*Tsuki Shizukana*
"Niam! No!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.
Niam's and Jeun's bodies went limp. I was sure that I had pierced Jeun's heart, but I wasn't able to calculate what damage I'd done to Niam. I was also not able to hold back. I needed to fire that arrow with my full strength, otherwise I risked our survival if Jeun was able to defend himself against that arrow.
Kosa was already on the ground, unconscious, not a threat anymore. Jeun was dead, and Niam badly injured. I rushed to Niam. He bled from his chest and back. My arrow had pierced through both of them. I took out whatever bandages and cloths I had in my bag, and tried to apply pressure on Niam's wounds as best as I could. Unfortunately, Niam's Mana-Core was completely empty, his body couldn't heal itself with the help of Mana. Regarding that fact, a wound like this was fatal to a body that lacked the energy that Mana could provide.
My hands were shaking and my mind was screaming at me to use my Salan ability. But I couldn't do it. If I were to use my ability, and it told me that Niam was going to die, I would've lost my mind for sure.
"Come on! Come on! Come on..." I pleaded for the blood to stop.
Niam's hand suddenly grabbed mine. Taken aback, I looked at Niam's face. Blood was coming out of his mouth and eyes. Niam's bloodied eyes looked at mine and he opened his mouth to speak.
"Whatever... you think is... right..." He said before losing consciousness.
His words felt more like a test rather than a sign of trust. It felt as if he was telling me that he wanted to see if I would make the right choices.
Would I let him die, or would I do everything in my power to save him? That's what I interpreted his words as.
After having to have changed the cloths and bandages several times, the bleeding lessened. I had the chance to get Niam onto Gin, and then bring him to Banna city, where there could've been some kind of doctor that could help. But a series of shouts got my attention.
["Kosa said that they were going that way!"]
There were other Bearers, and one of them mentioned Kosa's name. 'Reinforcements?!' I asked myself. It became clear to me that Banna city was not an option anymore. I had to get us away. Far away from Banna forest and its city. I couldn't trust anyone that was there.
"Gin!" I yelled.
Niam's loyal, silver-haired horse came immediately. It must've felt that its rider wasn't in a good condition.
I picked up Niam's limp body, the adrenaline helping me in the process. I sat Niam on top of the horse, laid his chest on the horse's back, and then bounded him to the horse with some ropes.
The first danger was averted, as me and the horses rushed through Banna forest. My senses were on high alert. Even the smallest bird faced my killing gaze when it moved. Everything could've been a threat to us. I didn't even have enough arrows left to fight with. A mere number of 5 arrows were still in my bag.
While I rode and guided Gin at the same time, I looked at the map. Niam had previously marked the stops we had to take until we arrived at old China's east coast.
'About 20 days of travel after Banna forest.' I remembered Niam saying.
My heart was still beating very fast, even after 3 hours had passed since we had made it out of Banna forest. The sun was rising, and the light that fell onto us reflected the condition Niam was in to me again. I knew for a fact that his bleeding hadn't stopped, but I hoped it would. But I saw how much blood Niam had lost once again. Gin's silver hair was crimson red from the neck all the way to his front legs.
I had been overwhelmed. So much so that I regarded the enemy's in Banna forest as the only danger. I had forgotten how severe Niam's wound was.
I ordered the horses to stop by pulling their reigns. I jumped off of Ganko and took Niam's body from Gin's back. I placed Niam on the floor. I tried treating his wound once again. The new survival kit that Niam had purchased in the city of Karama came in handy. It had a suture set in it. I decided that I needed to stitch up his wound, otherwise he could've died.
First, I cleaned his wounds with medical alcohol. Then, I tried to sew the big hole in Niam's left, upper chest, but the blood made me slip and restart several times over. Niam's brown skin had paled, his heartbeat dropped to single digits, and his already cold body became even colder. It was a wonder he was still alive.
Eventually, I was able to close the first hole on his chest. The second hole - where the arrow exited from - was much easier to close. I was sure that I had made some mistakes while stitching, but if it meant that he stopped bleeding, it was good enough.
If Niam was conscious, he would've asked if I was stupid, taking so long to realize that I had to treat him first and foremost.
***
I checked Niam's wound every few minutes. I feared that his stitches would tear by the movements his body made while riding Gin. But the Mana infused stitches were tight, they didn't tear even once.
'What should I do? Do I bring him to a city, or do I continue on with our journey?' I asked myself. I could've used my Salan ability, but I wasn't sure if I was ready to do so.
1 week passed without any problems. Niam's body showed signs of reflexes. I was able to make him drink and eat without any problems. He just wouldn't wake up, and his Mana-Core would just not fill up. I tried to avoid other people, but every time someone appeared, I was looked at weirdly.
Gin and Ganko were the best horses we could've asked for. The horses' feelings for us were so strong, they pushed themselves to their limits, even falling asleep the second I decided to rest for the day. But no matter what I did, Niam wouldn't wake up.
And then, a day after we crossed into old China's border, problems arrived. A group of young men that was led by an older guy had managed to surround me and Niam.
["A woman and an injured man... The gods surely favor us."]
["Don't kill the woman, she is mine."]
I had reached the point were I decided I would do it. I decided that I would use my Salan ability again. 'Please... Just let me know what they're going to do. I don't want to know anything else.' I pleaded. Nothing was worse than knowing what fate had in store for me. If there was a way I could know without knowing, I would've loved to know how.
I reinforced my whole body with Mana. My mind had never worked faster than at that moment. The shadows that the clouds cast from the sun's light became some kind of rhythm for me. When the shadows moved, so did my hands and feet, and I found myself in battle with the many men that surrounded me. I pulled out Niam's Katana. I had to fight in close quarters, otherwise I would've risked Niam's life. The many men charged at me with all kinds of weapons. Spears, swords, and chains.
The first guy wielded a doubled-edged sword. He made a stabbing motion that I was able to read. It had become quite easy to follow a swordsman's movement after seeing Niam fight so many times. I spun and swung my arm to my right. The unfortunate attacker's head was in the sword's way. Like and ax to a tree, the steel was embedded in the attacker's skull, killing him. It had worked. My mere imitation of Niam's swordplay was enough to kill out first attacker.
The fact that I was able to kill one of their men came quite as a shock to them. 'They weren't expecting a beauty like me to be so skilled, huh?'
["Attack her together!"] The old man yelled.
'Their techniques could never rival Niam's. I can see your moves before you make them. I see before you think. I know without knowing.' I repeated in my head.
These words were echoing in my head. I had done something that changed the course of the battle dramatically. The Mana in our surroundings gravitated towards me as if I was a heavenly body. Pressure built up in my spine, and soon, a feeling of power started to radiate from it.
The instincts a Bearer develops, developed a second time in me. I knew what kind of new trick I could use with my Salan ability.
3 of my attackers swung at me in sync. Yet, they hadn't even lifted their swords. I knew what they were going to do before they did it.
'One is swinging from his left. One is swinging from his right. And the other one is swinging down from above.'
I stabbed the guy who was going to to swing down from above. I left the blade in his stomach, turned around to his right side, and grabbed the Katana's hilt, pulling it out from the man's body in the process. The other 2 swung into nothing. They hadn't realized that I was gone.
["What?!"]
["The hell?!"]
["She is so fast... How?!"]
I knew without knowing. I saw without seeing. It was like a new human sense. 'Not a sixth sense, but a seventh sense maybe. We started to feel Mana first. So it may be the seventh.'
I put Niam's Katana into it's scabbard. I knew that my bow was enough after that point. I jumped on Ganko and shot the attacker that blocked the horses' path. I then ordered the horses to run, shooting the ones that dared to come swinging.
It was quite easy. Only their leader was left. He knelled down, probably seeking mercy. My morals started to clash. Was I going to kill him? Or was I going to let him live? I couldn't decide because I didn't need to. I had always based my judgement on Niam's. And that is what I did. An arrow left the bows's string with such power that the arrow's feather cut my left hand. The leader's head combusted into nothingness.