Immersion World

by Max Jager

  Damion was getting pissed now. He focused and all the blood on the ground rose up and turned into hundreds of small, sharp needles. Like an angry swarm of wasps all the needles began swarming around Jackson. He was trying to quickly evade the swarm but they moved far too fast, he couldn't get out of it and there was far too many attacking at once for him to evade them all.

  The needles were leaving him with cuts, and very small stabwounds everywhere. Jackson knew he couldn't evade this attack, so instead he tried to ignore it and charge Damion head-on. He rushed in and threw a right hook for Damion's head, but Damion backstepped the blow. In a panicked attempt to end this Jackson threw a kick for Damion's ribs, but Damion easily caught his leg again, the wounds were drastically reducing Jackson's strength. Damion shoved Jackson backwards, knocking him to the ground since Jackson couldn't maintain his balance on his wounded leg.

  As Damion moved in Jackson quickly swept his legs, knocking him to the ground. Then Jackson quickly got back onto his feet. Damion started to stand up, but before he could fully stand Jackson threw a powerful kick at Damion's ribs, knocking him aside. Damion hit the ground hard and quickly flipped back onto his feet, but he stumbled a little, the excessive use of his magic and his wounds were getting to him, he was exhausted and struggling to stay standing.

  Jackson stumbled towards Damion, his body was so badly torn up, and he had lost so much blood by now that he was fighting to stay conscious. He watched as Damion threw both the dagger and knife at him, and he went to quickly sidestep them, but before he could move Damion locked him in place. Jackson tried to break free, but couldn't. Although Damion had been hit in the head so many times by now that his aim was off, he had aimed them both for Jackson's head, and was using his signet skill to control them to keep them on target, but ultimately the pocketknife struck Jackson's shoulder and the dagger struck his stomach.

  In a final burst of strength, Jackson broke free from the grasp Damion's signet had on him and charged Damion head-on. Moving far faster then he normally could, he slammed his fist into Damion's face before Damion could even move. As Damion fell Jackson kneed him hard in the head, knocking Damion back up onto his feet before Jackson struck him with a powerful right hook to the temple and a jab to the throat, throwing Damion backwards and sending him skidding across the ground.

  Jackson watched as Damion slowly got back onto his feet, Damion looked like he was barely able to stand now. Jackson braced himself and started to charge at Damion again, intent on finally finishing him off. But before he could reach Damion, his legs gave out from under him and he collapsed to the ground. His body could not take anymore.

  Damion stumbled over to Jackson, he couldn't even walk in a straight line at this point. He was clutching his head and looked to be in a lot of pain, but he was grinning, and laughing. "I've never had this much fun before." He laughed. "You, will be one to be remembered." Damion retrieved his knives from Jackson, and was about to stab his dagger into Jackson's head when he was suddenly shot in the side of the head with an arrow. The blow knocked Damion over, but the arrow still did not pierce his skin. He slowly got back up.

  "Found them! Hurry!" Sophia called out as she pulled back another arrow.

  Damion watched as Fate, Elliott, and Brooke also ran into the clearing. Seeing them all, and knowing how bad his current condition was, he turned and ran into the forest as quickly as his wounds allowed him to. A raven that had been sitting in a nearby tree took flight and followed Damion.

  Sophia started to run after Damion, but she stopped when she heard Fate shout to her.

  "Don't chase him! He took down Jackson, we won't stand a chance against him by ourselves. We can't separate." Fate called out as her, Brooke and Elliott ran over to Carley and Jackson's bodies.

  It didn't look good. Fate quickly checked Jackson's pulse since he was the closest. "He's still alive!" She called to the others.

  Jackson was still lying on the ground. He was seemingly half out of it, and attempting to move, but to no success.

  Elliott, Brooke, and Sophia rushed over to Carley. Elliott quickly checked his pulse, it took him a second to find it but he turned to the others "Carley's still alive! But she won't be for long, we have to do something fast!"

  "I have two potions!" Sophia called out.

  "Carley won't survive the five minutes." Elliott stated.

  "Give Carley the potion." Sarah stated as she walked out into the clearing and approached the group's "It will buy us a little extra time. Give one to Jackson as well. He should be fine with just the one."

  "Alright." Sophia said as she handed a potion to Fate and Elliott. They both poured the potions down Jackson and Carley's throats, Fate helped Jackson and Elliott assisted Carley. As they did so Sarah held onto a small necklace she was wearing and closed her eyes.

  "What do we do now?" Brooke worriedly asked.

  "Just hang on. I called my friend, he'll be here in just a minute and will help us get Carley to the hospital real quick." Sarah replied.

  Everyone anxiously waited for what felt like an eternity, until suddenly a large wyvern swooped over the trees. It then turned around and came back, gently landing in the clearing. Everyone who could move immediately panicked and grabbed their weapons, but Sarah quickly shouted at them to stop.

  "This is my friend, Charley. He's friendly." Sarah informed them.

  Upon closer inspection, it would seem like Charley had a pretty bad stab wound on his side that looked like it was old and mostly recovered, and he had a necklace around his neck that was very similar to Sarah's. "I came as quickly as I could, who needs help?" Charley asked Sarah, she was the only one who could understand what he was saying.

  "This one." Sarah pointed at Carley. "Be gentle, she's barely alive."

  The big Wyvern walked over and gently picked up Carley's body with it's two, short front arms. It was being very careful not to use the sharp claws it had. "Got her." Charley answered. "Will she make it?"

  "If we move quick, maybe." Sarah stated. "You got a secure grip?"

  "Yes." Charley nodded.

  "Alright, let's go." She said as she climbed up onto Charley's back. "Everyone stay with Jackson until he's recovered, then go wait for us at the camp, I'll let you know if Carley survives and will come back as soon as I can."

  "Is there room for one more?" Brooke asked. "If Carley wakes up alone, in a room full of people she doesn't know, she's going to be terrified."

  Sarah turned and repeated the question to Charley, since he couldn't understand Brooke. Then she turned back to Brooke. "Charley says it's okay."

  Brooke turned to Elliott, silently offering to let him go. But Elliott shook his head. "You go. I'll wait for you guys back at the camp."

  "You sure?" Brooke questioned.

  "Yeah, go ahead. She'd probably prefer you there anyways." Elliott said.

  "Not true, I'm sure she'd be happy with either of us there." Brooke argued., but she didn't want to delay this any longer and quickly climbed onto Charley's back.

  "Hold onto me." Sarah instructed, and once Brooke was holding on she gave Charley the go ahead to take off. Charley took flight and flew off towards the village.

  Everyone waited with Jackson for the potion to run its course, and once the paralysis wore off they all walked back to the camp. The air was tense, this wasn't like the other people they had lost, they were all strangers and acquaintances. Carley had become a close friend to Brooke, Elliott, Sophia, Snipes, and Fate. It hit them all a lot harder than any of the other deaths they had faced.

  They got back to camp and anxiously awaited Sarah's message.

  "Jess." Elliott started, getting her attention first so she would take off her headphones. "They took Carley to the medical center in Belle village Do you want to go back to be with her?"

  "That's… All the way on the other side of the forest. I can't go back through there again. It's far too dangerous." Jess lowered her head.

  "I can escort you through the forest." Elliott offer
ed.

  Jess shook her head. "It's too dangerous, I'll wait here."

  "I'm going to go either way, so you can just come with me." Elliott offered again.

  "You're going?" Sophia asked. "Can I come along?"

  "You sure?" Elliott asked.

  "Yeah, we haven't talked much but Carley is a friend." Sophia stated.

  "Me too." Snipes spoke up.

  "I'll come as well. Carley seems really depressed, it might cheer her up to see all her friends around when she wakes up." Fate replied.

  "Sarah told everyone to stay." Jackson spoke up.

  "I know, but this is important. We'll be okay." Elliott replied.

  Jackson wasn't in the mood to argue, so he let it go.

  Elliott nodded and turned back to Jess. "See? You can just come back with us. You'll be safe."

  Jess shook her head. "The forest scared me enough the first time, I want to leave the forest, not spend more time in it. I do not want to go back through it, I'm too scared to, I'll wait here with the others."

  "But, you're still in the forest now." Elliott pointed out.

  "You don't need to remind me. At least here I can step into a tent and put on my headphones to forget where I am." Jess stated, she seemed a little angry with him for bringing it up.

  Elliott sighed and shook his head, he was starting to understand why Carley was so sure she wouldn't survive. "Lets go." He said to the others as they left the camp and headed back towards the village as quickly as they could.

  They ran through the forest and managed to make it back in just over an hour. They all rushed into the medical center, asking the first doctor they saw for Carley's room number, and then rushing off to the room.

  Brooke and Sarah were surprised to see them all rush in. "How's she doing?" Sophia asked as she walked in, but when she saw Carley lying on the bed, shirtless, she immediately held out a hand to stop Elliott and Snipes from walking in.

  "It's okay Sophia." Brooke briefly laughed. "Carley's a guy."

  "Oh, is he…?" Sophia asked as she took a seat beside Brooke. Fate sat on the counter beside Fate, while Elliott and Snipes stood in the corner of the room.

  Brooke nodded "Probably."

  "Well, that explains a lot." Sophia stated and Brooke nodded in agreement. Sophia grabbed a nearby spare blanket and tossed it over Carley's torso, just to keep him covered, she assumed he would appreciate it.

  "Cathrine and a couple others healed all of his wounds, he was so badly damaged that it took quite a while. Cathrine was saying she has no idea how he survived, that should have killed him." Brooke explained and Sarah nodded.

  "Well, it's Carley." Fate stated. "She might be the weakest in the group, but she's got a hell of a lot of willpower when she decides to use it. She must have been clinging onto life with sheer willpower alone."

  "She… Let go towards the end." Brooke spoke up. "She was holding on until Sarah and I described Damion and said that he was driven away but was still alive. Then, suddenly they started to lose Carley, fast. The healers here are pretty good."

  Sarah nodded. "That's the strength of having a full community of people who are all doing what they love." She replied.

  Carley suddenly took a deep breath and opened his eyes. He didn't move but his eyes darted around as much of the room as he could see from where he was lying. "I'm… Still alive?" He murmured to himself, and a moment later his eyes started to water and a few tears ran down his cheeks.

  Elliott looked concerned. "Carley, you alright?"

  Brooke gently placed a hand on his wrist, and Carley didn't jump this time, mostly because he just heard Elliott speak. "We're all here Carley, you're okay. Welcome back."

  Carley wiped his tears and calmed down a little. He wrapped the blanket around himself to cover his entire torso, back and front, to hide his scars from everyone as he sat up and looked around. "You brought me to a hospital?"

  "The medical center in Belle village. Sarah brought you here." Brooke answered.

  "Yeah, you and Brooke got to ride a wyvern, and you missed it because you were knocked out." Sarah teased.

  Brooke laughed a little and nodded. "Yeah, that was pretty cool."

  "I'm sorry… Is everyone okay?" Carley asked. "What happened to Damion?"

  "We are all okay." Elliott replied, he paused for a moment to think about whether he should mention Jackson being hurt or not. He didn't want to make Carley feel bad, but ultimately he decided that honesty was best. "Jackson found you first, he fought Damion and was hurt pretty badly, but he's okay now. Then the rest of us found you and Jackson. Damion was in pretty bad shape, and he fled."

  Carley looked a little worried and scared. "Do not fight Damion. Stay far away from him. He's got an incredibly powerful signet skill, apparently he found it in Oline city. If I knew he was that strong, I wouldn't have tried to do this alone. We can't fight him."

  "Don't worry, it's not your fault." Fate insisted. "If he becomes a problem again we will all fight him, together. He can't take us all on. But I get the feeling that he won't be coming back, Jackson got him pretty good."

  "Still, I'm sorry. I screwed up." Carley sighed.

  "It's fine, we found the killer and it's over now." Brooke stated.

  "Your girlfriend, Jess, is waiting for you in the camp." Elliott spoke up, trying to change the subject and cheer Carley up.

  Carley looked a little relieved, but very worried now. "She… Is alive? We need to bring her back to the village, she can't be out in this world." Carley went to get out of bed but stopped himself and blushed slightly. "Can someone get me a shirt? I know, I don't need one, but it's a bit awkward. Not having one is making me a bit uncomfortable."

  Fate nodded "I got it." She said as she quickly left the room. A few minutes later she came back with Cathrine. Cathrine was carrying a black t-shirt and hoodie, along with a small bag full of medical supplies. She handed all of them to Carley.

  "Here, Fate told me about you losing your hoodie for bandages, so here's a new one and some bandages so you don't need to do that again. The clothes are a size small, I hope they fit." Cathrine said with a smile. "They told me last night that you are learning healing magic, and you seem to really put everyone else first. You'd make a good doctor here, if you want to stay I'm sure we can get you a job here in the medical center. You can help people here, and learn much better healing magic." She offered.

  Carley thought about it and nodded a little. "Thank you, I would really appreciate that, but not right now. I want to stay with my friends. But maybe in the future, when we come back here and we're done adventuring. If we're not out of the game by then."

  Cathrine smiled back and nodded "Of course! There's not enough people out there who want to work as a healer, and even less of those who genuinely enjoy doing this and helping people. We'll probably always need more, so do what you need to do and come find us when you're ready. In the meantime, keep yourself safe, alright?" As she said that last part she looked a little more sternly into his eyes, causing Carley to sheepishly look away.

  "Got it." Carley replied as he quickly put the shirt and hoodie on. "And thank you."

  Cathrine nodded a little. "No problem. We want to make sure our future doctor comes back." She replied. "I need to get back to work, good luck on your adventures." She added as she turned to leave.

  "Alright, let's get back to camp." Elliott spoke up as they started to leave the medical center. Carley stuck close to the others as they walked back to the camp, by the time they got there it was starting to get dark again and the others had decided to just keep the camp where it was for now. They had set up the barrier around the campsite and set up the tents like they did before. Jess was already asleep by herself in the spare tent by the time they returned. When given a choice on where he would sleep, Carley chose to stay with his friends, in the tent with Elliott and Brooke. He was willingly sleeping in the camp with everyone else for the first time. Chloe, feeling like the odd one out, shared the tent with Jess, and Sophi
a joined Fate and Inami.

  Next Chapter: The Beginning, of a New Adventure.

  Chapter 8: A New Adventure

  —Chapter 8: A New Adventure —

  Brooke was woken up when she felt something bump into her. She rolled over to spot Carley, who was sleeping between her and Elliott, shaking in his sleep. She glanced at Elliott who seemed to already be awake and he looked concerned.

  Elliott took Carley's hand, then Brooke took his other hand and he seemed to tense for a moment but then he relaxed and stopped shaking.