The sudden, blinding agony shot straight through my chest.
"Ahh, FUCK!" I screamed.
The sheer force of the pain brought me crashing down to my knees, my hands instantly clutching at my fractured ribs.
"So... Sorry! What ha... happened? Did I do something?" she stammered. She quickly squatted down to meet my eye level, her hands waving around in mid-air as she panicked, completely unsure of what to do.
"Noth—" I started to say. I wanted to tell her it wasn't anything serious, but I stopped myself, realizing she wouldn't even understand a word.
Instead, I just looked down at the dirt, forcing myself to take slow, deliberate breaths.
"Did you... get hurt while fighting?" she asked, her voice laced with worry.
"Hm hh," I mumbled through gritted teeth as another wave of pain flared up.
"I didn't hear that. Can you nod for me?" she pleaded. Reaching out, she gently cupped my head and forced me to look up at her.
I managed a tight nod.
Her expression shifted to one of sudden focus. "Give me some time. Let me cast some healing."
She sat back on her knees, closed her eyes, and began whispering a low, rhythmic chant—what I now recognized as a magic spell.
She knew healing magic this whole time? I thought to myself.
Bracing myself, I tried to sit back a bit rather than staying huddled on all fours. My left hand remained clamped tightly over my aching ribs.
After what felt like an absolute eternity of agony—but was probably only a couple of minutes in reality—the sharp pain finally began to dull. A strange, warm mist began to materialize in the air, swirling gently around my body.
Is this what magic healing feels like? I wondered.
As the pain steadily dissolved, a deep sense of relief washed over me. My muscles relaxed, my chest loosened, and breathing became easy again.
It feels amazing... warm, yet somehow cool at the same time. I wonder when I'll be able to use magic in this world. If I ever even can... Do I even have mana, or whatever it is they call it here?
I was so completely lost in my own thoughts that I didn't even notice she had stopped chanting. She was just sitting there, staring at me with deeply caring eyes. It was the kind of look that made me instinctively want to protect her... or maybe just sub- care for her in return.
"Are you okay now? Does it feel better?" she asked. She reached out, intending to check my ribs, but hesitated at the last second and pulled her hand back.
I offered her a genuine smile and nodded, letting her know the spell had worked perfectly.
"Oh, praise Ryllae," she sighed with relief. She stood up and extended her hand to help me up.
Who the hell is Riley? I wondered, gripping her hand and pulling myself back up to my feet.
She stepped close, draping my arm over her shoulders to support my weight. "So, do we go back to the campsite now?"
I nodded, and we began the slow trek back through the dark woods.
After a short walk, we finally broke through the tree line and reached the camp.
The little girl and her older brother were sitting directly next to the crackling fire, carefully grilling what looked like a small piece of meat.
The moment the girl spotted us, her face lit up and she sprinted over. Her brother followed closely behind, walking at a more cautious pace.
Without warning, the little girl threw her arms around me in a tight hug. Meanwhile, the boy dropped directly to his knees and threw his hands out, performing a full, respectful kowtow on the ground.
The elf girl—well, I assumed she was an elf, though it wasn't officially confirmed yet—and I just stood there, completely frozen in confusion.
Seeing her brother kowtowing, the young girl quickly let go of my waist and hurried to kneel down right beside him, pressing her forehead to the dirt too.
I stepped forward, trying to get them to stop, but the elf girl gently caught my arm and pulled me back.
"You should let them," she whispered softly in my ear. "From what I know of their kind, they pay back kindness and help ten times over."
I looked at her, my eyebrows furrowing in confusion.
"Ten times means they will return your good deeds tenfold," she clarified, misunderstanding my look.
I know what 'ten times' means, I thought, rolling my eyes inwardly.
I looked away from her and tried once more to get the kids to stand up. But as I reached out to touch the malnourished boy's shoulder, he spoke up, his voice cracking with emotion.
"I know you can't understand us, but from what my sister told me, you are the reason we are free," he said, the words rushing out of him in a single, breathless gasp. "And you saved me... and you fed us."
The young girl nodded vigorously beside him. "Yes... yes!"
I looked back at the elf girl, making an exaggerated facial expression to signal that she needed to step in and explain things to them.
"Okay, okay, I will explain," she said. She squatted down to the kids' level.
"You don't need to do all of this. He doesn't really like it," she added, gently lifting the young girl's head up by her chin.
"But still! He should know that we are thankful," the boy protested, stubbornly keeping his forehead near the ground.
"Our father always told us that if we can't pay back kindness, we don't deserve happiness. Since I can't speak his language and he can't understand us, this is the only way we can express our thankfulness and show him respect."
"He can understand you, though," the elf girl countered casually.
The statement hit like a bombshell. Both children snapped their heads up, their wide eyes locking onto me.
"You can understand us?" they asked simultaneously.
"Yeah. Let me explain," the elf girl said, fully sitting down cross-legged on the dirt.
Over the next twenty minutes, she carefully explained the bizarre situation to them—how I had suddenly started understanding their words, where we currently were, and everything that had happened.
Once she finished, I used a series of hand gestures and facial expressions to communicate that we should save the heavy talking for tomorrow. For now, it was time to eat and get some rest.
CRACKLE
And that's how we ended up here, I thought, tossing another dry log into the fireplace to keep the flames alive.
Damn, I am so tir—
My train of thought was abruptly cut off by a massive yawn.
I pulled out the small clock I had found and checked the time. It was only 12:30 PM.
Still over an hour and a half before I can wake her up for her watch, I thought gloomily, slipping the little timepiece back into my pocket.
My body, operating entirely on subconscious exhaustion, began to slump sideways onto the wooden trunk I was using as a bench.
No... I have to stay aw—
YAWN
My eyelids grew incredibly heavy, snapping shut as I slumped over and fell fast asleep.