Zhoom x Male!Water Elf!Reader ~ Out of Your Depth

Prologue

You hummed anxiously to yourself, playing with the illusion bracelet on your wrist as you meandered along the dark path that led from Amityvale. The trees were drawn too tightly together for you to make out what the weather might be like beyond the dense canopy. You longed to see the sun again, but the desert? That was too much. For all the spells Warlic had cast on you to make your life a little more comfortable (and livable at all) out of the water, you fully anticipated a painful and very dry death when you did get there.

Your master was sending you to investigate rumours of the Orb of Light being somewhere in the Sandsea. Too vague to send any of Falconreach's big heroes unless something actually came of it, so you were being sent on your not-so-merry way instead. 'Expendable', Nythera had snickered as the task was being assigned to you. You had to agree with her there, but your expendable arse would most definitely be coming back to haunt the heck out of Warlic when you died on this job. It would be a distraction until Artix yeeted you on to wherever happened next, at least.

Speaking of Artix and those undead he was so obsessed with slaughtering...

You let out a loud yelp as a groan sounded behind you, throwing yourself out of the way automatically as the zombie lunged forward. Too late, however, and you let out a loud cry of pain as it managed to slice open your side, drawing blood through your armour. Grasping your [weapon] you quickly parried his next blow as he tried to attack you again where you were now on the ground. You rolled on to your feet, adrenaline aiding your movements as you quickly countered with a blow of your own, the creature falling at your feet with a long groan and not moving again. You nudged it with your foot just to be sure, your panic beginning to ebb once you were certain it was really dead (again).

With no more eminent distractions, the fresh wound in your side decided to make itself known again - this time with higher intensity. You let out a long groan of your own, fumbling around with shaking hands in your backpack until you found a potion, which you quickly guzzled. The concoction aided you a little with the pain, but blood still seeped through your fingers, and you knew you really needed to get to a real healer soon if you were to have any chance of surviving.

Not even truly sure if you were going in the right direction to get to the Sandsea anymore you stumbled forward and carried on your way, anxious to get there and be healed as quickly as possible. Your weapon you held limply by your side, too wary of another attack to risk putting it away.

It felt like hours later that you limped out into blinding daylight, and you fell to your knees with a whimper. You shaded your face with your hand, eyes shut tightly as you tried to get up the courage to open them again. There was the unmistakable feel of sand beneath you, but it was too dry, too hot. You wanted to bury yourself in blankets in Warlic's tent and cry at him about how awful it was, except that was impossible right now, and even if it wasn't, he was the one who had done this to you.

You finally managed to look up, flinching at the sudden light in your eyes, and you realised why nobody had been stepping forward to offer you a hand.

Nythera, in the instructions Warlic had told her to give you while he ran off to deal with one of Cysero's accidents, had intentionally or otherwise implied that the village would be right there as soon as you got into the desert from the Amityvale path.

But was there a sign of any kind of settlement for miles in any direction?

Nope.

Zip.

Nada.

...

What the fuck, Nythera?!

You felt your body shivering despite the heat (the massive blood loss was probably a decent answer) as you wondered what you were supposed to do now. Your energy had been draining from you the whole time, and now you weren't even sure you would be able to stand up, let alone get to either Amityvale or the Sandsea. You had been certain this mission would be the death of you, but you had expected to at least get to the damn place first.

"Excuse me, are you _____?"

You glanced around, eyes wide, to see a man coming towards you along the edge of the desert, face obscured as he led a snapping camel calmly along behind him.

"Yes, I'm _____," you managed weakly. This man could effortlessly kill you, regardless of what you decided to do.

"Warlic told us that you would be coming, and that you might be able to help us..." he told you, hesitating a few feet away, "He said you were looking for the Orb of Light?" He waited for your nod before quickly continuing. "We know where it is. If you help us, we can get you to it."

Not really having much of a choice here, and already seeing blackness at the edges of your vision, you slowly nodded.

As soon as he had your agreement you saw the man rush into action, producing a strip of cloth from somewhere and kneeling by your side to wrap it tightly around your wound, before hauling you to your feet, more carrying you than supporting you.

"That will have to do for now," he told you as he dragged you towards his mount, "I'll take you to a proper healer as soon as we get to the Sandsea."

You let out a loud moan of pain as you were dragged onto the snapping camel, and you were only vaguely aware of the creature's gentle rocking movements below you before they lulled you into unconsciousness.