The Wandering Witch VOL. 1 - The Prelude Arc (COMPLETED)

4.2| Within the Cell

    The still silence that followed after Noct's dreadful proclamation was so absolute that Chell could hear her own heartbeat slowly picking up its pace, thudding hollowly in her ears. For moments, she stared at the eyes of the thief, searching at them for any hint of lies and deceit. However, what she saw on his face said otherwise; there was no doubt that he was telling the truth. That meant they really were about to be executed this afternoon—-and through burning, no less. That was the most widely-known way of executing someone from the Witchfolk. Death by being tied to the stake and scorched while still alive.

    Chell blinked as she cast a glance at the blazing torch outside their small cell. At that moment, her mind recalled the dream that she had moments before waking. For the nth time, she wondered why the ghost's last guidance for her was to come here, to Uldard, the most dangerous place in Terrall for people like her. So far, Chell noticed, ever since she had taken step within the gates, all she had gone through was nothing but trouble after trouble. By now, she was already starting to doubt her decision and the last words that the dead had spoken to her. Perhaps, they had been mistaken, she thought. But it was unlikely. Never, not even once, had they been mistaken with anything.

    Noct on the other hand kept his silence, leaning on the dirtied wall with his legs still crossed. He did not move a muscle. It seemed like he was thinking about something.

    Chell decided not to mind him and tried closing her eyes. She breathed out. Her lungs throbbed painfully, but it was a reminder that she was still alive, after all. Before doing anything, she needed to fix herself first. For a moment, Chell remained still, calmly measuring the amount of effort and pain she would have to require to do what she was about to attempt next. After a few seconds of steeling her nerve, she gritted her teeth and braced herself.

    Then, Chell sat up quickly. The pain was even more than she had imagined. Worse, even. Blood dribbled from her wound immediately, settling into the pool that had already accumulated around her. She could vividly feel something stabbing at her lungs. A bone, probably. The pain was so sharp and painful that for a few seconds, her vision blurred and her ears rang in an ugly discordance. She thought about vomiting, but stopped herself. Chell had already been in enough near-death experiences to know that attempting to move in her current state could end up fatally. If she couldn't stay conscious long enough to heal herself, there was a huge possibility that she could die. However, she also knew that simply doing nothing and merely lying down would bring no good. Rather, it would lead to a slow death, so either way, she was going to have to move sooner or later. It was only a matter of when.

    Bearing with the immense pain, Chell leaned her back softly on the wall to the left. Cold. It must have been because they had taken away her protective cloak, leaving her with her ornate dress that wasn't suited for damp and chilled places. Shakily, she raised her hand to spread her bandaged palm lightly over the wound on her side. She was relieved, for a second, as she noticed that the bindings were not undone. In a hoarse whisper, she managed to say a single spell word. "Mend."

    Immediately, an intricate pattern of frost spread from the tips of her fingers and covered itself all over the wounded side of her body, seeping into the openings of her flesh and healing them. Even her clothes were starting to mend itself, which had been torn when the hammer had struck her side. Chell tried to breathe as naturally as she could, the pain fading gratefully by the seconds. The spell was healing herself slowly yet steadily. Once in a few seconds, she would grimace in pain.

    Noct made a sound akin to a low growl. His body was tensed, hands stretching at his sleeves. He blinked a few times as he saw her spell working before his very eyes, as if he could not believe it was happening in front of him.