Swamped

You attempt to wrest your arm free, but the... thing... pulls harder. In desperation, you try to punch it, but you feel your arm being more tangled.

Panicking, you grab the knocker and pound it harder and harder, until you feel the gate rise. Two mudpikes start poking at whatever's behind you, as a pair of hands pulls you inside.

Or most of you, at any rate. It seems the creature still managed to hold onto your arm.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit," one of the guards says. "We messed up. Should never have let you out."

"I knew this was going to happen one day," the other groans, taking you by the intact arm. "The day I found out, I started saying we should tell the new recruits about the rainspawn. But no, everyone's so goddamn superstitious. Don't talk about the rainspawn when it's dry, it's bad luck! Tell that to the newbie with the missing arm. Tell them that it's bad luck to mention the rainspawn."

You howl in pain.

"Medic's already on the way," another knight says. "A few minutes after you left, Burgundy asked what the hell she was thinking sending you out, so she sent more of us to the front door and sent a messenger to Medic just in case. Thank the gods you didn't get any further away."

John Medic soon arrives.

"Oh dear. Oh dear." He puts a cloth over the wound and shoves a needle nearby. You feel the pain start to fade away.

"That's going to dull the pain temporarily while we get you to the infirmary," he says. Two knights lay down a stretcher next to you, and you lie down on it. "I am so terribly, terribly sorry. So is Sergeant Burgundy. This never should have happened."

As you get carried to the infirmary, you find your thoughts a mess. You think to those horrifying creatures... rainspawn? Your missing arm. Everyone who could have told you about them, but didn't.

You're not even sure what to make of it all. As you find yourself in the infirmary once again, John Medic stares at you sadly while he bandages up what's left of your shoulder.

"I realize it's a little too late to ask this now, but... is there anything I can do for you?"