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Hi guys. I got bored. Here’s part two!

Niarok parried, panting. His arm felt like lead. He couldn’t hold much longer.

That’s when the shadow flew over him from above.

“YILA!” he screamed, knowing what his sister was doing. Panic burned his veins.

His sister faced off against the werewolf, her blue eyes burning coals. But Niarok could hear her wheezing. Her asthma would take her faster than the werewolf could.

Niarok bared his sword and prepared to attack the werewolf from behind. Yila’s knife flew. It was deflected and spun off course. She put an arrow to her bow string and drew back, but her eyes went out of focus. Niarok pulled up short.

What happens if she misses and I’m behind the werewolf?

The arrow flew.

Niarok jumped back as the werewolf fell writhing to the ground. He rushed to his sister, who collapsed to the ground.

“YILA!” he cried.

The werewolf moved.

Niarok jerked. “Yila! Get up!”

The werewolf lunged at lightning speed, clamping its jaws down on Yila’s shoulder.

“NOOO!” Niarok yelled.

The werewolf never saw the light of day again.

~~~

Niarok fell to his knees beside his bleeding, suffocating, unconscious sister. Anger at life’s injustices warred within him, but he shook it away, reaching for his herb pack.

He shuffled around inside of it, searching desperately for the herb that would restore Yila’s ability to breathe.

His fingers closed around the fuzzy leaf and he ripped it from the bag.

With deft hands he tore the leaf and mashed it into a pulp in his hands. He forced Yila’s clamped jaw open and administered the pulp.

Yila gasped for breath and her eyes fluttered open.

Niarok heaved a sigh of relief.

“Roky?” Yila whispered.

Niarok smiled. “Yeah. You need to stop almost dying.”

Yila grinned, but the grin morphed into a grimace. “Those were teeth.”

Niarok flinched. “Unfortunately.”

Yila squinted. “Poisonous teeth.”

Niarok lowered his head. “Yeah.”

Yila fought to sit up. “How long do I have?”

Niarok grimaced. “A week. But you’ll be delirious in about three hours from now.”

Yila shut her eyes against the pain and crawled over to her brother, who set to binding the wound. He put a litany of herbs beneath the bandage, knowing nothing would stop the poisoning.

Niarok sighed. If only I’d kept the Mirianweed…

Yila leaned her head against her brother’s shoulder and sighed too. Niarok couldn’t help but admire her. She was tough. She knew the stakes. He didn’t have to waste energy counseling her on the intricacies of life.

But he couldn’t bear the thought of letting her die.

Yila motioned toward the sky, and Niarok looked up. Stars pricked the canopy of night and twinkled down on the lonely siblings bleeding in the middle of a battlefield.

Niarok put an arm around his sister, and she leaned into him. Niarok’s mind raced through possibilities. The only way to stop the poisoning was with Mirianweed. He couldn’t get Mirianweed except in swamps, and as far as he knew, there weren’t any swamps in this wasteland of a place.

Yila grunted, and Niarok turned to see the beginnings of swelling in her right arm.

“I love you, Roky,” Yila whispered, then curled up in the grass and fell asleep.

Niarok growled. Why does she think sleeping is such a great coping mechanism?

Probably because it was.

Whatever.

Niarok left her lying on the ground while he went in search of their scattered weapons. He wasn’t leaving until he found every last one of Yila’s knives. If he left any of them behind, she would personally kill him later.

~~~

Yila raised her head. The world was moving. Her eyes felt gritty, and her head pounded massively. A throbbing, burning pain tore through her shoulder every time the world moved.

Yila opened her eyes. At first all she saw were blurry shapes, but they slowly morphed into a plain lit in the early light of morning. Yila twisted her head to see behind her and immediately regretted the action.

The world stopped moving.

Niarok’s face came into motion above her.

Yila questioned him with her eyes.

“I see a castle. Looks kind of old and abandoned. I’m thinking there’s going to be Mirianweed in what’s left of the moat,” Niarok stated.

Yila grunted.

Not that she didn’t appreciate her brother’s attempts to help her, but everything hurt.

“I thought you said I’d be delirious?” Yila choked out from a constricted throat.

Niarok glanced down at her. “Oh. You will be. It’s only been two hours.”

Yila’s eyes widened. This was about to get fun.

 

Sorry I got carried away…😶🙄😏

Did I mention I was bored?… 😉