Chapter 9: Recharge
Leon's breath came in shallow gasps as he leaned against the barricade, the smooth stone still clutched in his sweaty palm.
The battlefield's chaos had subsided, leaving a grim tableau of smoldering monster corpses and exhausted townsfolk.
The war drums had faded, but the air still crackled with tension, the fog curling around Eldwood's edges like a predator waiting to strike.
His legs trembled, his body drained from healing two fighters, and the faint tingle of his magic had sputtered out like a dying candle.
I'm barely keeping up, he thought, his heart still racing. And she's saying I need to do more?
Saria stood a few feet away, her sword sheathed, her black ponytail barely mussed despite the carnage she'd wrought.
Her face remained an unyielding mask, her dark eyes scanning the horizon for signs of another attack.
The faint glow of her fiery aura lingered around her hands, a reminder of the magic Leon had helped restore. He wanted to feel proud, but all he felt was exhaustion and the nagging fear that he was still a fish out of water in this brutal world.
A grizzled spearman clapped Leon's shoulder, jolting him from his thoughts.