Re:Creation Book 1: Allegiance

Eigh:teen

As Reif rode with the others to the castle gates, he was struck with an unpredictable flash of cold sweats. Along with the affliction came the troubling sensation of the temperature around him rapidly dropping. Normally, with Solgeara's power, Reif was able to easily withstand extremely hot temperatures and warm himself to comfortable levels in the cold. It was a completely involuntary ability that had simply become an integral factor in the natural regulation of his body.

Now, thanks to Vayl, that power had essentially vanished, the loss of which affected Reif all at once instead of gradually fading like his ability to generate fire. Since Reif had grown accustomed to never feeling the cold, the gentle chill in the morning air bit like the dead of winter in the Whitelands of Mithro. Occasionally, Reif found himself glancing at Lev and the others around him, afraid they'd notice that something was ailing him. Reif brought up the rear atop Altair's back, thus placing him and his afflictions outside of everyone's lines of sight. Vistara, Therias, and Cenna had taken the reigns of the other horses while Lev and Telk elected to walk alongside them, Lev carrying Khel on his own back the entire way. Thankfully, no one seemed to have their attention focused on Reif, and while he did his best to keep from shivering, his reaction to the bitter cold was unavoidable. The last thing he wanted was to draw attention to himself on a matter related to the gods. Keeping his composure on a day to day basis was already hard enough without the stress of curious friends prying into his affairs. His discomfort must have left him more distracted than he thought, as the next time he looked around at his friends, he found Telk watching, his face dressed in concern.

"Reif," Telk said, "are you okay?"

And thus, the exact question Reif was trying to avoid had been posed. At the sound of Telk's inquiry, all eyes has shifted were aimed at Reif. Reif's face flushed as what little composure he'd managed to hold threatened crumble under the puzzled and worried looks. He was just barely able to hold it together.

Forcing a smile, Reif replied, "Y-yes, I'm fine. Just a bit cold."

Lev came in closer to Altair's side to examine Reif more closely, his presence serving to make Reif even more unsettled for multiple reasons.

"Are you sure?" Lev asked. "You don't exactly look 'fine.'"

"No, I promise I'm -" Reif froze mid-sentence, halted by a spontaneous wave of nausea rolling through his body. Before he could even react, he was stricken dizziness. All around him, the world spun entirely too fast for him to hope to keep up. If that wasn't bad enough, his vision repeatedly blurred and cleared, eliminating any possible chance he had to keep track of anything within sight.

"Reif?" Lev's voice sounded muffled. "Shit, Telk, hold him!"

Hold...? Reif didn't even have time to think before he felt two hands - one on his arm, the other just above his waist. In response, the world became slightly more steady. Had he been swaying?

Reif opened his mouth to reply, but immediately, he was forced to hold back the overwhelming sensation to vomit, preventing him from speaking. After he managed to win the battle against his body, he managed to choke out a few words.

"I need... to get down..."

With help from Telk and Therias - who Reif hadn't even notice come to his aid - Reif managed to shift his way down to the ground. The moment he was left to stand on his own however, Reif's legs buckled underneath him, forcing him down onto all fours. A sharp pain etched its way through his body, centering around his neck as his breathing turned to ragged panting. He felt faint.

"...thing wrong?" Reif could barely make out any of Vistara's question. The din of the world had dulled tremendously as Reif's senses began to fail him.