38. Chapter Thirty-Eight
It takes me far too long to find the clotting ointment with how my vision is blurring. I cake it on each of my wounds and plop on the ground. It’ll stop the bleeding and replenish my blood supply quickly enough I’ll live.
Ivelle’s past instruction helps me through protocol on how to treat myself. Once I can feel myself stabilize, I focus on my vanity again and put on the ointment that will prevent scarring. It’s a hope I cling to that I will somehow survive this journey to worry about scars.
I chew on goblin mint leaves to diminish the nausea the blood loss left and nibble on some crackers to settle it completely.
Water is the last step for quick recovery, and I sip it until I finish the first bottle completely.
I remain sitting for a bit longer to give the clotting potion more time to replenish my blood.
Two more ointments layer over each other to prevent any infection from forming before they can fully heal.
The last turns to the consistency of a dragon’s scale to protect the wounds until they can scab over on their own.
I scoot over to a tree, brace myself as I get to my feet, and take my time pushing away from the tree.
The dizziness subsides, and I fully let go, testing my legs with a few steps forward.
I finally break through the trees and look over the cliff that peers over the kingdom.
The castle looks small enough for miniature dolls, and I pinpoint the stables where Fredrickson takes care of Elton.
The other landmarks are harder to tell at this distance, but I guess which specks are the apothecary building and the cave.
The thoughts that hurt the most are the ones that drift to the king, and I wonder if he’s thinking about me too.
There’s no way for me to let him know I’m okay, and it’s honestly a miracle I am after everything I’ve already been through.
As night descends on the realm, I search for a spot to sleep.
The top is near, but I only have until after sunset tomorrow to make it to the top and back down with the necklace.
Three large rocks form a triangle, and the way they touch makes the perfect place to hide from predators.
I go back into the forest and find more of the moss to pile on top of me.
Sleep comes easier than the night before, and I wake up to the purple and orange glow of twilight.
There’s no time to waste, so I start the day before the light is fully in the sky.
It’s a peaceful morning, and I welcome as much of it as I can get.
I apply more ointments to my wounds and stings and start my hike to the end.
The top looks like I can reach it in a couple of hours as long as nothing else occurs.
I stick close to the rocky wall to avoid being seen as much as possible.
As I go up the trail, I look for spots to hide.
Since there’s little choice but to be exposed and Lazzus’s cloak is all I have as protection against things that fly, there need to be places I can get to in order to escape threats.
Several places in the rocks are narrow tunnels and a few shallow caves.
I try to memorize their locations as I go.
If it weren’t for all the possible monsters, being out of the heavy woods would be a relief.
A rabbit leaps from a ledge above me and continues off the side of the mountain.
It does okay for a bit until its foot catches under it, and it somersaults.
The rabbit eventually recovers and scurries down a lower path on more even terrain.
The ground shakes as a massive bat winged lion with a bushy mane lands above me on the side of the cliff that the rabbit fled from.
Rocks tumble into me, and I try to dodge the bigger ones.
Despite my best efforts, a few collide with the top of my head.
I slide sideways along the wall because the mountain has a slight angle I hope hides me well from the beast.
The violent thud in front of me makes it clear that hope is dead, like I’m most likely about to be.
Its mouth opens to show massive, knife teeth.
Its jaw is so wide, almost as much as a banshee when it screams, and the gust sends me to my ass.
The cliff is close to me with nothing preventing tumbles, so if I’m not careful, I’ll get the same ride as the rabbit, only I most likely won’t be able to correct my feet before I splatter at the bottom.
The creature roars again, but I brace myself against the wall, digging my heels into the soft dirt.
I leap to my feet in one quick move and throw a dagger in the exact middle of the beast’s forehead.
It violently shakes its head and scratches at the blade until it falls to the ground.
Blood leaks from its injury as it charges at me, viciously furious with my audacity to stop it from killing me.
I bolt back down the path to make it to the more open ground that I strolled past earlier. It knocks me to my knees with another roar, and the ground rumbles as it leaps and lands. My feet are blistered and worn from missing shoes, but it’s easily ignored as pure survival instincts take over.
An enormous scorpion tail slams in front of me.
It’s then I realize it’s not a pterleon, but a manticore.
Both are terrible, but only the manticore carries a terrible jab.
I wait for it to lift its tail again to jump forward and avoid the stinger by leaping behind rocks.
The cracks in the rock wall seem my only hope, but they’re quite a way back.
Rocks and sticks stab through my socks, and my feet are most likely profusely bleeding.
There’s not much I can do about it, but I continue to run while also avoiding the scorpion tail.
The first crack I try is very narrow, and I shove against it with no luck.
The scorpion tail scratches my arm, and I free a knife and stab it into the stringer when it comes down again.
It backs off on the fifth stab, and I slide out of the crack.
My lungs are squeezing violently, but there’s nothing else to do but to keep going.
There are shallow caves, but I think the opening is too wide for me to fully escape the beast. On the third opening I find, I’m able to get back far enough that the stinger can’t reach me. The tail tries its best, and I get close enough to strike it but avoid the venom.
I lean my back against the rock wall and sift through my bag to find the venom extractor. The scratch is shallow, but I’m feeling too lightheaded to chance it. After I rub the cream on it, a blue liquid oozes from the scratch. I place my feet on the rock wall and grab onto rocks higher up.
I make it above the level of his head while he’s still trying to strike me with his tail.
It takes effort to move forward with my limbs stretched across the opening.
As soon as I make it close enough, I pull out my sword and leap onto the manticore, driving it down toward its neck.
It flings me off before I can do actual damage.
My back hits the ground, and the wind is knocked out of me. The monster leaps on top of me, and my sword flew too far from me when I fell. I’m able to wiggle a dagger free and slam it into his temple. He attempts to pull it out using his paws, so I help him by ripping it out, twisting as I go.
His paw swipes at me, and I roll out of the way, which puts me dangerously close to the cliff’s edge.
A quick glance to the right shows that if I move much more, I’ll fall to my death.
I roll back as I pull out the dagger that goes easily into his gut, and I slice all the way across his belly until his entrails spill out.
I use my legs to propel myself out from under him and get to my feet.
He wobbles, and the light is dimming in his eyes.
It’s always a terrible thing to watch life leave, but there’s little choice.
It’s mine or his in this fight he started.
I shove his body off the cliff, and as he falls, he doesn’t spread his wings like I thought he might.
It seems his organs falling out prevented flight.
He tumbles over himself and splats on the ground far below.
It’s so far down, I can’t clearly see his state, but the way his body appears to break apart shows there’s no way he survived.
There’s no choice but to keep going, so I apply more ointment to my wounds, wrap my feet to give them better protection, and put on a new pair of socks. It’s already midmorning, and it doesn’t seem possible to make it all the way down the mountain by sunset.
Every small noise makes me jump, and my hand constantly hovers close to the dagger. I also try not to run and wear myself out in case there are more threats I need energy for. Not that I have a ton of energy left after constant battles with the creatures of the mountain.
A group of three boggarts think their acid spit will take me out, but Zyon had an obsession with them that allows me to deflect their projectile saliva with my sword and easily send them to die with the manticore.
They’re mainly an aggravating time waster, and I plead again to the gods to stop all the violent attempts on my life.
But divine silence suggests the marble dragon was right, and all the gods were slaughtered by the Leqru.
Trees and plants lessen to a noticeable degree until mainly rock surrounds me.
The top of the mountain is so close, and I can see far out into the kingdom.
Zyon’s castle is hardly identifiable anymore, and if I didn’t know the direction it is, I wouldn’t guess it a building at all.
The path narrows in places, and I’m so high up that I have to be cautious about where I step.