“Ugh... Am I still alive?” His arm felt like it had been stabbed and shot, then stabbed again for good measure. He opened his eyes and was met with the familiar sight of the rocky cavern roof. The Rasker that had died on top of him was gone. He wasn’t sure how that had happened but he was thankful to not have his hand still stuck in its brain. With great difficulty, he lifted his head up to look at his arm. Hopefully it wasn’t as bad as it felt.  

“What the hell? Is that fire? IS MY ARM ON FIRE??”

“FUCK FUCK.” He desperately rolled over to try and put out the white flames that flared all around his arm.   

“I WOULD NOT TRY TO PUT THAT OUT IF I WERE YOU, NOT THAT YOU COULD.”

“KLEYMON, WHY AM I ON FIRE?!”

“THE RASKER EXTENSIVELY DAMAGED YOUR ARM. INSTEAD OF AMPUTATING IT, I APPLIED A SPECIAL FLAME TO THE DAMAGED AREA. AS LONG AS IT STAYS LIT, YOUR ARM WILL BE IN A SORT OF STASIS, PREVENTING IT FROM DETERIORATING ANY FURTHER. THOUGH I WOULD SUGGEST YOU GET IT HEALED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.”

“Thanks for the help Kleymon. If only you weren’t such a giant asshole, you could’ve killed the fucking thing before it did this to me!”

“I AM NOT YOUR MOTHER, DAVID. IF YOU CANNOT KILL A RASKER BY YOURSELF, I SUGGEST YOU END YOUR LIFE NOW. THIS WORLD IS NOT LIKE YOURS. IT DOES NOT CODDLE THE WEAK.”

“Did you realize that before or after she died?” 

The instant the words left his mouth, he wished he could snatch them back. Insulting someone who can control your body is probably the stupidest thing you can do.

The voice kept its level crackle, but spoke with the intensity of a volcano erupting.

“HUMANS MUCH MORE POWERFUL THAN YOU HAVE ATTEMPTED TO ANGER ME, DAVID. I DOUBT THEY FELT VICTORIOUS AS THEIR MUSCLES MELTED OVER THEIR BONES.”

“I'll..I'll keep that in mind. ” A change of subject seemed like a wise choice here. 

“So, healing is a thing in this world? How does that work?”

“I WILL SHOW YOU.”

His vision faded to black, but this time panic didn’t seize his mind like it had before. He was getting accustomed to this, it was like watching the commercials start to roll in a movie theater.

“THERE IS ONLY ONE CREATURE I KNOW OF WITH THE ABILITY TO HEAL OTHERS, THE GENTI.”

Out of the darkness, three beautiful silver birds appeared. They looked like larger flamingos, with tall, thin legs and majestic, feathered wings. 

“LONG AGO, A SMALL GROUP OF HUMANS DISCOVERED THEM. THEY QUICKLY LEARNED OF THEIR ABILITY AND DECIDED TO TAKE IT FOR THEMSELVES.”

The scene shifted, and he wished he could look away. The primal fear in the creature's eyes, as humans carved out chunks of its flesh to devour, would be seared into his brain forever. Just moments later, the sinews of muscle and flesh would reform, as if the torture had never been performed.

“THE HUMANS CREATED AN ORGANIZATION. THEY CONTINUED TO EXTRACT MEAT FROM THE ANIMALS AND THEN PASS ON ITS ABILITIES TO NEW MEMBERS. THESE MEMBERS WOULD BE SENT OUT TO EVERY PART OF MY WORLD TO ACT AS HEALERS.”

The humans donned white hooded robes now and cheerful smiles as they healed their patients.

The visions faded and his sight returned.

“IF I RECALL, THERE IS A SMALL TOWN NEARBY, IT IS CALLED SOL OR SOMETHING LIKE THIS. YOU ARE LIKELY TO FIND A HEALER THERE WHO CAN FIX YOUR ARM.”

David awkwardly got up, supporting his body with only his left hand and began to pace through the cavern. Pacing had always helped him think. 

“I assume they don’t do this out of the goodness of their hearts. How do I pay them? What even is the currency in this world?”

“IN MOST PLACES, A COIN FROM WHATEVER ORE IS IMPORTANT TO THE REGION. IN THIS CASE, THE ONLY THING THEY WILL ACCEPT IS MEAT.”

“I have to pay in meat? What kind of meat?”

“IT IS DEPENDENT ON HOW SEVERE THE INJURY IS. WITH THE CURRENT CONDITION OF YOUR ARM, THEY WILL EXPECT THE MEAT OF AN UNCOMMON CREATURE, SOMETHING EVEN SEASONED HUNTERS WILL HAVE DIFFICULTY WITH.”

“Uh, would a Rasker work?” He expected the answer to be no, but he would do anything to get rid of the creature. He had noticed it was still in the cavern, and its bug-like eyes were just as creepy as they were when it was alive. 

“NO, THE RASKERS HAVE NO ABILITIES THAT CAN BE TRANSFERRED. MY CAVE IS JUST OUTSIDE A SMALL FOREST. I EXPECT YOU COULD FIND A SUFFICIENT MEAT THERE.”

“Okay, how do I leave the cave? Didn’t you say you’d teach me to ‘mask my presence.’”

“I WILL, BUT YOU ARE NOT READY YET. THE TECHNIQUE FOR THIS REQUIRES AN ADVANCED LEVEL OF FLAME MANIPULATION. IF I WERE TO TEACH YOU NOW, YOU WOULD FAIL, OR ACCIDENTALLY KILL YOURSELF.”

“That's…problematic. When will I be ready?” 

“THAT IS ENTIRELY UP TO HOW QUICKLY YOU LEARN. IT COULD BE THREE DAYS, OR THREE HUNDRED DAYS.”

Three hundred days in this cave? No, he needed fresh air, sunlight on his face. He wasn’t going to let himself stagnate like he had in the past. David stopped pacing. In his mind he recreated the moment he had formed a flame around his hand to kill the Rasker. There had been a feeling just before he had done it, a sort of numbness in his hand. It had been disconnected from the rest of his body. He had turned his hand into a tool, something outside of himself. 

David brought his fingers close together. He imagined the disconnect, ‘this is a tool, a weapon for me to defend myself with,’ he thought.

He watched as a tiny orange flame sparked to life on his wrist. The flame grew larger and slowly licked up the rest of his hand until it had enveloped his palm and the ends of his fingers. The flames then extended slightly beyond his fingers and coalesced into a sharpened blade. It was strange how he didn’t feel any heat from the fire, just a numbness.

“VERY GOOD, DAVID. PERHAPS YOU ARE MEANT FOR THIS WORLD.” 

“If that was a compliment, thanks.” 

A blade of orange fire blazing over his left hand. A white flame wrapped around his wounded right arm. A firm goal in his mind. Maybe he really was meant for this world.