The Early Medic Days - D22/M01
Day 22 / Month 01
2. Levis of Lisanu 1082 I do not like where being around Dúath leads to. I had another horrible dream this night. I was wearing Dúath' dress and it fit very well, because I had in fact somehow turned into a female. I had not refused to go into the Pub and as a result I was there, on the bar, raped by ALL the male customers. ... The fact that Dúath, when I had woken, told me how funny my dream was, only added to the feeling of uncomfortable awkwardness. I kindly asked her to stay the hell out of my head. I had breakfast at 11 and then went down to check on the DesertFox. His situation had not noticeably improved but at least when I changed his bandages I was relieved to see his wounds had not gotten worse. My Mentor was busy and I had to search for more plants for the Antidote and Vaccine so I headed into the desert again. There were not many to be found today it seemed. Not surprising considering the climate and the fact that I had been basically grazing the area close to the city since more than a week. I ran around aimlessly for a while before finding more herbs finally, some Drim, a lot of Georin, some Taufs... Then I headed SouthWest extending my usual range of search by a good 100 yards I think, and I did in fact find much more plants then. Also a thought that had been lingering in the back of my head slowly submerged. Dúath was not with me today! The whole time I had rather strolled than walked, I was not exhausted because nobody had chased me around, threatening me with a whip. Perhaps she had realised that her comment on my dream had been just a bit too invasive, so she wanted to make up for it by giving me time to relax. She seemed to have some sense of fairness too after all. It was 17 when I took a break and sat down in the shadow of... Well nothing unfortunately. Therefore the break did not last long. I Drank a bit of water from my bottle and checked my compass, only to see that I had gotten slightly off track. Nothing that should have been a problem, I was going to correct that as soon as I continued walking. I have to admit I did miss Dúath that moment for her shady wingspan. A little after the break a strange smell came to my nose, that I could not yet identify, though after yet some more minutes of walking my memory told me it was the smell of decaying flesh and iron, the smell of violent death. Had I gotten more off-course than I had thought? Had I deviated too far to South-East? Slightly cowed, I turned on my heels and ran into the opposite direction. I did not yet know what exactly I would find there and I did not feel ready to face an angry, starved flock of malicious, poisonous rats. Especially not without being vaccinated. I decided to head back to town while walking, that should not be a problem. Even though the sun was high and I felt a bit warm by now, I still had enough time to return. At around 20 I came to a field that seemed somehow familiar. I remembered having been there some days before, Langaria and Chrysophalis were growing there, I even saw where I had harvested some of the first before. I wiped the beads of sweat from my forehead and kneeled down to cut more herbs. I did not even know exactly how much I would need in the end. My Mentor had only told me that it would require 'quite a lot'... My backpack had grown heavier in the last hours and I had to admit that I would not have minded that reptilian shadow lurking over me by then. However it took me 2 more hours to realise that I had perhaps gotten a slight bit lost. It was not very easy to orientate in a desert with little to no important pointers or landmarks. Also I thought I remembered the field closer to the city... A subtle panic began to form while I wandered over the sandy ground, burying my jaws in the one juicy oasis fruit I had left. It was somewhat refreshing, though afterwards the sweetness of it left me more thirsty than before. I hastily gulped down some water and continued my way, cursing the dark green colour of my clothes and even more the weights on my arms. Why did I have to wear those anyway? At 23 I dropped my backpack and sat down in what little shadow was cast behind it. My head was heavy and I had run both out of water and fruits, not to mention that I had no idea where I was. Why had Dúath not come with me this time! How could I have gotten so hopelessly lost, or had that been her plan all along? Why would she send me into the desert with 20 kilo extra weight? I ran my fingers through my hair and opened my ponytail, I was starting to get a headache. Why did she not come with me today! She had been with me every day, why not today! Actually, why had she been with me all the time? What had made her think bothering the living daylight out of a little highelf would be fun? Oh I was sure it was fun for her. But why me? Why out of all people did it have to be me? My back and feet ached, I had not the slightest motivation to get up even though I knew I had to return to the town. My throat was dry and my eyes itched a little. I lifted my hair a few times to let some air to my overheated head but it did not get much better. If only there had at least been a bit of wind. But there was nothing but the sun burning mercilessly down on me. My hair was getting brittle by the minute and that was not a good sign either, I definitely needed water. I needed to stand up and find a way home or a shadowy place. But I did not want to move. Just a minute or two more to rest, then I would be good again, I told myself, but of course it only got worse the longer I sat there. What had I done to deserve this? Was the Great PatPat in the Sky so vengeful? Had I really been forsaken its grace when I broke and was no longer a Mage? Why had I not stayed in Sídhe? Why had I went into a land where nobody could care less if I died there in the desert? There was really nobody who would have been emotionally struck about my departing. Nobody cared for me... nobody... I was alone and the sun was not willing to turn any colder. I was alone and I would die here, alone in the desert, miles away from anybody who cared about me... if anyone did... The hours passed and I barely realised it. I stared at the shadow I was casting myself... it was hunched and looked like the that of a man at the end of his life... Well... I had lived longer than any human, maybe it was only fair that I would die now. Who were we highelves to decide that we could live more than a thousand years... Maybe the Grat PatPat had changed its mind and we all lost that ability. Or it was just me being unlucky once more in my life... I was mourning my fate, indeed had given up hope. After all, what could I hope for? The weather would not change all of a sudden. Nobody knew where I was and even if anybody knew, there was no one who would come to save me... Maybe it was better this way anyway... maybe I should have died already when I broke... A broken Mage was just not supposed to live... When the sun started to set around 28 my body felt a slight bit better, the heat had burnt my face and everything was spinning still, but the cool air of the coming night was helping to raise my survival instinct at least physically. My body would not give up so fast, I was member of a far too strong race to die so easily. Yet my mind was nowhere near that strength. And it was playing tricks on me, fuelling my pain with false hope. I thought I could hear the flapping of wings, giant wings. But it was not possible. Dúath was not with me. How cruel my own senses could be! Even my eyes joined in, showing me with their last strength a murky shadow landing in front of me, it could even have been a dragon. My mind caved in and I succumbed to the illusion. I flung my arms around what I imagined to be Dúath, I cried what I had left of liquid in my body out. My throat was dry and my voice scruffy and high pitched when I promised to train more, when I promised to train speaking dragon, when I promised to do anything she wanted me to do if only she brought me to the city... I would do anything! Anything, just please, please... please... I pleaded and then I felt a dragontail wrap around me... My mind was racing, how could my body create the illusion of pressure... I was lifted of the ground and placed on Dúath' back... It was Dúath... it was really Dúath! She came! She came to save me... And she brought me to the Medic Guildhouse and placed me in my bed. She helped me drink, as I was too weak to hold the glass myself. And she held my hair when I vomited from the heat- and sunstroke I had caught. My head was so heavy and ached so much, my stomach was flurry and everything was turning somersaults. I felt sick, I felt ill and the blanket was of a cool balminess. I rubbed my face against the refreshing surface, trying not to move to much while Dúath handed my plants over to my Mentor. When she returned, she nagged... Even though I felt like dying still. She told me I would have to collect at least 8 more Georin and Tauf... She told me that while searching for me she had flown over the place I avoided in SouthEast... The place that reeked of death. If the memory alone had not already made me throw up, what she told me would definitely have. And in fact did too... There was a carriage, most likely where our patient had come from... The horses were dead... His wife and three children inside of the carriage, too. There were rats... I was not able to listen to her anymore, my mind had conjured the respective images and I emptied my stomach again. Dúath though would not have been Dúath if she had not given me lecture. She ordered me never to leave without her again. And told me how disappointed she was because she had expected me to do better and I had failed her. I think she was still nagging when my weak body decided it was save now to fall into a comatose sleep...
End of Day 22 / Month 01
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