Curse Uncurse - ONC 2020 [Completed]

Chapter 14: Beat the Prophecy

Every part of his body is pulsing from the overuse of his magic. Raw and battered, his muscles scream at him not to use them. His vision fogs and he has to stop, hand clenching tight over a rock he holds onto as he shuts his eyes for a moment. Else he'll end up splattered on the dirt. 

"You can do it! One step at the time," Vid encourages him from beneath, but he doesn't know if he can move anymore.

He's just so tired, he could sleep for two days straight.

"Come on! Just a few more steps and then you can jump. I'll catch you."

Plamen looks down over his shoulder. Vid, with his arms loosely outstretched in front, smiles at him, almost beaming, in an attempt to look reassuring. His arms look like twigs that would break under Plamen's weight.

With a tired sigh, Plamen continues his descent down the nearly vertical slope with only a few cracks and irregularities where he can insert his limbs.

It takes him a long time, though it probably feels even longer from how much his body protests at any kind of movement. Even worse, his bloodied shirt pulls on the wounds left by that big bird. Wait... Where did the bird go? After his fight with the guy controlling it, the bird just disappeared. No. it just didn't come back. Plamen is quite sure he saw it flying off to somewhere.

His hand slips and gravity pulls him backward so he does the only sensible thing left: he pushes against the stone with his feet so he doesn't hit the rocks on his way down. He's falling, flapping his arms, and then collides with something warm, landing into a pile of limbs.

Oh, gods. It hurts. There's a possibility he's crying because he landed on his back because it feels like a raging inferno because his breath catches in his throat and he can't breathe.

He thinks he's groaning. Or maybe moaning. An hour passes, or maybe just a minute. He doesn't know. It's dark. So dark...

"Hey, it's okay. You're going to be just fine."

He grips onto that voice with all his might because a small part of his mind acknowledges the fact that he can't fall asleep right now, no matter how much his body cries out for relief.

He breathes through his nose, tempering pain, pushing it to the back of his mind. Once he feels slightly better, he notices soft warmth under his back. What..?

That same soft warmth moves. Oh. Oh.

Vid did catch him, he realizes, somewhat gleeful and partially grateful for not landing on the hard earth.

It's time to get up, at least to a sitting position. So he does. And nearly conks out. His nerves fire pain signals back to his brain and at that moment the only thing existing is a blanket of pain, so clear, so sharp, unquenchable.

When he finally comes to, he realizes Vid must have held him up. Otherwise, he would be eating dirt by now.

Wiry but supple arms are caging him in while fingers hold his head still. No, not just holding. A cold swish of magic is intermingled there. Something, some kind of spell. Healing? Maybe. He does feel much much better than before, although that doesn't mean much considering he felt like shit a minute ago

In the following instance, Plamen realizes this might have been the most shameful moment of his young life. He's sitting on the ground, Vid behind him holding his upper body up with hands, and grounding his sitting position with legs encircling him. He should be the one who is strong and reliable. Well, that went out of the window the moment he got himself incapacitated.

"I'm fine," he tries to say, but it steams out of his mouth as a garbled mess of vowels. Could he be more pitiful?

"Shh...you'll be fine."