Dire Straits!

The footsteps drew closer, but I was already fading in between darkness and blurriness.

As a soft hand wrapped itself underneath my arm, I finally lost the fight to the darkness.

An indeterminable time later, I awoke, my eyelids heavy, and my heart beating painfully.

As each heartbeat forced more pain into my system, I gasped as my eyes flew open, and I scanned around in a panic.

Only to see Cathy kneeling beside Duncan and Dunkirk, both of whom were unconscious.

On hearing my gasp, she turned around and ran toward me with a look of relief that changed as she saw my twisted face.

Looking around, I saw that we were still in the clearing and that meant that there was hope.

"Blue vial…" I grunted out.

"What?" she said blankly.

"On the ground, a blue vial. Medicine… need it n-n-now!" I croaked out.

Quickly, Cathy scanned the ground and within a few minutes, as my body convulsed even more violently, she came running back with a blue vial that had a crack in it with half the contents gone.

Unable to speak, I looked at her pleadingly as she hesitated, while looking at Duncan's comatose body, before she gritted her teeth and tilted my head back, placing the vial at my lips.

Greedily drinking the concoction inside, I felt my heart beat slowly fall back to normal, and the pain receded like the tides.

For a long moment, I just sucked in deep breaths, one after the other.

Then, looking thankfully at Cathy, I muttered a quick thanks at which she nodded before the worried expression came back on her face.

Turning my gaze to my body, I grimaced as I saw my left hand, still useless.

I had a hole each in my shoulder and side that was slowly closing as the pain of ten thousand ant bites ran through me.

Luckily, nothing major had been run through, and it was just flesh wounds.

The thing that I was concerned with was my leg.

Flopping forward, I gripped the earth with my functional right hand and pushed off it, with the leg that the spider had stabbed scrabbling on the ground for a brief moment before it steadied.

Then cautiously, I placed my other broken leg on the ground and fire ran through me. But it held, and I took one step, then another.

Limping, I made my way to Duncan and Dunkirk.

Examining them, I sucked in a deep breath as I saw Duncan's body, which had three holes in it, similar to mine, all in the upper torso.

Quickly summoning threads and needles, along with water that I poured over the wounds; I cleaned up the ghastly wounds as best as I could before I awkwardly sutured the wounds with one hand, with the other end of the thread clenched in my mouth.

Cathy watched, worry evident in her eyes, while also keeping a sharp lookout for more monsters.

A long while later, I was done, but I was swaying, the exhaustion in me running bone deep while my own injuries cried out in agony.

Ignoring them, I moved to Dunkirk, only to pause as I realized there were no external injuries.

Carefully running my hands over his body, I shook my head as I found bones out of place, and a big lump on the back of his head.

"Where did you find him," I asked Cathy.

"Against a tree," she replied quickly.

"Describe it," I rasped.

Frowning as she recollected, Cathy said, "He was lying against a tree with his head bowed in front, and his chainmail and gambeson sunk inside."

"Bal…" I cursed.

Then, looking at the sky, I sucked in a deep breath and said evenly, "Cathy… I need you to help me."

"How?" she asked, her eyes still worried as she glanced between Duncan and Dunkirk.

Hacking, I spat, and a bloody ball of phlegm flew out, before I cleared my throat and said, "Place Duncan on my back, and then give me Dunkirk from the front. I'll carry them, and you'll have to guard us while we leave the forest."

"What," Cathy cried out. "How are you going to carry both of them? Plus, you're injured too!"

Grimly, I said, "We don't have any other choice," and I jerked my head toward the dead monsters all around us.

Paling as she understood what I meant, Cathy gritted her teeth before she said, "Give me a minute,"

And then rifling through Duncan's body as I watched warily, she lifted a finite stone with satisfaction before walking to the dead Tarantula Lord's body and sucking the entire thing into the finite stone as I watched wide eyed.

"Was that necessary?" I asked impatiently.

Glancing at me, Cathy murmured, "Potions will cost a lot of money, and that lord will fetch us that."

I fell silent as I understood that it was I who wasn't thinking clearly.

Then I grunted as Cathy carefully placed Duncan on my back. My leg buckled for a brief second before they stabilized, and then, tossing some rope to Cathy, she got to work on tying Duncan securely to my back.

During the entire time, we kept casting nervous glances at the treeline, hoping that nothing would come crashing through.

Gesturing toward Dunkirk, once Duncan had been securely tied, I grunted again as Cathy hefted him and handed him carefully over to me.

For a moment, I stood there, getting used to the weight as my body groaned in protest.

Then, I took one step. And another. Shaking steps, perhaps. Ungainly steps for sure. But steps nonetheless.

And without looking back, I walked to the edge of the treeline in the direction that we had walked from just a few long hours before while Cathy guarded me.

Twitching at every sound, we moved cautiously through the forest at a snail's pace.

Cathy fought off a few opportunistic monsters, while I stood like a tree planted into the earth, incapable of dodging or doing anything more than praying.

But in this manner, we made our way to the edge of the forest, and I relaxed a tiny bit.

Only for a blur to register in my eyes, and grunting, I twisted my body as the blur scraped past me, causing Dunkirk to give out an inaudible cry while still unconscious as his body bore the brunt of the attack.

Then, Cathy was charging up to the monster, which was a large cat that was spitting furiously and clawing at Cathy while running in fast leaps that carried it far.

Cathy moved with tired grace as her dagger moved, gleaming dangerously, and eventually it found the feline's neck, and with a final hiss; the feline fell, and we were out of the forest of death…. Where death had nearly taken us.

But I was spent and so was Cathy, covered in wounds as she was during our dangerous trek back.

Duncan and Dunkirk were still unconscious, and Yamal was close to 6 hours away.

My warforce potion would last for perhaps an hour or two more.

Things were grim, and we were in dire straits.

Carefully laying Dunkirk on the ground a fair distance from the forest, I gestured at Cathy to untie Duncan and laying him also beside Dunkirk; we looked at each other exhausted.

Clearing my throat, I spoke, "I'll go get help. You'll have to stay here."

"What," Cathy cried out. "How are you going to get to Yamal like that?"

"No other choice," I said, as I smiled bitterly. "I can't fight the way I am, and I won't be able to protect them if any beast come. Besides, I don't think I can last till you come back."

Narrowing her eyes, Cathy looked at me and asked with her hands on her waist, "Why?"

"The blue vial keeps me alive. I don't have any more of that right now. The only way out is if you're a silver rank… but you're not."

Cursing, Cathy stared at me as her face twisted in worry and pity before she asked, "I'm an iron rank 5 star. Is that not enough?"

Shaking my head wearily, I stayed silent before I glanced at the father and son lying side by side, and firmed up my decision.

Waving my hand behind me, I broke into a limping jog, stubbornly forcing all the warforce into my heart, and locking it in place.

It was a long way to Yamal.

I don't know if I will make it.

But, I will try.

I will always try.

As long as there is hope, I will not give up.