Things Lost and Found (a Waglington and Mianite fanfiction)

Chapter 50

So, does anyone remember what happened the night Mianite had Jordan bring the Ianitas to visit Origin Ranch? No, I mean besides the slaughter. >.< It was a blood moon. It actually got stuck as a blood moon for almost the entire stream. Mianite said it had something to do with the world's quintessence being drained, but Chimalus (one of the lead bts peeps for S2) posting his mythology on the gods' auras and shadows actually made this make a lot more sense. If you have no idea what I'm on about, go check him out on tumblr. :)

*Waglington's POV*

Wag... Wag! Wake up; we need to move! A voice insisted.

"Five more minutes, Phil," I grumbled before rolling over, away from whoever was talking. That was a mistake. "Ah!" I cried as pain shot through the arm and side I had tried to roll onto. I blinked my eyes open slowly and realized it was a lot more than my arm and side that hurt. I carefully settled back down onto my back and stared blearily at the sky overhead. There were thin trails of sickly grey streaked across the royal blue expanse.

Good, you're finally up; I was starting to get worried. I now recognized the voice as belonging to Memento.

How long was I out? I asked, while assessing what shape I was in. Aside from the obvious physical pain, my athar magic felt nearly drained, which meant it had probably been trying to undo some of the worse damage.

The whole day. I hate to say it, but we really need to move, Memento admitted grudgingly. The fire kept the mobs away last night, but it won't tonight. The sun's already setting too, He added, sounding puzzled as he gazed up at the cloudless sky.

I silently agreed with my familiar on needing to move. We did not make it out of a huge wildfire to get beaten to death by mobs. I very slowly tried to push myself up into a sitting position, groaning as the tender skin on my back and arms stretched. My robes were fire resistant, but they had only been able to do so much under the extreme conditions of last night. Based on my current pain, my back (except where my backpack had shielded it), upper arms, buns, thighs, and upper calves were burned, but my back felt the worst. The extra layer of protection my boots afforded had been sufficient to protect my lower calves and feet at least. Thank goodness the others weren't here, or I would never hear the end of the "toasted buns" jokes. I grinned despite everything, thinking about them making light of the situation to make me feel better.

My throat felt drier than the desert outside Urulu. Once sitting upright, a tickle in the back of my throat sent me into a fit of dry, hacking coughs that drove knives into my abused airway. I could feel concern from Memento as my breathing settled, and I uncurled from the hunched position I had taken while coughing.

I shakily opened my backpack and pulled out my canteen. My first greedy swallow of water set me to coughing again, and I was forced to drink smaller amounts thereafter. I couldn't get enough of the stuff. I hesitantly nibbled on a dry strip of jerky next, hoping to regain some of my energy; unfortunately my throat still felt raw. A mouthful of water with each swallow made the process bearable. I dug a bit of cooked chicken out of my bag for Memento, picking up on his hunger across our mental link. I poured some water from my canteen into a tin cup I'd brought with me and set it on the ground for him as well. He most likely would have the same problem I did with swallowing.

Memento slowly forced himself to stand up to drink. The pain that shot through my hands and feet at his movement and the blood matted in the fur of his paws told me he had not made it out unscathed either. After he finished eating and lapping up his fill, I gingerly lifted one of his front paws, folding it to let me see the underside. The pads were peeling and raw from running reckless over the rocky hills, and a few cuts bit deeper into the damaged skin. Dirt was getting caked onto the moist, rough surface where scabs had not formed. Memento should not be walking for several days, and I didn't think he could go more than a few steps if he wanted to.