Stranded – A Warrior Story

This is a short snippet I re-worked from the previous draft of my novel in progress, Warrior, though in the new timeline it would take place in book 2 of my planned trilogy, Survivor. I’m not sure if this will make it to the next draft, but it’s here now for you to enjoy!

***

The impact was the last thing Vee remembered. 

The next thing she knew, Dustyn was setting her against the trunk of a tree while she drifted in and out of consciousness. The ground seemed to slant backwards, tipping her into oblivion. 

Down, 

Down,

Down.

“Vee, wake up.”

 Vee was jerked back to awareness by Dustyn’s voice. 

“I’m awake.” She groaned, pain shooting from her bicep. She turned her head just enough to see the shaft of the black arrow sticking up from her upper arm. She felt the remaining blood drain from her face as a rushing sound filled her ears. This isn’t good…

“Veanna! Snap out of it! You’re going to be fine.” Dustyn shook her gently, making her look him in the eyes. He made her tell him her full name, as well as the names of her parents and siblings. Then he examined the arrow in her upper arm. 

“It’s deep. It missed the bone directly, but the tip of the arrow is scraping against the side of it.”

Vee nodded, her eyes screwed shut. She could feel the hard object scraping her insides. She imagined the black stone tip of the Wodahs arrow and the famous barbed tip at the end. She’d seen her mother pull these cruel weapons from injured guardians many times, and knew how painful the procedure was. 

“You’re going to have to push it through. Pulling it out will do too much damage to the surrounding muscles.” Vee said, panting slightly and trying not to let the mental image of the arrow going through her arm make her sick. 

“I… I know.” Dustyn gazed into her eyes, breathing rapidly as blood trickled down from a gash above his right eye. 

“Is the canteen of Healer’s Tea still intact?” Vee asked.

Dustyn’s shoulders relaxed in visible relief. “I forgot all about that! It should be with the other supplies.” He stood and limped over to a messy pile of supplies, pulling on the strap of a battered canteen. Vee caught a glimpse of blood staining his pant leg  as he came back. 

“Are you hurt? There’s blood on your clothes and your limp is worse.”

“I’m fine, it’s just a scratch.” Dustyn replied gruffly as he unscrewed the lid of the canteen

and gave it to her. 

Using her good arm, Vee drank from the canteen and tried to judge the right amount to numb the pain of her injury but not put herself in a temporary coma. 

Dustyn took the canteen when she was done, then looked at the arrow in her shoulder again. “Are… are you sure you trust me…?”

Vee held his gaze. “I trust you. You can do this, I know you can.”

Dustyn took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment as if to say a prayer. “Alright.

On three.”

She bit her lip and nodded, screwing her eyes shut as he began to count.

“Three…”

Vee could feel every movement of the arrow as he carefully gripped the shaft, even as the Healer’s Tea began to make her drowsy.

“Two…”

She readied herself, ready for the wall of pain to roll over her like a red-hot wave.

“One!.”

Vee felt a scream of pain rising up inside her. Agony. It was like being shot all over again.

She was falling back through the air, only to land softly in a dark place, where the pain was only a faint sensation. She heard Dustyn’s voice calling her name, but it, like the pain, was far away and unimportant. She felt like she was travelling through a tunnel, and the pain and the voice on the other end were slowly getting closer. 

Finally, she could hear Dustyn’s voice more clearly. He wasn’t talking anymore. He was singing. 

Mountain’s shadow,

Tall and wide.

Roots so deep and peak so tall

In your shadow we abide.

A home for creatures great and small,

A place where I can hide.

Yet even you, with all your might,

Just stand there while we mortals fight.

You do not care who controls you,

Nor who hides in your shadow. 

Until the darkness binds you,

And causes your trees to die. 

Then what shall you do, O mountain tall?

When your streams are filled with blood,

And black clouds fill the sky?

Will you call for fire and flood,

For the Light to come, once and for all?

Yet there you stand, while mortals fight,

As your roots shake with fright. 

Vee recognized the Mountain Song right away. Her friend Layla was an aspiring bard and loved to sing this particular song. She opened her eyes. Darkness had fallen and Dustyn had started a fire. She shifted her position against the tree, causing her bandaged shoulder to flare up in pain. She winced but kept her attention on Dustyn. 

“How did you learn that song?” Vee asked quietly. 

Dustyn was crouched on the other side of the fire. He shrugged one shoulder, tossing a stick into the fire. “I picked it up while we were at your village. It’s nice, but I don’t really understand what it’s trying to say.”

“It’s all in the meaning.” Vee replied. “The mountain is so great, yet it has no real power. It only watches as the war goes on and on. The Light, though, hears our prayers and sees our struggles. He’s the only one who can really help us.”

“Do you think the Light sees us here and now? Stranded and injured in the middle of the Kaligan wilderness?”

“I believe the Light sees us everywhere.”

“Well then, I hope He sends help. And soon.”

Vee looked up at the glittering stars. “So do I.”