Dungeons and Dalliances

Natalie woke surrounded by five pretty faces hovering above her, eyes wide with concern. In most circumstances, she would consider that a pretty amazing way to wake up. Unfortunately, she felt like she'd been used as a high-ranker's punching bag. Her eyes fluttered closed, and she let out one of the most pitiful groans of her life.

"Natalie!" Liz said. "You're awake."

"Of course she is," Malice said. "I told you she was fine."

"I don't wanna be awake," Natalie moaned. "Oh, gods, everything hurts."

"You blew yourself up!" an infuriated Sofia's voice came. "Of course it hurts!"

Blew herself up. That kick-started her memory. She shot upright, ignoring the agony that lanced across her body. "We're safe?" Her eyes flicked around them, first seeking out her hammer—which was lying to her side, dragged over by one of her teammates—and then the chieftain's headless corpse. She relaxed, but only slightly.

"Would we be sitting around if we weren't safe?" Jordan asked dryly. She pushed on Natalie's shoulder. "Take it easy. Liz is still patching you up."

Natalie resisted briefly before allowing herself to be laid back down. Her muscles protested the movement. She really wasn't in great condition, and this was after Liz had layered a few heals into her? And by the weird aftertaste in her mouth, after she'd been force-fed a potion? Healing could only do so much, and it came with diminishing effects. She was going to be one enormous bruise tomorrow, wasn't she?

She supposed she should be happy she was alive and doubly so that all her friends were. She hadn't considered how strong the blowback of an [Empowered] [Smite] would be.

With their safety now obvious, her distraction was gone: the aches and pains returned to the forefront of her attention. She groaned loudly a second time.

"How bad is it?" she asked.

Another of Liz's heals washed through her, taking some of the edge off, but the effect was muted—much weaker than what she was used to. Natalie had definitely already been hit by a number of the spells, and each successive one was getting weaker. She'd take what she could get though. The fight was over, and Liz wouldn't need the mana. Besides, Liz could dip into Natalie's own mana pool if need be.

"That's for you to tell us," Jordan said. She glanced at Malice. "And you should put Malice in her capture core. She's hurt."

"This?" Malice sniffed. "This is nothing."

Natalie's concern spiked as she remembered what had happened. "Your arms!" A vivid mental image shot through her head of the wolfgirl's forearms breaking, snapping like twigs while blocking a punch from the chieftain. "Are you okay?"

She wasn't. Malice's arms were hanging to her side, and there was an odd bend to both of them. Natalie gaped before spinning to Liz. "Why didn't you heal her!"

Liz was instantly flustered. "She told me not to," she returned just as heatedly. "Of course I would've."

"I'm fine," Malice said, rolling her eyes. "The capture core will fix me. The healer needed to focus her attention on you."

Natalie gaped at the wolfgirl a second time before she fumbled out the capture core. "We don't even know how its healing effects work," she growled. "It might be the same as everything else—the longer it's been since you got hurt, the less effective it is."

"I don't think so," Malice said, but it was obviously a guess, and the lack of concern in her voice made Natalie's frustration spike.

"And why were you so reckless in the first place?" Natalie asked. "Rushing in like that. You could've been killed." She was lucky she'd just broken her arms.

"Says you!" Sofia shrilled. "You blew yourself up!"

"Okay, everyone, calm down," Jordan said in a pacifying voice. She faced Malice. "Can Nat put you in? You really do need healing."

Malice grunted. "I've seen that the pack leader is fine, so yes, you may."

Natalie did so immediately, taking relief in the fact that Malice would have a regenerative effect on her. Though she worried about how effective it would be. She had no idea what the limitations or strength of the capture core's healing was.

With Malice gone, her teammates' attentions turned back to her.

"But yes, I agree with Sofia," Jordan said, her concerned eyes taking on a hint of frustration—mirroring what Natalie had felt for Malice. "That was reckless, Nat. Even by your standards."

"It worked, didn't it?"

Jordan pursed her lips. She couldn't disagree with that, at least.

"Plus, you saw that thing," Natalie grunted before Jordan could continue. "It was way too strong. One stray attack could've killed any of you. Could've gotten me, and I'm the tank. I had to do something."

Because there was absolutely zero chance she would extend that fight any longer than necessary. Her getting seriously hurt was one thing. Jordan, Sofia, or anyone else? Absolutely not. She'd have done much stupider, even, so long as it meant they were safe.

Was her job in the team, anyway.

Jordan didn't seem pleased by the explanation, nor did anyone else—even Ana only gave a conceding nod for the logic, but her normally serene face had been replaced by a frown. Natalie wondered how banged-up she must have looked to draw plain worry from Ana.

She looked down at her body, but she seemed mostly fine; she just hurt all over. Likely, Liz's healing had taken care of the worst of it. But that [Smite] had to have put some serious burns or bruises—however the magic's damage had manifested—on her, initially.

Natalie blinked as she remembered something. She shot back up, eyes locking on the hulking corpse of the chieftain. Its golden veins were gone, something she had subconsciously noted, but considering everything else, hadn't paid attention to. "Wait. The shard of Greed? What happened to it?"

"You absorbed it."

"I … did?"

"It was growing unstable. Or something. We dragged the corpse closer to you, and it flew over." Jordan shrugged. "Like the first time. Guess you don't have to be conscious to accept it."

"Huh," Natalie said.

She looked inward. If the raid leader had given so much Carnal Energy, what had the chieftain given?