A Rough Patch
The blusterous wind that blew from the north, carried the chill mountain air. My teeth were chattering as I rubbed my hands to create friction. Glancing around at the competitors, most of us seemed to have lost or gotten rid of our stocks and I knew that it was going to come and bite us in the future. I paid attention to Edward as he instructed us to set up camps for the night. After completing the first task, Rick seemed to have vanished into the thin air. I sighed as I got to work.
"Manon! I need you to stop slacking off and get some firewood, that is if you do not want to freeze to death." I rolled my eyes at Edward. There are literally hundreds of people around here but he still has his eyes set on me. Now, where am I supposed to find those woods from? I shivered at the thought of going into the forest at night. Who knows what dark creatures lived there?
"You're still here?" I cursed, strapping the dagger around my waist, and finally took off. As I stepped into the forest, I scanned the area with my torch and moved about quietly and swiftly. The woods were dampened so I had to go in deep. Just as I was cutting off the suitable branches for the fire, I heard a terrifying snarl from behind. God, please wake me up from this nightmare...
I slowly turned and felt my heart jumped in my throat; there was a pack of hell hounds closing in on me. Oh crap! I felt my blood run cold as I gazed into their bloodshot eyes. This was definitely not the right time to panic. I unclasped my daggers and got into a defensive position, solely focusing on my targets as they formed a ring around me.
After that, things got a little fuzzy, they took turns to scratch and snap their jaws at me to keep me distracted. It almost felt as if they were playing with me, mocking me to make one wrong move so that they could gnaw at my bones with those razor-sharped fangs. Had there been two or three, I might have easily kept them at bay, but the fact that there were at least a dozen of them in the pitch dark whilst I was already exhausted from the long journey; gave them a 'slight' advantage over me. Soon enough, I was breathing ruggedly and my body was covered with scratches and wounds. I screamed in pain when one of them clawed from the back and my blade dropped to the ground.
In those split seconds, my family flashed before my eyes as I felt death creeping up on me. Just as I was about to fall on my knees, I saw my white knight cutting through the creatures of hell as he swung his lance ruthlessly forcing them to scamper back. Normally, I would say that I don't need rescuing but I have to admit that it was nice knowing someone's got my back.
"Come on, we need to move. It's not safe in here." Felix said as he briskly examined my wounds.
"Wait! What about the firewood?" I signaled at the woods.
"Seriously?" Lightning streaked the sky. Great, this day couldn't get any better.
"What? I didn't come all this way just to return empty-handed. Now pick them up!"
"I regret saving your ungrateful life." He grabbed the woods and I draped my arm around his shoulder, supporting me all the way back as I clutched my bleeding arm.
When we reached the campsite, everyone looked at us in shock.
"Here's your firewood master." Making sure to emphasize the last word, I took the woods from Felix and shoved it to Edward.
Alex anxiously stepped forward to help me but came to a halt when Evelin grabbed his hand. I snorted and turned towards them.
"Alex, do you have a minute?"
"Sure." I smiled as I felt a pair of eyes glaring at me.
He accompanied me inside the tent and gestured me to sit while he took out the items from the medical kit.
"What happened?" He asked as he cleaned my wounds.
"Bunch of hounds, nothing big," I answered casually.
"You should have known that it's not safe to go in the forest alone, especially at night. You're lucky to make it back in one piece." He starts applying ointment to the gashes.
"Thanks for caring about me, I should have asked for your help, right? It's not like you would refuse to assist me." His slight pause confirmed my doubts and I waited patiently for him to bandage my wounds.
"You should go now. Your 'girlfriend' will be worried sick," I spoke sarcastically.
"Make sure to change the bandages frequently otherwise it might get infected." Choosing to ignore the bitter remark, he left without sparing another glance. I breathe in relief, patting myself for controlling the strong urge to strangle him.