The forest blurred around as I walked, my legs trembling with each step.
Each step felt heavier than the last, my body screaming in protest.
My breaths ca out ragged, shallow.
My fingers tingled like I was losing feeling.
My vision swam, and a sudden, sharp pain tore through my body, and before I could even think, I doubled over, my knees hitting the dirt hard.
"What... the hell?" I managed to choke out, clutching at my stomach as a hot, tallic taste flooded my mouth.
Then it hit , a violent surge from the pit of my gut.
I barely had ti to turn my head before I vomited, a sickening torrent of blood spilling on the ground.
Thick, dark red splattered against the moss and dirt, and my entire body convulsed with each heave.
My breaths ca in ragged gasps, and I stumbled forward, catching myself on a nearby tree.
I gasped for air, coughing as another wave wracked through .
More blood.
The world tilted dangerously around .
My legs felt like they didn’t belong to anymore, weak and unsteady.
The tallic taste coated my tongue, and I wiped at my mouth with a trembling hand, only to see my palm painted with blood.
My face was pale, so pale I barely recognized myself when I caught my reflection in the surface of a nearby destroyed mirror.
My vision wavered, black spots creeping at the edges.
I forced myself to look up, and there was Ori, standing silently in front of .
"Ori..." My voice cracked as I said my voice barely louder than a whisper.
It blue eyes glowed faintly in the dark, but for once, it didn’t look like its usual emotionless self.
His eyes normally unreadable, softened as they fixed on .
Was that... pity?
"Don’t look at like that," I rasped, dragging myself up to sit on a nearby chunk of rubble.
The jagged edges of the ruined building pressed against my back, but I didn’t care.
I just needed to sit.
"No kidding," I muttered, leaning my head back against the rock.
I sank onto it heavily, my legs unable to hold up any longer.
My hand pressed against my ribs, and I winced.
"Guess I underestimated that damn orc lord attack, just look at how it ssed up."
I didn’t feel it earlier, But now...
I began to feel it, the damage.
The dull ache in my chest wasn’t just from exhaustion, it was sothing deeper, sothing badly wrong.
My bones felt like they had been shattered and hastily glued back together.
My muscles scread with every movent, and my skin burned like it was barely holding everything in.
My face was drenched in sweat, and stained with blood.
I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees, trying to catch my breath.
My entire body ached, every movent sending fresh waves of pain coursing through .
The orc lord’s attacks had done more damage than I had realized.
My ribs felt like they were on fire, and every breath was a struggle.
My thoughts spiraled as I sat there, blood still dripping from the corner of my mouth.
Isn’t this crazy?
I’m in a dood forest, bleeding out, my body shutting down one painful mont at a ti.
"I..." I paused briefly. "I think I’m dying."
I stared at the ground, at the dark stain of blood beneath .
The sight made my stomach churn, and not just because of the nausea.
I wasn’t ready to die.
The thought hit like a punch to the gut.
I had seen so much death already, Henry, the others, even strangers whose nas I never knew.
But this?
This felt different.
This was .
I clenched my fists, my nails digging into my palms.
"No. Not like this," I muttered.
I tried to push myself up, planting my hands on the rock for leverage.
My arms shook under the effort, and my vision blurred again.
Just as I got to my feet, a wave of dizziness hit , and I collapsed to the ground, the impact jarring every bone in my body.
"Dammit!" I shouted, pounding the dirt with a fist.
The pain shot up my arm, but I barely noticed.
Ori moved slowly to .
He couldn’t touch , but his presence was enough to give a sense of reassurance.
"I can’t stay down," I gritted out, forcing myself onto my hands and knees.
My breath ca in shallow gasps, and sweat dripped down my face.
"If I stay down, I’ll die."
I must walk, if I want to survive.
I have to find sothing.
Ori opened his mouth and bite my shirt and lifted up gently.
The motion was slow, almost careful, as if I might break apart entirely.
I let out a shaky breath, leaning against the rubble for support.
For a mont, I let myself wonder if this was it, if this was where it all ended.
But then I thought of Henry.
He has suffered in the hands of the Orc Lord and eventually still died by his hands.
And they are others who also died, their lives cut short by the sa monster that had left in this state.
No.
I wasn’t going to join them.
"You’re not dying," I told myself, gritting my teeth. "You’re not."
Ori tilted his head, watching intently.
I gritted my teeth, forcing myself back onto my knees.
Ori was beside , his eyes filled with sothing I couldn’t quite place.
I planted my hands firmly on the ground, trying to push myself up again.
My arms shook violently, my body threatening to give out, but I forced it to obey.
Slowly, painfully, I got to my feet.
"I’m not going to die," I said, glaring at nothing in particular.
My voice was barely above a whisper.
"Not here. Not now. Not like this."
Ori walked beside , silent for once.
I took a step forward, my legs trembling under .
Then another.
The forest seed darker now, the shadows closing in, but I didn’t stop.
"Let’s go," I said, taking one agonizing step at a ti. "I’m not done yet."
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