I switched into battle mode. All I had on me was my backpack, but I couldn't move my arms. In it I had the knife Milo gave me, but the muscular feet of the bird fixed me in place. We were flying at least a hundred meters high, and no matter how much I augmented my body, if I fell from this height, I wouldn't survive. But first, I needed to free myself from the vise-like fingers. Two of its claws were in my side pretty deep, and every small movement hurt, even breathing was a challenge. Using the techniques Milo taught me, I strengthened my arms, and pried away a single finger.
It wouldn't budge, so I pumped more xin into my muscles and bones until the fibers in my arm started burning from the overload. Eventually I poured so much into them, that I managed to move a claw, and freed a claw that was embedded in my side. When I pulled it out however, The pain was so immense that my concentration faltered and my xin output lessened for a fraction of a second, and the powerful claw pushed back into my side. I screamed, and let out a wave of xin so massive, the heat from my arms burned my face.
I managed to grab the claws with such force that I broke them, and pulled them out my side. I climbed on top of the beast, which it didn't like at all, but I sent a few powerful punches into the back of its neck until it lost consciousness. The three meter wide wings went limp and we started losing altitude. I grabbed both wings and pushed them down with my strengthened body. We slowed down a bit, but still way too fast to land like this.
I was looking for a softer landing spot, but there was only rocky mountainous area nearby. I saw a few trees nearby, so I steered the eagle plane to the best of my abilities toward them. I needed to time my jump perfectly if I wanted to survive. The trees rushed toward us at a scary speed, and I started counting down internally. 3… 2… 1… Now!
I poured my remaining xin into my legs, and jumped away with such force that I broke the back of the bird. I pushed away the most likely dead bird away from me and slowed down considerably. I collided with the bushy patch of forest, missed the trees, but that was fine probably. I managed to land in a few lush bushes, which was an achievement in itself, rolled a few times, hit my head and sprained my ankle, but I was alive.
"Ahh." I groaned. After lying on the rocky floor for a while, I got up. Where the hell am I?
My brain switched to survival mode. I ran a check on my body. I had a few cuts, two deep ones from the claws, a sprained ankle, maybe even a concussion. I took off my already tattered shirt and tore off a few pieces. I pushed them into my deepest cuts and tied them so I wouldn't bled out. I needed to put a piece in my mouth so I wouldn't scream. After the pain subsided and I could see straight again, I addressed the less immediate problems.
I still had the backpack Milo gave me, containing the knife, a bit of jerky, a water pouch and the xin core. Not much, but better than nothing. I'm good on food and water for a day at most, so I need shelter. Using the knife I cut down a small branch and tied it to my sprained ankle with the remainder of my shirt. Not ideal, but it would have to do.
I looked around in search of some shelter, so I could gather some xin, and tend to my wounds. A small dent in the rocks near the mountain foothills caught my eye. It was an indentation a few meters across, hidden from the elements. Perfect for a temporary camp. I gathered a bit of wood from a dead tree at the edge of the forest and carried it inside my new home. My leg hurt like hell, so it was slow work. It was around five by five meters across, three meters tall, all sides surrounded by stone, except for the front. It was quite cozy actually.
Seeing as even before I got frozen, I hadn't slept in a normal bed for months, this wasn't a big issue. My water supply was dwindling however, and sooner or later I had to gather some food. At the moment I was exhausted from my injuries and the sudden fight, so I decided to gather some grass for a makeshift bed, and some branches and leaves to cover the entrance hole.
Satisfied with the progress, I finally settled into my makeshift bed. My arm was throbbing still but healed considerably thanks to Patrik. I was contemplating setting up a campfire but decided against it. I don't want to draw more attention to myself than necessary. Speaking of which, I should meditate a bit. Of course, my body was tired, but my mind was ready for another brain melting session. I sat down and started the exercises I learnt from Tara and Milo.
The white particles shimmered into my vision as I entered the meditative state. Concentrating on the sensation I felt when moving xin to my arm, I willed the particles leaving my crystal to stop, and for the first time since the hours of meditation, it seemed to have an effect. They slowed down, then stopped. Cold sweat rolled down my face as I concentrated, and finally the small beads of magic started marching back into my body.
I felt a slight tingle, and for the first time since I awakened from the ice, this sensation wasn't painful, in fact, it was pleasantly warm. After hours of collecting xin from the atmosphere, as I was suspecting, my crystal wasn't noticeably fuller. However, looking outwards a bit through my closed eyes, I saw a bright glow from where my backpack was lying. I stopped meditating, the warm feeling vanished at once. I grabbed the white stone, held it in my hands and started up the exercise again.
This time it only took about five minutes to enter the heightened state of mind, and I could feel the strength emanating from the crystal in my hand. I reached out mentally, pulling the xin from the bright blob. Immediately, a stream of particles poured into my crystal, and I finally felt some effect on my body. As I sucked the power from the stone, I felt it filling up my own. It wasn't long however until it ran dry completely, and it vanished along with the xin it contained.
I opened my eyes to find a handful of grey powder in my hands, slowly evaporating into the atmosphere. I felt a tinge of sadness for the fact that it did not contain any abilities. After that realization came another, I still could pull in xin from around me, even though I wasn't meditating anymore. It was much slower, but I completely reversed the leakage. I concentrated a bit more and started pulling in the now invisible particles. I felt it, slowly entering my system and filling up my xin crystal.
I had to stop because my head felt like solid tungsten and every thought like glowing hot bullets in my brain. Lying down on my makeshift bed, I started thinking about the little camp I'd left. They must be worried about me, but I don't have any means to send them a message.
Two days after settling down, I found a small creek not far from the cave. I took a bath, washed my clothes in the freezing water and collected as much of it as I could. The weather changed a bit for warmer temperatures, and I dried up quickly. My clothes were still the same as I wore in the city, only a simple long black pants and a space themed nerdy T-shirt that I had to sacrifice.
Still, I needed to wash them as they were bloody and dirty, and the dried mud chafed my legs. I saved all the remainders of my shirt and found that all my wounds had healed in the matter of two days. Only a small scar was left, and that was disappearing slowly as well. I washed my hair, which was way too long. I decided it would be better if I cut it so it wouldn't get in my way. I grabbed it and using the knife I slashed it at my shoulders. Using a strip of torn shirt and tied it into a bun. My reflection looked a bit more civilized, but without a shirt I still looked like a weirdo.
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