Chapter 31
November 4th, 2021
Zechariah slowly opened his eyes, his senses returning to him in a slow, agonizing surge. Head to foot, he hurt. His body ached through and through, his throat was dry and he felt completely exhausted and drained. It was dark, the room he was in lit by only a few candles that burned quietly upon bedside tables here and though. Glancing around, he saw that he was not in the room in which he had fought the demon, but rather what appeared to be a medical room. Zechariah tired to sit up, and had to do so slowly as he clutched his head. As the blankets fell away he saw he was well wrapped in bandages across his naked body. To his right, he noted another form lying in a bed, watching him quietly.
"Gerb!" Zechariah exclaimed before coughing violently. Gerb gestured to his bedside table, where Zechariah found a mug of water, and he quickly drained it. Getting control of his coughing for the time being, he looked back to Gerb who simply laid there quietly. "Gerb, what happened. What time is it?"
Gerb released a deep sigh, and Zechariah noted a deep set weariness upon his brow, a heavy burden upon his shoulders. Gerb wrapped one arm up and tucked it beneath his head, propping himself up. "You been out for three days. As for what happened, I'm afraid I can't rightly say. Either no one really knows, or no one has deemed me important enough to tell."
"Lelia. Is Lelia okay?" Zechariah asked, turning his head to follow Gerb's gesture. There, on the other side of the room was a curtained off area. Zechariah tensed as he tried to swing his legs out, hissing in pain as he flexed bruised muscles and some fractured bones.
"Lay the fuck down you Ghalb turd. She's unconscious." Gerb said through a deep frown. Zechariah grumbled in dissatisfaction as he complied and laid back down.
"How are you doing? You look more awake, and healthy." Zechariah said as he noted Gerb's complexion was more healthy than when he had first visited.
" Yeah, never felt so light in my life." Gerb said darkly.
"Wh- Oh." Zechariah stumbled, realizing what Gerb meant. "I'm sorry Gerb."
Gerb shrugged, but Zechariah could see that light, was not how he felt. "What about you?"
"I'll live. Hurts like a bitch but, nothing feels too...wrong. I guess that's good."
"Least you're all still there." Gerb muttered. "What in Korvic's name happened?"
Zechariah felt a shiver run down his spine as he recalled the mind walk, and the consequent battle. "I...I'm not entirely sure. I fought some demons, but how or even why, I have no idea."
"I don't think most people fight their demons in such a literal sense Zech." Gerb said sarcastically.
Zechariah coughed a short laugh. "Me neither. Wasn't my first choice."
"How did you win?"
Zechariah looked back up at the concealed bed, his brow furrowed in concern. "I don't know." He said slowly, thinking back on the events. He suddenly reached down and began to unbind his hand. Gerb, as quiet as he always was, propped himself up further, intrigued in Zechariah's suddenly desperate movements. Once the knot was undone, Zechariah tugged at the bandages and pulled them off, unraveling his arm to show his normal, twisted and clawed hand. However, the veins on his arm seemed to bulge unnaturally, giving off a faint luminescence and as he pried open his fingers, he could see that the rune on his palm hummed gently with a faint iridescence.
"If I had to lose a leg, I'm pretty sure it's only fair you lose that arm." Gerb said laughing bitterly as he laid back. "That shit's infected for if I've ever seen anything."
Zechariah's lips tugged into a wry smile at the dark humor, feeling it fade just as quickly as he considered the implications. It did look infected. "Are there such things as magical infections?" Zechariah asked, feeling completely out of his depth and lost.
"How the hell would I know? Aside from the occasional magically inclined physician, hedge witch or witch doctor, I've never seen magic. And even then, usually just poofs of light and nonsensical mumbo jumbo spoken over a poultice. Nothing like that." Gerb said gesturing to his faintly glowing arm.
"I have no idea what I'm doing Gerb. I don't know anything about magic, and now here I am, mind walking and fighting with shadows. What the hell am I supposed to actually do?" Zechariah pleaded, running his healthy though bandaged arm through his hair.
"You mean if she does or doesn't wake up?" Gerb asked.
"Both."
Gerb shrugged again. "That's up to you. Your life, your decisions."
"I wish it was that easy. If it was truly my decision...Well..." Zechariah trailed off, eyes growing distant.
Gerb grunted and threw a pillow at him. Zechariah started, shocked as the pillow smacked him fully in the face.
"W-what was that for?" Zechariah asked chucking the pillow back at him. Gerb caught it and deftly tucked it back under his head.
"Looked like you needed a smack up the head." Gerb said shrugging before snuggling back into the pillow and closing his eyes. "Not my fault you're an idiot."
"You know, your help can be really fucking useless sometimes."
"What can I say?" Gerb asked innocently. "Cripples just get in the way. It's what we do." Zechariah didn't reply, instead staring over at the hidden bed. Not hearing any retort, Gerb snuck a glance through barely parted lids, before rolling his eyes. "By the divines Zechariah, you're pathetic sometimes you know that?"
"Excuse me?" Zechariah asked incredulously turning back to face Gerb.
"I could kick your ass from here to Hryan with just one leg, and I've almost a mind to cause you're so insistent on not doing anything for yourself!"
"Th-there's...just a lot to consider." Zechariah muttered lamely as he flushed in embarrassment.
"Yeah, there is. Guess what? That's just life shit head. So why don't you take your thumb out of your ass, and start doing something. Pick the most important thing to you, figure out how to fix it, and then make it happen. That's it. That's all there is to it."
"It's not that simple." Zechariah countered but before he could say more Gerb snapped at him again.
"Yes it fucking is. It's not easy. I'm not saying that. But it is simple. What do you want?" Gerb asked, clearly emphasizing each word.
"I...I want to learn...magic..." Zechariah said looking away. It felt weird to say, it felt like it didn't belong to him, or that he didn't deserve it, but that was what he wanted.
"Why?" Asked Gerb.
"So that I can finally be in control of my life. No strength of arm or character is going to defeat these demons. I don't know what happened, but it's clear that I need to learn magic to take control of my life."
"Good!" Exclaimed Gerb. "Now how do you do that?"
"Uthar. Lelia needs to take me to Uthar to teach me." Zechariah said.
"No!" Gerb said hurling his pillow again at Zechariah. Zechariah caught it this time, and tossed it back gently.
"No?" Zechariah asked confused.
"That's giving Lelia control of your life. What if she decides it's not best? Or if she doesn't ever wake up? Take. Control." Gerb emphasized again. Zechariah sad sullenly for a moment, before taking deep breath, and letting out a heavy sigh.
"This..." He said holding up his left arm. "This is my curse. But I now know that the runes are...something different. If Lelia can't teach me, I'm pretty sure any mage would be willing to trade knowledge for a chance to study my hand. I can use this is my bartering tool."
"That's it." Gerb said nodding. "And how do you get to Uthar if Lelia doesn't make it?"
"I create and sell wooden jewelry. I can work as a craftsman, fixing things on farms as I journey."
"Perfect!" Gerb exclaimed. "See, there. You have the strength Zech. You have the means, the tools, the smarts. You just need to see it for yourself. Stop letting other people make decisions for you, and start finally taking control of your life."
Zechariah nodded, shifting in his bed, and painfully bringing his legs over the side of his bed.
"Zech, lay down. We don't know if you're fit to walk yet." Gerb cautioned. But Zechariah just snorted.
"Fuck you. I'm taking control." He said as he stood, crying out painfully as his legs burned and ached and cramped.
"I didn't say be a fucking dumbass!" Gerb exclaimed reaching over to take up his crutch that was propped up by his bed, and hurling it at Zechariah. Zechariah caught it, and tucked it under his shoulder, leaning upon it.
"Thanks Gerb." Zechariah said limping over to him. "Seriously. You've been...a better friend than...well...anyone." Zechariah clasped his hand warmly.
"Yeah, the pussy is still in you I see." Gerb grumbled as he shook Zechariah's hand. "Now get outta here. I don't care if you start hiking to Uthar tonight or not, but I'm going to sleep."
"You do that." Zechariah said turning away. "I'll be sleeping shortly myself. I just need to check on Lelia first."
Gerb grunted his assent, and rolled over, hissing through his teeth as his still newly severed stump throbbed painfully before he was able to really get comfortable and tuck himself into the blankets. Zechariah's hobble gave the silent room steady percussion as he made his way over to Lelia's bed. Pulling back the curtains he saw her laying there with a ghastly composure upon her skin. Pale, and sweaty, Zechariah reached out a hand and rested it upon her forehead. It was cold and damp and he noted, oddly, somewhat sharp. Like prickly. He inspected her brow more closely, and found that there small sharp crystals across her skin, and that those at the edges of her eyes seemed to have grown in a fair portion. Not sure what the cause of such an ailment was, he turned his attention to her other wounds, and lifted the edge of the blanket to inspect her foot, and found it tightly bound. Pulling the top of the bandage down a bit, he cringed as his stomach lurched. Had he food in his belly, he might have lost it, as he witnessed the results of having skin magically peeled back, muscle beneath badly burned. It looked...horrible. Returning the blanket, he lifted the other end hoping that it wasn't as badly harmed as her foot...but he froze as he lifted the blanket. She to, just as he was, was naked save for the bandages. He stood there, frozen for a moment, a mixture of feelings rushing through him. Shame, embarrassment, confusion, lust, and as he stared, he felt himself throb gently.
"Fucking pervert." Gerb said with his back still turned. Zechariah jumped nearly out of his skin, and flushed hot as he dropped the blanket and tucked it back in place. He covered his erection and averted his eyes as he hobbled back to his bed. "I just wanted to make sure she was okay." He grumbled and thanked the gods blessedly, as Gerb did not roll over again. Seating himself on the bed, he returned his body to the warmth of the blankets and tucked himself back in under his blankets. He laid down sighing as his body thanked him for the relief, and ran his hand over his eyes.
The chaos of the his last memories were burned into his vision. As he recalled the events, the horror, the pain and the dread, tears came unbidden to Zechariah's eyes. Through deep breaths, he cried quietly as his rushed to make sense of what had happened. The last thing he remembered was the burning of his hand, and the sudden rush of power. He needed to know more about his hand. Somehow, it had saved the day. But he couldn't rely on it, and a tool you couldn't rely on, was a tool that was thrown away. It was useless if it wasn't reliable. He knew he would find out eventually, but he dearly hoped that Lelia would make a full recovery. He...well...he didn't need her...but he wanted her anyway.
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