NOVEL WEB 045: Signal
Slowly, ever so slowly, Rain became aware of a ringing sound between his ears. He mumbled and stirred, disoriented. He'd been falling, and then…
"Woah!" He jerked awake. His mind rapidly replayed the events leading up to and including the fall as he struggled to sit up. Immediately, he noticed a problem with this: he wasn't lying down.
"Woah there, stop squirmin'. Guys, he's awake!"
Carten. So I'm not dead then. Why can't I move? Oh. It's like that scene from Star Wars where Chewie carries C3P0 on his back after he gets ripped apart. Shit, I didn't get ripped apart, did I? Do I still have my arms?
Rain's world tilted as Carten shrugged off the crude harness that they had strapped him into so he could be carried like a backpack. Carten set him down on the ground and started untying him. "Ya gave us quite a scare there, Little Mouse. Don't try to move. I'll get ya free in a second. Didn't want your arms flappin' around on me."
Rain forced himself to wait as Carten undid the ropes that had been bundling him up, mentally dismissing his still-ringing alarm. His mind felt hazy and slow as if his thoughts were made from molasses. He blinked owlishly up at his companions, their faces swimming in the dim light. Even the rock walls of the tunnel he was in were sliding around worryingly. His eyes sluggishly tracked a Lunar Orb as it orbited Carten's head in a warped circle.
Am I…drugged? What is this?
"Rain, welcome back," Jamus said, smiling down at him as Carten freed his arms. Rain brought a hand up to his head feebly. The motion was difficult. Something was definitely wrong with him.
"Jamus, what happened? After…after I hit the ground."
"Ah, good, there's no memory loss," Jamus said. "You died is what happened. She brought you back."
Rain followed Jamus's finger. Ameliah was standing nearby, watching him. Carten freed his legs and pulled away the last of the harness.
"Died?" Rain said stupidly, struggling to sit up, his weak limbs trembling. Carten helped him into a sitting position and propped him against the wall.
"Yes and no," Ameliah said. "Your health was fully depleted, but you didn't actually die. I healed you, but your body was shattered. It was a very close thing."
"Shattered?" Rain said, finding it difficult to follow the conversation. "Something's wrong. I feel—"
"That's the dreamleaf I gave you," Ameliah said. "I had to knock you out so you didn't hurt yourself. Your bones haven't fully mended. It's been almost a full day since you fell."
"A full day? But I was just…" Rain licked his teeth. It felt like his tongue was covered in a woolen sock. He activated Purify to clear the horrible taste from his mouth. Immediately as he did so, his thoughts started to flow clearly again; whatever chemical he'd been dosed with had been burned out of his bloodstream.
"Woah!" he said, canceling the skill. "That's trippy."
"You good now?" Carten asked.
"I think so. I still feel weak, but the…dreamleaf, was it? Yeah, I think Purify took care of it."
"Fascinating," Jamus said. "Ameliah has used that skill several times in your presence, but it didn't have that effect."
"Dreamleaf is both a medicine and a toxin. It depends upon your perspective," Ameliah said. "Purify is weird. My advice is to not think about it too much. Can you stand?"
"I…think so."
Rain slowly got to his feet. His legs trembled, but he waved away any offer of help.
"Just don't do anything too strenuous," Ameliah said. "You are suffering from soulstrain due to overhealth. It's serious. Your body won't be able to take any more healing for a few days."
"This…doesn't feel like soulstrain. I just feel…weak," Rain said.
"It's a different type," Jamus said. "There are plenty of ways to injure your soul."
"Oh," Rain said. He was starting to feel a little better, but he wasn't going to be up for much more than walking for a while. He looked around in a sudden panic. "Hey, wait a minute, where's Val?"
"He's up there," Carten said, pointing along the tunnel they were in. Rain saw a light in the distance.
"Wait, alone? Isn't that…dangerous?"
"Yes," Ameliah said with a sigh. "But we saw a blue flee across the bridge when we crossed, and he's been impossible ever since. He insisted on taking the lead."
"Sounds about right," Rain said with a smile. "A blue, huh? What else did I miss?"
"Oh, it was amazin'!" Carten said, excitement clear in his voice. "Ameliah, she—"
"Hold on," Ameliah said. "If we're doing storytime, let's get Val back here. I don't want to go through this twice. Message: Val. Rain is awake. Come back."
She looked at Rain, her voice returning to normal as the echos of the spell faded. "I've got questions for you. That fall should have killed you. Sorry, but you just don't have the health to survive something like that."
"Yeah, tell me about it," Rain said. "I thought I was a goner." He licked his lips. "Say, anyone got any water? My mouth feels like it's full of sand."
Carten passed him a flask. "Go easy, we're low," he said. Rain accepted it and took a conservative drink, then restoppered it and handed it back. Belatedly, he realized that Carten's armor had taken some serious damage. It looked like it had been bent back into shape after sustaining some massive impact.
Probably the fall…
"Thanks," he said, then cleared his throat. "Well, when I went over, I knew I was probably screwed. All of a sudden, things seemed to…slow down, I guess? I don't know if it was magic or just the regular old realization of my impending death. I had just enough time to use a skill point on Force Ward before I hit. I remember right up to the actual impact, then nothing. It feels like it just happened."
"Hah, I knew it!" Carten said, moving to slap Rain on the back, but stopping himself as Ameliah shot him a warning look. He nodded to her, then turned to grin at Jamus. "Pay up."
Jamus sighed and reached for his belt pouch.
"Wait, you guys bet on how I survived?" Rain said, incredulous.
Jamus passed a few Tel to Carten, then retied his pouch. "No. Well, yes, but that isn't what this is. We didn't put money on that one. No, this is just the bet we made earlier about what skill you'd take."
"Oh," Rain said. He shook his head.
Adventurers.
The light of Val's orb merged with Ameliah's as he reached them, and he beamed at Rain. "Rain! Welcome back to the land of the living!"
"Thanks, I guess," Rain scratched at his ear.
"So, Force Ward, huh? I only heard the tail end of that. I guess that means I won the bet, Jamus."
"Yes, yes. Good job," Jamus said, doffing his hat and running a hand through his wavy hair.
"What did you bet on, Jamus, if not Force Ward?" Rain asked.
"Oh, I thought Carten might have caught you or something. He wouldn't say, and I didn't think Force Ward would be strong enough to protect you."
"Yeah, me neither. I'm going to have to check the numbers on that. I think this Strength ring also had something to do with—huh, I guess it's had it." Rain looked at the blackened ring adorning his finger. To confirm, he pulled up his menus to check his current status.
Yup. No more health boost for me. Damn it.
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Attributes Richmond Rain Stroudwater Level 18 Experience: 22749/22750 Dynamo
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