The block held the door up. If they went there, they would be able to take our home as a new den.
But if I went to the base, then I was going to be trapped inside. I gulped. I could run. I still had time.
I dropped the cart and ran towards the base. I was not going to give up what we'd fought for. I didn't want to lose again. I didn't want a repeat of yesterday.
A monster keened as I was halfway back to the base. They had found me, and were in hot pursuit. I didn't dare look back for fear of tripping as I ran. The keening got louder as they got closer and closer, I could hear the thumps of their footfalls as I made it past the last line of trees before the grotto.
I heard splashing right behind me. I dared a quick look behind me and saw a pair of green wolf-like monsters, tentacle-like vines reared up from their back, ready to strike. They loped after me, gaining with each bound.
I slid under the door, grabbing the block as I passed the threshold.
The door dropped as one lunged for me. Instead of catching me in its jaws, the door crashed down on its head. It didn't kill it, but the creature was dazed. The vines on its shoulders snaked under the door.
"[Conjure Axe]."
The wolf monster growled as it scrabbled against the door, its vines whipped around violently as it snarled up at me. One vine grabbed at my ankle, and yanked. I fell to the ground as three more vines shot towards me.
I knocked one aside, but two tentacles made it past, and impaled me in the side of my leg.
I screamed, and raised the axe above my head as panic and fear flooded through me. I wouldn't let being a Non-Combatant get in the way of protecting myself or my castle.
I chopped the vine holding me in place and rolled back before they could hit me again. I coughed up blood as I barely dodged the next grab.
The vines lashed about as they tried to grab my ankles, I leapt back and brought the axe above my head and then crashing back down. The axe cracked against stone as a vine dodged out of the way, but on the second strike, I cut the vine off at the stem.
Non-Combatant roiled against the back of my mind. It wanted me to stop fighting, give up and die. At least it wasn't as strong as when I'd been out in the woods. The fact that I was protecting my home ameliorated the agony even if it didn't eliminate it.
The monster screamed as it tried desperately to bump the thick wooden door from its back.
Its buddy howled and scratched at the door. I brought my axe down on the monster's head, it howled and jumped. That knocked the door up just enough for the buddy's vines to slither under it. I hacked at them, but I could only get one before the others pulled back.
I chopped again. The trapped one yelped, knocking the door up enough for the first one to dash backwards. The second, unaware of the problem, stuck its nose in just in time for the door to come crashing down on it. It yelped as it retreated.
The door closed completely.
My relief was short lived as they started clawing at the door. Cracks slithered out from each impact as they ripped away the wood.
"[Repair]." I channeled my mana into the door to reverse their assault.
Cracks reappeared as they slammed into it, then the mana resealed them.
"GO AWAY!" I yelled as I channeled my spell. With Concentration at tier three, so long as I didn't cast anything else, I could keep going forever.
Cracks. Mana. Reseal.
A minute passed before they took a break, started yipping at each other, then rejoined their assault upon the door. They doubled down together, not just clawing but I could hear vine tentacles tearing at it, slamming against it.
The cracks started to outpace my Repair spell.
So I cast a second one.
I glared at the door.
Cracks. Mana. Reseal.
"[Flame Orbs], [Arcane Strike]."
The woosh of weak fire magic echoed from outside as the smell of seared grass assaulted my nose.
The monsters growled at their new assailant.
I couldn't let Eimear fight alone. Even if I wasn't a fighter, I had to do something. I set the axe aside, and hefted the door up. The moment it passed my knee, one of the wolf monsters lunged underneath. I shrieked and dropped the door, trapping it. This time, the axe made quick work of it, and by the time I got the door open again, I saw Eimear and Gormán standing over the other's corpses.
She was covered in dirt and blood. Her hair was smeared back with mud, and she had the widest grin on her face as she beamed with pride.
Gormán leaned against a tree, panting and clutching his chest, a makeshift stone axe at his side as blood and sap were splattered across his worn and dirtied tunic and trousers.
I exhaled deeply, winced and nearly stumbled as pain shot up from my leg as the adrenaline of fear and combat abated. I replaced the wood block to hold up the door before my legs gave out from underneath me.
Eimear stuck her sword into the beast's head one last time to make sure it couldn't get back up before coming to help me. "You okay?"
I put pressure on the wound, expecting it to bleed out and fall unconscious. "No."
"Show me." She knelt next to me.
"I..." I would have to take my robe off to show her, and I didn't want to do that. I blinked rapidly, blacked out for half a second to find myself leaning against the side of the entryway.
"Damnit." She took away the choice and ripped open the tears around the wounds in my thighs. "[Clean Wound]." She cast the tier one spell, and a warm light flowed over the injury. "Phew, it's manageable." She wiped away the sweat on her forehead, replacing it with blood and sap from the fight.
"S-stop." I instinctively tried to push her away, and she stumbled back as I shoved with more strength than I expected.
"I'm trying to help you."
Gormán put a firm hand on her shoulder. "Is she going to die if you don't do it now?"
"Well, no." Eimear tried to shoulder past, but he held on tight.
"Then give her a moment."
I smiled weakly at the old man, and took a deep breath. I looked down and saw that most of the blood around the wound was gone, but my thighs were fully visible to the world. I went beet red, and gathered up the fabric to cover up.
"I-I'm fine."
Eimear glowered at me. "You're going to get yourself killed. Let me finish treating that."
"I'm sorry." I looked askance.
"Are you? Or are you just saying that because you think it's what I want to hear?"
"I'm actually--"
"No. Shut up." She grabbed me by the collar and pushed me against the rough stone wall. "Don't give me a rote answer. Stop. Think."
I kept looking down, unsure of what to do.
"I don't know what's going on in this world, but we're trapped here. We only have our small little group, and we're already thrown to the winds. I know you have baggage, but we all have baggage." Her tone softened as she pleaded with me, but my shame was deep seated and wouldn't leave because someone asked nicely.
Gormán looked up, shrugged, and nodded. "That we do."
"But for the love of (...)," she frowned, then started over. "For the love of the gods?" She looked around nervously, as though waiting to get smote, then seemed pleased with herself. "You need to get over whatever is stopping us from helping you. Let me see your damn wound, so I can heal you!"
How could I be honest? I'd been a guy. I was living a false pretense, I wasn't who she thought I was. I bit my lip.
"F-fine." I released the death grip on my robe and she knelt down next to me.
She opened up my robe and poked at my thighs. "[Cure Wound]." We both watched as the wound scabbed over. It itched like crazy, and I wanted to claw it back open, but I resisted the urge by biting down hard on nothing and scowling.
My health ticked back up to half, the whole time, my body itched, and the wound burned as it knitted itself back together at a snail's pace.
"See, that wasn't so bad, was it?" She smiled at me.
"I..." I stopped.
She raised an eyebrow, but kept silent.
"It's nothing."
"Apparently not. Otherwise you wouldn't be so freaked out over me seeing your thighs."
"I was just raised... pretty conservatively, and well." I bobbled my head back and forth.
"That's it?" She raised an eyebrow.
Gormán bent over laughing.
"W-what? What's wrong with being conservative?" I bit my lip as I looked between them.
Eimear opened her mouth to say something, but Gormán stopped her. "Nothing wrong at all, lass. We all have our different paths in life." He shot her a meaningful look. "But Eimear's right that we need to figure out how to live here. It doesn't look like we're getting out anytime soon, and we can't figure out how to get back home if we're dead."
The Mage-Knight punched me lightly in the shoulder. "Idiot." Then she offered me a hand, and helped me up. "I can't be a proper knight in shining armor if you won't let me protect you."
I looked down at the headless corpse of one of the monsters. "Think we can eat it?"
"Only one way to find out." Eimear grinned at me.
"While you lasses do that, please tell me you have a bed," the bags under Gormán's eyes were dark and deep set, contrasting with the faint forest green glow of his World Elf eyes.
I shook my head. "Not yet. But I've flatted out a bit of ground. There's a fire nearby, so it's warm."
"I'll show you in," Eimear took him by the elbow while I conjured a knife and got to work training my butchering. As with the monkey monsters from yesterday, I started with casting Identify.
[ Vinevarg: Tier Three Wood Aligned Monster.
These pack hunting carnivores will surround their prey, entangling them in vines, and inflicting debilitating wounds. Where there is one, others are sure to follow. ]
Unfortunately, it became clear that this would not make for a good meal as soon as I dug my conjured knife into it. It felt like sawing cardboard, and once I got the skin peeled away to get at the muscles we could cook, I groaned.
Its muscles weren't made of flesh and blood, it was made of vines and sap.
"Problem?" Eimear asked after getting Gormán settled inside for his long over-due nap.
"It's not made of meat."
"Seriously?"
I nodded.
"Damn. Can we eat it anyways? Like a salad or something?"
I squirreled my face in annoyance as I thought about it. Could it be like a giant carrot? "I have no idea. Maybe as a last resort, but..." I got the vague sense that trying to eat this thing would kill us.
"Then we need to find some actual food," Eimear said as she looked out into the woods.