Aftermath

It hurts. It burns. The ground feels ice cold against my charred body, exposed parts not covered by armour are starting to stick to it though. Not that I can do much about it anyway, I don’t have the strength left to move.
A metallic taste coats my tongue, and every breath rasps, hot and thin, like my lungs are lined with ash.
A gentle rain starts falling, the droplets a godsend of relief for my body that I pushed to the limit.
Wait, rain?
Rain can’t fall on this floor. It’s not an open environment.
The ceiling above is unbroken stone, cracked and blackened, and yet water beads and falls like a mercy.
Each time a drop hits me the burn it lands on seems to vanish and I can see my H.P go up by just a fraction.
The numbers crawl, almost taunting in their slowness, but it’s enough to breathe again without feeling like my ribs are glass.
I roll over just in time for the gentle rain to turn into a torrent of water pouring on my face.
“No, no, slowly, pour it slowly.” A voice gently admonishes someone else.
There’s a faint pop sound and this time the flow is slower, making sure to cover my entire head.
It smells sweet and sharp. Sticky potion slicks my hair and runs down into my collar.
The rain slowly starts to fade away, but before it disappears completely there’s a faint banging sound.
“Blessed Rain,” I finally recognise Priestess’s voice as the rain starts up again, continuing to fix my burned body.
The word thrums through the air, and the drops go cool again, steam hissing where they meet my skin.
Opening my eyes, I see Retainer standing above me holding two empty health potions. That explains the torrent I had poured on me. It makes sense, health potions work externally as well as by consumption.
As soon as she notices that I can open my mouth she kneels down beside me and presses bottle after bottle against them, the internal and external healing working wonders together.
Glass clinks, corks roll away, and the last of the raw, exposed sting dials down to a deep, distant throb.

“How are the others?” I ask as Retainer helps me sit up.
“She only had a few broken ribs,” Priestess points at Retainer. “It’ll hurt for a little, but potions and healing magic should have her fine in a day.”
I look over at Retainer, she’s still got some blood dried around her mouth, but other than that she looks fine.
She avoids my eyes, jaw set, the stubborn kind of fine that means she’s forcing herself not to flinch.
“And what about…?” I don’t know how to finish my question.
“Captain is…stable.” She sighs. “Ranger is currently looking over her while we came to find you.”
I groan loudly as I stand, Retainer helping to support my body. It feels like all my skin has been removed and replaced, and glancing at my exposed arms, it looks that way too.
Pink, raw new flesh, shiny and tight. My gauntlet edge has fused slightly to the padding; Retainer winces as she pries it loose.
“Don’t push yourself,” Priestess scolds me, helping Retainer keep me upright.
“I’ll rest when we get back to the others, okay?”
Priestess only sighs as she takes over supporting me. She’s surprisingly strong, she doesn’t even budge when taking my entire weight.
“Retainer, grab my weapons, and loot what you can.” I instruct her. After all that, it would be criminal to forget about the loot.
She nods, already moving with practiced hands through the blackened mess left behind.

Ranger already has an arrow knocked as we round the corner of some rubble, his entire body relaxing when he realises it’s us.
“Oh my god, I’m so glad.” He falls back onto his butt, tears in his eyes. “I’m so glad you’re alive.”
His fingers tremble on the string, the arrow finally lowering as if it weighs more than his bow.
Him starting to cry sets off Retainer as well, she grips my arm tightly as she joins in.
They really are just kids. I gently ruffle both of their heads.
Priestess keeps walking, and I soon see Captain. She’s lying on the ground unconscious, an improvised tourniquet wrapped around what’s left of her left arm. Her face is pale and covered in sweat.
The bandage is soaked through, a slow, stubborn seep that refuses to stop. Her lips are colorless, breath shallow.
“I’ve stabilised her as much as I can, but my magic can’t stop the bleeding, and I can’t do anything else until that’s sorted.” Priestess admits.
“Ranger, take Retainer and have a quick scout around, okay?” I quickly turn them.
“Check for Enemies. Anything that looks like it wants to finish what Varketh started.”
“O-okay.” He wipes away his tears and they both disappear.
Their footsteps fade, light and careful, the way only people who’ve learned to be quiet too fast can manage.
“I have an idea, but it’s not going to be pretty.”
“Pretty means nothing if she’s going to die.” Priestess says bluntly.
“Hold her down. And get her something to bite.”
Priestess follows my instructions instantly, quickly wrapping a stick in cloth and putting it in Captain’s mouth before firmly holding her down.
“I just didn’t want the others to see, or smell this.”
I retrieve my sword from when Retainer left it and bring it in front of me.
“Searing Smite!”
The ability activates, my sword catching, burning incredibly hot.
Heat washes over my face; my eyebrows singe. The blade hums like a wasp nest.
Priestess breathes deeply, as a fellow medical student, she must have figured out what my plan is, her grip on Captain tightens.
“Do it,” she says, more to herself than to me.
The smell of burning flesh fills the air as I press my sword against Captain’s stump, it’s even worse than mine from before. Her unconscious body thrashes around, but Priestess holds her down firmly until I’ve finished.
I turn my head to breathe through my mouth, eyes watering. “Sorry, Captain,” slips out without me meaning to.
It’s not pretty, but it’s enough to allow priestess to remove the tourniquet and continue her previous healing attempts.

Ranger and Retainer return a few minutes later, I greet them from around the corner of the rubble, letting Priestess do her thing in private.
“So, did you find anything interesting?” I ask as we sit along the wall.
“Nothing, not even a single enemy nearby.” Ranger informs me.
“But I tried the door, and it’s unlocked now.” Retainer adds, her relief obvious now that we can continue.
“How’s Captain doing?” Ranger quietly asks.
“Better now that Priestess can continue her healing, but…” I don’t need to finish it. We all know.
While magic can heal most injuries, what it can’t do is regrow something that is lost.
“But, when we get out of here she’ll be back to normal right?”
“The Goddess did say only death is permanent.”
Death. Something I’ve been close to more times that I would want in my entire life in the span of about a day. Not only that, we just watched Lancer die as well. Sure he was a horrible person, but he was summoned here like us, a person like us. Now, he’s dead.
His name feels heavy in my mouth even when I don’t say it. The floor is quiet in a way that makes the quiet loud.
Will that be how it ends for us? Maybe a boss is too much for us, maybe a trap we didn’t notice, we could even run afoul of other heroes.
Retainer grips my hand tightly, while Ranger’s face drops. I can tell they’re thinking the same as me.
“We’ll survive.” The words come out without me even thinking about it, causing them both to turn and look at me.
“I promise you, we’ll make it out.” My voice is firm, I’ve never been so sure of something in my life.
“But, how do you know that?” Ranger finally breaks.
“I refuse to lose anything close to me again,” Memories of my little sister flash in my head.
Her crying in bed. The way she laughed with her whole body. “Listen kids, you just need to trust me. I promise you, as an adult, you’ll survive this.”
They don’t answer right away. Retainer nods, once, fierce and shaky. Ranger squeezes his eyes shut, breathes, and nods too.