The water tasted exquisite to Kass, rushing through her and filling her with a renewed energy. She resisted the urge to dunk her head into the lake and instead continued feeding water into her mouth with a cupped hand. The water instantly soothed the pain in her head, and she sighed with relief. It felt like the water had entered her bloodstream immediately and rushed to satiate her whole body.
After a minute Kass felt slightly sick, having drunk a little bit too much too fast, but other than that she was feeling like a new person. With another sigh, she plopped down on her butt and rested there at the lake’s edge, glad that she had made it back.
She glanced at herself again and remembered the sorry state she was in, aches and pains still causing her grief. It was then that she looked up and across the lake to the floating form of the ogre body. Realizing what she had just done Kass immediately began gagging, turning over on her side as she choked. She threw up on the shore and continued dry heaving for a whole minute.
Tears filled her eyes this time as she cried, losing the small amount of control she had gained from having a temporary goal and purpose. I hate this place! After retching for a third time Kass rolled back to her butt and hugged her knees close to her chest. She put her head in her hands and continued sobbing, rocking back and forth in an attempt to soothe herself. Nothing could make this worse. I can’t even drink the water now! She had completely forgotten about the ogre’s body in her haste to drink. She needed water but couldn’t even begin to imagine drinking from the lake again. Just drank water with a dead body in it...a huge dead body…can check that one off the list now. Along with all the other shitty things that have happened to me here. Her stomach growled as she sat there, conveniently reminding her that she was also starving. “Somebody just kill me now,” she muttered to herself.
I’ll probably still have to drink out of this lake if I want to survive. Maybe I can drag the body out of the water? No, you idiot, the thing is huge. It’s either die of thirst or of whatever disease I get from drinking the damn water. Kass took a deep breath and wiped her eyes. She could feel that they were puffy and she dabbed at them a bit. She couldn’t decide whether it was a good idea or not to wash her body off in the water she would be drinking out of, but she needed to clean each of the wounds she had before they became infected. Looking at the cuts from the Balmorhea it wasn’t that hard of a decision anymore. The thing already looked infected and she knew she needed to clean it.
Scooting forward a bit, Kass submerged her legs in the cool water, lightly brushing away the dried blood and dirt that clung to her skin. When she made it to the first couple scuffs on her knees, she carefully scrubbed them, trying to remove all the dirt she could see. She hissed in pain from the stinging this caused. These aren’t even the bad ones yet. After finishing with those she moved on to the cut across her left leg from the sword. It looked like it had been a clean cut and was only a thin slit about five inches across her leg. Already the wound was sealed with a scab that surprisingly didn’t look infected. At least not to her untrained eyes. Unsure of what to do she left it alone, not wanting to open in back up and cause more problems.
The Balmorhea wound was a different story. All around the cuts the skin was red, swollen, and sore. The cuts themselves were covered by yellowy scabs that leaked pus in many places. Kass pushed herself further into the water until she was sitting in it. The water didn’t quite reach the whole wound and so she carefully scooped water over it, letting it run over the scab without her touching it. I have no idea what to do with this…I don’t want to touch it right? She kept running water over it for awhile, the cold seemed to ease the pain she felt a bit. Finally she decided there wasn’t anything else she could do and scooted back out of the water.
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Ugh I’m so hungry… and tired. She stood and looked around the cavern, searching for something she could eat. Her eyes caught on the floating body after a second and she just stared at it, then shook her head. I think I'd rather die than try to eat that. She gagged a bit then turned away, retrieving tail and sword and walking in search of food.
Before long she found herself along the wall of the cavern where a thick grey moss was growing. Pulling some off the wall she sniffed it, and was surprised it only smelled like wet dirt. Carefully she placed a piece in her mouth and began chewing. The moss was stringy and bitter, but for the most part edible. Huh. This is actually pretty good! She wasn’t sure if it was just the fact that she was starving or if the moss was actually tasty, but since she wasn’t dying on the floor yet she decided to dig in.
Half an hour later Kass sat on the floor again with her back against a section of moss-cleared wall. The moss wasn’t the most filling thing, but she felt much better after having eaten something. Tasted kinda like brussel sprouts… She broke out into a large yawn, suddenly feeling very tired. Guess now that I have some food and water it’s time to crash again. Looking around she guessed that this place was as good as any for a quick rest and so she curled up in a ball and was soon fast asleep.
Kass awoke a short time later to a loud thrum that resounded throughout the cavern. She jolted upright and clutched at the sword that she had been limply holding while sleeping. A groan of pain escaped her as she moved her battered body.
Realizing this probably meant more danger for her, she scrambled on her hands and knees to a nearby stalagmite. Old wounds reopened and began seeping blood, but Kass didn’t notice. Her attention was fixed on the rows of small figures that began marching out of one of the tunnels. This tunnel was set a bit higher in the cavern and had a decently wide shelf that extended from it before falling away at a steep angle.
Row upon row appeared until the first line came to a halt at the edge of the rocky shelf, each of them pounding a spear into the floor in unison. Now easier to see, Kass inspected one of them. That thing has got to be what, three feet tall? Some type of reptile… organized and holding spears… Well shit. I knew I somehow got teleported somewhere but this just confirms it, I’m in some sort of damn fantasy. Kass had never really been interested in fantasy, focusing more on sports and world history. She had seen a few movies of course but when it really came down it it, she knew hardly anything at all.
So giants and magic huh. Yup, I’m screwed. I’m so totally screwed. Near the center of the formation the soldiers broke apart and a slightly larger reptile strode forward. It wore some type of armor that covered its torso and a cape that draped over its left arm and part of its back. In its right hand it held a staff that was decorated with an assortment of bones. It raised both of its arms and the pounding of spears ceased.
The reptile spoke then, a scratchy, guttural sound escaping from its mouth. It only said a few words before taking its staff in both hands, lifting it high in the air. Kass watched silently as the creature took several deep breaths, closed its eyes, then began glowing faintly, a purple light emanating directly from its skin. Some sort of magic I guess. Wish I knew more about all this…what is this thing a wizard lizard? After a few seconds the light collected around the creature’s hands and slowly began snaking up the bone staff. It twisted around and around until finally it reached the top.
Once there, the light disappeared and the staff seemed to absorb the energy. A split second later the same purple light exploded out of the staff and a shockwave of energy spread through the room, washing over Kass in an instant. Ahhh! What was that!? Terrified, but not wanting to risk exposing herself by moving, she remained where she was.
For a moment, nothing seemed to happen and Kass began to relax. She quickly checked over her body to make sure nothing was wrong, and, finding nothing, her gaze returned to the lizard. The wizard lizard? The wizlard she decided, a small grin forming at her lips at the ridiculousness of it all. The creature’s eyes remained closed for nearly a minute, the cavern completely silent. Then the wizlard turned its head and its eyes snapped open, and to Kass’ horror, it was looking directly at her.