The Steel Dawn Company: The Siege of Kaladin

Chapter 14 A hangover and a messenger.

A/N: Hey people it is I Baodune again with another chapter. While writing this chapter I read a interesting story by Cory Doctorow. The name of the book is For The Win. It's about of all things Gold Farming in online gaming. Now I know many of you who read this story play said games. I highly recommend this book. I found it to be very thought provoking and shines a light on a dark side of online gaming.

As always Vote, Comment and thank you for reading.

Edited by BizarreSmalls

Chapter 14 A hangover and a messenger.

My whole body is throbbing with a dull ache. God, did anyone get the license plate on that bus that hit me? This is why I don't do late night gaming sessions with those two knuckleheads. Why do I let them talk me into doing shit like this? My arm feels like a lead weight as I lift my hand up to rub my eyes.

Man, how late did we stay up playing? I haven't felt like this since we did that WoW leveling marathon a few years ago. And I'm going to have to keep track of how much time I spend playing, 'cause the dream I just had was so trippy. Then again, getting sucked into a video game and having two hot gamer girl side kicks would be kinda nice.

I open my eyes and instead of my white ceiling I see dark heavily grained wood glowing under the lamplight. Oh frak me sideways, it wasn't all just a dream. My eyesight blurs. Peter and Paul are both dead, along with god knows how many others. How many are wounded? I clench my hands into fists, digging my nails into my palms. The pain calms me, helping me to focus on the here and now.

I hold in a groan of pain as I push myself up into a sitting position with shaking arms. The first thing I notice is that Sky's on my left and Ali's on my right. They are both sleeping curled up in chairs that are set against the wall. Both are sporting some white bandages, but otherwise look just fine.

Past Sky is Ryan. His left leg is up in the air and splinted. The next two beds past Ryan are filled with the paladins that were fighting alongside him when we reached the Cathedral grounds. The guy has light blonde hair and looks to be built on the broad side like Ryan. I don't remember if I ever found out what his name is. His chest is heavily wrapped in bandages. I can see three brown spots where blood has seeped up and dried. His left arm has a similar brown dried blood spot on the white bandages covering it.

The female paladin, Tara, I think is her name, is on the other side of the guy. Her dark brown hair is spread in a cascade across her pillow, her face peaceful in sleep. I can see that her whole upper chest is wrapped in bandages under the tank top-like garment she's wearing for modesty. The bandage over her right breast is slightly darker than the rest of the bandage. So they were hurt somewhere along the line.

In the bed on the other side of Ali is Chiron. His light brown complexion is currently sickly pale and has at least three layers of blankets layered on him. He is breathing steadily though. I take what little comfort I can in that.

Past Chiron in the second bed from the front of the room is an older man with steel gray hair. What I can see of his skin is lobster red . He is propped up with pillows. His head is tilted so his gaze falls upon the first bed in the row, body is covered in bandages. The old man's shoulders are slumped as if carrying a great weight. I can sympathize.