In the end, all they had was boiled vegetables for dinner. The water was conveniently provided by Elmo using his Water Shot Spell multiple times in the air. Eventually it filled the pot Jonas had procured for this trip.
Elmo certainly wasn't impressed with what was available, but he also wasn't going to complain. He'd thought of trying to use his rock spray to get some of the rabbits he saw when he was picking up firewood, but he couldn't think of what to do after that.
He'd never gone hunting before, so he couldn't say what steps were needed to get it ready to be cooked. He could only say for sure that it wasn't a good idea to cook them as they were, not that it helped him any on figuring out what the second step would be.
Maybe if he could do an internet search he'd be able to figure out what to do, but since that wasn't possible, he couldn't say what else he could do about it. Not that he was too worried about it all. He was sure they'd be able to find something to buy that would work well enough once they got to whichever destination they were heading towards.
Though, while dinner was rather meager, it didn't compare at all with what they had available for breakfast: Leftover cooked vegetables.
While Elmo accepted that there was little they could do about all of it, he still didn't really like having to deal with this little amount of food. He felt like they should have been able to find more food available in the village they'd just left.
So, in the end, he decided to just endure what was before him. Not like he had much of a choice anyway. Reality didn't go away just because he found it inconvenient.
So, as they started out the next day, Elmo walked along, feeling like he should be searching for food, despite nothing other than wild animas that he could see being around them.
So preoccupied with his hunger and thoughts of food, he didn't even realize that everyone else had stopped. When he recovered a moment later, he looked past them and saw several cloaked people standing across the road in front of them. Almost like they'd been expected.
"Do you need something?" Jonas asks as looks at them.
"Come with us quietly and this won't be difficult," one of them replied.
Jonas sighed. "You realize how ominous you're making it sound, don't you?" he asked.
"If you resist this will be much more difficult for all of you."
"Elmo, they're lined up neatly. Do your thing," he said casually, as if he was asking Elmo to swat a fly for him.
Elmo shrugged. "Rock Spray!" he called out, wondering what Jonas had in mind after this.
As Elmo's spell launched, several rocks sprayed out, hitting almost every one of the people in front of them.
"I see, you want this to be difficult," the speaker said, his voice laced with pain.
"Elmo, you were supposed to kill them," Jonas remarked.
"What?!" Elmo protested. "They're people!"
"And they want to kill us," Jonas replied. "Killing in self-defense is not a bad thing. Nor is it bad if you're trying to protect someone else from people wanting to cause them harm."
"What does this have to do with that?" Elmo asked, keeping an eye on the cloaked figures as they moved around, some taking up hiding places, others towards Elmo and the others in his group.
"These people want to hurt us, or at least take us to someone who does," Jonas answered, drawing his knives. "In this case, you can either kill them or let them take you somewhere where they can kill you."
Elmo felt like his entire world was spinning. Nothing was making sense. Why did it have to be a struggle to the death? Weren't the only ones they had to fight monsters like goblins and stuff?
"If this is too much for you, then let us handle it. Just protect yourself as much as you can and we'll deal with it," Kim said, her sword already drawn as she moved forward.
"But-" Elmo started to say, but stopped himself. His confusion was making everything feel like it was spinning around hm. He didn't know what to do or say about any of it.
It was almost like this world had suddenly become a stranger to him again. Much like it had been when he first was pulled into this. He couldn't say what it was about even.
It even felt like he was watching a movie or a video game cut scene where the characters entered battle and were slicing through their opponents. Even as Kim sliced open one of her opponent's bellies, spilling their guts on the road, a moment before an arrow hit her shoulder, Elmo felt no reaction.
A rattling sound of rocks bouncing against each other came from his side. He turned to look and saw a man sliding down the small hill next to him holding a dagger he was readying to throw, his entire focus on Elmo. Elmo didn't move, but watched not feeling like any of that was real
The man was in the process of throwing the dagger when a white mass of energy hit him, making his throw go wild, even as he sank to the ground. Unconscious if not dead. At the very least, no signs of life from his body could be seen.
Elmo turned to where the energy had come from and saw Elin with a worried expression on her face. "Elmo, what're you doing?" she asked.
Her voice seemed to echo around him and with how everything had become surreal, Elmo wasn't sure if he should actually respond. Would this apparition of Elin respond to anything he said? Or would it move on like he didn't say anything?
Before he could even think of whether or not to say anything, he heard a loud clash and turned back to see Kim exchanging blows with a man who was wielding a sword and seemed to be as competent with it as Kim. Though, almost all of the other cloaked men were laying on the ground, not moving.
Elmo suddenly felt a throbbing pain in his head. One of those massive headaches that just felt like his head was pounding. What was going on with him? Nothing around him made any sense.
He heard a scream of pain nearby from someone he didn't know. As he turned to look, he saw Jonas plunging his dagger into another man's heart, a man who had his own dagger in Jonas' left shoulder.
Elmo suddenly felt like he couldn't breathe. He tried to take a step forward and suddenly found the ground coming up to meet him. He felt his entire body shaking as he tried to process what was going on. His breaths came in small, short bursts, as he struggled to lift himself off the ground. the edges of his vision started to darken as he felt the strength leave his body.
Nothing felt real, but at the same time, he couldn't shake the terror that gripped his entire being. Did something happen to him and he was dying? Was that why he saw what he thought he saw? All of his mind screamed it wasn't real, yet at the same time it was like he was experiencing it personally.
The last thought he had before darkness swallowed him up was: When would he get back to reality?
+++
Jonas saw Elmo collapse and was surprised at how much that scared him. Not that he let it show. He wasn't going to let the others know what he felt if he could help it, but he did decide to quickly end the fight he was in and with a backward flick of his wrist, threw his dagger right in the throat of his opponent, whose eyes lit up in surprise as his breathing turned into a bloody gargle.
Then as Jonas pulled his dagger free, he quickly ran away from his dying opponent and rushed towards Elmo. At this point the battle was pretty much over, just one more could be seen still fighting Kim, but Jonas was sure Kim would be fine. He wasn't so sure about Elmo, however.
He didn't see anything hit Elmo, but that didn't mean there wasn't something that was launched at him. So, he ran over to check on him, though he had to take a back seat on that matter, as Elin had already reached Elmo by the time he did.
"What happened?" Jonas asked, looking around to check to see if there was someone he'd missed that was still hiding.
"Uh, I think he just passed out," Elin said. "I'm not sure why, but when I checked him, all I get is that he 'hyperventilated' or something."
Jonas breathed a sigh of relief. Why he felt so relieved, he had no idea. He'd never had this happen before, so he had no past experience to explain it to him. He just knew that since Elmo was okay, mostly, it somehow made him relaxed.
"Don't worry about it," Jonas told Elin. "He'll be okay. Just let him rest." Jonas then looked towards where Kim was still fighting. He was actually surprised her opponent was still going strong. Apparently he was more of a threat than Jonas had first estimated. "Worry more about Kim. Her current opponent might be able to hurt her. He's more of a threat he first appeared."
Elin nodded as she turned her attention to Kim's fight. Jonas wasn't sure what he could do, but he made sure that he would make his move as soon as he saw an opening that would let him do something to finish this.