He laid there a while before Veyla returned from the oasis, though she didn't seem to be carrying any source of water.
"Thought you went to fetch water?" he muttered, pain still evident in his voice.
"Well, I realized I had no way to carry it here, so," she responded.
"I thought you had an idea when you said that! So you just realized that after reaching the oasis?!" He sighed, clutching his side.
She simply smiled at his mumbling. "You sure behave smarter when you're in pain."
He turned to her but couldn't react because of his situation. "Yeah, right," he said simply.
He tried standing, but it wasn't easy for him—but eventually, he had to.
"Come on, here's not a good place to rest. We have to find a shelter as soon as possible, so you can rest up," Veyla said, walking up to him and giving him help.
She picked up his dagger and handed it to him, then picked up her sword next and sheathed it.
"First we stop at the oasis, so I can have some water to drink. I'm really thirsty after all that fighting," he muttered, clinging to her.
"Sure," she muttered as they both dragged their way toward the oasis.
The walk was slow and hard because he put most of his weight on her due to his inability to stand properly.
"Can you not put so much weight on me?! I'm merely a fragile girl, you know," she said with so much frustration, almost dropping him to the ground.
He was about to start an argument when he remembered it was his fault he was in this condition. If only he had woken her up and asked for her assistance, then probably it wouldn't have been this bad.
"My bad, I'm sorry," he muttered, reducing some of his weight from her.
His leg throbbed from his weight. "Why do I have to be heavy?!" he muttered.
"Because you eat, dumbass," she said, staggering slightly.
He shrugged but didn't respond. She only kept dragging him forward.
They reached the oasis, but it had started drying out—mostly because of the wave from the earlier destruction.
She dropped him near the edge of the water. "Be careful, god dammit!" he shouted at the top of his voice from the pain.
She walked up the tree trunk and sat by it. "Be quick, we can't stay here for too long."
Within minutes, he was done cleaning and drinking enough water.
"Alright, I think I'm full," he said, cleaning his lips.
He stood up, water dripping from his face. "Let's go."
She stood up and walked up to him, then gave him a big knock on the head. "Don't try standing by yourself if you wanna heal faster."
"You think breaking my skull would heal me faster?!" he screamed from the pain.
She huffed. "Sorry, I just did that on instinct."
"Yeah, right," he sighed, clinging to her.
They staggered forward. "So where is this place we're gonna stay until I recover?" he asked.
"I don't know actually, but we'll know when we see one," she responded.
He looked at her, then turned back and sighed heavily.
It took quite some time because of his injuries, but they managed to find a cave-like structure.
"Let's check that out."
They shrugged toward the old cave-like structure and stopped right in front of it.
"Seems really old," he said, heaving slowly.
"Yeah, I can see that, but there's no way in," she responded.
"Yeah, that seems to be right," he said before he noticed a lever behind a moss-covered log on the wall.
"What's that?" he said, pointing toward the lever.
She turned her head slightly. "Seems like our way in."
"Nice," he said.
They pulled it, and as it opened, they noticed the entrance to another temple was a massive stone structure, overgrown with vines and moss. The doors, once grand and imposing, now hung crookedly on their hinges, creaking in the gentle breeze.
"Must be an ancient temple of the Templars," she said, dragging him in.
Behind them, the main entrance sealed shut.
They stared back at it for a while before walking ahead toward the temple.
The air was heavy with the scent of damp earth and decay as they descended toward the entrance of the ruined temple.
"This should be enough until you recover. Seems safe enough," she said, glancing around.
"Yeah, I don't notice any threats either," he responded.
They reached the entrance of the temple and pushed it open with force. The air grew thick with an otherworldly energy, like the temple itself was alive and watching.
The walls were adorned with ancient carvings and seemed to whisper secrets to the wind. Their footsteps echoed off the stone floor, disturbing the silence.
The temple's interior was a labyrinth of narrow corridors and grand chambers.
Just as they were about to step in, Riven felt a suffocating pressure all around the temple, and then a voice sounded.
"Who dares step into the temple un-cleansed!!"
Riven turned to Veyla. "What does he mean?!"
"I was afraid this might happen," she sighed. "He means you lack grace and therefore you can't enter."
"What?!" he muttered, his eyes widening. "So literally I need grace for almost everything in this world?"
"Not really, but yes," she said.
The pressure increased, and inside the darkness of the temple, something emerged—something Riven didn't know he would see again.