2 Learning to Survive

The process of carving arrows into the tree trunks took longer than Macha would have liked. It was tiring to stop every few trees to carve an arrow into the trees, but eventually, she heard the babble of a stream. Her hands had become pink and sore and she knew a blister would be inevitable if she continued this repetitive motion. She realized that if she could make out the sound of a stream, then it must be close by. Deciding to space her arrows further apart, she continued on towards the sound.

After a little while, Macha came upon the running water of the stream and ran to the water's edge to satiate her parched throat. It was midday and the exertion from walking and carving tired her out. She bent down and scooped the running water into her hands. The cool water tasted delicious on her arid throat.

She took a moment to dunk her head into the water. While she cooled off, she spotted a few fish swimming about in the water. She was unsure what type of fish they were, but guessed that they might be trout. For now, she noted that she could eat fish if needed.

After washing her clothes and body in the stream, she set them out to dry. While waiting for the clothes to dry, she tried to make a net out of the young branches from nearby trees. While her efforts were pathetic, she discovered a way to join the branches together. Laughing at her efforts, she sighed, "A college degree, but I can't even make a net." She noticed her voice came out broken from not using it all day. Eventually, the sun descended in the sky causing the forest to grow darker. Macha put her dried clothes on and made her way back to the wrecked car.

She got back just as it was growing too dark to see, so she hastily picked a few figs to eat and searched her car for anything useful. Her foraging yielded a lighter, wires from the car, a bottle of water, a first aid kit, duct tape, zip ties and some rope. She was disappointed with her find but treasured the items, anyway.

The next day she ate more figs, but they disagreed with her stomach. She found that the fig diet acted as a laxative. Since she already made a path to the stream, she was able to walk there quickly. At the stream, Macha finished making a net and tried to catch a fish.

She used the duct tape to fashion a net which she would pull up out of the water. Gingerly walking into the water, she laid her trap down. It took a while for the fish to swim into the trap, but after waiting patiently she raised the net and caught her first fish.

She used her Swiss Army knife to descale and gut the fish as best she could. After doing this, she inspected the meat. She knew that raw fish sometimes contained worms. Although Macha had a lighter, she did not want to use it unless it was necessary. The meat looked free from worms, so she ate it raw. She grew up eating raw fish in the form of sashimi or poke, so the texture was not strange to her.

****

It had been a long day for Tyr and his crew. They finished slaying a chupacabra that had been attacking a village's cattle. The hide would be an added bonus for the mission that they accomplished, but the skinning required a ritual that took twenty-four hours to complete. While Taylen performed the ritual, the others were forced to battle off any demons who tried to slip through the weakened rift that she summoned.

Black shimmering vitriol covered Tyr's sword and armor, which gave off wisps of smoke as the demon blood tried to dissolve the metal. He thought about how demon blood was another magical ingredient they would be able to collect after the ritual finished, but for now, the group's top priority was to ensure Taylen's safety.

She had been the only mage to survive out of the three who came on this mission. If her concentration was shattered, then the spell would fizzle and they would lose out on the opportunity to collect the hide.

He took a moment to rest. The demon attacks stopped for now and he looked around. He knew that he pushed his comrades, but they were currently in the middle of expanding and needed the extra funds. Remembering the men and women who died on this mission caused him to become frustrated. They all volunteered to help, but he lacked the foresight and skill to save them.

The Outer-Reaches were dangerous to venture through. On the way to the village, the party passed by a graveyard when a pack of black hellhounds came out of the ground and began howling. This caused five of their members to fall dead immediately. He did not realize they would pass a graveyard, if he did, they could have prepared for the appearance of hellhounds. This lack of leadership ate away at his conscience. Later, two of their guildmates had been turned to stone by a basilisk. This would not have been bad, but troll bandits smashed the figures during a scuffle.

"Almost done Captain," Taylen called out through gritted teeth.

Sweat drenched her brow as she concentrated on the task at hand. Her dark blue dress fluttered in the wind and she stood with her arms outstretched.

She was tired but wanted to do her best for Tyr to help him achieve his goals. Taylen understood he wanted to raise the guild to be the top guild in the city. In her eyes, her fatigue was a small price for his happiness.

Tyr gave a small nod to acknowledge that he heard her and yelled, "Krystof, get ready to collect as much grade S vitriol as you can. Hopefully, we can get a good price for them when we get back."

He tucked a stray lock of dark brown hair behind his ear. Dirt covered his hands and face, but he did not have time to worry about appearances.

The last few demons scrambled out of the rift, making guttural growls as they tried to escape the onslaught of Tyr's group.

Demons often tried to escape into their world. As far as they understood, the demons belonged to a different realm. No one was positive how they got through in the wild, but some spells allowed the demons to transverse into this world. Understanding which spells could summon demons was one of the things the spellcasters learned.

Two bright white arrows whizzed past Tyr's face and hit a demon in both of its heads. "Sure, sure. I know the drill. I'll be ready, don't worry!" called Krystof from behind him.

Krystof had known Tyr since childhood, and he was aware of the guild's finances. Although they both came from good families, they shared the same goal of building the Obsidian Dragons out of their skill, rather than relying on their family.

The simmering scales of the chupacabra's skin glowed bright orange for a moment and Taylen smiled. Her face relaxed, and she yelled, "Done!"