Rib Caged

When Klara finally regained her consciousness, the first thing she saw was Felix, who was watching over her with a worried expression on his face.

"Klara?" he asked "Can you hear me? How do you feel?"

She tried to get up, but a sharp pain exploded in her right side, making her stop and moan in pain. Felix immediately sounded more worried.

"Don't move!" he said "You have a broken rib, and if you move too much it could pierce your lungs!"

"Ugh!" Klara moaned again, closing her eyes, but she remained still. Judging from the pain she was in, Felix's diagnosis was probably correct, and she knew all too well how dangerous broken ribs were.

"What happened?" she asked with a pained whisper, still keeping here eyes closed "My memories are a little hazy... but I remember that we got ambushed by a bunch of goblins, didn't we?"

"Yes." the boy confirmed.

"And we got separated from the group."

"Yes again."

"And I can tell we're not dead... cause I don't think that dead people can have broken ribs. So how in the Three Hells did we survive? Did we get rescued by the group?"

"Uhm... we got rescued yes, but not by them." the boy replied.

"What do you mean?" Klara asked, finally re-opening her eyes "Who else could have.... rescued... us...!?!"

Her voice slowly died as she took a good look at her surroundings. She was in what seemed to be a rather big cave and the only source of light was a hole in the ceiling that let in the dim gray light of a cloudy day, but even in that semi-darkness she could tell that the place was wrong.

First of all, everything was covered by an opaque substance, similar to gray wax, which formed weirdly shaped lumps on the ceiling and the walls. The only thing that was free of that stuff was a small river flowing in the center of the room.

The place looked unnatural and just plain alien, but the worst thing were the dark shapes moving in the dark, just outside of the light. Some of them were looking at her with purple glowing insectoid eyes. It was impossible to count them, but they seem to number in the hundreds, skittering and scuttling like insects.

Klara's eyes widened with fear and panic and she tried to jump on her feet, but the pain from her rib made her fall again with a moan of pain.

"Stay still!" Felix said "Don't worry! They won't hurt you! They are the ones that saved us!"

"Felix..." Klara spoke, but her voice was faint and full of fear "What do you mean? What are those things? And for the love of the Gods, where are we!?!"

The apprentice sorcerer looked at her for a moment, trying to decide which question answer first, but then he replied.

"Well... I don't know what exactly are those things either, but they don't seem to be hostile. They are the ones that rescued us from the hobgoblins! Or maybe they were just following Marcus' orders..." the boy seemed lost in his thoughts for a second "She seems to be the only sentient one, and the others obey her..."

"What are you talking about!?!" the girl interrupted him with exasperation in her voice "Who is this... Marcus?"

"Oh, right!" Felix said "Marcus is the owner of this place. I think. She seems nice enough, though she doesn't speak our language. But she seems capable of learning it, and anyway she's amazing at communicating through gestures..."

"Felix, focus!" Klara admonished him. She knew fully well that her friend could speak for hours without getting to the point if left unchecked "Answer my question first please. Who exactly is this Marcus?"

The young man stopped talking, but it took him a while to answer. For a few seconds he seemed to try to find the right words, but then he gave up.

"Well... I don't know if I can explain it." He said "Maybe it's better if you see her with your own eyes." he turned away, facing towards the dark, and gestured towards someone to get closer "Marcus, could you get here please? I want to introduce you to Klara!"

In response to Felix's call, one of the dark shapes stepped into the light, making Klara flinch in surprise.

It was an humanoid creature, with gray skin and long, messy copper-brown hair. She was pretty short and dressed with a collection of random furs and rags. From the shape of her body it was pretty clear she was a female, although her chest was completely flat, and her arms and legs were covered by some sort of dark chitin armor.

But what really struck Klara was the creature's face: it had various nonhuman features, like the glowing insectoid eyes, the horn in the center of the forehead and the slightly jagged mouth, but for some reason it felt familiar to the young woman. She couldn't tell why, as she had certainly never met this creature or anyone like her before, but the feeling remained.

"Klara, this is Marcus." Felix said awkwardly, pointing at the creature "And Marcus, this is Klara."

Marcus bowed slightly after being introduced, then he pointed at herself and exclaimed "Marcus." Her voice had a weird shrill echo, but apart from that it sounded like a girl's voice.

Then the creature pointed at young woman and asked "Klara?"

"Uh... yes." she answered, still a bit confused "I'm Klara."

The creature smiled merrily after this introduction, with a childish delighted expression on her face that was at odd with her shark-like teeth. The overall effect was kinda creepy and did nothing to put Klara at ease.

What followed was a long, awkward silence, broken only by the flowing water and the skittering sounds of the creatures moving in the dark.

"Felix, what is this creature?" Klara finally asked.

"Uhm... I don't know." the apprentice sorcerer admitted "I've never heard of something like her. She doesn't seem hostile though, and the other creatures here seems to obey her."

"These other creatures are the one hiding in the dark?" the girl asked, looking at the shadows and purple eyes around her "Why don't they show themself?"

"Uhm... ehr... I think that maybe they don't want to scare you." Felix answered, shuddering a little "They don't look as human as Marcus after all. The first time I saw them I panicked a little."

"What do you mean with they don't look human? What do they look like then?" Klara asked, but before the boy could answer a sudden memory flashed in her mind "Wait... I remember something. Those dragonfly things... the ones that took us from the hobgoblins. Are those the other creatures?"

"Yes." Felix nodded "But there are other types too. They all look like a mix between insects and lizards but their general shape changes greatly from type to type. I wonder why is that..."

"Felix!" Klara interrupted him, a worried rage in her eyes "So are you telling me that we are in the middle of a den of creatures that could rip us apart if they wanted to?"

The boy shrugged in response.

"Well, why would they want to?" he replied "They saved us from the goblins after all. As long as we don't do anything stupid, we should be safe. And Marcus seems quite friendly to be honest."

"Yes, but... Ouch!" the girl had tried to debate that point, but a stabbing pain at her side interrupted her.

She had somehow completely forgotten about her broken ribs, and after talking for so long it had started to hurt a lot.

Felix gave a worried look at her.

"Maybe we should argue later." he suggested "You can't move right now anyway, and Marcus and the other creatures are at least keeping us safe, so we should treat your wound. Do you happen to have a first aid kit with you?"

"No." Klara hissed through her teeth, in pain "I left mine... in my backpack at the camp."

"Uh, well... then I'll have to find something." the apprentice mumbled "But I don't know what to use..."

"Just some painkillers would be enough." the girl hissed again "Broken ribs require... uff... to stay still. But something for... the pain would be great."

"Right! So what do we have for the pain?" Felix asked.

"Nothing." she answered "But... there are plants... on these hills... that can be used. Dawnshade berries... or toadbirch bark... should work. Do you... know them?"

"Of course!" the boy replied "I'll get them for you in a flash!"

And he immediately turned to Marcus, who had been following the whole conversation in silence, listening to every word while trying to pick something of the language used.

"Marcus." he said, trying to use gestures to explain himself "I need to get some medicines for Klara. I need to go outside. Search for medicines."

The monster girl seemed a bit confused, so Felix tried to explain himself better, pointing first at Klara, then trying to mimic the treating of a wound and then pointing outside. Marcus finally seemed to understand, but she replied by shooking her head, and gesturing about something flying over her head and then diving to get her.

Felix understood the meaning: she was worried that some flying creatures would discover him and attack him.

He argued by mimicking a pain at his side, moaning in pain, and then pointing at Klara, to indicate that she would be suffering without medicines.

Marcus seemed thoughtful for a moment, but then she nodded, and gestured Felix to follow her. She brought him to one of the small circular tunnels leading out of the cave, where they found one of those huge worm-mole things and various warriors and hounds waiting for them. The monster girl pointed at the drones and then at Felix, meaning that they would accompany him.

The boy tried to refuse, but Marcus interrupted him, pointing to the outside and mimicking various ferocious beasts that would attack him. The apprentice sorcerer got the point: a lone human in the Ashwood Hills wouldn't last long without protection.

Felix had to agree, and as soon as he nodded the creatures entered in the tunnel in front of him.

The boy did the same, but he took the time to take out a small crystal from his pocket and murmur a few words first.

A pale light appeared from the crystal, just enough to illuminate the darkness of the tunnel, and the apprentice sorcerer made a loud, nervous gulp and entered the hole.

As soon as he left, Marcus walked back into the light and sat right next to Klara, staring at the girl with her big, glowing eyes.

The wounded young woman couldn't help but shudder and she fervently hoped that Felix would be back soon.