A Guide to Kingdom Building - Chapter 175

Everything was spinning the moment Urfaal woke up. He had an unbearable ringing in his ear that was making him nauseous. He looked around and saw the devastation Ghwynmyr’s spell caused. The cracks and embers all over the ground only made for a compelling proof of how powerful the magic Ghwynmyr set up against the monsters. A few moments later, the ringing stopped but he was still nauseous and his vision swirling from the impact.

The explosion blew him off the ceiling, fortunately for him, Ghwynmyr was able to create a cushioned wall made of mud. The bad thing about  itwas, he was still stuck. The cocoon was made up of a sticky substance that seemed to loosen itself to heat, but the mud wall cooled it down soon as he landed on it. Now, he was back to the same predicament he had before, being stuck.

He tried to wiggle his way out of the tight cocoon. He moved his extended arms and tried to use his beast ability, but unfortunately, he still couldn’t get it to work. The substance used in the cocoon was too sticky, but the heat made it possible for it to loosen up. However, he still needed to make an effort for himself to get out of the cocoon.

After another few moments of struggle, he was finally able to release his arms from the sticky substance. He then tried to wiggle his body out of the cocoon while using his claws to loosen and cut some of the sticky substance stuck on his body. A few more pushes and somehow, he finally got out of the cocoon.

The ground was still hot, he felt it against his skin. In a normal circumstance, most people could’ve burned themselves in that kind of heat but as a Meh Teh, he had the advantage of having a thicker skin and therefore, a better resistance to heat. It was said that their tribe had the second-best fire-resistant skin among the non-humans, of course, naturally, the dwarves top them in that department. But even then, that ability was still one of a kind.

He tried standing up, but he felt nauseous as his weight shifted from all fours to two legs. He vomited as he went back down on the ground. He looked around trying to find his comrades, but they were nowhere to be found.

“G-ghwynmyr? W-wahakim?!” He tried calling them out, but his shout was more of a whisper rather than a booming cry.  “P-please…anyone? H-help…” He croaked.

“O’er ‘eree…cough…cough…” He heard Ghwynmyr’s weak voice. “L-lad…yah alive?”

“B-b…barely..bleurgh!” His stomach flipped once more. “B-but I’ll…live!”

He could hear Ghwynmyr’s tired laughter, “Good fer yah!” The dwarf coughed once again. “W-wahakim?… Are yah alright?”

“I am!” Wahakim coughed. “I am alright…my friend. But…” He coughed violently before he could finish his sentence.

Urfaal took a deep breath and stood up. His vision spun, but he fought it and was able to recover his balance. He walked around stumbling from the numbness of his feet, but that was not the time for him to rest. He looked around for Ghwynmyr and found him lying against the wall, covered in dried up mud.

“A…are you, alright?” He asked while hesitating to touch the blanket of dried mud. “Have you broken something?”

“Nay, lad…cough…I am alright!” Ghwynmyr tried to wiggle his way out of the mud but winced as he moved. “Gods’ balls! I broke me ribs.” He spat.

“What?!” Urfaal tore his way through the mud, freeing his friend. “Which part does it hurt?!”

Ghwynmyr grinned, “Everywhere hurts!” He gritted his teeth as he tried to move once again. “Tis should be fine! ‘Elp me up?” He reached for his hand.

Urfaal helped Ghwynmyr up, avoiding his injured rib to stop worsening its damage. After helping his friend up, they then looked for Wahakim. Ghwynmyr pointed at where the Orkamuu was and saw him sitting against a dried-up puddle bleeding from a sharp debris impaled on his hip.

“Wahakim…” Urfaal approached him in a rush. “W-what…what happened to you? I thought you said you’re alright?”

“Well…” Wahakim answered in a laborious breath. “I am alive, am I?” He grinned.

The twitching smile on the Orkamuu’s face became more worrisome for Urfaal especially with how cold and clammy Wahakim’s skin felt to the touch.

“Merciful Oyue! He’s bleeding out!” Urfaal inspected the wound but was too afraid to touch the sharp stone sticking out of the Orkamuu’s stomach. “G-Ghwynmyr, w-what should we do?!” His voice quivered.

Ghwynmyr limped towards them and saw the unfortunate injury Wahakim had. He slowly knelt down in one foot while grimacing in pain and checked the wound. He looked side to side and even tried touching the wound, but it seemed to be hopeless.

“Is…he going to …” Urfaal bit his lip and tried his best not to say that one word. He was afraid that the gods might hear him and in some cruel joke make that thing come true.

Ghwynmyr looked at him in the eyes and held his hand. “Urfie, Wahakim…he…” He took a deep breath. “The stone nicked ‘is insides. Tis gonna bleed him dry…tho slowly.” He clenched his fist in frustration.

“Please, don’t leave me to die here like my brothers. If I must die…I have nothing against that but let me die under Apholak’s light not in these sunless chthonic bowels.” Wahakim gritted his teeth. He was expending to much of his energy just to keep himself awake.

Ulfaar felt helpless once again. He cannot do anything about it. There was nothing they could do to stop the bleeding and mitigate Wahakim’s obvious pain. He looked at the Orkamuu with pity and tried to stay as positive as he can be.

“Y-you…you…will be alright.” He whispered in his breath. “Wahakim, you will be alright! I will make sure of that.” He looked at Ghwynmyr asking him for any idea…or just anything to make the Orkamuu at ease.

“Gods damn it!” Ghwynmyr cursed under his breath. “Tis I should be blamed—”

“Say not of that, my friend.” He smiled weakly as his breath continued to be laborious. “That wasn’t your fault. If anything,…you…heeeellppped uuusss…geeettt…vengggg—” Suddenly, Wahakim collapsed.

“Oh no! Oh no! W-wahakim! NO!” Ghywnmyr immediately checked for his pulse. “Tis getting’ weaker! Urfie, tie ‘im to yer back, post haste!”

Urfaal did as what he was told, but with nothing to tie Wahakim with, he had to improvise. He took the Orkamuu’s belt and tore a few of his clothes and tied them together to create a make-shift rope. While he was doing knotting the last strips of cloth, he smelled something weird.

He turned around and saw his dwarven friend holding the stone sticking out of Wahakim’s stomach. Ulfaar saw a thin smoke coming out of the Orkamuu’s wound. He approached his friend and was about to ask him when Ghwynmyr beat him to the chase.

“You nay ‘ave tah worry.” Ghwynmyr said as his brow furrowed at the stressful task. “Tis me cauterizing the wound and stop dah bleedin.”

“Coo—terzing?” He had a lot of questions in mind of his friend’s action.

“Cauterizing.” Ghwynmyr said it again. “Tis I burnin’ the flesh tah stop the bleedin. But nuff ’bout dat. Are yah ready?”

Urfaal nodded silently amazed and worried at his friend’s proficiency. “I-is that safe?”

His dwarven friend looked at him in the eyes and nodded back with confidence. After patching Wahakim up, Ghwynmyr then commanded him to carry the injured Orkauu on his back using the cloth as the restraints.

“Carry ’em and follow me.” Ghwynmyr handed Urfaal a short blade. “Let’s follow tis path…and don’t yah get killed!” The dwarf pointed at a small passage way in between two boulders leaning against each other.

Urfaal nodded and although he trusted Ghwynmyr, he was still anxious of what his friend had in store for them.