The Battle

Corruption

It was quiet. Or... it seemed quiet. Dion blearily opened his eyes, but he may as well have kept them shut for all it mattered, as he could only see blackness. Instantly, his head throbbed, and he moaned, squeezing his eyes shut and grabbing his temples. With difficulty, he forced one eye open, but still he saw nothing.

...Did he see nothing? At first glance, all he could see was blackness, void... but the longer he looked at it, the more it seemed to be... moving. Almost... slithering...

Slithering... yes, that was the noise he was hearing. It was soft, faint, distant, so much so that at first he thought it was silence- but once he did hear it, it became impossible to ignore, and was suddenly echoing all around him. And it sounded... familiar...

"Come on now, surely you recognize me?"

Instantly, the hazy, groggy feeling vanished. Dion squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them fully, looking around wildly- only for the darkness around him to swivel, twist- then lunge for him. In short order, shadowy ropes had bound his limbs, before gauzy blackness enveloped and encased them like blankets. He struggled in his bindings, but couldn't so much as wiggle inside them. "WAIT-!" he cried.

"Now that has to be a joke!" the voice from before laughed. "I'm not 'waiting,' Eight- you knocked yourself out. So if you don't mind, I think I'll be doing the same!"

Before Dion could even attempt to reply, the shadows covered his face as well, quickly smothering his screams.

***

"DION!" Mel barked down at his friend, frantically gesturing to cast another healing spell.

The dragonborn didn't stir. He hadn't since the stone block had impacted his head.

Mel and the other magicians had hurriedly descended on him and cast an assortment of healing spells, sealing up the gouge in his scalp, making sure there were no internal injuries, even getting rid of the bruising as a side effect- the man looked as though he'd never even been injured, and was breathing steadily. Yet he wouldn't respond to attempts to wake him up.

"Sire...?" a nearby spider tentatively asked. "Might it be best to take him to the infirmary? That might be more conducive to examination."

"Anything they'd do in the infirmary, we have already done here, Alphonse!" Mel snapped at him. "Physically, there shouldn't be anything wrong with him!" He looked again at his friend, scowling. "I just don't understand why he won't-!"

Mel was interrupted as Dion's eyes shot open.

The goat flinched and cried out in surprise, which prompted the many onlookers to do the same, but he quickly recovered. "Dion?!" he demanded.

The dragonborn's eyes stared straight ahead for a moment, glassy and unseeing- then slowly locked on his.

Mel still felt uneasy, but he allowed himself a small sigh of relief. "Good, at least you're-"

Dion's eyes started to drift.

Mel blinked, then frowned, snapping his fingers in front of his friend's face. "Dion!" he cried. "Stay with me, focus!"

But he didn't. The dragonborn's eyes continued to wander in all directions.

Mel scowled. "It's worse than I thought. His injuries might go deeper than we realized."

"Sire," a nearby toad said uncertainly. "We... examined him thoroughly, and poured enough magic into him to allow a regiment to walk unscathed through a field of caltrops. There should be no injury to speak of."