Diamond in the Rough
I hope you've been enjoying the story so far sorry it's been a very long time since I actually updated this story I just had a bit of block in this universe but I had a slight bit of a brain wave but it doesn't always seem to work for me hopefully this time it has this time but anyway I hope you enjoy the chapter, enjoy.
The sound of running water faintly came invaded the black silence followed by a bright light, her eyes opened to the sight of a woman with a painted pure white face and a red stripe painted down from her upper lip, she had dark brown eyes surrounded with light blue sclera. She had a look of complete concentration on as she continued to clean her wounds with an orange cloth stained by iodine.
"Where am I?" Panacea asked the woman as she continued to clean away at the sewn up stomach, she didn't respond to Panacea's question, "Hey can you hear me?" Panacea asked again not getting a response. Only this time she heard a clanging noise from behind where she was laid like cutlery hitting a stone floor, followed by stomping footsteps.
She laid waiting for a few seconds before her hand was grabbed and held comfortingly in place by her side, she turned her head to look at who had her hand clenched, she was met by a smile and shaggy brown hair of Ortz who looked down at her with an ear to ear grin, he had started to grow his beard, his bristles added several years to his face but that could have also been the dust engrained in his wrinkles.
"Hey," he said to her quietly as she gripped his hand tightly and then looked over to the woman who was nursing Panacea, "Please leave us," Ortz said to the woman calmly.
"Hakuna tatizo, piga tu kama una matatizo," the woman replied, as she placed the cloth in the bowl of iodine water next to Panacea, bowed and then left the two of them shutting the huge wooden doors behind herself as she left.
"What did she say to you?" Panacea asked worriedly as she tried to sit up but was stopped by Ortz's hand.
"I asked her to leave and you should stay down, we don't want you to tear the stitches out," Ortz told her as she relaxed back down, "do you want a drink?" he then asked her as he placed his right hand on her stomach warming the wound on her stomach. Panacea nodded in response to his question and Ortz went back over to where he had come from, he came back with a small chalice like object filled to the brim with water.
Panacea took a sip from the cup, the water was the coolest freshest water she had ever taken a drink of. "Thanks," She said to Ortz sincerely as she continued to drink from the cup.
"No problem," Ortz told her as he continued to place his hand on her stomach causing her abs to twitch under the warmth, it caused his hand to bounce with every twitch, but the warmth felt comforting to her vulnerability.
"How long have I been here?" She then asked him.
"Only three weeks," Ortz laughed as her eyes widened in shock.
"Are you shitting me?" She replied in shock turning towards him.
"Wow, easy, no it's only been three days," Ortz told her easing her back down.
"Still that's a long time," She said to him calmly as she shut her eyes and started succumbing to exhaustion again.
As Panacea slipped back into sleep Ortz stroked her hand and placed his old KG dog tags around her neck. He then walked slowly over to the large door where the nurse had exited the room. He turned to look back at her, sighed and pushed the huge doors open. At first a single shard of very bright light flooded into the room but as the doors opened further and further more and more light burst into the room, almost blinding Ortz.
As the initial blinding of light died down he could feel the sand in the air almost stripping the flesh from his face. Eventually the woman clad in white walked past him and re-entered the room, bowing on her entry. As Ortz walked down the long corridor that he found himself in he could see Damas talking to a person clad in bronze armour with a pure white face covered with a red striped tattoo.
Ortz looked across at Damas who was in deep conversation with the armoured person; their face gave nothing away, nothing about their intent nor their purpose. As Ortz made his way down the corridor towards Damas the armour clad person looked at him as if they sensed his presence.
She turned to face him, "You outsider, what are you still doing here?" They asked in a voice which made it difficult to determine their gender, they sounded like a heavy smoker but it was probably just the desert dust making their voice sound that way.
"Well I thought I'd stick around and get my sun tan and then even think about buying a desert condo," He replied in a voice oozing confidence.
"That tone will get you in trouble," They replied sounding deadly serious.
"It hasn't yet," He told her smugly.
Damas then intervened he placed his hand on the armour clad person's shoulder, he then looked Ortz straight in the eyes. "Seem is right, you don't' know this world," he paused as he looked over the edge of the balcony that looked down into bustling streets of people, "We all had to learn it, you will too." Damas almost ordered as he placed a small bronze and yellow object on Ortz's shoulder.
"That's the same thing Sig had in the mine," Ortz told Damas as he looked at the flashing beacon that was now on his shoulder. The edge was smoothed and had a dual layer of bronze, it almost looked like a precursor artefact but it wasn't it was obviously freshly made in the desert.
"Yes, we give our people those beacons so if they get into a pinch in the desert, we can find them and possibly even save their lives," he told Ortz with a grin on his face.
"Sounds like a useful thing," Ortz responded as he crossed his arms and shifted his weight onto one leg.
"Oh yes, they are," Damas told him as he looked at Seem who just had a stern stare towards Ortz. "I think that Seem should show you how the wastelands work," He then said causing the woman to snap her head back towards Damas, she was not impressed.
"You don't give me orders," Seem snapped at the man as he placed his hands on the balcony.
"Maybe not but you will do this for me, you owe me," He told her as he looked back at her.
Her face had become that of thunder as she glared at Ortz with eyes squinted, "Why do I?" She asked Damas while still glaring at Ortz who was still stood smugly.
"You know fair and well why?" Damas said back to her calmly knowing full well he was in control of the situation and everything that unfolded from it. He then walked over to Ortz who was engaged in a deep staring contest with Seem. "Take this," Damas told Ortz as he held out his hand and placed a large bronze vambrace in Ortz's hand.
Ortz broke thee staring contest to inspect the item, its shine was impeccable and the craftsmanship on the exterior had been created a piece of art but still Ortz did not know its function. He kept looking at it for a few seconds before he slid it over his left wrist, the metal sheath covered his arm almost up to his elbow. "What does it do?" He then asked Damas who was giving Seem a stare of death.
"It will allow you to communicate with everyone around you just as long as they have one of these," Damas told him as he grabbed Ortz's right wrist and placed his hand on the vambrace, after about a second of contact the vambrace beamed into life as a series of lights lit up on the inner arm side of the vambrace. "All you have to do is pledge your allegiance to Spargus."
"And why the hell would I do that?" Ortz then asked.
Damas turned back to face him with a stern face, "If you do not then you will die in the desert, alone, helpless and afraid," He snapped at Ortz with a death stare.
"Well when you put it that way," Ortz replied as he closed his left fist causing the outside edge of the vambrace to light up. "What the hell?" Ortz asked as he looked down at the vambrace.
"I knew you'd see it my way eventually," Damas told him calmly as he placed his hand on the vambrace, "Nguvu chini," Damas whispered into the device turning the light on the outer edge from a yellow colour to a deep royal blue.
"What did you just tell that thing?" Ortz demanded from Damas.
"That was the ancient language of the desert people, the nomadic people," Damas started to explain, "Seem researches into their world, they were the first people created by the precursors in the new world after mwisho kwanza, the first end," Damas turned to Seem who was still looking like a scorned child.
"Go teach him," Damas then ordered to her as she looked up at him with a face which again gave nothing away.
"Very well," She simply told Damas and then looked at Ortz, "Be ready to depart in half an hour, I suggest you bid her fair well, she'll be returning to Haven in three hours," She told him simply before walking down the corridor further and disappearing around the corner.
"I'll leave you to your duties then," Damas told Ortz as he proceeded down the corridor to another set of very large dried wooden doors.
Ortz slowly walked back towards the room where Panacea was being kept, he pushed up against the doors, and opening them exposing Panacea sat on the edge of her bed with the nurse tending her wounds.
"You're awake?" Ortz asked her across the room.
"Yeah I'm awake," She laughed.
"How?" Ortz than asked her as he walked over to her.
"There are some things you will come to understand," She whispered to him.
"What do you mean?" Ortz asked her as he moved across the room to her and looked at the array that was sat on her bedside on a metal tray. When Ortz reached out to grab at one of the metal implements the nurse slapped his hands, one of the syringes that was laid on the table had a strange green glow emanating from the ampule.
"What's in there?" He asked Panacea as the nurse picked up a needle from the tray and attached it to the syringe; she then proceeded to inject the green liquid into Panacea's arm.
"You don't want to know," the nurse told him as she finished injected the liquid, "Now rest again," She told Panacea as she laid her down and placed her down on the bad.
As Panacea slipped into bleakness she let out a whimper as she looked over to Ortz with a helpless expression, "What did you do to her?" He snapped at the nurse.
"Nothing that you will understand," The nurse replied calmly.
"But I wish too," He stated concernedly.
"Only those who have an open head will learn," the nurse told him as she cleaned the needle and prepared another load of the green liquid inside of it.
"I will learn," Ortz worriedly told the woman but it was as if she senses his fear and sniggered in response as she spoke in the tongue again.
Ortz looked at Panacea's body lying the bed, she looked in absolute peace and serenity. After about two minutes of watching he knelt down and brushed her hair from her face, Ortz kept his hand on the side of her face which was warm but after a few seconds a green vein surfaced on her forehead. "What the fuck?" Ortz shouted as he continued to look at the throbbing green vein.
Panacea suddenly grabbed Ortz's wrist and took a deep breath in, "You are yet to grasp the power of this world Váli."
"What the hell?" Ortz recoiled back landing on his arse, he looked frantically around seeing only the nurse still tending the woman who was motionless, "What happened?" He asked as he just looked around as the nurse stopped looked at Ortz who was now back on his knees next to Panacea. "What was that?"
"The start of the path," the nurse told him as he shuffled closer to Panacea who now didn't have the pulsating vein on her forehead but just looked peaceful again, he gently kissed her on the cheek and climbed up. Whilst walking towards the door, He turned and looked at the nurse who was still caught up tending to Panacea.
"I will be back for you," He then stuttered as he pushed the doors open to see an angry figure of Seem standing looking at him.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter please feel free to review and tell me what you thought, I can't promise any updates soon as exam season is rapidly approaching unfortunately :/ but anyway I will try and update soon but until that time comes…. PEACE!