Hooked On Adrenaline

"Ho, now that's a kick, I haven't had the chance for battle in so long. I feel so alive again, 6 years in a flesh prison to finally have a drop of adrenaline and be able to respond to my lust for combat." Ren calls out satisfied as his red eyes stare up to the sun enjoying the euphoria and endorphins pouring in alongside the stream of adrenaline. 

"You'll be alright, arm it's just a flesh wound." Ren says as he continues to stare at the skies before rotating his right shoulder. 

"Not so loud and arrogant now you pathetic beast. I'll be taking that arrow back. I should frame it. Better go check on Lydia just in case." Ren says as he stamps his foot into the dead bear's skull, plucking out the arrow.

"Hey....Lydia….damn looks like the blood loss is getting to me, come on body just let me enjoy the adrenaline a little bit longer." Ren plunges a finger into his open wound to trigger another surge of adrenaline making his body continue moving.

"Lydia, are you still conscious!?" Ren calls out cupping his right hand around his mouth. 

"Ren? How? Why are you still here, the red bear is still out there." Lydia calls out faintly as she coughs weakly. Seeing Ren approach her despite her fading consciousness. 

"You won't have to worry about that sack of muscle this arrow hit dead centre so we won't be hearing much from it for a while." Ren chuckles holding up the bloody arrow in his right hand.

"Dead…Centre? What do you mean...Is it dead!? How!? How did you manage to kill it?" Lydia asks in complete shock as her blue eyes lock with the arrow in Ren's hand. 

"Trade secret maybe one day i'll tell you." Ren says, putting a finger to the side of his nose with confidence, hiding his secret behind his playful youth.

"Hey are you guys alive out there. Hello! I'm back. I brought help with me guys, the red bear won't stand a chance against this many of us." Ella calls out desperately as she urges her legs to sprint faster.

"You should have brought this many to begin with. Your carelessness could have cost your group their lives." A burly commander with a long curled moustache says in disappointment. 

"HEY LYDIA LANOS REN ANYONE ALIVE OUT THERE." Ellla calls out once more fearing the worst might have happened while she went to get help. 

"Sir we've located a wounded man with blonde hair and severe slashes into his torso. It looks like he's been carved, we're going to need all healers available if we're going to stabilise him." A short young lieutenant just leaving his teens calls out as he eyes catch the blood sight of Lanos who had managed to crawl his way into the bushes.

"Alright, focus a third of our healers and medical staff on keeping him alive." The commander orders as he and his platoon make their way deeper into the forest guided by Ella. 

"You're lucky we were on patrol young miss otherwise who would've known what would've happened to your group." The commander says sending a serious glare over to the naive ella. 

"Any sight of your other companions?" He questions keeping his eyes open scanning the whole forest vicinity for any more possible threats.

"No sight of them yet." Ella says as she bites the tip of her thumbnail her stress reaching an absolute high.

"LYDIA! REN! Please still be alive!" Ella calls out a disheartened and afraid from the lack of response.

"Gonna blow our ears out with all that shouting." Ren says holding onto the back of Lydia as they both stumble their way out of the forest. 

"REN! LYDIA! YOU'RE OKAY!" Ella screams out in utter shock as tears start to bead out of her eyes.

"Okay is a bit of an overstatement, but yeah we're holding on." Ren says as he starts to notice an annoying sting in his arm as the adrenaline begins to wear off. 

"Lydia managed to save me. She landed a killer shot between the beast's eyes." Ren says holding up the bloody arrow with tufts of red fur still clinging to it. 

"What no, what are you talking about Ren!?" Lydia exclaims not knowing hwat ren is trying to do, hiding her own achievement and giving it to Lydia. 

"Don't be so modest sis, you saved our lives." Ren says with a shrewd cat-like smile.

"Amazing, i'm sorry i left you guys i was getting help i didn't think i would be able to do anything to help in the end." Ella says in complete awe seeing Lydias wounds and somehow still being able to win against that creature.

"Incredible work young one, what's your name miss." The commander says as he runs his finger through his moustache. 

"Ummm, Lydia sir." Lydia says feeling guilty over Ren giving her the achievement.

"You have some incredible skills at your disposal you should consider joining my platoon. We accept all walks of life and we would love an archer of your skill. The job comes with its benefits of course." The commander says before his hardened eyes notice the young girl on Lydia's back.

"Oh my gods above what in heaven's name happened here. This girl has the most devastating wounds I've ever seen on a child. Not to mention her sister seems to be holding on by a thread as well." The commander says as his moustache becomes more animated by his worry standing on ends stiffly.

"We need to get to the capital. It is our top priority. We haven't seen any sign of the three families so we should prioritise saving these two." One of the kingdom's guards calls out watching the commander's platoon distracted with something that isn't their problem.

"Sir we need to keep an eye out still though. We can't keep wasting time on these people." The man scoffs watching the platoon waste more and more resources on them. 

"What did you say?" The commander says as he glares down at the man with disgust his moustache curling in anger. 

"We can't keep wasting time on these people sir." The kingdom's guard says not wavering in his position. 

"Get out." The commander's face darkens as his moustache lowers and uncurls into his deep black beard. 

"Pardon?" The kingdom guard says in shock caught of guard by the commander. 

"You're not fit for my platoon. Anyone who sees our people as just a waste of time can leave ,our sworn duty is to protect our citizens. Leave." The commander says as he restrains his anger brushing through his black beard.

"But sir." The kingdom guard protests huffing as he glares back at the commander.

"If you stay in my presence any longer I will take a couple fingers to prove my point. Leave." The commander says with a deep scowl now painting his face.

"Yes sir." The kingdom guard says with a bow before taking his leave. 

"I'm sorry about him. You two, we will be taking you to our base camp for further support." The commander says with a sigh as he pinches his scarred nose with a deep sigh.

"I want a third of our platoon to scout this forest just in case, everyone else with me, we have to keep our people safe." The commander calls out slamming his large broadsword into the earth. 

"SIR!" The platoon roared out in unison. 

"That's what I like to hear. Now a status report on the young man." The commander asks firmly.

"He's breathing and we have managed to stop the bleeding but he's going to need a lot of stitches and further medical attention." One of the traditional healers responded. 

"Everyone, I want you to help guid and move the survivors to base camp. We need to guard them and keep them safe. You all remember being wounded and helpless. That's why we signed up for this to protect our people." The commander says with a solemn sigh recounting his own experience signing up for the Knights.

"SIR!" The rest of the platoon roar out, fully inspired by the commander's battlecry. 

After a couple hours of laborious travel out of the rough forest Ren and the rest of the platoon finally make it to the base camp. Being guided deep beyond the wooden barricade spikes. 

"Get those survivors to our healers now." The commander says as he points a finger to the healer house in the back of the platoons camp. 

"Yes sir" The platoon call out once more in unison as they march towards the entrance of the camp. 

Once the survivors enter the healers room a trio of healers step in, one being a priest, the other being a demon practitioner and the last being more of a traditional medical doctor. The army sparing no expense to make sure their people have the best chance at survival.

"Oh in the name of Light and Darkness I draw upon your strength oh great ones. Please lend us your aid and bless these three. Allow them to see another day without tattered bodies. As your faithful servant I am loyal and willing." The priest says in more of a solemn him as he clutches his beads before slicing his finger open letting the drops of blood hit the wooden floor causing a reaction as small dark and light red orbs start to flutter out of the blood drops.

The orbs flutter through the room slowly merging into the wounds of the survivors as a red warding aura emits off of them all.

"Now that the priest has blessed them, they should be prepared to handle some advanced healing without sacrificing too much." A woman with long brown hair steps forward to the survivors. 

"Loyal fox come forward and aid your master. There are those that need our help." The woman says as she clutches a bright jagged crystal in her hands as it begins to glow orange.

"Here I thought I would be able to enjoy my nap a little longer. Guess stretching my legs will have to do." A voice calls out of the stone as an orange light enters her chest. 

"Thank you Nube." The woman says as her body begins to slowly morph and change, two tails sprout off the back of her waist. As her ears slowly shift to the top of her head growing more and more pointy and furred. Whisker marks emerge on the side of her cheeks as she opens her eyes. Bright auburn piercing eyes replace her own.

"Fox Fire!" The woman calls out, extending her hand as orange fire erupts out of her palms.