《Ignis》Chapter 13: Muscle Atrophy Sucks
Advertisement
You lay back on the bed after your bath, horrified at how weak you feel. You had to lean on Bedard and Miotal Scathanna all the way to the tub, barely able to hold yourself upright and move. You resolve to take things slowly, to give your body time to recover. Bedard hooks a nutrient drip back up, to fuel your body while it rests, and leaves you alone in your room.
+We need to restore our body.+
+No arguments there. I am so weak. I've never had muscle atrophy this bad before.+
+What is this flesh-weakness? How is it to be repaired?+
+ As I understand it, when one does not use a muscle for more than three days or so, it begins to weaken. I was immobile for fourteen days. I'm honestly surprised that I could walk at all. To heal from it, I need to exert myself: move around, lift things, stretch out.+
+A good time for us to re-learn our Martial forms.+
+Once we can stand again, and move without falling!+
You close your eyes and start drifting off to sleep. Bedard obviously intends to let your mind reorder itself before working on your body.
The next morning, Bedard helps you bathe and change your clothes again. He also has you try to walk around and eat some porridge by hand instead of by the nutrient drip. It's not a pleasant sensation, but you push through it. Bedard seems pleased at your performance, and helps you sit upright in your bed. "Helheim showing up to ask more questions?"
Bedard nodded. "Plus Canala sent down some books from your quarters along with the clothing, so you should have something to do while resting between therapy sessions. Once you can lift them safely, of course."
Advertisement
Helheim knocks polity at the door. "Hows is the Lady today?"
You grin. "Much better, thank you. Long way to go yes, but better. You have questions, let's see if I have answers."
"I also have some for you, hopefully. Bedard, would you mind getting us both some water? We may be talking for quite a while."
"If I do kick you out, you stay out."
"Understood Apothecary." Helheim takes a seat at the foot of your bed. "Both of your hunches played out. The staff was placed for us to find. I went back over that ship and found only two sets of tracks in the recent past. One was our intrusion, the second one a pair of tracks, one small-footed lightweight humanoid, one lightweight bipedal machine. Wraith tracked down your hunch about the staff's name, and actually found something. He had to dig all the way back into pre-unification languages, but he found it. 'Miotal Scathanna' matched up to an old language called Eriesh, and translates to 'Shadowed Metal' in plain old low gothic."
You lean back against the pillow. "Thank you. I'd planned on tracking down the name as soon as I could."
Helheim shakes his head."We got lucky. Wraith has a habit of studying old languages, and he found more than a few references to Eriesh when he started looking into Dagda. I'm thinking the AAs did the same studying when they Named the staff."
"The 'AAs'?"
"Ariavari and Anai. The Deathwatch knows them as individuals of interest, known to work together, and as extremely dangerous. If they were both involved in creating the Scathanna, and then gave it away, then clearly they are playing a much longer game. What I'd like to do is go back over those other two locations you saw, try and track down what and where they might be. They'll be long-abandoned by the time we discover them, but they will point out the path that at least one of the AAs traveled in the recent past."
Advertisement
You nod and gather your thoughts. "I'll do the best I can, but I'm working from glimpses in a Dream here. The first one, the cavern. Underground cave, deep below red ground. Big underground ravine takes up much of the space. Big enough to be completely dark, and to not echo. Two names, I think: the Beast and the Night's Labyrinth."
Helheim leans back. "Allfather..." He then slams his hands on his legs. "Allfather!" He repeats in a very different tone. "That may well be the Noctis Labyrinthus on Mars. And that means one, we'd never get access. And two, at least one of the AAs got all the way into the Sol system, made planetfall on Mars and got back out again undetected. Impossible to verify, and it would drag the Adeptus Mechanicus into the fray, which the Inquisitor does not want happening." He lets out a long breath. "Alright, what about the shrine you mentioned?"
You shake your head. "Fewer details, but three names or titles. The 'Shattered Anvil' at the heart of the 'Sundered Wayshrine', with 'the Shades' sleeping in attendance."
Helheim shakes his head. "Sounds Eldar, but we'll have to look into that. You stay here and rest, I'll see if I can pry Wraith out of his books so we can start looking." He gets up to depart, but hesitates at the door. "You just concentrate on getting healthy Lady Dannan. Leave the work of prying into dangerous secrets to the Deathwatch. He vanishes, heading down the corridor.
Advertisement
My Best Friend is an Eldritch Horror
Good things come to those who wait. Damien Vale didn't, and now he's bound to an Eldritch creature from beyond the farthest reaches of the universe. It's unfathomable, utterly evil, and likes to be called Henry. To Damien, none of that mattered. He was going to learn magic, and he'd be damned if he let something as small as this set him back. When Damien started his first year at a mage college, he didn't expect it to be easy. However, when he's assigned to room with a strange girl that has magic that even Henry is wary of, Damien realizes things might not be so easy. He sets out to accomplish his life goal of becoming a powerful mage, all the while dealing with a murderous professor, an eldritch creature that's created a persona to act like a teenager, and a new roomate that's far more perceptive than he'd like. As Damien struggles to deal with the rammifications of the monster within him, a disturbing fact comes to life: Henry might not be the only eldritch creature on the mortal plane, and he's the only one that can stop them. NOTE: This story is progression fantasy with some very basic litRPG elements (such as a wristband that shows a character's stats). It is not a full on litRPG - it's a progression fantasy story with litRPG elements. The story will contain some romance, but it will not be explicit nor will it take over the story. It starts off slow, but will pick up speed quickly around chapter 26. Enjoy! My Best Friend is an Eldritch Horror was origonally started as a way to thank my patreons. I will be keeping the patreon updated 15 chapters in advance. Enjoy! Cover art by Skyedrun!
8 266220 Days to Prom Night
Having unanswered questions about her past, Aubrey has grown into a bitter and distant teenager. Nevertheless, she lives her life by the rules as her community expects a respectable young lady to behave. Until another voice in her head tells her otherwise. Before she knows it, an unwanted entity takes residence in her body. The sinister kind. One day, she's tangled up in a weird situation and ends up agreeing to go to prom with the popular school jock. Despite knowing that she's only being used to spite the ex-girlfriend, she can't help but succumb to his charm. Little does she know that coming to prom with him leads to the discovery of her past; the story that has been buried under silent water. ============================================ Updates will be daily except for Wednesday and Thursday
8 82My Afterlife: Aries Rising
Alice Cross died alone. Due to not following any kind of faith, her soul is being sent to a new kind of afterlife where she can earn paradise of her choosing if she can make it to the bottom floor of a 100 floor dungeon. With Nothing to guide her, she takes on all odds just so she can rest peacefully. One of the big problems is she has become a healer and is dependant on others to get her through. participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge
8 156Incomplete
DON'T READ THIS! WELL IF YOU WANT TO YOU CAN, BUT DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU! I LEAVE IT HERE AS A REMINDER TO MYSELF. MAYBE, ONE DAY, I WILL REWRITE IT, THOUGH IT WILL BE A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT STORY! After the Hero, Olympius, son of God, defeated the Demon King and uncovered his evil plot of infiltrating humanity with demons, the world returned to balance. People could live in peace again, not having to worry if their lives were in constant danger. But after a long time, darkness started brewing again in the world. A shade that this time, they created themselves. P.S. It's my first novel, so I welcome any critique, and if you find any grammar mistakes and if you can find motivation in you to inform me of those, please do! ;)
8 444End of My Boring Life
On Earth, a boy named Zed Jiyoui leads a typical teenage life, and of course, he is a Sophomore in High School. Like any other average 16-year-old, Zed wakes up early every day; goes to school, likes playing video games, and hangs out with friends. But he had always thought that he is just leading an average boring life, and that's how it will be for the rest of his life. Until one day when he was sleeping a mysterious light appears out of nowhere. What might that light be? Does this mysterious light represent a turning point in Zed's life for better or worse? or is it something else.
8 90The Eternal Myths: A Progression Fantasy
Book 1 Complete! Book 2 updates Mon-Wed-Fri. It is every child's dream to walk the primal spring, bond a wisp, and begin walking the path of the practitioner. To wield Issi and bend existence to their will. But when it comes Elach's turn, he is instead given the 'honor' of guiding his peers to their own wisps. A task with a horrible mortality rate and very little in return. Six years pass, and he is still a guide. Nobody will step up to fill a position he has become synonymous with. But something is stirring in the spring; something that may finally bring an end to Elach's obligation, whether he wants it or not. The second book introduces another main character, which is where the multiple lead characters and female lead tags come from.
8 225