Chapter 10

It had been three days since I woke up from my two-day slumber. I decided I couldn't wait any longer to retrieve the saddlebags and saddle from Nepril's corpse. It was going to be a difficult journey however. My wounds weren't entirely healed and even if they had it would still take multiple trips on foot.

The cut across my chest had now completely healed leaving only a thin scar behind in its place. The cut on my back was healing nicely and the scab had even started peeling off around the edges. My leg could support my weight better, though I still walked with a limp and there was still a thick scab that had not yet started to peel. My shoulder was its own story however. I still did not have full range of motion and trying to carry anything heavier than a few pounds was nearly impossible. While the surface had formed a thick scab on the front and back it was hard to tell how the internal healing was going. At this point I was just happy to have avoided infections and that the healing process, while seemingly slow, appeared to be progressing. It would be best if I could go see a healer, but at this point that was to risky to even be an option.

I put my clothes on in preparation to head down the mountain, nothing special just some tan buckskin leggings, a lightweight green linen shirt, and my boots. I put my daggers on my belt but left my bow at home, with my shoulders condition there was no way I could use it anyway. Once I was ready to go I stepped outside and took a breath of fresh air to prepare for the task ahead of me. I looked up at the sky and noticed there were storm clouds off in the distance.

"Looks like I've only got a few hours to get this done" I said to myself.

Turning down the mountain I headed to where I remembered Nepril was slain. The trek through the woods was uneventful. I saw no deer or squirrels, I heard no bird song, even the wind was still. It was if the mountain mourned with me. The first sound I heard was the bubbling creek in the distance and I knew I was close. I paused and listened to the babble of the creek, almost taunting me to come forward, and had to take a break to gather my emotions before I went any further.

My heart was heavy and it felt as if a weight was on my chest as I started pushing through the woods again. Before I saw her the first thing that hit me was the smell. I knew it had been long enough for decomposition to start, but i wasn't prepared for the smell to be quite that strong. I pushed a little further forward and there she was. Suddenly the grief was overwhelming. I fell to my knees and for the first time since we reached the mountain I cried.

Seeing Nepril's lifeless, bloated body skewered by arrows was just to much for me in that moment. All of the anger and frustration from the last few years came out in those moments. She was the last remaining thing I had from my past, my longest companion, and now she too was gone. As the tears dried up I regained my composure and climbed back to my feet. Walking over to her body I brushed my hand through her mane one last time and set to work.

I unbuckled her saddle and undid the straps that secured the saddlebags. Now I just had to pull them out from underneath her. I decided I would have to untie the saddle bags from each other and reconnect them once I got them out. Having done that the saddle bag on top was easy to remove and set to the side. I took hold of the saddle bag underneath her and pulled. My injured shoulder ached but the thin straps for the saddle bag came out from underneath her easy enough, the real struggle would be the saddle. I took the second saddle bag and re-tied the two together and left them to the side. Walking around Nepril's body to her back I sat on the ground and took hold of the saddle horn and the rear edge of the saddle. I pulled hard and gasped in pain and let go as my shoulder flared in pain. I knew I needed this saddle so I set my resolve to retrieve it and push through the pain. Planting my feet on Nepril's back, took hold of the saddle again, and pulled with all my might. As the saddle pulled free there was a white hot pain in my shoulder as I felt something inside pull apart and I felt the scab on my back crack as the muscles flexed. When the saddle finally came free I fell back on the ground panting and sweating from the exertion and pain.

After a few minutes I climbed to my feet, grabbed one of the stirrups with my good arm, and drug it over to the saddle bags. Dropping the stirrup I looked down and sighed wondering how I was going to get these up the mountain in my condition. "Well, no time to wait if I want to beat the storm coming" I mumbled to myself. Stooping down I grabbed the tie strings of the saddle bags and pulled them up to hang off my right shoulder ignoring the twinge of pain in my back and shoulder. Taking a deep breath I turned and set off back towards my house.

The journey was slow, but not as slow as I thought it would be. I made it back to my house and took them inside laying them on the table and immediately set off back down the mountain not wanting to waste the extra time I had. I reached Nepril's corpse and looked up to the sky. The storm was close but I should hopefully have enough time to get the saddle back home before the storm reached me. I had to use both hands to heave the saddle onto my shoulders grunting at the pain it caused. I grimaced in pain as the saddle settled on my shoulders and knew that this would be much more difficult than the saddle bags.

I used my good hand to help steady and support the saddle on my shoulders and was forced to use my injured arm to grasp onto trees to help pull myself up the mountain. I was moving much slower than I thought i would, fighting against exhaustion and pain. I was only half way home when I heard the first rumble of thunder in the distance. I paused just long enough to see the dark storm clouds rolling towards me like dark horsemen riding across the sky with thundering hooves. I was about 600 meters from my house when a loud thunder clap like a tree snapping in half sounded over my head and it started to rain. At first it wasn't so bad but by the time I had walked another 300 meters it had really started to downpour. Thankfully I made it home safely, only slipping on wet rocks a couple times, and set the saddle down in the corner by the door. Dripping wet I stripped off my clothes, started a fire, and sat down in a chair.

"Now how would one go about changing something that seems so unchangeable?" I thought to myself.