Chapter 7

When the door closed after the White Sorceress, Koragg finally allowed himself to let out a pained groan. He didn't want to appear weak in front of her. Yes, his leg was hurting more and more each minute, but he could live with it. There was no need for any potions, especially these vile ones from the witch. She seemed to think that after an hour he would beg her for the elixirs. Ha! Koragg was a prideful warrior, not a grovelling underdog. There was no way he would ask her to give him these poisons!

The time seemed to be running slower and slower as the pain intensified. Soon Koragg's breath became shallow. He fought to think about something, anything else than the worsening pain, but to no avail. His entire world focused on the burning sensation in his thigh. He didn't even realize that he was clenching his fists. Now he wasn't even able to stop the moans from escaping his mouth.

For a moment the door handle seemed to rattle, but it could have been only his imagination. Everything was blurry in front of him anyway.

Just when he thought the pain couldn't get worse, it slammed into him with frightening force. A scream wrenched itself from his mouth, then another. Now Koragg was gasping for the air as if he was suffocating. Only one coherent thought was running through his head: 'Make it stop!'

Suddenly a voice sounded somewhere next to him. "You just have to ask. Nothing more. The pain will stop, I promise."

He wanted the agony to be gone, so he managed to rasp out between the gasps:

"Please..."

After a second (or was it an hour?) something cold touched his lips and he intuitively opened his mouth. A disgusting liquid slid down his throat and he almost choked on it, but managed to drink everything.

Slowly the agony started to fade into a dull ache. World around him came into focus once again. The first thing he noticed was the White Sorceress' grimly satisfied face, looking down at him.

To be truthful, Udonna didn't expect Koragg to give up so easily, but she must have underestimated the sheer force of the pain he was experiencing. His body was still trembling and he was breathing unevenly. That didn't stop him from speaking up.

"You've... come to... gloat, am I... right?"

Udonna sighed. 'He's impossible.' "No. As a matter of fact, I'm not feeling very victorious. It's disappointing that I had to go as far as to cause you so much pain."

Koragg seemed to be breathing more easily and his body finally stopped trembling. His next words shocked Udonna.

"I was mistaken about you. Now I can see you've been trying to help me." He seemed to hesitate for a moment, but finally forced out: "I... apologise."

The White Sorceress smiled. They were at last getting somewhere.

"Apology accepted. I'm glad you came to your senses."

He was silent for a moment as if thinking about something.

"Then what is the reason I'm so weak?"

Earlier Udonna has been wondering what Koragg had meant by accusing them of weakening him. It was natural to feel a bit weak after receiving such serious wounds, after all. Wasn't he aware of that? Now was the perfect moment to ask him.

"It's normal to feel weak in your condition. Don't you know that?"

"Of course I know! But usually it takes me no more than a few hours to heal. Now it's almost a day since I was attacked and nothing is happening! I don't feel any different! My shoulder is alright only because you healed it," Koragg said, despair slipping into his voice.

She's never thought she would see him in such a state. He sounded lost, as if he was asking someone to explain what was happening. Despite all the things he's done, Udonna felt sorry for him.

Suddenly a possible explanation presented itself to her. Could it be?

"Koragg, I need you to focus now. I have a few questions," she said determinedly.

When he nodded, she asked her first question: "Have you ever needed to eat?"

"Not until now," he answered.

"And what about sleeping? Was there a time when you felt tired?"

"I don't think so."

Her suspicion was proving to be true. Something has been sustaining Koragg before he came to Rootcore. But what could it possibly be? She looked at him, trying to understand.

"Maybe it's somehow connected to his armor?" Udonna spun around. She completely forgot that Clare was there.

"How so?" Udonna asked, not sure what did her apprentice have in mind.

"Well, do you remember what he said yesterday? He's never taken off his armor. Maybe there was a spell on it! And now that The Master has abandoned him, the spell is lifted."

Udonna could have slapped herself. Of course!

"Excellent thinking, Clare. I couldn't have put it better myself."

Her apprentice grinned, beaming with pride. Praises from Udonna were very rare, but it made them even more satisfying.

"Do you want to tell me that the state I'm in is how it should have been through all my life?" Koragg asked with disbelief.

Udonna almost laughed at the shock in his voice. "Yes. Believe it or not, but you're a human, Koragg, just like we are."

A human.

Koragg was a human.

His thoughts were in disarray and for a moment he was somewhere else – a garden filled with all sorts of flowers, herbs and other various plants. He looked down on his hands - or rather the little human he was holding. It was pinkish and not very pretty, but it caused a weird warmth in his chest.

As soon as the memory started, it vanished, leaving Koragg dumbfounded. What was that? And where did it come from?

"Koragg, are you alright?" the witch interrupted his thoughts.

He managed to nod slightly.

She spoke up again. "Now that we have sorted it out, I want to start healing your leg. The sooner I do it, the better for you."

The witch removed bandages from his thigh and tossed them aside. Then she waved her wand over his leg in a complicated motion and murmured something. He gasped as numbness started to spread over his limb. He felt absolutely nothing. He looked down to make sure his leg was still there.

"What is this? Why can't I feel anything?"

She didn't look at him when she answered. "Local anesthetic."

Local what?

'Doesn't matter.' He had more important things to think about. He ignored the activities going on around him and closed his eyes.

The memory was still fresh in his mind. The little human disturbed him. There was something about it that made him feel... good. He didn't know any other words to describe this feeling. The garden looked like someplace he should know very well, but he didn't. Now that he thought about the memory, he noticed something even more disturbing than the little human.

He wasn't wearing his armor.

He could actually see his hands without the gloves. They were strong and calloused, probably from intense training. He moved the fingers of his left hand. Did they look the same now? Yet again he found himself wishing the glove was removed. Even more – he wanted the entire armor to be gone. His curiosity was getting stronger. It was hard to imagine what could he look like. People were similar to each other – they had eyes, noses, mouths and ears, two arms and two legs. Even then they managed to look different. Were his eyes a greenish sort of blue like the Sorceress', or maybe brown like Solaris'? What about his hair? Maybe he didn't have hair? But no, he was sure he had hair.

There were just so many things to find out about himself. Koragg decided to ask the witch to remove his armor after she was done with his leg.

He cracked one eye open. The girl (wasn't her name Niella?) was reading aloud from a small book and the Sorceress was listening to her with her eyes narrowed in concentration. The words didn't make sense to him; it was some medical gibberish, but the witch seemed to understand. All in all, it wasn't worth his attention, so he closed his eye and went back to the mysterious memory.