Chapter 104: Friend.
"You’re finally awake!" Lee heard Arax’s voice, but after opening his eyes, he couldn’t see anything.
They were surrounded by complete darkness, but the worst part was – someone was holding Lee up by the neck, his feet dangling below. Apparently he had been held this way for some time and his extremities felt weak and limp, and, even if he wanted to kick his way free, it was unlikely he could move a muscle.
Arax was strong and grip was as tight as Lee had imagined. Surprisingly, after the sudden aging, the man was as fit as before.
’What the hell!’ Lee’s first instinct was to curse, but he couldn’t make any sound.
His companion was in a talkative mood, though. Arax said, "You know, you’re really good. I even have some respect for you. But you messed up!"
’You don’t say!’ Lee though, but couldn’t focus enough to figure out what to do. He had hard time breathing, to not speak of analyzing the situation.
"I’ll tell you! It was in Haonia when you injured yourself by jumping down the cliff!" Arax said, "Everybody knows that the witches can heal themselves without any repercussions! They loose life force only when they heal the others and not regenerate on their own! That’s the compensation God granted for them taking care of others ... everybody knows ..."
Lee didn’t remember what he said back then, but it sounded logical. Wasn’t this what Tess and Ingrid taught him? Or he misunderstood them? And ... did it matter now?
"Your clueless complaining clearly showed you were a fraud!" Arax said, "We thought of turning you to the caretakers, but then you all healed up ... I was confused, but Thorax persuaded me that we misunderstood you."