Rocks and sandstone dust covered the battlefield, making collecting my task a pain. I didn’t even bother to dig, I simply moved farther down the gorge where the hoodoos were still intact. No matter how I tried to coax her to stay put, Shiva insisted on following me, always keeping me in eyesight.

There wasn't any hide nor hair of the other suspies. What with the battle and Shiva’s presence – no matter how hurt she was – they must have fled. They might come back to the gorge, or they might end up in a new location – or in a stronger monster’s stomach. Either way, I was glad they were gone. Neither me nor Shiva was up for another fight right now.

Without any resistance, I busied myself picking up ruby-like turds, filling my bag to max capacity. It was a pain. Literally. Every time I stepped or bent over, my wounds were pulled tight and sent another agonizing jolt. I could tell from the way my under armor stuck to my leg that the cuts were still bleeding. It was enough that I lost an HP point in the time I was searching for suspy turds. But I didn’t complain. No matter how much my injuries hurt, it didn’t compare to what Shiva had suffered.

Storing the heavy bag away, I straightened up and winced as my pant leg rubbed against my wounds – again. Repressing a groan, I looked to the side to hide the expression from Shiva. I didn’t want to worry her again. A flash of green caught my attention. It was the first time I’d seen a color besides red and brown since I entered the gorge.

Surprised, I focused on the thin flower growing out of the wall of the gorge cliff. I recognized the green to red leaves and the four semi-transparent purple-ish pink flower petals. It was the flower from Micah’s book he showed me this morning – a fae lashes.

I limped over to the flower in awe. Micah had gushed about this flower. Maybe, he might think it was cool if I gave him one? I mean, I also wanted to see it turn a fire into a different color.

But how should I collect it? It would suck if I accidentally ruined it in transit. After pondering for a second, I opened up my Hunter’s Manual and searched for the flower. There weren’t a lot of non-monster plants in it, I was lucky to find a couple lines about fae lashes. From the few words available, I figured out that the plant likes to be handled with care, with all its roots intact. It was easier to dig around the plant and bring in the whole thing, dirt and all.

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Luckily the gorge walls weren’t completely solid sandstone. I used my miao dao to wedge out a chunk of dirt around the fae lashes, making sure to leave a large clump to protect the roots. Then I put the plant in my Items Bag.

Silently panting through the pain, I walked back to Shiva. “Let’s go, girl.” At the rate I was moving now, I might not actually make it back to Boulder before the gates closed. Damn.

I activated the GPS home and took Shiva’s reins, then started limping in the direction it pointed me.

My arm was pulled taunt and I wobbled to a stop when Shiva’s reins were almost jerked out of my grip. She stood like an ice sculpture in the exact same place, staring at me with wide navy blue eyes.

I frowned. “Hey, what are you doing? We have a long road ahead. Let’s go.” I gently tugged on her reins to bring her to my side, but she didn’t move a muscle. What was up? Was she sensing something I couldn’t? The hair rose on the back of my neck, but no matter how I searched our surroundings, I couldn’t find a threat.

Suddenly Shiva moved. She walked in front of me and knelt down, looking at me like ‘get on.’

My mouth parted as my heart hurt. “No, Shiva. You’re hurt. I’ll walk home. You just take a rest.” I stepped around her and started walking.

Shiva jumped up and knelt in front of me again, so fast that I nearly tripped on her.

The action strained the injuries on my leg and my knee gave out. With gasp, I planted my hands on Shiva’s saddle just to keep from falling head over heels.

She shifted her body, causing my hands to slip off the leather seat, and stood up, planting the saddle in my stomach. I was like roadkill over her back, but she didn’t seem to care. She turned and started to walk, carrying me toward home.

I laid there, tears prickling my eyes. Maybe I should be humiliated – there was nothing dignified about this position at all. But I only felt touched, from my aching heart and to the ends of my tired toes.

I know she was trained as a combat mount, but she didn’t have to protect me to the extent that she did. A lot of mounts didn’t. If they were too injured, they’d flee the battle. Shiva stayed and fought for me to the bitter end. And now, she still insisted on carrying me back home. Even though I told her not. I could tell she knew I was hurt, and she was determined to make care of me. Regardless of her own injuries.

A tear leaked from my eye and dangled at the edge of my nose, itching to fall.

Never again, I vowed to myself. I was going to get stronger, not just to get the level fifty reward, but to make sure that Shiva never suffered this badly in a battle again.

***