I stayed with my eyes closed, listening to the birds flitting about the trees and calling out to their mate. A gentle breeze ruffled through the leaves and left my wet clothing feeling cold against my skin. I brushed my hands over the grass beneath me, letting the stalks tickle my palms. I sighed again. I knew I couldn’t stay here, there may be more Tarnished stalking the area, and I was all too easy a target on my own.
Groaning, I pushed myself onto my feet, wincing at the sting along my back from the river rocks and a throbbing pain in my hip I hadn’t noticed before. I checked the seed pouch on my belt. It was still slightly open, and a quick glance inside confirmed that some of my stock had likely floated out during my swim in the river. I resolved to look through it properly later when I wasn’t in such a perilous position, and tightened the cord to close it. My sword was still securely in its sheath at my hip. The water was probably no good for either the blade or the leather hilt, and I made a note to myself to ask the Lycan Guard how to deal with that properly.
I wasn’t sure how far away I’d washed downstream, but I could no longer see the bridge. I glanced around the area, not being able to see much other than nearby trees and the rushing stream only a few steps away from me. I placed my hand against the trunk of the tree I had just been leaning against. I took a deep breath, then sent my magic towards the strands of life within the wood, linking up to it and sending a rapidly expanding ping out through the roots.
The roots of each tree in the forest were interconnected with each other, along with all the other smaller plants and fungus that grew along the forest floor. They combined to make an intricately woven network that behaved like one large living organism. I spread my focus out in an arc, seeing the threads of lifeforce within the forest light up with a shifting golden green light in my mind. I was able to see any non-plant creature that was touching a plant, whether it be birds gripping into the branches with their sharp little feet, or a small herd of deer grazing on the grass in a clearing. The image of what was touching a plant wasn’t always clear, but I was able to “see” enough to determine what I was sensing.
I focused on the area upstream from me, reaching further and further in my search. My head began to thump with the beginnings of a headache as the distance became larger and larger, but I forced myself to keep going. After a while, I came across a long snaking void that cut through the forest. Tree roots still spread throughout this void, but it was suspiciously bare of any smaller plantlife.
It’s a road.
I prodded along the road, trying to detect any sign of either the Tarnished or the Lycan guard. Finally, near the large emptiness that cut off the forest which I knew to be the river, I felt two pairs of feet walking into the forest near the riverbank. I couldn’t make out any detail about them, but could feel that they were human. I felt a niggling of doubt worm its way into my mind. What if these were more Tarnished?
I withdrew back to myself, keeping the path in the roots towards the people I’d sensed lit up as a guide, the image of the glowing light I saw in my mind overlapping with what I could see through my eyes. I kept a link to the tree network active, spreading my focus in a circle for a couple hundred metres so I could sense anything coming close. Even if the people I’d sensed were Tarnished, I needed to head back to the bridge to see what had become of the Lycan Guards. At best, I would reunite with the group so we could continue on, at worst…
I didn’t allow myself to finish the sentence. Instead, I dropped my hand away from the trunk of the tree and began to walk along the glowing path ahead of me. My hip throbbed dully with every step I took. The sting along my back gradually dulled until it was more of a deep ache that seemed to pulse with the beat of my heart. The sun was gradually continuing its arc downwards as I walked along. I had to step carefully as the forest floor was a maze of dips and roots that could easily trip the unwary. A few insects buzzed around my head, only seeming to leave for a moment when I shooed them away before returning.
I kept tabs on the pair of humans that were walking downstream through the forest in my direction. They seemed to be staying near the river bank since so far they hadn’t wandered any further into the forest. This gave me hope that they were from the Lycan guard searching for me.
It could also be the Tarnished coming to make sure I’m dead.
I pushed the voice in my head away. Worrying about that wouldn’t help or change anything. When I came to the point in the river that held the tree I’d grown through the Tarnished man, I was careful to keep my eyes averted so I wouldn’t see it again. The image of him was very much burned into my mind, but I could feel in my gut that if I looked at him again I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from breaking down. After I’d passed that point, it occurred to me that I probably should have the tree retract so his body wouldn’t be left on display for any unlucky person to stumble onto, but I just couldn’t bring myself to turn back. The tree would disintegrate within a day anyway, as all plants grown completely with magic did.
As I grew closer to the humans, I noticed I was loosing feeling in my feet and my legs didn’t want to cooperate as well as I wanted them to. This caused me to stumble quite often, and sent me falling to the ground more than once. Even my arms were beginning to feel heavy.
Did that Tarnished poison me somehow?
The scrapes along my back throbbed once again, strong enough to make me grunt with the pain. I put my hand gingerly on the area near my side where it felt the worst as I grimaced, and felt that it was warm and sticky. Pulling my hand away to look at it, I found my fingers were smeared with blood. I tried twisting my head around to check my back, but only caught a glimpse of my once white shirt being soaked in red.
Ah, that’s probably not good.
I pushed myself to keep going, seeing that the gap between me and the humans was growing closer. I began to feel dizzy, which coupled with the growing headache from maintaining a link with the forest for so long and made it increasingly difficult to focus my eyes on anything ahead of me. Finally, I felt the humans enter the arc I’d kept at 200 metres around me. I was stumbling more now, each time I ended on the ground that bit harder to get back up.
The humans ahead of me were closer, probably 150 metres now. My breathing was laboured, a slight tremor running through my shoulders and sweat beading off my brow. 100 metres. I had to hold on, it wasn’t much farther. 50 metres. I should probably hide to see who they are.
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In my next step, my foot found nothing but air. I keeled forwards, tumbling over and over down the steep bank of a gully. A few thick roots that peeked out from the dirt caught me in my ribs and stomach and knocked the wind out of me as I rolled. When I came to a stop at the bottom of the bank, I lay there on my back and coughed harshly as I tried to catch my breath. I could feel that I was covered in grass and dirt now, making me feel itchy where it touched my skin. The gash on my back now felt painfully sharp, and I was almost certain I had made it worse.
When my breathing was more or less back under control, I heard what sounded like footsteps approaching. My fall into the gully had severed my link to the forest, so I couldn’t confirm whether the steps were from the same humans I had been tracking or if I was about to be set upon by some unknown hungry predator. My head felt sluggish, and I knew I should try to hide or reconnect to the forest network to check, but my body just didn’t want to move.
“Rowan!” a man’s voice came from the other side of the gully I laid in. I turned my head and saw Jayce and Captain Strykar standing at the top of the opposite bank I’d come down, both with worried expressions on their faces. They carefully slid down the embankment, tearing away the thin layer of grass to show the wet soil beneath with their boots.
“Oh hey, fancy seeing you here,” I said, giving them what I hoped was a smile as they knelt down beside me. My voice sounded hoarse to my ears.
Jayce snorted, shaking his head slightly at me. “Oh yeah, I come here all the time,” he said, looking rather relieved.
The Captain was frowning. He grabbed my hand nearest to him and lifted it as he tilted his head to check my side. His frown deepened when he saw the blood soaked into my shirt, and I heard Jayce suck in air through his teeth in a hiss.
“You’re hurt,” the Captain murmured, his voice sounding flat.
Was he angry?
My eyelids were feeling heavy, and I had to blink rapidly to fight the urge to let them close. “Mmm, yeah a bit,” I replied.
Aah, my voice is slurring, that’s really not good.
Captain Strykar carefully grabbed under my shoulder and helped me to turn so my back was to him. I felt him tug my shirt up to show the wound, and when he saw it both he and Jayce swore under their breath.
Yeah, definitely not good.
I could hear one of them rummaging for something, while the other pressed something that felt like cloth against the gash on my back. The pain flared as they did that, and I sucked in a quick breath. My eyes were still threatening to close, but I knew if I did that I might not be able to open them again. I had to do something.
“D’yer have ‘ny yarrow with yer” I slurred out. If I could just stop the bleeding….
I should’ve brought the medicinal herbs with me instead of putting them in the saddlebag.
“Yeah, I’ve got some dried yarrow packets in the kit,” Jayce responded, the sound of rummaging still going on. “I don’t think that’ll be enough here though, we need to get you bandaged and take you to the village so you can get stitched up.”
I was fighting hard to stay awake. “Mmm, jus’ sprinkle it on th’ cut,” I said to him. My voice didn’t sound loud enough.
“But that’ll..” Jayce began, and was cut off by the Captain.
“Do as she says,” his voice was stern and allowed for no argument.
There was more rustling, then I heard the ripping of what sounded like paper and felt something grainy being poured onto the wound. I sighed, pulling up my magic and sending to the small pieces of yarrow sitting on the cut. Yarrow was good for stopping bleeding by making the blood clot, although typically it was meant to be eaten and wasn’t especially effective for large bleeds. A small adjustment with magic though…
I caught a faint green glow in the corner of my eye as my magic activated and after a couple of minutes the aching feeling reduced a bit. I couldn’t see whether it worked, but Jayce’s stunned ‘oh shit’ made me think it probably did. I released the magic once I’d felt I had used up all the Yarrow. After a moment’s hesitation, I felt a hand on my shoulder.
“Do you think you can sit up?” Captain Strykar’s voice asked me.
“Mmm,” I nodded, and forced my heavy arms to move and push myself into a sitting position with the men’s help. When I was upright, Jayce wrapped a bandage tightly around my torso while the Captain held me steady by my shoulders.
“Alright,” Jayce said quietly when he was done, “that’ll do for now, we should get back to the village.”
My head kept wanting to nod forwards, my vision going dark and fuzzy around the edges. I was helped to my feet, but almost fell to the ground immediately when they let me go and had to be caught before I face planted into the dirt.
“She can’t walk like this,” Jayce murmured.
The Captain didn’t say anything. I felt myself being shifted, then suddenly my feet left the ground and my front was pressed against something firm while my chin rested on top of what felt like a piece of wood that kept moving. My arms were brought around until they crossed over each other, and a hand grasped under each of my knees.
“Hang onto me,” Captain Strykar’s voice said right next to my ear.
I realised he was carrying me on his back. I dimly felt that I should feel embarrassed, but couldn’t muster up anything other than a sense of relief that I wouldn’t have to walk anymore. I moved my head so my forehead was pressed against his shoulder - not a piece of wood like I’d thought - and let my eyes drift closed.
I felt the Captain start to walk. He tilted his body forwards as he climbed up the bank of the gully, then straightened again once he was at the top. It sounded like Jayce wasn’t far behind us. They started walking quickly, the slight thudding of the Captain’s footsteps reverberating through his body and into my head and making my headache flare in protest.
After they had been walking for some minutes, Jayce’s voice spoke up, sounding hesitant. “Captain… did you know about her being able to heal?”
It’s not really healing, I can’t make a wound knit back together all by itself.
“Not specifically,” the Captain replied after a few steps of silence. “I’d heard rumours that earth magus could increase the effect of some medicines, but I’d never found anything that confirmed it.”
“Why wouldn’t they make this more well known? I’m sure anyone would be chomping at the bit to have an effective healer on hand, the earth magus could’ve been more protected, got themselves more money. I don’t understand why they’d keep this quiet,” Jayce said. He sounded genuinely confused.
“Drugs,” I croaked in an attempt to reduce his confusion.
I must have spoken too quietly. “What was that?” Jayce asked.
“Drugs,” Captain Strykar answered for me, adjusting me so I sat a bit further up his back. “Their ability likely applies to drugs as well. I’m sure they’d quickly become targets for every drug cartel in spitting distance if this became well known.”
“Mmm,” I murmured, trying to let him know he was right. I could feel the lure of sleep becoming stronger, and I was struggling not to drift off.
Jayce didn’t say anything. We walked for a while longer in silence before the Captain spoke again.
“Don’t tell anyone else in the group what you’ve learned,” he said firmly, voice sounding like an order.
“Aye sir.”