The Gray: Another short story from Kelvyan
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- Kelvyan
- Scholar
(AUTHOR'S NOTE: For some backstory, search and read "The Black", the first short story I wrote)
"It's just a flesh wound." - Black Knight
02:16.
Christ, it's too early for this.
Still hurts too. Frick.
It had to have been several days since that attack, still in pain after all that time. That'll teach me to go picking a fight with Architect Sentinels. Funny how protective the bastards got of their Dominators, but didn't we all?
Boredom hit me like a freight train in the last few days. That sort of thing happens when you're stuck in an unknown safehouse with some bad fire burns. Good thing Lily, Mason, and Dovah were on the scene after my skin started smelling like back bacon. I flicked my fingers for a light, a small ember of hope and light in an otherwise dark room. Odd how the very thing that nearly claimed my life interested me. Irony, I remembered the name to the literal aspect.
Lily was being put through her paces as a healer over the past few days and even up to now, employing all her power and knowledge into trying to heal my burns. Normally, my injuries could have been healed in one round or so of a Healing Aria, but the fire magic that had injured me had been deeply infused with mana, making the damage more irreversible, more harder to correct...
As for the others, Mason had been keeping watch for new activity in the area. One hint at Arch activity and we had to pack up and go, no exceptions. We weren't going to be taking any more chances. Dovah had been keeping guard of our safehouse in the meantime, ready to fry any Architect who dared even give him a half a glance. Dovah had been more on edge lately, none of us had figured out as to why that might have been.
The door to my room opened with a metallic creak. It was Lily, tired, but nonetheless trying to manage a nursely smile. Poor girl, I thought, I screwed myself here and now she's paying for my mistake in more ways than one.
"Alright, let's have a look at you", she said. She rolled down my left sleeve and examined my burns. "There's nothing much more I can do about this", she said sadly, "those Archs who decked you definitely weren't fucking around. I'll try one more Healing Aria, but those scars will probably be there for at least several years. I can't do much for the pain, you'll have to deal with it". She rested both her hands on my arm and closed her eyes to concentrate. The familiar blue mana energy flowed around her, and then the flash of light that was the Healing Aria. As the light faded, so did the pain. A quick fix, but if this was as good as it was going to get, I might as well have just accepted it.
We both sat in darkness for a time, and I decided to break the silence. "Sorry, Lily. Sorry I caused all this shit. The University's gonna cut my head off when they find out what happened", I said. She put her hands on her knees and stared at the floor, saying, "I gotta admit, what you did was pretty frigging stupid...but at least you're alive". I replied, "How was I supposed to know that there was going to be at least six or seven Arch Sentinels? The other battlegroups told me there was only going to be two in the area. Bad intel or did we just not know a thing?". She said, "Maybe. You still should have been careful. Hopefully you learned something". She got up and moved for the door, and shut it with a loud "THUD". Great, I thought, now everyone thinks I'm an idiot. Should have played that out better all that time ago.
I figured I could get some sleep, try and forget about all this: my botched Dominator demolition, my injury, my friends now irritated at me for making a mistake that nearly killed me, and Lily...tired and worn beyond imagination just trying to heal me after when I should be dead.
Fuck it all, I need sleep.
03:23.
BANGBANGBANGBANG.
Dovah was in the doorway, intimidating as always.
"Pack your shit, we gotta move. Archs found us out and we better hustle if we don't want to be burned like you were."
So much for rest. I forgot that as soldiers in a secret magical war, breaks were as long and as likely as a peace solution to this conflict.
"It's just a flesh wound." - Black Knight
02:16.
Christ, it's too early for this.
Still hurts too. Frick.
It had to have been several days since that attack, still in pain after all that time. That'll teach me to go picking a fight with Architect Sentinels. Funny how protective the bastards got of their Dominators, but didn't we all?
Boredom hit me like a freight train in the last few days. That sort of thing happens when you're stuck in an unknown safehouse with some bad fire burns. Good thing Lily, Mason, and Dovah were on the scene after my skin started smelling like back bacon. I flicked my fingers for a light, a small ember of hope and light in an otherwise dark room. Odd how the very thing that nearly claimed my life interested me. Irony, I remembered the name to the literal aspect.
Lily was being put through her paces as a healer over the past few days and even up to now, employing all her power and knowledge into trying to heal my burns. Normally, my injuries could have been healed in one round or so of a Healing Aria, but the fire magic that had injured me had been deeply infused with mana, making the damage more irreversible, more harder to correct...
As for the others, Mason had been keeping watch for new activity in the area. One hint at Arch activity and we had to pack up and go, no exceptions. We weren't going to be taking any more chances. Dovah had been keeping guard of our safehouse in the meantime, ready to fry any Architect who dared even give him a half a glance. Dovah had been more on edge lately, none of us had figured out as to why that might have been.
The door to my room opened with a metallic creak. It was Lily, tired, but nonetheless trying to manage a nursely smile. Poor girl, I thought, I screwed myself here and now she's paying for my mistake in more ways than one.
"Alright, let's have a look at you", she said. She rolled down my left sleeve and examined my burns. "There's nothing much more I can do about this", she said sadly, "those Archs who decked you definitely weren't fucking around. I'll try one more Healing Aria, but those scars will probably be there for at least several years. I can't do much for the pain, you'll have to deal with it". She rested both her hands on my arm and closed her eyes to concentrate. The familiar blue mana energy flowed around her, and then the flash of light that was the Healing Aria. As the light faded, so did the pain. A quick fix, but if this was as good as it was going to get, I might as well have just accepted it.
We both sat in darkness for a time, and I decided to break the silence. "Sorry, Lily. Sorry I caused all this shit. The University's gonna cut my head off when they find out what happened", I said. She put her hands on her knees and stared at the floor, saying, "I gotta admit, what you did was pretty frigging stupid...but at least you're alive". I replied, "How was I supposed to know that there was going to be at least six or seven Arch Sentinels? The other battlegroups told me there was only going to be two in the area. Bad intel or did we just not know a thing?". She said, "Maybe. You still should have been careful. Hopefully you learned something". She got up and moved for the door, and shut it with a loud "THUD". Great, I thought, now everyone thinks I'm an idiot. Should have played that out better all that time ago.
I figured I could get some sleep, try and forget about all this: my botched Dominator demolition, my injury, my friends now irritated at me for making a mistake that nearly killed me, and Lily...tired and worn beyond imagination just trying to heal me after when I should be dead.
Fuck it all, I need sleep.
03:23.
BANGBANGBANGBANG.
Dovah was in the doorway, intimidating as always.
"Pack your shit, we gotta move. Archs found us out and we better hustle if we don't want to be burned like you were."
So much for rest. I forgot that as soldiers in a secret magical war, breaks were as long and as likely as a peace solution to this conflict.
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- Tay21
- Archmage
This was a good story to read. I hope that you plan on posting more about what happened.