Tales of Faerun

[Flipout6]

"I'll take a torch." Annette requested. Without her magic and with no way out, she had only a dagger to defend herself with. Marie had trained her with it, but she still felt better with fire on her side.

 

"I can see fine. I have no need of one." Amendale was used to brandishing his blade with both hands as it was.

 

"I'll scout ahead, if anyone else is coming along." Marie announced, speaking quietly despite herself.

 

"If anyone can't see well make sure to drink one of the Nighteye potions I made last night." Indeed, Imhiros had mentioned the previous day when he went over some tactical assessments and descriptions with Rhaine, one of the first topics to be brought up was that the tomb, even in the day, was dimly-lit. They had certainly been expecting to be able to use their magic, but Annette had a batch of potions to occupy her time. Just in case. Marie always liked to stress the importance of preparation, anyways.

 

Once the preparations were made, Marie scouted ahead with Imhiros, Dri and Nawen.The tomb was absolutely littered with traps, from spike-springs to clamps to explosives and flechettes. Taking her time, Marie disarmed as many as she could find, which was no small feat. Whoever had placed these had been careful to do it properly. Tripwires were placed in dark areas between what would be the glow of torches, spike traps were hidden under carpets. There were well over a dozen projectile traps tucked into the decorated, hieroglyph-laden walls. At one point she even found explosives a hair's edge from a corner that she nearly triggered. Those- and many others- were beyond her expertise (her experience was limited to Westgate and a few cities around the Sea of Fallen Stars) and she let Dri handle them with expertise. Nawen kept watch, bow and arrow at the ready, keen eyes scanning the darkness ahead for movement. For the moment, however, she saw nothing.

 

While the tomb was winding and long, it was not terribly complex in its fundamental design and surprisingly easy to navigate. The real sophistication continued to pop out in the form of art and decoration which Marie barely paid attention to, preferring to stick to the business at hand. Still, it was more than enough to impress her. She hadn't seen anything like it before. Slowly, with the rest of the group perhaps ten feet behind them, they made their way through hallways and a few chambers, slowly but steadily making progress.

 

"Something's certainly in here." Marie hissed back to Rhaine. "There's traps all over the place, but I so far I've seen nothing except the dead."

[AurianaValoria1]

Imhiros glanced to Nawen, "Most of these tombs are similar in design, yes, except for the pyramids of the Pharaohs."

 

Rhaine was about to reply to Marie when Imhiros suddenly pointed with his spear to a shadow ahead. There, face-down on the cold stone, lay what appeared to have been a Mulhorandi priest of Osiris. Judging from the nauseating stench that permeated the immediate area, he had long begun to decay. The Doomguide held her torch aloft, casting deep shadows on the walls around them, and confirmed this fact. As she muttered a few words of prayer for the fallen priest, Imhiros grimaced and whispered quietly, "And that would be one of our contacts."

 

"Any idea what killed him?" Zorica asked, voice lowered as she covered her nose with her collar.

 

"I do not know," Rhaine cautiously moved forward to examine the corpse, "I do not see any-"

 

The Doomguide was cut off as something leaped out of the shadows as fast as lightning, tackling her to the floor with fangs bared. Her torch skittered off to the right, but her sword remained firm in her grip. Even without the firelight, she briefly caught a glimpse of the symbols embroidered on the humanoid's collar...

 

...a monk of the Dark Moon. A vampire monk, to be precise. Something that became all too obvious as it tumbled around with her on the floor in an attempt to find its way around her helm to bite her neck. Somehow, in the impossibly quick struggle, she managed to slam the pommel of Touch of Death into its temple to buy her a mere seconds' worth of reprieve...

 

...only to see five more vampire monks jump out of the shadows at her unsuspecting companions.

 

"Look out!" Argyros roared, his claws scraping the stone in warning.

 

================================================

 

Outside, Heidi lifted a dagger to the sunlight and tilted it this way and that, checking the shine on the edge. Upon hearing Hazel's voice, she started, "Oh! You're awake! Good to see you recovering so fast." She slid the dagger into a sheath and grinned, "Going great...just a few more and I'll be done." Her mechanical dragonfly hovered nearby, its persistent humming wings having been a bit of a comfort in the previous silence.

Edited February 17, 2015 by AurianaValoria1

[Llhunara]

More than happy to accept one of the potions, Llhunarra downs it without a thought. While it tasted strange it was nothing to the rogue considering the different varieties of potent spirits she had tried over the years. The effects were immediate, her vision shifting as the dim light of the torches became more than enough to see details previously hidden my weak light and shadows.

 

Even with her now enhanced vision the rogue elects to stay towards the back. While many that could fall under the same descriptor she spent more time lightening the pockets of others so she had not spent the time required to perfect disarming so many various traps. Had she been the one in the lead the red head and/or the entire party would have been dead several times over…or at the very least writhing on the ground in pain.

 

For such an ominous looking place there had been little beyond the traps though, Llhunarra having expected to encounter some type of undead by this point. The only reason for that train of that because it was just what was most commonly found in such places, the dead bodies along the way the only signs of other inhabitants. Perhaps the traps had been numerous enough to fend off would be grave robbers and intruders?

 

About to mention how this seemed easier than she had expected to a certain piratess, the thief doesn’t get the chance as the shadows around them burst to life.

 

That is what it seemed at first, but these “shadows” were far more tangible than the darkness that hid within the crevasses of the stone around them. Unaware at this point about exactly what they were dealing with Llhunarra didn’t fully realize the gravity of the situation. She would soon enough.

 

Near her position at the back of the group one of the creatures leapt from its hiding spot. Landing near her the agile humanoid was quick to strike for the half-elf. A leg snapped up and forward faster than it should have, Llhunarra barely had time to twist aside. Not strong by most standards the rogue relied on her speed, but not even that was enough to fully remove herself from the kicks path. Barely clipping her shoulder, the unnatural strength behind the blow was enough to send her tumbling to the stone floor. Quite aware of the numbers against it the creature did not attempt to clamor atop her, instead leaping for another close target…one that just happened to be Shalena.

[tokyobiohazard]

Aera bristled, her face contorted into a toothy snarl, as one of the monks fixated on her. She didn't waste time, and crouched low, swiping her leg in his direction. He lept over it as if he were skipping rope, landing squarely on his feet, cracking his neck. The sound sent chills up Aera's spine.

It seemed his reflexes were far superior to hers, as she plunged her dagger in his direction, and was thwarted with a very quick and evasive dodge, and a moment later, a flick of the monk's wrist sent her dagger flying. In a split-second, a flying kick was coming her way, and she was sent in the direction of her dagger.

Aera's body hit the wall, and her lungs were emptied of all air. Gasping for breath on all fours, she tried to regain her footing, growling at the monk as he once again kicked her, this time in her temple. She crumpled to the ground, head cradled in her hands.

As she tried to regain her breath and stop the ringing in her ears, blood beginning to run from her temple down over her brow, her eyes tracked the monk as he moved on to his next target.

Aera cried out, "Arland, he's coming your wa---"

Her sentence was cut off as the monk yanked her head upward by her beige locks, tossing her several tens of feet down the hallway. She stopped just shy of a spring-loaded spike trap, and scrambled away from it on her hands and knees, reeling in shock. Her breath was ragged as she stood on shaky footing and sprinted toward the monk, not willing to give up. The monk was not caught off guard, but he held his footing as Aera clung to his back and sunk her fangs deep into his shoulder.

Aera spit out a mouthful of foul, rotten meat, and was thrust down the hallway once again, this time impaling her forearm on one of the spikes from the same trap she'd avoided moments ago. Shock froze her in place, her eyes large and body shaking.

The monk continued his path to Arland.

[Deleted6317247User]

Shalena, who wasn't paying much attention to the surroundings, jumped when Rhaine was tackled by something. "What in the hells is going on?!" She exclaimed as she drew her cutlass.

 

"Vampires." Nawen hissed as what attacked Rhaine became obvious, she shot an arrow into another one heading their way but it did not stop running, her arrow merely slowed it down. Before the piratess could say anything else she heard something behind her back. Swiftly she turned around, barely missing the monk swinging his fists at her. She jumped back and ducked slashing her blade across its stomach but her attack left only a cut in dusty robes, no damage at all.

 

"How do we fight these things?!" Shalena exclaimed as she tried her best to avoid even being touched by the vampire. From whatever glimpses she managed to catch of the fight so far, their enemies seemed to have an advantage in all but numbers. So far.

 

Nawen could not answer the piratess' question as she knew only what pretty much everyone who has never even seen one knew. The drow shot a quick glance at her surroundings. Best way for her to fight them was to keep them at a distance but for that she needed someplace higher.

[Flipout6]

"What in the hells?" Arland hissed when he saw movement ahead. Then suddenly one of them was on top of Rhaine. "Get off Wings, you Tluining son of a-" He moved to slay the "person" on top of Rhaine (he didn't see the fangs) before Aera's warning caught up to him, just in time for him to be kicked so hard he stumbled backwards and shattered a coffin, thankfully empty. He stayed on his feet and bore upon the beast with a snarl but was answered with a hiss in return and a leg sweep that knocked him off his feet before he could properly react.

 

Weyland, with time to shrug his shield off his back, frowned and stepped forward towards Rhaine. As the man- vampire - raised its head to try and get a bite in, the warrior slugged it directly in the face with the bottom of his boot. He was promptly engaged directly by another one. Alone he barely matched it enough to ensure his own survival. His formidable defense was enough to prevent it from inflicting any serious blows, but likewise its speed and reflexes prevented him from getting a hit in as well. Amendale flanked it from the side and went to slip his blade into its rips, but fast as lightning, the vampire sidestepped the blow, and came an inch from disarming the moon elf before a solid hit from Weyland's shield sent it reeling and hissing.

 

Sybille was quick to leap to the defense of Llhunarra and Shalena, and a massive swing from her maul caught the vampire off-guard and it almost skirted out of the way, but the tip of the weapon still clipped its side and broke at least a few ribs. Sybille's eyes flashed triumphantly as she spun on her feet to bring in a killing blow from overhead, but with blinding speed, the creature closed the gap between them, ducked beneath the blow, and then rapidly twisted the warhammer out of her grasp. It was quickly followed up with a rapid flurry of punches. Even through heavy plate armor, Sybille certainly felt that, but she took the blows and kept going. A vicious headbutt stopped it long enough for her to grab it by the arm and sling it over her shoulder, slamming him back-first into the solid-marble floor. She felt something crack, but whatever it was obviously wasn't enough to end the fight. With strength matching her own, it used her weight against her and brought her crashing to the ground as well, and then it was on top of her, breaking her nose with a single well-placed hit and tearing her helmet off.

 

"Need some help with this one!" She shouted, even as she clubbed the side of the monk's head with a gauntleted fist and rolled over, using her weight to try and pin him down. It didn't work, and the vampire was strong enough to throw her off of him, sending her tumbling across the floor, hitting Annette along the way and knocking her to the ground as well.

 

Arland ducked beneath his own attacker as it tried to pounce upon him with fangs bared, tumbling out of the way. An arrow thunked into the well an inch from the beast's head, quickly followed by another that hit it in the shoulder, only for it to be removed without a thought. Marie nocked another arrow with speed nearly matching that of her target even as it turned on her and made to lunge, intending to end her quickly. Her reflexes were quick enough that she sprang out of the way the instant it so much as tensed its heels to leap and was well out of its way once the movement was complete.

 

"Oh no you don't, rotter." Arland growled as he set upon it with a dizzying display of fast, complicated maneuvers and sword strokes. Even the monk couldn't protect itself against everything, and the Anarchist's blades tore into the necrotic flesh once, twice, three times. "Die, damn you!" Arland shouted, frustrated. In an attempt to defend itself, the vampire batted one of his blades aside to throw him off-balance, only for Arland to use the momentum it gave him to pivot on his heel, spin around and cut a long gash up its arm and wrist, followed by another that came in lower and nearly disemboweled it.

 

Then Marie lined up her shot.

 

Thwok.

 

The vampire let out an inhuman shriek as an arrow- a wooden arrow - pierced its way through its back, just missing the spine....but that wasn't what Marie was aiming for. The steel tip of the arrow punctured through and ruptured the frozen, corrupted heart in its chest and the wood of the arrow's shaft filled in the gap left by the tip, much like a stake. Weak and nearly paralyzed, the monk that had previously been enough of a threat to take on three warriors single-handedly couldn't defend itself when Arland hacked at its neck once, twice, then swiped with both of his swords and parted the ghastly head from its shoulders. The body fell to the floor, thrashing, before it dissolved into dust and faded to nothing.

 

"It's a vampire, you ingrate." Marie taunted. "You're not going to kill it by cutting up its arm."

 

"It's all I could reach!" Arland protested.

[AurianaValoria1]

Argyros saw Nawen looking around for a high place and shoved his foot forward towards the drow ranger, "Nawen, climb onto me!" Then, he flicked the tip of his tail to one side as a vampire monk ran forward to intercept her, smacking the undead squarely in the chest and sending it flying into an alcove.

 

A silver bolt from Conall's crossbow whistled through the air and lodged itself in the throat of another of the vampires; the paladin then switched his weapon again to Ariel and joined the fray beside his companions. He plunged the celestial blade into the undead flesh, and even though no enchantment could harm it, the vampire seemed to have been dealt a great blow, as it staggered backwards. Yet, it took no time at all for it to recover, and the monk swiftly retaliated, launching into a spinning kick aimed straight at Conall's head. The monk's heel hit him directly in the temple, and the werewolf fell like a rock as he was knocked unconscious...

 

"Aera!" Zorica shouted as she saw the weretigress's arm punctured straight through by a spike trap. She moved to dash towards where Aera had fallen, only to have one of the monks - the one Argyros had just thrown across the tomb - kick her squarely in the spine as she turned. The half-drow instantly fell flat on her face, her back exploding with pain, and her chin slamming right into the stone floor. Her teeth clacked together sharply and her vision temporarily blacked and filled with sparkles. Forcing herself not to let her attacker take advantage of her proneness, she thrust one elbow backwards, connecting with the vampire's jaw before flipping over onto her back and striking it in both temples with the pommels of her swords. This action did little to stop the vampire, however; instead, it seemed to simply enrage it more. It jumped on top of her chest, holding her down with its weight and clamping both clawed hands tightly around her throat to strangle the life out of her. Her swords clattered to the floor as instinct demanded she use her own hands to try and tear the vampire off of her, her eyes wide and her legs kicking fruitlessly as the monk began to crush her windpipe...

 

No sooner than Rhaine's first assailant had become distracted, another had taken its place as she got to her feet. These monks were impossibly fast and strong, their age and experience obvious. The Doomguide found herself trying to parry blows more often than she could deal them; she was only half successful and wearing out quickly. The monk landed powerful kicks upon her abdomen and pelvis and more than once nearly swiped her legs out from under her. Then, the vampire lunged forward and managed to catch her by the arm, twisting and breaking her right wrist - the wrist that held Touch of Death's hilt. She cried out in agony but refused to yield any ground, grasping her sword by its blade with her left hand and using the counterbalance in the pommel to wildly swing it horizontally at neck level. The edge caught the vampire's throat close to the crossguard and severed its head from its shoulders, reducing it to ash at her feet. Her right hand now useless, Rhaine forced herself to ignore her pain and clutched her weapon in her left, running to stop the next monk nearest her...the one who had sent Sybille flying.

 

Imhiros joined the battle with Amendale and Weyland, thrusting the tip of his spear into the vampire's side just as the warrior bashed it with his shield. The monk was quick to bat the spear right out of the Osirian's hand in answer, however, and so Imhiros was forced to draw his blade against it.

[Deleted6317247User]

Shalena was grateful for Sybille's assistance and as the vampire focused his attention on the warrioress she could catch a breather. As she looked back at them however, she noticed how the vampire threw Sybille off and sending her across the floor. The piratess still had no clue how to kill these things but she intended to try nevertheless.

 

Nawen heard Argyros' voice and glanced at the dragon as he shoved his foot for her to climb. "Thanks!" She exclaimed and was about to start climbing when she noticed as one of the vampires knocked Conall out. "Conall!" She shouted and dashed towards the paladin. Before she could reach him, the same vampire jumped to its feet and drew closer to the unconscious paladin. "Oh no." Nawen thought as she realized the vampire's intention. The undead monk stooped lower, baring his fangs and was about to bite into Conall's neck when Nawen grabbed the monk roughly by its robes, pulling him away. "Don't you dare!" She hissed and slashed at it with her blade. The creature swiftly avoided her blade and attempted to grab it out of her grasp but she backed away before he could grab it. The vampire didn't hesitate and charged at her with series of punches which Nawen was sure will leave many bruises and perhaps a few broken ribs.

 

Shalena was focusing on the same vampire that tried to attack her when she noticed that Nawen was fighting one. And doing a rather poor job at that. So she went after it instead. "Hey, dusty! I'm over here!" The piratess exclaimed, drawing the monk's attention from the drow, which was exactly what the ranger needed.

 

Without wasting any time, Nawen raised her blade and slashed at the vampire's neck. As sharp as her blade was, it was obvious that one slash won't be enough, so she attempted to slash it again but the monk caught her arm and grasped it tightly. "Down!" She heard the piratess shouting and ducked down as much as she could and then moments later felt something hitting her shoulder and falling on the ground. She caught the glimpse of the vampire's head before it dissolved into dust.

 

"I can't believe it fell for that!" The piratess laughed.

 

"Neither can I." Nawen replied as she hurried towards Conall. Thankfully he was only unconscious and she managed to pull the vampire away before it could bite the paladin. "Thank the Gods." She sighed in relief before glancing back at Shalena. "We need to get him away from the fight before other vampires noticed him." The piratess nodded and the two dragged him towards Argyros. Only then did Nawen climbed to the top, and while her arm hurt, she took out her bow and nocked an arrow, aiming it at another undead monk.

[Llhunara]

Rolling to try and get back to her feet Llhunarra was ready to rush to Shalena’s aid if she had to, but there was no need. Sybille met the creature with her war hammer. Even the glancing blow she landed resulted in audible cracks, ribs not able to stand up against the powerful strike. Smile spreading across her face, the rogue was ready for the finishing blow to be delivered when the vampire again utilized its unnatural speed. Lunging right back for the armored women it seemed to have no fear of its foe as it wrenches the war hammer from her hands. Sending in blows, she couldn’t believe Sybille was just taking them like that. Armor or no armor they had to hurt, the way they jostled the warrioress showing the power behind them.

 

So many strikes would have probably left Llhunarra broken and bloodied on the floor, but Sybille’s response was to head butt the thing. The helmeted blow stunning it long enough she again used her impressive strength to toss the creature only to be taken down to the ground with it. Rolling on the ground with it the warrior finally requests aid before she is sent tumbling along the stone floor.

 

Clicking her tongue she had really hoped that Sybille was going to be able to handle the vampire herself. With Shalena moving to assist the drow ranger it seemed to leave the thief as her only help. Hesitant to engage the creature head on, not sure how she might defeat it if Sybille could not, the half-elf notices Rhaine rushing towards the creature. The Chosen had apparently taken care of her own foe all on her own and was prepared to fight another. Noticing the condition of her right hand, hanging limply at the wrist, she appeared to be injured in some way, perhaps putting her at a disadvantage.

 

Still having no desire to engage in close combat with such a monster Llhunarra does the next best thing, runs distraction. Spinning she flips the short blade in her left hand, catching it by the tip with deft fingers before using the momentum of her twirl to send it spinning end over end towards the vampire. Its clawed hand snaps up to smack the weapon away, but that was just fine. By the time the first blade had been swatted another was already on its way, the rogue having pulled one of the smaller throwing daggers she kept on her thighs to toss as a follow up. Slowly moving backwards as she twists about three more throwing daggers would sail through the air, the female not caring if they actually struck home, but hoping the barrage was a long enough one to keep the vampire distracted until Rhaine or Sybille could get to it.

[Flipout6]

Annette mostly stayed out of the fighting not out of cowardice but rather pragmatism. Without her magic she was of little to no use in a fight and if she engaged one of the monks, she'd either be incapacitated in short order or she would quite literally get in the way of someone's blow. However, when Connall went down, she was quick to burst into action. Shalena and Nawen dragged him back towards Argyros and out of danger, so Annette instead held his head up and forced a healing potion into him. Without any time to see if he recovered, Annette looked up in time just to witness Aera be impaled on a spike trap further up the tunnel, past most of the chaotic pandemonium that choked the hallway. Without hesitation the Ordain girl burst into action, sprinting full-tilt down deeper into the tomb, narrowly avoiding the fighting. One monk even took a swipe at her as she went by, a glancing kick that would certainly leave a few bruises later and nearly knocked her off her feet. She grunted, but somehow managed to stay on her feet.

 

"Are you alright?" She asked Aera breathlessly once she reached the wounded weretigress. She took a moment to survey the damage; thankfully the blade that pierced Aera's forearm was not serrated, but rather smooth and symmetrical, diamond-shaped. It wouldn't stop further damage from being done when it was removed from the flesh, but it would at least minimize it. "I'm sorry, this is going to hurt." Annette grabbed Aera's elbow and wrist and slowly, carefully pulled it off and away from the wall. Still, Aera seethed with pain, and her arm was bent at an awkward, stomach-churning angle. Her head was bleeding, too; it was possible she was concussed.

 

"Okay, Aera, I need to get you back to Argyros. It's much too dangerous here. Lean on me if you have to, but we have to get over there."

 

Weyland was thankful for the added assistance of both Imhiros and Amendale, as the damned monk he was fighting put on a hell of a lot of pressure, and those damn kicks hurt. Even as he kept his own defenses up and minimized the damage he took he looked around when he could afford a glance, trying to see how the others were doing. He saw Arland and Marie cooperatively take one down and he saw Rhaine behead her own attacker. Creative teamwork on Nawen and Shalena's behalf lead to the device of a third, thinning the monks' numbers by half. It wasn't achieved without a cost, though. He knew there were injuries. But when he glimpsed behind the vampire in front of him from behind his shield, he saw that one of them held Zorica in a chokehold, ready to deliver a coup de grace.

 

"Amendale-" He grunted. "-your lovebird's in trouble."

 

Alarmed, the moon elf whirled around and, seeing Zorica's peril, rushed forward and raised his silver blade, lashing out viciously towards the creature's neck, intending for the longsword to behead it with one fell blow.

 

Dri, being less adept at direct combat as she was with trickery and sabotage, melted into the shadows and flowed from battle to battle and then back again, delivering unexpected strikes and nasty surprises and then slipping out of reach before any retaliation could be wrought upon her. Her handiwork more than once provided the opening her companions needed to get crippling blows in. A dagger between the ribs distracted one long enough for Sybille to get in that devastating blow with her maul. Acid-tipped caltrops, despite the costly amount of time needed to prepare them, gave Weyland, Amendale and Imhiros more than one opening when the vampire suddenly found its movement impaired by the caltrop itself or the liquidation of its necrotic flesh.

 

But against foes of this caliber even the most skilled of rogues were bound to run into trouble at some point; for Dri this came in the form of a leg sweep that took her off her feet when she rushed to Zorica's aid, delivered with blinding speed. The speed alone, Dri could handle....but the power behind the blow was enough that at sent her tumbling to the ground even though it hit the flesh on her upper thigh, closer to her center of balance and not at all where she was expecting to be hit. She cracked her head on the ground, hard. Her limbs turned to water and her vision darkened; she couldn't even see enough to know that Zorica was being choked to death not two feet from her. She felt a wiry pair of arms start dragging her along the ground.

 

Llhunara's daggers didn't succeed in throwing off Sybille's attacker, who loomed over her with a sneer, advancing quickly. Apparently secure in the belief that Llhunara's daggers had about a snowball's chance in the hells of truly harming it, it closed the gap between itself and Sybille just as she struggled to her feet. Sybille ducked underneath the palm strike (was it vibrating?) that flashed towards her and, instead of going for the shoulder-tackle it expected, clamped down with an adamantine grip on its arm and the front of its robe. Given even a fraction of a second she was certain the monk would easily have wriggled out of her grip, or used her own momentum against her.

 

But she didn't give it a fraction of a second.

 

Sybille's body coiled like a whip as she picked the (very light) monk up and threw him sideways with all of her bone-breaking might into the wall....and right into the spike trap that Aera had been stuck on. One of the several-foot-long blades speared right through the monk's chest with a sickly-sweet, liquid note, and just like that, it was all over. The spikes were large enough that they pierced through the vampire's heart simply by spearing the better part of its entire chest, and then all of a sudden it couldn't lift a finger to defend itself. It was a trivial matter for Sybille to pick her lost warhammer off the ground and slam it directly into the vampire's face with enough power to completely cave in the skull and propel its contents violently onto the wall behind it.

 

"....I'm getting a talent for painting things red!" She cheered.

 

Meanwhile, near the mouth of the tomb, Annette laid Aera down against the wall, gently comforting the weretigress and being very careful not to jostle her. The girl, fearsome and powerful as she was, had taken an incredibly beating. Annette felt guilty that she wasn't checking on any of the other wounded right now, but Aera demanded her immediate attention.

 

"Okay, Aera, you're taking this like a hero, but I need you to help me for a second." She handed her a red bottle, pressing it into Aera's good hand. A healing potion, moderate-strength. It would fix a broken bone and internal bleeding for sure, and would be invaluable with overcoming the concussion. Annette smiled apologetically. "That's not going to taste very good, for all the mint flavoring I put in it. I'm going to hold out your arm, and I need you to drink that when I do. If this isn't done right, the bone won't heal correctly." She gingerly held on to the girl's wrist and supported her arm firmly. It would twinge, without a doubt, but it was this or re-break it and try again if it healed improperly.

 

"On the count of three. One, two, three....drink!"

Edited February 21, 2015 by Flipout6