Book of Aurelio - Chapter Three
And it went on like that for about a few weeks, maybe a month. My symptoms never seemed to go away. I think I had pneumonia. I've had pneumonia before and it sucks. I was probably hypothermic then developed and infection in my lungs. I was really scared.
You see, I was a mid-level medical administrator for the past twenty-years. Sure, I wasn't a provider but you do pick up knowledge. And I knew pneumonia developed from an infection in the lungs, it's viral. Our immune system during the course of our lives has developed antibodies to fight things we have come up against.
Now I was here in this new world. So maybe that meant new viruses. New foes my immune system wasn't ready to fight against. Did viruses even exist here? Were they even simliar to the one back home?
All I knew was that I was hurting. I felt so weak. I lost so much weight. I never knew a minute where I didn't have a phlegmy cough. But my mind was still sharp. I knew I was draining Luz's food supplies. It seems she lived by herself although I've seen items that may have belonged to someone else. I tried to ask about it in my own way but she always evaded.
I limited myself to a meal every few days. They say a human being can survive without food for up to ten to fourteen days as long as they had water. I surmised that we had plenty of water with all the rain and snow. These must be the winter months. Lucky me. I've fasted before so it wasn't that drastic of a change, my body got used to it.
Luz tried to force me to eat but I refused. She was kind enough to take me on and I would not encumber her any more than I have already. If I were her I'd consider just letting me die, let the sickness take me. Maybe it will. Since coming to this place I've had a shitty time. I was living every geek's fantasy but it didn't feel it.
One day as I tried to sleep, I idly spied Luz sitting on her favorite wooden chair next to the fireplace. It was heaped with animals skins and looked quite comfortable. She was frowning and was playing with that odd pendant of hers. Actually she had a handful of necklaces and pendants. But this one was a twig on a string. It looked a old and dry. Finally took of her hands and snapped the twig in half.
The crack the twig made sounded... well, like a crack. But it had more substance to it somehow. I felt the hairs on my arm rise for a moment. Magic? I smiled. Finally. But what the fuck was it?
---
I startled awake and sat up. Someone was pounding on the door. BOOM, BOOM, BOOM! Someone called out to Luz, "Lussernia!" I looked at her and she looked at me fearfully and started towards the door. Oh, fuck. She called the police. Adrenaline surged through me but she made a placating motion. I had already thrown back the covers and swung my legs to the floor.
She opened the door and stepped out before the person could come in. I sweating profusely and breathing hard. I would make an easy kill. I wildly looked around the room for any means of defense. There was an axe over the fireplace, doublebladed, meant to take down trees. It was so far. I wasn't sure my legs were steady enough to make it, I haven't been able to walk for a long time.
They were arguing. The door was opened and I saw Luz pull it shut again. More arguing. It sounded like the first language Luz spoke to me. It sounded complex but pretty. It sounded like a mix between Icelandic and Spanish maybe? Maybe that's Elvish then?
I stayed there sitting on the side of the bed until the door opened again. Luz came in first and made the placating motion again. Then the man walked in as well, dressed the same as she was, bundled up in skins. Except he had some different knick-knacks. He had a sword across his back and knives at his waist. He set down his pack, bow and quiver against a wall. I smiled. I'm so fucked. The only martial training I had was some boxing in my teens and karate during a summer vacation. And Tae Bo.
He wasn't big or anything. But I knew he was dangerous. That deadly grace thing that people keep talking about. Or that thing they talk about how two fighters and assess eachother without fighting. I knew this guy could take me easy. I knew he could back up his toolset.
His face was covered too like when I first met Luz. Gray eyes glared out at me. He was assessing me. Nothing to assess, bub. I'm as dangerous as a baby. I met his eyes without fear though. I was never one to be bullied. I nodded at him and he just blinked at me.
Keeping my eyes on his I gestured at myself and said, "Leo." I gestured at Luz and said, "Luz- I mean, Lusserenia." I gestured at him and said nothing. He didn't say anything either until Luz spoke in a stern voice. The man grunted and said his name. Well shit, that one sounds more complicated than Luz'. She repeated the name a few more times for me. "Ar-thi-on-e-mo-i-ra?" I tried. He looked like he was weighing the sound in his head. I probably butchered his name. He just nodded. "Thion?" He glared at me. Okay, so a formal people. "Arthionemoira," I said again, smoother.
Thion said something at me. Didn't Luz tell him I can't speak his tongue? "Brother," I shook my head and said. "I can't speak anything you can speak." I shrugged. Thion frowned and took off his headcover before speaking again to Luz. They spoke for a little while and I got a little bored. I guessed maybe I wasn't going to get murked.
Brother Thion put his headcover near the fire and took his bow and quiver and left. He's coming back then. He didn't take his pack. I heard a crinkling noise and watched Luz open a small packet and pour it into a water kettle to boil. I hoped that was some good stuff and it was.
Thion had probably given it to her to give to me. It was a little sour and pungent. It reminded me of the weird red tea my mother drank on one of her fad diets. But boy did I feel better after that. I wondered what was in it. My heart felt like it was beating a thousand miles a second. Caffeine. I tried to remember the names of herbs and what they did and gave up. I wasn't really into that type of thing. I wished I'd paid more attention.
Luz looked relieved as we waited. She felt lighter watching her. She even patted my hand. I stayed sitting on the edge of the bed with my feet on the floor. I tried putting some weight on them and felt my legs shake and some joints pop. Fucking hell. I rested a little bit and kept trying until my legs felt steady and sure and put all of my weight onto them.
I wobbled and Luz immediately came to me. I held a hand out to her and she stopped before she tried to help me. I stayed standing and waited until my legs remembered how. I shifted side-to-side to test my balance and wobbled again but that was it. I looked down at my feet happily and noticed I was nude. Oh.
Luz laughed and I heard her scramble around and came back with a pair of cloth pants. These were not Luz sized. Mr. Luz? I tried to lift a leg to put them on but I almost fell so I sat down. I tried to put them on whilst sitting but was having a hard time bending and stretching. It was frustrating. Can't I even put on some damn pants??
I felt Luz move and got down in front of me to help put in my legs. Um. She was pointedly trying to look away. I wanted to pointedly look away too but had to put my legs in.
The door banged open and Thion walked in carrying the carcasses of two pigs and paused at the scene before him. He started to say something bout Luz cut him off and I yanked my pants up quickly almost neutering myself in the process. Luz strode across the floor and took one of the pigs and started dressing it.
Thion still stood there looking between Luz and myself. He looked at me and... my crotch? And gave a small smile. What the... a gay Elf? I give him the wide eyes and he laughed and began cutting in on the other pig.
Holy shit. That solves that problem. At my grandparents' 50th anniversary they had slaughtered five pigs to roast and that fed around four-hundred to five-hundred-fity. Bacon and pork chops for days. "Arthionemoira," I said and he paused to look at me. I bowed from my sitting position and said, "Mahalo nui loa. Thank you so much." Thion said something and bowed back.
I wasn't overly bothered with the butchering. My grandparents were pig farmers in the old country. And when they immigrated to the United States they made friends with local pig farmers and that's where we got our meat. I was used to the smell of blood and bile. Within the hour there were happy frying sounds coming from the fireplace. Fucking hell yes.
And so we feasted. Luz and Thion chatted away. I tried to listen as much as I could. To get a feel for the words, the syntax. I wished I had a notebook to write in to start a language guide of some sort. Every language has a pattern. They say one should memorize the top one-hundred most used words in a language as a base point. I heard Thion say something sharp as he tried to stoke the fire and burned himself. It sounded like "rock". Rha-ek. "Rhaeck," I said aloud. Thion glared at me and Luz giggled. Sweet, I learned a profanity! I wonder if it was like a "fuck", or "shit"?
You see, I was a mid-level medical administrator for the past twenty-years. Sure, I wasn't a provider but you do pick up knowledge. And I knew pneumonia developed from an infection in the lungs, it's viral. Our immune system during the course of our lives has developed antibodies to fight things we have come up against.
Now I was here in this new world. So maybe that meant new viruses. New foes my immune system wasn't ready to fight against. Did viruses even exist here? Were they even simliar to the one back home?
All I knew was that I was hurting. I felt so weak. I lost so much weight. I never knew a minute where I didn't have a phlegmy cough. But my mind was still sharp. I knew I was draining Luz's food supplies. It seems she lived by herself although I've seen items that may have belonged to someone else. I tried to ask about it in my own way but she always evaded.
I limited myself to a meal every few days. They say a human being can survive without food for up to ten to fourteen days as long as they had water. I surmised that we had plenty of water with all the rain and snow. These must be the winter months. Lucky me. I've fasted before so it wasn't that drastic of a change, my body got used to it.
Luz tried to force me to eat but I refused. She was kind enough to take me on and I would not encumber her any more than I have already. If I were her I'd consider just letting me die, let the sickness take me. Maybe it will. Since coming to this place I've had a shitty time. I was living every geek's fantasy but it didn't feel it.
One day as I tried to sleep, I idly spied Luz sitting on her favorite wooden chair next to the fireplace. It was heaped with animals skins and looked quite comfortable. She was frowning and was playing with that odd pendant of hers. Actually she had a handful of necklaces and pendants. But this one was a twig on a string. It looked a old and dry. Finally took of her hands and snapped the twig in half.
The crack the twig made sounded... well, like a crack. But it had more substance to it somehow. I felt the hairs on my arm rise for a moment. Magic? I smiled. Finally. But what the fuck was it?
---
I startled awake and sat up. Someone was pounding on the door. BOOM, BOOM, BOOM! Someone called out to Luz, "Lussernia!" I looked at her and she looked at me fearfully and started towards the door. Oh, fuck. She called the police. Adrenaline surged through me but she made a placating motion. I had already thrown back the covers and swung my legs to the floor.
She opened the door and stepped out before the person could come in. I sweating profusely and breathing hard. I would make an easy kill. I wildly looked around the room for any means of defense. There was an axe over the fireplace, doublebladed, meant to take down trees. It was so far. I wasn't sure my legs were steady enough to make it, I haven't been able to walk for a long time.
They were arguing. The door was opened and I saw Luz pull it shut again. More arguing. It sounded like the first language Luz spoke to me. It sounded complex but pretty. It sounded like a mix between Icelandic and Spanish maybe? Maybe that's Elvish then?
I stayed there sitting on the side of the bed until the door opened again. Luz came in first and made the placating motion again. Then the man walked in as well, dressed the same as she was, bundled up in skins. Except he had some different knick-knacks. He had a sword across his back and knives at his waist. He set down his pack, bow and quiver against a wall. I smiled. I'm so fucked. The only martial training I had was some boxing in my teens and karate during a summer vacation. And Tae Bo.
He wasn't big or anything. But I knew he was dangerous. That deadly grace thing that people keep talking about. Or that thing they talk about how two fighters and assess eachother without fighting. I knew this guy could take me easy. I knew he could back up his toolset.
His face was covered too like when I first met Luz. Gray eyes glared out at me. He was assessing me. Nothing to assess, bub. I'm as dangerous as a baby. I met his eyes without fear though. I was never one to be bullied. I nodded at him and he just blinked at me.
Keeping my eyes on his I gestured at myself and said, "Leo." I gestured at Luz and said, "Luz- I mean, Lusserenia." I gestured at him and said nothing. He didn't say anything either until Luz spoke in a stern voice. The man grunted and said his name. Well shit, that one sounds more complicated than Luz'. She repeated the name a few more times for me. "Ar-thi-on-e-mo-i-ra?" I tried. He looked like he was weighing the sound in his head. I probably butchered his name. He just nodded. "Thion?" He glared at me. Okay, so a formal people. "Arthionemoira," I said again, smoother.
Thion said something at me. Didn't Luz tell him I can't speak his tongue? "Brother," I shook my head and said. "I can't speak anything you can speak." I shrugged. Thion frowned and took off his headcover before speaking again to Luz. They spoke for a little while and I got a little bored. I guessed maybe I wasn't going to get murked.
Brother Thion put his headcover near the fire and took his bow and quiver and left. He's coming back then. He didn't take his pack. I heard a crinkling noise and watched Luz open a small packet and pour it into a water kettle to boil. I hoped that was some good stuff and it was.
Thion had probably given it to her to give to me. It was a little sour and pungent. It reminded me of the weird red tea my mother drank on one of her fad diets. But boy did I feel better after that. I wondered what was in it. My heart felt like it was beating a thousand miles a second. Caffeine. I tried to remember the names of herbs and what they did and gave up. I wasn't really into that type of thing. I wished I'd paid more attention.
Luz looked relieved as we waited. She felt lighter watching her. She even patted my hand. I stayed sitting on the edge of the bed with my feet on the floor. I tried putting some weight on them and felt my legs shake and some joints pop. Fucking hell. I rested a little bit and kept trying until my legs felt steady and sure and put all of my weight onto them.
I wobbled and Luz immediately came to me. I held a hand out to her and she stopped before she tried to help me. I stayed standing and waited until my legs remembered how. I shifted side-to-side to test my balance and wobbled again but that was it. I looked down at my feet happily and noticed I was nude. Oh.
Luz laughed and I heard her scramble around and came back with a pair of cloth pants. These were not Luz sized. Mr. Luz? I tried to lift a leg to put them on but I almost fell so I sat down. I tried to put them on whilst sitting but was having a hard time bending and stretching. It was frustrating. Can't I even put on some damn pants??
I felt Luz move and got down in front of me to help put in my legs. Um. She was pointedly trying to look away. I wanted to pointedly look away too but had to put my legs in.
The door banged open and Thion walked in carrying the carcasses of two pigs and paused at the scene before him. He started to say something bout Luz cut him off and I yanked my pants up quickly almost neutering myself in the process. Luz strode across the floor and took one of the pigs and started dressing it.
Thion still stood there looking between Luz and myself. He looked at me and... my crotch? And gave a small smile. What the... a gay Elf? I give him the wide eyes and he laughed and began cutting in on the other pig.
Holy shit. That solves that problem. At my grandparents' 50th anniversary they had slaughtered five pigs to roast and that fed around four-hundred to five-hundred-fity. Bacon and pork chops for days. "Arthionemoira," I said and he paused to look at me. I bowed from my sitting position and said, "Mahalo nui loa. Thank you so much." Thion said something and bowed back.
I wasn't overly bothered with the butchering. My grandparents were pig farmers in the old country. And when they immigrated to the United States they made friends with local pig farmers and that's where we got our meat. I was used to the smell of blood and bile. Within the hour there were happy frying sounds coming from the fireplace. Fucking hell yes.
And so we feasted. Luz and Thion chatted away. I tried to listen as much as I could. To get a feel for the words, the syntax. I wished I had a notebook to write in to start a language guide of some sort. Every language has a pattern. They say one should memorize the top one-hundred most used words in a language as a base point. I heard Thion say something sharp as he tried to stoke the fire and burned himself. It sounded like "rock". Rha-ek. "Rhaeck," I said aloud. Thion glared at me and Luz giggled. Sweet, I learned a profanity! I wonder if it was like a "fuck", or "shit"?
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