Illuminaria [LitRPG Fantasy Healer Adventure]

137/52 - Here She Blows

Joe woke to someone poking him in the shoulder. Tipping his face out of the pillow, he cracked open an eye to see Mahq standing over him at his bedside.

"The thunder spirit is almost here. You should get up."

Joe groaned. "What time is it?" he muttered, realising Mojo had pinned him on his stomach. He was usually a side sleeper, so this was an awkward position to wake up to.

"It is right before the thunder spirit gets here. I just said that, Joe. Were you not listening?"

Joe wiggled back and forth, gently dislodging the shug-monkey from his lower back. Mojo let out a long, groaning stretch before padding off Joe's back and over to Mahq to get pets from his friend. Joe used the pup's greeting to give his brain a minute to kick into gear. He needed a clear head when trying to follow the young druid's unique thought processes.

"Sorry, Mahq. Not quite awake yet," Joe uttered before letting loose a jaw-cracking yawn. "Thanks for getting me up."

Sitting, he rubbed the sleepers from his eyes before turning to the boy. The candle had been relit, illuminating the room. "You're going to stay inside tonight, right?"

"I won't leave the courtyard, but the abaaka vines will need me, so I will sit with the roots."

"Can your grandparents watch Mojo for me? I'm not going to be able to keep him with me with everything else going on today."

"Ok," the boy replied flatly, looking at the broodling leaning against him. "You're finally awake now. I'm going to go. Come on, Mojo." Mahq spun on his heel and walked out, leaving the door open as usual. Mojo looked at Joe and shrugged before beginning to follow. Before the pup made it halfway across the room, the changeling must have put together the ramifications of the day. He turned, dashed back, and leapt up onto the bed, tackling Joe's chest. The small critter mouthed Joe's fingers while squeezing surprisingly tightly.

"Hey, buddy. It will be alright. You watch out for Mahq for me, ok? This building should be safe, but even so, you two stay careful in the courtyard." Joe hugged and ruffled the little man for a few more seconds before empathically nudging the broodling to go and catch up with Mahq.

After one more small worried whine, the dog-ape sped off. Joe could hear Mojo's paws padding down the steps to the Catstaff's apartment below his. Rising from his mattress, Joe stood and cracked his neck and shoulders, admitting to himself that Mahq was definitely more fun than an alarm clock. Undoubtedly more confusing, but he made Joe smile. No chirping clock ever did that for him.

With the mental cobwebs cleared, Joe could sense the heavy pressure hovering in the air. He spent a short while preparing for his shift in the storm. After some food, plenty of water, a quick cleansing, and a change into a sturdy outfit, he was good to go. He then ensured that anything he was not keeping in his dim-bag was stored in a trunk he had slid into a closet. The Abaaka House was well built and warded, but the words 'Legendary Storm' were not ones to be taken lightly.

When he finally stepped outside, he was amazed at how dark it was. The sky above seemed even murkier than when he had gone to bed. It was a churning black nebula of clouds, releasing a creepy, half-light that tinted the world in gray and purple shades. The false light was probably just enough to allow those with normal vision to navigate the wind-howling streets. They were probably also aided by the strobes of light from the lighthouses, which slightly brightened the streets every few minutes.

Joe watched as Forters without [Steadfast] staggered in the buffeting gusts. Even he had to lean into a few squalls strong enough to challenge his stabilizing skill. He could feel pressure on the Stormbreaker talisman he had made, but he was in no danger of being knocked over. His level II ward had a much larger durability pool, and coupled with [Storm Strider], provided him with major {Storm} resistance and median resistance to {Air} and {Lightning}.

The avenues had been stripped bare. All the awnings and signs had been taken down. The little tables and chairs had been removed from the plaza and around the cafes. The market was empty except for a few sodden clumps of trash that had not yet been blown away. Luckily, Fort Coral was familiar with seasonal storms, and almost every window had sturdy-looking storm shutters closed to protect them.

The air smelled of ozone and the coming rain, though at this point the sky was only filled with wet winds from off the ocean. There was a charge in the air that was causing Joe's hackles to perk up, sending tickling sensations from his scalp, down his neck, and across his shoulders and spine. The whole world around Fort Coral felt poised and tense, a giant cyclonic cat waiting to pounce.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Typically, Joe loved storms, especially the feeling right before they broke, but not this time. The air was too heavy, too angry. Instead of leaving him tingling with excited anticipation, the brutish force in the air made him feel like some huge monster was looming overhead.

Joe entered the main hall of the guildhouse and stopped short, taking in the coordinated chaos. Around the small raised corner where the lectern had stood was Myllo's domain. He had several tables set up with a rack bearing dozens of talismans, crystals, and charms. He was watching one section of arcane baubles while speaking into another one that looked like a seashell. The minuscule mouseling woman was standing on a tall stool beside him.

A few feet away, the ill-humored warlock and the unusual insect-bearing tatterdemalion sat at a table. They both noticed Joe's arrival, so he threw the pair a wave. Lexeroth scowled and looked away, but the oddity that was Yuk shyly waved back.

He stepped further into the room just in time to see the last of the shore party departing through a red dimensional gateway. Wen must have already gone through. Only the armored Kerrig and hulking Nard stood by the portal for a moment more, and then they too were gone, stepping through the arcane rift.

He had to advance even further to spot the portal mage, Vexor had set himself up in the doorway, allowing him to utilize the hallway and the great hall for his magical doors, of which he was controlling three gateways simultaneously.

In order to maintain this split focus, the cambion sorcerer must have invoked some insane multitasking magic. The man appeared to have three heads, each slightly out of phase with one another. One red chin passed through the cheek of another spectral head. He bore six arms; each pair looked to be functioning independently and in another reality from the other two. He etched glowing crimson symbols into the air on three sides of himself.

From one dimensional doorway stepped a wounded man. Blood was streaming down his face, gushing from a deep cut on top of his head. Joe dashed through the hall and back out a door into the side corridor where the man was standing. Dropping a [Halefire], he called out. "Hey! I got you. Healer!"

Reaching up, he smoothed the flap of scalp back where it belonged while healing it into place. Behind them, a woman with a clearly broken nose and a deep cut on her cheek exited the gate.

"I'm cycling through the guardhouses around the city," one of the Vexor heads declared, "bringing in any wounded who make their way, Joe. Send them to the barracks behind you after you've treated them. OK?"

"Got it," he answered, and wincing, shifted his patient's nose back to straight. "Sorry, Ma'am."

And so it began.

Patient after patient stepped out of the red shifting gateway in a steady flow. After a while, Tezeno joined him and took over dealing with post-injuried citizenry, for which Joe was extremely grateful. He was able to keep up with the pace of healing the wounded, but not if he had to stop and try to answer the countless questions for which he had no answers to: is so-and-so here, what is going on at this location, how long will I be here, can I leave, can you get the rest of my family? The archon had an endless patience and gently responded as best he could, given that he didn't have many more answers than Joe did.

After a few hours, he noted that his charges were arriving in worse and worse states. Many were close to critical. Puqmup, Taylyn, and Isais turned up from time to time, bearing healing potions to aid Joe's efforts. The gnome even forced Joe to take a break. Joe was getting a few mana buffs from various guilders, similar to Hah'roo knotted bracelets, so he was not actually in danger of depleting his whole mana pool. Still, constant casting for hours took a toll. Each time Joe stopped for a breather, he found his whole body felt a bit wrung out. It was not stamina or health loss; it was just a general achiness and headache that he remembered from his early days in Crowfield. Constantly cycling mana was gnawingly taxing.

It was during one such break that Tezeno stepped up to him and placed his hand on Joe's shoulder.

"We have to go out there. Lexaroth reported a collapsed multi-family home with trapped survivors. And he lost Yuk. We're needed on-site. Are you ready to brave the storm?"

"I haven't had a chance to look. How bad is it?" Joe asked as he stood, making sure his dimbag and medical satchel were tightly cinched to his chest.

"It's not good," the guilder lieutenant droned in his flat voice, which made the statement far more ominous than Tezeno meant it to be.

The archon nodded to Vex, and after a second, the portal in front of Joe changed. So far, on the other side of the gates, Joe had seen mostly dim rooms of the various guard stations the doorways had opened into. The portals seemed to be limited to people only, since Joe had never heard or felt any of the storm when some had passed through the red plane.

This time, Joe was looking at an alley street. Sheets of rain ripped sideways through the air, carrying with them fragments of flora and debris. The sky was barely lit by a deep, ominous purple hue. In an alcove in the alley, Joe could pick out an ebon shadow of pure darkness in the shape of a man. In the dim lighting, it normally would have been impossible to spot, but the figure was waving its arms to signal its presence towards the portal.

Joe and Tezeno both blew out deep breaths, echoed by a third such exhalation from Hah'roo who had just appeared at Joe's side. He hadn't seen her all night, but he was certain Myllo had been keeping her just as busy as everyone else had been.

Tezeno would lead, and Joe took hold of his shoulder. Hah'roo grasped Joe's pauldron.

"Let's go," the sentinel declared, and the three of them stepped into the raging storm.