Chapter 37
Eska can now be seen with a bit of fear in her eyes. "Is-Is this what I am about to learn? Will it be safe?" She asks, trying to ease her fears.
"Buying a raw fish filet is safe Eska, but if you want to control the process. If you want to learn how to do it yourself, you have to descale it, gut it, cut its heads, filet it, and remove the bones. You risk getting cut, and dirty but if you master the process then you'll never have a need to buy your fish filets again. You can control the quality and how many you can do at a time. If you want to become a powerful fighter, then you must learn to create the spells from scratch." Seech explains calmly.
Eska can be seen thinking, thinking about all of the things Seech has just explained to her not just now but before. Everything seems to finally be clicking together for her. She takes a deep breath before speaking.
"Teach me." Eska says with a determined attitude.
"Your body is in pain, and it's very injured. The perfect subject for learning. If anything happens, I will intercept it. You must make sure to keep me informed. Say what you are doing, how you are doing it and especially where.
The lesson goes on for several hours without stopping, Eska failing over and over at either triggering the process or maintaining it at a safe or even effective pace.
Eska is focused and won't stop, she continues for hours until nightfall. She can't afford to go to sleep. Even if she wanted to rest her mind is pumping adrenaline from fear, pain and concentration on her spellcasting. At every attempt, Seech tries to tell her what to adjust and by how much, what she messed up on and how to better it during her next try. No matter how repetitive it gets, Seech simply keeps assisting her.
She tries again and again, now pushing her arm to heal the wound and receive the brunt of her training. Eska is unable to consistently hold the spell for even a few seconds. Sometimes her body would spike in pain, at times she would push too hard and cause her cells to divide at an abnormal pace causing the opposite effect.
Above the cliff, hours ago, Ross runs into the forest. He hears the werewolf behind him, thrashing around on the road. He hears the trees breaking behind him. He begins to panic, but when he looks back he sees nothing. He stops, noticing that the sounds he hears are from the other side of the road. Realizing that the beast isn't near him anymore. He makes his way back towards the road, slowly and carefully.
The broken carriage is everywhere. The broken pieces cover the whole road and even go into the forest line. Many of the crates are broken down, spilling with tools, food, spices and clothing. Ross spots the broken trees where the wolf broke through, then realizes it must have gone after Eska instead.
"Ross!" a familiar voice shouts from the road. Valen shouts at him, letting him know the others are there as well. Ross quickly points towards the broken trees and runs inside the forest. The others do the same, following behind Ross.
They find the bag Eska dropped as they enter the forest and bring it with them. The four begin following the broken down trees, soon getting to the cliff, looking down it and only seeing the tall trees blocking the ground. Ross points down towards a few of them with broken branches at the top. "They fell down, I can see the Kragen easily surviving the fall but Eska..." He stops himself.
Kael speaks up "Eska is human but can take the hits, Ross." He says, looking around the cliff for a way down.
Ross frowns and shakes his head "There is only one way to know for sure, and either way." He pauses. "Hunters don't abandon hunters."
Valen starts walking along the cliff, "The closest way down this cliff is hours ahead on cart. It will take us a day or two to get down there, unless you think we can climb our way down." He says with an annoyed tone as he kicks a few pebbles out of the way.
Denise walks behind him, unable to say anything at the current circumstances. Ross walks to Denise, putting a hand on her shoulder. "We'll get her."
"Valen." Denise says in a caring voice. "We'll get there in time Denise." Is all he follows up with. Kael and Ross walk along the cliff as well with them. Kael follows everyone as he asks "What do we do about the hunt?"
Ross responds "Running into the Kragen changes everything. There weren't even rumors in the surrounding area about it roaming around. We need to recover Eska, and make our way back to the fishing settlement. We'll send a message to the Core once we get there. Anything else we'll handle as we get to it."
Valen turns back at Ross, a bit impressed at his composure. Kael nods in response to Ross then follows them on the cliff.
A day passes, it is the next morning.
Eska stands, leaning forward with both of her arms against the same tree she was sitting at the entire night. She breathes heavily and her face is covered in sweat. Her face is pale and with slight bags under her eyes
"You are doing well, but anymore and you'll get to dangerous levels. You've been casting the entire night. You are running out of blood. I don't even recommend using bloodcraft right now. You are out of the deathbed and more into a 'you definitely need to drink something and rest' area." Seech tells her with worry in her voice.
"I lost my bag in the chase, I already ate my only ration." Eska comments.
"There was a river under the bridge, if it leads down here you should be able to find it if you keep close to the cliff." Seech tells her, guiding her once more.
Eska walks close to the cliff while still keeping her distance to it. It's a slow trek, as Eska tries to keep her focus on the path ahead and not on the pain she is in. After what seems like an eternity, Seech notices a sound nearby Eska. Eska begins focusing on hearing around her as well.
As they approach it, Eska notices what appears to be an old landslide. Rocks, stone, gravel, dirt and mud cover the cliff and water flows down through the crevices in between, creating a small pond that turns into a small creek moving further into the forest.
Eska moves in closer, kneeling on the small pond and taking a drink. She leans back against the cliff rocks, checking her wounds once more. Cuts partially open, kept in check by a thin veil of blood. Bruises all over her body.
"Your leg is broken, a hair fracture would explain the swelling and the pain without the damage inside." Seech informs her, before continuing. "Your reinforcement was slow on the trigger, and your healing is too slow to be useful in combat. You'll need much more training before you can trigger these like you use your own limbs, but you are making progress and you are live. It's all that matters in these situations."
Eska sits near the pond, putting her hand into it, letting the cold water rush in between her fingers then back onto her face.
"How long until I can cast again." Eska asks curiously. Seech doesn't answer for a few seconds.
"It can take several week, at this rate you'll need a blood transfusion to recover faster." Seech response. Eska asks with a frustrated voice "You mean I'm out for the rest of the hunt?"
"Most likely." Seech tells her. "Blood isn't unlimited, Eska. Using too much of it will leave you without enough to just survive, but sometimes the situation demands you use dangerous levels of it to stay alive, or keep someone else alive."
Eska is stunned at how useless she feels.
"Focus on what you can do. You have to make your way out of the forest, get back to the settlement. Then you can worry about the hunt." Seech tells her. Eska just nods.
Eska stands up, using the nearby rock as her support but she slips. Her head almost meets the water when her hands manage to hold her from the edge of the small pond. Eska looks up from the water, then back down at her reflection. For a split second she can see her mother behind her.
She stands up slowly and says to herself "We live tomorrow, so we can learn today."
"Wise words, from a wise woman." Seech comments.
Eska begins moving forwards. She picks up a big stick that she can use to help herself walk without putting weight on her left leg. She brings out the dagger inside her jacket. Then makes her way down the creek.