The Shield Bearer

Chapter 12

For some time, Rene found herself briefly waking and then falling back into a heavy sleep. At least she didn't feel cold anymore. At least she wasn't caught in a ceaseless void. Sometimes, she would experience the sensation of moving and a glimmer of light would touch her eyelids. She wanted to open them, but couldn't seem to find the strength to do so.

She must have been extremely close to crossing the veil. When she treated those who were, they would take much longer to recover, even with the aid of healing magic.

Unfortunately, she still had no point of reference for tracking time. So she had no idea how long she had been drifting in and out of sleep, when she finally woke up and her eyes opened. At first, everything was a blur. She blinked and blinked, trying to force them to focus, trying to see the faint light source, that created a soft glowing blur in her non-responsive vision.

The crackling sound of a fire, reached her ears. She could hear...she could hear something besides her own voice in her mind. The burn of tears rushed to her eyes. Rene wasn't sure if she was crying with relief or from the pain of experiencing light on her exposed eyes for the first time, in a long time.

She reflexively reached up, to push the tears out of her eyes and was thrilled at the sensation of her arm moving, shakily, but it was moving. As she steadied her hand, she wiped the tears from her eyes and they finally came into focus. To her left, was a large fireplace, with a blazing fire in it. She could tell that she was on the ground, wrapped in large, warm furs of some sort.

Confident, from her success at moving her arm, Rene struggled to and finally sat up, pushing the furs aside. She looked down at her body, something that had become almost alien to her. For so long, she had been unable to feel it. She had forgotten the sensation of dwelling within it.

Remembering the sword that had protruded out of her chest, before she fell into the void, Rene pulled up the overlong tunic that was all that covered her body, to look at that spot. It was still purple with bruising, but not an open wound. Rene was certain that it looked much the same, at the point of entry, on her back.

For several moments, she just sat reacquainting herself with the sensation of blood pulsing through her veins. Her heart beat rhythmically in her ears. The feel of air filling her lungs and leaving, as she breathed, was comforting. Finally, readjusted to the sensation of being alive, she carefully focused on that warm core, her power and willed it to move throughout her body.

With ease, she repaired all remaining damage that she detected within herself. This rather surprised her. Before, the act of healing a badly injured individual had taken time, energy and great focus. Maybe all of those exercises that she did within the void had pushed those doorways further open. She would have to explore this more, later.

That done, the shakiness had left her hand. She felt strong and full of energy. She took one last peek at the bruise that had been on her chest. It was gone, no trace that it had ever existed was left. The next thing that she noticed, was that she was extremely thirsty.

Now, fully restored, Rene easily rose to her bare feet. Upon more thorough inspection, she realized that she was wearing an overly long tunic and undergarments. Nothing more. Her thirst forced her to ignore this fact as she scanned the unfamiliar room for some source of water. On a small stool, that had apparently been next to Rene's resting place, was a metal pitcher of lukewarm water.

There was no cup to be seen, so Rene just grabbed up the pitcher with both hands and drank down the water. Finally, the taste of blood left her mouth and throat. Her thirst quenched, Rene took in the room that she was in.

On the floor, was a large pallet of piled up furs, with the additional furs that Rene had been wrapped in. There was the small stool that had the pitcher of water. The dimensions of the room, were roughly ten by ten feet. Along two walls, to the sides of the fireplace, were two ancient looking bunks, maybe military? The cloth of the bedding, looked like it would fall apart, if she touched it.