Valdrada slammed to the ground right behind a large rock, her heart beating wildly in her chest. Wasn't this supposed to be an easy job? "A flock of Chirpers or two, perhaps," she grumbled, doing an exaggerated impression of the NPC she and her partner were escorting as he described the dangers that they might run into on the journey from one town to the next. Hah. Like the arrows flying everywhere across the battlefield right now were the work of a couple of birds! She risked a peek over the top of her temporary shelter. Yup, situation just as before, two hyena-faced humanoids with shortbows way in the back, and two more harassing Velka just to her right. No sign of the young man they were escorting. "Drats," she mumbled, mind racing as she tried to look for him. Her attempt didn't last very long, however, as she was forced to duck down once again when one of the archers noticed her and began sending another barrage her way. The wagon the NPC was using would probably make decent cover. If he was smart, he probably would have hidden in there too, since Velka was fighting to keep the sword-wielding gnolls away from it. Hopefully he was smart. Gripping her shield tightly, she counted to three, and then leapt out from behind the rock, rushing towards the two archers at the back with her shield held up in front of her. Like a battering ram, she tried to barrel right into one of the archers, ignoring the sound of arrows bouncing off the metal in front of her. Slamming right into one of the archers, she definitely heard something go 'crunch'. There wasn't much time to stand there, not with one of the archers right next to her, so she whirled around and swung her sword at where she hoped that other gnoll was standing. Gritting her teeth as the gnoll's howl of pain rang in her ears and her side was splattered in blood, she pulled back and went in for another swipe. The faster this skirmish was over with, the better. @Velka
The gnoll dropped at her feet, blood pooling around her as it lay dying upon her lance. Velka took a moment to give it a harshly kick it off her weapon before setting her sights on the other one. Despite their intimidating size, they were weak in the face of proper opposition. It was doubtless that they could get away with it, as their large stature and numerical superiority would make it easy to overwhelm hapless caravans. Unfortunately for the gnolls, they picked the wrong target this time. Reaffirming her grip on her weapons, she parried one of its panicked, clumsy strikes before one of her lances in the air and bringing it down. A bit of fighting later and the gnolls were taken care of. That left only to make sure that their charge was alright and then to continue on. Unfortunately, there were two major issues. First of all was that NPC that they were supposed to be escorting had an arrow through his arm, numerous lacerations and was laying on the ground bleeding to death. Those were probably were from when the ambush started and he managed to tumble off the wagon before everything stopped. Normally not that great of an issue, Velka always carried some sort of medical supplies in her bag and though her knowledge was... rudimentary, it was sufficient to treat most wounds. Of course, Velka had soaked a few hits throughout the fighting, chief of note was the fact that her hands were damaged enough to not really be able do anything with precision, lest of all treat a wound. Even though the idea wasn't the greatest, Valdrada seemed bright enough to pick up on the Gnoll's fighting styles and defeat them. Surely she would be able to handle a little bit of impromptu first aid, if she didn't know any herself that is. Velka quickly retrieved her bag of supplies from the wagon before calling out to her partner, it was going to be a long day...
Phew! That was... phew... Panting lightly after all that fighting, Valdrada quickly surveyed the area. All the gnolls appeared to be taken care of. Good! And there didn't appear to be any other gnolls lurking around, looking to swoop in and pick off weary combatants. Doubly good. She heard @Velka calling out to her, and responded, "I'm coming!" After wiping her blade off on the grass--there was nowhere to clean it off and it'd have to do for now--she made her way back to the wagon. "What's wr-" Oh. Ohh no. "A-are you okay?" she asked, frowning worriedly at Velka's hands, seeing them stained with still-dripping blood. And then, she noticed the client. Her eyes practically bugged out of her head as she took in the sight of hi unconscious on the ground, arrows sticking out of his torso. "Oh no! Wh-what should we do?!"
As she somewhat dreaded, Valdrada was lost in this situation. Luckily, it wasn't that big of a deal overall since they had all the tools to fix the problem right in their hands. Well, more of Valdrada's hands really seeing as Velka's were... indisposed. Heating up a small cutting implement or two in and preparing the old 'anti tongue trauma block of wood', Velka had time to explain the procedure. The decision to pick up pyromancy proved to be an incredibly useful one, whereas she would have to rely on making campfires before and having to wait and refine the fire to her needs, she could instantly heat things up with just a snap of her fingers. Well, not really, but it was close enough and really convenient. Some very sharp knives sterilized, wooden block in NPC's mouth and procedure explained, Velka could do little else but hope that Valdrada had picked up on what she needed to do. And answer any questions if necessary, of course. Cutting the arrow out would be the first step in healing the wound, gnoll arrows were often barbed to make repairing the wound harder. This was the easy part, what came next however... she was not looking forward to it. She handed off the knives and necessary equipment to Valdrada and was now focused on heating a former branding iron to red hot heights. The cauterization was not going to be pleasant for anyone, least of all the NPC should he waken.
As Velka explained that she wouldn't be able to help the unconscious man treat his arrow wounds, Valdrada found herself instantly denying that she could do anything, voice faltering in her unease. "I- I can't- I can't cut him open, that's just..." She felt queasy just thinking about it. Sure, she had just sliced apart some monsters, but that was different. Those were gnolls coming to kill her, those were beings that could fight back, that did cut her back. Here she was now, expected to slice open the wounds of an unconscious man? ...But it was to save his life... Valdrada gulped as Velka set down the tools. The faerin woman had explained everything to her, and would talk her through the steps. But she still didn't feel prepared. Her grip tightened on the knife she was holding. She'd have to do this. Velka had said that if they didn't act quickly, he would die. And... and she couldn't let that happen, not after everything that had happened on the expedition to defeat the bandits. No, if she could stop someone from dying, she would. So, despite how much she thought she couldn't, despite the part of her mind that was still trembling at the thought of slicing into a defenseless person, she set the tip of the knife right where she was told to, and she began.
The impromptu surgery was going well, thankfully. Valdrada had a natural aptitude for cutting people open cleanly and efficiently, despite her initial nervousness. The arrowhead was removed from the his body but now he was starting to lose blood, fast. They would have to act quickly. The next part didn't really require steady hands, thankfully, but someone would need to hold the NPC down, lest he kick a burning hot piece of iron into his eye. Trusting in her own strength more, she gave Valdradra a short warning to prepare herself for the next step. It would seem cruel and perhaps unnecessary, but they didn't have much time to reconsider now. With that out of the way, she handed Valdrada the branding iron then moved over to restrain the NPC. She tied his hands and legs together then pressed them into the dirt, hopefully that would stop most of the movement and prevent unnecessary damage caused by his wriggling. When the muffled screaming started, Velka ignored the sounds and focused on holding him as still as possible. Thankfully, the procedure was almost finished and they could move on with their lives. Hopefully without being accosted by whatever else lurked along the road.
Valdrada was breathing heavily when she finished up with cutting the arrow out of the man. Her hands were shaking too, but the cut looked neat. Neat enough. Maybe they only started shaking after she was done, after she had pulled out the blade and watched the blood drip, drip, drip. Velka's actions snapped her out of her brief rush of anxiety. But what the faerin woman did next didn't really make things better, Val thought, shakily taking the red-hot piece of metal from Velka. Taking another deep breath, she pressed it down onto the wound. Thankfully he was unconscious, she thought, watching in horrified fascination as the wound began to seal and the skin began to burn. It was over quickly. That was a comfort. But, anyway. They couldn't stay here anymore. Val didn't know what kind of predators would be attracted by the scent of burning flesh, but she didn't want to find out. They needed to go, now, but they wouldn't be able to make it to their destination with the NPC laid out like this. They'd have to find somewhere to wait for him to wake up again, possibly even overnight. Somewhere sheltered, not in the open, not somewhere that a band of knolls might stumble upon and discover a trio of easy pickings. She hoped Velka had some ideas. Because she certainly didn't. @Velka
The whole medical affair was over, that was good. The longer things went on, the more likely complications would arise. She'd learn that the hard way before. Still, all three of them were breathing and though she wasn't in a condition to fight off anything that would come their way, she felt more optimistic about their chances. That didn't mean they were out of the woods yet however, there was plenty that could go wrong and they were severely lacking in supplies. They had been travelling for a fair bit, and trade between the towns was not exactly booming. Still, there was no way they were going to be able to repair the wagon, so their best chance was probably to be near the road and starting a signal fire. Many merchants carried a special compound for exactly this reason, the smoke would be brighter and more colorful, alerting nearby people easier. Then again, they would also attract more bandits and other such brigands. She estimated at least a day or two for her hands to be fixed enough to fight properly. Her skills in Pyromancy had been picking up recently though, hopefully a large display of magic would be able to ward off potential threats. Mulling over the options, she decided. Telling Valdrada to guard their unconscious passenger for now, she went to the wreckage of the caravan to search for what she needed. Though the compartment was dusty and horribly rusted, it existed. Now she just had to hope that the compounds didn't have an expiration date, that would be disastrous. She'd heard of entire towns disappearing overnight from an alchemical mishap. Regardless of the risks, she started a roadside bonfire, added the compound and watched as oddly bright, plume of pink smoke trailed into the sky. All that was left to do was to hope for the best, and prepare for the worst.
