The gash on his side was potentially fatal. His torn shirt was soaked in blood, from both his wound and the blood of his enemies. Blood from his wound was running down his pant legs and pooling in his boots, he could hear it squishing between his toes.
How could I have been so careless?
Of course, he hadn’t been careless. In fact, he had been magnificent. It was him against seven, highly-trained elves, all masters of their weapons and wearing exceptional armor. He, on the other hand, was only wearing his light traveling gear, jeweled scimitar, dagger, and bow.
His pace slowed to a crawl as the loss of blood began to take its toll. I’ve got to save her, kept going through his mind, as he tried to force his legs to work, but they finally gave out. Terriel’s world turned black, as his body fell to the ground.
Terriel’s eyes slowly opened. His world was still dark, but he could make out stars popping in and out from behind the passing clouds. He could feel the warmth of a fur blanket surrounding him.
Where am I? What happened?
The fur blanket began to purr, as it noticed Terriel awaken from his long slumber. Awe, Jasmine, thank you, my friend. The giant cat, able to understand Terriel’s thoughts, purred louder in response.
Terriel winced in pain as he sat up. He looked down at his wound. It was already beginning to heal from the giant cat’s magical tongue. Thank you, my friend.
Terriel was still weak from the loss of blood. He slowly tried to stand, but his dizziness kept him kneeling on one knee.
I’ve got to get moving.
He took a deep breath and summand all his strength to finally stand. He stood there, waiting for the dizziness to clear, then took a small step forward and then another. Come on, Jasmine. We have to go save her.
The two of them slowly started following the path in the direction he had last seen her being taken away from the only elf he didn’t get a chance to kill. Each step brought more strength and within a short amount of time, they found themselves running at an even pace.
Jasmine, go up ahead and track them. I’ll be fine. It’s important that we find their trail before we lose them forever.
The giant cat looked up into Terriel’s eyes, then bounded down the path at a remarkable speed, a blur of black fur with orange stripes. Within seconds, she was out of sight.
Anger started to burn in Terriel’s heart, as images of them torturing the woman he was entrusted to protect, began running through his mind, spurring him to run faster, despite the wound and loss of blood he had suffered the day before. If he couldn’t reach her in time, the world would be lost, but more tragically, she would be lost…to him.
I will reach you, and I will kill everyone who tries to stop me.