Aetheria

Aetheria

Chapter 4: What the Water Kept

The road became harder as the light faded.

Mira had stopped counting how often she lowered the stretcher.

At first, she had tried to choose good places to rest: flat stretches of road, broad roots that could support one end, patches of dry ground where Corin would not be jolted when she set him down. After a while, she stopped being selective. Whenever her shoulder began shaking badly enough that the rope slipped, she stopped wherever she happened to be.

Corin woke during one of those rests.

Mira had lowered herself beside the stretcher and was attempting to tighten the splint around her forearm using her teeth and one hand. The cloth had loosened again, allowing the fractured bones to shift whenever she put weight through the arm.

"Give me that."

His voice was rough.

Mira looked over.

He was awake, though only barely. Sweat covered his forehead despite the cooling air.

"What?"

"The end of the cloth."

Mira hesitated before moving closer.

Corin took the loose strip between his fingers. His hands shook as well, but he managed to pull the knot tight while Mira held the branch against her arm.

"Too much?"

"No."

He tightened it a little farther.

Pain climbed toward Mira's shoulder.

"That much."

Corin tied it off.

Mira tested her fingers. They moved, although the last two responded more slowly than the others.

"Thank you."

He settled back against the folded blanket beneath his head. After taking several slow breaths, he said, "I'm Corin."

Mira looked at him.

The introduction seemed strangely late considering she had already fought three goblins for him, treated his leg and spent a considerable amount of time dragging him through a forest.

"Mira."

"I remember."

His eyes closed again.

Mira picked up the spear.

Corin opened one eye. "You're going already?"

"We're still a long way from Eastmere."

"You're going to break something else."

Mira glanced at her splinted arm.

"Probably."

Corin gave a tired huff through his nose and let his head sink back.

Mira slipped the rope harness over her shoulder again.

The weight returned immediately.

She planted the spear, leaned forward and pulled.

The stretcher moved.

The road descended for some time before the trees finally opened around a shallow valley.

Mira heard the river before she saw it.

Water meant open ground, which meant fewer roots for the stretcher to catch against. After the last hour, that sounded wonderful.

Then she reached the bottom of the slope and saw how the road crossed it.

A broad stone bridge would have been convenient.

Instead, an old wooden footbridge stretched across a slow-moving branch of the river. It was wide enough for perhaps two people to walk side by side. The road narrowed toward it before widening again on the opposite bank.

Mira stopped.

The stretcher would fit.

She was reasonably certain.

She walked closer without pulling Corin any farther.

The bridge looked old but intact. Thick support beams disappeared into the water below, and its planks had clearly been replaced at different times, leaving the surface uneven. Moss grew heavily along the edges.

The current underneath was not especially fast.

That helped.

Mira pressed the spear against the first plank.

It held.

She leaned more weight onto it.

The wood complained but remained in place.

"Mira?"

Corin had lifted his head.

"Bridge."

He looked past her.

"Should hold."

"That's not very reassuring."

"I've crossed it with a wagon."

Mira looked at the width of the bridge.

"How?"

"Small wagon."

That made slightly more sense.

She returned to the stretcher and rearranged the harness.

If one of the poles caught between the boards halfway across, she would have difficulty lifting it free with only one useful arm. Mira shortened the forward ropes so the stretcher would ride closer behind her.

Then she began crossing.

The bridge creaked under the combined weight.

Mira stopped and watched the boards around her feet.

Nothing moved except the water below.

She continued.

The first third was manageable.

The spear landed securely between the boards whenever she needed support, while the stretcher scraped across timber instead of digging through soil. The lower resistance made pulling noticeably easier.

Mira almost smiled.

Then the end of the stretcher struck a raised plank.

Corin grunted.

"Sorry."

"I'm alive."

Mira shifted sideways, pulled harder and freed it.

They continued.

Something pale moved in the river beneath them.

Mira slowed.

A round shape drifted between the submerged supports.

Then another.

She stepped carefully toward the edge of the bridge.

The water was clear enough to see the stones underneath.

A translucent blue lump rested against one of them.

Mira forgot about the bridge.

It was roughly the size of a large melon, almost spherical except where gravity spread the lower portion across the rock. Light passed through its body with a faint blue tint, and tiny particles drifted inside it.

Near the centre sat a cloudy white bead.

Mira leaned farther over the railing.

The creature compressed before stretching upward. Its surface flowed without breaking, redistributing itself around the movement.

"Oh."

Another shape rose beside it.

This one was green.

A third appeared upstream.

Slimes.

Mira had seen them during the opening presentation, but only from a distance.

The blue one slid over the stone. It did not crawl in any familiar sense. Its entire body extended forward before the rear portion followed, while water distorted around it.

Mira crouched carefully.

She wanted to touch one.

The blue slime jumped.

Mira jerked backward.

It struck the side of the bridge with a wet slap, flattened against the wood and began climbing.

Her interest changed character.

Mira stepped away.

The slime reached the top.

A name appeared above it.

River Slime

Level 2

It bounced toward her.

Mira planted the spear between them.

The slime struck the shaft.

Its body wrapped around the wood.

Mira felt the impact through her good arm.

Then the creature began sliding upward toward her hand.

She released the spear.

It fell against the bridge.

The slime remained attached.

Corin was trying to sit up behind her.

"What's happening?"

"Slimes."

"How many?"

Mira looked over the edge.

Five were visible now.

There might have been another farther beneath the bridge.

"More than I want."

The first slime released the spear.

It landed with a soft collapse and immediately gathered itself again.

Mira drew the goblin knife.

The creature bounced.

She slashed.

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The blade passed through its body.

Resistance tugged against her wrist, similar to cutting through dense gel.

The slime separated into two uneven pieces.

Mira stepped back.

Both halves trembled before flowing toward one another. Within seconds, they had rejoined, and the cut disappeared completely.

Mira stared.

The slime jumped again.

She moved too late.

It struck her chest.

Mira fell onto her back.

Cold gelatin spread across her ribs.

She shoved at it.

Her hands sank into the creature.

The sensation was horrible.

The slime flowed around her fingers and climbed toward her shoulders.

Mira rolled.

Part of it smeared across the bridge before the rest followed as though pulled by some internal tension.

She scrambled upright.

The cloudy bead inside it had moved.

Mira focused on the core.

The slime bounced.

She stabbed toward the centre.

The blade entered.

The bead shifted aside.

Mira missed it by less than a centimetre.

The knife passed through and emerged from the opposite side.

The creature collapsed over her hand.

Cold pressure tightened around her wrist.

Mira pulled.

The slime stretched with her.

She pulled harder.

It refused to release.

Another slime climbed over the bridge railing.

Then another.

Mira kicked at the first one.

Her boot sank halfway into its body.

The slime contracted.

Her leg jerked forward, taking her balance with it.

Mira hit the bridge on one knee.

The knife finally came free.

She reached for Radiant Spark.

Light burst from her palm.

The slime flew backward and struck the railing.

Its body splashed around the wood.

The central bead cracked against it.

A thin fracture appeared across the cloudy surface.

The slime dropped.

Its body moved weakly around the damaged core.

Mira understood.

She lunged before it could recover.

The knife entered the gel.

This time, she followed the bead instead of trying to cut the body.

The tip struck.

The core split.

The entire slime collapsed.

Blue gel spread across the planks.

A notification appeared.

Mira barely noticed it.

The others were already coming.

One green slime bounced onto the stretcher.

Corin tried to kick it away with his good leg.

"Don't let it touch the wound."

Mira grabbed the spear.

A second blue slime had already climbed onto part of the shaft.

She swung the weapon anyway.

The spear struck the green slime and knocked it from the stretcher.

The blue one slid farther along the wood.

Mira slammed that end against the bridge.

The slime flattened.

Its core struck the planks but did not break.

She hit it again.

The shaft flexed.

A third impact cracked the bead.

Mira drove the spearhead through it.

The slime dissolved around the weapon.

Two more reached the bridge.

Mira backed toward Corin.

The space had become too narrow. The stretcher blocked the road behind her, and the railings left little room to circle around the slimes.

One jumped.

Mira caught it with the spear.

The point entered its body.

She tried to strike the core.

The slime twisted around the shaft.

The bead drifted away from the point.

Mira thrust again.

The creature rode the movement closer.

Gel reached her hands.

Cold closed around her fingers.

Mira released the spear and stepped back.

The slime fell with it.

Another struck her from the side.

She hit the railing.

Old wood groaned behind her.

Mira caught herself.

The slime bounced again.

She raised her splinted arm instinctively.

It struck the fracture.

Pain tore through her.

The splint shifted.

Mira screamed and swung the knife with her right hand.

The blade carved through the slime.

Its body divided.

Then reformed.

Mira stabbed for the bead.

Missed.

The creature recoiled.

Her knife was pulled from her hand.

It remained suspended inside the slime.

Mira stared at it.

The creature contracted around the weapon.

The blade slowly rotated inside its body.

"Give that back."

The slime jumped at her face.

Mira ducked.

It passed over her shoulder and struck the bridge.

She grabbed for the knife handle protruding through its side, but the creature gathered itself again before she could secure her grip.

Mira's right hand went instead to the pouch at her waist.

Her fingers found the narrow piece of metal she had taken from the first goblin.

The broken iron awl.

She had kept it because the material might have been worth something.

At the moment, the sharpened end mattered more.

The slime bounced.

Mira stepped aside and drove the awl into its body as it passed.

The short length forced her hand unpleasantly close to the gel, but it gave her far better control than the knife.

She aimed for the cloudy bead.

The slime twisted.

The point scraped across the core.

A small line appeared on its surface.

Mira pulled the awl free before the creature could close around her hand.

It bounced again.

This time she waited until the body compressed against the bridge.

The core became easier to track for an instant.

Mira stabbed.

The awl struck solidly.

A crack spread across the bead.

The slime convulsed.

Her knife slid partly out of its body.

Mira grabbed the handle, ripped it free and drove the blade into the existing fracture.

The core broke.

Gel collapsed across the planks.

Mira looked at the awl in her other hand.

Its point had bent slightly.

Still useful.

She shoved it back into her pouch.

The green slime near Corin had climbed onto the side of the stretcher again.

He had one hand wrapped around the broken handle of a crate.

He struck it.

The wood disappeared into the gel.

"That isn't working," Mira said.

Corin hit it again anyway.

Mira reached them and drove the knife into the slime.

The bead moved.

She changed angle.

The knife scraped against it.

The core shifted within the body.

Mira stabbed again.

The blade struck solidly.

A crack appeared.

The slime convulsed.

Corin brought the broken piece of wood down against the same point.

The core shattered.

The creature collapsed across the blanket and floorboards.

Corin stared at the residue soaking into his clothes.

"Wonderful."

Mira had no opportunity to answer.

A blue slime struck her ankle.

Her foot slid.

She fell against the stretcher.

The slime wrapped itself around her boot.

Mira kicked.

The creature stretched but stayed attached.

She tried to pull her leg free.

The boot began slipping from her skeletal foot.

Mira froze.

There was nothing filling it properly.

The leather was held in place by straps and whatever invisible force kept the bones of her body connected.

The slime pulled again.

Her foot shifted inside the boot.

"Stop."

Mira kicked harder.

The boot came loose.

So did her foot.

A sharp wrenching sensation travelled through her ankle as the joint separated.

Mira screamed.

Her lower leg snapped upward.

The slime bounced away.

Her boot was inside it.

So was her foot.

For an instant, Mira could see the white bones suspended within the blue body.

This slime looked slightly different from the others.

A tiny dark fleck moved through the gel beside its cloudy core, circling whenever the creature compressed before a jump.

Mira had noticed it once beneath the bridge without thinking anything of it.

Now it had her foot.

She stared at it.

"My foot."

The slime bounced toward the railing.

Mira lunged.

Her missing leg hit the bridge.

There was nothing beneath it to catch her.

She crashed forward.

The slime reached the edge.

Mira stretched out her hand.

Her fingers brushed cold gel.

The creature contracted sharply around the boot and the bones inside it before dropping over the side.

Mira crawled to the railing.

The slime struck the water.

It disappeared beneath the surface with a soft splash.

Her boot and foot remained visible inside it for another second, pale against the blue.

The dark fleck beside its core turned once as the creature changed direction beneath the surface.

Then the current carried it between the bridge supports.

"No."

Mira shoved herself upright against the railing.

"Come back."

The slime moved downstream.

Mira reached for Radiant Spark.

She gathered Essence.

Light formed in her hand.

The slime slipped beneath darker water near the bank.

Mira fired.

The burst struck the river.

Water exploded upward.

The slime was already gone.

Mira stared downstream.

Her foot did not reappear.

Something struck her back.

She pitched forward against the railing.

Another slime.

Mira turned and stabbed wildly.

The knife entered the creature but missed the core.

It bounced away from her.

She tried to stand.

Her right foot took her weight.

Her left leg dropped toward the bridge and ended above the ankle.

Mira collapsed.

The slime came again.

She caught the railing with one hand and shoved herself sideways.

The creature missed.

Her missing foot had changed everything.

Every movement still expected the ground to exist beneath the left side of her body.

Mira grabbed the spear.

She planted the butt beside her and pushed herself upright.

The shaft took part of her weight.

The slime bounced.

Mira pivoted around the spear.

The movement was awkward and slow, but it moved her far enough.

She drove the spearhead into the creature as it passed.

The point entered near the core.

Mira pushed.

The bead shifted.

She twisted the shaft.

The slime stretched around it.

Mira struck the spear against the railing.

The core hit wood.

She struck it again, then a third time.

The bead broke.

The slime spilled across the bridge.

Mira sagged against the spear.

Corin shouted.

Another slime was climbing from the river behind her.

Mira turned.

Her right foot slipped in gel.

She almost fell again.

The slime launched itself.

She could not move out of the way in time.

Mira raised the spear crosswise.

The creature hit the shaft and wrapped around it.

She shoved the weapon against the bridge.

The slime spread.

Its core became visible through the compressed body.

Mira drew the knife and stabbed.

The point struck the bead.

A small crack formed.

The slime surged up the spear.

Mira stabbed again.

The crack widened.

A third thrust split the core.

The gel lost its shape.

Mira stayed where she was.

Her hand remained around the knife.

The bridge was covered in translucent residue.

She looked toward the river.

No more shapes climbed the supports.

Corin lowered the piece of wood he had been holding.

For a while, neither of them moved.

Mira finally looked down.

Her left leg ended at the ankle joint.

The bones there were intact.

They were simply missing everything that should have come after them.

She lowered herself carefully until she was sitting and touched the empty joint.

Pain answered.

It was different from the sharp tearing sensation when the foot had separated. Something duller remained now, an uncomfortable wrongness that seemed to continue into a foot that was no longer there.

Mira looked downstream again.

Nothing moved on the surface.

Corin shifted on the stretcher.

"Mira."

She kept looking at the river.

"My foot is in there."

He was quiet for a moment.

"Yes."

"I saw it."

The absurdity of the sentence almost made Mira laugh.

It never quite reached that point.

She checked her status.

Her condition had worsened again.

Essence was low.

Several notifications waited, but Mira left them unopened.

Minor Heal gathered around her hand.

She placed it against the ankle.

Golden light covered the joint.

The spell faded.

No foot returned.

Mira pressed her thumb against the end of the bone.

Nothing changed.

Her hand tightened before she stopped herself from putting unnecessary pressure on the joint.

Corin was watching her.

"Can your healing bring it back?"

Mira looked toward the river.

"No."

She put the knife away.

The spear lay beside her, its shaft coated in blue gel.

Mira wiped it with grass growing between the bridge planks.

Standing took several attempts.

On the first, her body still expected the missing foot to meet the ground, and she fell immediately.

On the second, she planted the spear too far forward and nearly pulled herself down with it.

The third worked.

Her right foot remained beneath her while the spear provided the second point of contact.

Mira tested the arrangement cautiously. She moved the spear first, transferred part of her weight onto it, stepped with her right foot and kept the left leg lifted slightly above the ground.

She could move.

Slowly.

The stretcher remained halfway across the bridge.

Mira looked at it.

Corin followed her gaze.

"You can't drag me like that."

Mira examined the ropes.

One had loosened.

Another had shifted where it crossed her shoulder.

Her missing foot changed the way she could lean into the load.

She untied the harness and rebuilt it.

The work took longer with the broken arm.

Mira moved the main pulling rope higher around her waist and added a second loop around her hip. The stretcher would have to take more friction because she could no longer afford to lift the forward edge as much.

She tested the load.

The spear flexed under her weight.

Her right leg trembled.

The stretcher moved a few centimetres.

Mira adjusted again.

By the fourth arrangement, she could pull without immediately losing her balance.

Corin watched the entire process.

"You could leave me here and get help."

Mira threaded the rope through the final knot.

"I could."

She tightened it and picked up the spear.

The first step hurt.

The second was harder because she knew what to expect.

Mira planted the spear, moved her right foot, dragged the stretcher, then brought the left leg forward without allowing the exposed ankle joint to strike the bridge.

Progress was painfully slow.

She continued.

They reached the far side.

The dirt road was softer than the planks, which made the spear sink.

Mira adjusted where she placed it.

The stretcher caught on the lip between bridge and road.

She pulled.

Nothing.

She shifted the angle.

The rope dug into her waist.

Mira leaned harder.

The stretcher bumped free.

She nearly fell with it.

Corin caught one of the side poles and steadied himself.

Mira stood shaking.

Her right leg had begun to ache in a way her skeletal body had not produced earlier. The joints around the knee and hip felt strained from carrying almost everything.

She shifted her grip on the spear.

"How much farther?"

Corin looked along the road.

"If this is the river I think it is, less than an hour."

Mira stared at him.

"At your old walking speed."

He winced.

"Yes."

Mira looked toward the darkening road.

Then she started again.

Night gathered gradually beneath the trees.

Mira learned the new rhythm because she had no alternative.

The spear went forward first. Her right foot followed. She pulled the stretcher, recovered her balance and brought the left leg through without letting the ankle touch the ground.

Then she repeated it.

Simplification helped more now that every movement had become unfamiliar again. Instead of trying to correct her entire gait at once, Mira reduced it to the few parts she needed to keep from falling and adjusted one problem at a time.

When the spear landed on loose stones, she nearly went down.

When the stretcher entered a rut, she had to free it without twisting the fractured arm.

When Corin's wound began bleeding again, she stopped and used another Minor Heal as soon as enough Essence had returned.

The golden light worked on him.

It still did nothing for her.

Mira did not waste another attempt.

The road climbed.

Her movements became shorter.

The spearhead had been designed for killing, not walking, and the metal point occasionally slipped against stone. Mira eventually turned the weapon around and began using the butt instead.

That worked better.

Somewhere during the climb, a notification appeared.

Agility increased.

Mira noticed it and kept moving.

Another came much later.

Endurance increased.

She barely registered that one.

The numbers could be examined later.

Corin could not.

The forest eventually opened.

Mira saw lights.

At first she thought they were fireflies.

Then more appeared.

Warm orange points spread across the darkness ahead, too regular to be natural.

Rooftops emerged between the trees.

A wall followed.

Eastmere.

Mira stopped in the road.

She stared at the settlement.

Torches burned along the gate.

People moved beneath them.

For the first time since waking in the meadow, she could see somewhere that looked safe.

Her grip tightened around the spear.

Corin lifted his head weakly.

"Eastmere."

Mira smiled.

Then someone on the wall shouted.

Several guards turned toward the road.

Mira remembered what they would see.

A small skeleton in torn Cleric robes approached through the dark with one arm splinted, one foot missing and a bloodied spear being used as a crutch. Behind her came an injured man strapped to a makeshift stretcher.

The gate guards reached for their weapons.

Mira's smile disappeared.

She continued toward them anyway.

Status

Mira

Species: Human

Class: Cleric

Level: 2

Experience: 34 / 140

Strength: 4

Agility: 6

Endurance: 5

Perception: 8

Intelligence: 10

Spirit: 9

Essence: 4 / 45

Unassigned Attribute Points: 0

Individual Abilities

Simplification — Common

Improves the ability to reduce complex problems into their most relevant components using available information.

Skills

Minor Heal — Common

Radiant Spark — Common

Blessing of Shelter — Common

Equipment

Beginner Cleric Tunic — Common — Heavily Damaged

Beginner Cleric Mantle — Common — Damaged

Beginner Cleric Scarf — Common — In Use as Splint Binding

Beginner Boot — Common — Right Foot Only

Goblin Knife — Common — 9 / 21 Durability

Goblin Knife — Common — 8 / 19 Durability

Goblin Spear — Common — 16 / 28 Durability

Novice Cleric Token — Common

Inventory

Copper Coins ×26

Dried Fruit Strip ×1

Folded Cloth ×1

Low-Grade Flint ×1

Cord ×2

Bent Iron Buckle ×1

Broken Iron Awl — Common — Bent

Tree Resin ×1

Leather Strap ×1

Crude Whetstone ×1

Condition

Left Foot — Missing

Left Radius — Fractured, Splinted

Left Ulna — Cracked

Rib Damage — Moderate

Back and Shoulder — Impact Damage

Right Leg — Strained

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