Realm stood with a casual demeanor as his assailants circled him, his hands held in his pockets as he does. They clearly expected him to break down, beg for mercy, or try some deception to escape, but there he stood, unwavering. They clearly were not prepared for the emotional attrition required to win such a standoff, and nobody wants to be known as the one who cut down a healer, but that didn't extend to verbal abuse, clearly.

"Stand down! The citadel is ours, and your defenses have crumbled!" One of the more gruff warriors belted at him, a large woman, who looked as though she could break him over her knee like he were a random stick, which was probably true.

"No." Two minutes, he needed to buy two minutes, and despite the consequences of failing to do so, he felt no pressure in the slightest. He looked at the woman with an almost bored expression, paying no heed to the bodies of his allies, his friends around him.

The soldiers all looked like they were about to have a vein burst, they all must have been fuming at this situation. Nobody could do a thing to him, not because there were rules about it, but because of how quickly information spread. People talk, and one way or another someone would find out about a healer being killed, the reputation of the killer would be ruined within days, even quicker if it was known that the reason involved a bad attitude. Fortunately for Realm, this means that they'll be hesitant, especially fortunate because he is not harmless, and he is in fact not unarmed.

"And what exactly do you think you have here? Your friends are dead, we killed your warriors! We already have your general's head on a pike!" One of the more angry looking men clambered forward, holding a spear up to Realms neck, something at which he didn't flinch.

One minute, fifty seconds.

"You won't see it, the most dangerous threats are the ones that go unnoticed." This tactic was tried and true, giving them just enough information to keep them hesitating, keeping your true intentions veiled at all times. Realm felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest, but he managed to make his expression reflect only disinterest.

"You're bluffing! I'm going to walk right past you, those doors have nothing stopping me." The man wound up as though they would strike him, but they decide against it. An attempt to open the doors revealed they were blocked from the inside, as the inner chamber would be, "Ugh, of course it's barricaded. Get the ram!"

Realm made no attempt to stop them, simply stepping to the side as he watched them with his hands in his pockets. One minute, thirty seconds. Unfortunately he didn't have the resources to do what he needed to any faster, so this would have to do. He simply took deep breaths, enjoying the scent of almonds that permeated the air now, unnoticed by the bloodstained warriors.

"One minute left, you may want to leave. Pretty soon occupying this area will be impossible." Realm didn't raise his voice, he just stated a fact, though he omitted about half a minute for his own sake.

"Shut up! Your mind games won't work, we know you've lost! That doesn't change whether you admit it or-" The gruff woman screamed at him, but after seeing something behind him she shifted into a salute. Realm turned around to see a sight he was dreading.

Behind Realm stood one of the generals of the radiant highlands, Red Grover. Nobody called him General Grover, Red Grover just had a ring to it that the soldiers liked, it inspired fear and laughter any time someone misspoke and said Red Rover. Despite all of this, Realm didn't waver, simply giving a lazed salute when he saw him.

"You left one alive?" Red sized Realm up for a second, before snorting and moving past, "Status on breach? The inner chamber is the only safe haven they have left."

"Moments away sir, this wannabe mastermind got us spooked for a second, but he's just a harmless medic." The woman drops the salute and turns to the rest of the soldiers, who had slowed in their attempts to ram the door down.

Realm hadn't anticipated they would attempt physical labor during this, that speeds things up drastically. He waited patiently, only a few moments until he saw the sign. It started with one man, one man coughing and collapsing to one knee, trying to catch their breath. The rest laughed at the one man's misfortune, thinking nothing of it, until another started, and another.

"What the? What's going on?" Red bellowed out, taking a step towards his men as though to intimidate them into working harder, though little did he know that would be his last step.

A bolt of radiant light pierced through the general's chest, he was seemingly unwounded at first, but after a second he collapsed to the ground with a hand clutching his chest. When the gruff woman looked back Realm was holding up two fingers that were pointed at him. It was the perfect moment to explain to all of those present what was going on, it was too late anyways.

"Hydrogen Cyanide. I didn't have a lot, the dosage was meant for one or two people, not a dozen. Don't worry, none of you will die, you'll just take a nice, long nap, and by the time you wake up the siege will be over." Realm walked forward as he adjusted his sleeves, knocking on the door rhythmically as he cups his hand, the remaining gas in the air concentrating above his palm.

"What- how? What did you do to-" The woman coughed as she tried to lift her weapon at him, but by now the poison had been present long enough to weaken her muscles, "What did you do to the general?"

"Oh, Grover. He's dead, don't worry, his death didn't hurt too bad, at least not compared to wounds." The sound of the barricade moving brought a smile to Realm's face, and he turned back to face everyone, about half of them had passed out by now, the others were vainly trying to gasp for breath, breath that would not come, not until he healed them, "I stopped his heart, apply radiant magic just right and the heart gets thrown out of rhythm, shuts down, and boom."

"You still... lost." The woman had collapsed, but was clearly still awake, "They're all dead."

"Again, no." Realm pulled out a glowing purple gem, holding it above her while shaking it, "Soul gem. What's normally cruel and illegal will be my friend's salvation. I'm sure they'll be cross with me for using it, but I don't care, I don't care that planning for the worst meant hurting them, I would rather have hurt friends than no friends."

Realm turned back to the door as it opened, beholding what was on the other side. Realm was going to get into a heap of trouble, but the healing circle assembled in there, along with the shelves of similarly glowing gems would save everything. In just a few minutes, every ally who perished would return, good as new.

The woman looked on in shock, her eyes going wide before her eyes lulled over. There's work to be done, and a siege to undo.

A nice prompt, I can whip something up before I head to sleep.

Sal had dreams of home again, always the dreams of home, of family, of friends, and of food. Gladia was a beautiful world, arguably moreso than the real one, but after a long enough time here Sal began to yearn for what he did have back home. He had a family, he had friends, he had connections, here all he had is power, but to the residents he would always be an outsider.

It didn't matter how many problems he solved, how many ideas he had, how many battles he won, it meant nothing. To everyone here he was a hero, but he felt like a novelty, a celebrity with no real purpose, a grand piece of art with no structure or substance. So when he awoke on Christmas morning, the first since he had appeared here, he simply felt hollow. He couldn't even muster the capacity to cry, a deep pit forming in his stomach as he recalls all of the things he would do at home, all of the joy he felt at this time of year.

He couldn't stay in bed forever, Christmas day is still a day, and every day something needs doing, even if he doesn't care to do it. He sat up with a deep sigh, and immediately paused when something caught his eye. He had set up a Christmas tree in his room in the castle, nobody else would understand the significance, but he wanted one. The main problem with it was that a single, wrapped package sat under it. Where had it come from? Why was it here? Was this a dream, or simply a mistake? Maybe he had put one there in his slump the night before and had simply forgotten?

After a few minutes where his brain went over every possibility, he arose from the bed, walking over to the tree and kneeling next to the box, picking it up gingerly. The tag read 'From: Santa', which gave him pause. He hadn't believed in Santa for years, why would he write that on a present to himself? Shaking the box gave no indication to the contents, and the paper was far too elegant for the materials available in this world.

He wasn't even sure why he inspected the box so closely, it's a present, the fun of inspecting the box comes when you can't open it yet, but he can open it, and upon having this realization he does. He snaps his fingers, and a blade made of magic materializes, which he snatches and uses to neatly open the wrapping paper, which he sets to the side. He opened the top of the box, and then he dropped it, his mouth agape as he looks within.

Inside the box was a phone, but not just any phone, his phone. He woke up in this world with nothing, it wasn't like those shows where they get godlike powers from the get go, or they get to keep something from their world, he had nothing. Yet here it was, a small, cheap phone, that even had the crack from when he dropped it five minutes after buying the blasted thing. The box looked like it was designed to hold it, velvet padding fitting it perfectly. He couldn't tell you how long he sat there, but his stillness was interrupted when the phone began to ring, causing him to jump, the magical dagger at the ready as he took deep breaths.

The screen read 'Mom', and it kept ringing. He had forgotten his ringtone, some stupid jingle from a game he played as a kid, but the wave of nostalgia almost knocked him off his feet all over again. He knelt down and picked up the phone, inspecting the screen. Everything seemed as he would expect, other than an infinity symbol where a percent should be on the battery indicator. He took a deep breath, and he pressed the button to accept the call, pressing the device to his ear.*

"H-hey... It's mom, we..." There was a stifled sob from the other side, and another voice in the background comforting Sal's mother, "We all miss you. It's been so hard without you here. We kept trying, we couldn't find you, but I want you back, I need to know you're okay, somewhere..."

Sal could only listen, he could no longer keep the tears back, they were streaming down his face freely, he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"My- my therapist suggested this, last week, she told me I should keep a log of all of the things I want to say to you. I know this is just a message, but I need to say them, I need to." There was a shuffling of paper, and a sniff before she continued, "you always were the heart, of all of my children you were always the most creative and heartfelt. Every one of you has traits that amaze me, and life hasn't been the same when we lost our friend, our mediator, our... Our little salamander."

Sal cracked a somber smile at that, his dumb nickname from his childhood. Salazar is similar to salamander, and it stuck.

"I love you, and I hope with all of my heart that you're somehow safe, please..."

"I love you too." Sal said this instinctively, it was the first words he could muster, and he let out the first of many sobs after that. He held his breath once his mother stopped talking, looking at the phone to make sure it didn't break somehow.

There was a moment of silence, Sal taking a calming breath before he flinched from the noise.

"Sal!? Sal Sal Sal! Is that you!? Is it you!?" His mother was clearly frantic, she was sobbing uncontrollably as she almost yelled into the phone, and a commotion was picking up from the other side.

"Ow, yes, yes, it's me. It's me, mom, I'm okay." He was crying, there was no other way to put it. He would deny this if someone saw him, but he's crying.

"Sal! You're okay..." There was a loud sob from the other side, one of unmitigated relief, one of pure joy. There was still grief, but it must have been like receiving the greatest news ever after the worst week of your life, "Where are you? Are you safe? Are you okay? What happened?"

Sal couldn't contain himself, he was sobbing, he clutched the phone against his chest as he curled up on the floor. It seems his one wish had come true, it turns out he wouldn't have to be alone for Christmas.