SWNOVELS Chapter 16 - Altenite
I popped the flowers into my mouth and started chewing before I could even stop myself. I didn’t know this plant — I knew nothing of its potential powers, and wether they’d be helpful or harmful.
I had never been taught wether I should’ve mashed them into a paste and applied it topically, brewed them into a tea, or used their extract in a tincture or ointment — but somehow, I knew what I needed to do. I felt it in my bones.
Warrian watched me warily, as I chewed the flowers, and swallowed them.
“Now what?” he asked skeptically.
“Now, the bleeding is going to stop,” I said, willing it to happen.
I needed this wound to heal itself — I couldn’t bleed out here, in this strange world, away from my brothers. I couldn’t die before seeing them again. I wouldn’t let myself. Warrian crouched down by my side, gently picking up the elbow of my injured arm and inspecting my wounds.
“It did,” he said, his voice laced with a strange mix of unease and awe.
I flicked my eyes to my wound in surprise. The blood had indeed stopped trickling from the gaping gashes. There was still some dripping, but the liquid already seemed more viscous, as it was probably starting to coagulate.
“See?” I said, mostly trying to convince myself, “it’s already working.”
Warrian didn’t seem too sure.
“Let’s go,” he said, after inspecting my arm some more. “We still need a healer. Maybe you should stay here while I get one.”
I looked around, not too keen on the idea of being left alone in these woods, especially now that I was injured.
“Can’t we summon one of those Nioph’s, to take us back to the camp?” I asked.
Warrian chuckled and shook his head. “You can’t really ‘summon’ one of those,” he explained, “you’d have to catch one, and domesticate it.”
“Thoridor has one,” I tried, “can’t we just use his?”
Warrian shook his head again. “They only listen to their owner.”
I sighed. “Well, how does one domesticate a Nioph?” I asked, holding onto the last glimmer of hope.
Warrian shrugged. “I have never been able to. There is not just one way to do it — you just have to make it surrender to you somehow.”
I stared ahead, my sight reaching no further than the nearest few trees. I knew walking back in my current state was not an option, I was too weakened by my blood loss. But being left here, in the dark, by myself…
“I’m coming with you,” I decided, and got back on my feet.
Warrian looked like he was going to protest, but sighed instead. “Alright,” he said, “let’s see how far we make it until you crash.”
We began walking into the dark woods. I squinted in a futile attempt to see clearer, but kept stumbling every few steps.
“It’s almost like you’re blind,” Warrian joked, extending his hand.
“It’s pitch black!” I countered, grabbing onto his arm. “Wait… Can you see clearly?”
Warrian shrugged as he effortlessly guided me through the woods, dodging tree stumps and exposed roots. “Not as clearly as I can during the bright period,” he said, “but yeah, at least I can see where I’m going. Which is more than I can say about your little human eyes, clearly.”
He winked at me, and I hoped his Ardanian eyes wouldn’t be trained enough to reveal the blush that was spreading onto my cheeks.
“How did you know? About the Altenite?” Warrian asked. I glanced down. I had pulled my arm into my coat, using the sleeve to lock it in place against my body.
I shrugged. “It just… it called to me. I don’t know how else to explain it.”
Warrian guided me around a particularly large tree stump I would have probably tripped on if he hadn’t been there. “Does that happen a lot?” he asked, “do humans communicate with plants?”
I giggled. “No,” I said, “not that I know of. But for me, every once in a while, I just feel like I know what I can use a plant or mushroom for. It’s worked pretty well so far.”
Suddenly, Warrian’s hand shot out and slammed into my chest, pinning me into the tree behind me with a forceful thud. He jumped in front of me and covered my mouth with his hand. I wanted to fight him off, but then I saw the terror in his eyes.
I stopped my trashing around and held my breath as I tried to figure out what was happening. Then, I felt it. The low rumble in the floor, and the loaded silence in the air. Warrian brought a finger up to his lips, gesturing for me to be silent.
Warrian kept my head pinned into the tree as he slowly turned his head to the side. Even in the dim light, I could see him paling at whatever he was looking at. He removed his hand from my mouth, and lowered it, grabbing onto my hand.
“Run,” he mouthed, and took off sprinting, dragging me with him.
I don’t know what it was — the fear of the unknown, the ominous vibrations beneath my feet, or Warrian’s inhuman abilities, but we dashed through the forest with a velocity that left my senses struggling to keep pace.
Whatever was chasing us — it was gaining on us, I could feel it. Its presence grew closer and closer, until I could practically feel it hovering over us as we dodged trees and roots left and right. We weren’t going to make it. Then, an idea came to me. A deadly one — but we were probably dying anyway. I took a deep breath and yipped. I yipped as loudly as I could, trying to mimic Thoridor to the best of my abilities. At first, nothing happened. We just kept sprinting, taking quick turns, trying to shake off our pursuer. But then, I heard a distant thudding of heavy paws.