1.43 Back to the Start

''Elania?'' 

Someone was calling for me. 

''Elania?'' 

Five more minutes please. 

''Elania?'' A female voice practically shouted. 

My head hurts. 

''Elania?'' Somebody shook my shoulders wildly. 

Where was I? 

''Elania!'' 

I opened my eyes to see Velariah's eyes peer into mine. 

''Elania, are you alright?'' She asked. 

My mind wasn't even with me. Pain was still coursing through my body. What happened? 

Oh, shit my leg. 

I quickly turned my head to see half of my last leg still missing. The pain from the missing limb was still intense, but it seemed to have stopped bleeding. I would live at least. 

What about the troll? 

I looked further behind me to see the troll still lying face down in the grass. It seemed we managed to finish him off before I collapsed.  

''Elania, answer me!'' Velariah called out.  

I looked at her and saw tears in her eyes.  

''I'm fine? I think?''  

The pain was still bad. Not in the passing out from pain kind of way, but still severe.  

Velariah hugged me and my head fell back on my behind.  

It wasn't that bad, was it? 

Sure, I was missing a leg, I had seven more though, I could still walk. The fact that I was alive was already a blessing for me. 

Would healing magic cause it to grow back? 

Why did I choose this life again? 

''It hurts.'' I said in a soft voice. 

''Elania, you lost a fucking leg, of course it hurts. I'm so glad you're alive!'' Velariah screamed with joy. ''It seems Nira managed to patch you up well enough to stop the bleeding.'' 

How badly did I fuck up to deserve her as worried as this? 

Wait, who is Nira? 

I looked around to see my companions stand around me. Among them was the female harpy that was bound to the pole earlier. She, like the others, had a slightly worried expression plastered on her face.  

''Is Draco okay?'' I asked no one in particular. 

I remembered him taking a heavy blow to the chest before I got him out of harm's way. 

''I'm fine miss Elania.'' The lizardman said as he stepped forward. ''Thanks to you and Nira.'' 

''Nira?'' I asked as I looked at the harpy. 

''H-hi.'' She spoke softly as she tried to cover her tattered clothes. 

''You're a healer?'' I asked with the elf still hugging me tightly.  

Seriously Vel, keep this up and the others might get ideas. 

She nodded and replied with a meek ''Yes''. 

How lucky to have found her. That just proves how valuable a healer can be in a party.  

''Can you walk?'' Velariah asked me as she released me. 

''I think so.'' I answered. 

I tried to stand and managed. Draco handed me another yellow potion. I doubted it would help considering the last painkiller potion hadn't done much, but I drank its contents without complaint. The familiar warmth instantly shot to the stump of my leg before settling down, easing the pain somewhat in the process. 

How long was I out for? What time was it? 

I just now noticed the red glow of evening had already set in. I must have been out for a couple of hours at least.  

''Where are we going?'' I asked Velariah who was walking in front of me.  

''I thought we should settle in the cave for the night. It's going to be dark soon. We're not going to make it back to Dawnleaf with you in that state in time.'' 

The cave... that cave... 

It made sense to take shelter in here for the night. It was an excellent spot but it just gave me an eerie feeling. Somehow, I ended up back here.  

It seemed Draco had collected his large axe from before and he laid it on the floor in the cave before going back and to chop down a smaller tree for firewood.  

I walked into my old home to find some old looking weapons spread out across the floor and a dusty old chest. It seemed the trolls had made some kind of camp here.  

I could still see my old blood on the wall and Seralyn even brought up that there was blood on the wall. I ignored the comment and settled down in my same old spot.  

I took a look behind me at my leg and winced from the sight. I could still move the top part around, but without a part reaching the ground it would be pretty pointless. I really hoped I could get one of the treemenders to look into the issue. I would be disappointed if there wasn't a way to recover lost limbs. 

I had hopes, but deep down I knew it wouldn't happen. I had seen what I believed to be ex-adventurers without arms pass by the guild hall every now and then. If healing magic was able to recover limbs, I imagined they would have them fixed up. 

I would have to learn to live with this, I guessed. Thankfully this wouldn't leave me a cripple in any way. It just may take some time adjusting to.  

'Just when I was getting used to it too.' I sighed. 

Velariah sat down close next to and leaned against me.  

''I'll be fine.'' I told her again, feeling she was overreacting. 

Seralyn handed me a canteen of water. I wasn't that thirsty but emptied it anyway to please the worried elf next to me. I tried to relax a few minutes, letting the effects of the potion set in properly before I turned my attention to the harpy who seemed to be quite uncomfortable with her clothes. She was using her wings to cover parts of herself. 

''So, Nira yes?'' I asked. 

She nodded in response. 

''How did you get caught up in this mess?'' 

She was the first harpy I'd seen in this world and she was bound to a pole when I first laid eyes upon her. She shouldn't be that easy to catch, considering she could fly, right? 

''Paralytic poison.'' Her soft voice came. ''I was out on a scouting mission for the guild and got hit by an arrow mid-flight. It caused me to crash to the ground and I was soon captured by goblins.'' 

Her mood soured. 

''Soon after, these trolls showed up and obliterated the goblins that captured me and took me for themselves. They... they...'' She swallowed. I could see a tear run down her face. 

''They mutilated me and laughed at me. They would then knock me unconscious only to repeat the same process when I came to.'' 

I gasped as she told me about the hell she'd been through. 

''Velariah. Could you help her with her clothes?'' I asked. 

''But how? I don't-'' I nodded to my rear which interrupted her sentence. 

''Are you sure?'' She asked. 

''Yes.'' I answered.  

She should get something to cover herself properly. This wouldn't do. 

Velariah gently touched my spinnerets as I created some silk for this poor girl to cover herself with. 

Nira continued talking.  

''Draco, I believe it was? He handed me a healing and an energy potion. It allowed me to recover some strength that I used to heal you. You looked like you could use it.'' She finished meekly. 

''Thank you Nira. I appreciate your help greatly.'' 

''No, I should thank you for freeing me. I don't think I would have lasted much longer...'' 

Seralyn sat in a corner and quietly worked on re-attaching some of her arrows to their heads. 

Velariah was creating small laps of silk that the harpy could use to cover herself.  

I noticed Nira wasn't wearing an adventurer's tag so I asked her what happened to it. 

She shook her head. 

''Lost it when I fell down. I'll need to get a replacement one from the guild...'' 

What a mess this whole quest turned out to be. At least we had finished it and could get paid. The reward was a juicy twenty gold pieces. 

I think I'd rather have my leg back, though... 

This whole situation had me almost giving up on adventuring business, almost. I wasn't going to be able to live a quiet, simple life. There would always be people coming out to hunt me simply because of the half monster that was this body. No, if I wanted to live, live at all, I would have to grow stronger to defend myself. 

Velariah tapped my behind and I stopped producing silk. The elf then took the strip of silk and wrapped it around the harpy's body, covering up her exposed skin and reducing her anxiety visibly. She even let out a small smile. 

Draco returned with a couple of logs and put them down in the exact position where I had created my own fire about two weeks ago. He then put his bag against the wall and pulled out a self-igniting torch that he used to set the logs alight.  

Seralyn pried open the chest that sat at the far end of the cave with my discarded spear. I took Velariah in for a side hug with my left arms to put her more at ease. 

Then Seralyn's voice called out. 

''Guys, I think we may have something here.''  

''What is it?'' I asked without even looking in her direction. 

The clinking of coins grabbed my attention and I looked over to her. She put a hand in the chest before lifting it up, allowing silver coins to glide through her fingers back into the chest. 

''No way.'' Velariah let out as she broke the hug. ''Lemme see that.'' 

It seemed Velariah was starting to regain her composure. I wasn't sure how to feel about it. I felt kind of sad when breaking the hug.  

Nira seemed curious, but didn't bother to check. She seemed fixated on a rabbit that Draco was holding over the fire on a stick. 

Poor thing, she was probably starving.  

A grumble coming from her direction confirmed my suspicion. 

I reached over to Draco's bag and pulled out an apple and gave it to the harpy. 

''Here, eat something.'' I spoke. ''I'm pretty sure Seralyn can hunt more for us. You don't mind giving her that one, do you Draco?'' I turned my attention to the lizardman. 

''Was already planning on doing that.'' He said without turning around. 

Such a gentleman.  

''What was that you just said?'' Seralyn joined the conversation. ''You know how hard it was to catch that one?''  

Such a greedy elf. 

''For your aim? Probably not that hard.'' I said. 

''Okay, maybe not, but still!'' 

''Go get another one.'' I sighed. ''Before it gets dark.'' 

''Ugh, fine...'' She let out as she left the cave, bow in hand. 

Velariah moved back to me, dragging the seemingly heavy chest over the stone floor and putting it next to me. 

''Looks like we hit the jackpot.'' She said happily. 

''How much is it?'' I asked. 

''Dunno, I'm gonna count it now.'' She sat down next to me and held the chest upside down, dropping the contents on the floor. Many silver coins rained from the chest, there were a few gold and copper ones mixed in between. One object however caught my attention and caused shock to flow through me. 

Between the coins I saw a certain object, something which I'd seen before.  

A miniature wooden rabbit.  

I took the object and observed it closely. There was no doubt, this was an exact copy of the rabbit that I buried with the adventurer that had attacked me very early on.  

Velariah looked at me. 

''What's that?'' 

''I don't know, but I have seen one of these before. Remember that one square coin that your dad confiscated?''  

I was careful not to mention the material. I had no idea how Nira and Draco would react to it if they overheard this conversation. 

''Yes.'' She affirmed. 

''I got that coin from an adventurer that carried an exact copy of this.'' I held the wooden rabbit close to her. ''There is no doubt in my mind that this money and that adventurer are connected in some way.''  

''Do you think we should warm him?'' She inquired. 

''I have no idea what to do, honestly. The money would be more than welcome, have you heard anything about your dad's progress into his research on where that coin came from?'' 

Velariah shook her head. 

''Nothing yet, but I believe he is still working on that. He is doing far too many things at once.'' 

''Yea, I can see that. He is buried in books all the time.'' I responded. 

''To be honest.'' Velariah started. ''We should tell him about this, I doubt he will have issues with us keeping the money, finders keepers after all. I doubt he will keep that coin from you forever. I have a feeling you will get it back, eventually.'' 

I hoped so. It would be great to get this inherity ritual thing out of the way so I could spend money on equipment without thinking twice about it. I was glad we invested in equipment and prepared for this fight as best as we had. I think we would have been in a lot more trouble if we hadn't... 

''That would be great.'' I said absent-mindedly.  

I was still lost in thought about this whole ordeal. How did these trolls get their hands on this chest? Where did it come from? Who did it belong to?  

The pain coming from my leg stump didn't help in trying to figure this out. I concluded that I simply didn't have enough information to go on and that the simplest way to figure out what was going on was probably to contact Valtheril and have him use his connections instead.  

Velariah started putting the silver coins back in the chest while counting them. A few minutes later she finished and put in the few gold coins that were left behind. 

''That's ninety-six silver and fourteen gold pieces. That's almost twenty-five gold in total. That's quite the haul.'' Velariah said optimistically. ''Do you have any idea where these trolls got this from?'' She turned her attention to Nira.  

The harpy shook her head. 

''I never saw them bring it in from anywhere, it must have already been there by the time they bound me to that pole. That, or they brought it in while I was unconscious.'' 

Seralyn walked back into the cave and proudly held up three rabbits. Not a moment too soon either as darkness was quickly setting in. 

''See, I told you you could do it. You go girl!'' I sarcastically cheered her on. 

''Seems you're feeling a whole lot better already, aren't you?'' She retorted. 

''Well, what can I say, I still have seven more legs I can walk on. You losing one would be much more of an issue.'' I fired back. 

''Whatever.'' She simply said as she started skinning the rabbits with a knife she pulled out of Draco's backpack. 

Victory! 

It was sad I lost a leg but I had at least won this argument. Seriously, I didn't even know how I could think this lightly of it. That couldn't be right. 

''Velariah, do you know if those treemenders can recover lost limbs?'' I asked her as she leaned against me once more. 

Her face became one filled with sadness. 

''For us elves and humans, no. I am afraid they can't. I have no idea if spiders fall under the same category.'' 

''I'm not a spider though, well, not fully anyway.''  

''Well, no, but your leg is.'' She spoke. 

''Fair point...'' I spoke. ''We'd have to check I guess.'' I sighed. 

I really shouldn't get my hopes up.  

Would molting allow lost limbs to regrow? It didn't seem out of the realm of possibilities. I hoped it was a thing but I couldn't be sure.  

Hope was a dangerous drug…

''Nira, how do you heal people anyway? Don't you need some kind of source, a staff or something?'' 

She nodded as she was still running her fingers over the silk that now covered up the tears in her clothing.  

''I do, but I can do some healing without. Here...'' She pulled away the hair covering her ears.  

She had small pointy ears with feathers sticking out behind them. In her lobes were two earrings which each had a green orb the size of a marble.  

''I was lucky that the trolls and goblins didn't find them, they would have likely taken those too...'' 

''So you had some kind of staff?'' I inquired. 

She nodded. 

''I use a small wand that doesn’t hinder my ability to fly. The goblins took it from me, I don't believe the trolls brought it with them.'' 

She looked at the rabbit that Draco was cooking and then stared at the ground again. 

''What’s wrong Nira?'' Velariah asked politely. 

''I don't know how to thank you. You've been so kind to me.'' She said in her soft voice. 

I sighed. Was this simple act of kindness considered such a big deal here?  

''It's fine. You were a great help with Elania and Draco too.'' 

Draco appeared to have finished cooking the rabbit as he handed the stick to the harpy. 

''Thank you so much.'' She thanked us again as she started digging in. 

Seralyn handed a skinned rabbit to Draco who then pierced it with another stick and started cooking it. Both of them were awfully quiet. I couldn't blame them, Nira's story left me with much to think about as well. 

Her story, combined with the wooden rabbit and the chest of coins all demanded answers. What were the trolls even doing in this area? Was it normal for them to be here? Was me awakening here connected to all this? 

I hoped they didn't do anything extreme to Nira... 

I simply observed Draco cooking. Velariah still hugged my side and Seralyn was working on the next catch. Nira was eating happily and her enjoyment seemed to infect me as well.  

I started to smile at seeing her mood improve considerably. Through all the pain in my leg, I still managed to do that. 

''How you holding up?'' Velariah asked me. 

''Pain, but I guess that will fade.'' I sighed. ''Eventually...'' 

''You better not do that again.'' Velariah lectured me. 

''What? And leave Draco to die? You know you can't make me do that...'' 

''I didn't mean that, dummy. I meant you better not get yourself hurt like that again.'' She elaborated. 

''Yes, mom. I wasn't planning to, anyway.'' I rolled my eyes. 

''I'm serious!'' She said loudly. 

''Seems Miss Leafguard has got the weirdest leg fetish.'' Seralyn interjected with a giggle. ''This must really hurt her.'' 

''Well, yeah.'' Velariah admitted. 

Vel, what the hell? 

I buried my face in my hands, earning more giggles from the brunette.  

''You guys seem to be getting along well.'' Nira said softly between two bites.  

''A little too much.'' Seralyn added. 

Velariah ignored the other elf and asked if I wanted another painkiller. 

How many did she bring? 

I shook my head. ''I'll just go to sleep soon and hope it's not as bad tomorrow.'' 

''You don't want anything to eat?'' Draco asked. 

''No, I'll be fine.'' I replied. ''That is, if I can sleep.'' 

''Should be fine with Velariah as pillow.'' Seralyn said. 

Damn this elf.  

''I'll gladly be her pillow.'' Velariah smiled.  

I sighed. This was going to be a long night once again. 

Faragi

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