Hello!
So in this chapter things are going to start picking up, I'm looking forward to hearing thoughts:)
NOTE: I messed up and accidentally omitted an early chapter when I was originally posting the story. The chapter is a fun one, conflict is always amusing:D Look for the chapter entitled Exploration!
I hope you enjoy!
Sickness
Mel gave a groan as the dim red lighting filtered in through her curtains, the light forcing her further into wakefulness.
Opening her burning eyes she stared blearily at her roof before attempting to roll over. The moment she started to move her currently achy body protested in the worst way and she quit, instead remaining on her back.
She had been feeling unwell for the past couple of days, massive headache, body aching constantly, dry throat, burning eyes, moments of lightheadedness and dizziness. To put it simply Mel felt like crap that had been run over repeatedly by orcs in a wagon filled with rocks.
After several attempts to swallow with her bone dry throat not cooperating Mel recognized that she needed to get up and get some water.
So with a whimper of pain she forced herself into a sitting position and once she had carefully swung her feet over the side of her bed she stood and shuffled into her kitchen, hand bracing on the walls as she walked.
She retrieved a cup and poured herself some water, drinking it with a relieved sigh before taking a seat at her kitchen table to try and recall what she needed to do today.
Cleaning of the house and shopping. She was completely out of food.
"Aw man." She whined softly, the very idea of getting changed and going out was a nightmare.
But there wasn't exactly anyone else that could do it for her, so Mel stood to her feet with a wince and resigned herself to the torture of getting dressed.
Her day was sucking royally already and she hadn't even been up a half hour.
"Good morning!"
"..."
Mel ignored the disgustingly pleasant woman and forced herself to continue walking into the market square, extremely thankful that she didn't have to go into the upper levels of Sheian Lyr.
Upon going through the archway that led into the market square and entering the square she was assaulted with a wall of voices and squeaky wheels and just about anything else that could possibly make her headache worse.
"Ah...ow..."
Blinking suddenly blurry eyes and forcing them to clear she started her careful walk across the market to the one store that would have her food necessaries. She needed to get her things and leave before she passed out.
I can do this, Mel told herself.
Encouraged slightly by that thought she managed to get halfway across the square without problem.
"MEL!"
Mel let out a soundless cry of pain at the piercing shriek, one hand flying up to her temple as her headache kicked the pain up a few notches.
"Oh goddess..."
"I can't believe we were able to run into you again!" Kandy cheered with a giggle, reaching out towards Mel.
She threw a hand up to stop the pinkettes advance as she fought the wave of pain.
"Stop." She snapped, her voice coming out thin and breathy.
Kandy got a look of aggravation on her face, opening her mouth to respond before appearing to take in Mel's rumpled clothes and unusually pasty colouring.
"Hey, are you alright?"
"I-..."
Mel cut herself off as her world began to tilt and she grasped for something to steady her. She managed to latch onto a wooden post and she closed her eyes for a moment with a shaking breath before reopening them.
"I'm fine...I just need to be left alone." She whispered.
"You are NOT fine!" Kandy snapped in a shrill tone that made Mel flinch.
She felt the girls gathering around her and suddenly she found herself being bombarded with questions about her wellbeing.
"Stop..." Mel said weakly as her world began to spin once more and she lost her grip on the basket she had been holding to carry her purchases. It fell to the ground with a soft thump and dust pervaded the air, causing Mel to cough sharply as she sagged heavily against the pole.
Distantly she heard a sharp voice call out something loudly but she was unable to process until the mystery person came closer and spoke again, this time in a more demanding way.
"I said back away from her! Give her some space!"
Slowly the slightly blurred forms of the girls backed away until she could no longer feel them crowding in but even with the space given Mel felt her vision pinpoint and her already aching limbs begin to shake.
"Lamb? What- woah!"
Against her will Mel's knees gave out from under her and her oh so heavy eyes closed, Mel collapsing as the nothingness overtook her.
Gyendal had seen that something was wrong with Mel from the moment he saw her from across the market. Her magic aura was pulsing faintly which was certainly not normal, and paired with her extremely pasty skin and her struggle to walk and it was so very obvious that she was ill.
"Well that's smart, dragging yourself into a busy market when you look like your on deaths doorstep." He muttered irritably under his breath, striding across the market towards her.
"MEL!"
His head jerked slightly and he stared as the pink haired little brat took off across the market towards Mel with her little posse behind her. He saw Mel's reaction and her falling against a post for support before the girls descended upon Mel.
"Oh for-...Get away from her! Are you trying to make her worse?!"
When no one turned to face him his eyes narrowed and he raised his voice.
"I said back away from her! Give her some space!" He snarled, causing the girls to flinch before speedily backing away.
Gyendal shoved his way through the girls before reaching the Darkthrop whelps side, peering down into her chalky face.
"Lamb what- woah!"
He was cut off by Mel's eyes fluttering before her legs buckled and her whole body fell sideways into him as her eyes shut.
He managed to catch her just in time, stopping her from hitting the ground with moments to spare.
"Mel?!"
The dark haired girl gave no response and he swore under his breath before shifting her against him and scooping her into his arms, looking over a the startled girls who were staring at him and Mel in shock.
"Hey pink hair! Do you have a doctor or healer around here somewhere?"
The girl fumbled for words before nodding.
"The apothecarist."
"Well then don't just stand there gaping, go get him!" He barked, causing the girl to nod, turn and take off towards the stairs that let above to the upper part of the city.
Gyendal ignored the rest of the girls, shifting his grip on Mel slightly before hurrying out of the market and onto the street leading words their little residence.
Mel gave a pained whine as her body was jostled and he glanced down to see that she wasn't awake, simply reacting to the pain.
"Stupid girl." He hissed, feeling a slight bit of concern well up at the sight of her pathetic form.
He made it to their street in no time before hurrying up to his house and barking a counter spell at his door so that it would let him in before heading into his hut and hurrying to the bed, laying Mel down on top of the covers before waiting on the step for the apothecarist.
He heard voices approaching and moments later pink hair rounded the corner with a tall man next to her.
"Are you the apothecarist?" He called.
The man nodded.
"Kandy said that you needed me for a young woman that passed out?"
Gyendal stepped inside his house once more and walked back towards the bedroom, the apothecarist behind him.
"She appears rather ill."
He led the apothecarist into his room and stepped aside as the tall man looked over at Mel before making a startled noise and hurrying to her side.
"She's extremely ill! Why didn't someone send for me sooner?!"
"No one knew that she was ill until today. She's not exactly social."
The apothecarist nodded before leaning over her and lifting a glowing hand to settle it on her forehead.
"What are you doing?"
"Seeing what ails her. I come from a line of healers but I'm not strong enough to actually heal with magic, simply strong enough to read what's wrong and use my concoctions to fix it."
Gyendal was silent as the man read Mel before sitting up with a sigh.
"So I was correct in my assumption."
"What assumption?"
The apothecarist stood to his feet and reached down to pick up a black bag that sat at his feet.
"I knew she was new to Sheian Lyr and after hearing from Kandy what had happened in the moments up to her passing out I figured that her sickness opus not from a contagious disease. So I brought the proper mediation for her to be given."
The man then opened his bag and pulled out two larger jars with a strange glowing blue liquid in it before setting it on Gyendal's side table.
"What is wrong with her then?"
"Here in the demon realm our time is significantly slower then up in Aia. It's much slower, so for example if someone were to land here when they were thirteen and age to fifteen before going back to Aia over twenty years might have passed. With the darastic difference with how time moves in the different realms is actually causing her system to go into a series of shut downs, which is common when a human crosses int our realm. It's a shock on her system, enough of one that any normal human would have died within hours by this stage. But she has been realm touched, which means that she cannot die from this. The actual atmosphere of the realm cannot kill her."
Gyendal raised his brow at hearing that before signing heavily and rubbing his forehead.
"So in other words, I need to feed her medicine and take care of her until she can function again?"
The apothecarist nodded and closed his bag.
"One spoonful every four hours."
He groaned.
"Of course. Very well, I suppose there's not much I can do about it. Thank you for your time."
The apothecarist nodded before seeing himself out. The moment the door closed behind the man Gyendal muttered a spell to lock the door before staring down at Mel for a moment.
"Every four hours hmm?" He murmured before turning to his bedside table where the medicine sat, eying one of the bottles and a spoon that he hadn't noticed the apothecarist leave.
He released yet another heavy sigh before moving over to lean over his bed and move Mel into a sitting position before grabbing the spoon and medicine, pouring some of the blue liquid onto the spoon and then turning back to Mel.
Gripping her chin he opened her mouth before unceremoniously dumping in the medicine, forcibly holding her mouth shut and then massaging her throat to force her to swallow.
"You owe me." He muttered with a dark look at the girl before pulling her shoes off and maneuvering her under the covers.
"Looks like I'm sleeping on the floor today. Goddess, I hate this place more every single day that passes."
Pain.
Lots and lots of pain.
Mel turned her head and a strangled cry escaped her lips as her head began to pound and her whole body felt like someone was shoving burning rods under her skin.
She tried to open her eyes but it burned so bad and all she could see was blurry light. The sheets and the covers that surrounded her were not hers, they carried a cold and almost spicy scent that she recognized but could not place.
A sudden fear gripped her as she realized that she had no clue where she was and she struggled to sit up, fighting against the pain that wracked her body.
"Mel! What are you doing?!" A sharp male voice barked, causing Mel to flinch back and renew her efforts to sit up.
Her progress was halted as large hands gripped her shoulders and gently forced her back onto the bed as she struggled against the pain and the mystery person.
"Hey, easy. I'm not going to hurt you! Your sick, you need to lay back and rest."
The voice had lost the sharp edge, although it held no gentleness or kindness. It was simply soft and soothing as it lulled her. Her hand reaching up to grip the persons arm, searching for some measure of comfort as she fell back asleep.
Gyendal watched as Mel's wide and confused blue eyes became misty once more before closing softly. The hand that had come up to grip his wrist slackening before slipping off him to land back on the bed.
Slowly he released her and straighten back to full height, gazing down at Mel silently as her pain tensed face relaxed and smoothed, a soft sigh escaping her lips as she turned her face to bury it in the pillow her head rested on.
"Spook..."
Gyendal twitched at the mention of that name before he stepped back and left the room, stopping just outside and leaning against the wall as he rubbed his face tiredly.
"You are starting to become quite troublesome. Living here is going to be hard enough as it is without you reminding me of all of those...foolish thoughts from when I masqueraded as Spook."
So what did you think? Reviews are welcome! Flames shall be laughed at, posted for others to laugh at, and ignored as I continue the story.
