Chapter 16: Ch 16 - Hello Kente

Marke opened his eyes and stared up at a rectangle of open sky. A slightly broken ladder led down from the sky to somewhere near Marke’s feet.

“Morning, sunshine.” Kente said. “That plan was nuts and way too reckless. I’m glad it worked though. So long as you can walk, I think our chances of permanent escape are quite good. The soldiers have probably been searching for us non-stop, I don’t know if they’ve searched this building yet. It’s afternoon, sorry. I said ‘morning, sunshine’ because that’s how the reference goes but it’s around lunch time. Of the same day.” Marke let Kente ramble a bit before trying to move.

Shoulder broken. Or clavicle, whatever. He thought to Kente. His mouth was too dry to try talking right now. Foot hurts. Leg and back muscles hurt, probably from the Grace jump. He rolled over and pulled his knees under himself. He used his good arm to push up to a kneeling posture. My head should hurt more than this, shouldn’t it?

“Don’t know. Haven’t hit my head like that before. I would guess it should hurt more, but maybe your stats fixed it up already. Or it could be the Mortal Rally trait. Let’s find food!” Kente said excitedly. Marke figured that Kente had probably been bored again, waiting for Marke to wake up.

Marke used the ladder to pull himself to his feet. His left foot did hurt, but not enough to stop him from walking on it. He stood at the end of a short hallway. The floor and walls were the same stone as the roof, but the doorway at the end of the hall was boarded up. A hole near one wall was probably the drain for rainwater. I’m not sure what to do. Marke thought to Kente.

“You are way less confident than you were a few hours ago.” Kente teased. “But I think you should see if that thing in the doorway will open or not.”

Marke shuffled to the doorway and put his ear to it. No sound. He gave it a slight push. It didn’t move in the slightest. He pushed harder. The wall had no give in it.

“That’s not good.” Kente said. “Want to try and bash it down?”

“No.” Marke said. “Not with a broken shoulder.” He looked at the ladder. “I could climb back up and look for another roof access, but I don’t know why there would be more than one. I don’t know why they would close this one off either. Could the ladder…” Marke rubbed his chin with one hand, thinking. His hand hurt. His chin hurt. His shoulder hurt. His feet hurt. His legs hurt. His back hurt. “I’m just gonna sit down.” He sat and leaned back against the ladder. “Did we get anything good in the skills last night?”

“Hmmm, depends. Do you think ‘Meditate’ will be more like ‘Priority Mind’ or more like ‘Juggling’?” Kente asked.

Marke started to shrug, then struggled as the pain took his breath away. “Ow.” He gasped. “Can I do anything about this shoulder? I don’t even know what’s broken.” He took as deep a breath as he could without shifting his shoulder.

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“I don’t know Marke, I’m sorry.” Kente said. “I think you should make a sling out of your shirt, just to try and keep it stable. You’re not going to be ninja jumping across rooftops any time soon.”

Getting a shirt off over a broken shoulder was excruciating and Marke didn’t manage it without a few sort screams of pain. With the shirt off, he wasn’t exactly sure how to make a sling. Eventually he hit upon the idea to make a shoulder-hung basket, then he worked for a while tearing his shirt into strips by gripping it in his teeth and pulling with his one good hand. Basket Weaving guided him in making a cloth basket to hang on a shoulder. when the basket slipped over his neck, his arm pulled snug against his torso. Marke leaned his head back against the ladder. “Is it time for the eclipse?” He asked tiredly.

“No, there’s time to try Meditate.” Kente said.

“I didn’t say I would take it.” Marke said.

“Yes. But we’ve got nothing else to do at the moment, so I knew you would want to check it out.” Kente said.

“Ok.” Marke said. He was overwhelmingly tired. His stats might be the only thing keeping him going. And I don’t even know how they compare to anyone else. He thought. He pulled open the skill list and tapped ‘Meditate’. “Tell me what to do. You’ve been thinking about it, I’m sure.” He said.

“Try to meditate upon the nature of an eclipse.” Kente said solemnly.

Marke blinked slowly. “Why?”

Kente laughed and said, “I don’t know, realm creator was nuts about eclipses so it’s a good starting point.”

Marke just smiled and closed his eyes. He focused on Meditate and the nature of eclipses.

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Marke opened his eyes above the sea of shadows. His body was covered with, or maybe made of, the light that coated the surface of the sea like oil on water. The shadow water beneath his feet was as solid as stone. Marke turned in a slow circle to see his surroundings. The shadow sea was slightly curved at the horizon. I guess it- Marke stopped his thought because his mental voice echoed around him.

You guess what? Kente’s voice echoed around Marke.

“Kente?” Marke spoke with his glowing body, but the sound came out muted and dull. Kente didn’t respond, so Marke assumed he hadn’t been heard. Kente, can you hear me? He thought.

Of course I can hear you. Came the reply. Why do you ask?

I’m in the shadow sea. Marke thought. It’s just like in our memory. Marke described his surroundings and his glowing body to Kente.

Can you move around? You said the horizon is curved so I think you are on a large orb. Maybe there is something interesting somewhere else. Kente thought.

Marke started walking forward. He walked for a few minutes before stopping. I don’t know. I’m moving my feet but I can’t tell if I’m going anywhere.

You got quieter. Kente thought.

So did you! Marke thought.

Go back the other way. Kente suggested.

Marke walked back. He tried to walk twice as far as he had walked before. How’s this? He thought.

Getting warmer! Kente thought. Keep going!

Marke walked a bit further and checked again. They repeated this until they found the spot on a straight line that sounded loudest. Marke turned ninety degrees and walked forward a bit. That made their thoughts quiet again, so Marke turned around and went the other way. As he walked, Kente’s voice grew louder and louder. Marke saw something on the horizon. He began to jog. He could tell what it was before he got halfway there. Grinning, he walked the last few feet and leaned forward.

“Hello Kente.”

Kente screamed.