Lepidopterophobia

Chapter 5

tw - blood, death and war are all featured in this chapter. be careful, and if you don't feel comfortable with these topics then this may not be the book for you.

And then there wasn't.

As soon as Tyrael started to regain consciousness, the overwhelming pain made him jolt up. He tried to scream, but nothing came out.

He was scared.

What was happening? Where was he?

He was breathing heavily, and that was all he knew. His heart was racing and his mind was as well. His eyes were wide open but he couldn't see anything, and he couldn't tell whether it was dark or he was imagining it. Did he even want to know?

Footsteps sounded, and there was light. Someone had brought light. At least, he thought they did. He still couldn't think. There were so many thoughts and they were too loud and he just couldn't understand them.

"Tyrael?" a familiar voice called, their face now close to Tyrael's. He tried to reply but his voice still wasn't working. "It's alright, I'm here. I'd hug you but-" Felamir cut themselves off, making a weird expression.

"Can you speak?"

He shook his head, eyes still darting all around. He was confused and he was lonely and he was so so so so scared.

"It's alright, we don't have to talk. We can just sit for a bit."

And they did.

They sat in silence, the only noise for each person being the other's breathing.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

It was nice, but at the same time it wasn't.

The silence continued for quite a while before Tyrael finally felt fully awake. Before his fuzzy mind started to clear, his breath started to slow, and his eyes finally stopped darting around like a madman's.

The elf asked his friend with a bit of a croak in his voice, "Where are we?"

Felamir took a harsh breath through their teeth.

"It's a bit of a long story but pretty much, after you... um, fell... I managed to kill the dragon, then I brought you here. It's the closest village to Ghoulcrest, plus it has some pretty good healers. They patched you up and did their thing, so here we are."

Tyrael opened his mouth to ask when he should pay them back, but decided against it. Felamir would probably be against it. Maybe he could pay them back without them noticing it? Like, in their future travels he could buy Felamir gifts. Then again, what would he get them? He didn't know what they liked. Well, maybe he could get something simple. Like a scarf, or a poncho.. Or maybe he could pay for their food? Or other things like that. Then again, weren't healers expensive? If Tyrael only did little things, it would take years to pay them back.

Oh, well. He'd find a way.

Probably.

...Hopefully.

Ignoring that particular issue, Tyrael continued. "If they healed me then why does it still hurt? Isn't that the whole point of healing? To make you not hurt and stuff?"

"They did heal you, but there's only so much they can do. You'll still be a bit sore for a while, they did what they could. I wish I could help, I seriously do..."