Visitors

Kye spent another week continuing his routine, gathering in the forest, hunting when needed, taking plant samples and training. At night, Kye would work on his blueprints in his notebook and try to draw concepts of the runes he would use in the runic matrix. His days were peaceful and he still had many meals of meat leftover from the quillboar he had killed so his foraging was mainly for more luxury products like wild honey and wild vegetables. The day was bright and the sunlight flittered through the gaps in the leaves of the trees as Kye walked back to his cabin but despite the tranquil scene, he felt something amiss. Kye picked up his speed until the clearing was in sight upon which he saw a trail of blood leading from another part of the forest into the clearing and towards his cabin.

"The blood is still red so the thing that's bleeding must be nearby still."

Kye murmured to himself and drew the hunting knife from his ankle sheath. Crouching down and following the trail, Kye reached the door of the cabin where a bloody handprint rested on the door handle that was left by whoever was inside. Kye braced himself against the door before slamming it open and rolling through the door, popping up with his knife ready. Suddenly, a sword was swung at him but Kye was faster and brought his knife up to block. The sword bounced off the thick blade of the knife and Kye grabbed the arm of the person wielding the sword. Pulling him closer and cupping a hand behind his head, Kye threw the person to the ground, slamming their forehead into the floor. Kye brought his knife up but before he could finish a young girl's voice sounded out from beside him.

"STOP!"

Kye flicked his head to where the sound was coming from. Before him was a young girl with long flaxen hair and deep purple eyes. She had light freckles on her cheeks that added to her immature charm and a long face that matched her body perfectly. The main detail that stuck out to Kye was the long and pointed ears indicative of an elf. To her side was Kye's bed where an elven male in armour was laying with his hand clutching his side with a cloth, attempting to stem the flow of blood pouring out of a deep gash that cut through his armour. It was clear to Kye that these people weren't here to rob him and were simply seeking shelter but Kye didn't trust them any.

"I'll give you five seconds to tell me who you are and why I shouldn't kill you for trespassing, elf."

The girl was taken aback by Kye's rough words but answered nonetheless out of fear for what Kye might do.

"My name is Nadiya, I am a daughter of the Urwani elven clan. We were looking for shelter from a group of elven terrorists who seek my life."

"And why exactly are you so important that someone would try to take your life, hm? I want complete answers, not that shit."

"I am a candidate to the elven throne because of my recently awakened bloodline magic okay! Now let my guard go."

Kye stared the girl in the eyes yet she didn't waver in the face of his gaze. Kye sighed and got off the elven guard below him before sheathing his knife.

"You must be the one's who left the trail of blood here as well, huh?"

Nadiya nodded as she helped her guard off the ground. Kye had to do something about the blood, first and foremost. Not only would the trail lead their would-be assassins right here but the stench would also attract more dangerous animals to the area which would make foraging even harder for Kye in the future. Kye felt a gauntleted hand roughly grab his shoulder and spin him around. There was the face of an angry elven knight with blood trickling down his face from where Kye had slammed it into the wooden floor. Kye roughly brushed the hand off and pointed at the wounded knight on the bed.

"He's going to die if you do nothing. There is healing salve in the cupboard on the left and bandages in the bathroom cupboard under the sink. Help him and I'll go deal with the blood outside." Kye picked up his spear from the door and put it in his sling. He grabbed a small magic device that produced water from the spout and a cloth before heading outside to wash the blood out of the immediate area. It took him ten minutes to clear the blood trail a decent distance out before he returned to see the wounded knight having his wound cleaned by Nadiya as the other knight heald a cloth to his head. They both turned as they heard the door opening but seeing the young boy from before, they relaxed slightly. Kye went over to Nadiya's side and motioned for her to give the towel over to him.

"You're wasting time, the wound won't get any cleaner. By the looks of it, the wound wasn't a clean cut so the mangled flesh won't heal properly if we don't stitch it up and put some salve on it. Where you found the bandages there should be a while case, grab it for me."

Nadiya didn't put up any resistance and did as Kye said. While she didn't know this boy it was clear to her that he knew more about the practice of medicine than herself so she resigned herself to his orders. She brought the case back after a brief moment and Kye took out a spool of tough string and a needle. He looked the knight that was breathing heavily in the eye.

"This is going to hurt like all hell but it's the only way. Bite down on this cloth if you feel the need to scream."

Kye put a cloth in the knight's mouth and began stitching the wound shut. The knight jerked and let out a harsh grunt as the needle pierced his skin. Kye held the knight down on the bed with one hand while keeping the needle and thread steady.

"Hey! Stay still or it might do more harm than good!"

The knight grunted affirmatively and Kye continued, pausing after each puncture briefly to let the knight react to the pain before continuing. The process went on for a painstaking half an hour before Kye was finally done and cut the thread loose, tying the end of it. Kye leant back and wiped his brow with his forearm, breathing a sigh of relief that it went well. Kye opened a small glass jar that was full of a green gel and dipped a clean cloth into it before gently wiping over the knight's wound, allowing the gel to completely soak into the stitched wound while not ripping the fresh stitches. Kye then pulled a small brown pill from a smaller glass bottle and brought it up to the knight's mouth. He removed the cloth and placed the pill into his mouth.

"Chew that slowly, it should help with the pain so you can rest a bit and get some much-needed sleep."

"Thank... you..."

"Don't thank me yet, you're not out of the shit just yet."

The knight then passed out and fell into a deep sleep while breathing shallow breaths. Kye bottled everything back up, packed it away into the medicine case and put it back under the bathroom sink before returning to the main room where Nadiya and the other knight were. Kye looked to the knight leaning back in one of the chairs, keeping the cloth on his wounded face.

"You doing alright?"

"I'd be doing better without the gash in my forehead."

"If you've got the energy to bitch it musn't hurt that bad." Kye then turned his head to Nadiya. "And you? Were you injured in your escape?"

"Just a slight sprain on my left ankle from a trip I suffered running away."

Kye nodded and walked to the cooling box to grab out some ice blocks he had in there for his morning coffee. He wrapped some of them up into two cloths and handed one to Nadiya and one to the knight.

"The ice should help reduce the swelling so there won't be any lumps."

They both silently accepted the ice pack and placed it on their afflicted areas. Kye then brought a chair over and set it to face the both of them.

"We didn't exactly have the time earlier to properly introduce ourselves. My name is Kye, I know yours is Nadiya but what about you and your other knight friend?"

"Mine is none of your business, brat." Kye shook his head.

"Now now, I know I may have made you more intimately familiar with the floor than you would have liked but there is no need for such venom. Your friend would already be dead if not for my aid."

The elven knight scoffed before spitting out his answer. "Hakos."

"Alright Hakos, nice to meet you. The other one is?" Instead of Hakos, Nadiya answered Kye's question.

"He is Thelos, thank you very much for your assistance in treating him."

"You're welcome. Now I know we were a bit rushed before but how about you explain the details of your plight to me in a bit more detail before I decide how I'll deal with you." Hakos shouted out before Nadiya could answer.

"My lady, please! There is no need to tell this huma-"

"Silence Hakos! Need I remind you that this is his home that we barged in on!? He was within his rights to attack unknown strangers that broke into his house! He has helped Thelos extensively already so be quiet!" Hakos shrunk back down into his chair and glared at Kye.

"I apologise for him, he might be the youngest elven knight but he forgets himself sometimes."

"It's fine, no hard feelings. What I'm more interested in is how you managed to get here. According to the last map of the Runewalker territory I looked at, there should be no known elven clan inhabiting this forest and no major path this deep into the forest. So why are you all the way out here when there is nothing to be here for?" Hakos scoffed.

"You would think that human. We elves know the forests like the backs of our hands. What you might deem a blockade is actually much safer for us to traverse than your roads."

"Hakos I thought I asked you to remain silent?"

"But, my lady I-"

"Enough. Stay silent." Nadiya turned to look Kye in the eye.

"He is right in saying that this forest remains the safest route for our people through this territory, its cover allowed us to move unfettered for many days before we were ambushed by a group of elves who call themselves 'The Unbound'. They are elves who have forsaken their clans and banded together to raid trade caravans for profit."

Kye nodded, urging her to continue her story.

"The Unbound were likely paid by someone within an enemy clan to eliminate me during my passage to The Holy Sanctuary within the Gel'thal forest. It was there where I would take place in the ritual to become the new elven queen. Since I am most favoured among all the candidates, it is probable that a powerful clan that would rather not see me ascend to the throne tried to eliminate me before I reached The Holy Sanctuary."

She was about to continue but Kye interrupted her.

"We'll talk more about this later. You're likely tired from this ordeal and the sun is beginning to set. I'll cook us something and then you can rest for the evening. Although I only have the one bed and it's been taken by your injured friend, the couch is small yet comfy so you can take that. Hakos will have to make do with whatever else and I'll figure something out."

Nadiya bowed her head.

"I appreciate your hospitality."

Kye nodded in acknowledgement and went into the kitchen o prepare their meal. He had no idea if elves ate meat but for today, they would have to as it was all he had and his foraging time was cut short by the medical emergency he was faced with earlier.

"Things can never be simple, can they?"

Kye mumbled to himself as he began cooking. He was looking forward to a hot meal and some rest after the pulse-pounding events of the day came to a close. Kye hoped his new guests could rest up and be on their way and bring a peaceful end to this encounter.