Chapter 17 - Kill Ten Hordelings (Part Three).

Søren groaned and looked at the dead Hordeling Spawn still pinning him to the ground.

"You fucking reek," he choked out. A sizzle of acidic spit dripped onto his stomach, drawing a fresh grimace of pain. He took a moment to glance at his status window. The copper icon had not changed. His health bar had dipped down to 83 out of 275, his Endurance still hadn't budged. I wonder what it's used for. Maybe crafting. His TEK had gone back up a little bit, bolstered by the small amount he'd just earned from slaying the hordeling. Søren checked his chat log briefly and then dismissed the interface.

You have defeated a Hordeling Spawn (Copper II).

You have earned 25 TEK. (990 / 2100)

You have lost 25 reputation with Umber Horde.

You have lost 15 reputation with The Collective.

Søren then took the crystal dagger in his right hand and hacked at the hordeling's serrated talon that was still pinned through his side. Each strike caused the talon to shift against his hip bone. The feel of it scraping back and forth in his flesh made him more nauseous than the pain did. The crystal dagger broke through the chitin shell of the talon and Søren was able to hack through the rest of it fairly quickly. His health had dropped a few more points while finishing it up. The weight on his legs suddenly lifted as Neeka levered the corpse of the hordeling off of him using her spear.

"Thank you," Søren mumbled. He fumbled the satchel off his back and opened it. Rather than rummage around inside the satchel, he upended the bag and dumped the contents out. Neeka stepped over cautiously and watched with interest. He took the expired ointment and scooped the goop out, flicking it to the side. He closed his eyes and grimaced as a wave of pain wracked his body from that motion. When he was able to open his eyes again, he saw Neeka had moved even closer and picked up one of the other jars of antibiotic ointment.

"Can you take this and fill it with water please?" Søren asked. He pointed at the jar and imitated the sound of water dripping by flicking his cheek with his finger and making an o-shape with his mouth. "Water."

Neeka reached up and tried to mimic the water drop sound with her fore-claw on her hand.

"Ugh, no. Water. Please," Søren asked and made a drinking motion with the mostly empty jar. Neeka turned both her eyes towards him and nodded once. Her clawed fingers delicately took the jar from Søren. She vanished into the tunnels, heading towards the sound of water. Søren let his head rest on the stone floor for a moment. Would have been nice if there were some pain killers included, he groused with a thought. While he waited for Neeka to return, he opened another jar of the antibiotic ointment, one of the large packages of bandages, and set a compression bandage to the side. The last item retrieved from the pile of supplies was the [Tincture of Iodine].

"Glad mom insisted on first aid classes," Søren groaned. The blood seeping from the wound around the talon in his side had slowed considerably, but the pain from it was still on the upper end of the scale. Søren's trembling hands managed to open the tincture without spilling any. He tipped the cool bottle over onto his wound. The rich, dark amber color of the tincture stained his flesh brown and darkened the stone floor where it dripped from his side. Søren took hold of the talon, careful to avoid the serrated edge. Fortunately for Søren, the serration wasn't deep enough to get stuck in his flesh when pulled backwards.

Neeka returned just before Søren was able to muster up the strength of will to dislodge the talon. She carried the jar between her hands, cradled in the sharp talons that ended each digit. Three widely spaced fingers and a single, larger thumb opposite on each hand. Her feet had the same arrangement of digits and claws. Probably a pretty good climber, Søren thought as he took the jar from Neeka. He added one of the water purification tablets to the container and capped the jar.

"Can you pull this out?" he asked Neeka as he set the jar down to his side. His hands went to the talon still embedded in his side and mimed a pulling motion, upwards and away from him. The Fuerven Speaker tilted her head at him, one eye on his face, the other on the broken talon. She simply nodded once, as she had many times, and faster than his eyes could follow, she yanked the talon out. Bright red blood flowed from the wound and Søren howled in pain.

He reached over to the jar of water Neeka had retrieved and tried to remove the cap. Lingering pain made his hands tremble so bad that most of the water would have spilled onto the floor had he been able to open it. Søren closed his eyes and tried to focus and ignore the pain, but was having serious trouble doing so. Neeka stepped over him to the other side and took the jar from his hands. She swirled the water around inside and then carefully opened it before pouring it over the bleeding wounds.

Søren slathered a gob of antibiotic ointment into the wound after the blood had slowed. He tried to roll onto his side to do the same for his back, but the pain left him nearly senseless. Neeka scooped out a clawful of the ointment and transferred it to the side of a second claw. Carefully, she worked the ointment onto the exit wound in his lower back. Søren grabbed the open package of bandages and pressed them onto the wounds. The pain and blood loss caused him to pass out. The last thing he saw was a notification for a new skill.

Congratulations! You have learned [First Aid]. This skill allows you to bandage wounds to prevent blood loss and promote healing, reduce movement, attack, and defense penalties from lingering wounds, and provides instructions on how to treat many common wounds and ailments.

Neeka lifted the insensate person she called Dirt into a sitting position and placed additional bandages on top of the wounds and used the stretchy fabric to bind them to his torso. So many treasures from the ruins of the Gods. Could he be one in human form? It has been ages since any of them were seen. The last Surge killed so many of us that knew the old stories. Neeka turned and coughed dismissively, purging the thoughts and memories from her mind that would lead her down a dark path. She packed away Dirt's belongings into the white satchel and set it to the side.

"Time to go Dirt," Neeka said.

She took a sip of water, placed a clawful of leafy herbs and two stems of a pale blue fungus into her mouth, and chewed. She then spat out the mixture of fungus, water, and other ground up herbs she had harvested near the pool of water in the upper caverns. She rolled the green and brown mush between her scaled palms into a small marble shape and placed it beneath Søren's tongue. The reaction was immediate and Neeka felt her [Herbalism] skill increase slightly from the successful stimulant and pain reliever she had created. Her traveling companion gasped loudly and had to steady themselves against the corpse of the hordeling.

Dirt started chattering in that musical sounding language of theirs and Neeka politely listened until Dirt was done. Then she patted him on the head and rose from her crouched position, her spear carried in her other hand. Dirt made a face at Neeka, but like most of his expressions, she had trouble deciding what the meanings of them were. Is better this way, she thought. Time to learn without distraction. Neeka helped Dirt to his feet and offered him the already packed satchel.

Søren winced in pain and grunted quietly, but he kept silent otherwise as he slung the satchel over his left shoulder, away from the injury he had sustained. What the hell is in this wad of mush Neeka put in my mouth?! Søren could still feel the tingling sensation left by the substance he was chewing on. He had started to spit it out, but the stern look from Neeka made him suffer through the awful taste. It made his mouth water in addition to keeping him alert, relatively pain free, and mobile. He was having trouble though, keeping drool from dribbling out of his mouth. Surreptitiously, though he was pretty sure Neeka knew, Søren leaned over and let a stream of foul smelling drool spill onto the cavern floor off to the side of the path. Chewed up flecks of green leaves and a part of a stem slipped out as well.

Søren closed his eyes and steeled himself as the bile rose in his throat and nausea stirred in his gut. The moment passed, and he was able to straighten his back and continue following after Neeka, who had not stopped. The pair exited the caverns finally and Søren was shocked. The cave exited onto a small plateau on the side of a low mountain, just below the tree line. Tall, spindly trees with dark trunks of smooth bark filled the expanse in front of him. The color and texture of the wood reminded Søren of the spear Neeka carried.

Above them, the sky was bright, cerulean blue with wisps of white clouds smeared across the vista. A small white sun hung in the sky off in the horizon in the direction of the valley below them. Dominating the view however was the massive gas giant and its multitude of reds, oranges, and yellows. It will be interesting to study the orbital mechanics of this system when I have the chance, he thought as he looked up into the depths of the swirling clouds on the giant planet above. The influence it had on cultural development must also have been tremendous.

Søren watched as Neeka stepped towards the edge of the plateau and then crunched the soil and grass between her toe-claws, carving furrows in the loam. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. He felt more than he saw, as her whole body relaxed. Søren hobbled over to the edge and paused beside her, closed his eyes, and took in a deep breath as well. The rich scent of life itself and not the sterile nature of the Gateway Station filled his mind and body.

"Breathtaking," he said simply. Neeka just nodded at his side and turned away to head down the path into the heavily forested valley. Søren sighed. He had been hoping to get a respite, but the reserves of stamina in this tiny lizard-person that had contributed greatly to his continued survival was astonishing. He hobbled after her, a tiny grunt of pain escaping every few steps.

Neeka was home. The sights, the sounds, even the scents were all as she remembered. Even the faint scent of the hordeling ichor and blood on Dirt next to her couldn't spoil her mood. The path was eaten away beneath her steady stride as she led Dirt down the mountainside on the way to her people's village. A slight tremor passed through her tail at the thought of her village. One eye flicked up towards the giant cloud planet they called, the Destroyer. The Red Eyes of Destroyer were out of place from what she recalled. Significantly out of place.

Been many cycles since I died it seems. Neeka sighed. If any left what sing my Name, will be surprised. Perhaps be for best. Can stop being Speaker and enjoy new life. Perhaps Dirt and I can explore.

Her right eye flicked away from the Destroyer and focused on Dirt behind her. The other eye kept watch on the path ahead. Not for the first time, nor for the last time, she wondered how he and those like him had survived wherever this planet of dirt was. The pair of them made decent time along the path, despite Dirt's injuries. The Lifegiver, the white ball of light that her people revered, was near the horizon when Neeka and Dirt reached the outskirts of the village. Neeka coughed and was dismayed, though few would see it on her features.

The village had fallen into disarray. The barrier fence around the village was overgrown with weeds and strangling vines. Some of the deadly vines had even reached across the gap into the village and were taking over a hut falling apart. There were no sentries posted at the entrance either. Some life must still be present however. Neeka could hear children playing in the distance, the chimes of a crystalsmith plying their trade, and wisps of smoke rising over rooftops at the far end of the village. Her tail twitched in a display of disbelief and sorrow unbecoming a Speaker of her strength and will.

"Welcome to Home," Neeka said to Dirt.