Could I get some water? Ralph tried to ask, but all that came out was, "…ater…" He wasn't sure if that was just his imagination or not, but he wasn't sure what he could do about it. Besides, if nothing else, it completely felt like he should have expected that with everything else that was happening in the dream.
"You think he's delirious?" Wes asked.
Beth merely shook her head. "He might want some water. We should give him some anyway. His fever is getting higher, so we'll need to bundle him up more than we have already," Beth said, sounding like she might be thinking out loud rather than giving any instructions. "Oh, and don't forget to feed him some of the soup. We need to make sure that he at least gets something to eat." Beth paused for a minute and Ralph couldn't be sure if she was waiting for something or if she was looking for something during that minute. "I'll use my magic again before we go to bed. Hopefully I'll be able to do more than turn his face back to the correct color."
Ralph wished he could shake his head. This dream was getting too weird. Especially with how much sense so much of it was making. When did dreams ever make this much sense? He'd never known a dream to be like this. Where things happened that almost made him feel like he was actually awake rather than dreaming.
Ralph was pulled out of his thoughts as he felt something dribbling down into his mouth. It felt like moisture and for some reason it felt like it was an elixir that was soothing his throat that had started to become a desert. He wasn't able to explain why, but as it continued to flow into his mouth, he felt such relief that he couldn't help but feel like he'd been taken to heaven.
However, that sensation was over almost as soon as it began, leaving Ralph blinking as he tried to wrap his mind around what had happened. He wasn't sure, but it was almost like he had merely imagined something dripping into his mouth a moment before.
The next thing he knew, he felt something being pushed into his mouth and something warm and liquid getting deposited. Ralph didn't know what it was, but he could feel his mouth moving, though he wasn't sure in which way. Just that it was moving.
"Think he likes the soup?" he heard Raeys ask someone.
"Hard to say," Beth replied. "I'm not sure he can really talk very well, so it's not like he could complain if he didn't."
Ralph felt like rolling his eyes, but didn't because it also felt like too much effort at that moment. He wasn't going to let their conversation in his dream make him enjoy this any less as whatever had been put in his mouth kept returning again and again, each time depositing that warm liquid in his mouth. Though, while he didn't mind some of this dream, he still hoped that he'd be able to wake up soon so he could at least move around.
It was getting a little boring just laying there like that. Not to mention the fact that there wasn't anything for him to do. Just laying there might sound appealing at times, but not if he didn't actually have anything to do or keep his mind occupied. Which seemed to be the worst part about this dream as well.
Though, as he thought about it, closing his eyes sound like a good idea. Since this was a dream, it wasn't like he could fall asleep, but closing his eyes sounded like it was his best option.
If nothing else, it would make it easier to let all the stranger parts of his dream going on around him to just be as if it wasn't happening and he could just pretend that he wasn't dreaming. That he wasn't just going through one of those times when he slept that he didn't have a dream. It certainly had it's appeal to him right then.
_
Beth sighed as she felt Ralph go to sleep. She wasn't sure how long he might be like this, but when she used her magic to try and help heal him, it felt like it was merely draining him of energy. She wasn't sure if she might kill him through those efforts.
If she didn't do anything with her magic, other than to just keep tabs on his condition, she had a feeling that he'd recover with enough bed rest. Only, she couldn't say how long that would take. Nor could she be certain that Wes, Serrith, or Raeys might come down with it as well. Though, that was assuming that the name for the illness 'skirt dropper' meant that it only affected men, or primarily men.
She recalled what she said earlier about staying where they were until Ralph got better, but she was starting to think doing that would be a mistake. One that could make things really bad for them. If only because of their supplies being rather limited due to the lack of a reliable supply that they could just go to whenever they wanted.
"What're we going to do?" Aerbris asked, sounding worried.
Beth sighed. "I think the best option would be for us to put together a stretcher. That way we can carry him along with us while we continue on."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Resith asked, her expression letting Beth know that she regretted saying anything the moment Beth looked at her.
"Actually, I think it's the best option right now," Beth answered calmly, not caring to help soothe the young woman's feelings about the matter, but not wanting to get on her case either. After all, if she did that, then it would discourage her from sharing thoughts she might have. It wasn't clear if she might come up with something useful when they really needed it.
"Why's that?" Wes asked. "You know Ralph would hate to be the one to help carry you if you were in his position."
"Then it's a good thing I'm not," Beth retorted. "Besides, we don't know how contagious this is." Beth then looked at Wes in the eyes. "As far as we know, you'll come down with it next before Ralph has recovered. If that happens, then we might be in trouble if we're not moving. I mean, who knows how long it'll take for any of us to recover from it?"
Wes nodded, looking like he hadn't thought of a few of those points. "Yeah, well, lets hope that it was Ralph's mischievous nature that let him catch that disease," Wes said, looking like he hoped that was the case and that he wouldn't come down with it too.
"As long as we're at it, let's get a second stretcher made up too," Beth said, ticking off ideas as they flowed through her mind. "That way if someone else does come down with it, we can just let them ride on that rather than taking time then to make another. Though, I don't think we can do more than that. If any of use falls ill after that, we're going to have to stop until someone gets better."
"Uh, what's a stretcher?" Aerbris asked, and as Beth looked around, she could see that the same question was on the minds of everyone else other than Wes.
"I'll show you," Wes said, sounding like he was happy to have something he could contribute, which Beth was happy to let him do. After all, she'd been the one figuring out what had been going on with Ralph, though she couldn't help but wonder if they should get the stretchers made during the night so they could head out at dawn or if they should start working on them then after getting plenty of rest.
Beth pushed that out of her mind, not sure if she should pose that question to the others just yet. Instead, she watched Wes give a quick rundown of what a stretcher was, what the purpose was, and how they'd use it. Which Beth thought was a pretty good explanation, as even Feon and Hesha seemed to get it. The only person Beth thought might not fully understand it was Lily, but that wasn't surprising as she was around four.
When Wes finished, the others looked a little doubtful about the idea. "Are you sure we can make that?" Serrith asked, looking like he was being asked to do a backflip then and there.
"Of course we can make it," Beth replied confidently. "We just need to find two long sticks that are strong enough to support Ralph's weight as we carry him."
"You're going to look now?" Resith asked, sounding like the very idea terrified her.
Beth merely smiled at the young woman. "Not really. I had been wondering if we should make the stretchers now or if we should wait until morning, but you make a good point. If we look for the sticks now, we might end up with more problems than if we waited until morning."
Resith looked like she'd been spared from being sent to the execution block, which Beth couldn't help but wonder what might have happened to her to make her react like that.
"So, if we find the sticks that you mentioned, what do we do then?" Aerbris asked as she wrung her hands together. "I mean, do we have anything to cut them or to help us do what we need to do to them to make the stretchers?"
"Of course we do," Beth answered confident that if nothing else, Wes and her would be able to use their magic to create places for their hands to hold the stretchers while they walked. "I can even ensure that the fabric we'll use for the main part of the stretcher will be able to be secured around the sticks as well."
Beth already had in mind how to go about assembling the stretchers, mostly so that they could get them made as fast as possible. She didn't want to waste time, or an entire day, when they could be getting closer to some part of civilization to resupply if this disease took that long to recover from.
When Beth had explained what she had in mid to the others, everyone, except Wes, started to go to bed. Wes stayed up because it was his turn to take watch, while Beth was ready to get some sleep.
However, Aerbris and Raeys seemed to have other ideas. As after Beth got under her blanket, Aerbris slid under it too and before Beth could say anything, she silenced Beth with her lips while pulling her tunic up. Then while Beth was occupied with that, she felt more than saw or heard Raeys come up on her other side and pull her leggings down as she felt him pressing against her.
Beth was confident where this was going to lead, and while she knew she'd enjoy it, she wasn't sure how Wes would react if he learned what was going on with her right then or even what Ralph would think about her doing it while he was really sick.
However, as she felt the others touching her and their bodies pressing against each other's, as well, as being able to touch them, Beth quickly lost herself in the moment and surrendered to their ministrations and let them have their way with her in the end.
Though, she couldn't say that she didn't love every minute of their lovemaking, either.
A couple days later, Beth felt a stab of panic. While she had known what could happen through having sex, she didn't like the idea of her being pregnant while in this world right then. Maybe a few years down the road, but not right now. However, she realized that her monthly period was late. She hoped that it wasn't because of her activities with her new lovers, but she couldn't discount that possibility, either.
Yet, since she couldn't say for certain right then, she didn't think that she should say anything to the others either. Since that would just add another potential complication to what they'd already been dealing with. Especially since Ralph had stayed sick the entire time and the few times he woke up, he was clearly delirious and sometimes couldn't even tell who was talking to him.
Yet, Beth wondered if she should start getting her new lovers to stop climbing under her blanket with her every night. While she enjoyed their romps in the bed, if she hadn't already gotten pregnant and her late period was due to something else, then she would need to figure out a way to avoid something like that from happening in the future. Especially since she really didn't need to deal with the complications of having kids during this entire expedition to find that crystal.
At the moment, the only real positive about their situation was that things hadn't really gotten worse just yet. Ralph was still sick and unable to walk under his own power, but at least no one else had fallen ill either. While she worried about her late period, she couldn't say that it was a bad thing just yet. Especially since she hadn't been able to figure out if she was able to use her magic to check to see if she was pregnant or not.
"Where's the next griffin canyon?" Wes asked as they started to head out that morning.
Beth sighed. She actually hadn't looked at that map for a few days at least. With some of the other problems that Ralph had brought up with the scale of it, Beth was reconsidering just how accurate it was. While she didn't doubt that there were three griffin canyons in these mountains, she couldn't say exactly just how long it was supposed to take them to get to them.
"Beth, you hear me?" Wes asked, pulling Beth out of her thoughts.
"I'm really not sure," Beth admitted, wondering if they should just head back to meet up with their friends so they can get an idea of an exact frame of distance and estimation of how long it would take them to verify each of them. Even though they'd have to consider how long it would take to get to Marquis Denshia's march. "But I thought it'd at least be good to take a look at the gate we found."
"Uh, why?" Wes asked. "We already found the world that we'd been searching for."
Beth couldn't help but wag her finger at Wes. "True, but what about our return trip? I'm sure that it'll be nice if we can find a shorter route back, right?"
Wes shook his head like he had a hard time believing what Beth was saying. "Seriously? Even if we find another gate to the first world we entered on this expedition, who's to say just how long it'd take to get back to Petal's forest? As far as we know, it'd take even longer."
Beth merely shrugged. She'd already thought about that. It wasn't like she'd dismissed that possibility. "All the more reason we'd need to learn as much as we can about the gates that we can find."
"What do you mean 'return trip,' mistress?" Aerbris asked, sounding like she wasn't sure she'd like the response.
While Beth didn't see a reason to avoid the question, she wasn't sure how the truth would be taken. However, it wasn't like it was supposed to be a state secret either. Not to mention the fact that she was confident it would come out sooner or later, whether she wanted it to or not.
"Well, we're not from this world," Beth said, not surprised at the blank looks she got. Despite that, she continued on. She was confident that if she didn't, Aerbris, or one of the others, would merely start asking again at another time. One that might not be as convenient as this one to go over the topic.
"When we reach the gate, you can take a look," Wes offered. "The gates lead to other worlds and we have no idea what world this gate will lead to or even what the weather will be like there."
Beth wondered if she should add something more to that statement, but at the same time, she suspected that it was fine to just leave it like that. Besides, Wes' idea of using the gate itself would save them the trouble of explaining a number of details. Including ones that weren't as easy to put into words.
"What kind of world do you come from?" Raeys asked, sounding like he was afraid he might be crossing a line with his question.
"One much like this one," Wes replied before Beth had a chance to. "Though, there are a number of significant cultural differences between our worlds. Not to mention technological differences."
Raeys looked like he'd been hit in the head and was trying to figure out how that had happened. Though, Beth figured it was more because he just needed time to sort out what had been said. At least with some explanation about the differences.
"One of the differences is that magic isn't commonly known, because I guess most people who have it had it sealed away generations ago," Beth added.
When she merely got blank stares in response, Beth wondered if she should have given a different example. She wasn't sure if they fully understood what she had been getting at, but all she could be sure of was that it didn't seem to mean anything to them.
"Oh, you mean like some of the songs you played for me and Hesha on the way here, right?" Feon asked. "Like the ones that seemed to indicate that men were the ones in charge or something?"
"Uh…" Beth hesitated. She wasn't sure which song or songs Feon was referring to, but felt like she should seek clarification first. If only so she knew what she'd be responding to. "Which song are you thinking of?"
"'Princes of the Universe,' of course," Feon replied, like there couldn't be any other answer.
Beth took a breath. Of course. That song. "Yes, like that," Beth said. "Though, there's also other aspects that are rather difficult to explain and I can't show you like one of my friends could, so we just ask that you trust us on these things, okay?"