Limitations (2)

----------------------------------------

Jytte Lambert

It was morning.

I could tell because my eyes felt heavy and were protesting against the rays of light beaming down on my face. Nevertheless, with the amount of stimulation pecking at me it was only a matter of time before my brief moment of respite was cut short.

I rose gently from under the covers, indulging in a stretch but after a few seconds a torrent of horrid memories came pouring back into my mind, drenching my skin in a cold sweat despite the time of day.

Instantly, my head began swiveling all over the room as I sprang up in a fright to take stock of every part of my body. It was only after whizzing my arms around in the empty room that I realized something.

If I didn’t have both of my arms, I wouldn’t even be able to panic like that in the first place.

I locked my fingers together and did a few light stretches to check for anything abnormal, but the only lasting effect of that wound was a faded scar resting near my elbow joint.

“Julia really is amazing...”

If that was all the lasting damage I sustained then I had nothing to complain about.

The tension on my chest suddenly vanished, and I was finally able to take stock of my surroundings, or at least what was left of them. It was an old inn, evident by the aged wooden floors and the scarred door to my right. Aside from that, my weapon and the blankets I just jumped out of, there wasn’t anything else here.

Hell, the place barely even had a roof over it. Expecting anything more from somewhere like this was a bit overkill. Now that just leaves one other thing.

Equipping my weapon, I scaled the bounds of the deteriorating building and landed onto the main roads with a dull impact.

My breathing was unstable and my landing was poor.

An obvious sign of an incomplete recovery but nevertheless I had to press on. Taking a breath, I examined the various forms of olfactory information drifting through the air.

It took a while, but I found a match. It was Myra, she was close.

I didn’t have a complete lock on her position, only the general direction which was good enough.

“Over there!” A burst of angst escaped me as I sprinted down the road.

Despite the stunned gasps from injured raiders, tumbling pedestrians and the strange sensation of my own vision melding into a blur I filtered it all out and ran.

One in front the other, my feet moved step by step as if I were chasing after the rising sun.

After a certain point, my surroundings starting to become more and more unfamiliar, the wreckage only seeming to get worse the closer I got to my destination. It wasn’t just the buildings either, there was a lasting scent of burnt wood and ash in the air.

Coupled with all the scorch marks to be seen everywhere—including the ground— it wasn’t very hard to deduce what had happened.

Still even with all the destruction afoot, the image of my destination was growing clearer with each step, because in the distance I could see the image of a certain waterwheel—or at least what was left of it.

Finally, the figure of my target came into view.

Good, they’re all alive. I repeated inwardly, letting a bit more of my anxiety drift off.

However, I could tell something was wrong. By now they should have all heard my footsteps hammering bullishly towards them and yet no one even cared to give the dissonant sounds of my stomping feet a glance.

They simply stood scattered about the newly formed waterfall what was threatening to usurp the remnants of the broken water wheel, peering into elven territory like they were hoping for some kind of sign.

I skid to a halt, allowing my feet to grind across the scorched earth with a grating sound.

My chest was tight and my breaths were coming in heavy, so I decided to take a good look around before saying anything.

If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

The Brimwell was no more.

Only a sad excuse for the large structure remained above ground. It now resembled little more than a few wooden planks thrown together in the rough shape of an arc that was attempting to mimic a proper water wheel.

If I had to guess, it seemed as if something had blown the age-old construct right out of its foundation. Since it was no longer spinning to divert the water pressure, the buildup of said pressure had begun to affect the surrounding land, and now literal jet streams were erupting from the site of the fissure, widening the already evident divide.

The combination of all these factors resulted in the creation of a powerful new stream of water being ejected from the mountain’s face, flowing down into elven lands.

“Jytte, I’m glad you’re okay.” Said Julia, finally acknowledging my presence with her back turned.

Nobody else said anything, so for a moment, I simply stood there, not knowing how to respond.

“What happened...while I was out?” I managed to word timidly, probing for some kind of reaction.

I heard bones crunching around my when I asked that question. I couldn’t tell who the noises were coming from but I’m certain I saw Julia shudder just now.

Oliver, who was further out on the mountain’s fissured divide simply hung his head low like he was ready to do something uncalled for.

“Jytte, take a look around, can’t you see what’s going on.” Muttered Myra, still looking away.

That was when the dots finally connected.

We were missing someone.

One person.

A small child who I’d come to adore over the past few weeks.

Once my brain was done processing Myra’s words, I could feel a great deal of heat leaving my body. Suddenly it was as if a large black cavity had opened in my chest, hollowing me out from the inside.

Perhaps I’d suffered more damaged than I thought. At the moment, my body just didn’t know how to respond to news like that.

“L-Liam....he’s still alive, right?” The words came from my mouth but sounded foreign to me.

“We don’t know. The irregular chased him over here and then there was some kind of explosion. We haven’t found a body yet but....” Myra halted mid-sentence, as if unsure how to proceed or reluctant to continue.

“I want to try finding him...even if its only his body. Please Jytte, my consciousness won't be able to rest until I do.”

Julia and I had been through quite a bit together. She was a member of our party for years after she left her home behind. However, in all that time, it was the first I’d ever seen an expression like this on her face.

Upon turning to face me, I saw a constant stream of tears rolling down her cheeks.

Her eyes, which usually shone like polished emerald gems were sunken and had dark spots underneath them.

Putting her disheveled appearance aside, everything about her just seemed off right now.

“She’s been crying like that for hours on end you know.” Myra whispered by my ear, stifling a few sniffles in the process.

Flynn and Allen hadn't said anything yet but their expressions weren’t looking any better. They couldn’t conjure up anything better, not at a time like this.

That was when I finally understood why Oliver had been standing so far away. He was either desperately trying to rein in his expression, his grief, or both. Nothing good would ever come of trying to comfort his wife with a face full of sadness.

I didn’t know if it would work or not, but I had to try. There’s no way I could leave my friends looking like that. Even with all the grogginess, dull pains and fatigue, I had to make this work, otherwise I don’t think my consciousness would be able to rest either.

“I’ll do it Julia, leave it to me. I’ll find him.” I assured her with every bit of bravado I could muster.

Her eyes seemed to flicker with their typical fragile brilliance for a moment, but eventually gave way to the dam of tears once more. She buried her head in my chest and let loose one last burst of sorrow.

I don’t remember how long it took for her to calm down some, but as soon as she did, I made my way over to Oliver’s position on the fissure’s apex. I took up a stance at his side.

We exchanged no words.

We didn’t need to.

I simply needed a better vantage point to make this work.

Inhaling a deep breath, I concentrated on every nerve in my body as I sharpened my senses to their utmost limit and cycled through the myriad of olfactory information being drawn to me.

One after the other, I rejected the unfamiliar scents in favor of the familiar ones, each time probing a bit deeper to confirm if any of them had that tangy flavor I’d grown so used to processing.

Seconds turned to minutes, minutes piled up and morphed into hours. Bit by bit, I was slowly getting closer to my objective. Then after much time had passed, I opened my eyes and saw it—finally within reach.

The whole process had taken a lot longer than I initially thought. By the time my eyes adjusted to the light, they were already being greeted by the golden glow of dusk.

I slowly turned my neck over to the right, fully anticipating the towering presence beside me —it was Oliver, he was still there. The entire time, neither of us had moved an inch.

Narrowing my eyes, I gave him the dull confirmation before walking back towards the others.

“I found him.”

And, to my surprise, he actually responded in a heartbeat.

“Good work Jytte. We leave at dawn.”