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

Chapter 1

The mouthful of sand was the main thing your mind was focused on when you came to the first time round. Muffled yells you couldn't really make out, someone being dragged past you, before moments later you were being lifted from where you were face-planting the ground, hauled over someone's shoulder with about as much grace as a sack of potatoes before a dreamless sleep retook you.

The next time you came to you were moving again. These movements were less smooth than those of the snapping camel. You'd been horse-riding a couple of times before (and hated it) and you figured that was what was happening now. You were vaguely aware of your back being flush against someone's chest, strong arms to either side of you, but you didn't have time to dwell on it as you slipped into unconsciousness once more.

The third time you awoke was the final time. You managed to open your eyes this time, stinging as they were in protest, to find yourself looking around a darkened room. You shifted slightly in the bed you'd been laid in, only to groan in pain, moving a hand to your now bandaged side. The sound drew the attention of the person sitting cross-legged in the middle of the room - someone you wouldn't even have noticed if you hadn't caught the movement as their head snapped round to look at you. They stood but didn't make a move to help as you heaved yourself up to sit against the headboard.

You yawned widely as the figure silently approached, only to pause midway through bringing your hand up to rub at your eyes when you saw [light/dark/medium] blue skin. As opposed to the [s/c] you usually sported (with a tint of blue in certain lightings) curtesy of...

Your train of thought screeched to a halt as the stranger picked up the illusion bracelet Warlic had enchanted for you from atop the small chest of drawers beside the bed, and held it out to you. You were unable to make out any of their features in the dark.

"Your wound was poisoned," the man told you, his voice unfamiliar to you as he strode away as soon as you had taken the item from him. He pulled a board away from a small window and you hissed, flinching away as harsh sunlight suddenly streamed into the room. "You've been unconscious for two days. Your crystal has been vibrating. Incessantly."

You reached automatically for where the crystal in question usually hung on a leather cord around your neck only to find it missing. So was your shirt, for that matter, and you took a moment to comprehend the fact that this man had stripped you down to your underwear before you reached for your crystal, on the chest of drawers beside you. It lay dull and lifeless over your fingers.

"Well, it's not now," you mumbled, more to yourself than to him as you pulled the cord over your head and returned the bracelet to your wrist, watching the [s/c] spread from the device and over your arm until it had taken over your whole body.

"That's what worries me," the man answered anyway, but you merely shrugged. Warlic would be worried, and annoyed, about you not answering.

It would serve him right.

"So, that guy I was with," you tried, calling over to the man, who was staring out the window as if waiting for something. "You didn't happen to see where he went when he left me to die, did you?"

"He was taken to the palace dungeons," the man answered, not looking at you. "What happens to them after that I don't know, and I don't care."

"Nooooo..." you let out the low groan, slumping into the pillows, at the thought of losing your only lead in the most significant task Warlic had ever given you, and the man fixed you with a stare.

"I was the one who dragged him there." You tensed up at his words.

"Did I say 'no'?" You let out a nervous laugh, "I meant 'yay'?"