Chapter 14 – A Fourth Voice In Darkness

“Where is Seris!” Darya panted, falling to her knees. The elbow that she got hit with had surely broken something. Searing pain pulsed through her entire body when she moved in that direction.

“Seris!” Fominel yelled. “Seris! Where are you!”

There was no answer. Darya’s blood ran cold. She turned to Fominel as she clutched her stomach. She couldn’t move anymore. “Go, look for her. I’ll be fine!”

“Wh-where did you see her, princess? I dropped her far away?!”

“She was running to tell us Sarka was warping. She was outside the circle, though. Shouldn’t have warped away if you’re worried about that.”

“I-I’ll find her right away!” Fominel said. “Don’t move from here, I’ll be right back!”

“Good,” Darya grunted, rolling to her good side.

She was pretty sure at least one or more of her ribs was broken. She had never broken a bone before. The cursed RLP was letting her feel every bit of it. The corners of her vision were darkening each time she blinked her wet eyelids.

She had no idea how long she lay there curled into a ball. She heard footsteps splashing through puddles and grass at some point.

“Princess!”

She let out a sigh when she heard the high-pitched squeal. Seris was here. Fominel had found her. Darya rolled to face the stormy sky as they approached.

“Oh god! You’re bleeding!” Seris yelled, crashing on her knees.

“I am?” Darya asked tiredly. She hadn’t bothered to check, and with the rain washing everything, she couldn’t tell if it was blood or water.

“Wh-What happened!” Fominel asked, hands over his head. He couldn’t have seen what happened in his rage to slash Sarka.

“Sarka elbowed me,” Darya said, coughing. “It would be funny if I died again.” She raised her head to look at her side.

“You shut it!” Seris slammed her wet palm over her mouth. “Fom! Help me!”

Darya lay still as Fominel and Seris opened her dress. Seris covered her chest with a small towel from her bag. She heard them mutter among themselves while checking the damage on her left side. There were gasps and exclamations as well as several unpleasant pokes that sent thunderbolts of pain through her.

“Cracked three ribs, but it’s clean. It’ll take most of my mana to fix the bones. I’ll heal the rest once we get back to the ship,” Seris said, as she loosened the leather straps of her dress.

“You can save mana if—” Darya started. Seris pinched her lips shut.

“No need to save mana anymore,” she said sternly.

She took a deep breath and exhaled hard, starting a breathing exercise. Darya felt winded just watching her chest shrink and expand.

Seris burst with mana around the tenth exhale. Golden green energy cascaded out of her skin pores.

“Fom, hold the princess down. Don’t let her move her ribs,” she said after her final exhale.

Fominel placed his large hands on Darya’s side, one on the side of her chest under her breast, and the other right below the ribs. He clamped his fingers down and held her still like a plank.

“Hold your breath, princess! Bone healing is tricky business! Fominel said urgently.

Darya did as she was told. This was nothing like healing in the VRMMO, where she could drink a health potion to fix everything. Seris was going to mend bones with mana somehow. It had to be an intricate process.

Seris burst with mana after the last exhale, her eyes glowing white-green like headlights. Her skin glowed all over as she started tracing over Darya’s ribs with the wand. Sparks and vapor trails burst from that direction. It looked more like welding than healing. Her wand pulsed with condensed mana, spreading through Darya from within. All her bones vibrated whenever the tip of the wand touched her ribs.

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She knew this was going to be painful if Seris actually let her feel it. She was doing something else to numb the pain at the same time. Bone healing was the same level of unpleasant as a dentist drilling a numbed tooth.

Seris kept going over each rib with her wand until the green glow died down. At some point, Darya felt things correct themselves inside her. Fractured pieces clicked into place and hardened each time Seris rubbed the wand tip over her skin. Seris’s eyes returned to normal, and she sighed exhaustedly.

“That’s all I could do,” she said, sitting on the grass.

“All you could do? I feel better already,” Darya said. She wasn’t sure if she was allowed to move or not.

Fominel released his tight grip and shook his arms, letting blood flow back into his stiff fingers.

“It’s not fully fixed. If you move too much, it’ll crack again, dammit. I was close,” Seris said dejectedly. “No matter, let’s go back to the ship.”

Seris took the towel from Darya’s chest and laid it on her side. Together with Fominel, she wrapped Darya’s entire torso with bandages. Darya was mummified by the time she was allowed to stand again, but she wasn’t allowed to walk on her own. Fominel swept her off the ground and carried her carefully.

“That Sarka warped again,” Seris said, casting a blob of light from the tip of her wand.