Limitations (1)
----------------------------------------
“Damn it all, now everything's ruined!”
On a small riverbank a few miles to the East of Fallon, a charred man was currently cursing at the sky.
Without a care for any curious eyes, the man carelessly keeled over in the center of the gushing stream, relishing the sensation of cold water battering his charred skin.
“By the way Broin, how's Nephthys doing?” he asked, lifting his neck a little.
“I’ve been better but...I’ll manage.” answered Nephthys—half of Nephthys to be precise— in a lethargic sounding tone.
Hearing that, Vidar couldn’t help but chuckle to himself a little.
“Never mind me for now, what about you? You’re in the worst condition out of all of us. I don’t know if you’ve noticed but you’re missing an arm my dear.” she teased, finally lifting her torso off the resting wyvern.
“I’m missing an arm and you have a damaged mana core, plus you got cut in half. I’d say we’ve both seen better days. Broin’s the only one who didn’t get completely wrecked.”
“Because I didn’t get careless unlike the three of you.” Interrupted the giant man sitting with his back turned. His tone was still dry, but Vidar detected the slightest hint of displeasure in those words.
“To be fair...” Vidar began, clearing his throat “...Demir was the only one who really got careless. I gave him the last high potion we had on hand, but it looks like he’s just barely alive.”
“The poor soul, he looks even more miserable than usual. I wonder what could have happened.” Chimed Nephthys, she was obviously signaling for some sort of recap with that overly curious tone, but Vidar saw through it.
“Your questions are going to have to wait Nephthys, we’ve got bigger things to worry about. First, we need to get you all fixed and I need to find myself a new body.”
“A....new body?” Muttered Nephthys, eyes widening with shock. “If that’s what you’re going for then I want a new body too. This core isn’t exactly making things easy for me right now.” She said, glancing down at her bisected abdominals.
“That can be mended with enough effort but this body on the other hand, has to go. It’s going to take me a while before I can find another level three vessel and even longer to properly assimilate with it. Damn it all; so much for our little trip to Sylvan, and to make matters worse our way in is half dead to boot....”
The flowing sounds of the river did nothing to calm his frustration. As much as he wanted to hide it behind that crooked smile, they all knew that deep down he was furious.
“Then why don’t you just become an irregular then? I’d be happy to kill you myself” Remarked Nephthys, blowing a kiss drenched in mock affection.
“Unfortunately, no, that won’t work in this world. And for the record, I don’t plan on dying anytime soon, little miss. As for switching bodies—that’s out of the question. You’ve already died, and your soul is clinging desperately to that mana core. It’s the only thing keeping you tethered to this world.”
“I suppose it can’t be helped, but I am wondering how long it's going to take for us to get things back on track.”
“At least a few years. Having a strong vessel also means it’ll take more time to assimilate with the body. Hence why we’ll have to lay-low for a while and gather more riff-raff. It won't be my first time changing faces but I think I’ll stick with this name, it keeps those shrewd bastards at the guild guessing.”
Sighing a little, Nephthys took a breath before speaking again.
“It's unfortunate; but at least it sounds like you have a feasible plan. I’ll trust your words.”
Vidar wearily rose to his feet and began trotting towards the large reptile, not seeming to mind the moisture clinging to his body. “Of course...I have a feasible plan. It starts with going back to Orna, the burns have cauterized but I don’t plan on staying like this for much longer.”
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Broin rose to his feet the second he saw the man dragging his burnt body along. Wordlessly, he gripped the reins at the base of the scaled creatures' neck and gave them a loud crackle, poising the wyvern for flight.
“Well, aren’t you helpful.” Vidar stated playfully as he awaited the creature's ascent.
“I’m surprised you still have time for those crude remarks. Stop dawdling and let's go.”
Once his transport was high enough, the one-armed mastermind leapt off the ground and latched onto its talon. “It's a good thing we saved the biggest wyvern for ourself. Alright to Orna!”
At his command, the lizard-looking creature flapped away with a dull sounding Whoosh.
----------------------------------------
Liam Rocco
It was dark.
I couldn’t see anything, but my other senses were working just fine.
The taste of metal simmered in my mouth, my body felt cold —damp even, and I could hear the faint sounds of running water coming from somewhere nearby. Given all those clues, I’m sure I didn’t die after that explosion but I had no way of actually confirming what happened to me either.
I didn’t even have full control over my body right now. It felt like I was drifting—no, more like something was carrying me away.
Did I get caught up in that ravine current?
I had no way of knowing that and my thoughts were getting cloudier by the second. A thick fog was starting to descend over my senses and no matter how badly I willed it, my limbs just wouldn’t move. No, they probably couldn’t move.
Going off the faint, stinging sensation all over my body it wasn’t hard to deduce that a lot of things were broken at the moment. Still, I don’t plan on dying here, I can’t die here.
“I still have....too much to do.....so I have to move...”
“There are people...worried about me. So...I have to move...”
move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move!!
Although that one word continued to ring in my mind like a curse, even my own thoughts felt weak right now. But that was fine. As long as I could get out of this, it didn’t matter how unsightly I appeared.
There was a time when I found genuine intrigue in watching humans struggle for their lives. That last ditch attempt at securing what they had been taken for granted always managed to allure me. Would they make it? Would they perish? That was always a question that piqued my curiosity.
Admittedly, it was one of the only ways I could ever find intrigue in the whole process.
Now that I was experiencing the same ordeal I had watched so many other struggle through in the past, my outlook on the situation was beginning to change. It wasn’t as interesting as I originally thought—in fact it wasn't interesting at all.
In spite of myself, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was some lauded figure looking down on me right now. As ironic as it is, watching the grim reaper himself struggle for his own life would make for quite a good show.
Taking a breath, I prepared to engage in yet another round of the futile struggle when something happened. My body started feeling warm.
It was a familiar sensation, yet one that felt different at the same time. The faint doses of pain began to ease and I could even feel the moisture leaving what was left of my clothes.
As happy as I was to find some sort of hope in this desperate situation, what came next had truly managed to spark a new light of hope in my heart.
“There..is...he...ali......”
They were voices.
“Sig...m...a.......druid
“Take.....im...Fiona
While I could only make out about a third of every word they were saying, it didn’t seem like they meant any harm. In fact, I vividly felt the firm sensation of my body being carried off somewhere.
Granted, I was being hoisted over someone's shoulder like an old sac, but I was still thankful nonetheless. Anything was better than dying in that place.
It wasn’t the most comfortable ride in the world but it for now it would suffice. I decided to relinquish my consciousness temporarily, embracing the sense of ease that followed my dangling arms. Before my mind completely gave way however, my thoughts inevitably drifted back to all that had happened in just the last few hours.
My parents, Jytte, Myra, Flynn and the others too.
However, what I was most curious about was the man I’d laid my eyes on in the brief moments leading up to the climax. Per Julia’s words, he was referring to himself as Vidar here but that was just an alias.
He had a far more prestigious title, one given to him by the humans of Terrania.
They called him Loki, the angel of deception.