When Arin first opened his eyes, it took him a moment to realize he was looking up at densely criss-crossing branches.
He'd made it to the forest!
Silvershade was safe!
It was still dark, and the ground underneath him was freezing cold. Arin groaned, turning his head to one side. He could see broken pieces of wood amongst the scattered leaves by him.
Clearly, they'd been mid-flight when the distortion had struck, leaving them to freefall to the ground.
He was just glad he'd had the foresight to fly low over the treetops.
His dragon, of course, was nowhere to be seen. There was no way for the illusion to maintain itself when the user himself was out of commission.
…probably. Right?
…
He really had to get to work on figuring out the exact extent and limits of this thing, sometime soon. More importantly,
…where was Elara?
Arin pushed himself to sit up then, muttering a prayer of thanks under his breath; despite the nasty fall he'd taken, all his bones and limbs seemed to be operating just fine.
'Elara?' he called out in a low voice.
No response.
Well, yeah. Fair enough.
It's not like there was any reason to expect one.
…maybe his head had taken some of that fall damage after all.
'Idiot…' he mumbled, scrambling to his feet. Now that his eyes had fully adjusted to the dark again, he could tell that the forest around him was barren.
The trees were either entirely bare, or had withered-looking leaves barely clinging on to the mesh of branches.
The forest floor was covered with a thick layer of the fallen leaves. Yet another thing he was thankful for; the padding had probably played a part in softening the impact of his unplanned landing.
As he squinted at his surroundings, he suddenly noticed a large-looking object draped over some of the low-lying branches, flapping lightly in the wind.
Elara's blanket!
Arin raced to the spot right underneath where the sheet of fabric was caught. And sure enough, there she lay upon a bedding of leaves.
He looked down at the pale face of the sleeping girl for a heartbeat.
Was - was she…
Of course she was fine! He wouldn't have found himself within the distortion if the fall had killed the girl.
He was still going to have to put an end to it all himself…
Arin sighed, kneeling down next to the girl, and reaching out to hoist her up. He couldn't just leave her sprawled there like that!
He'd sit her up against a tree trunk, and cover her with that blanket, before doing what he had to do. Then, he'd carry her back to Silvershade, for a proper burial, or whatever they did here.
He pushed his hand under her shoulder before lifting…
…lifting?
…
'…What?'
Arin frowned down at his hands, which had just gone through the sleeping girl's body.
…His eyes were playing tricks on him. He must really be tired.
Arin leaned forward to try again, only to see his hands swoosh through Elara's shoulder, and come up empty again.
…
…Was he still asleep? Had he not left the distortion after all!?
Almost without thinking, Arin waved his hands through the young lady's arm. There was no resistance. He couldn't move her at all.
'What the…'
Arin jumped to his feet, intending to run back to his bag and pull out the contact glass he'd 'borrowed' from Silvershade.
A part of his mind suddenly registered that, in spite of all the leaves strewn across the forest floor, his movements weren't creating any rustling or crunching sounds.
But before he could even fully process the thought, he'd turned around to see -
- himself.
Lying supine on the forest floor, with his limbs splayed out and hair scattered.
Lying very, very still.
…
…
…!?
'What? No,' he said, a small laugh bubbling out of his chest. 'No way. There's no way.'
Somewhat hesitantly, he walked back to the spot where he'd woken up. Except, he hadn't. He couldn't have.
Because he was still lying there.
His body was still lying there.