Chapter 260: Flexible?

"Ow!" Lee heard Lieve whimper and realized that not everyone was as pain resistant as he had grown during the years. More importantly, it was pivotal for neither of them to hurt their heads or hearts. They could recover from any other damage, although at different speed.The further Lee ran, the stronger the wind was blasting in his face. The spatial distortions grew bigger in size, and at one point he even had to dash over twenty yards to the side to avoid a particularly large one. He finally realized Lieve was right – they were done.

No wonder everyone lived underground in this world, and it was obvious why nothing grew on the surface. If the storms like this were frequent – every living thing was shred to tiny pieces.

Lee did consider the option to dig a larger hole and hide, but if this was an option, surely Lieve would’ve suggested. He was pissed at himself he arrived unprepared for the peculiarities of this world, and marked to never repeat this mistake again.

Lee wasn’t going to sit down and die, though. He continued the mad run, aching all over, with the lifeless body hanging over his shoulder. Lieve held out for a while, but sensing her completely relax all of the sudden, Lee knew she had passed out. Obviously he would’ve had an easier time if he dropped her, but this thought never crossed his mind. In fact, he even hugged her tighter, fully focusing on evading the countless spatial distortions.

He didn’t know how long he ran, or rather – dashed all around the place, mostly trying to keep the general direction against the wind. Only when he realized the spatial distortions disappeared along with it, he knew they were safe.

There were probably only a few spots on his body that weren’t swollen and bleeding, and Lieve wasn’t in much better condition, her legs that is.

He sat down, laying her next to him, and put her head on his hip. Then he took a water bottle from the ring, drank, and tried to feed her some as well. Lieve’s dried lips moved, but she choked and woke up with a loud shriek as the pain registered in her brain.

For a few moments she gawked at Lee, but then with a soft cry sat up, looked around, taking deep breaths, and said, "Congratulations! You made it! We’re in the eye of the storm!"

Lee couldn’t understand the sarcasm in her voice until she got to the last part, but hearing it, he couldn’t blame her.

"Fuck me!" Lee cursed, stood up, and under Lieve’s shocked eyes, poured a whole gourd of water on his head. He was exhausted and already prepared to pass out, but her words meant they were only half way.

Battling the pain, he did few short inhales and exhales, followed by a couple of stretching exercises. He resembled an athlete preparing for a race, except he was all beaten up and bleeding.

He didn’t care though.

After making sure he was awake enough, Lee threw Lieve over his shoulder again, and darted into the storm that was about to hit them. To his understanding he had been through worse, and now the biggest problem kept bumping her head on his butt. Taking care of others surely was a drag.

***

Lee had no recollection what happened after that.

He woke up to two dark blue, almost black eyes staring at him as if he were a monster. Lieve’s face was dirty, swollen, and her hair looked like the bristles of a besom broom. Lee was scared to think what did he looked like himself, but it didn’t matter – they were alive.

"How long was I out?" Lee asked, sitting up, and grabbing a bottle of water from his ring.

"No idea." She said, "I woke up only in the morning."

"Only?" Lee looked around, but the place they were seemed like any other he had seen after his arrival to Hollowreach. He asked, "How advanced is this world? Do you have equipment that tells the exact time, or registers days?"

"What?" Lieve’s confusion clearly answered Lee’s question.

"Never mind." He said, "Is there a way to forecast the next storm?"

"Yes." She said, "But not for us."

"Alright! Here’s some water. Let me know when you’re recovered enough to get the shackles off." Lee said, sat in a cross-legged position, and closed his eyes.

Lieve stared at him speechlessly, her mind in a complete mess. This was the first time she had ever seen someone so reckless, but at the same time collected. Obviously the guy was doing the right thing, focusing on recuperating, but how was he able to keep calm after barely surviving an ordeal that surely had to kill them hundred times over?!

After inwardly struggling for a while, Lieve lied down with a soft harrumph. Since her legs were bound, she couldn’t sit like Lee, but his suggestion was a proper one – she had to recover. Unfortunately, she couldn’t cultivate, but the illusion of safety allowed her mind to switch off and she fell asleep.

When she woke up, she was met with another shocking sight. The guy who saved her twice, and last night was in a condition not much better than a plump of walking minced meat, was completely fine and clean, and dressed in white linen shirt. He was squatting next to a tiny campfire, and cooking something in a small kettle above it, humming a strange tune.

Lieve knew he had a spatial treasure, but the fact that someone would carry firewood and kettles around was baffling. There were no natural trees in Hollowreach, and what Lee currently did not only would’ve been considered a complete waste – he was burning a pile of money.

"Should be ready any minute." Lee said without looking at her, "I’m not an alchemist, but this will help you to recover sooner. Just be careful – it’s hot!"

"How ... you ..." Lieve tried to formulate a question as she took the kettle from Lee’s hands, but he already guessed what she meant.

"To have a water spark has its perks." He said, "Drink up, and let’s fix you as well. I want to get away from here as soon as possible. For some reason I don’t particularly like this place."

"No shit!" She said, and for the first time Lee saw her smile.

It was natural, unforced and cute, except a little crooked because of the swelled cheeks and chin. Lee already guessed that she was from a good background, and well off before shackled and thrown in the middle of nowhere. Her clothing was of high quality, except dirty and torn. In fact, he inspected it while she was sleeping, with the idea that they will have to replicate it to get in one of the places she called hubs.

When Lieve had emptied the kettle, Lee hid it in the ring, and said, "My guess is that the only way to get those things off you is to unlock them at the same time. I’ve never heard of Nullite shackles used on both hands and feet – not only its too expensive, it’s redundant – an elemental master is already useless with their hands bound."

Lieve’s expression turned ugly, but Lee ignored it, and continued, "I think someone was trying to make sure the shackles were never taken off. I don’t care who hates you so much, but let’s focus on the task at hand. I crafted two keys, or lockpicks, if you will. They are made of five wires, see?"

In his palm lay two delicate objects, each made of five thin wires twisted together. The upper ends of the wires were bent outward in different directions, forming shapes like a stem and petals of a wire flower. The lower ends were curved sharply, like a hooked tip of a primitive key.

"It’s a bit crude, but should suffice for what we need." Lee said, "Now, for the important part. How flexible are you?"