“Sense of balance off?” Whyth asked.
“Maybe not fully formed or Chartris is at the limits of her ability.” Rahmys answered. “Should we run or try to attack?”
Chuck looked up at the tree canopy. “Any of you have healing? If so, how much?”
“I can heal a little more than a hundred points,” Rahmys responded. “Can’t regenerate or combat poison, straight healing only.”
“Not as much point-wise, about sixty. With minor regeneration and I can neutralize most poisons.” Whyth offered.
“Sounds like enough, then. Be ready.” Chuck jumped up. “Spatial Leap for the win!” His stomach lurched.
Too high. Chuck watched the tops of the trees as he fell toward them. Next time need to think about something more specific than ‘above’. He concentrated and took on the form of a large mace head, the spikes being longer than normal. He flattened a couple and kicked with them—sending himself into a rolling tumble. A few seconds later, a lumpy, rotating ball of spikes crashed through the tops of the trees.
The blue leaves sliced, and the dark bark battered at him. A sharp pain caused him to howl. Within seconds, the monster’s cry of pain drowned out Chuck’s scream. A hit!
Chuck scrambled as he morphed back into humanoid form. A cloud of dust and leaves rose as Chuck jumped from the creature's back. It turned to face Chuck—blocking him from the rest of the group. Didn’t plan on that. A wave of pain flooded through his body. Health and magic check.
<< STATUS: Health: 40/83, Magic: 57/88>>
Took over half of my health. Could I survive another? What happens if I die? Wake up in the middle of being shredded? Wake up dead back home?
A growl brought Chuck’s attention back to the beast. He jumped backward to avoid a swiping claw from mangling him. He stepped into the circle of sunshine coming through the hole he’d created. The creature stopped its second swing. Looks like the sunlight thing is working.
The monster jerked and spun back towards the group. Chuck tried to see what they were doing but couldn’t. He focused on the things’ shoulders. The attacks seemed to slow down. An unexpected shimmer of orange washed over the creature, and then it leaped forward. Chuck heard shouting and a scream from his friends.
Spatial leap for the win? A sudden wave of nausea hit Chuck, and he started falling toward the treetops again. Much better on the height. He made the spikes to his mace form shorter and thicker, then started spinning.
The trees battered at him again, however the sharp pain didn’t repeat. He barely kept the sphere and spikes in shape when he made impact with the monster this time. Its screams of pain and rage filled the woods.
Chuck reformed into his regular form as quick as he could, relieved that Rahmys stood just an arm’s length away.
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“Need some healing, please.” He said before crumpling to the ground.
Her fingers on his forehead were soothing, the warmth radiating through his body even more so.
“You lost some body mass, I think, at least. Your body doesn’t read like others.” She gazed down at him.
“Not surprising since I’m not like others.” Chuck laughed. Health and magic check.
<
<< STATUS: Health: 78/78, Magic: 32/88>>
Barkskin? Can I form that for only parts of my body, or is it an all-or-nothing?
<
Chuck looked up to Rahmys, “How’s Mister Cuddly?”
Rahmys blinked a couple of times. “Oh, got it.” She looked over her shoulder. “He’s not looking so good. The sunlight, along with whatever physical damage you did, didn’t finish him—but the others are doing a decent job of…and actually just finished what you started. It just dissolved into a gray cloud and dissipated. Good work, Lumpy.”
Pushing up from the ground, Chuck nodded. “Thank you.”
“Everything okay?” Rahmys shouted. “Good, I have one more thing to deal with here.”
“What would tha…OW!”
Rahmys’ slap echoed off the trees.
“Why did you do that?” Chuck shouted, his hand covering the deep red welts.
Chuck heard several feet scuttle to a stop behind him.
“What called for that?” Marl’s voice filled with disbelief.
Rahmys stood up and glared down at Chuck. “Never do that again! Just disappearing on us. We had no idea that was you crashing through the trees. What if one of us hit you with lightning or fire?” She paused, chest heaving. “Idiot! Tell us first. Great idea and it worked, but you’re still an idiot.” She stomped away.
Whyth watched her walk away. “She does have a point.”
“Aye, that she does.” Marl nodded and followed her.
Mergrex reached down and helped Chuck to his feet. “Mergrex agrees with the others. You, young one, were foolish—and brave. Let us catch up with the others.”
Several moments of silence hung over the group as they made their way back to the meadow they’d ran from.
Once they got out of the shadows, Chuck cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention. “Look, in hindsight, I agree that wasn’t the smartest of moves. It may seem like I keep stating this, and I do, but only because it’s the truth. I’m still learning all of this stuff you all take for granted.”
Chuck attempted a shrug. “I admit, there wasn’t any thought of you casting magic at me, mostly because that’s still not a normal thought for me. It is getting more normal. I thought it through enough to make sure one of you could heal me. Also, it doesn’t seem like I have internal organs anymore, so I figured I could take the blunt force damage at least once.”
Mergrex held up his hand. “Ah, friend, you have internal organs, in a manner of speaking. When Mergrex and yourself were joined, I saw your physical being—your lungs, heart, brain, and everything else is mixed up together but all still there. So, losing any of yourself would be to lose a little of all of those things.”
“Hmm, that makes sense—as much as any of this makes sense and reinforces what you all have been saying. So, I will try to do better. You all deserve it,” Chuck paused momentarily and rubbed his chin. “And I would like to avoid getting slapped in the future.”
The apology and joke cleared the air. Discussions about what happened flowed freely as they continued to walk.
“I know we’re not at the marsh yet, but I think we should look for a place to make camp for the night. Our brief encounter took enough time that we won’t be able to get there before nightfall.” Marl said.
“Mergrex suggests a place a few yards over there.” He pointed to his left. “There are some surface stones, a few feet high, and there is a flat place next to them.”
Taking Mergrex’s suggestion, the group made their way to the stones and set up camp. Chuck leaned against one rock and allowed himself to fall into it for practice. Dusk found all of them tired and ready to sleep. Mergrex agreed to take first watch. “Let’s hope it’s a quiet night. Had enough adventure for the day.” Whyth proclaimed, then wiggled down into his bedding.