Adam felt the paralysis wear off just before the creature impacted him. He jumped back and to the side. The sword came up practically of its own volition. That was all that saved him from the vicious looking teeth as they tried to snap down on his leg. A scream worked its way through his clenched teeth as the oddly long incisors bit in. His flesh separated with as little resistance as a sheet of paper, stopped only by the blade. He clamped his mouth shut to stop the scream. He saw movement in the corner of his eye, but was transfixed by the bloody snout that was threatening to sever his leg.
The monster, looking like a terrifying mix of a dolphin and a tapir, charged in from his side. He knew it was coming, but if he shifted his weight or moved his hands, the one attacking him would take his leg. He didn’t know if Kyra’s lesser healing spell could restore lost limbs, but he had a feeling the ‘lesser’ part of the name indicated otherwise. He saw it take a long step, then bunch and leap. He growled, fighting to wrench the sword free. He closed his eyes and curled in to present his shoulder. Instead of having another of the typhins latch onto his shoulder, he heard a meaty thunk and a loud grunt. He opened his eyes to find Raven had tackled the typhin out of the air. She wrestled with it while it grunted, squeaked, and clicked.
“Rrraaaah!” Adam roared out. He let the sword go from his left hand, feeling the teeth sink deeper, scraping the bone. The sensation made him want to vomit. He channeled that, the rage, the helplessness, everything into his next move. He jammed his fingers into the massive eye of the typhin. It squealed and started to jerk its head around, flaying his leg open. His roar turned to a scream of pain, but he didn’t relent. Instead, he changed the angle of the sword and let the tip dig into his leg, using it for leverage. He dug deeper into the monster’s eye socket until he was able to grasp the side of its skull, then yanked hard. The sword’s edge skittered past the teeth gripping it, then shattered two more on its unstoppable path into the creature’s throat. He pushed harder, put every ounce of his fading strength into splitting the creature. He could feel his blood drain away; his vision was beginning to dim. The monster had punctured his femoral artery, he was sure of it. He had seconds left to live.
He twisted the blade and shoved it deeper with every fiber of his being. Something broke, and he was sent stumbling. The ground rushed up at him, but he was unconscious before he hit.
Raven was screaming, thrashing against the monster she held in place. It had powerful legs, but they were short and unable to get at her. She scrabbled in the dirt with a free hand until her fingers brushed against something hard. She grabbed it and brought it down hard on the typhin’s side. It squealed and bucked. She hit it again, then felt something hot and wet. She brought her hand down again and again, screaming the whole time.
“Raven!”
Kyra’s scream came from nearby, startling her. Raven paused, letting her scream trail off. The monster was no longer moving. She opened her eyes to find herself absolutely bathed in blood. She retched, then fell off the creature’s belly and scrambled backwards on hands and feet. Kyra was waving her hands to get her to stop moving.
“Raven! It’s okay!”
A minute before, Liz was walking back with Carl. She didn’t have a towel, so she let it air dry. They were just approaching the clearing when Adam screamed in pain. Liz broke into a sprint before any thoughts had even formed. She knew that sound and how bad it meant the situation already was. She closed the last hundred feet. It was just light enough to see how dark everything had become. Adam wrestled with some sort of creature while Raven repeatedly stabbed another with a stick. She saw a third circling and readying to pounce on Adam. Despite her size, she had always moved quietly, and that came in handy as she launched at the monster with arms outstretched. She caught it around the throat, sending them both tumbling. She put it in a headlock with her legs wrapped as tightly around the torso as she could manage.
The creature bucked and writhed, but made no sound. She knew she had a good seal when it quickly faded, then fell limp. Not wanting to risk anything, she waited another handful of seconds, then let the thing roll free. She saw Adam’s club sitting near his limp body and grabbed it, then crushed the monster’s skull in one savage blow. Then she turned around to find Raven screaming and stabbing one, while Adam bled on top of another, though his had half its head missing. She looked around in confusion until she saw it laying a few feet away. It looked like it had been chopped off by the sword in one clean stroke, but that didn’t match the situation.
Finally, Kyra appeared from behind the tree. She was shaking like a tree’s last leaf in a storm. She looked around, then rushed to Adam’s side.
“Is he alive?”
Liz knelt next to the healer, then looked at the ruined mess that was Adam’s leg. She couldn’t see any blood pulsing out anymore. Carl calmly knelt next to Adam’s wounded leg, pulled his belt free, and cinched it tight.
“I’m applying this as a tourniquet. Kyra, you have enough mana to cast the healing spell?”
Kyra nodded and placed her hands on Adam’s chest. She was crying hard, barely able to take a breath, but it didn’t stop her from casting the spell. Her hands glowed. The magic sank into his chest. She leaned down, stifling her sobs to listen for his breath. She cast the spell again. Liz started compressions, mumble-singing Staying Alive again. Carl gently pushed Liz aside, then started CPR, but he put his body weight behind it. Liz cringed when she heard one of Adam’s ribs break. Kyra cast the spell again.
Liz bent down and breathed into Adam’s mouth. Carl nodded, and started again.
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“I’m out of mana.”
“Figure something out. I’m not letting him die like this,” Carl snarled. It was a complete change from the blase way he had acted before. Kyra looked at him through red, watery eyes, saw the pure determination, and nodded. She tried to cast the spell, but it fizzled. She tried again. It fizzled. She simply did not have enough mana. She screamed, fighting to get the spell to work. It failed again. She pounded on his chest, crying hard. Desperate, she tried one last time. Blood began to leak from her eyes, nose, and ears. But her hands began to glow. This time, when the magic sank in, Adam gasped hard. He shuddered, then began breathing, though he didn’t regain consciousness.
“Thank the gods,” Liz said as she sat back on her feet. Carl leaned back, then stretched his arms.
“I’ve always hated doing that. Hurts me almost as much as it hurts them. My arms are going to be useless tomorrow.”
Kyra glared at him again. “Why did you help?”
“Believe it or not, I did and do take my oath seriously.”
“The last time he was dying, you did nothing and brushed him off. This time, you actually worked hard. I heard his rib break, and I know that’s not easy to do on someone his size.”
Carl shook his head.
“So tell me, Doctor Death, why did you save him?”
Carl looked at Liz, who blankly looked back.
“I wanted to make things right. I’m not a great front-line fighter. I’m not a healer. But I can apply my knowledge, which still might save his life. And I can stop acting like I’m better than you guys. It’s only fair, if you’re going to let me live here.”
Kyra stared at him for a long moment, then looked over at Liz. Her friend shrugged, then mimed wiping at her face. She started, then felt at her cheeks. They were wet with tears and blood. She wiped at her face with her sleeve, growing angry when it just smeared blood and tears with dirt, turning it into a gross mud.
“Fine. But go away, I don’t want to see you right now.”
Carl seemingly ignored her, instead checking on Adam. He checked the man’s wrist, then listened to his chest. Finally, he cut Adam’s pants away and looked at the wounded man’s leg. He nodded and stood, walking around the tree and into the shadows that were starting to take on hard edges in the early morning light. He was gone in seconds.
“What the hell was that?” Kyra looked at Liz.
“We had a talk. A very long, very pointed talk. I think he’s going to actually make an effort now.”
“What did you say to him to get him to change like that?”
Liz shook her head. “Doesn’t matter. What does matter is that Adam is alive. You look like hell, though. What happened to you? Why did you start bleeding?”
Kyra’s eyes unfocused as she opened the window that was vying for her attention.
Skill unlocked!
Skill: Life to Mana
You traded some of your life force for mana. Higher levels are more efficient at converting life to mana.
Cost: Convert 110 life to 100 mana.
Another window popped up.
Title gained!
Mana Hungry I:
You cast a spell when you had no mana left!
+1.0 mana per second regen when out of mana. Effect ends after 60 seconds. Can be triggered twice per day.
A third window popped up.
Title gained!
Selfless:
You gave your life for someone else. Hopefully, it was for a good reason.
Kyra blinked. A fourth window waited.
Title gained!
Rule breaker:
You unlocked and used a skill that should have killed you. That probably hurt.
+1 to constitution
Finally, one last window popped up, explaining how the previous few had happened.
Boon gained!
You have been noticed by Caitrín, Goddess of Healers. She has granted you a boon of 71 life points. This may overflow your normal health pool.
“Uh,” Kyra stammered. “I think… I think I did something really dumb.”
Liz shook her head. “What? What happened?”
“Well, it looks like I somehow broke the rules, gained a skill, used that skill, died, and then… didn’t… die?”
“That is as clear as mud,” Liz said with a sigh.
Kyra explained what the windows said. She checked her character sheet, and sure enough, it backed what she saw.
Name: Kyra Donoghue
Race: Human
Faction: None
Job: None
Age: 26
Renown Level:
Renown: 27
Level: 2
XP: 10/110
HP: 1/60
HP regen per second: 0.02
MP: 79/180
MP regen per second: 1.09
Stamina: 180/180
Stamina regen: 0.09
Strength: 2
Agility: 9
Constitution: 3*
Wisdom: 9
Intelligence: 7
Charisma: 5
Luck: 1
Titles: Mana Hungry I, Rule Breaker, Selfless
Skills: Life to Mana
Abilities: None
Notes: English
Boons:
Caitrín, Goddess of Healers: 71 health points (expired)
Chakras:
Crown: Locked.
Third Eye: Locked.
Throat: Locked.
Heart: Locked.
Solar Plexus: Locked.
Sacral: Locked.
Root: Locked.
She looked up at Liz. “I got a boon from a goddess. It saved my life. Literally, it gave me enough life to use the skill. I have one health point left.”
Liz looked at her in alarm. “What? Are you okay? Why don’t you look like,” and she looked at Adam, waving a little at him to make her point.
“I don’t know. But I do know that this Caitrín, whoever she is, is wonderful.”
“So… gods are real.”
Liz and Kyra looked at each other for a long while. Kyra felt gross. The blood was dry enough to feel tacky, making the muddy mess on her face itch.
“Can you show me where the river is? I want to bathe and get clean.”
Liz smiled gently. “Of course.”
“Oh, we should probably bring Raven, too. She’s kinda… covered.”
They both looked at where the other woman was sitting with her arms wrapped around her legs.
“And we should make sure she’s okay.”
Liz nodded, stood, then helped Kyra to her feet. They moved Adam close to the tree trunk, making sure he was tucked out of sight.
“On second thought,” Liz said, looking at how helpless he was. “I should probably stay here. I don’t know where Carl is, and Adam can’t defend himself.”
Kyra bit her lip, then nodded. “That’s a good point.” She walked to Raven and offered her a hand. Raven looked up, her big blue eyes wide in shock.
“Come on, Raven. Let’s go get cleaned up.”
Liz pointed into the woods toward where they found the river. “That way, you’ll see some broken branches and bark stripped from the trees. We did that to make a trail that we’ll expand on later.”
Kyra nodded, then led Raven by the hand into the trees. Liz sat down next to Adam and sighed.
“Geez, big guy. You really know how to be dramatic.”
Adam groaned.