Chapter 07 of Wayward Ranger by J Scott Miles

Aidan and Elease both skidded to a stop beside Tarna. The wolf whined and tried to stand, but she either didn’t have the strength or was in too much pain. Multiple kobold arrows protruded from her chest and blood matted the fur along her back.

“Oh gods, no.” Elease cried.

She and Aidan both reached for the wolf and cast their healing spells into her, but Elease was a fraction faster, and her spell was a good deal more potent. Even so, Aidan continued casting his Minor Healing spell and pressed it into the wolf. Tarna whimpered and tried to rise again, but Elease held her down.

“Don’t try to get up,” she said, her voice cracking. “We’ve got to get some healing into you before I can get these arrows out. Then, when you’re more stable, we can move you back to camp.”

Aidan stole a glance at the half-elf and wasn’t surprised to see tears cutting furrows through the blood and grime of her face.

“We can’t move her yet,” Elease said hoarsely, wiping her arm across her eyes. “But I need my pack. I have potions in it that can do more than either of our healing spells can. I need you to go get it from our camp.”

“What if there are more kobolds coming? You and Tarna will be exposed out here by yourselves.”

“Let them come.” Elease growled, her blood and mud covered face contorting with rage.

Aidan nodded and stood. He took a step in the direction of their camp and nearly fell over when pain from his own arrow wound coursed through him. I’m not sure how I forgot about that, but gods, it hurts. And I’m going to have to get it out before I use my healing spell on myself.

He was not looking forward to pulling the arrow out, and he decided to put it off until he had the pack for Elease. Pushing through the pain, he staggered through the brush the short distance back to their camp. Their dying fire was still flickering, but he could see in the light it cast that at least a couple of the kobolds had begun going through their belongings. It didn’t look as though the little thieves had gotten very far before they’d been called away to help their friends, though.

Aidan found Elease’s pack on the ground beside the fire, and after retrieving it, out of curiosity, he peered inside. The interior of the enchanted bag looked to him like a rather normal leather backpack full of stuff, except that the space was obviously larger than it should be and all the stuff he saw inside couldn’t possibly fit. It’s weird, and a little disorienting, like I’m looking through a portal into a small shed sized space.

He let the bag’s flap fall closed again and blinked as his head swam for a moment. When his vision cleared, he hoisted the bag and hurried back to Elease and Tarna. The throb in his leg grew worse with every step and quickly overpowered any thoughts of the enchanted bag.

When he reached them, he set the bag down beside the half-elf, who was bent over mumbling in low soothing whispers to her familiar.

“Do you want me to get something out of it for you?” he asked.

Elease shook her head and pulled the bag closer.

Feeling as though he’d done all he could for them at the moment, Aidan turned his attention to his own wound.

“Alright.” he said to himself as he hobbled away. “Let’s see just how bad this arrow wound is.”

It wasn’t possible to get a good look at the wound with his pants on, and it also wasn’t possible to get his pants off with the arrow shaft still imbedded. He realized he either needed to break the shaft off to get some clearance to pull his pants down over it, or he was going to have to just try pulling the arrow out without getting a better look at the puncture site.

Depending on the size and shape of the arrowhead, he knew pulling it out would be at best excruciating and at worst life threatening. He didn’t see any other options, though. They didn’t have a healer or anyone else more qualified to deal with it, and the idea of pushing the arrow the rest of the way through his leg to avoid any barbs was a total non-starter. The other kobold arrows scattered around here don’t have barbs, so I think it should be possible to pull this one out.

Grasping the shaft, he gave the arrow an exploratory tug and had to take a knee from the sharp jolt of pain that ripped through him. Yep, that was every bit as bad as I expected it would be.

Closing his eyes, he mustered up every bit of resolve and courage he had, then yanked with both hands. The arrowhead held fast for a moment, then yielded to his efforts and tore free. He tried not to cry out, but unfortunately, as his head spun with the excruciating pain, he screamed.

As he gasped for breath, he noticed Elease looking in his direction. He gave her a, I’m fine, thumbs up and a horrible excuse for a smile.

Her brow creased into a frown, but after a moment, she nodded and turned back to Tarna.

He clamped his teeth down, hoping the worst of the pain would pass. When it eventually did, he looked at the small stone arrowhead covered in his blood, then threw it away into the bushes. For such a small thing, it sure fucking hurt.

He staggered further away, hoping to get out of Elease’s line of sight. When he was closer to the creek, he untied his makeshift belt and slipped his trousers down his legs so he could get a better look at the wound.

Blood flowed freely from the puncture site, but it was a clean enough hole, with little tearing around the edges. If he’d been back home, Ranger Dallen would have insisted on putting a stitch or two through it. I’ll have to ask Elease if she has a needle and suturing thread with her. I didn’t get a lot of chance to do stitches back home, but I think I could manage something like this on my own if I had the supplies.

Casting Minor Heal on himself drained his mana pool completely, but it made the wound throb a little less, and he saw the flow of blood from the puncture stem to a trickle.

“For the god’s sake, get your pants back on.” Elease said, startling him. “No one wants to see little chilly-willy out and flopping around again,”

He hastily pulled his pants back up and looked over at her. Despite the circumstances, she wore a smirk as she shook her head at him. He also saw she held Tarna across her arms in a princess carry, a truly impressive feat, seeing as how the wolf was nearly as long as the half-elf was tall and had to weigh even more than her.

“Are you badly injured?” she asked.

“I’m fine,” he replied as evenly as he could manage.

She nodded. “I’m taking Tarna back to our fire. I don’t think any more of those little shits are coming tonight, but we should stay ready.”

“I’ll be right behind you. I’m just going to clean up a little.”

“Don’t fall in,” she said with another smirk before she continued on toward their camp with Tarna.

Aidan hobbled the rest of the way over to the creek to wash the worst of the blood and grime from himself before he followed them back to camp.

By the time he staggered back to their small camp. Elease had laid Tarna down by what remained of their fire and was sitting next to her, gently stroking the wolf’s head. Tarna’s eyes were closed, but her chest rose and fell evenly.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“How is she?” he asked in a low voice, not wanting to wake the wolf.

“She’s a tough girl, and those little arrows came out easy enough. I’m more concerned with where she was stabbed.” Elease replied. “I gave her a healing potion that will help knit her wounds back together, and a sleeping dram to keep her quiet while the potion works. She’ll be fine in a day or so.”

Aidan nodded, and in the dim firelight, he noticed how tired and filthy Elease looked. Mud and dried blood covered her everywhere except where her earlier tears and a wipe from her sleeve had left mostly clean spots across her face. He wasn’t sure if any of the blood was hers, or just from the kobolds she’d slain.

“I’ll watch over Tarna here, if you want to go clean up,” Aidan offered.

Elease looked down at herself and smiled bitterly as though she hadn’t realized what a mess she was.

“What are you trying to say? That I look like shit? Or do you just want another chance to peek at me, you perv?”

Her attempt at a joke was as forced as her smile.

“Thanks,” she said after a few moments. “For that offer and for helping us tonight. If that had happened when it was just her and I…” She let her words trail off and turned away from him as if the very thought of what might have happened pained her.

“Thank you.” She said again, still facing the other direction.

“Of course.” Aidan replied. “I’m not saying you guys saved me, but if you two hadn’t chanced upon me and I was out here by myself, I’m not sure I’d have made it even this far. So, I guess we’re even.”

“Pshh,” Elease grinned. “Even my ass. You still owe us.”

Aidan laughed wearily and lowered himself gingerly beside the dying fire. Opening the notifications he’d missed during the fight, he read through the kill notices he’d gotten from the kobolds. Altogether, he received six-hundred-thirty-five experience points for the seven he’d killed or helped kill, and twenty-one upgrade-points. Not a bad haul at all. Most of the little beasts were only level nine or ten. Even so, that gets me back to the positive side of my original level ten experience total, after accounting for the death penalty I received from losing my party. And I have thirty-nine upgrade-points. That’s not enough to buy anything, but I’m getting closer.

He was also happy to see he’d gained some proficiency in polearms as well. I’m glad it’s progressing, but I wonder why I didn’t gain any proficiency from using the sharpened sticks on the panther. Were those not really considered spears? Maybe using it bumped my improvised weapons proficiency. I didn’t even think to check that.

Their supper of panther meat was still in the pan on top of the glowing coals, blackened to a crisp. He poked at the burnt steaks with his knife before pulling the pan off the fire, throwing the burned meat into the bushes, then putting a few more sticks on the fire to get it going again.

Elease pulled her bag over to her, rummaged around, then pulled out a couple more hunks of panther meat for him to cook.

“Hey, you wouldn’t happen to have a needle and some suturing thread with you, would you?” he asked as he tossed the fresh meat into the pan. “And maybe some clean cloth for bandages?”

Elease hesitated, then went back into her bag. When her hand came out again, it held a small bulbous bottle of dimly glowing bright red liquid.

“Here. Drink this.” She said as she tossed him the bottle, then stood. “It’ll bind your wounds better and with a lot less pain than stitches. And I need you healthy in case any more of those little assholes show up.”

Aidan marveled at the healing potion. It was likely not a high-grade brew, but even so, healing potions of any grade weren’t cheap, nor were they replaceable this far from a town.

“Thank you,” he said, holding the bottle almost reverently.

She frowned down at him. “Tell me you know what a healing potion is.”

“Of course, I know what a healing potion is.” He replied defensively.

Elease nodded, but looked unconvinced. “Okay, I’m going to take you up on that offer and go get cleaned up. You enjoy that.”

She picked up her pack, turned, and started toward the creek, then stopped and looked back at him as if something had just occurred to her.

“You bound that epic spear during the fighting, didn’t you?” She shook her head sadly. “You must have. I saw you use it.”

Aidan felt like a kid who’d been caught by his ma with his hand in the cookie jar.

“I wasn’t going to,” he replied. “I was going to wait, but then…”

“But then you used it in battle, and it bound to you spontaneously.” Elease shook her head again. “Do you even know how much we could have sold that to the right person for?”

“No.” Aidan answered honestly.

Elease snorted. “Yeah, me either. But I know it would have been a lot. Now it’s yours though, so don’t waste it. Learn how to use the damn thing. You’re not likely to ever find another epic weapon.”

She turned and continued walking toward the creek.

“And don’t burn the steaks this time.” She called up to him as she disappeared into the night. “Or try peeking at me while I’m washing.”

Aidan waited until she was out of sight, then he pulled the stopper off the small bottle.

“Of course, I know what healing potions are,” he said again with a frown as he brought the bottle to his lips. “I’ve never had one before, but I know what the damn things are.”

Taking a tentative sip, his eyes opened wide at the sudden rush of flavor. Tart raspberries straight from the vine, sweet plump strawberries in early summer, smooth thick cream cooled in a stream, and an explosion of tingly mint right at the end. That might be one of the best things I’ve ever tasted.

He licked his lips and chugged the rest of the bottle’s contents down, delighting in the satisfyingly sweet aftertaste, and wishing he had another to drink.

Then a fire ignited in his belly and quickly spread throughout his body. His eyes shot wide, and his mouth opened as if to scream, but his lungs had locked up and no sound came out. The internal flames raged inside him, looking for something worth burning. It found his wounded leg, cuts along his arms, and several dozen other wounds where he must have had minor ailments or injuries he didn’t even know about. The healing magic attacked each spot, its bite strongest around the puncture on his thigh. The pain of the healing wasn’t quite as bad as what he’d experienced pulling the arrow out, but close.

Then, as quickly as it had come on, the heat faded to a dull background burn in all the areas being healed. Aidan gasped and blinked tears from his eyes. Gods, I hope I never have to use one of those again. I didn’t expect it to be so intense.

He rubbed his leg, where he still felt the underlying warmth from the potion at the site of his wound, along with a lingering ache. But did it work? I know potions can take a while to fully heal, but I think it must have done quite a bit during that initial burst. Maybe I won’t need a needle and thread after all.

He tried to get a look at the puncture site through the hole in his pants, but the limited view wasn’t good. Glancing in the direction Elease had left through the trees, he judged how much time he had before she might return. Surely she’ll take some time washing.

Standing, he quickly untied his rope belt again and let his leather pants fall to his ankles once more. Damn, the hole from the arrow is nearly closed already and there is no fresh blood flowing from it. It’s still tender and swollen, but she wasn’t kidding when she said that potion would do a better job than sutures. Although I’m not so sure she was right about it being less painful.

“Seriously?” Elease said with a laugh as she pushed her way back into the clearing, cleaned up and looking fresh. “If you needed some time to rub one out, all you had to do was ask.”

“What? No!” Aidan stammered, his face going crimson. Quickly, he pulled his pants back into place.

“I don’t know,” she said with a shake of her head and another chuckle. “Tarna and I have known you for less than a day, and I’ve already seen little chilly-willy more than my last fling’s. And I’ve seen the way you’ve been looking at my butt and chest like a hungry ogre.”

She sauntered into the camp and tossed her bag down, obviously back to her old, antagonistically sarcastic self already.

“Listen,” she continued in a syrupy sweet voice, “I know you were out on a ship for a long time, probably in a shared cabin, with a bunch of sweaty sailors. And then you were on a raft, all by yourself. So, I can understand, and all I’m saying is, if you want a few minutes alone to discipline your little ranger and work through some pent-up frustration, all you’ve got to do is ask.”

“I wasn’t…” Aidan sputtered.

Then he saw her grin widen, and he realized she was just trying to get a rise out of him. His embarrassment turned to anger.

“I’ll be fine, thanks,” he said. “How about you just worry about your own needs?”

“Oh, I do.” Elease laughed.

That brought all his embarrassment rushing back as he imagined the half-elf taking care of herself in that way.

Elease broke into a full belly laugh.

“You should see your face right now,” she said, as she dropped down beside the fire. “Oh, having you along all the way to Barlow’s Ferry is going to be more entertaining than I realized.” She wiped tears from her eyes. “So, the potion worked, then?”

“Yes,” Aidan growled. “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. Although I am putting it on your tab,” Elease replied before turning over to face away from him. “You’ve got first watch.”