[Poor Grallus, the Rogue – 2]

The figure lay flat on the ground, staring up at the chasm opening above him for what felt like an eternity. With puffy eyes, he blinked rapidly, seemingly lost in a trance.

“Where am I?” The mere utterance of these words sent an intense spike of pain through his head, making him wince and squint. Observing the dried bloodstains on his face and neck, he muttered, “Seriously, what the hell…?”

Pain radiated from every inch of his body. Trying to remain still, he turned his head to the right, spotting a small backpack and a dark-green leather vest atop the compost mound. The flickering torchlight nearby made the vest glint subtly. As he squinted for a closer look, multicolored pinpoints seemed to sparkle off the vest, creating a mesmerizing display.

“Ooh, gems?”

But before he could fully process the thought, he jumped to his feet and took a step toward the vest. “OH AAUUGGH!” He lurched forward, instinctively grabbing his lower left leg. To his horror, an arrow was lodged through it and his dark-green leather pants. As he reached out with his right hand to brace his fall, he landed hard, feeling a sharp, stabbing pain. Pulling his hand back, he saw it was shredded and bloody. He must’ve crushed a glass vial on the vest. On closer inspection, he realized the vest’s shimmer wasn’t from gems but from tiny vials of colored liquid sewn into its lining. He surmised he had crushed one filled with a light red liquid.

Suddenly, a tingling sensation began in his mangled hand. “Oh now what?!” he exclaimed. Holding it up to the light, he watched in astonishment as his wounds began to heal rapidly, as if time itself was accelerating. Within moments, his hand was completely restored.

Bewildered, he flexed his fingers, testing their movement. Whispering to himself, he said, “What in the world?” His attention shifted to the dozens of colored vials in the vest, but his brief moment of awe was interrupted by the pain in his leg.

“Who am I?”

[851] Words : More curiosities…