Noah shook his head to refocus himself as people began to come out of the forest. One of them came running to Noah as he stood up and asked, "Are you alright, nothing broken?"
"Yeah I think so, nothing feels broken." Noah responded and then asked, "Who are you?"
"We're guards from Dragon's Claw. We were hunting that bear. My name is Micheal Strong."
"Why were you hunting bears?" Noah asked.
"Well you're straight to asking questions about people." Micheal responded, "That's a good trait to have I suppose. I'm sure you're aware at this point but all the carnivorous are starving because all their prey has left."
"Then why aren't the wolves and bears following them?" Noah asked.
"Well no one knows." Micheal answered, "My guess is that they're going after our cattle but it also seems like there's something keeping them here."
"So could it be that the same thing that's keeping the carnivorous in is moving their prey out?" Noah asked.
"It could be. That's a good question, nobody has even questioned why the prey has left. However, that is only just a theory so we shouldn't take it as fact." Micheal responded.
"That is true but more likely to be fact because there are accounts of dragons messing up ecosystems as they move around." Noah countered, quieting down.
"That's a fair point. How do you know this?" Micheal asked, also quieting down and looking over his shoulder.
"I just do." Noah responded sharply.
"Well then, let's get you into town and have your injuries treated." Micheal said, returning to his normal volume, "You think you'll be able to walk?"
"I should be able to." Noah responded, also returning to his normal volume. Micheal waved his patrol over and they took formation around Noah and began to escort him. Micheal took to the front of the formation and a guard to his left turned to him and started talking. Noah couldn't hear their conversation however because they were so spread out to the point that the majority were in the forest but he did see Micheal make the guards hand sign for the dragon.
* * *
Once the escort got into town it headed straight to the hospital. They stopped at the door and Micheal waved the rest of the patrol away.
"So I take it that this is your hospital." Noah said.
"Yes it is. Micheal responded, nodding, "Is it okay if I come in with you?"
"I don't mind, in fact, it would probably help me." Sean responded.
"Alright then, it probably will help." Micheal said, opening the door and walking in with Noah following him.
The hospital waiting room was five meters by five meters. A desk was placed in the corner in front of the door with multiple chairs by it. Some of the chairs were occupied and a receptionist was at the desk.
The pair approached the desk and Micheal called out to the receptionist saying, "Hey there Irene I found this boy out in the forest, do you have any rooms open."
"I'll check, I'll place him on top priority." She responded, grabbing a list, "What's his name?"
"Noah." Noah responded, "I can wait, my injuries aren't that bad and I don't want to take priority over people who are worse off than I am."
"Alright, if you say so I won't stop you." Micheal responded, turning towards Noah.
"Alright then, I just need you to put your name here." Irene said, holding out the list and a quill. After Noah put his name down Irene said, "Okay, you can take a seat over there." She pointed towards the chairs.
"Okay, thank you." Micheal said, nodding his head, "I'll take care of all the paperwork, you just make sure he comes out okay."
While Noah was going to go sit down he heard Irene respond, "Alright then, I have no idea why you care so much about the boy."
"You should know why, think about it." Micheal responded with a dark tone.
Noah sat there for a small while watching as people came in and out. A lot of the people had scratches and cuts that oozed out blood. One even came in with a broken bone. Needless to say, he got in quite quickly. Noah also heard that they all had come from the forest. I guess I underestimated just how active the forest is. Noah thought. 'I guess I can consider myself lucky I got off how I did.'
Finally after what felt like multiple hours of waiting, a doctor poked his head out and called, "Noah?"
"Right here." Noah responded, getting up out of his seat.
"Alright." The doctor said, "If you'll follow me." He held the door open for Noah and led the way to a room with a bed and a chair. The doctor made a gesture for Noah to take the bed and sat down in the chair.
"So how bad are your injuries?" The doctor asked.
"Not too bad, only a few scratches and bruises. This can all be treated with first aid so I'm not sure why I'm here." Noah answered.
"I heard what happened, getting bashed by a bear is not something to take lightly. I also saw your limp while walking in here. And, there are high infection rates right now so coming here is your best option."
"Alright then." Noah said, giving up.
"Part of it is that Micheal has recently lost his son because of the forest. You're around the same age as him from looks so you probably reminded Micheal of him." The doctor added.
"Oh." Noah said, surprised, "That must be rough. I would like to imagine that my father would react the same in that situation."
"If he's a good father then he will." The doctor responded, "Now let me take a look at that leg of yours."
* * *
When Noah got out of the hospital he was greeted by Micheal who asked, "So what brings you here in the first place?"
"I'm just a messenger passing through, that's all." Noah responded.
"Alright, do you want an escort?" Micheal asked.
"No!" Noah quickly responded and then added, "I'm carrying top secret information and it's best for me to blend into the crowd." He finished with a mental sigh.
"Oh alright." Micheal responded, "It's getting to be sundown, you should stay here where it's safe. It gets wild in the forest at night, literally."
"Alright, I will." Noah responded, "I need to restock on supplies anyways so staying here would be for the best."
"Good, you can stay at my place if you'd like to." Micheal responded.
"I'm good with staying at the inn." Noah responded, "It would be better for my mission."
"Oh yeah, of course, the mission always comes first." Micheal said, "Welp, I'll see you off tomorrow."
"Alright, I guess I'll see you then." Noah responded, heading off towards the inn.
* * *
Noah was just arriving at the west gate when he was greeted by Micheal. "Ah Noah, glad to see that you made it safely." Micheal said.
"Glad to see myself here as well." Noah responded with a chuckle, "I still wouldn't have known what I would've done if your patrol didn't show up."
"Probably die." Micheal responded.
"Yeah that's true. Wouldn't have been too good for my mission." Noah said with a chuckle.
"Well, it probably wouldn't be for the best."Micheal said, also smiling, "Anyways, I wish you the best of luck on your mission. Try to stay as safe as possible."
"I will." Noah responded, mentally laughing at the irony in that. He sighed regretfully and said, "I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused."
"Don't be." Micheal responded, "These were some of the best days I ever had." Noah's only response was a nod as he passed Micheal. As he was going through the gate, he looked back and saw Micheal waving. He waved back as he thought, 'I wish I could tell you what my mission really is. However, this is a mission I need to do on my own for the sake of everyone in this region.'
Author's Note:
I suppose I should explain my disappearances. When I get sick I end up losing a lot of motivation to write and it's just really hard for me to get back into writing. I'm going to force myself to get better about it. I already have the next chapter ready and I appreciate your patience. I'm going to try to get back onto my 1 chapter every two weeks schedule so you can expect chapter 9 then.
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