Edit: just changed up the summary, love to hear your thoughts on it!

=Vicis=

As tense as I was I almost didn't notice the frigid tingle at the small of my back. It spread, quickly encompassing me and numbing my whole body. I could feel myself slowing down, as if I had met great resistance.

Heart beating erratically, blood pumping furiously and my mind on edge I waited. Waited for the sudden impact that would signal my death, that would end my own short life. No matter how long I waited I felt only numbing cold and the needles that danced across my skin.

*Dead, I must be dead.*

Flashes of my body inert on the forest floor kept flashing through my mind.Limbs splayed unnaturally, a growing pool of blood beneath me. My body so broken, so torn that it's unable to even feel anymore. I willed my eyes to open, to face whatever horrific truth awaited me, but they remained stubbornly closed.

A second sensation began to emerge, once again from the small of my back. It expanded, pushing back the tingling and cold that engulfed my body gaining speed as it went. Finally free of the oppressing sensation my body seemed to drop, followed by a heavy thump enough to knock the wind out of me.

Finally, I opened my eyes, only to be met by a complete darkness.

=Iszith=

*I hope it worked..."

It’d been the first time I had tried putting myself outside of his body, the first time I’d tried to influence anything besides my own small existence. The effort had exhausted me, depleting me of what little energy I had.

Without it, I was left blind, my consciousness floating throughout a void of nothingness. I didn’t even know if my efforts had amounted to anything.

I could feel the slow trickle of energy from the surroundings reviving me, but it would be a while before  my senses returned. Until then only my thoughts would keep me company.

*It had to work, it had to. If it didn't...*

Gruesome images ran through my mind.

*...He'd be dead... He can't, he can't die. I can't lose another.*

*...Another?* The word caught my attention. I'd been referring to Cor but......

Still...... it sat at the edge of my mind, looping over and over again.

*I was talking about Cor......right?*

*Yes...... I had to be, he's the only one I've lost. I must be mistaken.*

=Vicis=

Pure black was what met my now open eyes. Panic started to rise up on me, but slowly my other senses made their presence known.

The soft brush of the wind, the springy and dewy grass beneath me. Looking around I could see the forest around me, yet above me theirs was only the oppressive black.

On my back, I rolled to the side, propping myself up with my good arm. An orb made of oily black suspended over where I'd been, it was a good bit bigger than a full grown man. Above it I could see the trail of broken branches from my fall.

*Did I fall through that?*

Standing now I reached towards it, dragging my fingers through it. It had a consistency similar to sludge. A familiar cold started to sink into my fingers, but no tingle this time. I pull my fingers  out with a wet plop.

*Must have broken my fall. As fascinating as this is I need to check my arm.*

Taking off the tattered rags that used to be my shirt I braced myself and took a look at the damage.

*Wha-?*

The shoulder was still out of its joint. My shoulder low and distanced from my torso, the skin stretched taut around it. It didn't feel painful but I was unable to move it. Even the numerous small scratches from my flight had been healed.

Although it seemed to have leaves its own marks behind. Lightly peppered around my body were black spots with mirror like surfaces. There was a particularly tight cluster around my distended shoulder. Looking at my chest I caught sight of the hand shaped burn mark, it too had been transformed into that black mirror like surface.

*Did this thing heal me?*

From the incident in the outpost earlier I know absorbing someone will heal me, but I've done nothing like that between now and when I dislocated my shoulder. Looking at it though while healed in the wrong way it was certainly healed, like I'd broken it months ago and never set it. Lightly tapping my teeth together I worried.

*I can't leave it like this.....*

Looking back forth between my arm and the orb. Heaving a sigh, and shuffling my bare feet I came to a decision.

*Before I do that though I'm going to make sure.*

I brought my thumb up to my mouth, placing the pad between my canines and but down hard. Flinching at the pain I uttered a curse and stuck my thumb into the oily darkness.

I felt both the cold and the tingling sensation this time. Mere seconds later the tingling ceased. I pulled my thumb out to find the cut now replaced by black reflective skin. I prodded the spots on my body expecting them to be hard. Unexpectedly they felt just like the rest of me.

*Was it only a visual change? No, I don't know that for sure.* Again my teeth clacked.

*So many changes to my body, there are probably ones I'm not even aware of. Enough, now that I've checked I should get it over with.*

I leaned over resting my right hand, the hand of my lame arm, on the ground. Placing my foot over it I took deep breaths trying to pump myself up. Doing this halfway would only make it worse for me.

*Alrig-*

Suddenly as if trying to surprise myself I jerk myself upwards, keeping my feet firmly planted. Grinding my teeth I tried, and failed to hold in my scream. Eyes watering I staggered towards the orb doing my best to put my shoulder as close to where it should be. Hopefully the orb would take care of any slight adjustments.

Thankful this time for the numbing cold I let my arm sit in the orb until the tingling finally ceased, this time taking almost a full minute to heal.

Pulling it out I at first took a look at it. It seemed to have worked this time, healing in the joint correctly. No weird protrusions or the like. Although the spots around my shoulder seemed to have multiplied, forming a ragged ring that encompassed it. Putting my tattered shirt back on I felt a grimace stretch across my face at the exposed marks.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

*I’ll have to cover those up somehow. Besides that where did this come from?*

My gaze drifted to the orb that patiently floated in the air. I tried to manipulate it like my shadows but it kept slipping through my grasp. My efforts produced nothing more than a few ripples in the surface.

*Not mine, Iszith’s then. Didn’t think she had this much power. Speaking about her she’s been awfully quiet.*

Turning my senses inward I tried to contact her, curious and worried about her silence.

*Hmm?*

I scanned myself a second time, taking care to be much more thorough this time.

*N-nothing?! No, no that’s impossible! She would have some kind of presence even if she’d......she'd.....*

Died

I take a shuddering breath, trying to calm myself.

*.......... Even if she had died I imagine there would be some kind of residual presence like Cor had. So what? What happened to her?*

Deep in thought my gaze drifted, only to be caught by the sight of the orb once again.

*Moved….. could she have moved herself? Possible, Cor had moved her from her original body to mine, question is if she could do that herself. Only way to know is to check.*

I moved my now healed right arm, bringing it up to chest height. Slowly I plunged it into orb. I couldn’t help but feel a bit nauseous at the feeling of it’s parting around my hand like a thick slime. This time I sent out bursts of my own energy inside of it trying to scan the contents.

*Is that her?*

The presence was so small that I hesitated to identify it, unable to fully scan it in such a reduced state.

*It has to be, I don’t sense anything else. she must have exhausted herself doing this.*

Having found her I pulled my arm out, flicking it by my side as if it were wet. So now what? Leaving her here was not an option. I guess I had to sit and wait for her to recover enough to move back to me.

Patiently I waited, for about five minutes. Already fed up with waiting I got up and started to pace. After my first circuit I turned around only to find myself face to face with the orb. Surprised I hopped back a step seeing it move forward to follow me. Jumping and even sprinting it managed to follow close behind me the entire time.

*Well then.*

Ready to go I set off full speed north.

==

“This might be a problem…”

Mumbling under my breath I stared at the still present orb. Long ago I’d made it to the town, as Iszith hadn’t awakened yet I had no choice but to sit and wait for her to before entering town. The sun had started to set once more but it has yet to show any changes.

*This is taking too long for my taste.*

I moved to it, plunging both my arms elbow deep. I try directing my energies through the orb to her fragile spark.

*Earlier she’d said that she gained energy by filtering it from the surroundings. She’d also told me that I seemed to create my own, in that case maybe if I feed her some of mine it will at least speed up the process. I’ll take it slow, wouldn't want to mess with it too much.*

At first I supplied only a trickle, gradually increasing the flow of power as I realized she could handle it. Almost an hour later the orb started to squirm, the insides moving around on invisible currents, and the shiny outside undulating to a indecipherable rhythm.

Moments later it roiled. No longer holding a recognizable shape it twisted and shifted, never holding still for longer than a moment. Growing to violent for me to comfortably stand next to it I had ceased my ministrations, taking a few steps backwards.

*Did.... did I break it?*

Watching it uneasily a feeling of guilt started to well up within me. What would I do if I had? What if I had killed her? Turned her into something unrecognizable?

*I should have left it! Idiot! Why would you mess with something unknown to you like that?!*

The lack of movement catching my eye I refocused on to the now still orb.

*Huh?*

My body ached and ears rang with the sound of distant thunder. Pushing myself off the floor that seems to have appeared from nowhere I look around, realizing that I was almost 50 paces from my original spot.

*It….. it exploded?*

A crater had formed with myself at the very edge. The crater was deep enough that if I had walked to the center the lip of the crater would come over my head.

*No way…..*

Everything within the crater had simply disappeared. The edges and floor of it were impossibly smooth. As if someone had painstakingly cut it into the ground and sanded it to perfection afterwards. Nervous sweat trickled down my back at the thought that I could have been caught in that.

*Iszith.....*

On the edge I stood shakily making my way down.

*Iszith*

I sped up sliding along the smooth surface of the crater.

*Iszith!*

I stumbled to a stop at very center, where the orb used to be. Legs shaking and body trembling my eyes fell upon a familiar shape.

==

Sorry for flaking on you guys for a couple days but ah  I got some words for you.

Witcher 3.

Level 15.

Please don't hate on me to much. As an apology I tried making this chapter my longest yet, besides the side story that is.

As always thanks for reading!

(PR was done by Leon Das, he even came up with the chapter title this time!)