Chương 43: Chapter Forty-Three: Tested

FORTY-THREE"What the hell?" Roan said as he rifled through the man's pockets. Aside from a half eaten ration pack, there wasn't anything he could find. He tossed the food to the side and started checking the man over. He had an amulet around his neck, a match to Roan's own, which he took off and stuffed into his pocket.

"I know you were a killer and people have shit. So where is yours?" Roan muttered before he remembered looking through the common-grade items. Spatial storage rings cost five-thousand credits. If Lester had been a killer he could have easily either taken one or bought one to hide his loot. His hunch paid off as he found a ring on the man's pinky finger. Prying it off was the work of a moment, but Roan didn't stop. He checked his boots, socks, underwear, anywhere that someone would hide something valuable.

The only thing Lester had on him was the amulet and ring though. Roan stared at the ring for a moment, trying to imagine accessing it or having it open for him. It felt like when you held two magnets across from each other, the rubbery, slippery, feeling of two forces refusing to meet. Except it was in his mind.

"They were called bonded. I bet it's an anti-theft measure. We'll have to find a way of cracking it open," Roan talked to himself as he pocketed the ring and ran over to grab the spear. Even balancing out the two long weapons, there was no way he was leaving it behind. The sounds of battle were everywhere. Screams and roars filled the air, the crack of bones shattering or trees breaking as the entire idyllic forest became a cacophony of distress.

There were too many options to choose from, so Roan just started jogging." Kill as many of the goblins as you can, rescue people. Improve your image with other people to build good will." It wasn't quite a mantra he repeated over and over in his head as he swept his eyes back and forth, but it was close. Roan stumbled into the remnants of a skirmish moments later. A trio of slaughtered goblins and a red blood smear on the thick grass. It didn't take an expert tracker to follow after it.

He kept the spear ready for a fast thrust, knowing he'd have to drop one of the weapons to fight with the other with any type of efficiency.

"Help… help… me," the voice was faint, a whisper that was hard to hear over the sounds of unseen fighting. Roan slowed as he kept his eyes moving, looking for who was calling for him. The trail of bright blood ended and there was another goblin laying to the side. Its throat had been slashed open, black blood staining the roots of a tree. Then the blood picked up again, on the other side of the tree. Roan swung wide of it and circled to see a woman leaning against it, her face pale and sweat covered.

She held her wounded side as blood continued to seep through her long fingers to pool around her. On the opposite side her leg was stained where a knife had found the mark. He couldn't see a weapon around her, but she didn't look like in any shape to use one.

"Help…please," she muttered, lips nearly white as she looked up with confused, hazy eyes, her eyes looked over his shoulder and then slipped back to him. Roan winced as he saw her wounds, wondering if the healing potion he had remaining would do anything for her. He shifted and glanced partially over his shoulder before turning his attention back to the wounded woman.

"Use your last potion for a lost cause? Foolish. End her suffering as gently as possible and continue on," the practical part of Roan's mind said. He leaned forward and grabbed at her hand, peeling it back to look at the wound. Blood so dark it was black rolled over her fingers. She groaned and her head sank back. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences." Just ease her on to the next world. End her pain."

Roan's fingers released the grip on his spear and fumbled into his pocket, pulling the small potion out. He popped the cork and grabbed at the wound, ripping her shirt open wider to see the deep cut in her side.

"No. You don't get to end your climb this early," Roan whispered as he poured the potion over the wound. He had to peel back the torn flesh to pour the potion deep into the wound, but was rewarded as the blood flow slowed to a trickle. He leaned over to her wounded leg and winced as he tore the leg off his own clothes and quickly fashioned a tourniquet. He tightened it as well he could and a small groan of pain came from her lips as she rolled her head a bit but slipped unconscious."

Hope it's unconscious and not dead. Did use the last healing elixir on her." Roan reached up and felt her pulse, thready and weak, but it was still there. Roan carefully stood up and let the warhammer settle into both hands as he turned to the woods behind him.

"You can come out now!" he called. There was no silence, not with the constant screaming and fighting, but Roan could swear the area around him grew quieter.

"The last dead goblin. She wasn't in shape to fight it and doesn't have a weapon. She dragged herself away from the fight, but her blood trail stopped. Someone picked her up and put her against the tree. Now, stop playing games," Roan said, eyes sweeping all around him as he hunched over, ready for anything. Darren stepped around a tree to his far right. In the opposite direction he'd been looking. He carried a short sword that looked well-made and had a bored look on his face as he stared at Roan.

"Heard you coming," Darren said conversationally as he walked closer. There was something about the man that set Roan's teeth on edge. An arrogance or superiority that seemed to radiate out of Darren as he looked down on the woman.

"Wanted to see what you'd do. Guess I wasn't careful enough," Darren continued. Roan shook his head and snorted.

"No, you're not clumsy like that," Roan refuted. Darren shrugged as he reached into his pocket and pulled out two vials of healing potion. He tossed one to Roan while walking to the wounded woman. He pushed her head back and forced the potion down her throat. She choked, gagged once, coughed and a wad of clotted blood dribbled down her chin to her chest. She started to breathe better.

"I wouldn't have let her die," Darren said as he tossed the empty potion bottle to the side. He brushed his hands on his knees as he looked Roan up and down before switching the subject.

"You didn't pay your fees for the last raid. Next time we stop, don't forget to pay your ten percent for the final confrontation."

"Yeah. I'll make sure to do that," Roan said as he relaxed a degree. Darren looked down at the wounded woman and sighed, a long low-sigh.

"It's obvious this is a culling field. Spread us out and fill it with enemies who ambush us constantly. No saferoom in sight."

"Yeah. And?" Roan felt itchy to keep moving, see if he could keep pushing his advantages and grow.

"Well, there's plenty of injured people. I will guard her if you start guiding people back here. Make a rally point until we figure out what to do," Darren said.

"You'll guard her? And all the other wounded who'll be given healing supplies. Supplies that will indebt themselves to the association?" Roan guessed. Darren shrugged and offered a wry smile.

"You've seen through my evil plot. Keeping people alive and unifying them. Now, are you going to argue with me that you don't want to go out there with your new spear and slaughter your way through these creatures to earn as much money as possible?"

"Who says I don't want to save people?" Roan countered, but he'd already reached down to grab the spear, the argument already over.