Lizzy's consciousness began to fade. Her fight with the wolf had only served to worsen her already broken wrist so much so that the pain was now causing her to slip in and out of consciousness.
("Need to Hold…On…Longer…but…I…can't take it anym-more…")
She tried her best to stay awake, but it was no use. She felt a slight tingling in her head as her vision faded to black.
# # #
"…. Are you alright?"
Lizzy heard a faint voice in the black void that was her subconscious. She couldn't quite make out the first part of the sentence it was far too muffled.
"Madam?!"
The voice became clearer and clearer it was almost like an outstretched hand pulling her slowly back to reality.
("Wh-who is that? Mum, Dad?")
Lizzy slowly opened her eyes. In front of her stood a short, rotund man with golden eyes, white shiny armour and little to no hair other than his long grey and white beard. The man stared at Lizzy with a concerned and inquisitive expression on his face. He reminded Lizzy of her grandfather; the two did look very similar, although Lizzy's grandfather was significantly taller than the short man who stood in front of her.
"Ah, Madam it seems you're finally awake. You know it's not safe in these woods on your own! My men just recently engaged a group of mercenaries out here!"
The man examined Lizzy closer taking a look at her bruised and battered arm.
"My, My! You must have taken quite a beating…Can you walk?"
"N-No…It hurts too much…I think I broke my wrist"
"I see…How about your lyco? Is it hurt?"
("M-My lyco? Does he mean the wolf?")
"Y-Yeah He's cut up pretty bad…"
The man looked at Lizzy and the wolf, considering his options.
"If it's just some cuts, the lyco has; I have some minor healing potions that should seal them up good enough, but, unfortunately, it won't be enough to heal your broken wrist, so we are going to have to get you to a healer, luckily I happen to be friends with one of the greatest healers in Estria! If we heal up your Lyco here, he could carry you over to my village where we could get you patched up properly."
Lizzy didn't completely trust the man, however, she had no other option but to take his help. She nodded her head and the man pulled a small vial full of a crimson liquid out of his brown, leather utility belt. He poured the contents of the vial into the lyco's mouth. A white glow appeared around the cuts and grasses that covered the lyco's body as the elixir slid down its throat. After a while, the glow slowly dissipated revealing that the lyco's wounds had been completely closed up.
*Grrggaahh*
The lyco slowly awoke, groaning as it opened its eyes to scan its surroundings. The lyco spotted the man and it bared its teeth at him threateningly, as if warning him to step back.
"No..It's fine…He's friendly…"
Lizzy put on a calm reassuring voice as she patted the lyco's long snout. The lyco reluctantly withdrew, seemingly trusting Lizzy's judgement.
"I'm going to lift you now madam. It might hurt a little."
The man hoisted Lizzy up onto the back of the Lyco; The lyco accordingly lifted itself off the ground careful not to shake Lizzy off or hurt her.
"This way!"
The lyco cautiously followed the man as he pointed towards the direction of his village, carefully minding its step as they trekked through the forest.
# # #
After a long and arduous journey in the woods, the three arrived in a small quaint village next to a clear flowing river. The village was situated in a large grass plain and seemed to be comprised of mostly wood-built houses, with even the town hall being a two-storey wood built structure. It was much different to the village Lizzy had seen looking outside of the small barred window in the carriage yesterday.
"Here we are! This is Quiesa! It's not much, this little village, but it's where I call home! I'll show you to the healer now! Word of warning, he is quite a sensitive fellow!"
Lizzy felt the stone-paved road of the town jolting her up and down with each step the lyco took. It didn't take long for them to reach their destination; A small wooden building with a hay thatched roof and a faded wooden sign outside that read 'Tudo's'. The man hoisted Lizzy off of the lyco and onto his shoulders as he walked through the rattly wooden door. Lizzy found herself in a messy chaotic room; books were scattered all around the place; on shelves, the floor and even some that were being used to prop up old broken furniture, Papers lay strung across the floor as if they had just been ripped from a diary and vials lay broken, half full or empty strewn all across the room. In the middle of the chaotic mess was an equally chaotic looking man. He had long black hair that seemed to explode out in all directions not conforming to one uniform shape, this was complemented by his tired light blue eyes and grey dusty robe which extended all the way down to his ankles. despite his dishevelled appearance, it was clear that the man was still fairly young, one could guess he was in his early twenties or thereabouts.
"Hello! Tudo! How are we, my old friend!"
The robed man, named Tudo rolled his eyes annoyed, hoping that the ensuing conversation would not last too long.
"For the last time, Noctus! I am not your friend! Now, why are you here? you know I'm a busy man!"
"Well, I actually have a patient for you! she's a young girl I found her in the woods, quite injured..."
"Hmm?"
Tudo looked at Lizzy who hung off the Noctus' shoulders, her face clearly displaying her pain and agony as she held back tears.
"Yes, I see that... Sorry about my harsh tone it's just that Noctus, over there…well how do I put this…Oh yeah! He's an annoying old fart who likes to annoy me when I'm busy! Noctus Put her on that chair over there. So I can examine her wounds more closely"
Noctus lowered Lizzy onto a small, rickety, wooden chair situated near a cluttered table. Tudo approached Lizzy and closed his eyes while flinging out his right arm. Lizzy saw a flash of green light. She looked up only to see that a glowing neon crest with a strange S looking symbol had appeared in front of Tudo's hand she was awestruck it was like she was seeing a miracle being performed in front of her. The man opened his eyes and the crest disappeared.
"Yes, It seems like you have a broken wrist as well as a pretty bruised up arm. You're also slightly dehydrated. Luckily, it shouldn't be too hard to fix!"
The man once again closed his eyes, hovering his hand over Lizzy's arm. A white glowing crest depicting a strange v-like symbol appeared on the palm of his hand. Lizzy felt a strange sensation spread throughout her arm, it was like the entire structure of it was being re-arranged and shifted gently into new positions, before locking into place. The man lowered his arm and the crest disappeared.
"Well, how's that?"
Lizzy looked at her arm in amazement, a minute ago she was in agonising, throbbing pain but, now it was like nothing ever happened, she couldn't even feel the slightest bit of pain. She looked up at the man her eyes sparkling with admiration.
"My arm! It feels better like it was never even hurt, Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"
"No, need to thank me. As a studier of healing magic, It is my duty to heal the wounded and sickly!"
"Oh, Yes Tudo that reminds me I suppose you'll need payment for this but I don't think the girl has coins on her!"
"No, no payment needed!"
"WHAT! B-b-b-but you always charge me thousands of Exus for my wounds!"
"That's because you always come in here and annoy me, old man! Maybe you should be more considerate, perhaps then your charge won't be so steep!"
"Oh, You're just kidding! I know you love my company, Ay old friend!"
Noctus gave Tudo a firm pat on the back as a fiendish smile grew on his face.
"Well, I suppose we better get you home now shan't we? Where do you come from madam?"
Lizzy paused unsure what to say. If she told them the truth they might not believe her, but what else was she supposed to say. She had to think of something.
"Uhhh"
("What should I say? Didn't Caleb mention an empire city or something like that...but what if that's wrong? Come on Lizzy think!")
"I uh I…don't remember…"
("Jeez, I am such a dummy")
"Hmmm…Now that certainly is a problem…you don't happen to have any spells for memory loss, Ay tudo?"
"No such spells exist, I'm afraid. Or if they do I'm certainly not aware of them…Do you perhaps remember the last place you were…That could give us some clues"
Lizzy looked down trying to remember as much about her surroundings as she could.
("Ok I gotta make this sound believable...")
"Oh-Ok yeah…Well, I woke up in a forest. The only thing I remembered about my home was my friend Caleb so I tried looking for him. I was wandering around the forest when some guys wearing purple hoods came up and grabbed me, they shoved me in a cart and took me away…I think about an hour later arrived at this village with a lot of white houses there were men in white armour like the one you are wearing Noctus! then I saw my friend Caleb I tried crying out but he collapsed before reaching me… then the carriage began moving again we travelled for like 3 hours or something, then we stopped, that's when I made my escape and ended up meeting the wo-Ahem I mean lyco..."
"White houses huh well there's only two villages I can think of with a lot of white brick houses, Avandale and Sinestria…"
"Well, I know both Avandale and Sinestria are under the protection of my Family's guild Clan Formina…But the only problem is that me my younger brothers, Leonis and Ceio aren't exactly on good terms after a family falling out, however, I do think that my brother in Avandale might be of some help, He does have a broken leg after his recent battle and if Tudo fixes he might help us get you home and find your friend…"
"I am not going to Avandale! I've got too much work to do besides Sinestria and Avandale are three hours away on horseback!"
"Oh come on Tudo, please! It's for the little girl after all…And also mending relations with Ceio could also mean more trade for Quiesa, which means you won't have to travel so far for those potion ingredients! "
"…"
"Fine! But you're going to pay pretty for this! I'm expecting at least 50,000 exus deposited directly into my imperial bank account!"
"It's settled then we're leaving for Avandale!"