There he is, still stuck. His eyes can move at least, and he's breathing shallowly. He's covered in some sort of slime, I start using what water I have left in my waterskin to wash it off, I can't imagine that stuff is healthy for him. “Stanton, can you fight this? It's some sort of magic,” I end up using his waterskin to wash even more of this goo off before he can move enough to reply, the goo must help keep you paralyzed while it digests, or whatever it does after eating you.
“The hell was that? I felt like I was being drained away, losing track of myself amidst the thoughts of animals. How long was I in there?” I already expected that the amalgam had eaten the other animal and absorbed them somehow, Stanton's statement was just a confirmation.
“Only a few seconds I think I got to you before a minute had passed. Can you walk?” His shoulder wound is pretty nasty, pierced right through and out the other side. It can't be good if any more goo gets into it, either. I bust a Staunch stick over it. It starts to mend enough to keep it clean until we can see a real healer. Would be a good idea for me to tear a piece of cloth to bandage my lower arm where the tooth cut me.
“Gimme a sec,” I help him to his feet. He seems a bit unsteady, so I stay close to him so he can catch his balance on me, if he stumbles. He stretches a little “Ow, I think I must've cracked a rib or two when it hit me, but I think I can manage.”
“I think it's dead. What should we do with the corpse?” Almost an afterthought. I don't think I could leave Stanton here alone, not in his current condition, so it's rather obvious that we have to get back and healed first anyway.
“Better question, where's my bow?” He dropped it when the thing smashed into him. I pick it up for him, its snapped in two. He starts swearing loudly.
I interrupt, “I think it could be fixed by the priest in the temple of The Sun. We should head there anyway, he's the best healer I know of.”
“But, the clergy always charge so much in 'tithes' or 'alms' when you ask them to do something like that.”
“Not this one. Just don't go telling everyone how good he is, he doesn't seem to want the rest of his order to know about his ability.”
He looks confused. I don't blame him, Old Ziegfried might be the towns best kept secret. He's been in town since before it started to grow. He always patches up the watchmen who come to him for on duty injuries, free of charge. Though he has you promise not to let anyone in on the secret unless they are going to need his services in the immediate future. I'd brought one guy to him who's arm had nearly been torn off during a fight with one of the thugs hired by the newer crime syndicates. It was sore for week but it was fixed. He doesn't even point it out ever; no 'I need to eat so a small donation would be appreciated.' (Which might be why he gets so many in the first place.)
“After we get patched up, I think I would like to pay the Averdines a visit with a few men and make sure they aren't responsible for this.”
Really, I just hope we can get to town without issue.
No comments:
Post a Comment