Insulator

1.4 Archers

It only takes a second to die. One could get caught in an explosion, hit with a magic spell, shot with an arrow, stabbed with a knife, trigger a trap... There are so many ways it could happen, and we can only be prepared for so many of them. There's a good reason that people never travel alone, you could say. There's just so much out there that we wouldn't expect to come across, and so much more that we're aware of and just hope not to find.

I fell backwards, feeling a sharp pain in my left shoulder. An arrow was sticking out of it, blood starting to spread through my clothes and onto the ground. It was rare for me to get pierced by an arrow. I guess I wasn't a high enough level yet. The archers here were much more skilled than usual...

Sigh... This is going to be painful for a while.

Our world essentially has two sides, the varied and the archers. They control different cities and areas, and are known to attack the other without good reason, as well as many larger wars taking place in many different locations. I thought I was safe, as from what I could tell this area wasn't anywhere near any archer territories. It seems I was wrong. Though things changed all the time, so it wasn't too surprising for this area to not be the same as it once was.

Maybe I actually will die here...

I lay there for a few seconds, surprised by the lack of a follow-up from the first shot. I still had no idea where the archers were, or how many there were, but I didn't bother looking as they were known for things like camouflage and ambushes.

"Oh, no, I'm going to die..." I sarcastically joked to myself in my monotonous tone. It hurt me inside though, as it brought up memories I'd rather not remember, especially at a time like this.

Since the archers were being hesitant and I finally felt like moving and thinking again, I reached over to the arrow with my right hand. My sealing enchantment seemed to work, as the blood stopped coming out of my body, the arrow now stuck in place. I'd never tried something like it before, so it was nice to see my ability be used in such a way.

I then reached into my bag and started getting a few bottles ready. I shook one up, looking inside to see its contents turning into a concentrated cloud of smoke. I threw it in one direction and did the same with two more. When they exploded, the area all around me pretty much instantly was filled with the smoke, making it impossible for the archers to see anything, not that I could either. It technically didn't do much, as I wasn't planning on getting up any time soon, but I figured it might make them a little nervous.

I only really had one trick up my sleeve, so I did the only thing I could really do. I cast these tiny flames into a few of the bottles I had, making sure to seal them as efficiently as I could, and then tossed them around me.

What I did was done, so all I could do was helplessly wait to find out what my actions were responsible for. I didn't really have anything to do, either. I would stare blankly into the sky, or just lay there empty and barely conscious, as my awareness of what was around me slowly faded. I didn't really have any thoughts or anything, so I didn't have anything to distract me from the pain that was slowly spreading and numbing my body, as my health continued to drop.

All from a single arrow...

It didn't really matter what I did in that time, because when the explosions go off my body would wake up again, regaining consciousness and what little natural awareness of my surroundings I would have. I'd been woken by these explosions so many times that my body didn't even jump or react, but just kind of slowly winced and sighed, not wanting to be here or have to deal with whatever it was I just did.

I opened my eyes a little, only to find even more smoke and dust surrounding the area, stinging my eyes briefly as I quickly closed them once again. The only sounds I could hear were the quiet whistling of the wind blowing the smoke around, and the occasional sizzling of a tree nearby still on fire from the explosion. It was chaotically peaceful, as no human sounds could be heard amongst the aftermath of the destruction around me. It was a strange kind of loneliness, where it was harder to notice how little human presence there was around, until the smoke faded and I would look around at the empty gap in the land I created.

But this time was different. I wasn't just mentally weak this time. It wasn't just an ugly interaction with mages. I was injured and in pain. While I was awake and conscious, I couldn't really find the strength or motivation to move or stay present in this world. I had to wait for the smoke to clear to do anything, being forced to close my eyes. I had to force myself to not just fall asleep. It was always the easiest out for me, when I didn't want to deal with the world. It might be bad in my current state though...

I lost consciousness anyway.

The next morning, I found myself at an inn, alone in a room. The arrow was removed and my shoulder was bandaged up. There was some dry food next to the bed, as well some water.

I guess someone found me...

After eating and looking through my belongings to see that everything was there, I got up and went to the front desk.

"How much was it for the room I was staying at?" I asked.

"Your friend already paid for it, don't worry" he reassured, seeming to be more concerned with my health, than anything.

"That's not what I meant..." I quietly said. I looked through my bag and realised something though. I took out my pile of money and handed it to the innkeeper.

"Give this to the person that saved me" I told them.

With that, I packed my things and left.