Jeremy Laszlo - The Choosing

Seth opened his eyes then, a panicked look on his face. He looked towards Sara and then away, his eyes unable to see, unable to focus. He tried to move, and found he couldn’t make his body cooperate. He was having trouble breathing and tried to clear his throat. All that escaped his lips was a gurgle. His vision again started to go dark, and he found himself fighting for air, it dawned on him then, he was drowning.

Garret heard the gurgle, and seeing the blue tint on his brother’s lips understood the situation. Dropping to his knees, Garret again pushed his brother onto his side, and careful to avoid his wound, he struck his brother several times between the shoulder blades with the palm of his hand. The gurgle came again, followed by another fluid sound. Seth vomited blood, spewing it everywhere, but as he did he gulped air. He was wracked by coughs again and again, but he was breathing. His vision began to clear, and feeling returned to his extremities. He lay on his side in a pool of his own blood when his eyes finally were able to focus enough to make out Sara. She sat in front of him, holding his head. Tears streamed down her face, a face that was twisted in pain, a face that was one of an angel. Seth looked into her eyes, and willing his lips to move, was able to whisper brokenly.

“Are you…” Seth was shook by another round of coughs before he could continue. “Are you ok?” This time he was able to complete his question before the coughing spasms overtook him.

Sara waited patiently for Seth’s coughing to subside, and waited still for his eyes to reopen. When they did she was smiling at him warily, stroking his hair away from his face. Seth knew not how close to death he had come. He knew only that he was afraid the blade of the evil creature had pierced completely through him and had injured Sara. He was afraid he had failed to protect her. Seeing her smile, knowing she was ok, Seth relaxed and let unconsciousness take him.

Sara used the last of her water to wash Seth’s face, and then her hands. She sat, as always, with Seth’s head on her lap, gently stroking his face with her fingertips. Seth remained unconscious, but his coughing had subsided, and his breathing came easier.

Garret had told her at one point earlier in the day the story of that morning. He told it from a third person’s point of view as only Seth knew all the details. He told her one thing however she knew immediately would be the same no matter who told it. Seth had used his body to protect her. He had used his body as a shield to keep the blade from her sleeping body. Seth had nearly lost his life trying to keep her from harm. The thought alone brought a storm of emotions to her heart. First and foremost she was filled with gratitude and love towards the man who now lay in her lap, but she was also angry. What kind of fool was he to nearly kill himself to protect her? What could possibly make him think that her life was more important than his own? But that aside, Garret had also thanked her for possibly saving his life. Sara barely remembered the events of the morning. It already felt like a lifetime ago, at the time she was barely awake enough to create any conscious memories of the events. All she could vaguely remember is Seth’s agonizing scream, the feel of the crossbow in her hands, and Ashton passing out.

Ashton was awake now. He had regained consciousness sometime early in the afternoon. He was barely able to move, he had weakened himself almost to the point of no return. Garret had dug through their belongings and forced Ashton to eat what few scraps of food they had left, hoping he would regain some strength.

Ashton recovered quickly after eating, and had told them that though he was unable to completely heal Seth’s wound, he had been able to repair his friends’ lung and heart before he had lost consciousness. He had regained enough strength at one point that he half crawled to Seth’s side, and praying to his Goddess, started a low chant, sealing what remained of Seth’s wound. Again he had drained himself, but he was still able to sit without any support, and so he did now.

Garret on the other hand was doing his best to keep himself busy. He had dragged the creature (which Ashton had identified as a goblin) out of their shelter, and claimed from its corpse a few coins and the twisted blade. It was a gruesome looking creature. It had dark green, muddy looking skin streaked with a stripe like patterns of black. It had no hair, not even on its arms. The goblin had an oblong head, split in two by a wide mouth filled with razor sharp teeth. Its eyes, now rolled back into their sockets, were an eerie yellow color. It resembled a human in the fact that it too walked on two legs, had two arms with hands, but that was where the similarities ended. Its appendages were unnaturally long and its torso incredibly small. It was a lanky gangly creature to say the least. After studying the creature, Garret searched around for one of the scraggly trees that grew here in the plains, and removing a large branch from one, sharpened one end with his dagger. He then thrust the other end deep into the earth. Hefting the Goblin’s body high, it was lighter than it looked. He thrust it down upon the sharpened end of the pole, impaling it up through the ribcage, all the way up to the skull, holding the corpse firmly erect. Garret went back into the cavern and went about sorting the groups’ belongings and loading them into the appropriate packs grumbling something about cleaning up the damn goblin’s mess.

It was growing late in the day, and Seth had yet to regain consciousness a second time. They had very little if any food left, Sara had no more water, and they still had at least one more day of travel to reach the nearest town. If that wasn’t enough, Ashton had told them it could be days before Seth regained consciousness. He had lost a tremendous amount of blood, and it would take his body time to replace it. Sara knew that no matter how long it took Seth to recuperate, she wasn’t leaving his side until he did.

The afternoon eventually turned into evening which was followed rapidly by nightfall. Seth had not moved a muscle in hours. Ashton on the other hand was again able to walk, and had laid out his bear hide bed and was resting on it now. Garret too had laid out his blanket and sat on it looking off into nothingness. Amazingly enough, Seth’s blanket had managed to avoid the majority of the bloodshed, and what little blood did stain it had dried during the day. Sara had taken the blanket, as the night turned cold, and placed it over Seth to keep him warm. Garret had stirred from his day dream when Sara had finally stood, and he sat watching her cover his twin.

“That’s gonna piss him off if he wakes up.” Garret stated smiling at Sara.

“What will?” She asked not understanding his humor.

“If Seth wakes up tonight, and your cold and shivering while he is covered with a blanket, he will be furious and you know it.” Garret stated finishing with a throaty laugh.

Sara smiled in response knowing all too well that his words spoke the truth. She hoped though that Seth would forgive her if he did wake. In any case she had decided to stay awake all night just in case he did wake up.

The sky turned black and cold, the previous night’s icy winds returning as well. Ashton hadn’t sat up since lying down in the first place so it was obvious he slept, hopefully regaining some strength. Garret too was sleeping, he had laid down saying he needed to rest his eyes, but had started snoring shortly thereafter. Sara was not worried about intruders. Garret had assured her that his little goblin on a stick decoration outside their shelter should keep anything with half a brain away. She sat quietly in the dark, Seth’s head in her lap, listening to his breathing. She shivered from time to time from the cold, but other than that she was comfortable, leaning up against the stone wall. She watched and listened for hours, trying with all her might to fight falling asleep. It was a losing battle, and eventually she was bested, and sleep took her.