I had landed in time to see the brute trying to catch its balance, but its leg didn’t respond. A ripple rocked through the ground. The boss was down.
Immediately I saw the rest of my group attack as one.
Oliver didn’t hesitate, jumping on the creature’s back. Grabbing its wrist, he pulled its loose hand to his chest while he spun. The arm was twisted around to its back. Oliver’s legs locked its arm in place at the elbow.
Ramming his sword into the armpit of the opposite arm, Peter worked his longsword with two hands.
Victoria slid her spear into its ribs on the same side.
Strolling up, Kline stopped at its head and begun chopping at the hobgoblin’s throat.
When my cheeks pulled back to grin, a pop sounded in my neck. A legion of needles clawed their way down my spine, spewing liquid fire into my arms and legs. My back arched on its own. My jaw clenched. I tasted blood, but through the pain, I didn’t know if I had bit my cheek or tongue.
The torrent that had internally inflamed me from head to toe simmered down to a hounding echo. My heart thumped jolts of pain at a steady rhythm.
Like a starving predator that stalked its prey in the dark of night, I tried to stay as still as possible. It wasn’t hunger that drove me but knowing the moment I moved I would be in agony.
My eyes pursued anyone or anything that could help. The cadence of fire escalated when I realized I was holding my breath as my heartbeat sped.
Everyone was looking away, focused on something else. No help came. No hope remained.
Gasping, the muscles of my chest and back jerked against one another. I wailed for mercy, my air spent, gasping again. I bucked like a fish out of water undergoing shock therapy again and again.
A skirted knee, with rivets of bronze securing sheets of leather, knelt over me. The smell of sweetness joined with grass, reminding me of perfectly ripe fruit.
Waterlogged eyes frantically scrutinized me. Victoria was there, leaning over to see my back. Her lip trembled.
There was no way to tell how long it took, but I was able to find a way to breathe without going into a fit of spasms. For a few moments, the pain calmed. I was now lying on my back, with Victoria at my side, and Kline, arms crossed, standing over me.
Tears flooded her cheeks, streams reaching her chin and even the tip of her nose. Her hands rested in her lap, head cocked to the side as she stared through me, emotionally spent. The quiet stillness told me one thing; she knew that I was broken.
I didn’t dare to make any unnecessary movements. Waves of shallow burning from each breath joined the throb from each heartbeat in an accompaniment of unceasing torture.
Why wasn’t I dead? I wanted to be dead. Then the pain would be over and I could sleep. Looking to my health gauge, it was still sitting at a 36 out of 100 HP remaining. Death would not come.
Time passed. How much I had no idea. Violent spasmic fits came and went.
Then pain started to escalate regardless of how still I stayed. With every heartbeat, it started to increase. With every breath.
When I was convinced it was about to get even worse, I passed out.
Chapter 7 – Aftermath
“Should we move him?” a young lady asked.
Destiny, is that you?
My eyes opened and were met by a pulsating agony that reminded me of a dream.
“No,” a deep male voice insisted.
I knew that voice. Kline?
As if my tormentor realized I was awake and he had opportunity to continue his profession, my back arched, sending a new wave down my spine. Embarrassed, I tried to fight it, causing a chain reaction throughout my nervous system. I screamed. Did I?
“What can we do?” Sobs followed. It wasn’t Destiny, but a familiar kindness.
Everything went black.
***
My head shifted.
“Drink.”
A finger on my chin forced my mouth open, and burning liquid flowed down my throat. The pressure on my chin incited a riot of a billion atomic protesters, shaking my body back and forth as if to tip over the bus they all had squeezed into. The liquid kept coming. Someone held my head firm, and something heavy held me upright.
“That should be enough.”
Choking continued after the liquid stopped coming. The firm hold on my body was warm, but a fight they couldn’t win.
Kill me.
***
When I came to the next time, my eyes had trouble focusing. Things seemed unclear. An annoying ache was throbbing in my back.
It didn’t matter. My nurse was lovely.
“He’s awake,” she said.
Her skin was chocolate, but a light chocolate, much lighter than even milk chocolate with no imperfections. I wanted to curl up against her and sleep. She will destroy you! How did a gamer chick get into my group anyways? So pretty though.
Swimming to the surface of the groggy swamp that I was in, I remembered protecting her from something. I would have reached out and touched her dampened cheek, but when I tried to move my arm the throbbing grew stronger. Instead, I looked at her as she looked at me.
She shared a smile, but there was no missing her downtrodden gaze.
“He’s looking better,” she insisted. Someone was sitting across from her.
“He. Wants to lick you,” I said.
“Sleep,” she insisted. “He's delirious.”
What’s wrong with licking?
I wanted to turn my head but it would have taken too much effort. It wasn’t worth it. Instead, I thought I would take a nap.
***
Light shone brightly. My eyelids couldn’t hold it back. Blinking, I turned my head to the side, repositioning away from the sun. I froze. The memory of ongoing agony came back to me. Had I just moved? There was no pain?
Stiff muscles in my neck and back begged me to change position. A pounding vibrated from my temples and behind my eyes, making the muscle stiffness a secondary problem.
It must have been alcohol they had given me last night to try and numb my pain. The fact I had slept meant that it had probably worked. I welcomed my first hangover if it was all over.
209/221 HP
I didn’t dare to fully believe that I had really healed. It was the most intense pain I had ever experienced. Starting with my hands, I moved my fingers, then fists. My toes came next. I grimaced remembering vividly how it had felt. My fear remained unfounded. Daring to sit up, I found the strength. I had really healed. I tried to reach around and feel the spot where I had been hit, but my fingertip just barely reached the middle of my back.
Where the pain had been was now only tense muscle and exhaustion.
Victoria lay at arm’s length, curled up facing me covered in blankets up to her chin. Kline slept to my other side and the rest were gathered close in a cluster asleep.
“Morning. It’s a relief you’re doing better,” Peter said. His hands hung from the collar of his newly acquired hard leather vest. He gave me a grin despite his obvious exhaustion.
He sat cross-legged near a huge pile of items at his feet. Above his head now hovered his name and level.
Peter
Level 11
“You had us worried. It was foolish what you did, but thank you for saving Victoria. I owe you.”
He threw me a hard biscuit.
I timidly returned his smile, still afraid the pain would come back at any moment.
“You’re right, I was foolish. This isn’t like any virtual game I’ve ever played. It isn’t really a game at all.”
“I’m sorry you had to learn it the hard way.”
Taking a bite, I washed it down with some water from a jug I fished out of my inventory.
Pointing above my head, he knew my question before I asked.
“The name and level indicators appeared after we reached level ten. I have no idea why we could see the indicator above the boss’s name last night unless it was because he was a boss. There is another surprise waiting for you in your notifications.”