Wounded

As Kye slept, the day turned to night. Kye fluttered his eyes open slowly and sat upright against the trunk of a tree not too far away from where he had his scuffle with the female archer. His body throbbed with dull aches and sharp pains when he moved his wounded limbs. Once upright, Kye began to assess the situation. It wasn't safe out in the forest at night but Kye was close enough to the path that he could work his way through and reach the cabin safely. He would have to remove the arrows still stuck in his shoulder and thigh but it would be foolish to do so out here without proper medical equipment. There was a considerable amount of blood around that could attract monsters but Kye believed that monsters wouldn't go near the paths.

Still, staying here wasn't an option Kye wanted to entertain so with great effort, he picked himself up and walked over to the dead archer with his spear still in her leg. Using what force he could muster, he pulled the spear out but fell backwards as he was doing so, falling on his back. All his wounds flared up with pain and forced Kye to stay on the ground longer. Breathing heavily, Kye pushed aside the pain and got up, leaning on the spear shaft as a walking crutch and began to make his way back to the path.

Walking was hard and it didn't take long before Kye felt like he needed to rest again but, he continued forward and found the path. It was hard to see anything in the darkness but Kye was desperate to find his knife that he dropped when the female archer shot her first arrow. The knife had saved him many times in this fight so he was hesitant to just leave it behind. Kye searched around the path and used the end of the spear shaft to move dirt around to find it. After ten minutes, Kye felt his spear shaft hit something on the ground. He reached down to pick it up and was relieved to find that it was his knife. Not bothering to sheath it, Kye gripped it in his free hand and continued to walk onwards down the path towards the cabin.

After an excruciating hour walk, Kye eventually found the clearing and limped his way to the cabin. He reached the door and knocked, letting his guests know he was coming in. He opened the door to see Hakos with his sword drawn pointing at Kye. Once he realised that it wasn't one of the men chasing him, Hakos sheathed his sword and rushed up to Kye.

"Where do you th-"

He was about to chew Kye out for being late but noticed the arrows in Kye's flesh. His jaw hung open as he looked over Kye's state, seeing the numerous small cuts on his exposed arms and the major wounds, he dropped what he was about to say and helped Kye into the cabin.

"Great Nishira what happened out there?"

Kye was breathing heavily and winced in pain as he sat down.

"Hah hah... killed a few... hah... should only be six more."

"Never mind that for now, we have to get these arrows out."

Hakos ran into the bathroom to find the medicine kit that Kye had used to treat Thelos. He returned and began frantically going through the supplies looking for bandages. Hakos was not being quiet so Thelos, who was now able to walk and Nadiya woke up and came out into the living room. Hakos looked up and his eyes met with Nadiya.

"My Lady! Kye is badly injured, please prepare some hot water!"

His words sprung both of them awake and they looked at Kye who still had the arrows embedded in his flesh. Nadiya wasted no time rushing off to boil some water from the tap. Thelos walked over slowly as to not tear his stitches and pulled a chair closer to Kye.

"What happened out there, boy?"

Kye began to recount the day as Nadiya brought in the hot water and used soaked towels to gently wash around Kye's wounds. Thelos was thoroughly impressed when he heard why Kye had done and lamented that he could not have helped him in his current state. Seeing the young boy injured to such an extent hurt Thelos deeply as he knew that if they never came to this cabin, Kye would not have been dragged into this. Nadiya continued to help Hakos clean Kye's wounds with tears in her eyes. She felt similarly to Thelos and was ashamed that she was asking a boy younger than her to endure this. Hakos was satisfied with the cleanliness of the wounds and tightly gripped the shaft of the arrow in Kye's thigh.

"My Lady, please prepare a bandage to quickly cover the wound after I pull the arrow out."

Nadiya nodded and prepared a roll of bandage. Hakos looked at Kye and Kye nodded. With one swift motion, Hakos pulled the arrow out and Kye screamed in pain. The wound began to bleed but Nadiya was quick with the bandaging and it was quickly covered up. Hakos moved around to do the same with the arrow in Kye's shoulder with Nadiya following him. He nodded and pulled the arrow out cleanly which was followed by Kye's screams and Nadiya quickly bandaging up the wound. Next, they took off his shirt and began wrapping a bandage over his shoulder and around his torso to properly cover up the gash in his side.

They finished bandaging Kye up and packed away the medicine kit. Kye sat up and looked at his bag, contemplating if he should call for help with the emergency flare. His pride made him not want to but his gaze fell on Nadiya, who was desperately holding in her tears at the sight of Kye's wounded visage. He was tired and hurt, with only one capable warrior left, Kye felt it would be irresponsible to gamble their lives on his foolish pride. It was clear to him now that he could not handle this alone and needed support.

"Could... someone hand me my bag?"