"Ahhh." I sighed while stretching out on my bed, looking at the time on my phone to see 2:52 am. I closed out of the app I was using to read The Beginning After the End, and plugged my phone up to charge as I pulled the covers up to attempt to sleep. I wasn't exactly sleepy, but I did have school the next day and I didn't want to be a complete zombie for my first day of Senior year.
However no matter what I did my thoughts kept drifting back to the book I had just finished reading. I had read it from beginning to end and couldn't help but wish something like that was possible. That's not to say I wished I would die, my life was quite good after all. It's just the thought of living in a fantasy world with magic and fantastical things excites me. I guess that's what I'm missing from my current life.. Excitement.
My mind drifted back once again to the story of King Grey becoming Arthur Leywin, and I wished nothing more than that I could start the second book already. I wasn't quite sure if it was my favorite book but I couldn't deny how much it captivated me. Reading about Arthur getting separated from his family and then spending multiple years with elves to get his mana core under control. Then finally being reunited with his family and I couldn't help but chuckle at him immediately wanting to go adventuring.
The vivid scenes of how my minds eye turned the words from a page into images in my mind played as my eyes stayed closed. I could picture every scene as if it had been real and I'd watched it just as I would a TV show or anime. However the scenes began to conflict with what I remembered and I started seeing a different bandit attack.
I saw a cluster of 4 wagons being besieged by a group of bandits, who sent a volley of arrows at the outnumbered caravan. I felt actual pain when I saw a boy with nearly snow white hair get pierced in the chest by an arrow, while he had been knelt beside his mother who also was riddled with arrows. Soon I could hear what the boy was saying.
"Please mom wake up, it hurts!"
I could feel the tears welling in the boy's eyes as he shook his mother. I could feel the warm blood dripping from the arrow wound and begin soaking his tunic. I could feel everything as if I was the boy! Then my vision began darkening and what I assume were memories began flickering through my mind. Nothing in depth, just the names of this family and the town they came from named Valden. His mother was Carrie, father was Markus and lastly the boy's name was…
"Colt?" With the ending of the brief memory dump I felt the boy's lips part and heard his voice say his own name. No that's not quite right, I'm not sure what it was but something changed. I was shocked to see that when I wanted to look around the vision swayed side to side. A battle still raged between the remaining fighters, but I couldn't get over the fact that I had just moved Colt's body. Surely it was a coincidence.
Looking closer around me I could see that the area around me seemed to have been met by a concussive force. Splintered debris formed an almost perfect circle around me, ah Colt, and his mother's body. I could feel a sensation inside that at first I had thought to be the arrow causing internal damage due to Colt's movements. Only they were no longer his movements anymore, they were mine. I'm not sure why exactly I knew, but I did.
I could feel that regardless how muddy the movements felt I could tell they were my own now. Colt was no longer present, only the burning desire to save his mother remained. I went to lift my hands off his mother's body, but I felt that sensation inside me spread and spread quickly. It left the center area of just below where my heart would be and rushed to my fingertips.
I could feel it emptying quickly as it was converted into a green glow escaping my hands. However somehow I knew it wasn't enough and automatically began pulling more and more from the surroundings. I wasn't sure how I was doing it, but my body responded as if it was natural. The feeling would empty and then be refilled over and over as I now also wanted Colt's mother to live.
"They have a healer! Capture that kid!" I heard a roar from across the field and saw a bald man wielding an axe that he had pointed directly at me. With the break of concentration to look at the bald bandit, the green glow around my hands dissipated and no longer was there an exit for the power I was absorbing. I couldn't seem to shut off the influx and felt a pain in my chest much more painful than the arrow had been.
My vision swam and the last thing I saw was a bandit approaching me, and the last thing I heard was my own pain filled scream as my vision went black.
When I came to I was met with an excruciating headache that I tried to bring my hands up to massage, only to realized they were bound behind my back. Blinking away the pain I looked around to find myself in a cage with a few women, some were part of Colt's caravan and a few had been here much longer judging by their disheveled appearance. Their bodies caked in smeared and dried dirt and blood, with vacant expressions in their eyes.
Sitting up I got a better view of our location. We surrounded by trees on all sides that extended for as far as I could see. Though admittedly that wasn't very far considering it was now night time and the tree canopy shielded most of the moonlight. No, our primary light source was coming from the numerous fire pits that spread out around the small clearing.
Soon a figure came stumbling towards us causing the women from my caravan to back away from the entrance, the older ones didn't even flinch.
"Hehehe. Boss said no damaging the goods but he didn't say anything about having a little fun. Let me shoooow ya a good time!" He slurred his words and swept a pointed finger over the huddled forms of the women until he landed on with a smile. She pleaded no, but that just made the bandit's smile grow wider as he grabbed her by the hair. He dragged her kicking and screaming out of the cage and I found myself frozen in fear.
All I could do was watch as her thrashing silhouette vanished inside a tent, but the screams never stopped. I couldn't believe what was happening, this couldn't be the same world of the book I had read. Sure, I had read about the slavers taking Tessia. I remembered the bandit attack on Arthur's group that eventually led to him falling off the cliff.
But… But I came from a peaceful normal small town in the US. I was just a senior in highschool only hours ago and now I found myself prisoner in a bandit camp. Inside the body of a young boy that was only 5 years old, one who had lost both his parents in the bandit attack. Now I was seeing first hand the cruelty and vileness of the criminal side of things. Soon another bandit came, and took another. This repeated until I was the only one left in the cage and all I could do was stare at the floor of the cage.
Not even noticing the approach another bandit squatted down in front of my from outside the cage. I raised my head up just high enough to see his face. He was bald with multiple scars across his face giving him a disturbing visage to go with his bear like body. He grinned when my eyes met his and I dropped my eyes again, hoping and praying with all my might that he won't subject me to the same horrors as the girls. I didn't care if it was selfish, I felt bad for them of course. But if I had to choose between me? Or stranger that I didn't even know I would myself every time.
"Good." I heard his gruff voice enter my ears and couldn't stop shiver that went through my body. Even if I was in my old body I wouldn't have been able to take this man in a physical fight, especially now in this small child's body.
"It looks like ya already understand. Lets get something straight. I'll keep you alive and keep the boys from having fun with you, but in turn you're going to be our personal little healer. I don't know how a kid like you awakened so soon, but you're lucky you did. What do ya say kid?" He finished and continued staring at me, I could smell his horrid alcohol infused breath. I nodded my head one brief time and he laughed.
"Good! Good! Now come with me, you can heal up your first few patients." He said to come with him, but he didn't exactly give me much choice as he grabbed my by the back of my shirt and carried me with him. I hung limply as he carried me trying to block out the pleas of the girls, some hadn't even made it into tents and were surrounded by a whole group. Monsters. That's all I could think and it repeated in my head over and over again until he dropped me on to the ground, where I caught myself with my face.
I felt a blade press against my throat and the bald man leaned down next to my ear.
"You try anything stupid and I'll break your legs. You don't need them to heal people do ya?" I shook my head quickly and couldn't stop the whimper that left my mouth when he moved the blade. Soon I felt it at my hands where he cut the ropes that bound my hands, and I rubbed at my wrists. He kicked me in the back to where I landed closer to an unconscious bandit and when i straightened up I noticed a few more inside a larger tent.
"Get to it!" He growled and plopped down into a chair with what I assumed to be a bottle of booze as he watched me. I quickly turned back to the man in front of me and held my hands over where the wound was and I thought back to when I tried to heal Colt's mom. I closed my eyes and I could still the wound but I was able to see… more? With just a thought it got larger and I could see everything. I knew there was no infection yet, and that most of the bleeding had stopped. So I just imagined pushing everything back together and used healing like glue and stitches.
It started from the deepest point of the gash and I saw as it slowly began to heal back together. Closing the wound and not even leaving a scar once it was finished. Despite the situation I found myself smiling when the wound closed and something in the healing magic that was hovering over the man's body told me that he was fine now and that there was nothing left to heal.
I'm the end only one bandit was too far gone for me to heal with my magic and I could feel exhaustion overcoming my body.
"Don't pass out here, kid. Back to your damn cage if you're going to sleep." He emphasized it with another kick to my ribs and the jolt of pain woke me up enough to quickly stand and follow him out the tent. When we exited I realized everything had quieted down, there was no more moans of pleasure or pain. Just quietness as most of the camp was asleep. I apologized to the women in my head, but there was nothing I could do for them right now.
One day I promise I'll save you. One day I'll get revenge for you. One day I'll get out of here too.