Side Story- How Sonya met Falk part three

Coming to consciousness was a disorienting affair. At first, she didn’t remember anything, being too consumed by the pain that coursed through her body, but as it came back in fragments she was able to ignore it for all of the relief that filled her in the end.

She was alive. Not well, Even without moving she could tell she had broken an arm and a leg, with a certainty that she’d cracked some ribs as well, but all of that could heal eventually. What mattered most was whatever she’d do next.

She didn’t know how long it would take her to work on her injuries. At her skill and level of mana it would be weeks that she’d spend unable to move, weeks she was sure her sister would be looking for her, in the end only able to assume she’d be dead. There was likely little chance she’d be able to meet up with her if she did get back to where they’d parted, meaning her only choice would be to go back to the gate by herself.

It was a prospect she dreaded. There was no way that wouldn’t cause issues, but she couldn’t just stay out there forever. She just had to hope the consequences wouldn’t be too bad for her in the end as she mentally began to prepare herself for dealing with it as she finally opened her eyes.

She knew she had to still be by the water, but she’d expected to be on the river's edge, maybe having floated out, but that wasn’t the case. Instead, she saw she was further from the bank than she could have been from washing ashore, and she wasn’t alone.

A giant mass of white fur and muscle before her, she knew she hadn’t run into a different beast out in the woods, the camp made that clear. What she was seeing was a person, presumably one who had saved her life while at that same time being exposed to her charm for who knew how long, likely only falling deeper and deeper into its effects in the process.

Her first instinct was to run and she tried to push herself from the ground, trying to get as much distance from them as possible, but as she did a whimper escaped her from the pain, making the man she wanted to flee turn around.

Their eyes locked as she looked at him, more animalistic than many other hominid types but eyes that still glowed with sapience, hands big enough that they could crush her head in an instant and a visible level of size and strength that she knew she wouldn’t be able to get away from if she tried. Despite herself, fear shot through her, and he could tell.

“I’d try and stay still if I were you, you’re not in great shape,” He told her calmly, not making a move to get closer. “I found you two days ago but I can’t say if you’ve been out longer. Think you could eat? Maybe drink a bit?”

Instead of answering though, she just kept staring at him, her thoughts a flurry of activity.

What do I do? If he’s been around me for days he should be deep in my effects, but if he finds out there's still a chance he’ll react poorly. Should I try to escape when he’s sleeping? No, I can’t do that, I’d die out here like this. So my only choice is to take advantage of him then…

It felt wrong, horribly wrong. From a young age, it was ingrained in her and the rest of her kind not to take advantage of someone who was charmed by them, especially outsiders who didn’t have the resistance needed to ignore the effects of it. But if she didn’t then she would die.

“Can you hear me?” The man tried again. “Suppose you must have hit your head a bit too.”

He started miming the act of eating, trying to get the idea across as Sonya finally spoke up. “I can hear you, sorry. Yes, food and drink would be wonderful.”

He nodded at that as he walked over to a pot sitting on hot coals, ladling some soup into it and walking over to her slowly before taking a seat at her side, gently holding a spoon up to her mouth.

She tried reaching out to it with her good arm, at least wanting the dignity of feeding herself, but saying even that one was good was a stretch, it simply didn’t hurt as much as the other, at least if she didn’t move it. The moment she tried pain shot through her.

“Now come on, don’t be stubborn and just eat. The longer you try and fail to do it yourself the more time I lose on other things.”

“...Alright, thank you.”

Giving in and having a bite, she was instantly confident that he didn’t have the cooking skill. It was a fish soup, but whatever fish he’d used had been overcooked to an extreme, with a weak, watered-down flavour. Despite that though, after the first mouthful the hunger that had been building up in her over the last few days came in force and she couldn’t stop herself from greedily digging in, eating far slower than she wanted to only by virtue of the man forcing her to take her time with it until the bowl was empty.

“Make sure that sits well with you first and if you need it I’ll get you some more later. Now, why don’t you tell me what happened to get you in a state like that?”

With the meal done she felt herself tense up again. She was so close to him she could feel the heat he was giving off, and it was putting her on edge. Having him right beside her when she couldn’t be sure how he’d react while under her effects made her want to move away, but her broken body left her trapped.

Seeming to pick up on that he stepped back, once again sitting by the fire as he reached into a bag, pulling out a mortar and pestle with some herbs, grinding them up as he patiently waited for an answer.

“I was separated from my sister while hunting out here,” She said eventually, feeling the need to at least tell him something. “I was attacked by a pack of… I don’t know, things, and ended up going down a waterfall. Thank you by the way.”

“Bah, don’t worry about it,” He said, waving her off. “I know where you’re talking about at least, it’s only a couple hour’s walk. Well, for me that is, with your tiny legs I wouldn’t be surprised if it took twice that.”

“My legs aren’t tiny. I’m a perfectly reasonable height,” She was quick to say, getting a laugh from him. “You’re just way too big.”

“Ha, girl, I’m the runt of my family, you’re just too small. Anyway, I’m going to look at your wounds, try and relax, okay?”

He brought his bag over to her side with the mortar still in hand as he pulled away the blanket that covered her, letting her see the state of her body. Her arms and legs were bound in splints as bandages wrapped her, telling her that he didn’t have life or light magic at his disposal, or at least not a useful level of it, but she found herself more horrified by her state of dress, or more accurately her lack-there-of as she shot him a distrusting look.

“Oi, don’t go getting any funny ideas. Your clothing was a mess and you looked on the edge of bleeding out when I found you, there was no way to give you any level of treatment without cutting them off.”

So if I get to the point where I need to get away from him then I’ll have to try and run to the gate in my underwear. Great.

Still, there wasn’t much point in feeling any shame about being seen like that when it was to save her life, especially since it really seemed like he hadn’t done anything, she tried to hide her discomfort as he slowly reached a hand to her, sitting her up to unwrap the bandages.

She could tell from the smell it was bad. Even if he’d cleaned her wounds first, a gash along her stomach and thigh were clearly infected, and she didn’t think she had the skill to do anything about that, meaning her options had shrunk all the more. There was a chance she would have to give the man an order, suppressing his will to force him to carry her back to the gate so she could have a chance of living, but as she was considering doing just that he spoke up.

“Alright, this isn’t looking great so I’m going to have to touch you, just try to relax.”

More gentle than she would have guessed he could be with his large hands, he held a finger to the wound on her stomach, not putting any force behind the act as a black mana came out of it, filling her wound as she watched, transfixed.

Death magic. Powerful too. Her mana sense was weak and not even directed to that affinity, the fact she could see it meant the man who’d found her was powerful. Likely a high skill level with a large mana pool to boot. She knew that death magic could be used in similar ways to life if a person was proficient enough, but until then she’d only known that fact in theory. Seeing a person use it to kill any infection in her was not only impressive, but scary as she questioned just who had found her.

“Hmm, my knowledge of medicine is a bit weak but if the infection made it to your blood you’ll be in trouble. I already used up most of my potions on you when I found you too so there’s not much I can do on that front other than keep using my magic, but you’re already weak and it won’t be the most pleasant experience. Since you’re up, what do you want to do? It might be a pointless concern and as good as I am, you’ll still probably be weakened by it if I do.”

“Um, maybe I’ll wait on that and see how I feel thanks. I have a low life magic so even if it will be pretty weak I’ll try and work on myself a bit.”

“Alright, works for me. I’ll just finish up here and leave you to it. Gonna have to touch you some more, just try and relax and let me know if anything hurts.”

“Um, alright.”

With her consent given, he stuck his finger into the mortar at his side, scooping out a thick green paste with his finger before he carefully spread it over her open wounds.

“What is that?”

“Some medical herbs I collected. It won’t be as good as any actual potion I could make, but it should speed up the rate you heal, all the more so if you’re using your life magic with it.”

“You’re an alchemist?”

It seemed shocking for such a giant to have a role that required such care, but he shook his head.

“Smith. Alchemy is just something I do on the side to enhance my items' effects. Well, it also never hurts to be able to make a potion if you’re in a pinch. Actually, on that note, what did you think you were doing coming so far out here with equipment that bad?” He asked, flipping to lecture mode as he kept applying the paste to her wounds. “Something like that is just asking for trouble.”

“Hey, I didn’t think it was a good idea either but my sister was coming out here whether I wanted to or not and good stuff is too expensive. Wait, where are my knuckles anyway?”

“Destroyed,” He said simply. “The way your fingers were swelling with them on it looked like you’d lose them if I don’t do anything so I wanted to get them off you fast. Glad there’s no sentimental value behind them.”

She held in a groan. Not only was she alone with a strange man in a severely injured state, she was alone without a weapon too. Even if he hadn’t done anything yet, she felt defenseless, a fact he seemed to pick up on as he finished, walking away after he reapplied the bandages and going back to where he’d sat to pick something up and made his way back to her.

“Mind if I take your hand?”

“Um, sure.”

He gently held her less injured one, trying not to move it more than he needed to as she saw just what he’d gone to grab, the shattered remains of her old knuckles.

With a crease in his brow, she watched as the metal began to flow, wrapping around her fingers to have a better fit than they had when she’d originally bought them, feeling it take a solid form again in the end as he gently held it for a few minutes longer.

“There, better than new considering how low quality they originally were. And a free death enchantment added to them at no extra cost. Now maybe you could relax a bit?”

“...Thank you. A smith and alchemist with earth and death magic, you must keep busy.”

“Bah, the magics are for my enchanting and I already said my alchemy is for my smithing. All of my skills are just for my build.”

It didn’t seem like he was being humble, but it was still impressive. Both of his magics were at a high level and she was confident from what she’d seen that his alchemy must have been pretty good too. For all the comfort having a weapon again gave her, it felt obvious it would do nothing against him in the end.

As he finished that he left again, sitting next to the fire as he pulled a large animal leather from his bag, putting all of his focus into that while they sat in silence, her not knowing what to say as he focused on whatever he was doing as the time passed.

She decided to devote herself to doing what she could for her wounds, all the while keeping an eye on him.

He seemed completely focused on his task, as if she wasn’t even there, and she couldn’t help but wonder if whatever he was doing was just to distract himself from whatever impulses her charm would be causing in him. It wasn’t like it would turn him into a monster, but it had to be eating at his mind whether he was consciously aware of it or not. Despite all of that, he had been nothing but reasonable since she’d woken up, going out of his way to help her and try to make her comfortable, and even if that wasn’t out of his own good will, she hadn’t even had the courtesy to ask him the most obvious question.

“Hey-” She started, only to be cut off in an instant as he ripped his eyes from his task, not to look at her, but past her as he grabbed a rock and filled it with his mana before throwing it with all of his strength.

She felt it flash past her face in an instant, creating a breeze as she saw her life flash before her eyes, her heart rate only slowing a little as she heard the death cries of a creature behind her that had been struck.

“Sorry,” He told her immediately when he saw the look on her face. “Lotta beasts have been coming by these last few days and plenty of them dangerous. Gotta stay on my toes.”

He walked past her, taking a wide berth to try and keep from scaring her any more than he needed to as he collected the creature, something a bit smaller than him that looked like it was mostly teeth and claws as he began disassembling it by the fire.

“No, it’s um, it’s fine.”

Of course her charm was bringing in anything around, acting as a draw for any beast that got too close. Being right on the water, anything that came for a drink must have felt her pull, meaning she was in even more danger than she’d thought.

Feeling cornered from all sides, the man took her fear to be a result of his action and felt awkward enough from it himself. It was clear she wasn’t comfortable, and he couldn’t exactly blame her for that, so he tried to get her mind off it the best he could.

“Sorry, what was it you were going to say?”

“Oh, I just figured I should ask your name since you’ve been looking after me and all.”

“‘Couse, it’s Falk. And you?”

“Sonya.”

Author's note

Now this might just be the sleep deprivation talking cause oh boy am I tired, but I'm pretty pleased with this one in particular. Tune in tomorrow for more