God of Fantasy

Chapter 7

“Warm…”

Lanz opened his eyes to be greeted by a bright yellowish light coming from the lamp by his bedside, with Irina reading her book just beside him.

“Oh, you’re awake now?” Irina asked softly without peeling her eyes from the book on her hand.

Lanz didn’t want to answer the question, and he couldn’t even if he wanted to. His vision was spinning as if the entire world was being twisted, and he felt a headache far worse than all he experienced before,  like his head was being stabbed by a thousand blades all at once.

A raspy sound was heard from Lanz as he attempted to speak. It was within his expectation, so he did not try to utter any further for it proved to him that communication was futile.

“Can’t speak, and even lifting a single finger is painful. I feel so cold like I’m freezing and something warm is ‘wriggling’ inside me. Perhaps ‘flowing’ would be a better word.”

He found it hard to describe. It was like a foreign object, formless yet warm that entered his body and is circulating in him like the blood that he lost.

 

Lanz resigned to his fate as he stared at the moving ceiling in front of him. He had lost all his vigor, and all he could feel was emptiness. Everything that happened to him felt like a wild, vivid dream, and he wouldn’t even outright deny it if someone told him that it really was.

“You lost a lot of blood so you should drink something. Can you get up? I’ll help you.” Irina spoke as she placed her book beside the lamp, her eyes now paying full attention to Lanz.

Lanz tried raising his body up, slowly and painfully. The pain was akin to needles sprouting out of his skin. The foreign object inside him seemed to have reacted violently, causing shock that invigorated Lanz’s mind. Irina immediately helped him sit up, then offering a cup of glass.

The stabbing pain in his head worsened, the world around him started spinning a bit faster, and his dizziness made him unable to look straight into anything. There was a few times when he almost lost consciousness due to shock.

“Sorry, that may have been a bit too much…” Irina said apologetically.

Lanz grabbed the glass of water from Irina and started sipping on it. Savoring every ounce that he had, his thirst appeared to be endless, yet he patiently sipped on it. He did not finish the entire glass as he handed it back to Irina.

Ahem

 

“Thank you.” Lanz said after clearing his throat. He then stared into nothingness with his lifeless eyes as he felt his body calming down, albeit not completely.

“You’re welcome.” Irina replied curtly.

After a series of random thoughts going in and out of his mind, he spoke.

“Tell me Irina… is this kind of life worth living?” Lanz asked, not expecting an answer that could help him. He knew himself well enough that only an answer he could come up with was worth believing in.

“That is not something that you ask if you need an advise. What you’re looking for is an answer from yourself right? I can tell, I’ve asked myself that question before too.” Irina replied while staring into the same nothingness as Lanz, seemingly reminiscing something.

Lanz was left in astonishment as his mouth formed a slight grin. He was surprised that she managed to surpass his expectation. It was a surprise, but surely a welcome one.