Fog of Darkest Dreams
Ernest awoke slowly feeling a strange pain in his arms. As he tried to shift around he realised he wasn't lying on the ground anymore, he was hanging from his arms. Opening his eyes and raising his head he was horrified to see that he was in the middle of a goblin camp, rather than the sheltered spot that Cally had found for the night.
Struggle as he might he couldn't break free of the ropes binding his wrist together. Looking around for some way of escape he saw Cally's head atop a pike, and Phen's severed body lying on the ground. He had failed again. He'd let more friends die. The sight of a goblin moving towards him with a sharp knife was almost a relief as he wouldn't have to face his failure much longer.
Phen awoke slowly, surprised to find herself in a bed. The wooden ceiling of the room she was in seemed unfamilair. Hadn't she been sleeping in camp? Her memory seemed fuzzy and confused and it was hard to remember. Moving her arm to brush her hair from her face she realised she couldn't feel her hands. Bringing her right arm up she shocked to find her hand was no longer there, with bandages covering the stump where it had once been. Panic began to overtake her. Without her hands how could she perform magic. Without her hands what was the point of all of these years of study and effort. Even as her thoughts spiralled downwards she became aware of shouts coming from outside. The door to her room burst open and an unfamiliar man entered.
"Good you're awake. We need to get you out along with eveyone else."
"Wait, what's happening? What happened? Where are Cally and Ernest?"
"No time for detail. Your friends brought you in a few days ago, the town is under attack and they are helping. It's not going well so we need to get as many people out as we can."
Phen let herself be led away. Her magic was gone. Her friends were fighting and possibly dying, and she could do nothing. What use was she now.
Cally glanced up at the moon again. It had been a tedious watch but it was finally coming to an end. About time to wake up Ernest. It always took a while to get him up and moving for this watch but he was by far the best at making breakfast. Moving over to the sleeping forms of her comrades, Cally tried shaking Ernest awake. He didn't let out a sound. With the sinking feeling that this could take a while Cally tried shaking him harder, but still no response. Since he'd warned Ernest about what would happen if he didn't wake Cally felt no shame in dumping half a bucket of water over him. Still no response. Getting worried Cally checked Ernest's pulse. It was there, but unusually slow. Cally moved over to check on Phen and found her unresponsive as well. Quickly lighting a torch Cally was surprised to find the flame burning purple. He was sure the fog wasn't meant to reach this high. How could it have spread hp here? The only thing to do was get out of here. There was no way he could carry his friends out, and he couldn't wait. He was already tired and it might take days to get out of the area. If the fog could reach this high there were no safe spaces to rest. It was going to end up being a very long watch.
Phen awoke slowly, surprised to find herself in a bed. The wooden ceiling of the room she was in seemed unfamilair. Hadn't she been sleeping in camp? Her memory seemed fuzzy and confused and it was hard to remember. Moving her arm to brush her hair from her face she realised she couldn't feel her hands. Bringing her right arm up she shocked to find her hand was no longer there, with bandages covering the stump where it had once been. Panic began to overtake her. Without her hands how could she perform magic. Without her hands what was the point of all of these years of study and effort. Even as her thoughts spiralled downwards she became aware of shouts coming from outside. The door to her room burst open and an unfamiliar man entered.
"Good you're awake. We need to get you out along with eveyone else."
"Wait, what's happening? What happened? Where are Cally and Ernest?"
"No time for detail. Your friends brought you in a few days ago, the town is under attack and they are helping. It's not going well so we need to get as many people out as we can."
Phen let herself be led away. Her magic was gone. Her friends were fighting and possibly dying, and she could do nothing. What use was she now.
Cally glanced up at the moon again. It had been a tedious watch but it was finally coming to an end. About time to wake up Ernest. It always took a while to get him up and moving for this watch but he was by far the best at making breakfast. Moving over to the sleeping forms of her comrades, Cally tried shaking Ernest awake. He didn't let out a sound. With the sinking feeling that this could take a while Cally tried shaking him harder, but still no response. Since he'd warned Ernest about what would happen if he didn't wake Cally felt no shame in dumping half a bucket of water over him. Still no response. Getting worried Cally checked Ernest's pulse. It was there, but unusually slow. Cally moved over to check on Phen and found her unresponsive as well. Quickly lighting a torch Cally was surprised to find the flame burning purple. He was sure the fog wasn't meant to reach this high. How could it have spread hp here? The only thing to do was get out of here. There was no way he could carry his friends out, and he couldn't wait. He was already tired and it might take days to get out of the area. If the fog could reach this high there were no safe spaces to rest. It was going to end up being a very long watch.
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