Silence filled the air.
The weather had died down, and the only sound was the faint ruffling of branches in the distance. Gabriel and the woman adventurer both lay there motionless.
A low groan from the woman broke the silence.
Her eyes began to flutter.
Ahh! What happened? The thought ran through her head as her body throbbed from head to toe.
The icy ground scratched at her skin.
Her eyes opened sharply as she sat up and pulled the robe over her exposed chest. Her memories had come flooding back.
She scanned the area, searching for the beast that was chasing her and the monster that healed her.
Her eyes fell first on Gabriel, who was lying face down on the ground next to her.
She froze, immediately catching a glimpse of the beast that was hunting her down
Did he kill that by himself?
Her eyes scanned up and down the beast. It has a hole in its chest.
Her mouth began to open a bit as the realisation settled in.
An intense pain set in, dissipating any sense of surprise.
She grabbed her shoulder as she looked down. The skin around the two wounds had melted together. A memory flashed through her mind of the demon-eyed adventurer holding her down and pouring a liquid onto her wound. She remembered the heat, the sizzling sound, the smell of a pig being cooked over an open fire. Then nothing.
She reached her hand down, searching the inside of one of her high boots, and pulled out a small, oddly shaped root from a plant. Snapped it in two, put one half in her mouth to chew and the other half back in her boot.
This should help with the pain. She thought as she looked over at Gabriel.
Is he dead?
As the words finished in her mind, a frosty mist escaped from Gabriel's mouth.
The woman breathed a sigh of relief.
Wait! So, he did kill it by himself? Her mouth fell open again.
"Hey, Hey, we need to get back." She reached over and pushed Gabriel's lifeless body.
He didn't respond.
She slowly stood. Keeping the robe towards her chin to ensure she didn't expose herself, the woman turned around, removing her ripped tunic and pulling off the robe. Shaking it out and wrapping it around.
She took her belt off her trousers. Placed it around the outside of the robe, pulled it tight and fastened it. Making sure there was no possibility of her chest accidentally exposing itself.
She turned to look at Gabriel.
Her eyes were drawn to the red puddle on the ground next to him.
Her modesty vanished from her mind as she dropped down next to him. Using all her strength to force him over onto his back.
Inspecting his body, she noticed the torn flesh on his abdomen. Still leaking fresh blood.
Sh*t! There's a lot of blood
"Hey, hey, wake up." She slapped his face.
Gabriel's eyes half opened.
He really does have demon eyes. A shudder went down her spine.
A grunt escaped Gabriel's throat. The kind an animal makes when struck by an arrow, that single sound before its instincts take over.
His face contorted, just enough to show discomfort. It was over in a flash.
The lady reached over to grab her ripped tunic off the ground and proceeded to cover his wound. She took off Gabriel's belt and wrapped it around his body over the tunic. "This is going to hurt".
She stared at him, his ruby red eyes showed no change. She pulled the belt tight, created a new hole in the belt and fastened the buckle. Through it all, he didn't react, not a flinch, not a sound, it was as if he couldn't feel the pain. She pulled out the other half of the oddly shaped root and placed it to Gabriel's lips.
He was reluctant to open it.
"Open, it's Dullhorn root. It tastes like sh*t, but it will dull the pain."
Gabriel pushed the root away.
"I don't need my senses dulled."
He began to sit up.
Demon! She shouted inwardly.
A howl echoed through the forest. Shaking the Goat's path.
The adventurer stood up. She reached out her hand to Gabriel.
"We need to get back".
He ignored her hand and struggled up by himself.
Keeping his face stoic.
I need to stop the bleeding soon.
He grabbed his equipment and brushed past the woman adventurer through the threshold into the forest.
"We have to move."
"Okay," the woman looked half-amused and began to follow.
…
Gabriel walked at a slower-than-normal pace. His hand was constantly pressing against his stomach as he walked.
What's her name? I've seen her before. The thought ran through his head.
The darkness had begun shrouding the forest, visibility was at its lowest. The nighttime sky was pitch black, but the moon hadn't started penetrating through the trees
The distant howls were getting louder.
Gabriel froze for a second, putting his hand in the air.
The adventurer was experienced. She knew this meant to halt her steps immediately and scan the tree line.
A bush just off to the right began rustling.
The shaking stopped, and out jumped a small creature.
The adventurer jumped. She managed to hold in the small cry that was trying to escape her lips.
Gabriel pretended not to notice as he focused on the small beast. It was a small orange fox, with eyes to match, long claws, and teeth that spread just past its lips. Two small bulges on its neck pulsed faintly where the venom sacs lay.
"It's a Dunefox. It smells death. It's going to feed on the corpses". Gabriel explained.
"I know what a Dunefox is! I'm a higher rank than you!"
Gabriel turned to look at the adventurer, his expression dismissive as he shifted his attention away from the Dunefox.
The woman scoffed, having seen Gabriel's dismissive look. Demon-eyed freak! I'm C-rank! She shouted inwardly.
The howling had stopped as the two continued along the natural path. The walk back to the town wasn't far, but with both injured, it would take much longer than usual. Behind them, the Dunefox lingered briefly before slipping away into the underbrush.
As they continued forward. The silence in the forest was deafening.
Gabriel's limp was worsening, and the pain the adventurer had soothed was beginning to return. They were closing in on the town.
"There's the edge of the fork!" the woman exclaimed as she quickened her pace.
Gabriel again raised his hand.
"What is it?" She whispered.
"A smell"
He stopped in his tracks. His hand was still in the air as he began scanning the area.
The forest stood still as they began scanning, looking for the source of the stench.
"What do you mean a –," her eyes came across a boot sticking out of the tree line.
Gabriel's eyes were already fixed on it.
They both approached slowly.
The smell was becoming overwhelming.
"One of the party must've been caught by the Vampire".
Gabriel turned towards the adventurer, expression unchanging, and shook his head.
"Fresh kills don't smell like that. It smells like the meat the tavern throws out every morning. Corpses only smell like that when rot sets in, as he turned back towards the corpse. He caught the note of another scent. A sweet scent.
Gabriel immediately stepped in front of the woman and raised his hand towards the hilt of his blade.
A tearing sound echoed around, his jaw tightened as the heat from his wound began spreading.
"Wait here," he said through clenched teeth.
The woman adventurer ignored him as they both approached steadily.
Gabriel thrust his blade into the ground next to the boot and crouched. It was an Elven girl, no way to tell her age, as elves age slower than humans.
She's a hunter, out hunting meat to sell to the tavern or the guild. Gabriel jumped to the conclusion by looking at her boots and trousers.
The adventurer turned and began to retch.
Gabriel began examining the rest of the body. Her tunic had been removed, and sigils were carved into her chest. Gabriel's eyes were drawn to the sigil under her neck.
He reached for his medallion. It's the insignia for the Archangel Mazrion. Are these other Archangel's insignia?
He didn't focus on this too long as he moved his eyes up to her face. Two hollow pits stared back at him. The sockets were blackened and uneven, the skin around them cracked and blistered like scorched bark. Thin trails of dried blood clung to her cheeks, streaking down to her jaw where the flesh had turned a sickly grey. The edges of the burns left ash from smoldering, releasing a faint, acrid scent of cooked flesh that mixed with the rot in the air.
What is that sweet smell?
Her mouth was open, like she was trying to let out a silent scream. Gabriel peeked inside the mouth. Her tongue had been removed.
"What kind of monster would do this? I've never seen anything like it," the woman spat out in between retches.
"The worst kind," Gabriel continued to examine the corpse.
He turned to the adventurer, still crouching.
"Humans"
The moon had finally decided to show its face. Penetrating the forest, shining down on the natural path like a divine light, guiding them home.
There is no divinity here, he thought as he began standing, gripping onto the hilt of his blade to help him.
"We should head back. I'll report this to Hanitz," the woman said gently.
Gabriel swayed, he was losing control of his body. The only thing holding him up was his grip on the hilt. The blood loss was finally showing its side effects.
The adventurer stepped to his side and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.
He was too weak to push her off.
"Let's get back," she said, beginning to guide him down the path.
He gripped his blade tighter, using a little bit of his remaining strength to pull it from the ground and proceeded to walk with the lady.
The Natural opening from the forest came into sight, the woman began quickening her pace.
As they made it out of the forest, Eldenreach came into view. In front of the wooden gates stood a giant, barking orders at the other adventurers.
Hanitz stopped in his tracks as two figures came into sight.
"Gilbert, tell the guards to open the gate. They're injured."
"Injured? I told you not to send the F-rank after the Ironstingers," He retorted.
"Get the gates open now." Hanitz snapped back as he was running to the injured pair.
The sound of metal clashing against itself swirled in the air. A thud, thud, thud followed.
"Tess, what happened out there? Gabriel said there were two." He barked whilst approaching.
Her name's Tess. Gabriel thought as his eyes got heavier.
Then silence.