Chương 53: Temple Run

Maelle's calves burned. She'd never done so much running in her life. Raylin's arm was draped over her shoulders. But she wasn't alone in carrying her half-conscious friend. Under the other arm was another escapee taking half the burden.

"Hang in there, Raylin," she said.

"We're almost there." They weren't really. While she could see the city walls rising up at the end of the road, and the lights patrolling the parapets up top, they never seemed to be getting any closer. But she felt that they had to keep Raylin's spirits up as long as possible. Running alongside them were four or five other escapees like a security escort. She was thankful they'd stuck around rather than bolting off to freedom on their own. One of them tapped her on the shoulder.

It was a young man, scrawny from being held who-knew-how-long in that dungeon.

"Let me take over for a while." She passed him Raylin's arm. With the weight off her shoulders, it was like her legs gained a second wind. She took the chance to take a closer look at how far the venom had spread. Havlo's healing had caused the necrotic patches to recede, but the venom had already regained most of that lost ground. Both of Raylin's lower arms were completely black, and there were little trails reaching from her elbow halfway up to her shoulders already.

Raylin was looking at her, though her eyes seemed unfocused, and her feverish face was drenched like she'd just come in from the rain.

"I'm here for you, Raylin," she said.

"The others are here for you too." They ran on together, and she worried about Marina and Havlo. They were the only reason she'd had a clear run this far. Marina was keeping the assassins from coming after her, and Havlo was holding back the other kidnappers. She hoped they were all right. Marina was the strongest, she could survive anything. But Havlo could be out of his depth. Particularly as Dabaux had an archmage. She felt so useless. All she'd been able to do was run.

Even on the one and only quest she'd taken at the adventurers guild, she'd ended up running. If only she was stronger, she'd be able to help all her friends. If only she knew the magic to pick locks, Raylin wouldn't have pricked herself on those needles. If only she knew how to heal, she could buy Raylin a bit more time. If only she was a little bit smarter, she wouldn't have gotten caught by—no, if she was smarter, she wouldn't have met brave Raylin. She decided that she was just the right sort of dumb.

They were making progress. The walls were definitely getting closer. The scrawny man behind her was panting heavily. She moved up beside him.

"I can take over again," she said. He nodded gladly and offered her Raylin's arm, but a woman moved to take it instead.

"Let me do it," the woman said.

"I'm still fresh." She let the woman take her spot, and it was worth it because they were able to speed up again. On the other side, the other man had also switched out. The city gates were within sight. It wasn't far now. Checking in on Raylin, the toxin had reached her shoulders. It was only a thread, among the many that spread up her flesh like trails of lightning, but it was a clear mark of the toxin's progress. The scrawny man was saying something to her.

"One of us has to run ahead and get the guards to grant us entry. We can't afford to waste any time waiting for the gates to be raised."

"I'll do it," she said. On foot she wasn't much faster than they were already going now. But she wasn't restricted to foot travel—not when she was unburdened. While doing so would potentially give away her secret, she didn't even hesitate in manifesting her wings and shooting forward, pushing her mana out behind her to gain speed. She quickly reached the city gates, which were soundly closed, and there wasn't anyone posted at the front.

"Hey there!" a voice called down to her.

"This gate's closed! You've got to go around to the north!" She looked up and spotted someone atop the gatehouse. With a few powerful flaps of her wings, she flew up until they were at eye level. The guard looked surprised at this development.

"Uh, sorry, miss, but gate's still closed even if you can theoretically fly over it. You've still got to enter through the north."

"Please," she begged.

"My friend's poisoned. There's no time to go around."

"Poisoned?"

"A bunch of us were kidnapped," she explained.

"But that isn't important right now. We need to get my friend to the temple to save her life." This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. He looked over her shoulder, and she also turned to see. By the [Light] of one of the other mages in the group, it was possible to see them all coming, still a few more minutes out. They looked so ragged from this angle, but they were all pushing on for Raylin's sake.

She looked back at the guard, and it only took him another second to make up his mind.

"Open the gate!" he called.

"Open the gate!" the order was repeated down below. There was the sound of a chain being wound and the portcullis being raised.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," she said.

"I'll send some officers out to grab your friend," he said.

"Why don't you go back and help your crew?" She flew back to the group. Once there she thought that maybe she could help from the air, but her wings only made things awkward and slowed them down, and she wasn't strong enough to lift Raylin on her own. Instead she dropped to the ground, unmanifested her wings, and took a final turn supporting Raylin to the city gates. Her friend was completely unconscious now, and they were having to carry all her weight.

"Just a little farther," she whispered.

"We're going to get you healed at the temple." With her legs being given time to rest, and perhaps mixed with the excitement of being so close, it felt like no time at all before they were passing under the gatehouse. By this time Raylin's arms were completely black all the way to the shoulders, and it was impossible to tell through her clothes how much further the toxin had spread.

A small group of guards had come out to meet them, and one of them, a large hulk of a man, grabbed Raylin and slung her over both his shoulders before sprinting away. It was all Maelle could do to keep up. But this was good. This was fast. At this time of night the streets were mostly clear, and the few people out for a stroll politely ducked to the side as they were coming through. The Amber Temple wasn't that far from the market square, which meant it was a long way from the west gate.

Thankfully the guard was fit and carried Raylin the entire way without slowing down even once. They burst into the temple, where a lone priest was standing vigil beneath the statue of Amberfina. He was startled by their entrance but then swiftly moved into action, clearing space by the foot of the Goddess, where they laid Raylin down. The priest then laid his hands on Raylin's shoulders, and Maelle watched on hopefully, waiting for the toxin to recede.

Instead the priest looked up at the guard, and by the furrow of his brow, she sensed that something wasn't right.

"What manner of poison is this?" the priest demanded. The guard turned to Maelle, and with both their eyes on her, she stammered, "I-I don't know. She pricked her hand on some bent pins."

"On both hands?" The priest cursed, made more alarming by coming from the clergy, and he said to the guard, "Head out back and yell for the high priestess. I'll do my best to slow the spread, but hurry, it's close to her heart." The guard disappeared into a side passage while the priest turned back to his task.

"The high priestess will be able to save her, right?" Maelle's heart seemed to be beating faster now than during the entire run. She couldn't possibly have come all this way to lose her friend anyway.

"I'm just an acolyte," the priest said without taking his eyes off Raylin's face, beaded in sweat.

"The high priestess will be able to call upon higher blessings." She saw that the priest's own forehead was already perspiring under the effort. Maelle fidgeted, once again feeling quite useless. It felt like an eternity passed before footsteps echoing down the side passage heralded the return of the guard. A priestess was with him. The priest stepped out of the way for the priestess to take his place.

"What's the toxin?" she asked, placing one hand on Raylin's shoulder and another on her chest, above her heart.

"They think she pricked herself on some poisoned needles," the priest replied.

"What about the second hand?" The priest turned to her, and Maelle felt compelled to add some detail.

"We were in a dungeon under the Dabaux place. There were alchemists and chimeras and an archmage." The priest's eyes grew wider with her every word, but it was the priestess who spoke next, all businesslike.

"I think I've got a handle on it now. The toxin is receding." Maelle leaned in for a closer look. She couldn't see any changes—Raylin's skin remained unnaturally dark. But the priestess remained in deep focus with her eyes closed while her mouth moved in silent prayer. And though she knew that the priestess wouldn't lie, she remained deeply anxious, waiting for a visible sign that the treatment was working. She felt the priest's hand on her shoulder.

"Pray for your friend."

"Will it help?" she asked.

"It'll help you at least," he replied. Normally when her family used to take her to the temple, being a rebellious child, she only pretended to pray. She kind of regretted it now as it meant she had no proper practice and didn't know what to do now that she wanted to pray for real. She tried saying a few words in her mind to spark up a conversation with the Goddess but heard nothing back. But she was okay with this if it meant that the Goddess was busy helping her friend.

There was a clattering from the side passage and Maelle turned to see a young boy. He was staring at Raylin and then abruptly broke into a run toward them.

"Grab him," the priest said. The guard swooped into action. The boy was picked up under his shoulders, but he continued to reach out toward Raylin and started crying.

"The priestess needs to concentrate," the priest said.

"He recognizes her," Maelle said, stepping up to the boy. He had the same color hair and same sort of nose as Raylin.

"Are you family?"

"His sister is missing," the priest said thoughtfully, glancing over at Raylin.

"Poor guy." Maelle squeezed the boy's shoulder.

"Your sister fought really hard to make it back here to you. So just give her a little longer and she'll wake up, okay, buddy?" The boy looked at her tearfully and nodded. Maelle returned to Raylin's side and saw that the skin near her shoulder was beginning to regain its natural color. She watched as the necrosis continued to be pushed back. The less there was of it, the faster it disappeared. Soon it was completely gone. Still the priestess remained in deep concentration.

Maelle was about to speak up but the priest tapped her shoulder and shook his head. There was still more work to be done. As she watched, Raylin's breathing began to stabilize, and the pain that had seemed permanently etched on her face was lifted. Her friend looked at peace again. And then she opened her eyes.

"Maelle?" At that moment the boy squirmed free of the guard and rushed over to throw his arms around his sister.

"Buddy?" As he buried his face into her shoulder, Raylin hugged him back.

"I'm glad you're safe, Buddy." The priestess had stepped away to give them some room. Maelle didn't know if she should join her or if she was allowed to stay over by Raylin's side. The answer came when Raylin grabbed her hand.

"I had the strangest vision. On the way back to the city, I saw you sprout wings like an angel."

"You're such a silly billy," she said to her friend.

"You were just delirious with fever. Delirious!" Then she remembered that the other escapees had seen her transformation too, so she added, "And don't let anyone tell you different." And then she squeezed her friend's hand and watched happily as, under the foot of the Goddess, brother and sister were reunited.