Waking up came in stages for Saiya. Like surfacing from the depths of the ocean. Awareness came back to her first, floating in emptiness. She felt disconnected from her body. What was going on? Where was she? Then her senses slowly returned to her.
She felt the soft bedding, telling her they weren’t camped out in the woods again. The air smelled sanitized, with a hint of vender. Saiya then heard the soft steps and mutterings from somewhere off in the distance. They weren’t alone. It was that thought that pushed her to consciousness.
As she opened her eyes, a deep ache permeated her entire body. Letting out a groan, Saiya realized she must have overdone it. Her body felt like it had gone through a full day of Dolnti’s training. No, this felt even worse than that. What happened to her? Her eyes adjusted to see a rge room filled with beds covered in white sheets. Beside each bed was a small table with a vase filled with vender. The rest of the decor was simple and efficient. It looked like a healer’s room of some kind.
On either side of her, Zeltara and Kaztos y unconscious. They both wore bandages on their faces and arms. Saiya felt concerned seeing them hurt until it all started coming back to her. Riverfront, the attack, the pursuit, the ambush, and then the retreat to Ulyfall. They must have made it then. Saiya wanted to sit up and look around, but her body protested the exertion. Her efforts resulted in her falling back into the bed.
Still, she needed more information on the situation. Luckily, there were two people next to her who could have the answers. “Zeltara, Kaztos, wake up!” Her voice made both of them groan. Kaztos shifted around in bed, but Zeltara sleepily sat up. She turned to look at Saiya, and the two stared. After a moment, realization overtook Zeltara’s expression.
“Saiya! You’re okay! You had us worried when you passed out again. How are you feeling?” Saiya shifted around, trying to stretch her limbs. The ache was starting to lessen.
“I’m fine. Just a bit of soreness. What happened?” She remembered the st time this happened, and Saiya didn’t want to be left in the dark again. That had resulted in her being forcibly employed by a traveling caravan.
Zeltara smiled. “We don’t know much more than you. They rushed us over to the clinic, but Kaztos and I passed out shortly after. I know that they’re curious about where we came from, but they’re not hostile.” That was a relief, at least. They were already in hot enough water as it was.
Kaztos suddenly sat up, his eyes still heavy with sleep. “Could you two keep it down? I’m trying to rest.” His mind then seemed to catch up. He looked around. “Wait, where are we?”
“We’re in Ulyfall, remember?” Zeltara asked. The town’s name had Kaztos shoot to full awareness.
“Of course! They helped us with those thin men and then let us into their settlement. I remember heading towards the clinic, but can’t recall anything else.” About the same as Zeltara then. They must have colpsed once they realized it was safe.
Saiya looked around. They were the only ones in the room. The rest of the patient beds were empty, and no healers were overseeing them. A nearby window allowed the sun’s rays to brighten the room. Based on its positioning, Saiya guessed it was either the middle of the morning or the afternoon. But how long were they passed out for? Was it the next day or ter?
Zeltara seemed to have completed her own sweep of the room. “This is a nice clinic. The ck of filled beds is a good sign. Should we wait for someone to check in on us, or go looking for someone instead?”
“Can you hear anything outside the room?” Kaztos asked. Zeltara took a moment to listen before answering.
“I can hear people walking around. I’m guessing there are around a dozen workers. There are several conversations going on, so it’s hard to focus. But I’m not hearing anything malicious. Generally, it’s just small talk or asking about patients.”
Saiya turned her gaze to the door. “Are they asking about us?” Zeltara shrugged. “Then we should go look for someone. I doubt they would care much about us getting up.”
Kaztos let out a bark of ughter. “I’m surprised to hear you say that, seeing as you're a healer. In my experience, healers don’t like you leaving your bed unless they can check you out first.” Saiya accepted the point. She would probably be annoyed as well, but sitting here would accomplish nothing.
Before they could argue further on the matter, the door opened. A young woman with brown hair and white robes came in. She looked surprised to see them up. “Ah, you’re awake. I’m gd. We were getting worried about you three. You’ve been unconscious for the past day.” Interesting. Saiya would have guessed they’d be out for longer. It spoke highly of the healers here.
The healer approached them. “My name is Nas. I’m a healer for the Ulyfall clinic. Please allow me to check on your injuries.”
“Of course,” Kaztos said. Zeltara quickly echoed his agreement, while Saiya reluctantly accepted. She’d rather not have a stranger check her, but there was little choice here.
Nas started with Kaztos, looking under his bandages and humming. Despite nothing looking out of the ordinary, Saiya couldn’t help but feel nervous. What if something was wrong with one of them? Something that couldn’t be healed. Nas moved on to Saiya next.
She checked a bandage on her cheek. Saiya hadn’t even realized there was one there. Next, she looked at her wrist, which was tightly wrapped. She remembered one of the thin men grabbing her there sometime st night. It had ached after that. Finally, Nas put a hand on her forehead. She fidgeted uncomfortably under the contact.
Then Saiya felt a pull on her mana. It felt simir to using a spell, but none of her mana was taken. After a moment, the pulling stopped. Nas gave her a slight frown before moving on to Zeltara. What was that about?
As Nas looked over her, Zeltara asked, “So, what’s our prognosis? Should we be preparing our st will and testament?” The healer let out a huff of amusement.
“It’s nothing too serious. Just some bruises and a case of exhaustion. Considering the circumstances, you're lucky to just have that. It looked like you had been in danger of being badly burned.” She then turned to gre at Saiya. The blond girl almost flinched at the look. “However, you’re another matter entirely. You’re suffering from moderate mana exhaustion. Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?”
Kaztos said, “There’s no need to be upset. Saiya overdid it, but she’s here safe and sound. What’s the issue?” Saiya appreciated the help, but trying to talk down an angered healer like that is never going to work.
Based on Nas’ expression, Saiya hit the nail on the head. “Because from what I can tell, your friend is lucky she isn’t dead.” That stopped any mounting defense the three had. Saiya felt herself freeze in pce. She should be dead?
“What do you mean by that?” Zeltara asked, her tone defensive. Nas continued to stare down Saiya.
“It’s like I said. Your friend here is suffering from moderate mana exhaustion. However, when she was brought in, we noticed that what little she had left was strained. As if she attempted to use it, but was blocked from doing so. Now, we weren’t able to check out her medium. But that can only mean one thing. She had an emergency safety on it that triggered.”
Kaztos asked, “What’s an emergency safety?” It was something Saiya wanted to know herself. While she studied the applications of mana in her spare time, she didn’t go too deeply into mediums themselves. Saiya just knew that they were used to channel mana into predetermined spells. She didn’t think to look more into it before now.
Zeltara was the one who answered. “Lower level mediums contain what is called an emergency safety. They're a measure to prevent someone from draining themselves completely of mana. The medium is enchanted to detect a user’s mana and, if it’s too low, prevent the spell from being cast. If a medium doesn’t have one, then a person can accidentally kill themselves by overusing it.” A look of horror settled on her face. “Saiya, tell me you didn’t.”
All eyes turned to Saiya. She shifted uncomfortably under their gazes. “I didn’t realize that was a danger. Shouldn’t that be a feature in all mediums?”
“No, because the feature causes slower casting. A second or two dey can be all the difference in a battle. It’s removed from higher-level mediums as people owning those usually know better,” Nas said. “Was there a time you tried to cast, but your medium failed? Did you feel pain while that happened?” Saiya nodded.
“Yes, I tried to cast a spell, but it failed. It felt like my body seized up from pain.” Saiya didn’t want a repeat of that. Just remembering it was painful.
“Then the emergency safety likely saved your life.” Saiya felt herself swallow nervously. Had she really been that close to dying? “You need to be careful next time. Know what your limits are, and don’t go a step over them. Understand?” Nas gave her a stern look. Saiya wilted under it.
“I do. I’ll be more careful next time.” This was something that needed to be learned if she ever wanted to use higher-level mediums. A second or two dey in casting was unacceptable now that Saiya knew about it. She had thought all mediums took a few seconds to cast. This needed further study. “It was strange, though. I thought I had one or two more spells in me still.”
Nas nodded. “Good. And that’s normal. Mana exhaustion can sneak up on you like that. What you’re still feeling isn’t your remaining mana, but your life force. That’s what you’ll use if you run out of mana and cast another spell. Don’t use it! You can get very sick, fall into a coma, or die.” She sighed. “Your teacher should have told you this at least. Who is he? I’d like to give him a piece of my mind.”
“I don’t have one,” Saiya said, feeling embarrassed. Perhaps relying on self-study alone wasn’t the greatest idea. “I’m self-taught.” The admission seemed to calm Nas down a bit.
“That makes too much sense. Just try to find more reading material then. I know the Dominion tries to restrict it, but there are books out there for you to learn from.” Nas took a step back. “Now, I’m supposed to notify the commander when you three woke up. Please stay here while I get him. You should have recovered from your injuries. Nothing another day of rest can’t fix.”
Zeltara said, “Sounds good. Thank you for helping us.” Kaztos echoed the sentiment. Nas expression softened.
“It’s no problem. I’m just gd you're alright. Please take care of yourselves better.” Her eyes shifted to Saiya. “Especially you.” The blond girl nodded. Nas turned and left the room. She left the three to their own thoughts.
“I’m sorry,” Zeltara said. Saiya and Kaztos looked over at her. “I had all the warning signs that you were being pushed too far, but I ignored them. You could have died if it weren’t for that safety, because of me.” Tears sprang up in the half-elf’s eyes.
It took a bit of effort, but Saiya stood up from her bed. She went over and settled in next to Zeltara. “It’s fine. I should have known my own limits.” It wasn’t Zeltara’s responsibility that Saiya pushed the envelope too far. Zeltara hugged her. She settled her head on Saiya’s shoulder.
“I’m the leader. I need to understand your guys’ conditions when deciding a course of action. It was too risky for us to charge in like that. I should have listened to you.” Kaztos settled in on the other side of Zeltara.
“No, it was my fault. I forced us to go out there in a rush. I didn’t take our safety into enough consideration.” Nice of him to realize that now, but Saiya felt that holding it against him now would be in poor taste.
Instead, she said, “It’s not either of your faults. I didn’t realize how bad my condition was. And those kids needed help, like Kaztos said.” Saiya shook her head. “If anything, we got overconfident. It was obvious that we were walking into a trap.” Next time, they wouldn’t get surprised. They would go back and burn their little burrow to the ground. Saiya couldn’t wait to get a bit of payback.
“We had become too arrogant from our recent victories,” Kaztos said. “We’ll be better prepared next time.”
Zeltara let go of Saiya and stood up. “Exactly. But let’s focus on the present. We’re about to meet the commander of Ulyfall. That sounds like someone important. So let’s clean up and make sure we make a good first impression.”
The three quickly found their possessions underneath their beds. Their clothes were clean and nothing was missing. A good sign to show they were only guests in Ulyfall. Compared to Riverfront, it was a welcome change.
They spent the next few minutes making themselves more presentable. The white patient’s clothing they found themselves in was nice, but Saiya was ready to be properly dressed. Someone had cleaned them up while they slept, so they only needed to freshen themselves up.
“So what now?” Kaztos asked. Zeltara finished putting her gauntlet on.
“We meet this commander, get a feeling for Ulyfall, gather anything we can to help us, and then pn our payback.”
Saiya said, “I don’t feel up to another round with those monsters immediately. How about we take a step back?” Zeltara nodded.
“Don’t worry. We aren’t going to rush in again. But another attack needs to be done soon. Those people captured will have their lives depend on it.” She put a hand on Saiya’s shoulder. “It’ll be different this time. The people of Ulyfall seem nicer. I’m sure we can convince them to help us.” Good. It looked like Saiya wouldn’t have to beat their heads over this lesson again.
Kaztos said, “It sounds like a fine pn.” He then looked over to the door. “I wonder what is taking them so long?” Zeltara fiddled with her gauntlet.
“I assume this commander has better things to do than wait for us to wake up. He’s probably halfway across town at the moment.” Saiya wondered about that herself. How long were they expected to wait here? Could they just leave?
Their wait ended as the door opened. They turned, expecting to see Nas return with the commander. Instead, a young teen boy peeked in. He looked to be only a few years older than them, with dark blue hair. The boy had pale skin over a scrawny frame. His expression looked split between nervousness and awe. But none of that was his most striking feature. It was the pair of elf ears he sported.
Zeltara was the first to act. “Hello! I’m Zeltara. Who are you?” Her excitement at seeing another elf was clear in her voice. The elf boy hid further back behind the door.
“My name is Elyos. I’m an assistant here at the clinic.” His words came out in a barely discernible mumble. Zeltara and Kaztos gave him a kind smile.
“Greetings, Elyos. My name is Kaztos, and this is Saiya. We’re adventurers.” Elyos smiled at the introduction. It was strange. Despite being a little older than them, the elf boy felt young to Saiya.
Elyos’ eyes settled on Zeltara. “Are you really an adventurer?”
“I am. Did you want to hear more about it?” Zeltara kept a kind expression on her face. Kaztos gave her a strong pat on the back.
“She is indeed an adventurer! In fact, Zeltara here is our leader. A great one at that!” The praise made her blush.
The elf girl tried to wave it off. “Oh, it’s nothing too crazy.” She paused as Elyos took a few steps into the room. The sense of wonder never left his face.
“You really are an adventurer, just like people have been saying. Wow, I’ve never heard of an elf adventurer before. This is amazing!” Elyos seemed to almost jump in pce. “I wanted to be an adventurer too.”
Zeltara approached him. “Well, I was just the first. You could be one too if you work hard enough.” Unexpectedly, the elf boy shook his head.
“I’m too weak to be an adventurer. But I’m happy working here at the clinic. Even if I can’t use some of the popur remedies others use.” He grimaced. “Those require mana to use.”
“So, are you treated well here, Elyos?” Zeltara asked. He nodded.
“There’s some mean people around, but most people just ignore me.” A smile spread across his face. “But everyone at the clinic is really nice. They’re really patient with me.”
Zeltara said, “I’m gd to hear it.” Before the conversation can continue, both Zeltara’s and Elyos’ ears twitched.
The elf boy went back to the door. “It was nice to meet you three.” His gaze drifted to Zeltara. Saiya thought it was cute that he already had a favorite. Even if she were an obvious choice. “I hope I can see you again.” Before they could respond, Elyos left.
Kaztos ughed. “It looks like you have a fan, Zeltara! But I wonder what spooked him?” Zeltara gestured towards the door.
“Someone else is coming.” A few seconds ter, Nas returned. Following her was a tall man in his te forties. He wore steel-pted armor with a great sword on his back. There was gray streaked through his bck locks. His tanned skin was wrinkled, and he wore a stern expression on his face.
The man examined the three of them before gncing at Nas. “Is this them?” She nodded. He turned back to them. “Greetings. I am Alenos, commander of the Ulyfall Guard. Who are you?”
Saiya barely noticed Zeltara take a small breath before she stepped forward. She gave Alenos a confident smile before bowing. “I am Zeltara, leader of the adventuring team Outsiders. These are my teammates, Kaztos and Saiya.” Kaztos bowed, with Saiya following a second ter. The three stand straight. “We work for the New Horizons Expedition located in Mousafont City.”
“Mousafont, huh? That’s quite the ways,” Alenos said. “At least it used to be. I’m going to assume it’s a lot closer now.” Well, at least the commander seemed to be more on the ball than the officials in Riverfront.
“It’s only about a week’s walk to the southwest,” Zeltara replied. “We were dispatched to find other settlements in the area. We ran into Riverfront first.”
Alenos’ face twitched at the mention of the vilge. “Yes, Riverfront. I was wondering how they’ve been doing since we lost contact. They’re still doing alright?”
“They’ve still standing. We helped repel a thin men attack the night before we came here. Are you having problems with them as well?” Alenos scowled.
“Those pests? They’ve been an obstacle for some time now. They haven’t been able to breach our walls, but they’ve trapped us here for over a week now. No one can leave without being attacked. In fact, no one has come here in some time. Until you three arrived.” He leveled a gre at them. Saiya felt her heart rate quicken. “What’s your business in Ulyfall, Zeltara? It must be important to almost lose your lives to those thin men.”
Zeltara straightened her posture. She met Alenos’ challenging gaze. “We didn’t mean to come to Ulyfall this soon, but circumstances forced our hand. There had been an attack back in Riverfront. One we had helped in the defense then. A couple of vilgers had been kidnapped, so we tried to rescue them. Unfortunately, the thin men ambushed us and forced us to retreat north. We came here for refuge.”
Alenos nodded in thought. “I see. Good to know Riverfront is holding steady. I wanted to send help, but our hands are tied at the moment. There’s too many of them in those woods. We want to do something about them, but have been unable to.”
“What’s been holding you back?” Kaztos asked. “Riverfront will not hold out forever. Something needs to be done soon.”
Alenos answered. “We don’t know where they’re coming from. We’ve tried killing any we come across, but there always seems to be more of them. I can’t send scouting parties out because the forest is too dangerous. Most of them wouldn’t make it back.” Zeltara grinned.
“We could help you with that.” Alenos snapped his eyes onto Zeltara.
“You know where those monsters are coming from?” She nodded.
“We followed them back to their burrow. It’s almost a half days walk to the south. We could lead you right to it.” For the first time since arriving, a small smile graced Alenos’ face.
He seemed to consider them in a new light. “That’s just what we need. I’ve had a force on standby for some time now. They can be ready by tomorrow morning.” Nas gave the commander a nudge. “If you’re healthy enough to go, that is.”
“They should be ready by tomorrow. The blond one will have to be careful. She won’t be at a hundred percent by then.” That dampened Saiya’s mood. She wanted to redeem herself after what happened st time. Alenos gave the healer a nod before looking back at them.
Zeltara cut in before he could say anything. “We’re willing to help. Our pn was to recuperate here before preparing another attack. However, I think we need to talk to whoever your town’s leader is. It has to do with our main objective. The reason we’re out here in the first pce.”
“Well, you’re in luck. I am the current leader of Ulyfall,” Alenos stated. Saiya wasn’t the only one surprised. He didn’t look like the type to be a political leader for a town this size.
Kaztos said, “I thought you were the commander of the guard. That and the leadership position in a settlement are almost always mutually exclusive.” Alenos shifted in pce, almost nervously.
“You’d normally be right. A council of elders and elites usually leads Ulyfall.” Simir to Urada, then. Saiya knew her hometown was led by around a dozen people. “However, the commander can be temporarily put in charge when there’s an emergency. I will be the leader of Ulyfall for the next two months, or until the crisis has ended.”
“Interesting way to do things,” Zeltara said. “I assume the term is three months long, correct?” Alenos gave a nod. “Then I’ll have to make the appeal to you.”
Alenos crossed his arms. “And what appeal would that be?” He seemed curious. Better than the dismissive reaction Riverfront gave them.
“Like I mentioned earlier, we’re part of the New Horizon’s expedition. Our goal is to find lost settlements and have them send an ambassador to Mousafont. The hope is to foster new retions and trade. We are to help you stabilize whatever situation you’re in. In return, you make contact and form an alliance with Mousafont.”
“An interesting proposal,” Alenos said. He put a hand to his chin. A minute passed, and the commander considered the offer. “Ulyfall would benefit from such a retionship. We will need to trade for resources eventually. Unfortunately, I can’t agree.”
Zeltara looked surprised. “Why not? It’d be in your best interest.”
“I agree, but unfortunately, the decision is out of my hands,” Alenos said. “While I am the temporary leader of Ulyfall, my powers are not absolute. I am not a dictator. My authority only pertains to the immediate running and protection of Ulyfall.” He then gave them a small smile. “However, if you help with this, then I will put in a good word for you.”
That seemed to be enough for Zeltara, as she gave the commander a quick bow. “Thank you. We’ll be happy to show you the way.” She lightly punched the palm of her hand. “Besides, we’re looking to get some payback against those monsters.”
Alenos let out a chuckle. “I can tell you three are going to be a handful. Be ready to leave tomorrow morning. We’ll meet at the southern gate. Until then, you are welcome to explore Ulyfall. Stock up, get something to eat, or just rex. Ulyfall will be open to you.”
“We will. Thank you for all the help,” Zeltara said. Alenos headed over to the door. He opened it and paused.
“Of course. It’s the least we can do.” He exited the room, leaving them with Nas. The healer gave them one st look over before nodding.
“You look to be in good shape. Just remember to take it easy today.”
Kaztos said, “Thank you for healing us.” Nas waved off the gratitude.
“It’s no problem. I only ask that you don’t need to come back.” Nas headed to the exit as well. “When you’re ready to leave, go to the front desk and pay. It should only be five silver each.” They were left alone again.
Kaztos gave Zeltara a hard pat on the back. “Great job! You really took my advice to heart.”
“You think so?” Zeltara asked. “I tried to be confident and in control like you said. It was nerve-wracking.”
“I know it as a fact. That’s how a leader should negotiate.” It was amusing for Saiya to watch Zeltara’s face match the color of her hair.
She decided to intervene. “Cool it there, Kaztos. If you give her any more compliments, she’ll die of embarrassment.” And where would that leave them if that happened? Saiya turned to Zeltara. “What should we do now?”
The half-elf recomposed herself. “Well, let’s go pay first. Then we can figure it out from there.” Not seeing the harm, Saiya agreed. Kaztos was quick to voice his agreement as well.
Exiting their room, Saiya observed the rge hallway they were in. There were a total of fourteen rooms, seven on each side. Most doors were open, revealing empty rooms. It seemed that the clinic wasn’t busy at the moment. A few healers gnced at them as they walked by, but didn’t say anything. Elyos wasn’t anywhere to be seen, but Saiya only passively acknowledged this. The elf boy was almost out of her mind already.
They walked down the hall and entered a waiting area. Again, the pce was mostly empty. The healer manning the front desk gave them only a passing gnce as they paid. Her attention seemed to be focused on the paperwork she was doing.
The te morning sun felt nice as they exited the clinic. Foot traffic was light at the moment, with no sense of rush. The passing people gave them little interest, outside of a few curious looks. Saiya stretched, the movement removing the st of her soreness. Zeltara followed suit as Kaztos just cracked his knuckles.
Their leader turned to them. “Alright, what should we do to prepare for tomorrow?” Saiya was the first to answer.
“We need to top up on supplies. We’re almost down to half of what we started with.” Hunting hadn’t been too fruitful for them, so they’ve barely been able to save road rations.
Kaztos said, “We should check to see if we can get any equipment for cheap. The st battle showed we are still under-prepared.” Zeltara adopted a pensive look on her face.
“I don’t know. That sounds rather expensive. And what should we get anyway?” Kaztos shrugged.
“New weapons, maybe some armor pieces. Looking at us now, we’re rather light on protection. You two don’t even wear armor.” It was a fact that Saiya steadily realized. Her cloak did little in the way of protection.
Zeltara crossed her arms. “Well, sorry! I didn’t expect to be thrown across the world. We didn’t exactly have a chance to prepare.” She sighed. “Though you’re right. We really need something to better protect ourselves. I mean, Saiya and I are just wearing commoner’s clothing. No wonder people don’t take us seriously.”
“Exactly!” Kaztos excimed. “If not armor, then at least some more durable clothes for now. Just look at the difference in the condition of our clothing.” Now that Kaztos mentioned it, Zeltara and Saiya’s clothes didn’t look to be in good shape. Outside of the wear and tear of travel, their clothes were still singed from the panicked fire spell Saiya had cast.
Meanwhile, Kaztos’ clothing looked in much better shape. It had its scuffs but looked pristine compared to their clothes. Saiya suddenly felt a bit self-conscious about it.
She said, “You've made your point. Zeltara and I can go and get some new clothes.” Thankfully, the people of Ulyfall didn’t seem to have any strange styles. The only difference is that they seemed to wear darker colors than people in Ulyfall. Something that would be to their benefit if they had to sneak around.
“Great! I’ll make sure to look around the market myself,” Kaztos said. “Now, let’s get a move on!” Before he could take a step, his stomach growled.
Saiya snickered at the sound before her own stomach betrayed her. She pouted at the smug look Kaztos shot her way. Zeltara’s stomach joined a second ter. The three started to ugh. Saiya felt her lingering anxiety drift away.
As their ughter died down, Zeltara said, “How about we go get something to eat? We’re all feeling hungry right now.” Kaztos and Saiya both agreed. They started looking for somewhere to order food.
So far, Ulyfall seemed much more welcoming to them. It made her happy, as Zeltara was able to redeem herself by successfully negotiating with Alenos. That could have been held over her head much longer than just a few days.
Now, they had an easy day to rex before rejoining the fray. Saiya wouldn’t say that she was excited about that. This would normally be a situation she would want to avoid. But this felt personal now. Something she hadn’t felt often before. Saiya knew one thing though. They would get their payback.
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