I woke up some time later to a dimly lit room. The walls were made of stone and fire lamps hung from them. I was lying down face up on a feather bed. I didn’t have my coat with me neither was I wearing my boots. Someone had stripped me down to just my trousers and belt. I turned my head over to the side and glanced around the room. There was a wooden chair and a table right next to the bed. The table had an assortment of items on it. several bottles of what looked to be potions I didn’t recognize were also part of the bunch. I sat up from the bed and dropped my feet on the cold stone floor. There was a single window on the opposite side of the room and it was opened to let in the chilly breeze of the night.

“Rachel.” I said, hoping that my AI companion in my head hadn’t fallen asleep as I did. The last thing I remembered was fighting a six-legged monster before narrowly escaping with my life. The fight had left me completely bruised and battered and bleeding out by the second. I only had enough energy to arrive at the outskirts of a nearby town with a little girl I had found in the forest. After that, I remembered collapsing on the ground and that was it.

“Yes.” Rachel finally replied. “I’m here. I see you are finally awake.” she said. “So, how are you feeling?”

I looked down at my body to find that I was completely fine. All the bruises and bitemarks I had accumulated from my battle with the blood bats and the six-legged creature were almost completely gone. There were still a few scars here and there, especially on my arm. But for the most part, I had been entirely healed.

“I think I’m fine.” I told Rachel, while I gently pressed at my ribs just to confirm. There was no pain. I tried moving my left arm and stretching it a bit. It was a bit stiff but there was no pain either.

“I should agree.” Rachel said, bringing up a window that displayed my health stats. “You are healed and have almost entirely recovered.” As she spoke, a 3D representation of the human body rotated on one side of the screen. “However, your body still needs sometime to be at full strength.” She utilized the 3D render to highlight a few pressure points on my body in yellow. My left arm, all the bones on the left side of my ribcage. “These parts of your body are still very much vulnerable.” she said. “An abrupt strain or sudden impact from a sufficient force will undo all the progress that really pretty lady had made on your body. So, no monster stabbing for the time being alright?” Rachel closed out of the window a second later giving me an unobstructed view of my surroundings once more. And just as I was about to ask her what she meant by a pretty lady had worked on my body, the front door creaked open.

“Oh, you’re awake.”

A raven-haired woman was standing just behind the door glancing in.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “Can I come in?”

I gave a nod of my head and she fully opened the door and stepped in. And when she closed the door behind her and turned to look at me, something deep within my chest fluttered.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

she was tall. Maybe 6 4.

Her jet-black hair was long and wavy at the tip. Her skin was pale almost the color of snow, and the dark crimson gown she wore only elevated her already defined features.

She looked incredible.

I was speechless for a moment. I could only watch as she proceeded to ask me a couple questions while making her way to the table with the assortment of bottles, vials, and potions. She continued to talk as she mixed a few of the potions in a small cup, but I wasn’t hearing anything. At first, I thought it was a genuine problem and my ears no longer worked. But then she gracefully made her way over to where I was seated on the bed and handed me the cup. Only then did my hearing return, and Rachel’s voice came next.

“I told you she’s pretty.”

***

Five minutes later and we were sitting side by side on the bed, the initial silent awkwardness on my part having faded. I had confessed to her that I had completely zoned out the moment she walked in, and she laughed and said that it might have been the effects from just waking up after being unconscious for three days. I told her my name after she had asked, and she introduced herself as the healer that had been tending to my care ever since a group of farmers brought my unconscious body to the temple for treatment. And from her explanations, I came to understand I was now in a place called the stony temples of southern Dumaria. Also, when I enquired on the where abouts of the little girl, I was relieved at finding out she was safe in the temple as well.

But then I ran out of things to say, and was grateful when she broke the silence.

“You know, it was a miracle I was able to heal you at all.” she said, suddenly shifting her gaze from me to stare at her hands on her lap.

“Why so?” I asked.

“Your body was in such a state, I was scared I wouldn’t have been able to heal you in time.” her eyes were still fixed down at her hands on her lap, and not really knowing what to do with myself, I joined her in staring down at my own hands.

“But you did it.” I said, turning my hand over to stare vacantly into my open palm. “You helped me, and I am well again. So thank you.” I turned to look at her, only to find her already staring back at me. and my God was she beautiful.

We continued talking and she began to tell me a few things about the nearby villages and town surrounding the temple. First was about the creature that attacked me at the cabin.

She said it was called the Sigumanju, but locally it was known as the widow maker. Rachel instantly brought up a screen in a corner of my vision in that very moment, highlighting the creature’s information.

__________

Widow maker.

Primary attacks:

Lunge bite.

Body slam.

Hop drop.

Stinger strike.

Hit damage, 20%.

Heavy attack: 1.

Mad bash. 40% hit damage.

__________

One look at the creature’s stats and I instantly knew why it was called the widow maker. It was a machine built for destruction. As if that wasn’t enough, she then told me that there was a whole nest of them located somewhere in the outskirts of town and frequent attacks on travelers and farmers had been happening for some time and were becoming a big issue. As she said so, I suddenly remembered seeing a recked horse carriage in the middle of the road while the little girl and I were making our way over to the town. I didn’t think much of it at the time because I was bleeding out and was in so much pain from our encounter with the creature earlier on. But given how close the wreckage on the road was to the cabin, it was no surprise we became its next targets after it was done with the travelers.

As she got up from the side of the bed to leave, I instantly felt less excited and alone. But as she opened the door and stepped out, I suddenly had a good reason to call back and speak to her.

“Umm, hey.”

She turned around.

“And I am an absolute idiot for not asking this earlier but, can I know your name?”

I looked at her, and she looked at me.

My God was she pretty.

She was… Perfect. And after a little while, she replied.

“It’s Lumia.” she said with a smile. Which in turn, also made me smile. And after wishing me a good night’s rest, she gently closed the door and left.