A bright light shone through my eyelids. With a headache I felt my limbs ache as I moved them, the hardwood flooring didn't help either. Through bleary vision I opened and shut my eyes rapidly, trying to stave off the returning drowsiness.

  “Hey, you're finally awake.” The voice was full of weariness. It came from across the room, somewhere my blurry eyes couldn't see.

  “Whuh?”

  My eyes began to adjust to the dim lighting of the room, blurriness giving way to clarity. Flame flickered through the room as I finally saw my surroundings. It was a small room, big enough for me and Damian to pass out in but small enough that a table in the middle took up half the space in the room despite being big enough for only two people.

  “Come on get up, I'd rather sleep in the tavern than here.” The voice walked around the table to me and outstretched his gauntleted hand, in his other he held a flaming torch. His armor was still stained from the earlier fight and smelled awful.

  “Damian?” Ignoring his arm I forced my hands to my sides and pushed myself up and gripped the table to get onto my feet. I could swear I saw Damian frown for a split second.

  “How long was I out?” My words were tired and strained. A headache pulsed through me, as if I had the worst nap in my entire life, which was probably true.

  “I'm not sure, I awoke maybe half an hour ago. Anyways, that's not important right now, I found an exit that doesn't require us going back through the tunnels.” Looking around the room at my standing height I realized that Damian was right. There was a staircase right behind the table in a spot I wouldn't have seen lying down.

  It was a strange sight seeing a staircase in such a weird location. There was a deck of cards on the table with starlike symbols that made no sense to me. Alongside the deck was a note pinned to the table that in a similar fashion I didn't understand, the language was vague enough to look like English at a glance but couldn't possibly actually be English.

  “Are you coming or not?” In my dazed state I didn't realize that Damian had already made his way to the stairs. He was just barely short enough to not skim the roof.

  Without further words we made our way up the staircase. The steps were uneven and shoddy, unlike any other staircase I'd been on since I woke up in Ennath. Each step felt like a monumental task, it took all my effort not to pass out again. Over the course of the next thirty minutes I kept tripping on the stone stairs, my limping legs getting caught in the jagged steps. My tail sagged and luckily didn't drag on the stairs, I shuddered at the thought of what kind of pain that would cause.. Thankfully I never fell down and if Damian noticed he didn't seem to care with him carrying on regardless of me.

  Finally we reached the top of the staircase and were met with a nearly perfect copy of the door at the bottom of the stairs. Opening the door DamIan and I emerged onto the cobblestone streets of Rosurnan in the dead of night and into an alleyway. I hadn't realized how bad it smelled down there until I got a whiff of the fresh air around me. Beyond the streets I could hear the waterfall, louder than ever before ringing deep within my ears. Cool air nipped at my ears and nose, my unfortunately long hair couldn't stop my ears from protruding past the warm mane.

  Taking a break from all the walking I sat down on the steps and looked to the sky. Three moons dotted the sky, all of different sizes, the largest sphere was maybe a little larger than Silt's moon, the second was basically a one to one copy of the moon I remembered from a week ago. And the last moon was half the size of the last and yet somehow shone the brightest out of them all.

  Craning my neck around the alleyway I realized we were definitely nowhere near the Silver Bell, the most obvious indicator being the glass windows. I hadn't seen a lick of glass since I woke up in Rosurnan, only wooden covers where windows should have been, like those old timey kinds in the medieval ages. Inside the glass were dresses, colorful things in all shapes and sizes, some could probably even fit this body.

  Walking closer I was able to make out the finer details of the garments, embroidered flowers, perfect seams that looked impossible on a world like Ennath. I always passed by the women's stores back on Silt, they weren't meant for me, but maybe here, maybe in this body I could pretend. Nobody would even take a second glance if this body wore something like that, it'd even be expected of me. My hand reach up to the glass an-

  “Hey!” Before my grimy hand could touch the glass I was stopped by a familiar gauntleted hand causing me to yelp. I glared at Damian before pulling my arm away from his, the cold metal sent a shiver through my body.

  “Come, let's hurry back to the inn before it becomes any colder.” I didn't respond back to him. Taking one look back at the dresses I shook off the notion that I could possibly ever wear one of those and followed after Damian.

  Walking alongside Damian I realized we were in a part of Rosurnan I'd never been to before if the glass was any kind of indicator. Fancy shops surrounded us, highlighted in colorful paints. Besides the windows there were fancy doorways, signs in a language I couldn't understand, also covered in paint. The lack of any lighting besides the torch gave me an eerie feeling, as if I was being watched. Ignoring my irrational fears I kept on walking besides Damian, the torch kept me a little warm at least..

  I trailed behind Damian as he navigated the streets much better than he had in the sewers. Every now and then we'd pass by some guards who eyed me despite Damian being the one covered in sewage. Eventually as we kept walking I noticed the sounds of the waterfall getting closer and closer, until I finally saw it.

  Stretching across a gigantic river was a stone bridge that had to have been hundreds of meters long and had to have been at least half as tall as it was long. It was wide enough to fit at least two lanes of traffic on each side, although I was sure Ennath didn't have any cars. And then there was the waterfall, the thing that had caused me at least two sleepless nights was right there, kilometers away from us, and I couldn't say I was disappointed. It was as long as the bridge, maybe even longer, literal tons of water poured down from it forming clouds of mist.

  Turning to Damian I realized he was also looking at the waterfall with a seemingly bored expression on his face, although the slight grin on his lips told me more than enough. Together we leaned on the short stone wall separating us and the deep blue beneath. Wordlessly we continued our trek back to the inn.

  Soon enough we finally made our way back to the inn and found it in a lively state. All the folks I saw in the courtyard were now indoors eating their porridge by candlelight. It gave me a strange nostalgic feeling like watching a Christmas family dinner. Except Christmas was half a year away when I left Silt and it was the middle of summer with the family being replaced by fantasy creatures roaming the dining area. Trailing behind Damian I sat at an empty table with him as he waved his torch out and stowed it in his pack. Soon one of those barmaids came around and dropped two bowls of porridge on the table before promptly leaving to do other chores in the inn; it wasn’t like there was anything else to order.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  For the first time in my life the porridge actually seemed appealing after the day I just had, not even the mystery ingredients in it would deter me tonight. Digging into the meal I still wasn’t able to taste anything that actually tasted like real food, just some left crunchy bits every now and then. The food tonight actually made me feel a little full, if that was even possible.

  Just then a thud rang out beside me. Craning my head up I saw Kael sitting there next to me as the server placed another meal of porridge onto the table. How he got there without me noticing was a mystery, even Damian looked a little shocked realizing Kael was here. The worst part was that Kael just started eating his porridge like he hadn't just shown up out of the blue. Realizing that an authority figure was at the table Damian gulped down the last of the porridge in his mouth while having the stupidest expression on his face.

  “Oh uh, Sir Kael! Me and… Mikayla completed the assignment you gave us.” The hesitation in his words told me everything, Damian would rather suck up to Kael than respect who I was.

  I tried to get up from the table when Kael firmly placed his hand onto my shoulder, stopping me from leaving.

  “Before you go, give me my weapons back.” Kael’s voice was firm and authoritative, and I'd be an idiot not to oblige.

  “Um right, I-” Reaching into the holsters of the weapons he gave me I easily found the knife, but for some reason I couldn't find the gun. Frantically searching the remaining pockets of my cloak I couldn't find a trace of the gun. In my panic I presented the holsters and the knife hoping that he wouldn't notice the missing firearm.

  “I have everything right here Kael!” I put up the friendliest voice I could muster to the man. Kael's face only soured at my futile attempt.

  “Where is my gun?” He emphasized each word with his growing frustration. The hand in my shoulder began to clench down, a pang of pain went through me as the aches worsened. Around me the noises of the dining hall ceased as the pressure of Kael's words spread throughout the room.

  “I- I think I lost it in the sewers earlier…” My voice was meek and quiet, I couldn't muster the courage to look him in the eyes.

  “You've earned yourself another job tomorrow Mikayla. Understood?” His frustration turned into a cold and flat tone, one I knew not to cross.

  “Yes sir, I understand.” Forcing myself to meet his eyes I faltered under his pressure and accepted another job.

  His grip on me loosened and I was free from his grasp. Looking around the room I realized that nearly everybody was glaring at us creating an awkward tension in the room. Damian was trying his best to distance himself from me despite us sharing the table. Leaving my bowl half empty I rushed out of the taverna towards my room on the second floor of the inn.

  Nobody stopped me as I climbed the stairs and opened a door to the balconies of the inn. The night's cold air was harsher than earlier without Damian's torch to keep me warm. Making my way to my room I immediately began to change out of the filthy clothes I was wearing and into something cleaner. There wasn't much for me to choose from. My clothes from Silt which were probably dirtier than the clothes I was already wearing, or another set exactly like what I was already wearing.

  Also inside the dresser was the figurine I'd stashed in it earlier still laying there on its side. I'm not sure why but I picked up the mini me and inspected it. She had a beautiful dark green and black dress to match her hair highlights and scales. Her hair was just as mine was, although it was much nicer with the unmoving plastic compared to my sewage filled strands. I wondered what it would be like to have hair like that. Sniffing my hair I realized I desperately needed a shower, but I doubted Ennath had anything even resembling a shower. Maybe I could even style it, girls did that right? Although I wasn't really a girl…

  Just then there was a rapping noise at the door just like this morning. Stashing away my figurine I opened the door and I found Damian once again, this time out of his armor and in civilian attire. In his hand was a small fist sized sapphire that was eerily similar to the one embedded in the gun I lost. Looking at his hands closer I realized they were bruised from fighting the rat, something I could have prevented if I was a better shot. Peering a bit closer at the hands I realized they were beginning to turn purple.

  “Whatcha want Damian? I was about to go to sleep.” It wasn't really a lie, I was going to go to sleep, my body was giving way to drowsiness.

  “I'm here to ask a favor of you, if you don't mind.” His voice was friendly, as if he hadn't called me by that horrible name earlier.

  “I'm not sure there's really anything I can do for you.” As much as I wanted to say I could do anything I knew that in this body I was as useless as a child.

  “There is one thing you can do, your spark. I want you to heal me.”

  “And how am I supposed to do that? I know this backwater world doesn't have great medicine but I'm no doctor.”

  “Using this.” Damian revealed the sapphire in his hands as if it was some great revelation.

  “And?” As much as I liked using magic I wasn't sure what the point of making a fire was.

  “Just create a thread, you'll understand, I swear.” With a sigh I placed my finger on the gem and pulled a blue thread, strangely it felt nothing like the red ones from earlier.

  It wasn't cold per se, but it was cool, comforting, and strangely enough it felt like water. Wrapping the string around my hand I realized that the aching was beginning to fade away. It didn't go away entirely but it felt better, so much better. I pulled more and more string out of the gem before it was yanked away from me and the thread vanished into thin air.

  “Hey!” I exclaimed as Damian lifted the gem high into the air, nearly touching the roof of the room.

  “I'll allow you to heal yourself, if you heal me first.” In all honesty that wasn't a bad deal, I heal him, and I get free magic healing.

  “Fine, come here.” Damian lowered the gem to my level and I started unraveling it.

  Lengths of string emitted from the gem, enough to engulf Damian's hands. Taking the gem out of his hand I began wrapping his hands in a sea of blue. I'm not sure how long we stood there, my hands holding his as the alleviating threads coursed through us. Eventually after a while the tiredness took over for a second and the thread disappeared. Emerging from the cocoon was a still bruised hand, but at least it wasn't bloody anymore. The hands didn't even have a hint of purple on them anymore.

  Suddenly a wave of fatigue passed through me and I keeled over. Just before I hit the ground Damian caught me, his hands trembling. Lifting me up he carried me to my bed before gently letting me down onto it.

  “Wha- what just happened?” My voice was tiny and weak. I knew I was tired but my body shouldn't have just given up like that.

  “I believe you overused your spark, I'm sorry I didn't mention it to you earlier.” Despite his sorry tone I didn't really believe he cared that much.

  “Well, um, goodnight then Michael. I'll also be taking that gem back, you don't seem to have the strength to use it currently.” I watched as Damian took the gem but something about it bothered me. I wasn't sure if my eyes were playing tricks on me but it seemed a little dimmer than before. He awkwardly made his way to the door before leaving the room.

  With a sigh I leaned back onto my sheets, a comforting presence even after the shitshow of a day I'd just had. I'd waded through disgusting sewers, then fought giant rats in those sewers. And I punched those giant rats with fire, magic fire from a crystal that makes strings. Then I… I tried to eat them. The mere thought of eating those rats left a disgusting taste in my mouth. Trying my best to put off my thoughts I relinquished my body to sleep.

  —

  It was useless, the damn thing was useless now. Kael held the now melted revolver in his hands. The areas around the now dull gem had melted into a useless pile of slag, although that wasn't his primary concern, that room was, unmapped, undocumented.

  Entering through the door Kael immediately knew the room wasn't meant for his eyes. On the table was a deck of cards with symbols he knew all too well. Any passerby might’ve thought the cards were a little unusual but the ice patterns told him everything, the Network had been here.