Lumina readily took the help and was easily lifted to her feet. Arm still throbbing, a massive headache and mild dizziness accompanied her as she stood there slowly getting her posture back. Milli couldn’t help but laugh, causing Lumina more pain from her headache. “That’s what you get after chugging two bottles of Moondew. That stuff will put even me into the ground if I’m not careful. But at least you slept well.”
Finally stable, Lumina took a few steps making sure that she wasn’t going to fall over. “Let’s head back home and get you cleaned up. Your face looks like it was punched by me.” Lumina let out a small chuckle and grabbed her small pack near the dead campfire. She paused a second looking at her now useless shield that had a large hole in it.
Milli picked up the shield, “Looks like we will have to get you a new shield. Good thing I have just what you need back at the house.” Lumina’s ears perked up hearing that she might be getting a new shield. “What? You survived my test. There needs to be some adequate reward for the idiot that asked me to train them.” Milli said with a smile as she went about packing up the rest of the camp.
Lumina shook her head; it had been two years since she was last home. She wondered if anything changed in that time, or if they would come back to find everything like normal. Looking back on what she had done in that time frame made her shudder more than once. She had nearly died numerous times, and she couldn’t figure out how she survived. Was Milli really that good at controlling the situation? Or was she downright lucky?
A light rapping on the head from Milli brought Lumina out of her thoughts. Looking around she saw that the camp was already dismantled, the campfire gone. It was almost as if they had never rested in the area. “You doing alright? You don’t have any internal head injuries, do you?” Milli asked as she looked down at her student.
Lumina resituated her pack after attaching her helmet and pierced shield to it. It took a little more time than usual due to the fact that she only had one hand that she could use without excruciating pain. Once ready however, she was easily able to keep up with Milli as they walked back home. “My guess is that we’ll get home in about two days of travel on foot. Think you can survive til then?” Lumina reassured Milli that she could still walk just fine despite the fact that her body still ached all over and her headache still persisted.
“Finally! We’re home!”
Both Elrin and Eldin relaxed when they heard the familiar overly loud voice. “They’re back.” Elrin said with a smile as he got up to go greet Milli and Lumina at the door. “Did you really need to train for two years? You didn’t even let me know where you went or…” Elrin paused as he finally got a look at Lumina. He let out a large sigh as he brought his hand to his forehead. “What happened?” Elrin asked, obviously referring to Lumina’s haggard state and pulpy face. Milli simply smiled. “What’s it look like? We got into a fight and tried to kill each other.” She laughed while walking past Elrin straight to the kitchen.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Lumina’s keen hearing picked up on a stifled chuckle from the living room. No doubt Eldin finding the entire situation humorous. She flinched slightly when Elrin gently touched her face and then looked at her injured shoulder. “Did you really try to kill each other?” Lumina nodded, she wanted to say more, but talking was painful. Elrin led her to his study for treatment.
Eldin couldn’t hold back the laughter when he finally caught a glimpse of Lumina. He felt bad, but the entire situation along with the sudden entrance didn’t really give him much time to fully understand what had happened. His natural reaction was more him laughing at himself for not knowing what was going on.
Inside the study, Lumina found herself sitting in the same chair she had sat in many times over the years. Elrin closed the door then walked over to stand in front of her. It was just the two of them in his study, “What happened?” He asked in a more serious tone as he continued to examine Lumina for any other damage while helping remove her armor. As painful as it was to speak, Lumina kept her tone steady and clear as she explained her last fight to him.
By the time her story was finished, Elrin had gotten the last of the armor removed and had finished his inspection. “Three facial fractures, numerous contusions, possible concussion, a maimed shoulder, and a torn elbow ligament. Anything else I missed?”
“Two entire bottles of Moondew shortly after.” Lumina added in. She could tell that he was quite surprised despite him maintaining a neutral expression.
Elrin couldn’t believe it. From the injuries Lumina had sustained, it was clearly evident that Milli had indeed tried to kill her. Yet she was alive, and able to walk back home. Grabbing a towel and clean water he began clearing the dust, grime, and caked blood from Lumina’s face and shoulder. She wanted to cry out in pain as he started applying alcohol to the various wounds. Especially when he started to clean out her punctured shoulder. “Restorative magic can only do so much. If these injuries aren’t properly cleaned, you’ll get a bad infection and probably lose your left arm.”
Restorative magic is extremely powerful. It causes a person’s injuries to repair at a rapid rate. That being said, it is extremely taxing on the individual being restored as it will pull additional resources and energy to sustain the accelerated growth. If a person is too badly injured, this life saving magic could very easily kill them instead.
Lumina did her best to sit still, but the feeling of alcohol inside an open wound like her shoulder was unbearable. After what seemed like an eternity, Elrin finally began using his restorative magic. A soothing feeling of relaxation washed over her. Then she felt it, the drain. Even though her pain was starting to disappear, Lumina rapidly began to feel weak, she slumped a little in her chair as Elrin continued.
Once he finished closing up the wound, Elrin noticed that Lumina had nearly passed out. He got a cup of water and went over to a dresser in the corner of his study. Opening a single drawer revealed a myriad of vials and bottles each labeled holding varying ingredients. Some held liquids, others powder, one of them had a completely preserved flower.
Grabbing a few of the bottles, Elrin went to his desk and began measuring out various materials before adding them to the cup of water. The once clear liquid was now a swampy brown. He brought it over and helped Lumina finish its contents. If she wasn’t already so drained, Lumina would have said something about how awful it tasted. “That’s enough for today. As much as I wanted to get your face healed, that shoulder was far more serious.”