Darksiders: The Seed of Knowledge

Chapter Four

It was midafternoon when Faith finally awoke.  The sunshine hit her face from the window in the southwest wall of the circular chamber.  Instinctively, she lifted her hand to shield her eyes, only to discover that her arm was not responding.  Alarmed, she tried to sit up, but couldn't.  In fact, she realized as adrenaline kicked all her senses back into gear, she couldn't feel anything below her breastbone.

"Are you kidding me?!" she yelled, exasperated.

A woman by the window turned around in surprise.  "You're awake!"

Faith turned her head to the woman.  She was quite pretty, with chestnut hair, lilac eyes and a fair complexion.  Her body was slender and tall, clad in a sleeveless, white-cotton gown tied at her waist with a thin, silver ribbon.  Her hair was braided down her back and adorned with a silver coronet.  Faith knew by those famous pointed ears, as well as her knowledge of the universe, that the woman was an elf, so her utter lack of surprise was confusing to the woman.

"You're my nurse?" Faith asked in the woman's language.

Clearly the woman hadn't expected Faith to be fluent in her tongue.  "Yes.  My name is Rava."

"Faith."

Rava smiled.  "Nice to meet you, Faith."  She moved to the side of the bed.  "Is there anything I can get you?"

Faith let her initial aggravation slide.  "Not at the moment, thank you.  I apologize if I startled you.  I was kind of expecting the paralysis spell to have worn off by now."

The healer blinked, and Faith knew she hadn't expected a human to know about healing magic.  In fact, Faith was willing to bet that no one in all Creation expected her—a human—to know anything about Creation.

"We recast it so you wouldn't move around too much while you slept," Rava explained.

The girl nodded, remembering the nightmares she'd had post-surgery.  "How long was I out?" she asked.

"About four days."  Rava bit her lip.  "If you don't mind me asking, how do you speak my language?"

If Faith could feel her shoulders, she would have shrugged.  Instead, she turned her head and looked up at the ceiling.

"I'm not sure, actually," she admitted.  "I just know things.  Like, I know I'm in the Woodlands, home of the elves and all manner of Fae.  I know the realm is in early spring and that I'm in the castle of the Elven High Chancellor.  I know by your dress and coronet that you're an apprentice healer, probably in your second year of training, even though I shouldn't know anything about your culture.  I know that I recently came out of a serious magical surgery and can tell you the precise steps and actions of the procedure, including what spells were used and even what nutrients are in that vine drip that's still attached to my vein.

"How I know all this is a mystery even to me."

"I see."

Faith allowed herself a half-smile.  "Now that that's out of the way, would you mind un-casting the paralysis spell?"  At Rava's hesitant expression, Faith said, "You can leave the pain-killing spells active.  I just really need to sit up."

Nodding, the healer held out her hand and muttered a few words.  Faith felt her nerves come to life almost instantly.  Aside from the minor discomfort in her abdomen, she felt fine.  Hungry, but fine.

Carefully, Rava adjusted the pillows behind Faith and helped her sit upright against the headboard.

"Thanks," said Faith.  Her stomach growled a moment later.