Chapter 13 - Wounded

Pain shot through Jude's body. Blood pooled around him as he lay on the ground. He looked around at where he was in the hopes of finding some shelter from the rain. However, the area had been too heavily bombed, and buildings no longer had roofs which could protect him from the rain.

He looked around, and did find an unbroken window lying on the ground in such a fashion that it formed a small area in whch he could lie. Summing up all of his strength, he crawled on his arms to the shelter. With every move, he winced from the sheer pain of his leg scraping across the ground.

After what seemed like an eternity of crawling through the water and muck, Jude finally reached his destination. His body finally in place, he looked at his leg. It was torn very badly, with bite marks puncturing into the muscle.

Jude cursed at the knowledge of what this meant. He knew that muscle injuries took a very long time to heal, and that he simply wouldn't have the time to lay here and heal. He would starve first.

Not knowing what else to do, he pulled out the cube. Turning the face was the only thing he could do in the rain to pass the time. He turned the faces, and slowly uncovered a pattern. He could use this patter to set the edge pieces correctly. He also discovered that no matter how he turned the cube, the centers of each face remained motionless in relation to the rest of the cube.

His mind and body weary from the battle wth the wolves, Jude fell asleep, water pouring down around him.



Colors swirled around him, and Jude felt his mind turning like the faces of the cube. Noise and light began filling his mind, and suddenly everything stopped. The world was white.

Survivor's voice rang out amidst the silence. "Jude, wake up. Your mind, spirit, and body shall heal. Reach within yourself. Discover the truth. Ukl shïkal ûkaj kif ukl Kryonomicon." Jude flinched as he heard Survivor say the words again, and he again pondered their meaning.

Aurora-script appeared before Jude's eyes. A hand reached out from the void, and pointed at the script. "Read it, and find the meaning of the phrase that haunts you.
"Read it, and you shall find your mission."



Jude woke up slowly. It was daytime, and the rain had ceased. He rolled over onto his side, and immediately regretted it. Pain shot through his side as his wounded leg touched the ground.

And then it stopped, quite suddenly, without any warning or explanation. Jude looked at his leg. The wounds were completely healed, with not even a scar left behind from the bite marks.

Jude crawled out from his shelter. He stood up, and slowly put weight on the leg. He felt no pain. He stood on that leg alone, and then slowly crouched down to the ground. The maneuver was completely painless.

He walked back over to where his encounter with the wolves was. His gun still lay there, undamaged from the battle the previous night. He picked it up and replaced the battery.

Five wolves lay dead around the square, and it was impossible to tell how many others had escaped.

Jude, still not sure of how he had been healed, thought back to the dream he had had. "Your mind, body, and spirit shall heal." He was sure that Survivor said these words in the dream.

How had Survivor spoken to him? What could be the meaning of the dream? And why was Jude getting so many of these dreams?

Jude did not know the answer to his questions. And so he continued to walk in the direction in which the sun sets, in the hopes of finding the answers.