Pine Bark Shield

<p>'Now or never!'<br/>I throw the bark shield like a frisbee. The goblins slobber is dripping onto her as it strikes him in the head. <br/>He's sent flying.<br/>Luckily it looks like nothing happened to Natalia yet.<br/>Tearing another piece of bark from the tree, I rush towards the goblin lying on the floor.<br/>My heart is pounding in my ears. Despite knowing we should leave, I scramble over to the goblin and start bashing him with the shield.<br/>He's doing his best to defend himself with his arms. But one drops, then the other.<br/>My shield is raised, ready to finish him off.<br/>"Kairo!"<br/>Hearing a whistling noise, I frantically raise my shield. A strong impact throws me off the goblin, sending me into a roll that I end in a crouch.<br/>Peeking out from behind the shield, I find the second goblin standing over his ally. His brows are furrowed and there's a weird glint in his eye.<br/>The goblin I had been about to kill weakly starts eating a green plant from his belt, and his bloody arms slowly start healing.<br/>I can only stare in surprise.<br/>While his friend is healing, the other gobby charges.<br/>Each of his strikes sends shockwaves into my arms. Pieces of the shield are flying off.<br/>After all, nature isn't nearly as strong as iron.<br/>"Never. Hurt. My. Liking goblin!"<br/>"Wait, you're a girl!"<br/>She snarles and swings. I move back but feel an impact on my leg. At first I think I'm fine, but when I go to put weight down a sharp pain shoots up from my thigh.<br/>'Shit shit shit!'<br/>The second goblin has finished healing and picks up his sword.<br/>As I drop to one knee, the two of them charge together.<br/>It's a storm of blades that I'm barely able to block.<br/>I keep my shield raised. The attacks inch closer and closer, until one breaks through and hits my arm.<br/>At first, I don't feel it.<br/>Then White HOt PAIN!!!<br/>It happens again. And again. And again.<br/>Eventually, the shield falls away and the only thing protecting me from the cold iron is my arms.<br/>'They're numb.'<br/>I can feel impacts on my bones.<br/>'At least now the pain is gone.'<br/>Natalia is screaming but I can't hear what she's saying. There's black on the edges of my vision.<br/>I can feel my consciousness slipping. My arms fall, and my eyes are so heavy.<br/>'I guess this is it. Stay safe Matt, Natalia Sorry Rat.'<br/>The impacts stop.<br/>Fresh blood splashes my face. Blood that's not mine.<br/>With the last of my energy I force my eyes open.<br/>Standing in front of me is a figure in a black cloak. A sword hangs in their hand, blood slowly dripping from it.<br/>They turn toward me. It's not someone I recognize, and the deep hood doesn't help.<br/>I flinch as he sheathes his sword, and drops to my side.<br/>"Heal."<br/>A green light floods over my arms.<br/>I can see chips in my forearm bone fill in, then my muscles and tendons grow back, and finally my skin.<br/>It's almost like nothing happened, except the place that was healed is clean while the rest of me is coated in blood and dirt.<br/>I try to get up and immediately fall back to the ground. My head is spinning, and despite emptying my stomach earlier, I feel unbelievably nauseous.<br/>I hear a sigh and look up at the man.<br/>"You lost a lot of blood. I can't bring that back, so you're just have to wait for a bit."<br/>I nod my head in understanding. Another sigh.<br/>"Honestly, that was stupid. What made you think you could take on two goblins with nothing but a shitty shield?"<br/>I lower my eyes.<br/>"Nothing. I just knew I had to save her. Who are you?"<br/>"Ah, the hero type huh?" he says with a scoff, "Still, not a lot of begginers could put up a fight against two goblins at the same time. My name is Burch. I was supposed to be your guide, but I guess things didn't go as planned."<br/>My head cocks to the side.<br/>"Didn't go as planned? What do you mean guide?"<br/>Burch waves off my questions as he stands.<br/>"I'll explain later. You're something else kid. You've got guts."<br/>He starts walking off. After a few steps, he turns back and crounches beside me again.<br/>"One last piece of advice before I leave. Drop your current 'friends'. They'll only drag you down."<br/>As he whispered this into my ear I can feel my face getting hot. Pine needles are crushed in my fist.<br/>"You don't know what you're talking about."<br/>Laughing in my face, Burch stands up.<br/>"The boy froze in the tree, unable to do anything. While the girl isn't bad, there are stronger people in this group. People like you."<br/>"We'll see."<br/>He scoffs again.<br/>'His two favorite things to do must be scoffing and sighing.'<br/>"Yeah, we'll see where you'll all be in six months. I need to finish cleaning up, try to be back to the clearing within 30 minutes."<br/>Turning on his heel, Burch vanishes with a swish of his cloak. Matt and Natalia rush over.<br/>"Are you alright?"<br/>"How're you feeling?"<br/>I try to give them an energetic smile to hide how tired I am.<br/>"I'm doing great! I mean, my arms were basically turned to paste, but he healed me right up and I couldn't feel any better! I still feel like a muder victim, so if I could get some help to the clearing."<br/>We all break into an awkward laughter and turn to leave the clearing. As we walk past I try my best to ignore the two goblins that had been cleanly cut in half.</p>