I shot up from the bed, hearing screaming. I looked to see Faelyn still asleep, so I got up and put my gear on to do whatever I could to help. As the screaming got louder, it was, impossible to mistake, my mother’s voice.

I ran outside and pulled my weapons at the ready. I had a hard time trying to find where the voice came from, so I waited and stayed alert until I picked up the sounds of the screaming in the forest, nearby. I didn’t hesitate to go and find my mother.

I went until I could hear the screaming, like it was right next to me, but I saw no one. My mind started to catch up with me, and I realized that my mother wasn’t here and something was off. A giant creature jumped down from the trees behind me. All the hair on my neck stood straight. I was too late in noticing that I was being lured by the umbra that killed my mother.

I turned around with my weapons, ready to fight, and the first thing I saw was the many eyes of the umbra reflecting what little light there was. I felt my legs get sweeped out from under me and I knocked my head on the ground. It hurt, but I was still conscious. I took control of my two swords and I shot them into the creature’s arm. It was no use as I stabbed over and over.

Agony consumed my thoughts as I felt the crushing jaws of the umbra break my arm and pick me up. I was being swung back and forth and I couldn’t help but scream in pain before my arm was no longer a part of my body. After my arm gave, I watched the umbra as I was launched into a tree. Everything became blurry, but I could see Faelyn.

Faelyn ran to me and picked me up. She threw me over her shoulder and was running away from the umbra. The umbra had swung for her legs and she caved under me, with a loud crunch. She got up and limped at an impressive pace back into the shelter, barring the doors once we were inside. Rafael was up and looked mortified.

“You went hunting alone?! You’re both injured!” Rafael’s anger was unavoidable.

“I went out alone, Faelyn saved me. I heard my mother screaming and got ambushed by the umbra.” I spoke up to tell the truth and accept what I had done wrong.

“If you had woken us up, this all could’ve been avoided. You are lucky you are alive, both of you.”

I tried to keep up with what he was saying, but my vision was getting more blurry and I felt faint. “Help.” The word escaped my mouth and I closed my eyes.

I felt my body being picked up. “You lost your arm, this is bad.” Rafael adjusted my clothing and I screamed from the pain.

“Will you be able to regenerate it?” Faelyn’s voice was much softer.

“No, this is a bite from a sentient, the poison in its mouth can only be removed by taking off more of the lost limb. She’ll be lucky if she lives through the poison alone, she couldn’t live through regenerating.”

Fear began to fill my thoughts, the idea of having my limb cut more was terrifying.

“Nen somoati bhuth.” Rafael spoke, I assumed to cast a spell.

I immediately was in so much pain. I screamed everytime I could feel the heat move, further and further into my arm. I could feel the blood dripping down my side and Rafael kept going. I couldn’t think, all I could feel was my body convulsing for what felt like forever.

“Alright, the wound is free of the poison and cauterized closed.” I felt Rafael take his hands off of what was left on my arm.

“I am going to pick you up.” Faelyn said in a soft voice, and her arms wrapped around me. “I am taking you to the room to rest, and then I will get you something to help with the pain.”

“I’m sorry…” I muttered.

“Just don’t do it again, I’m begging you.” Faelyn’s voice started to stutter and I could hear her sniffing. I became really upset with myself as I heard her cry, while taking me to the bed.

“Please stay. Don’t worry about the pain. I don’t want to be alone.” I pleaded.

“Okay, I will stay.” Faelyn laid down next to me and rested her head on the shoulder that wasn’t just cauterized.

“Thank you, Fae.”

“For sure. I want you to be okay, whatever it takes.”

“Why?”

“Because you are the only person who has ever treated me like another person, since I lost my parents. Even Yaoba struggled to see me as anything other than a threat.”

“I put you in so much danger.”

“I followed you to make sure you were safe.”

I started to sob from the severity of the mistake I had made and from the painful reminder of my lost arm. “I need to be a better hunter, and I need to protect you, not put you in harm's way.”

Faelyn kissed my cheek. “No you don’t have to protect me.”

“You and Rafael are all I have left. I can’t afford to be a risk to your lives.”

“Then let this teach you to think before you act.” Faelyn wiped away my tears. “Rest and heal, you have long days ahead of you. I will be here, should you need anything.”

“Thank you. I appreciate you.” I breathed deeper and tried to relax, as much as I could.

Faelyn started singing in a language I had never heard before, but her singing was beautiful and it helped me fall asleep.

I woke up again, in the middle of the night, and my arm, or stub, was pulsing with pain. Faelyn was still laying on me and my arm was wrapped around her. I was so grateful that my arm allowed me to enjoy every bit of holding Faelyn. Those thoughts alone let me fall back asleep and ignore the pain.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

The morning came quicker than I had hoped it would. Faelyn was sitting on the futon and seemed to be waiting for me to wake up, but she still smiled and waved to me when I looked over to her.

“How did you sleep?” Faelyn asked, concern forming on her face.

“I had a hard time sleeping, but having you in my arm made it a lot easier.”

“Oh…” Faelyn’s face blossomed with a pink blush, and she pulled her hand up to cover her mouth.

“Thank you so much, Fae.”

“Anytime, promise.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.” My heart got gooey with the idea that all I had to do was ask and she’d let me hold her again.

A knocking on the door interrupted my day dreaming about Faelyn. I stood up and opened the door for Rafael to come in. He looked over at my arm and then both of us blushing mad.

“I came to see how your arm was doing and see if we could heal it any more.”

Rafael wasted no time in checking my missing arm. He opened the bandages, which hurt, but not at all like last night.

“It’s really well healed, all things considered. I can heal it the rest of the way, without too much trouble, but it would deal with there being any chance of infection . You will still have to deal with the poison that made its way into your body.”

I finally brought myself to look at what was left. The wound brought my arm down to maybe a handbreadth from my shoulder. The wound had some pink in it, and I assumed that it was way more red and swollen last night. It still hurt to move it, so I quickly stopped trying to see the rest of the wound. Even though it was healed, I still felt immense pain through my entire upper body.

“Thank you for healing me and dealing with my choices.” I said to Rafael, contrite for what I did.

“Learn from it, and grow to be stronger and wiser.” Rafael said back in a kind tone, considering what I had done.

“Will do.” I confirmed to him as he left the room.

I turned back to Faelyn, but as I turned I got super dizzy and stumbled.

“Careful, Joey. You’re not fully healed. Lay down and I will bring you something to eat and something to ease the pain.”

I layed down as I was instructed and closed my eyes, but the pain kept worsening throughout my entire body. I tried to ignore it, but it felt like I was being stabbed, over and over. I was thrashing, trying to deal with the pain, what Faelyn came back in.

Faelyn put the things she was holding down next to me, and then she handed me something that looked like a berry of some kind. I assumed it was for the pain and quickly swallowed it. She then put her hands up and they began to glow with a warm light. The stabbing pains stopped, but it still hurt to move, and my eyes burned, so I kept them closed.

“That should help, but I can’t give you more because of what we had already given you. It’ll just make things worse if I were to give you more.”

“Thank you, Fae. I’ll be okay, make sure to take care of yourself, please?”

“I will, but I don’t want to leave you alone, not with the severity of what you’re going through.”

“What do you mean?”

“You were bitten by a very powerful umbra, and now, not only did you lose your arm, but you’re turning and quickly, too.”

“I’m tainted?”

“Yes, your eyes have already changed, but you have one blue eye, on the left, and one yellow eye, on the right.”

I sat up and looked at her. My eyes were still burning and teary, but I had also started crying. “Please stay with me, Fae. I’ve lost everything…”

“I’m not leaving, I don’t care that you’ve become tainted, or that you need help. I will stay with you no matter where you go or the challenges you face.”

“Thank you…” I wiped away the tears. “You’re so good to me.”

“I wouldn’t want to be anything else.”

I managed to eat the food Faelyn had brought, a sandwich, but I didn’t know what the ingredients were, as hungry as I was, nor did I care what the ingredients were. I then layed back down and readied myself for when the pain came back.

Over the next four days, I had several bouts of convulsing from the pain, and Faelyn was there, every time, to use healing magic while I was fighting the pain. I was extremely grateful for the care and support Faelyn gave me. Anytime I asked her to stay, she would, and I assumed she took care of herself while I was sleeping.

On the fifth day, Rafael woke me up to check on me. He looked over the wound and said that it was pretty much healed. I also was able to get up and make it to a mirror to see myself and the changes I had undergone.

I closed the door to the bathroom and stripped to naked and studied the image of myself. As Faelyn said, my left eye was bright blue and my left eye was bright yellow, like Faelyn’s eyes. My hair turned silver, with no hint of the black it was before. My back became a pelt of fur, contouring to the shape of my body. The hair on the rest of my body was dense and thick, but not like the hair on my back, yet. My chest had a pelt, as well. All of the hair on my body was pitch black. I actually was perfectly okay with my changes, so I quickly accepted them to be who I am.

I put my clothes back on, intending to change in the room, but Faelyn was there, waiting for me. She smiled and waved at me.

“You can move around now! Yes, Joey!” I couldn’t help but smile and chuckle at her energy and kindness.

“I need to change clothes. WIll you help me?” I winked at her, flustering her.

“Yeah, sure! I have been wanting to know what you look like.” She smiled, but her face was very red.

Faelyn held entirely true to her word and helped me take my clothes off. As she was, she stared at my body and all of the hair. Her face never lost its bright, red hue. I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed, even though she never said anything. She then stood up and got clean clothes for me, but it was all from her belongings. When she turned back to face my direction, a smile was cast across her beautiful face. She stayed where she was and ran her eyes all over me, then she walked back over to me.

“Can I touch your fur?” Faelyn was looking down and spoke in a soft, nervous tone.

“Will you tell me if it’s soft or not? If it’s not, will you help me make it soft?”

She nodded her head like mad, and then she gently scratched through the fur on my fack. I guessed she was satiated when she stopped scratching and started putting my clothes back on.

After and entire outfit of Faelyn’s clothes covering my, I asked: “Is my fur soft?”

“It’s soft, but shampoo and conditioner would do the trick of making it more soft.”

“Thank you, Fae.” I smiled at her and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“Anytime!” She smiled back and went to sit in her usual spot. She was so cute, which made me really happy to fluster her.

I got so hungry and desperate to get back to practicing with magic, especially because I haven’t gotten to eat much and because my magic would make it a lot easier to cope with missing an arm.

I went to the kitchen, where Rafael was just putting down sandwiches. “Thank you so much for always providing food.” I was happy to let Rafael know how much I appreciated him.

“Oh, good! You’re up. What’s your plan for today?”

“I was just coming to eat, then I was going to work on my casting.”

“Don’t get too ahead of yourself.”

“Come watch then.” I smiled, impishly, and sat down to eat. Faelyn sat down and quietly ate, prompting me to dig in. I wolfed down my food much quicker that I thought I could, but I was too excited to work on my magic to ask for anything more. I used my magic to clear my plate and put everything in the sink.

Rafael’s eyes got big when he saw me put everything away, and Faelyn remained unfazed.

“How did you learn that?” Rafael asked.

“I taught myself where we were still in Oyun.”

“What else did you teach yourself?”

I waved for him to come join me outside, and I beckoned for Faelyn to come, too.