*Cough* *Cough* *Cough*
I wasn't in that cave anymore, but back near the mountain, where Elise, her horse, and I, fell.
I felt my neck. Being suffocated and drowning underwater felt all too real, and I even left my boots in that cave, but I didn't feel wet after being under the water.
Ugh…my head. What was that dream? Or if it wasn't, where was the cave that I came from-
Elise. She must still be here if she wasn't in that cave.
I stood up and dusted myself off. I didn't feel poisoned, so that's a good thing.
"Elise!" My voice was back to normal.
*whinny…*
That was her horse neighing in the direction of my left ear. And there she was, along with Elise. I went over to Elise and pulled her away from her horse.
"Elise. Elise, please get up."
I shook her. She grabbed my hands to stop me, and slowly opened her eyes.
I hugged her. "Thank the gods. I thought you were dead."
"…Dead? Where are we? Where's my horse?"
I looked at her and shook her head.
"What? Where is she?"
"Elise, don't stand up too quickly-"
She started looking around for her horse, found it.
"No! Adira-AH!"
"I got you…I got you."
"Get me over there! Quick!"
It's as I feared-the weight of her horse may have sprained Elise's leg. With me as a crutch, she hobbled over to her horse. As soon as she got close, she let go and started crawling to her horse.
"It's okay Didi." She started looking through her horse's pack and pulled out her stave. "You'll be fine. Just…hang in there."
*whinny…*
A healing light enveloped her hands and staff as she tried to heal her horse. It wasn't looking any better.
"Come on…please work-please get better!"
I placed a hand on her shoulder. "Elise. It's no good."
She shrugged my hand off. "No! She's still breathing! I can still try to save her! Just let me try!" She continued trying to heal her horse, but it still wasn't doing any good.
"We have to go, Elise. It's dangerous to stay here, what with those monsters out here."
She shook her head and continued trying to heal.
No good. I went in front of her and hand both my hands on her shoulders. "We have to go. Now."
"…Alright."
Her healing magic stopped. I carried her, moved her away from the horse, and set her down to a tree.
"I'm sorry, Elise. But we can't stay here."
I went back and started pulling items from her horse. It was getting darker, more difficult to see what items I could get from the horse. In the end, I grabbed the bag and placed them on my person. I would have to look through them while carrying Elise as we try to catch up with Xander and the rest.
"Come on, Elise. I'll hold you."
One hand over the other one's shoulder. Elise would be on my right side to help with her leg.
Strangely, the only way out of this forest was a path wide enough for both of us to go through. Not even the trees were blocking it. A way to get back, maybe.
|AN:|
Happy Thanksgiving (at the time of this publication)! As of yesterday, my presentation is completed! And with that, I only have three more assignments left. Once that's done, I officially get my graduate degree, and I can focus at least an hour into this work.
-CoatShirtTie