“Ow… This is why I usually run away, y’know..” Myrin groaned, rolling over on her side. “That orc better not have ripped my favorite cloak or I just might lose it.” She wiggled her fingers tentatively and winced. “I can still move my fingers, but ouch.”
“Let’s get away from the action. I have some first aid supplies at home if you want them, Myrin.” Shadul was crouched next to her, and took a moment to snap off the bulk of the spear impaled into her leg.
“No, no. I might as well keep going.” Myrin struggled to her feet, unsheathing her dagger and looking back at Shadul’s wound. “You’re the one who needs a healer if anything. Do you want me to bring you to the edge of town. I think I could make it in a few jumps.” Her silhouette became fuzzy, trailing off in thin clouds of smoke.
Shadul shook her head. "If these bastards still have fight left in them, I do too."
Myrin grinned. “I like your attitude.” She turned to face the battalion of orcs still on the battlefield and readied her weapon. “Let’s do this.”
Shadul knocked the head of her axe on the ground, letting coagulated blood drop off. She slung it to rest on her shoulder, readying herself for the next orc. "Let's."
Divine was working on a group of orcs, having piled up a few bodies and was working on adding to the pile. "Jeez, how many of these dicks are there?" They muttered, tearing through one's neck.
There were only a handful of orcs left- probably 10, give or take. They still fought rabidly, almost as if they couldn't see their own numbers shrinking and falling before them.
Yama gave another resigned sigh. Even if there was something wrong that the orcs weren't telling them, there'd be no way to try and communicate now. Even worse still, they would simply try again if the orcs were simply shooed away. He took no joy in it but killing them seemed to be the most sensible option at this point. Bringing his right foot up once more, he gave another stomp, this time sending spires of rock straight into the remaining orcs from below.
Man, this sucks! Yama thought. It was cool to be the hero for all of five seconds, but now they're all dead, some of us are injured, and we didn't even make an effort to even talk with them!
He continued down this path of morose reflection, far removed from his initial excitement and terror when the battle started. When the dust cleared, Yama got down on his knees to pat Ferrenom on its shiny head (body? He hadn't a clue) before using his magic to send it back to his forge for some well-deserved rest.
Walking back to the group, now converging after they noticed there weren't any orcs left alive, he simply folded his arms and asked "Now what?"
Shadul gestured to her leg and Myrin's arm.
"What do you think? We have injuries, Yama. Some of us need to heal. It seems like only a handful of us are actually from here, so we need to go to somebody's home, it seems like. The Fat King can't help us there 'less we're just lookin' to numb the pain." Shadul laughed, but it was clear that she was in pain as her injuries dripped blood and bruised. "I have some stuff at my house.Don't know if any of you'd like the healing methods, but they work like a charm."
“That would be great,” Myrin said through gritted teeth. “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to get to you sooner and help. I probably could have stopped you from getting hurt.” Internally, Myrin cursed. It hadn’t even been a day and she was already getting attached to these people? This was bad.
“You couldn’t have done anything.” Shadul patted Myrin’s shoulder.
“Alright, you bastards. I know I’m going home for the time being. Feel free to tag along, but watch out for the gators.”
Caspian decided it was best not to ask further questions about the gators.
"I know a thing or two about healing injuries." She said, already examining her friends' wounds from a distance.
Divine shifted back to their more humanoid, natural form and examined their body for injuries. "My skin was pretty thick in that form, so I really only got a nail torn off, but that'll heal." They hummed, frowning.
"I can at least help plug the wound," Yama said. "A doctor friend of mine taught me a few things to… Oh, fuck!"
Focusing on a repurposed toolbox in his forge, he focused on the glyph inscribed on the front. That glyph helped him pull it out of the ground as it traveled underground to meet Yama's hand. "Shadul, you're going to want to sit down."
“What are you doing, you bastard?” Shadul dropped to the ground, wincing at the pain. “I can heal myself and frankly, I’d prefer to.”
"Are you sure? Those were some pretty bad hits. You shouldn't move too much, it could make it worse." Caspian replied, her voice and expression filled with concern. She felt a bit guilty seeing how injured her friends were when she barely had a scratch. Maybe she should have engaged in the battle more.
“I got fucken’… stuff at home. I just need to get back there. Then, when I’m all fixed up, I need to come back here and start gathering skulls. I’m on a tight schedule, I guess.” Shadul shrugged, putting pressure on her wound with a hand.
"Yes, but from what little I know about medicine, you got STABBED in the fucking LEG," Yama said, opening his toolbox to reveal gauze, bandaids, some homemade splints, and various bottles of pills, creams, and salves. Most of them were for him, blacksmithing being a dangerous job and all, but they would certainly work on other people if necessary.
"Because you were STABBED in the fucking LEG, I need to make sure you aren't going to bleed out, something you're doing a pretty decent job of at this point." He gestured to Shadul's leg, blood heavily staining her pant leg and dripping onto her shoe. "I know for a fact that there's a big-ass blood vessel in your leg that leads right back to your heart, and it's a miracle you aren't already feeling light-headed from blood loss!"
Taking out a roll of gauze and a green bottle labeled Surgical Spirits, he walked on his knees over to Shadul. "Come on, sit down and lift your pant leg up."
(It's not a thigh wound, is it? That might be awkward.)
(It…. is…. she’ll do it herself if it’s too awkward.)
She pulled up her pants leg, sighing. The wound was gross. There was still a bit of the spearhead lodged in the wound, plugging it up slightly.
(Nah, if she can pull her pant leg up, it's fine. I figured it would be like jeans where they can't go far and you'd have to take your pants off to address the wound. We're all good, though!)
"Yeah, see?! Here's your problem!" Yama cried, not wanting to poke the wound but getting his talon dangerously close. "Fortunately for you, that spearhead is plugging you up, so you aren't as bad for right now. Everyone, I need you to get around her and hold her. This is gonna suck."
(No, they're much looser)
"Gods Yama, I swear I can do it myself-" Shadul snarled, jerking her leg away from his talons. "If it's gonna hurt so bad then I can just sew it up at home."
"Abso-LUTELY not!" Yama cried. "I don't care HOW bull-headed you are, I guarantee you that I'm much worse, so you are sitting down and letting me make sure your leg doesn't fall off!"
Then, with a wry smile, "Or we could just amputate?"
Shadul sighed. "Somehow I feel like that would be the more preferable option."
She stayed put, waiting impatiently for Yama to do whatever he was going to do.
Pouring surgical spirits into a cloth, he turned to the others. "I wasn't kidding when I said I need you to hold her down," Yama said. "This is gonna hurt."