Chapter 2: Hanging on by a thread
It was just supposed to be a normal commission, how could it go so wrong? But let me start from the beginning.It was exactly one year ago that I left the secure walls of my home city in Mondstadt to travel the world and see what life had in store for me. I have worked for three years by then as an independent Adventurer for the Adventures Guild, helping out where I could, taking whatever job I could get to bring money home to my family.
We hit a bit of financial hardship after my father, a seasoned Adventurer himself, got into an accident at work. What was supposed to be a stakeout to observe some Monsters that resided near the town turned into a full-on battle between two armies. My father got an axe to the knee and was left crippled and will probably never walk without pain again. My mom was a housewife with a small business on the side which left me the only one who could work fulltime.
My dad just came back from a doctor's visit as my parents sat me down in the Livingroom to tell me some good news. My father's leg started to heal better than expected and with the help of our community he found a administrative job at the Adventurers Guild bringing in some extra money. That money would be enough to support them, which left me free to follow my dream, a trip around the world. This was supposed to be compensation for taking over my father's duties and a present for my 21st birthday.
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I had wished for a trip like this since I was a child. My endless questions about what the world was like were not only annoying to my parents but also my peers. There wasn’t a history book I hadn’t studied from front to back and yet I knew there was still more out there. Even if Lisa, our town's Librarian and a lady I consider my friend, told me that she would try and organize books from other nations it was never enough to still my hunger for knowledge.
My parents planned to send me to the Academia of Sumeru, the place that stored all knowledge known to humans to study under the smarted professors alive, but the tuition was too much to bear on our limited expenses. Instead, I was promised that if I studied hard and saved my money well, I would be allowed a trip around the world for as long as it took for me to feel satisfied with my knowledge. I turned 21 and was ready to leave as my father got into the accident so I postponed my trip to help my town and my parents. Finally, with 24 years old I was allowed to leave and go my own way.
I had already set up an enitre plan on how I would survive on my own and where I would want to go. Even though I loved the comfort of my bed I made a point to only camp outside at first or reside in cheap taverns if they were available. I was used to work as an Adventurer but also had advanced survival skills from my time with the Knights of Favonius, the military organization protecting our community working together with the Guild. I could earn money on my trip and maybe I would have enough to send some of it back to my parents.
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I made it my lives goal to travel through each nation and bring back stories to tell the other people in town once I came back in a few years. I wanted to know more than what the history books said, I wanted to know what the people experienced, their folktales, fairytales life stories. I wanted to see foreign culture, learn new languages and be as culturally diverse as one can be. After I saw what I wanted to see I would return and continue my work as an Adventurer for the Guild to help my town.
One year later. I left the beautiful nation of Inazuma behind me a few days ago, the ship that offered to take me back to the mainland arrived in Port Ormos this morning. To my understanding I was in the nation of Sumeru, the nation of Knowledge, I place I planned to spend quite a while in. My next destination was Sumeru City, home of the Sumeru Academia and an outpost of the Adventurers Guild where I hoped to find work for the time being.
It was about a day's march through the twisted paths of the jungle nation until I could push past the thick plants and see what I thought was the 8th world wonder. A tree, with a size that nothing could compare to. It looked like it was reaching the clouds and its diameter could surely be greater than a small town. Wrapped around its trunk and branches laid Sumeru City. One with nature, perfectly fitted to uses the trees' natural structure to support their houses and pathways. I followed my map to the city gates where guards demanded to see my papers and performed the regular security check. I walked through the paths of the tree, up down and in-between branches and other paths. I must have gotten lost at least three times before I found the outpost of the Adventurers Guild and reported in so they would know where I would take my commissions from.I
headed to a cheap tavern for the night and studied what I had to familiarize myself with the customs of this land. First, I had to secure myself an income if I were to stay here for a few months, during this time I wanted to spend most of my free time in the Academia’s Library and visit the open lectures that were free for all or maybe take a cheap course that I could afford. I went to the Guild’s outpost and set up a notice on their bord that a new Adventurer was in town and would gladly take up any work that was available. It started off with simple deliveries that would be made within a day.
I started studying the nation's vast plant culture, talking to alchemists, doctors, biologists and Forest Rangers. One day, as I was sitting on a bench at the main plaza a guard approached me. I wasn’t doing anything forbidden so I did not fear the weapons he wore. “Are you Nicholas?”, The man held up a copy of my notice that I posted around two weeks ago.
I closed my Herbology book and stood at attention. “Yes,sir. How may I be of service?”, I responded.
He proceeded to take a seat next to me and told me about a Commission he had to complete. At first it sounded like the right fit for my current work. He was tasked to bring a list of plants to the research center. This would be great training for me to identify plants in nature and learn the correct way to harvest them. However, I also received a warning, these plants were hard to get a hold of, they only grew in one specific region in Sumeru and this region would undergo severe flooding this time of year. Noone from the corpse of thirty, that is how they called their guards and missionaries, would take on his case due to the dangers of getting hit by flooding rain or encounter genetically modified monsters in the wild.
The Ashavan Realm is the home of several poisonous Fungi creatures, not all of them had been studied yet. The region was also the home of several wild boar species and Rishboland Tigers. Alone they would rather avoid human contact but if they were infected by those fungi they would grow to terrifying killers. With Monsoon season arriving and mating season just behind us the population of those animals will have skyrocketed making this one of the most dangerous Realms to be in this time of the year.
I had to admit that I would not have taken the risk if it wouldn’t have been for the pay. We were talking about 7.000 Mora, enough to last me at least several months. I took the time to contemplate the offer, on one hand is it experience, I would have something to show for myself. I also wouldn’t be going there alone; I would have a team of researchers and forest rangers with me. On the other side of the equation were the risks, flooding, animal attacks, injuries.I saw that this would be a one in a lifetime chance, and if someone else would take this Commission and get the money I would definitely be disappointed in myself and regret my choice.
The next morning I went down to the city’s center and asked for a meeting with the corpse of thirty. My visit was to be expected so the guards, strong build men in breezy leather clothes armed with spears, let me through. The courtyard was bustling with people, soldiers training with their weapons, inventory keepers counting and managing boxes, other members leisurely taking a stroll and chatting, older members who seem to have just gotten back from the desert were sleeping in the grass. I felt welcome in this atmosphere, they were like a tight knit family with people from all age ranges, young adventurers that helped prepare everything to wise elders who shared their knowledge with the middle class who did the hard work.
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I found myself by a beautiful Pavilion covered in flowers with colorful glass as roofing tiles. In the middle of it, a round table with several chairs, beverages and desserts available for the taking. A few elders of the group sat together for tea, talking and laughing, one of them being Jeroba, the guard that offered me the Commission. At first, I felt like I was intruding in their free time but the moment he saw me standing in front of the stairs he gave me an inviting smile and offered me to step up to them. I sat down with the group and waited patiently as one of them finished telling their story, my hands holding on tightly to the commission slip under the table.
The laughter subsided as Jeroba turned his attention to me and greeted me with a firm get enthusiastic handshake: “Nic, you made it, its good to see you here. Welcome to our humble outpost.”. The other members who were present either reached their hand over the table or just nodded in acceptance. “These are our commission experts, they have been recruiting new adventurers even before I was born, this is Amir, Khalid and Hassan.,I got introduced by Jeroba,
After he explained the circumstances that lead me here I got yet another warning form the elders. “The Ashayan Forests aren’t to be underestimated, you are just a young boy you are free to go and live your life you don’t have to risk your life for a bunch of old folk like us.”, they said trying to sway me from going.
However stood stubborn, mostly because I was driven by the high reward and the chance to impress such an influential adventure group. If I were to successfully retrieve the plans, I could collect a hefty sum and with just a bit of luck they might hire me again. So, despite all the warnings, and all the chances to turn back I signed the contract and left the premises with confidence.
I was allowed to stay in their outpost for the time being which saved me a lot of money from the Tavern fees. They provided me with everything they could, which was even more of a perk since none of their expenses would be deducted from my share. The mission had to be planned in detail, to ensure my and their people safety. I got a team of guards and forest rangers by my side, who should bring me to the edge of the forest. There wasn’t much know from the land, only a handful of pictures and even less sketches so I walked in there pretty blind. All we knew, there was one way down, a steep path filled with many drops and unmarked paths. In fact, the area was mostly a ravine, the floor not visible due to the fog or the flooding. In the middle supposedly an island with a huge tree, almost as tall as the tree of life Sumeru city was built in and around.
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I could see that the people were preparing for the worst, the pity in their eyes whenever I said anything about the mission left me in unease. Never the less I tried to ignore their sad eyes whenever I was so enthusiastic to get into the adventure, this clearly was a restricted area of the forest and me of all people would get the chance to venture in and bring back much needed materials for the health of other people. I wouldn’t miss this chance for anything in the world. This would be an adventure I could write a book about
.The sun had not even risen, the sky painted in a dark soft gray. The team and I stood at the gates of Sumeru getting a proper goodbye from the corpse of thirty and the Academia. What I had learned was the Academia was ruled by a bunch of old people trying to collect the knowledge of the world and store in their libaray. They were the leading researchers in biology, astronomy, elementalism, linguistics & history, history and technology. With this I understood why my parents wanted to send me here, they wanted me to have the best chance in living the life on my dreams buried in my books and being able to know about everything we as humans had discovered so far. I was grateful for all they tried for me even if in the end it did not work out, I’m sure they already beat themselves up over it for not being able to afford this.
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I wanted to let them know that I however still managed to see the inside of the Academia’s walls and the day of my departure handed over a letter to Amir that he should send to my parents. “Dear Mom and Dad, I did it. I crossed the Chasm over to Sumeru and got to Sumeru City, I wish you could see this, the city is inside a tree as big as Mondstadt itself. I found a Tavern to sleep in, it’s a bit expensive but there’s also a lot of work around here so I can get by. The Academia is amazing, I got my own library card and a thing they call and Akasha. I will most likely stay here for a while, and definitely return here on my way back.I also made some friends here with the local adventurers, they were just looking for someone to take on one of their commissions. I got told it will be quite the adventure in a restricted section of the Jungle, but I will be fine, I’ve been running through the woods since I could walk so a little bit of leaves in my face won’t stop me. With this letter I also send you some local gifts I hope you can make use of them.I love you too so much, and I know you have done your very best to send me here and I am ever so grateful,The greatest adventurer, after dad, Nicholas”I also had a package prepared for that moment, a beautiful colored headband for my mother so she could feel and see the fabric of the other nations, I had send her several of those already but I’m sure she will like these the most. I also send them a few herbs and spices and instructions on how to cultivate them in our garden. I send my dad a new coin pouch made from Sumpter beast leather, a type of wooly cow that the Sumeren people get their milk from. It was quite practical for long travels and even if my dad isn’t the most active anymore, I still think it’s a nice thing to have.
With everything taken care of we marched off through the lands. We had a few Sumpter beats carry our equipment so we didn’t have to drag our heavy bags behind us for several hours. We could see Port Ormos from our destination so the sea wasn’t far. The human made path started to fade as we walked closer to the cliffs. Before us appeared, a tree trunk admitting a strange cool blue light that reached up into the sky. I was told that this was not the result of radiation but is an elemental occurrence from the rain and forest spirits that ruled here. The drop into the water was more than 20 meters and even then, I could not see past the deep blue water surface. I had no idea how deep this goes or how quickly it would rise if it started raining again.
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The researchers made halt as we headed to the first steep drop. This was why they hired me, they needed someone brave, or stupid enough to go forth alone while the team stood aside and analyzed the situation around or went back to the port. They gave me everything I might need, food, water, tools, special gloves and gear to keep me save. I even got a sword bound to my hip if I were to encounter any infected fungi or infected animals. I was told to eliminate with no hesitation which seemed rather cruel so I was reluctant to those orders.
With a firm handshake I was send to duty. With a rope secured to my waist I climbed down the stone wall until I reached the edge of the water. Nothing but roots stuck out of the deep greenish waters, several hills reached out on the outside walls. Some dry dirt had formed flying islands around the roots that reached over me. The air hot and heavy covering me in condensation and sweat. I had my herbology book with me take notes from my findings here and to help me Identifying the plants I might need.I bend down to reach the water’s surface, feeling the temperature and density. I wanted to take a sample, the more I would bring back the higher the pay, so I expected. I wasn’t going to swim if I didn’t have to since I didn’t know what creatures might live down there.
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I was playing a game of “the floor is Lava” with handling me around the area, from island to island, balancing roots to reach the dry spots in the sea. I stood in the middle of the wide sea and looked up at the tree, the blue light guiding me through the thick cover of leaves. It was quite the workout, not even an hour in and I had to settle down against the rocky walls and take a sip and eat some of my rations. The view, even with the obstructions, was still breathtaking. I haven’t even spotted any danger, and threat, any fungi or animal. I started to doubt that there was anything dangerous here. Maybe I simply wasn’t as easily frightened due to my experience but I’m sure the corpse of thirty would feel the same way. Maybe they were just lazy.
As I sat there bathing in the warmth and wonderous reflection of the blue lights in the water I started to wonder:” How bad can this tree be? Nobody wants to say what exactly is in there. Either they don’t know and I can figure it out for them or they are hiding something from me. Maybe the plants are there? And they want me test me, or want me to fail? Did they just send me in here to die because I was getting a little too good at my job?” A lot of things crossed my mind, in the end I wanted to continue my search, and If I walked all the way around once and haven’t found any of the plants then I would go find my way to the tree and investigate it.
I got up to grab my things and as I stood there, I noticed just how much the water had sunk. There was a lot more exposed land now, as if the seafloor just absorbed the water back into it. The water kept sinking, by this rate the floor might be dried out in the next hour. The timing was just right, I wanted to start searching again anyway and I could go the seat floor as well. I looked for an easy way down while collecting other plants and flowers that I found interesting.
The sea bed had already dried up mostly, and underneath all that water, was nothing, no fish, no creatures, however the sea floor was filled with flora and fauna that not even the Academia’s book wrote about. I definitely wanted to go down there , but I didn’t see any way down except for sliding, the land was wet and muddy I wouldn’t be able to walk on it properly. I found the next rock that seemed stable enough and wrapped a rope around to let me down the muddy slippery hills. I had a hard time with the gloves so I had to take off my backpack to kneel down and try me best to tie a tight knot.
I looked up as I realized that the comforting sounds of bird chirping had stopped. The sky darkened rather quickly. I wanted to have a look around, my experience taking over as I slowly got back to my feet, hand on the hilt of my sword. I turned to the big tree whose light seemed to almost pulsate, with a steady but slow pace. I froze up as I suddenly heard a roar, a loud one, coming from close by. I turned around and pulled my blade ready to fight. There was nothing to be seen, however the roars and huffs became louder.
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The ground under my feet started to split open. I reached out for my bag but the cliff I was standing in broke. The Adrenaline kept pumping as my body fell to what I believed was my death. I hit the ground and a sudden pain shot through my spine. The next thing I knew everything went dark. I could still hear the wind blow over me, and feel the first raindrops hit my skin. I didn’t feel anything anymore so I was convinced I broke something or even worse was paralyzed.
I could feel the ground under me lift and sink, like the earth was breathing under me. I said my last prayer, wishing my life goodbye. The next time I felt anything I thought I was dreaming. My vision blurry my body light as a feather floating around. The light of the moon was broken in several stripes of light floating with me. I wanted to close my eyes again and accepted that it was over as I suddenly started chocking.
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Fear took over and my eyes shot open again, dreaming or not I couldn’t breathe and it was horrifying. I moved my hand to my throat and felt a resistance. I tired to keep the cough down and held my breath, looking around me I noticed I was under water and immediately began swimming towards the light.
I broke through the surface in the middle of the lake, coughing up the water violently. I could barely hold myself above water so drowning as I was, I splashed around trying to get forward to the next thing I could hold on to. My hands felt something dense and grabbed onto it as I tried pulling me towards it. It was a branch from the tree which I managed to pull myself up on. I leaned my body over the little bit that was reaching above the water and just stood there for the time being coughing until all water had expelled from my lungs.
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The first breath of air was hot and thick in my throat, gasping as my brain tried to catch up to everything. My vision was still burred but the longer I was above water the better it got. Left and right was this thick soup of air, no, fog. I couldn’t see beyond my fingertips. Completely disoriented and still in pain I pulled myself up on that branch. I hissed out in pain as I stretched my hands over my head. I touched my head and felt for any injuries, I went down my entire body checking for missing limbs or blood coming out anywhere. I had a pounding headache and my legs were quite numb.
Forget this, I had to be somewhere do something, there must be a way out of this. There was nothing but water around me so that’s the only place to go. I made sure I was able to breath before I jumped back in the same water I swore I drowned in and swam in one direction. I saw a stone wall in front of me; decided to follow it to find any shallow end I could get out. I kept my pace, sometimes stopping when seeing a floating branch and holding on to it to breathe. I looked to the other side and saw wat seemed like dry land, my hope spiked and I pushed myself of the cliff edge to swim across.
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I crawled onto the land and fell to my side. “Oh, beautiful grass I’m so happy to have you”, I sighed as my body yet again grew weak.
My body could only go that far before I started feeling the effects of my fall. My legs were shaking, but I didn’t feel them move. My back was burning up, I couldn’t touch it, my shirt felt like someone was rubbing sandpaper on it after a sunburn. I rolled onto my stomach in pain, biting back a groan as tears built up. It wasn’t manly to cry, but there was no one around to see it so I allowed a few tears to spill carrying my despair with them.I propped myself up on my hands and knees and slowly tried to gain my balance back. It was rough, I had a sense of balance but I couldn’t feel anything beyond my hips. “Alright, and now?”, I asked myself. I had no idea how much time had passed, but I expected the team to search for me already, however, I was in the middle of the lake, no way could they get a boat or anything down there to transport me away safely.
I needed to keep on going, go somewhere I could be reached. I saw a few branches going from my island into the mist and stumbled closer, it was like a twisted bridge to walk on.I couldn’t see where I was heading but walked forward, encountering another, bigger looking island. I climbed up the small wall that the branches came out from and was greeted with a soft blue light admitted from the fog. I was really close to that light too, presumable this was the tree island. I headed towards the blue glow and was soon seeing the outline of the tree trunk that was broken apart. The tree we saw admitting light as we arrived was beautiful, it had leaves and a healthy stem, with light coming out the crown reaching a beam into the sky. This one looked, dead. This couldn’t be right. This couldn’t be the same tree that was shining bright like a beacon of hope in the middle of the dangerous Region.
Curiously I walked closer and inspected the bark, it was brittle and dry, the grass around it however was green and luscious. I walked around the island for a bit until I found an opening to the tree, the light definitely came from in there but dimmed the moment I got closer. I noticed the fog clear up as I stepped inside the open tree, this made no sense, the tree was broken apart only the shell was standing and there was still this thick fog around the island, just not while standing inside the borders of the tree.
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The floor was covered with beautiful blue glowing plants I hadn’t seen before, spreading over the grass like dandelions. I bend down to pick one of them up and had to assist myself by holding on to the tree to get back up. I walked towards the middle of the tree, where flowers grew in a very ominous pattern, all in a perfect circle.
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As I looked closer, I noticed they were the type of flowers I had to collect, I remembered a picture of them from my herbology book. I was still suspicious of the way they were planted and did not want to pluck them. On the other hand the job paid good money which I could use for the medical bills coming my way.
I stood outside the circle to stay save and carefully picked one of the flowers before backing off and waiting. I expected things to happen; the ground to open up and swallow me whole. The light didn’t waver, the small flowers around me glowing like before, I let my hand glide over the ground to feel for any vibration cracks or other openings that I needed to be careful about. I reached all the way to the second flower and plucked that too, again nothing, that encouraged me to pluck half the circle, which should be enough for the researchers. I would also bring a water sample and these blue glowing dandelions. I respected nature too much to rode it to extension. I’m sure with the knowledge the academia had they could cultivate these plants so we didn’t need to rob nature of its beauty.
I held on to them for now since I didn’t have a place to put them safely. I lost my sword as I fell and my bag hopefully resides unharmed on the edge of the cliff. I left the tree again, soaking myself in the thick air. I immediately noticed the difference in air quality as I passed the curtain of fog, the air inside the tree was fresh and cleansed, the air outside hot and heavy. I still had no sense of direction, but as long as I got out of there, I could get help and retrieve my things. I knew the way I came from, so I had a place to start. I had the area memorized by pictures and as we got there, it wasn’t clear images in my head but I had a wage idea of how the area looked like.
I found another wood bridge and decided to balance over to the other end. I landed on an island that had what seemed like wooden statue on it. It looked like a smaller version of the broken-down tree in the middle. Inside the opening I just stood in floated a yellow glowing orb. I didn’t know what it was, because I was certain I had not seen this thing while climbing down. I inspected it closely, it was admitting a warm yellow light, like a miniature sun inside this tree. I held my hand over; it wasn’t any hotter than the air around me but it was reacting to my hand. The diluted light from the sun that lit up the fog around me dimmed as I held my hand over the small orb. I believed it to be a coincidence but after the seventh try I connected the dots that I was making these shadows in the sky. I didn’t understand how, it was pure magic to me. If this really was the sun, that i could manipulate with my own two hands then what should I do with it?
I was afraid to touch it knowing I might burn myself. However, I could try it with a bit of wood, and there was enough of that around me. I grabbed a piece of it and held it against the orb, nothing happened, it didn’t burst into flames, didn’t smoke, it wasn’t even hot to the touch. More confident than before I reached in and cupped the orb in my hands, the orb kept floating in my hands as I lifted it out of the statue.
My most prominent problem was this annoying fog, I would never find my way out of there if I couldn’t see. So the only thing I could do was bring this orb with me, to the only place I knew which didn’t have fog. I went back to the tree, which was as broken as I left it. I stepped inside my eyes on the orb to see if that changed anything. I looked outside, the fog still going strong, as I noticed the light in my hands had faded, I turned my head and the orb was floating towards the middle. Only half of the flowers remained in the circle that once indicated the middle. The orb stopped there before it sank down to the ground, slowly the blue light started to lose its glow.
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I was worried that I should not have done what I did but I wanted to see how this would pan out. I saw the pretty blue flowers slowly turning white. I wanted to pick one of these too, I still had the ones I collected in my hand, I saw that the ones I held also turned white. Even though I plucked them they still stood in connection with this tree.I stepped closer to the orb and wanted to pick it back up as I noticed the flowers in m hand slowly turning yellow.
One after another these flowers around me the turned yellow. I looked around me and then back to the orb, which had turned blue instead. Curiously I picked it back up and held it to the flowers, nothing happened.
I looked outside and everything was suddenly lit up, the fog was gone and light of the sun opened a whole new viewing distance. I looked between the outside and the orb. “What in the world?!”, I screamed in my head.
I have heard many stories, a god possessing a person, a dragon turning human, a every burning fire burning in place, but this, an orb changing the weather was not in it. I was tempted to take it with me, show it to the researchers so they could study it but I decided against it. I couldn’t carry it and I had no idea what could happen if I gave this up to the researchers. If they messed anything up it could mean our world could drown in rain and fog. I wasn’t risking it. The orb had a place and I put it back to were I found it. If I wanted to tell the people about it they would have to move their ass and see it for themselves down here.
Seeing more than before I wanted to walk back to the tree and take another look around if I found any way to the other side that didn’t involve swimming. As I turned on my path and went back the tree was towering over me like a giant. It grew to five times its size, looking as beautiful and healthy as before. Like nothing changed, I walked one round to find there was no more water around me and the roots i used to get here laid bare before me giving me a clear path back.
I dragged my body forward until finally, the stone cliffs were interrupted by an opening, a pathway. I thanked the gods for leading me and slowly climbed up the incline towards my things. I had a path up, a clear one, with a few walls to climb but they weren’t anything I couldn’t handle. However, I had no safety measures so freeclimbing it was.I hiked up the path until I reached another stone wall, this one however had my rope hanging down, I found myself on the end of a cliff, a broken cliff. I saw a stone sitting on the edge and a bag leaning against it. I had found my way back up, and to my luck my things were still unharmed.
The ground was still unstable so I made quick work and grabbed my bag before retreating to a higher level if the cliff were to break again.I had a quick look if the beast that wanted to attack me took something from me, which wasn’t the case before I packed up the plants I collected. I had to carry the bag around my stomach as my back was still in pain from the fall I should not have survived.
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I wanted to get out of there was soon as possible and climbed all the way back up. I reached a wall and as I climbed it I could see the veil of fog break. I stuck my head through and finally, I could breathe. I was no longer sweating profusely and I could feel the wind in my wet hair the sun on my skin. I looked down into the crater, the tree standing unmoved, now admitting a soft golden light into the sky. I looked at the path ahead, not much left to go before I would be at the meeting spot.
I continued on, pushing my body to its limit before I reached the camping place we had set up. I walked up the hill to find Amir, Khalid, Hassan and Jeroba standing there with their weapon drawn.They looked like the had seen a Ghost as I dragged myself up to their spot. They seemed extremely hesitant to come closer but the moment I reached out my hand to lean against something all four came rushing to my aid and held me up. The quickly cut the bag of my body to move me better. While one was holding my bad and two kept me stable in my feet Jeroba kneeled down before me and checked my body. “You look like you’ve been through hell.”, he whispered before taking a closer look at my head.
I was busy catching my breath, the air felt so thin and cold, I was barely above sea level but I could not get enough air in my lung to stop huffing trying to catch up. Jeroba saw that too and ordered the others to sit me down. He handed me his water bottle and got out the first aid kit. “Here kid, take it easy. You have to take a deep breath”, he instructed me while being calm and collected about it.
I tried, I really did, but I could not get enough air. He bandaged me up as best as he could while I drank a sip of water. I wanted to gulp down the entire flask but I wasn’t able to hold my breath for long enough. I drank sip after sip but still managed to choke on the water as I had to breathe while drinking. I spit out the water and started coughing again.
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I excepted as much from a clumsy guy like me, but as I tried coughing up the water I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t catch my breath before but now I was coughing and coughing bending over in pain and wrenching whenever I had a second to spare. I felt my throat burn and began to feel lightheaded. Everyone at camp was alarmed by that and they tried to help me; lowered me on the ground on my side. They tried to pat me on the back but I let out a scream as they did and that caused them to lift my shirt and see just how blue and black my back was. My throat started closing on me and soon I could not make a sound. I could see the team break out in a panic before I couldn't breathe anymore. With my brain not getting any oxygen I blacked out within the minute. All my senses shut off one after another, my brain could not form a single coherent thought. I felt my head pound and could hear whispers all around me, my vision switched between the black of my eyelids to a bright white. I felt dizzy and nauseous before everything was just, gone.