The first thing Vikter did was remove what remained of the armor. The steel would not be helping anyone now, especially that bits impaling the person.
When Vikter removed the helmet, he was surprised not to see a fully grown beard or chiseled face of a strong man, but rather the face of a young boy probably around his age, the age of 16 maybe?
The boy had long blonde hair, which was now covered in blood. A rather strange appearance in the village, especially since he was the only other blonde one. Unlike the stranger, however, whose hair was a clean blonde the seemed to glow, even with the blood in it, Vikter's hair was a dirty blonde.
Examining the extensive wounds, he was surprised to see that the boy was still breathing. The injuries were extensive; his chest had deep claw marks from where he would have been slashed, the same done to his back. The abdomen had a shallower claw mark, and a broken leg. Not to mention that both of his arms looked broken, swelling larger than it should be.
Vikter of course had herbs that could stop bleeding and quicken the healing process, the thing was that the herbs were back with Axl. Not only that Vikter only had the weaker concoctions, but the most effective ones were back at the village. Meaning, he would have to leave his kill and take carry the boy who was unconscious and bleeding, probably much weaker now, back to the village down the mountain.
Axl would not be able to navigate the mountains with an unconscious boy, but he also could not singlehandedly gut a deer. Nor would he be strong enough to carry the whole thing back to the village.
By the time the two of them carried either the deer or the boy back and return for the other, they would probably have been claimed by something else. Seeing no way of getting both, Vikter glared at the unconscious form, struggling to breathe.
Maybe I could carry the boy part of the way back and send Axl alone to find someone willing to come out and heal him?
That seemed like the best option.
Vikter sighed. "Today is your lucky day."
The villagers were always saying to so the right and just things and helping those in need certainly counted. Standing and running back to where Axl would be resting, Vikter broke through the tree line.
Not saying a word, he grabbed the sack that held the herbs from where they were left next to the deer. He glanced at his friend while doing so.
"I need a favor from you. Some random is unconscious in the woods, and he won't make it back to the village. Can you grab a healer from the village?"
His friend looked at him, startled.
"If he won't make it to the village, then how will he be alive when I get there and back with someone else?"
Rolling his eyes Vikter answered, "Because I'm meeting you half-way."
"Oh, that makes sense." With that Axl ran off, not doubting a word his friend said. Probably because of the urgency Vikter was moving with.
Before making his way back to the boy, he crouched down next to the deer and sent a silent prayer, thanking it for its sacrifice and apologizing for leaving it behind. Would it not be right to do at least this after taking its life then leaving it behind?
Returning to the clearing, Vikter could see the blood weeds beginning to take root around where the boy was collapsed.
Blood weeds would drink the blood of deceased creatures, producing sweet nectar that would bring rodents and other such creatures to stay in the area. Once eaten, the animals would become addicted to the weeds and eat as much as it could. The weeds would take root inside of the animal and would sprout once it died.
The weeds would then work its way up the food chain, sometimes disguised as vegetation, and spread as quickly as possible. The more in one area the sweeter it would be and the more animals it would infect. The weeds usually killed itself off since its hosts normally stayed where they got infected, making a graveyard of animal bones.
Most animals could identify the weeds, so they were not a huge problem. Rodents would often eat them, so they could still spread, and the weeds often hid in underbrush where animals would often start bleeding.
Unfortunately for this soul, it appeared as though his blood reached the weeds, and they were now trying to take root in his body. The weeds would quicken the process at which he would die, but other than that he would be fine.
Cutting the roots that had attached themselves to the blonde boy, Vikter moved him further from the weeds. Once they came into contact with the sun, the weeds shied away. They liked dark places, and blood was their sunlight.
Applying paste and other herbs to the still bleeding wounds of the boy, Vikter did his best to alleviate the pain. He didn't have a numbing agent, and there was nothing like that around here, so he had to be in excruciating pain.
Feeding the boy water from his waterskin, Vikter was glad to see that the boy swallowed some before coughing. He slipped a pellet into the boy's mouth, gave him more water, and made sure he swallowed the pellet. The pellet would kill off the weeds, as well as any other poisons that he accumulated.
After the paste was applied, and the bandages kept with herbs were applied, Vikter waited for them to take effect. He could tell once they began to work when the boys face was no longer contorted in as much pain.
Slinging the boy over his shoulder and onto his back, he began walk back to the village.
The sun had already past its peak in the sky, so it was now setting. Connor doubted that the boy would get the treatment needed and be able to make it back to the village before nightfall. So Vikter decided he would get to a clearing as close to the village as possible while carrying the boy.
Making his way back to the village, Vikter had to stick to paths already created by animals. The path would already be made, making it easier to navigate and less likely to run into predators.
***
After walking for about an hour and a half, Connor laid the boy down. The path he just got off was the cliff that overlooked the village.
Connor looked down into the distance, glancing the rather large river that led down from the mountains and to the Western side of the continent. Supposedly that was where he and many of the other villagers had come from.
Somewhere down there was a large boat with three stories, made completely of wood that had allowed many people to escape a terrible tragedy. The boat was not visible now for some reason. Vikter could normally make out the shape from here but for some reason he could not glimpse it.
Taking a swig from his waterskin and looking down at the village, he wondered if Axl was on his way back yet. He was certain he was given how much time had passed but was uncertain how far his friend was from here.
Biting some of the jerky his friend left for him Vikter pondered.
Where is the nearest clearing?
Vikter would need to know so it would the healer would be able to treat the boy in the best conditions available. Where they were now may not have had many trees, but it certainly was rocky and dusty, no place to leave a bleeding patient.
Glancing over, he could see the boy taking ragged breaths, the bandages soaked in blood. Vikter knew the boy's condition was bad, and with his slow walking progress, the boy would not survive the hour unless the more powerful medicines were given to him immediately.
Picking the boy up again, carrying him piggyback like he had the entire way thus far, he resumed his walk. Vikter knew of a clearing close to here where he would be able to lay the boy down.
It would be another two hour walk with his current pace to get the boy to the village, not nearly as much time as the boy had. The clearing was also well known by the villagers, that was where many major events were held such as when he knew village elder was selected.
That clearing would only be a twenty-minute walk from here, less than that if he hurried. Which he did because he could here the boys breathing become weaker. All this jostling probably was not helpful.
One more step. Left foot the right. Why is this so hard?!
It was becoming hard for Vikter to continue walking in a straight line. His arms were cramping because of how heavy this boy was. Initially he thought the boy was light, but after carrying him for over an our he thought otherwise.
By the time he reached clearing, he could see Axl and a lady getting on in years sitting in the middle if the field. This lady would be one of two village healers, the older and more experienced one at that. Besides the two of them, there was a caged rabbit.
Hearing him approach the lady looked up and motioned.
"Hurry up. You want the lad to die in your arms?"
Reaching her Vikter laid the boy down once more. This time next to the lady. After doing so he looked at Axl.
Whispering he asked a question. "How long where you guys waiting?"
"Not long." his friend answered, his eyes locked onto the boy's face. "His hair is special, it looks like its glowing. More special than yours."
"Wow, thanks Axl."
His friend patted him on the back. "Don't feel so bad, your hair is special to, it's just not glowing."
The lady who had been removing the bandages glanced at them, making them both go quiet.
"Terrible job, with these bandages, but I've seen worse."
That was the best Vikter would get as a compliment, so he took it without saying anything back.
The lady had several candles lit before Vikter had arrived. The practice of healing never interested him, so he never cared to learn. That being said the effects of healing where astonishing, even Vikter would admit that much.
The Candles were placed in a circle around the boy, who had been laid on the ground on his back. There was a total of eight candles, all evenly spaced out from one another. The smoke from the candles were moving in strange way, not following the wind or rising up towards the sky. Instead, the smoke was seeping into the open wounds.
Each of the candles had a different job, as each candle was made with different plants, resulting a variety of healing effects. An example, the smoke coming from the candles placed above the boy's head would seek out the most deadly wounds and, with the guidance of the healer, would bring the other essences to the wounds. The blood weeds had their uses; it just required healers to bend them.
Healers have the unique ability of bending things to their will, as long as it was meant for healing. If you had the same ability to heal others, but decided to bring harm, are called Poisoners and are often chased out of the villages.
In order to be a healer, one has to be born with the innate talent to heal. Besides that, the healers are said to be able to hear the cries of the wounded, and the plants reach out to them. By following what the plants ask, they reward you by allowing the healer to either restore or take life.
Vikter himself was not a healer, so he could not say for certain how it worked, or what the voices sounded like. Healers where always rather calm and collected, so the voices could not be that bad.
The elder healer sat down so her legs were under her, closed her eyes, and began to chant in a barely audible voice. When this happened, they were supposedly talking to the plants but sounded like gibberish to everyone else.
Axl lifted up the caged rabbit, which was close to chewing through the bars of its cage, and placed it near the unconscious boy, who looked like he was barely breathing.
No sooner had the cage touched the ground did the smoke of a nearby candle make its way over to the rabbit. Once the smoke made contact with the rodent it began to struggle and thrash.
Healing worked in mysterious ways, and Vikter had no intention of finding out how it worked. He did know that the reason the rodent was thrashing was because it was absorbing the injury of the boy. The rabbit would not take the entire injury, but it would alleviate some of the strain of the boy's body at least.
Axl and Vikter watched in real time as the boy's breathing steadied and as the rabbit fell over. Watching the boy's wounds become smaller so rapidly was a sight to behold.
By the time the candles flames went out, there were scars and several cuts left. Many of the cuts had scabs and some were still bleeding, but the boy looked to be out of pain.
The lady stood and looked at Axl and Vikter for a moment then began collecting her items.
"Expect him to be different from the village. He will not be able to move his arm and legs as freely as he wants for quite some time. I will go make a bed for him. Add nothing more to him, it will interfere with the healing process."
As the lady walked away, Axl looked at him. "Why is she always so serious. You better do this. You better do that. Always so bossy."
Vikter was not surprised to see his friend complaining already. He was surprised to see wide green eyes staring at the two of them.
"Is he supposed to be awake?" He asked Axl.