The Painter's Tale
By: Mike Thomas
CH.1 Alone
The dark fog began to lift from her mind allowing the pain to register. Her body was filled with bruises and covered in dried blood, but it was a broken leg that got her immediate attention. All looked normal until just below the kneecap where her right leg bent outward at an unnatural angle. Waves of heat traveled up her body, leaving her in a cold sweat, as the world seemed to tilt and spin in her vision.
Relm closed her eyes to block the sight of her twisted leg and the ensuing nausea. In a few moments, her slow, deep breathing began to have its calming effect. Her emotions quickly switched from panic to hopelessness as the tears began to flow freely from her closed eyes. "Grandpa," she sobbed. "Where are you? Don't leave me all alone."
Relm allowed herself to drift in the flood of emotions that were raging within her, and through her need, began to draw upon power that she had never known she possessed. Her exposure to magicite had awakened the blood of the warrior magi that flowed in her veins. That spark of magic was now being fanned into a roaring fire.
The surge of power brought a calming peace with it. Relm opened her eyes and began to chant the cure spell she had learned only yesterday. As she finished the chant and released the power that she had focused into herself, her leg began to straighten. She stifled a scream as the bones grated across each other and snapped back into place. "Oh, dear goddesses!" she panted. "That was a CURE spell! I thought it would at least feel good."
She sucked her lower lip between her teeth and held her breath, waiting to see if any more pain would accompany her healing. After a short wait, she released her breath and lay back on the ground, allowing her leg more time to finish knitting back together.
Alone for the first time in her life, Relm began to think back on the events that brought her to this place. She remembered the attack on the Floating Continent. She remembered staying onboard the ship with Setzer and using some magicite he had given her to practice with. But, something bad had happened while the team was away on the continent, and they had barely gotten back on the airship before the real nightmare had begun.
As the continent came apart, Setzer gunned the airship. It looked like they were going to make it, but then she remembered him screaming "HOLD ON" right before the concussion hit. In the mayhem that followed, it had been Locke who had the presence of mind to start casting the float spells. She knew he had managed to cast at least four of them before she was violently thrown from the deck of the ship. The float spell must have slowed her decent to the earth since she was still alive, but she was also the lightest member of the crew. Looking at her surroundings for signs of the others, she silently prayed that they had made it to ground at least as safely as she did. Unfortunately, the only sight she was greeted with was a small trail of debris heading west toward the setting sun.
A distant roar shook Relm from her thoughts. Her predicament sunk in further as she realized that she was solely responsible for her own protection. She would have to kill any monsters that she came across or risk being killed herself. Scared to move but too scared to stay still, she began traveling westward, keeping the southern coast to her left side.