The Canyon

Author's note: there's some first-aid type scenes in this chapter. Please note that I am not a professional, and the 'aid' presented here is not recommended. If anything similar happens in real life, get emergency medical assistance from real professionals!

Ahsch knew he had only been out for a few moments because he could still hear Michlas and Mahat fighting the tree wolves far above. Blearily, he cast around, looking for Kira and the beast that had sent her and himself down into the Canyon.

He saw the wolf first - crushed under more of the cliff face that had fallen after the boulder had come loose. The hrafthi thanked his lucky stars - he certainly be dead if that thing had survived the fall.

Panicked whimpers led him to Kira, who was bent over...

Ahsch choked down his bile at the sight if her leg, which should not be bending the way it was. He knew from the semi-limp weight of his own left arm that something was wrong there, but shock was dulling any pain he should have felt into obscurity. A glance calmed his worry; dislocated shoulder, but nothing looked broken past that. A vague memory of trying to catch something to halt his fall flashed through his mind. He'd succeeded, but only long enough to pop his should out and probably tear some muscles.

And probably slow his fall just slightly enough to save his bones, judging by the mangled state of Kira's left leg. Mastering his stomach, Ahsch **** himself up and over to the gasping, wheezing girl, inspecting the damage as he slowly lurched over. Not just the break, he realized. The shin was bent to the side at something like a 30-degree angle, but her hip also looked wrong - possibly dislocated as well.

It's a miracle we survived at all.

Master! His familiar's thoughts drew his attention up the cliff, where the sounds of fighting had stopped. Master, I'm so happy you're alive!

Alive, but hardly well, Ahsch thought back. How are you two?

We took some injuries, but we're both alive. Michlas is worried about the girl, give me a moment and I'll let him know she's alive.

The hrafthi blinked. Mahat's telepathic bond only worked with him, so how...

You forgot the System Description for Familiar is Flesh, didn't you?

Ahsch recalled the System Description, then mentally facepalmed. She could transform. He'd forgotten because she never had his whole life!

I was going to make a gift of it tonight, Master, she said, sounding almost apologetic.

It's okay, he replied, shaking his head. I'm just stupid for forgetting that detail.

He thought for a moment, and Mahat's constant presence in his mind became clear a moment later. I don't think leaving you two, in that condition, is a good idea.

We don't really have much choice; you two crawling down the cliff is stupid, and we're not going to be able to get back up. You two should go back to Sarvas, get help. Maybe we can make a pulley or a rope ladder or something.

Why not use Spirit String? You can lift, what, around a 'tonne,' almost 1,000 kilograms? You didn't really use that measuring system though, did you?

First off, no, I didn't, the measurement system I was familiar with was closer to that we use here. Secondly, yes, Spirit String can lift a lot right now, something around the weight of that tree wolf, maybe two of them, I'm not great at judging those sorts of things. But I'm not going to use Spirit String - or any spells, if I can help it - because if the Canyon is a Primeval Demesne, then using my mana will draw the attention of every fucking beast down here. Speaking of...

Ahsch knelt down by Kira, who was still staring at her broken leg in shock, small whimpers and gasps slipping through her lips. Gently, the hrafthi took her chin in his good hand and turned her face towards him. "Kira, focus on me. Are you listening?" A numb nod was his answer. He nodded back. "Good. Listen carefully. We're in the Canyon right now. It's never been confirmed, but because it could be a Primeval Demesne, we can't use magic; the disturbance in the ambient mana would alert every beast in here of our presence, and we'd have worse than a broke leg and arm to deal with. But I know how to set bones. It will hurt, but it's our only option right now, okay?"

Some focus had come back to Kira's gaze as he spoke, but luckily, she didn't argue, and gave another numb nod. Looking around, Ahsch found a few mostly-straight sticks on the ground, and he had some cord in his pack, which was luckily intact and with him. He also found a somewhat thicker, and softer, stick. Getting all together, he held out the softer one towards Kira's mouth. "I'm going to set the bone in your leg - and pop your hip joint back in - and it'll be painful, so bite on this so you don't break your teeth."

The nod was shaky this time, and accompanied by a whimper, but the girl did as he instructed. "Take a deep breath," he warned, then got to work. Kira's screams were fit to raise the dead, and attract every beast within earshot, but letting it heal badly would just complicate proper healing if - when, Ahsch told himself firmly - they got back to Sarvas.

Several minutes later, with Kira's leg looking much better, Ahsch turned his attention to his own arm. He could leave the rich brat to her own devices for a few minutes, given that she was almost passed out, dripping sweat and panting against the rocks. As much as popping his shoulder back in on his own would suck, Kira wouldn't be much use at the moment, and speed was important. And, if he was being honest with himself, the hrafthi wouldn't put it past her to somehow fuck it up.

Finding a pile of rocks with a nice little slot, Ahsch laid his arm straight in the notch, and slowly maneuvered it into position, being careful to line things up properly. Making sure his hand was caught in a narrower part of the groove, he slowly leaned away, applying pressure away from his body. After a few minutes, after gingerly testing the joint, he moved his arm out of the groove. I'll need to be careful until we can properly heal, but this is better than a dislocated shoulder.

As much as I hate it, Mahat spoke in her master's mind, Michlas agrees with your plan. Though he's not happy about it either.

Mahat, I don't think any of us are happy about this... least of all Kira when the shock wears off.

I don't envy you, Master. We'll hurry, Michlas says he has some traversal magic he's capable of, so we should reach Savras quickly.

Just be careful, I don't want... Ahsch was cut off by an echoing, pulsing growl, coming from down the Canyon. Or rather, the hrafthi realized with a sense of dread, from further back up the Canyon, towards the entrance.

...Okay, maybe hurry as much as you can. I think our time is running out faster than we thought.

I'll keep in touch as much as I can; I'm not sure if there's a range on the mental bond!

There was an odd sense of distance to the bond, particularly odd due to such a thing never happening before - Mahat and Ahsch had been far apart before without any change to their link. The mage suspected that in this case, it was due to the over-saturation of mana in the environment. Or an effect of the Canyon, if it was a Primeval Demesne.

Finding his spear and weakly grasping it in his left hand, Ahsch stooped and slung Kira's left arm across his shoulders, using his right to hold her up as he stood, letting her lean on him. "Alright, time for us to get moving," he grunted, while thinking how lucky it was that they had both injured their left side - he didn't want to think about the logistics of having to use his weak side to support her weak leg.

Their progress deeper into the Canyon was slow, due to the aches and pains that wracked their bodies as well as the short, shuffling hops that Kira had to take to keep weight off her broken leg. It was even slower due to the cloying, dense fog that flowed all around them, glowing softly with mana...

Ahsch stopped in revelation. It wasn't fog, but rather the absurdly dense ambient mana of the Canyon, which he could only see because he had Mage Sight active! He panicked for a moment, and was about to stop the spell, but then focused for a moment. The mana's currents seemed unaffected by his Mage Sight, which could mean one of two things - either the Canyon was, in fact, not a Primeval Demesne, or...

"Kira, do you have any spells that don't move your mana outside of your body?"

He could see her turn to look at him out of the corner of his eye. After a moment, she replied, "You mean... enhancement spells?"

He tilted his head in a shrug. "I mean anything where the mana used for the spell doesn't got even a hairsbreadth past your skin. A regeneration spell, a strengthening one, hell, Mage Sight. Anything like that."

"I... I have a regeneration spell that only affects myself?"

"That works. I want you to cast it, but be ready to stop in an instant if needed."

He half expected, with her state of shock wearing off, for the girl to get argumentative with him, or demand an explanation. Instead, he was gratified by her simple nod, a muttered incantation that he didn't quite catch, and the sight in his peripheral vision of her mana flowing through her body as the spell took form, much of the mana migrating down her left side to repair the significant damage of her leg.

He was further gratified by the lack of response in the ambient mana, which prompted a sigh of relief from the hrafthi, and a regenerative spell of his own as he urged Kira into their shuffled gait again.

Accelerated Stitch, as he called it, was a product of his own work, merging the time-warping effects of Entropic Revelation with the flesh-affecting capabilities of Dollify. In essence, it accelerated only the natural healing process of his body, something that Entropic Revelation didn't do, despite turning time forward for Ahsch significantly - the spell simply didn't heal injuries.

The only real downsides of the spell was the much slower rate of time-wapring in comparison to Entropic Revelation, and the fact that it only sped up what would otherwise naturally happen - a potential problem if his shoulder healed wrong. Luckily, he managed to figure out how to reverse the effects, essentially casting the spell in reverse and un-regenerating the injuries.

He would have cast Mend, something his parents had taught him and his sisters, but Mend was channeled out through his body, and left behind formed mana. Basically, the spell replaced damaged or missing parts with mana-replicas, which were fairly brittle, and could be dispersed with simple anti-magical effects, making it risky. Especially in a place where it would probably be like dipping a bloody piece of meat into shark-infested waters.

The hrafthi was rather proud of his engineered spells; while he hadn't been interested in building a magic system from the ground up, learning the principles and applying that knowledge to craft his own spells was a different matter. He'd always preferred playing with LEGOS over drawing, after all. And as much as the spells he learned from his parents were faster and easier to master, he felt as though his own spells had a certain... potential to them. Sure, Accelerated Stirch could 'make mistakes' and heal wrong, but it worked in a pinch if someone was bleeding out and could be undone if needed, aallowing a more powerful, 'true' healing spell to be cast in its place.

He saw Kira raise her hand to her face, her her whisper the incantation for Mage Sight under her breath, and saw the mana begin to layer over here eyes, granting her the same vision he was enjoying. She glanced over at the hrafthi and frowned at the bizarre pattern and flow of his mana where it was regenerating his injured shoulder. "What kind of healing spell is that?" she asked, a hint of her usual, accusatory tone coloring her voice.

"I created it based on my Innate Spells," he explained quietly. "It just accelerates the natural healing process. Not perfect, but my other option is Mend, which I'm not going to risk given where we are."

The girl blinked. "Wait, you made a spell? How old are you?"

Ahsch frowned at her confused, and then even more aggressively accusatory tone. "I turned 18 today."

Kira stared at him for an awkward moment, then shook her head. "What kind of fucked-up freak are..."

She was cut off by the deep, pulsing growl growl from behind them, still distant, but sounding noticeably closer this time. The two paused to look back over their shoulders, but could see nothing. "I think you should worry more about whatever the fuck is coming after us more than my peculiarities."

She shot him a glare, but made a sound of grudging acquiescence, and they started moving again, just a hint faster than before. "W-why are we heading deeper into the Canyon?"

Ahsch was pretty sure he imagined the stutter, but a glance at his companion revealed a genuinely worried cast to her expression, even if she tried to school her face into haughty annoyance. "Because even at our best, I doubt we'd fare well against whatever that is, and if we _did_ fight it, we'd almost certainly have to use magic against it, which..."

"Would probably bring a bunch of other beasts after us. Yeah. R-right." There want any sarcasm in her tone - it was surprisingly neutral, in fact. "But... deeper?"

"It already knows we're here, and I don't want to test our already rotten luck trying to sneak past it. If Mahat and Michlas can get to Sarvas and back here fast enough, maybe we can avoid a fight and scale the wall with whatever the bring - Mahat can find me no matter where we go, so they shouldn't have a problem finding us."

Kira nodded, and for a minute they shuffled forward in silence, interrupted only by the occasional, pulsing growl of whatever beast pursued them.

"How... how are you so calm?"

Ahsch almost tripped at the **** note in Kira's voice, and he looked at her, only to be greeted by her wide, slightly panicky eyes. He looked ahead again. Partially, he was just good at masking his concern, but in truth, he wasn't all that terribly worried. After all, Life Resistance and Reincarnative Immortality would get him through any lethal situation. Sure, he could still die, and Reincarnation had some downsides, but he'd still be alive.

But he couldn't tell Kira that, could he?

"I'm... mostly just focusing on my training. Panicking won't help us any, and we're not in imminent danger right this instant. Yes, we're being hunted by something, and yes, we're in the most dangerous place for miles, leagues even. But we're alive, we're moving, and we have a plan. That's something."

"You're lying."

Ahsch jerked at the verbal slap. She sounded... even angrier than usual.

"Maybe that's not a lie, but it's not the whole... look, if there's some... secret escape spell or an emergency portal for you and you alone, just... just tell me. Please?" The hrafthi stared at her as her voice started to break. "I... I know I'm not... I know I'm a bitch, and you probably hate me and would leave me to die if it wouldn't get you in trouble but... I don't want things to get even worse and then suddenly be alone. Please, just... just tell me why! How!"

There was an aching feeling in Ahsch's chest now. She was wrong, he wouldn't just leave her for dead, even if it was a consequence-free choice for him; she was a pain, but she didn't deserve that. And he _didn't_ have a get-out-of-jail-free card that left him alive and well and her getting mauled. But still...

"...unless there's a beast in here that's not living - an undead, or a golem, something like that - the beasts can't really... hurt me. Their claws will just tickle, their jaws be a gentle hug. Living things can't hurt me. But they could still get me trapped in a cave and starve to ****, or something like that.

"But even if they did, I... I would reincarnate. Probably not anywhere on this world, but... I'd live on. I'd lose everyone I love and care about, my sisters, my parents, my friends. But I'd live on." He gave her a small, apologetic smile. "So, I won't disappear on you, but... if things get bad... I'm more likely to survive than you are, despite our difference in Tier level."

Kira was staring at him with a slight expression of awe, and an new hint of fear - fear of him. "What are..."

Again, she was interrupted by the pulsing, deep growl, only this time, the pulses were clipped, shorter. More excited.

And much closer.

Ahsch looked over his shoulder. "I think... I think we should hurry. Either that or I can... I can stay behind... can you walk on..."

"Look!" the girl interrupted him, pointing ahead.

Looking up, the hrafthi stared for a long moment. "We... we weren't anywhere near the end of the Canyon, how are we already...?"

Ahead of the two, the Canyon came to and end, and settled at the bottom of the cliffs was a building. Tall, wide, and seemingly carved of a single piece of some kind of shiny, weather-proof, light-absorbent marble, the structure looked like some kind of temple, with pillars decorating the walls around a single opening, which was the only point of light - a bright, white glow coming from the empty doorway itself, not from within, nor from the frame.

"Who cares, maybe it's a way..."

For the first time, the growl was long and drawn out. It came from right behind the two.

They both froze, muscles tense.

"Can you move on your own?" Ahsch barely breathed.

"Yes," came Kira's clipped reply.

"Go!" the hrafthi roared, pushing her ahead and wheeling about, switching to a two-handed grip on his spear and stepping towards the beast which was chasing them...

Only to freeze at the sight of the massive lizard, about twice as tall as Ahsch and about four times his height in length. While it lacked wings, the mage's first thought was that he was looking at a dragon, but he knew it was actually a drake.