Just as we started to laugh, our recent trial by nature bonding us in deeper camaraderie, Kidu burst into the glade, bestial and wild. He locked eyes with me and paused for a moment and, noticing the corpse with a casual glance, walked up to us.
“You are well I see, Elwin, Gilgamesh,” he said nodding to us both, kicking the corpse of the Tree-Laur absent-mindedly. “It seems that things have been exciting since I was away and you saved me the trouble of hunting something down,” feigning annoyance in his deep voice. Kneeling down beside the corpse, he gestured for me to hand over the knife, which just drew a shrug from Elwin who was probably glad to be free of an arduous chore.
He dressed our kill cleanly and efficiently, like an experienced hand who had done the same job countless times before. He separated the cuts of meat, offal, and bone onto large freshly cut green leaves. I left him to his industry as I felt a call of nature take me, and excused myself from my companions.
After I returned from the bush, wishing for nothing more than the luxury of toilet paper, I saw that Kidu and Elwin, between them, had created a construct of wood and sticks to dry and smoke the meat over a crackling fire. How they started the fire was a mystery to me. I was, after all, a man of modern times and I had never undertaken such tasks in my life.
Kidu was busy scraping the fat from the Tree-Laur’s pelt over a broad tree root with his spearhead, while Elwin was trying to hone the edge of his knife on a stone. If we were not all escaping from a system of slavery and blind, bladed, insect-like monsters, it would have been the picture of a typical campfire scene from a cheap fantasy novel.
“Hey, big man! You took a long time in the bushes, was about to go track you, make sure the beasts from around these parts didn’t get to you,” chirped Elwin, looking up from his ministrations.
“It’s important that we keep this fire going at all times, lest wild beasts come to investigate the scent of blood. Man has taught the wild to fear fire,” Kidu uttered in a low worried tone, “Though I fear the smoke may draw attention of a different kind.”
I settled next to the crackling fire, too tired to notice the delicious smells of cooking meat, but feeling safe in the pair’s companionship. Smiling wryly at them, I added, “Let me do what I can for you both, I was never one to see a job only half done.”
And with that I began to cast Rust again, drawing worried looks from Elwin as he closed his eyes, in a Pavlovian response to the dark words and strange mystic hand gestures that tickled at the limits of mortal comprehension. Kidu, on the other hand, continued with his work without a care, stretching out the pelt.
The dark and alien energies filled me, and I resisted the urge to unleash the full power of the spell on my companions, allowing only a trickle when it demanded a flood. I could see that the roiling black lightning had eaten into their collars, no doubt weakening them, and I began to feel the effects of Mana Sickness as I bottomed out my reserves. This time, the effects were not nearly as debilitating as they were on the first try. They were now more a feeling of drowsiness with a need to rest.
As my head began to fall, I murmured, “I think I need to rest once more to gather my energies...so sleepy.”
My companions both simply nodded to me. The rush of adrenaline from defending myself had long left my system and now Mana Sickness flooded into its place. I didn’t even take the time to remove my helm or gloves before I faded off to sleep.
My blessedly dreamless sleep was disturbed by a distant beast's call. Almost instinctively, I checked my Status, feeling a little alarmed at how easily I had accepted the realities of this world. My situation was totally absurd with my physical condition having been reduced to measurable numbers.
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I was in peak condition, with both my physical and magical resources fully replenished. Yet, despite this, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was more to life than this near constant struggle.
Looking around, I saw that Kidu was on watch, facing outwards from the fire, looking and listening for threats. Elwin was tucked up in a ball, sleeping quietly nearby. The big man noticed me and greeted me with a silent nod before speaking, “Are you rested and well?”
“Yes, Kidu of the Three Bears. Thank you for taking this watch,” I said in almost mock formality.
He didn’t seem to notice, or simply chose to ignore my tone, before explaining, “Elwin and I will take the watch tonight. This will allow you to focus your energies on restoring us,” pointing at his neck and slave brand. “We should not let the spear plow the field. But first, you must be hungry,” he finished as he offered me a portion of meat wrapped in a large leaf.
My stomach rumbled audibly, which drew a small laugh from the massive man. Though cold now, the meat from the Tree-Laur was delicious, if not a little tough and stringy. Several times I had to spit out small chunks of indigestible gristle. After finishing my piece, I wiped my oily hands, slick with fat and grease, on my dirty tunic before focusing on my task. With half a mind bent on procrastination, I looked around the camp to notice that Kidu had strategically placed our Zajasite stones to help dismiss some of the deeper shadows. Yet, despite these precautions, I couldn’t help but feel that something sinister was watching us.
I could see the wisdom behind Kidu’s words. You needed to use the right person for the right job, and I had to do what only I could for our little team. Drawing upon my reserves, I cast Rust, in succession on the pair, waiting for the turbulent energies to subside between casts before repeating the spell. Eventually, Kidu sensing that his collar had weakened enough, tested his strength against the corroded metal.
The collar made a great snapping sound as he twisted it off his neck, resulting in small fragments of iron flying into the night. Waking Elwin to start his shift, Kidu unceremoniously snapped off his collar, too, much to the Rogue’s great surprise and jubilant appreciation. On zero Mana again, I tried to meditate to see if it could improve my Mana Regeneration skill.
What surprised me was that now, even on zero Mana, I felt little of the effects of my earlier Mana Sickness. My efforts at meditation just led me to fall asleep in a seated position. The task of clearing my mind of all thoughts proved too arduous in these troubled times.
Elwin awoke me a few hours later when the fire had grown low, and the forest a deeper dark. We added more fuel to the fire before he whispered in a low voice and asked me if I could repeat my magic on Kidu, freeing him from the mark of his hated bond. The man didn’t need to ask twice; I was more than willing to erase all marks of our bondage.
Rolling up my frayed sleeves, I decided to experiment on my other, more robust, companion. Holding my hands over a loudly snoring Kidu, I began to cast the Greater Heal spell, but this time without the singing and chanting. The magic resisted me greatly, and I had to create a mental image or construct of myself casting the spell before I could force the divine energies to come forth. In the depths of my mind, I could hear a triumphant angelic song, though it felt odd and distant casting it in this manner. The magic was slow and lethargic in emerging to do my bidding, but I was determined not to be denied. My will was iron.
The golden energy flowed into the massive man, running across and all over him. I could see small scars across his face and arms that I had never noticed before fade, as the slave brand on his arm began to heal. The mark that was once an angry red grew to a healthy pink, before completely vanishing into his natural skin color.
The spell had taken a long time to complete, far more lengthy than if I had cast it conventionally, but I still was able to finish it. At a rough guess, the whole process had taken over a minute or two. Would raising my Silent Casting improve the spell's speed when cast in this way? Despite having to add another question to my growing list, I thought that, all in all, my recent experiment was a success. In the glowing firelight, I swore I could see the hint of a bearded smile on Kidu’s face as he slept.
Wanting to regenerate my Mana before dawn broke, I asked Elwin to continue his watch, explaining that I would need to gather myself if I was to be of more use in the morning. The Rogue nodded to me, although his attention was focused completely on sharpening the knife he acquired from the tunnels, treating it like a prized heirloom. Adding another piece of wood to the small fire, I settled down to sleep once more, waiting to face yet another day on the morrow.