Chapter 19
It’s dark, and I am once again in the forest. This is all so familiar, and I’m not surprised when the large black wolf comes slinking toward me, the two others right behind it.
As its red eyes lock onto mine, I stand my ground.
I’m not afraid of these things anymore. Still, it’s hard not to feel nervous when it crouches to attack, or panic when it leaps at me.
Just as I expect to feel its jaws connecting with my flesh, there’s a flash of light and a crack of thunder, and the only ones flinching are the wolves.
They look on in anger as the bright light surrounds me, snarling as they return to the forest from where they came.
“Nngh... You better fucking run...” I mumble, waking from my dream.
“David?” A concerned voice on my left asks. “He is awake!”
“Oh my god, really?”
“I told you he would be alright!”
“Why are you all yelling?” I open my eyes just enough to make out a green shaped blur before I close them again. The light in the room is way too bright.
“Why are we...” Khazak laughs before reaching out and squeezing my arm. “We are just happy you are okay.”
“Why wouldn’t I...?” My eyes finally adjust to the room, and I realize I’m not at home. I’m lying alone in a huge bed with all my friends crowded around me. Like, everyone: Adam and the rest of my team, Ragnar and Nylan, some of Khazak’s family, the other rangers. What? “Where are we?”
“The healer’s clinic,” he answers for me, looking concerned. “David... Do you remember what happened in the forest? In the temple?”
“No, what—”
“David, you’ve been asleep for five days.” Adam says on my right. “They said you died.”
As soon as the word is out of his mouth, the memories flood back.
Covering for Ragnar in the forest. Getting attacked at the campsite by other rangers.
Finding Murbank and his cult in the temple ruins.
Rescuing Nylan and getting a giant sword through my chest as a thank you.
I quickly look down, surprised to see it unbandaged.
Instead, down the center of my chest, right over my heart, is a jagged, golden colored scar.
It stretches from below my collarbone to right under my rib cage.
“What is this?” I run my fingers over the scar, unsure of why I’m not feeling any pain. “Five days? What happened?”
“I would like to see if I can figure that out myself,” a new voice from behind the crowd answers, bodies parting to make room for who I assume is the healer.
“But first, I am going to need everyone except the captain and the two of you to exit the room.” She points at Adam and Corrine with two fingers.
With some minor bellyaching, the rest of my friends, orc and non-orc alike, file out of the room.
“David, this is Doctor Brightmarsh,” Khazak introduces me to the woman now standing at the side of my bed. She’s dressed nicely, wearing a cloak over a more formal shirt and pants.
“I am glad to see you awake,” the doctor tells me. “How are you feeling?”
“Alright, I guess.” Physically, at least.
“That is good.” She gives me a small smile. “You have been unconscious for some time. Your friends have been very concerned for you. These two are the leader and healer of the group you are traveling with, correct?” She indicates Adam and Corrine again.
“Yes...” The way she wants to be sure the two of them are here is making me nervous. “Am I okay?”
“Short of being unconscious and the appearance of this scar, I was unable to find anything amiss,” the doctor looks at me skeptically. “You seem to be in perfect physical health.”
“I mean, something definitely happened to me.” Right?
“No, David. I really mean perfect health. I cannot find anything wrong with you. No injuries, not a single scratch. Even this scar…” She hovers her fingers over the gold skin on my chest. “Normally, scar tissue is weaker than the tissue it has replaced. Magic cannot heal it without first removing the old tissue. But this scar? It appears to be just as strong and healthy as the rest of your skin.”
“What about his internal injuries?” Corrine asks, her voice sounding a little hoarse, and I notice that it looks like she’s been crying.
“As with his skin, I can find absolutely nothing wrong with his bones, muscles, or organs.” Doctor Brightmarsh touches my shoulder. “You have a smaller, matching golden scar on your back, and I presume your internal injuries look similar.”
“I’ll continue to monitor him like you asked, just to be on the safe side,” Corrine tells the doctor.
“Thank you. I know it may not be possible to take his full vitals while traveling. Just do what you are able,” the doctor replies.
“Since she’s the team healer, the doctor wanted Corrine to keep an eye on you once we start traveling again,” Adam tells me after seeing my confusion. “Turns out there’s a lot more to healing than just magic. She actually knows a lot about medical stuff.”
“Got it.” Still don’t like being talked about like I’m not here.
“Now, David, I know you have been through something traumatic, but we still do not know what actually happened.” The doctor touches my shoulder again. “Do you think you could walk us through what you remember of the events from five nights ago?”
“Uh, yeah. Okay.” I nod slowly, nerves already rising.
“I remember being attacked at the camp and running, then trying to hide in the temple and getting captured. They tried to beat the info of us, caught Nylan and Ragnar, and then I used a smoke bomb to start a fight. I remember Nylan getting away and then I...” I can still feel the sword sinking into my chest. The way everything got so cold.
The loud whispering. “I died. Wait, do you remember when I told you about the ringing noise in the temple I kept hearing?” I ask everyone but the doctor.
“Yes. You told me about that. but in the confusion and stress of the bombings, we completely forgot to follow up. Did it happen again?” Khazak asks, concerned.
“At first, but when they finally removed the lead box covering the altar, it changed.” I’m probably going to sound crazy. “It turned into whispering.”
“Whispering? Actual voices?” Corrine is very interested. “Could you hear what they were saying?”
“Kind of? I couldn’t really understand any of it.” Could barely even hear it, at first. “But when I was dying, it got louder. And then...” Wait, did something else happen after that? “I guess I came back to life.”
“Very curious.” The doctor is just as interested but still clueless like the rest of us. “What can you remember about that?”
“It was weird. I knew I had died, but it was like I didn’t care.
” I remember how I stood up and just started.
..doing things. “I was still in control, but there was something else driving me. Like I had a mission, pushing me forward. But it was all emotion. I remember feeling angry—so angry, and I just started to—” I cut myself off, unable to continue as the violence I caused flashes through my head.
“I don’t remember what happened after that or passing out. ”
“After hearing some of the other survivors’ accounts, I initially suspected some sort of possession, but I was able to rule that out fairly quickly.
” I try to ignore that she used the word survivor.
“I’ve brought in additional spellcasters of all types, but none have been able to determine exactly what was done to you.
We know there was a spell, and that it has magically altered you in some way during, or perhaps because of, your revival.
Your magical aura has grown extremely bright. ”
“I don’t understand. How does someone just come back to life?” This doesn’t feel real.
“Magical resurrections are possible.” I look at the doctor, confused. They are?
“They’ve actually been pretty well documented,” Corrine adds.
“Yes, but unfortunately none of the details of your resurrection match up with any of those,” the doctor offers with a frown.
“There is not a magic user powerful enough for something like that within five-hundred miles of the city, perhaps even farther. I am at a complete loss as to how this cult managed to pull off what they did. Captain, would you mind filling in the rest?”
“Of course,” Khazak answers with a nod. “We had been in the temple for at least an hour. I was feeling the effects of the poison and the beating, so I was sluggish and unfocused.” Khazak looks directly at me next.
“When you set off the smoke bomb, Glasha, Ragnar, and I attacked our guards while you ran for Murbank. You jumped onto him, which freed Nylan and allowed him to escape.” He pauses, looking down.
“Then I watched as Redwish picked you up and ran you through with the sword.”
“That sword, correct?” The doctor points to a corner of the room, and leaning against it is the old looking scabbard, metal hilt shining in the light of the room. Something about seeing it here, having it so close, makes the bottom of my stomach drop out.
“Yes.” Khazak nods stiffly, swallowing thickly. “He pulled the sword out of your chest, and you fell onto the altar as you bled out. I saw the life drain from your eyes, and then...”
“What?” I can remember this, when things started to go dark, but after that... “What happened?”
“First, the storm outside seemed to grow even stronger.” He’s able to look at me again.
“The wind was howling through the cave tunnel, and the lightning and thunder became more frequent, louder. Then it was as if the mountain itself had been struck. The whole room started shaking as a bolt of lightning came down through the temple ceiling and struck your body. It was terrifying, but I couldn’t look away as your body convulsed.
Then it stopped, and you were still. Until you were not. ”