"Mira!" A voice yelled. Mira looked up from cleaning the bar counter to she her brunette boyfriend walk up to her. "I gotta go on a mission. I'll be back soon, ok?" Mira smiled and leaned over the counter to give him a kiss for the road before he headed out.
But that was yesterday.
He should have been back by now.
Esme and Kage went on a hunt for their older brother as soon as they heard he wasn't back yet.
Meanwhile, Hayden was currently fighting for his life. He ended up running into some mercenaries on the way back to the Guild and after hours of fighting them, his magic became severely low. Hayden slumped against a tree, panting while the relentless mercenaries serounded him. Just as they were about to attack. Electricity erupted from ground and shocked everyone around him. Hayden stared at the collapsed bodies in shock until a heard a shreeking voice.
"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW LONG WE'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU?!" Esme yelled out while walking towards him. Kage following close behind.
Hayden's attention was gone for only a second, but that was enough time for one of the guys he was fighting to get up and rush at him. The guy slashed their blade across Hayden's chest from shoulder to the opposite hip. Hayden cried out and dropped to the ground, grabbing at his bleeding chest. The pain from the wound was replaced by the tingling numbness, except for not only did it prevent him from being able to move around but it also made it difficult to breathe.
The Guy was immediately tackled by an owl griffin and ripped to shreds while Esme ran over to Hayden.
"Esme," Hayden spoke slowly, putting all his energy into actually forming words and not the incoherent sounds that tried to push their way through. "M'not doin' too good. Kinda...kinda hard t'breathe." Whatever clarity Hayden had found moments before was buried by the return of the fuzz in his head. He had been sitting after that last wound, but he blinked and he was suddenly slumped against a tree. His vision was fading in and out. He could barely make out the figures of his siblings, who were shouting something at him. The ringing in his ears was persistent. It was REALLY hard to breathe. He was really tired. Maybe he should go to sleep. Yeah, sleep sounded nice.
"Don't go to sleep Hayden! You've gotta stay awake, NO don't close your eyes!!" Hayden slowly pulled his eyes open just enough to see bright blue in front of his face. He smiled lazily and reached out to touch the blue fabric of Kage's jacket. That was his favorite blue. He couldn't remember why, but it made him happy. It was too hard to keep his head up, so he let it drop down. Something held him up, but he couldn't keep his eyes open long enough to figure out what. He'd just close his eyes for a second, it would be fine.
*
When Hayden opened his eyes again he was lying on a white bed with too-bright lights hurting his eyes. He could hear yelling nearby and it was too loud. A small groan slipped past his lips before he could stop it. It was as if a switch had flipped when the room grew quiet. Then the moment was shattered and there were people standing over him asking him questions. Hayden couldn't focus on any one person, so he screwed his eyes shut and waited for the room to quiet back down.
A hand gently gripped Hayden's shoulder. Hayden opened his eyes to find Mira looking at him with red, puffy eyes. "How are you feeling?"
Hayden gave a small laugh that turned into a painful, raspy cough. "Like shit. What happened?"
Mira furrowed her brow in concern. "Esme said you were attacked my Mercenaries. Do you not remember?"
"Yah. That. Their blades were coated in something that made whatever they struck lose all feeling yet hurt all at the same time. When Esme and Kage got to me I could barely even breathe... wait," Hayden tried to move to look at his injuries, but Mira gently pushed him back down.
