen were standing watch. Their backs were to one of the corners in the intersection. They were actively turning their heads to keep a watch in all four directions. Todd was leaning against the wall opposite the player. His spear was back in his hand, the butt end of it was resting against the ground. He was still on his feet, which was better than Sarah was doing.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Grandmother was leaning over the player, dribbling water into their mouth. Dried blue blood still crusted the players clothes and covered a large area of the floor. It would take days for a human to fully recover from that kind of blood loss. Actually Sarah suspected a human wouldn’t survive it.

The player made a high pitched sound and closed their eyes. Grandmother pulled a piece of cloth out of her pack and wet it down with the water from her flask. She washed the players face with the dampened cloth. She poured more water on the cloth and cleaned their flipper hands. The player’s breathing was deep and even. Grandmother stood and looked over her companions. She studied the floor.

The blood trail ended here. Grandmother could find no indication of which direction the player's party went. Except for the ax the player carried no gear, not even a water flask. Every indication was that they were chased to this point. They dropped everything to increase their speed. That meant their party would not have left here going back the direction they came from. The other three directions seemed equally likely. If they were leading their attackers away from the wounded player, Grandmother thought they probably took one of the other two directions. If they continued down this hallway the bears would have turned the corner and seen the player collapsed on the floor.

She couldn’t decide if going straight or turning in the opposite direction would be the better choice. Grandmother wanted to return the player to their party, but she had her own companions to think of. She was proud of Ellen and Alex standing alert in the intersection. Keeping watch in four directions was hard. They needed to move someplace less exposed.

“Alex, can you carry the player?” Grandmother asked. Alex looked at the sleek form trying to judge how best to lift it.

“I can try,” he responded. He left his post in the intersection and approached the player. He took off his pack and passed it to Grandmother. She swung his pack over one shoulder, while leaving her own in place.

Alex squatted down and grabbed the player under his arms/flippers and lifted straight up. He held the player against the wall, before squatting again to lift them higher. He pulled the player forward and settled them on his shoulder. The player's body folded fluidly, almost like it didn’t have any bones. Sarah remembered how they slid through the water. Alex grunted as the weight settled on him. He took a step or two and indicated he was ready to go.

“Ok,” Grandmother responded. “Let's head back to the inscription room. I am not certain the player will fit through the narrow passage, but I haven’t seen any better choices.” The older woman leaned down and picked up the ax. She held it together with her own staff. The ax head above her hand. “Can you travel?” she asked Sarah.

“Yes,” Sarah responded, forcing herself to her feet.

“I will lead,” Grandmother announced. “Ellen, bring up the rear.” Todd stepped out from the wall and fell in behind Grandmother. Alex with the player took the center position with Sarah following him. Ellen took the rear guard. As they turned the corner heading back the way they came, Grandmother cast conceal over all of them.

Todd took Alex’s pack from Grandmother when the older woman picked up the hammer he left leaning against the wall. She swung it up onto her shoulder as she continued to hold her staff and the ax in her other hand. Sarah remembered how heavy Todd found the hammer.

Even though it was not far, Alex was staggering by the time they reached the pipe riser. The player was very heavy. After passing all their gear into the hidden room, Grandmother called for any ideas for getting the player inside.

“It may lack dignity,” Todd said, “but we could try tying a rope around their feet and dragging them in.”

“I am afraid that may damage their flippers,” Grandmother commented, “but we will keep that plan in reserve.”

“What if we put the breastplate on them and tie the rope to that?” Ellen suggested. “Since it is integrated it should reform to at least roughly match the players anatomy.”

“I can put the enchantment for reducing the weight in a backpack on the breastplate,” Sarah offered. “If we hauled them in with the plate under them that might make it easier.”

“I like that idea,” Grandmother responded. “How long would that take?”

“Not long,” Sarah responded. “I will get started.” She slipped into the hidden room. She fetched the armor from Alex’s pack and her enchanting tools from her own. She traced out the symbols on the metal and down the length of the straps. Her integrated stylus left behind clear black lines on the metallic surface just like it was paper. On the dark fiber of the straps, the markings were a shiny trace. When she finished, the lines thinned and sunk into the metal, leaving a slight wave to the outer surface, changing its mirror-like surface to something that looked like water drops. When finished she carried the breastplate out into the hall.

The group arranged the player with their feet-flippers toward the gap. They pulled the wizard silks tight around their body. They tied a rope around the bottom edge of the fabric just past the players feet. It made it look like the player was wearing a bag instead of a robe.

Ellen and Grandmother strapped the breastplate onto the player. They rolled them over onto their face to secure the straps in the back. The straps stretched and tightened even as they watched. The curve of the plate altered to better fit the sleek form of the swimmer. When the transformation slowed, Ellen attached the other end of the rope to it in a rough harness configuration. The player was still breathing in a slow steady pattern, seemingly unbothered by this rough treatment.

Grandmother picked up the doubled end of the rope and threw it back into the narrow passage. She backed into the passage herself. She pulled on the end attached on the breastplate to slide the player forward, while keeping the end tied to their wizard silks taunt in order to keep their body aligned. The player slid forward with a horrible screech. Sarah cast her highest tier muffle spell by instinct. After she did she realized the conceal spell that Grandmother cast earlier should still be active. The sound would not be traveling any farther than the five of them. Six of them, Sarah thought, if she included the player in their number.

Ellen walked along beside the player’s head, trying to keep their face from dragging on the floor. Alex and Todd kept watch in the hall while Sarah tried to figure out a way she could help. Grandmother seemed to have the problem well in hand as the player vanished into the hidden room. Their sides scraped against the closest pipe and the wall as it slid through. Its flesh almost seemed to flow through the narrow gap as its flexible joints shifted under the pressure.

Once in the room Grandmother and Ellen arranged the player along the back wall. They worked together to remove the ropes and breastplate from them. After trying to shift the player with the breastplate removed, Grandmother commented that the enchantment worked quite well. Sarah was happy to hear that, since she was not completely certain it would.

Ellen took the first watch as the rest of them settled in for a quick rest. Grandmother returned to her position against the wall opposite the inscription. She locked her vision on the inscription to start decoding it again.

“Keep an eye on the player too,” Grandmother said to the room at large. “I have no idea what their reaction will be when they wake.”