Falreath studied Arthur as he tried to dance with a handprint on a tree. The man had his own way of looking at things, and mostly it's been a boon. Still, watching him dance was a little uncomfortable.
“I think you need to come from another perspective,” Falreath hoped the thought would end the dancing.
“Right, this print is definitely a woman’s,” Arthur answered as he knelt on the ground.
How does kneeling help, Falreath thought as he shook his head.
He continued to look around the area, as it was clear from the handprint the pair of hikers had come this direction. So where was the other evidence?
“Even from this angle it still seems, wrong, almost as if…” Arthur paused which drew Falreath’s attention back to him.
“Look how deep these prints are, she is weighed down by something. Perhaps this print is evidence of her stopping to rest?”
“Possibly, I saw little sign of combat, perhaps she wasn’t being chased at this point.” Falreath answered as he thought over the area.
Most of the underbrush was intact, barely out of place. His eyes drifted over the trail once more, most of the area looked untouched. It was clear Arthur and himself were the most destructive presence in recent history.
Then a chill ran down his body, a familiar feeling. His body reacted as it had many times in the past, his arms moved to his chest as his legs dropped. His knee hovered over the ground as he rolled his upper body, his elbow colliding with the underbelly of a creature. His legs burst up and launched the beast into a nearby tree.
In his off hand he cupped a now familiar ball of light as his torso turned to face the other creature. His arm whipped and the ball of light split into three, each expanded slightly on impact. The creature, a wolf or mutated coyote if Falreath had to guess, let out a howl as the singed brownish red fur smoked.
“Bring it,” Falreath muttered as two more balls of light formed in his hands. “Many a defensive line has tried and failed to bring this down.”
As if accepting the invitation, the creature darted straight for Flareath, teeth flared as it jumped. Falreath’s right arm came up, the light held within dispersed. Mentally he sighed as he clearly needed to work on this skill more. The Beast impacted his arm, breaking any further thought training, and held on for its life.
The claws dug into Falreath’s right arm as it fought to gain ground, Falreath doing all he could to shield his body from the assault. As the two continued to wrestle for positioning, Falreath brought his left hand up and held its ball of light against the throat of the creature.
This only caused the beast to struggle more and the claws to rake and dig deeper against Falreath’s forearm. Falreath roared and shot the light through the beast’s neck. The smell of singed skin filled the air as the light burst out of the other side. Blood poured over his arm as Falreath quickly tossed the creature to the side.
Falreath could’ve sworn he heard the faint rustling of stuttered music coming from nearby, from Arthur’s area. Yet, he put that out of his mind as the other beast got to its feet. His right arm throbbed from the scratches and cuts, the blood dripped to the ground as he took a step forward. Falreath was unwilling to let this creature get the advantage in the confrontation. He had made that mistake once.
His foot kicked off as he charged, his hands once again aglow with light. The beast stood and tried to snarl, its jaw broken somehow.
I must’ve done more damage with that throw than I thought.
Falreath’s mind raced as he swung his left arm and released the light within, the blinding ray assaulted the beast's eyes, blinding it for mere moments. But it was long enough for Falreath. He pivoted in his run, his foot lashed out in a kick and colided with the creature’s face.
The foot snapped the creature’s neck and it fell to the ground, a broken mess. Falreath stood there for a moment, caught unprepared for the sudden result.
“Those points must do more than I thought,” He muttered as he finally turned to find Arthur. The man was standing from his own beast, blood on his hands and feet.
Arthur looked down at himself and spoke. “Most of this, is this creature’s,” he said in an attempt of reassurance as he wiped what he could on his shirt.
“I see,” Falreath answered as the ground below him alit with a circle of light.
The blood on his body slowly dissolved as his wounds closed. Scabs and red skin was all that was left behind on his arms and body.
“Collect what you can,” Falreath answered as he held his hand to the beast and felt the familiar feeling of Xenoid rush through his body.
Before his vision + 32 popped up in green. He got up and moved to the other beast. Though all this was new, the growth was sure addictive. He flexed his left hand once more, the feeling of strength welled within.
A green + 37 popped through his sight as he stood.
These creatures barely had any xenoid to speak off, which made Falreath wonder if they were weaker. They certainly felt weak but that could very well be the fact he was growing much stronger. He looked at his arm once more as he flexed. He didn’t look any different, but something inside of him, a feeling told him of his much greater strength. It was all just so absurd.
Falreath’s train of thought derailed as he heard Arthur speak. “Do you think these were the same ones that attacked the hikers?”
Falreath turned to face the man who was again at work wiping blood off of his hands.
“Nah, though the size might be right, their paws are the wrong shape.” Cee answered as he pointed to the one near him for emphasis. “I think these guys were scavengers, perhaps attackers of opportunity.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” Arthur replied as he looked back towards the animal. “If they’re scavengers they wouldn’t attack us with only three. There was only a minor numbers advantage and we’re clearly larger than they are.”
Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.
“I couldn’t tell ya,” Falreath replied. “It’s been years since I took a biology class.”
“Fair enough,” Arthur stated. “Now, did we lose the trail?” he asked as his head swiveled around.
Falreath sighed before he finally spoke.
“This way,” Falreath said confidently as he began to trudge into one of the areas full of ferns.
Since he knew which way the two of them came, it wasn’t hard to make an educated guess to which direction the hikers were running. From there he simply looked for any signs that humans passed that way. After that he moved, his gut told him they needed to hurry.
“Are you sure?” Arthur questioned as he turned “It’s getting…” a screech from on high interrupted Arthur’s speech and almost caused Falreath to turn his head.
Instead he ignored the bird, which was probably returning due to the battle, and focused on searching for the hikers. They had to be near, the hand print was a sign of exhaustion, and if Falreath’s guess was right, the woman was carrying another person, a heavily injured person.
“Over here!” Arthur called from behind and Falreath was pulled out of his thoughts once more.
On instinct, he planted his front foot and pivoted his body, coiled for action. As soon as he caught sight of Arthur, Fareath darted forward, the distance between them shrinking at a considerable rate. He reveled in the speed, a feat he once needed to go all out to achieve. Yet, here was barely in a jog, dodging and dancing over the forest floor as the world whipped by.
Arthur sidestepped as he frantically began to point to a small pine, a panicked flush stricken across his face. A smile crossed Farleath as he thought about what it might look like to the man. Here he was closing distance at a record pace, armed for collision. It was no surprise Arthur backtracked as much as he could.
Upon reaching the location Arthur once stood, Falreath exploded out towards the pine he was directed to earlier. Each step slowed his progression, until he walked gently the last few feet towards the odd looking tree.
His head tilted slightly as he began to examine the feature closer, and the closer he got, the more off the tree felt. Finally he realized it was a bunch of branches shaped to look like a tree. The tips of the needles browning a bit more than was normal.
With care, Falreath gently parted the branches to reveal a small opening in the ground. It was a cave, an actual cave. Did the women know it was here, or was she just lucky? Though, why had she covered the entrance so thoroughly, wouldn’t that hinder any searches. Was her fear so great?
Falreath turned towards Arthur and waved. As the man closed in behind him, Falreath stepped into the opening, careful to avoid the dripping water on the side as well as disturb the branches. Silently the two crawled into the space, the cavern growing in size with each step. To the side a small river of water slowly wound its way deeper into the darkness.
Arthur paused to wipe his hands off in the stream, the blood having started to cake. Falreath sighed as he paused, his gut urging him forward. He held off knowing the small few seconds wouldn’t mean much in the long run. Haste could as easily kill as it could save. As Arthur flicked his hands dry, the sound of running water returned to the cave around them, amplified by the structure of the cavern. The static seemed to call another sound to it, the sound of crying.
“Is that?” Arthur whispered from behind.
Falreath simply nodded as the two continued their approach. The sound of crying gently grew as the two men delved deeper into the carved out rock. Their path was a maze of twists and turns that hampered their speed, one that slowly drowned out all forms of light. Eventually, Falreath was forced to try a new skill, a new spell, in the form of a ball of light that gently hovered over his head.
An explosion of blinding light reflected off the smooth stone walls, the scattered stalactite and stalagmites, and even the free flowing water. As his eyes adjusted to the illuminated cave he was shocked by the sheer size of the walls all around. The ceiling was definitely over four times his height, if not more.
“Wow,” Arthur exclaimed from his side as he tilted his head up. The walls slowly lost their defining features as the light was swallowed by the dark abyss.
“Who’s there?” A femine voice echoed around. “Is someone there?” Her voice cracked as she continued.
Falreath’s head darted back and forth in an attempt to find the source.
“Arthur Wade, Ian City PD, here on a search and rescue.” Arthur replied and Falreath hoped it would put the woman at ease.
“You have to help,” She yelled almost immediately, “I’m not…” The sound of tears flowed once more as the woman broke down.
Falreath didn't need another invitation. With the new visibility he raced through the cavern, Arthur tight on his heels, neither unperturbed by any obstacle. Luckly, they weren’t far from the woman and a few more turns netted them a split in their path. One part of the cavern drifted off into the depths, the small, yet growing river of water cut that direction, while the other fork climbed for a bit before it petered off.
Falreath paused as he listened to the crying that echoed all around, its source difficult to pin down. It took him a second before he understood it came from the higher fork.
Carefully the two men climbed the slope, though gentle it was covered in moss and heeded caution. After a hundred or so feet, the caverned opened up into a dome, with faint light pouring in through what Falreath could only assume were holes in the ceiling. Added to that faint light were a splattering of small phosphorescent dots which glowed with their own faint green light.
As he looked closer he realized the dots were a part of the moss that sporadically grew all around. The crying focused his mind and he centered his attention on a rock outcropping, on which lay a bloody, though bandaged man. A woman knelt above him, holding his hand and weeping into the neck of her sleeve.
“Help’s come, hold in there Micheal,” Her words faint, though repetitive as if a prayer to the man to live long enough to survive the trial.
Falreath felt himself pale as he examined the man closer. His arms were covered in many clothes, each died some form of red from his blood, his right leg turnicked in an attempt to staunch the blood loss from a massive gash in the thigh. Worst of all seemed to be the torso, the cloth that covered it was nothing but brown blood.
It was a miracle the man was still breathing, though it was labored and rattled so Falreath didn’t have much hope for his survival. That was unless, he pondered as he looked at his hands.
“Miss,” He began
“Tiffany,” She replied through the sobs.
“Tiffany,” Falreath corrected as he heard a melody fill the air, almost as the sound emphasized his words. “There is something I might be able to try, if you are willing.”
His voice sounded odd to his own mind, as if there was extra pressure in the air as the melody continued.
She sobbed for a few more breaths before she looked up at him, the sorrow almost fell from her face as she took in the words he spoke. A gentle hope took hold as she opened her mouth. “If it can help, please try, please.”
Falreath felt his heart break as took a step forward. He had given her hope, hope he could do something. Unfortunately, he wasn’t sure what it was he could do. He had healed Eldridge’s chest sure, but that was nowhere near this level of damage. Yet, he had to try.
The balls of light filled his hands once more as he closed the distance to the man. He began to picture the words that he would write into the ward. This man fought, this man struggled for his life and his friend. He gave it all.
The balls shot forward, the circles formed slowly underneath. As the ward grew the words I will survive etched their way along the edge. The light grew in intensity as the cave filled with the dancing of shadows. The melody broke and morphed, the song changing to that of a struggle, of a desperate fight.
The air stilled as Falreath held his breath, his eyes looked on in anticipation. Moments passed as the light pulsed along with the melody in the background. The woman looked on, her eyes held the same desperation, if not more so, that Falreath felt.
An echoed cry burst out, as color returned to the man’s face, as his breathing evened and grew less desperate. The cloth around his wounds slowly lost that red look, and the woman’s head fell across his chest. Her desperate struggle having won out and her strength gone in that moment of hope.
“Would you mind watching them,” Arthur asked as the melody around them slowly died down. “I will go get the rescue team.”
Falreath simply nodded, unsure if he could say anything at this moment. Something seemed to have moved in his very soul.