Time

Chapter 13

Travis blinked, opening his eyes and getting up. He felt pain stab through his limbs and chest, causing him to groan. He was in a tent, and Travis could tell it was day from the light filtering in. It looked like Knowlridge had gotten a new tent; this one was bigger and didn't smell of lard. He heard rustling outside and the tent flap was opened; Knowlridge's face peaked in.

"Oh, you woke up." Knowlridge said, examining Travis. "How do you feel?"

"F-fine, I guess." Travis answered. "Just sore." Knowlridge stepped in and bent down, looking over Travis carefully.

"Lift up your shirt, please." Knowlridge said patiently, as if worried about something.

Travis took the shirt he wore and lifted it up, gasping when he felt a warm liquid pouring down on his sides. He looked and saw bandages on his body, bloodstains showing through them. When Travis touched one lightly, he felt pain course through his side and he groaned again. "Where did I get these injuries?" Travis asked Knowlridge, carefully pulling down his shirt.

"We don't know." Knowlridge answered. "We just found you like this, lying on the ground beside your bed. We thought that you had just fallen off while asleep, but you weren't waking up. That's when you started bleeding. It looks like a lot of you is broken."

"Wait, what do you mean by 'we'?" Travis interrupted. "Do you mean Ignitis or Ozo?"

"Oh, yeah." Knowlridge said, remembering. He yelled out the tent flap. "Hey! Get in here, the patient is awake!" There were some rustling and someone stepped in. Travis gasped, excited and elated.

"Anything wrong?" Neter asked, peeking through the tent flap. He looked down and smiled slyly. "Hi Travis."

"It's so great to see you after everything that's happened." Travis told him, smiling so hard that his face hurt. "What did happen, anyway?" Travis then asked, suddenly concerned. "How did I even get these injuries?"

"We don't know." Knowlridge said. "We do know what happened while you were unconscious though."

"How long was I out?" Travis inquired.

Knowlridge answered readily. "About a week."

"A week! What the f-" Travis started, but was interrupted by Knowlridge's stern look. "Oh, sorry. It's just that... well, what happened during that time?"

"Well, your cousin here arrived in Irek the same day you fell asleep. He wandered around and decided to look around for an inn for some food. He looked around and saw me putting you on your horse. We were just about to leave and he walks up to me and accuses me of kidnapping." Knowlridge explained. Neter took out some stuff from his pockets and put them into a bowl and started mashing them up. "I explained to him that I was the one who left your caretakers the letter. Unfortunately, he still wasn't convinced, so I was forced to knock him out."

"You weren't forced! You could have shown me your handwriting or something!" Neter complained while adding some water to the mixture in the bowl.

"Well, a man needs his exercise." Knowlridge stated. "Anyways, once I had gotten out of the city, I set up a small camp here. Your cousin had woken up and I explained to him that there wasn't actually a special school and that you are going to my general's base. Over the rest of the day, I explained to him what the Duties and the Purities are, and who your Father is."

"I couldn't believe that Death was your father!" Neter exclaimed. "I couldn't believe that you're going to be one of the warriors in the Duties' army either!"