A soft howling woke me from a deep, dreamless sleep. Groggily I turned on my side, trying to find the blankets, a fog covering my mind. Had I been drinking? I couldn't recall. Stupid neighbors. Stupid dog. Couldn't they just let that thing inside so it wouldn't wake me up every day? And where the hell was my blanket? My hand gripped a long, curved piece of wood, rough bark scratching my palm.
A branch? It took a moment for the last vestiges of sleep to dispel from my mind.
The memories of what had happened the last few weeks flooded back, and my eyes snapped open. A thick carpet of twigs and tightly woven branches blocked my vision. I jerked my head away and rolled on my back. Above me were shadowy branches, black and twisting, and I saw the small demon hound statue lying motionless beside me. I grabbed it when the howling that woke me sounded again. Soft and muted, it came from below the tree.
I was about to see what it was when I felt something twitch and crawl on my leg. Holding back a yelp, I slapped at it and looked down. A dozen long black insects sat on the dried up blood on my naked leg. Resembling centipedes, they had tapered mouths that were stuck on my skin. Suppressing an outburst, I scrambled to my feet, slapping the insects off with all four hands. They released with sickly plopping sounds and fell through the cracks of the branches.
Shivering, I saw my bag beside me. In a hurry, I opened it and grabbed my leather leg armor. Scanning my legs for more insects, I only saw dozens of small red spots. On one foot, and trying not to fall through the holes in the woven branches, I put my leg armor back on.
The howling from below intensified slightly, and I could make out both pain and fear. With my pants on and ax in hand, I looked across the edge of my makeshift bed. Two Wirgs were below the tree, both bleeding from dozens of long gashes. One wasn't moving, while the other was looking up.
Scar and Smell? How did they find me, and what had happened? Scanning the thorn bushes beneath, I barely made out the unmoving shape of the Hog. Besides that, there was nothing but long, winding thorn branches and the occasional brown and yellow bush.
Looking down at the dangerously barbed side of the tree, I frowned. After a second, I had an idea. I looked around until I found a branch the size of my wrist. I slashed it off and got out my knife. A few minutes later, I had two wooden, fingerless gloves that guarded my palms and the inside of my wrists. I held the ax behind my back with the hands without armor, and with some difficulty, I climbed down. I stopped every few meters to look around. There didn't seem to be anything besides the two injured Wirgs.
When I reached the bottom, Scar was staring at me with her red eyes partially closed. A long gash tore through the side of her jaw, and I saw her yellow teeth shimmering in the areas that went deep enough to cut all the way through.
"What happened?" I muttered, examining her. I got an eye-roll that would have made Sandra -no dammit- Eliandra, proud. It said as much as, how would I go about telling you this, you fool? You don't speak my language, nor I yours.
Had the Wirgs I killed previously been this smart? I started to feel a bit bad for killing them, but then remembered that they had tried eating me first. Besides, they hadn't looked half as intelligent as these two. With a sigh, I moved my hand towards her head, but Scar inched away.
"Don't worry. I'll help," I said.
Looking at me for a moment, Scar finally lay down, her head on the ground. I put my hand between her ears while casting Share Lifeforce.
When it finished, I felt a slight amount of energy leave me while I felt myself become weak and tired. My hitpoint bar plopped up and dropped by ten percent.
Seriously? That was how it worked? Then I shook my head. I should have known that it wasn't just stamina that would be drained. I stopped the spell and looked at the mostly closed wounds on her body. Some had turned to scars, while others still had scabs. Scar got up, shivering and looking at me. I could see the thanks in her eyes. She moved to Smell, nuzzling her. Smell's breathing came out labored and in bursts.
Looking at my hitpoint bar, I groaned. I had to be careful with this! Placing my hand on Smell, I cast Share Lifeforce again. The wound on her side, long and deep and resembling a jagged sword slice, began knitting while my hitpoint bar dropped. When it reached sixty percent and turned orange, I was out of breath. Stopping, I almost felt like going straight to bed again. Smell seemed to be breathing easier, though.
I got up, slightly dizzy, and waited for it to fade. As soon as it did, I climbed up the tree again until I could touch rough bark. Casting Share Lifeforce caused a small trickle to flow into me, filling my hitpoint bar for a few percent. I was confused for a moment, and then it hit me. I had drained it just the day before; perhaps there was a limit on how much I could get from each tree? Annoyed, I climbed back down and grabbed the thorn bushes. Repeatedly casting Share Lifeforce, I moved along the thorn bushes until my health bar filled, and I didn't feel like I had just run a marathon.
Turning around, Scar was staring at me. Smell was still motionless beside her. Shaking my head and I wondered when I had become the proud owner of these two hideous mutts that abandoned me in my time of need.
Ten minutes and a dozen or more Share Lifeforce on thorn bushes later, Smells eyes snapped open, and she surged upright. A moment later, she tottered, almost falling over as she looked at me.
"You owe me! I bled for you!" I said, only partially joking.
Smell just blinked before turning to Scar. They touched noses, and I could almost see something, a message, pass between them.
Stretching my sore muscles, I felt like I had worked out. This spell really did a number on me. I moved towards the silent and unmoving shape that was the Hog. Two steps from its unmoving body, a soft snarl came from behind me, and something nipped the back of my vest, pulling me back. I stumbled back just as something slashed through the spot I had been standing at.
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Landing on my ass, I stared at the legless Hog. Its previously motionless head was turned my way, its wooden tusks back on the ground while its eyes burned from the inside. How was this thing still alive? Shouldn't it have bled out? As I examined the stubs, my eyes slowly widened. Small bumps were growing on them, already barely recognizable as small pseudo limbs. This thing was regenerating!
Putting my bag down, I gripped my ax. "Sorry, Porkie, but that just won't do!"
I moved behind the Hog and jumped on its back. The Hog began bucking and wriggling to get me off. With four hands, I rammed my ax in its neck, holding on to the handle as the Hog began spasming. Blood spurted on the ground, and I heard soft growls from the two Wirgs. Before I could act, they rushed forward and, with flickering teeth, bit into the sides of the Hog. The Hog stiffened, and I quickly yanked out my ax and struck again at the same spot. A wave of blood flowed from the wound, showing I had probably hit the main artery. The Hog began wiggling again, but the movements weakened quickly.
It stopped moving after a minute or two, and I heard a soft ping from my status. Jumping off, I saw the two wirgs had opened up a hole into its stomach cavity. They were gorging themselves on the intestines, but as I watched the bloody scene, my normal nausea didn't come. I wasn't even a little sick. Had all the blood in recent times finally cured me of my weak stomach? Staring at it a bit longer, I shrugged and guessed that had to be it.
The wirgs ate until their bellies were bloated and they fell on their sides, breathing heavily.
"Idiots. How are you going to move like that? What if another hog shows up?" I said as I scanned the Hog.
My eyes locked onto its wooden tusks, and curious, I tapped them with the tip of my ax. They sounded massive, and I wondered if I could carve them into something useful. It took multiple swings, and when I held them in my hands, I whistled. They weighed almost as much as my ax. I put them in my bag and looked at the giant Hog, examining its hide.
"Sure, why not," I muttered.
Most of the back and sides were intact, and I took out my knife. I had never butchered or skinned anything before, but I hadn't eaten any meat since coming here. The idea of pork beef sounded fantastic.
Twenty minutes later, my arms a grimy mess, I stuffed a few skin-wrapped pieces of meat in my bag. My attempts at skinning had resulted in a few one-meter square pieces of hide. Rubbing them on the ground had cleared most of the grime, and they were rolled up and stuck to my bag. Using sand, I tried to remove the blood and bits of tissue from my arms.
I really need a bath. Fast, I thought. Anything big and dangerous would smell me from far away.
Sitting down, I decided to wait until the Wirgs had digested the hog meat. Having them come along would probably prove useful. Besides, I still had no idea what route to take.
Less than an hour later, Scar moved beside me, her stomach noticeably thinner and her fur thick and gleaming. Looking at it, I rubbed her neck and was astounded by how soft the fur was. Rising, I saw that she was also bigger than she had been. Not as big as the Warg I had killed in Sart, but much bigger than the other Wirgs.
"You grow stronger from eating, huh?" I said as I patted her back. Smell moved beside me. If I had to guess, each was now a hand length taller, and all of the wounds they still had were gone.
"Ok. Show me how to get to those ruins," I said as I looked at Smell.
Ten minutes later, we were far from the spot with the Hog, and I had started cursing again. I knew I had forgotten something. In this case, a way to guard me against the thorn bushes.
Finally, I had enough of it, and I stopped, looking around. Not too far was a tree like the one I had rested in.
"I need to get something," I said, not in the least bit worried that I was talking to Wirgs as if they were able to perfectly understand me. From what I had seen, they might even be able to.
At the tree, I took out the wooden handguards and climbed up until I found a branch thicker than my upper arms. A few dozen ax chops later, the branch lay on the ground, and I removed the side branches. When I was finished, I cast Soften Wood on it and cut it in parts roughly as long as my upper and lower arms. Splitting them was a bit more difficult, but not half as bad as hollowing them out was.
What I had thought would be a simple, quick thing cost me the whole morning. As I worked, the wirgs were lying on the ground beside me. Scar slept, snoring softly, while Smell was looking around, constantly vigilant.
"Finally!" I muttered as I attached the last piece of wood to a hide wrapping before looking at the four things before me.
With a wooden exterior, and grimy hide inside, they roughly fit around my arms and barely resembled the arm guards I had set out to make. The wood wasn't the trouble; it was attaching it to the hide that had been a problem. In the end, I had rolled up thin pieces of hide and used those to bind the wood to hide and the hide together. I poked a dozen holes in the brittle hide in the process but eventually managed to keep them attached.
I put them on and grinned. It looked like I had wooden plate armor covering my arms. Experimentally I moved an arm against some thorns, but besides some scratching sounds, nothing happened. Raising one arm to guard my head, I pressed through the bushes and immediately decided it didn't matter one bit what the things looked like.
"Let's go!" I said to Smell, who got up with a yawn.
The wirg nipped at Scar, who woke up, and we continued our trek through the thorn bush jungle, this time at a much higher pace.
The thorn bushes seemed to continue on forever, but I started hearing shouting from ahead somewhere late in the afternoon. Smell and Scar were constantly stopping now, sniffing, and looking around. Ahead, I saw more light. Hoping to finally get out of the depressing, dense, and insect-riddled bushes, I moved forward.
Closer to the light, the thorn bushes were becoming less dense, and I saw there was an opening behind them. Through it, I saw the forest continued, but less dense. Large, black, and gnarled trees stood widely spread out, grown and yellow bushes between them. The shouting came from far to the left, where I saw a five-meter high, wooden watchtower. A dozen Fin'r Goblins were moving below it. Two were dragging a massive fish towards a fireplace with a large flat stone in front of it. Their rest stood to the side, yelling encouragement, or at least that's what it looked like. I couldn't understand them at all, but that wasn't what troubled me. Neither was the fish. What was bothering me were the swords, daggers, and bows they were holding, ontop of what looked to be well-fitting leather armor.
Looking around, I saw that the thorn bushes stopped both left and right.
"Where do we go?" I whispered to Smell, wishing I could actually communicate with her.
The Wirg turned to the right, staring at the forest beyond and to the right of the guard tower. Dark and shadowy, the trees were closer together, and a thick undergrowth connected them.
"Great. And how are we going to get there?" I asked.
Smell sniffed, and before I could stop her, she rushed out of the thornbushes and in a straight line towards the dense forest beyond the watchtower.
"Shit," I muttered, quickly turning to the Goblins. After a few seconds, one of them noticed Smell and glanced at her for a moment. Then he ignored her and continued shouting at the others. Scar rushed forward, and then I was alone staring at the second Wirg cross the gap between where I was and had to go.
"Sure, and how am I supposed to get there?" I muttered, sitting down and starting to plan how to get past.