r. d. rider

chapter 2

The past 3 years have been mostly a blur. The trees and plants faded into ash and the sky turned to a black fog. Most of the remaining survivors got trapped in the volcanic eruptions or the bog that grows every day. A few others, me included, got together to save people. We are all safe here because of an enormous wall that is guarded by ice mages. They stop the mud and lava from reaching us. We all have magic abilities and most of them include lifting people so we can save them from the mud and fire magic. Al, James and I have the rarest ability of all. We have the power to heal others and save them from certain death. We've had to be here inside the keep to heal people when they come in. Most of the time, it's only small scrapes and scratches, but sometimes... it's much much more.

"Robin! Hurry up! We have a kid this time!"

"Okay, coming James." James and I have been friends since the day we met. I was tending to the dragons nest for my master, and she was trying to run away from her home with her brother. We both then volunteered to join this place and to help gather supplies. At the time, they had no healers. I had gotten a very bad injury from a falling beam. James had healed me without even knowing it. She had just held my hand and I was better in 2 days.

"So, you finally decided to show, huh?" Al said. "I'm no good with kids, and neither is James. It's your shift, anyway. Just a small scratch on his face"

"Alright. Name?" Most of the kids we had saved didn't want to speak to us, but, it was worth a shot.

"None so far."

"Alright. I'll try to get some info out of him." Slowly, I walked into the next room and saw him sitting on the table. He was so incredibly thin, that I could see the bones in his arms and his ribs, very clearly. He was about 17 and had light grey hair.

"So. You got scraped okay? I need to heal it so that you can be safe. This may sting a little."

When I touched him, he jumped like he didn't expect it at all. I brought my thumb over the scratch on his face and as I did so, it repaired itself.

"Can I ask your name? Qu'est ce que c'est ton nom? ¿Cómo se llama? Anata no onamae wa? Як тебе звати? Ano po ang pangalan nila?" When he didn't answer any of the languages that I knew, I signed, what is your name?.

At first, he was hesitant to answer, but he did.

I am Natsuru. You can sign?

I wanted to ask him more, but he didn't look ready to answer anything, yet.

Thank you, Natsuru. Would you like me to lead you to your new room?

Yes, thank you.

We walked down the hall and when we reached his room, I asked, will you be alright, for tonight? There is food on the table and a new set of clothes on the bed. If you need anything else, just push this button on the inside of your door.

He waved a thank you and then shut the door. I started walking back towards the first lab where I usually spend the night, and decided to ask al to write down Natsuru's data, instead of me. I needed to do some quick tests on an element that we think can stop the lava. And, on top of that, I need to replace another kids bandages. She was about 7 and still hasn't awoken after 12 days. I need to make sure that it's just a coma and nothing else.

"That took you long enough"

"James, you know that I take my time with kids."

"Never mind that, did you get his name?"

"Oh... sorry, James, but it's not him. His name is Natsuru."

James had a brother and by now he would be about 16 or 17. She's been looking for him for 3 years. I had also slightly hoped that it would be him, but honestly, there wouldn't be a high chance of him surviving at the age of 13 for 3 years.

"I'm sorry, James."

"That's... okay. I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then?"

"Yeah, cool."

We both headed to our own lab to do tests and stuff. When i got to my lab, i tested fire and electricity against this 'unknown element' and had the same results as last night. The element neutralises the effect of the flame and electricity, but only slightly. Tomorrow, i'll have to head out to see if i can find some more to test on.

this one's a bit longer, right?