Fog Bound

Chapter 3

That night was probably the deepest sleep the two had ever had in their lives. The fight had taken everything out of them and they deserved the free rest they got that night.

Eventually morning did come, but it wasn't until the afternoon that Verri began to stir. At first when she woke up she couldn't believe how bright the room was. It wasn't completely illuminated, but it was much brighter than it had been.

When she tried to sit up she recoiled, "Fuck!", and laid back down while clenching her ribs. She had forgotten the brutal battle they took part in the previous day.

When she opened her eyes again she looked over to Laius. Hair had brushed over his eyes as he slept so she took the time to move it away and smile at his peaceful expression.

"Laius, we're alive, aren't we? We went through so much and yet we're still alive!" Verri gushed, grabbing his arm and holding onto it. Even if he was asleep, the comfort of his warmth soothed her aching body.

"Huh?" He sleepily blinked awake briefly but closed his eyes again shortly after. He turned on his side and threw his arm over her and pulled her close to his chest. Mildred didn't even have the drive to throw a hissy fit about being so close to Verri. Perhaps she was also worn out. "We did. We destroyed that meatball." He said through a yawn, which soon formed a smile. "Let's take the day off or something."

Verri giggled, listening to his heartbeat as she rested her head on his chest. "How're you feelin'? I feel like I've been punched in the gut multiple times, but I'll live. How's everything on your end?" She disregarded the fat stupid wyrm on his arm and wrapped her own arm around him, scratching his back gently.

"Oooo..." He said as she scratched his back. "I'm fine for the most part. Besides that thing grabbing my ankle and chewing me up, it never really injured me. Except when I was coughing a lung out... But besides that, I was mostly in shock. Sounds like it was you who got the worst of it this time." He admitted.

The ray of sunshine beamed through the window and landed on Laius's eyelid. He opened his eyes again and looked out the window. "Wow... Is that the sun? Never thought we'd see that again." Now that he was more awake, he listened closely and heard the sound of the townspeople talking outside, and it sounded as if they were right outside the guild. "You hear that?"

"Yeah, I do. The mist must be finally clearing up." Verri looked out the window as well, a smile couldn't help but spread across her face.

"You kids up?" The guild master stood on the steps, the fact that they hadn't heard him come up caused Verri to turn around quickly. A devastating move as she groaned and held onto her ribs.

"I saw you two coming outta those woods last night. Figured you both were on another suicide herb run..." He stroked his beard, his voice was getting a bit choked up. "But instead, you brought the sun back. From the bottom of my heart I thank you. When you both are ready, the other villagers would like a word as well." He began to descend the stairs, slowly going out of view.

Laius sat up, propping himself up with his arms. "Right now? Like this?" He gestured to himself. He never had the opportunity to clean up again and was still covered in a nice layer of dried mud and mucus. "Oh well." He brushed off the thought.

"Can you stand?" Laius asked Verri. "That's gonna start hurting like a bitch when you move around." He added, standing up and offering her a hand.

"Oh, you have no idea...!" Verri groaned, taking Laius's hand to properly get up. She panted a bit through the pain, but eventually she smiled over to him. "I suppose we'll have to deal with our disheveled appearances... Shall we make our way down?"

"Yeah," He answered with a nod. He helped her back down the stairs slowly and threw the guild door open. Immediately there seemed to be several gasps as they were examined like specimens by a group of people surrounding the guild. They surged forward to meet the two and have their questions answered.