Spirit Animals: The Stolen Crown

Chapter 3

Nazeer woke up gasping, drenched in sweat and sat up quickly. Hot needles of pain flared through his stomach and ribs and his skin was burning, but he forced himself to sit. The voice was still in his head, you could've saved him. which was why he didn't see or hear the man next to him.

"-alm down. You're safe. You took a bad hit from those mountain lions and you need to rest. Lay back down so you don't open your wound" the man said. Nazeer lifted his shirt and saw three slash marks that were made by claws and were a nasty shade of red. He remembered the mountain lions and how they had chased him from the camp and how he got hit by one of their claws. He looked at the man and saw that he was about twenty, or in his twenties. He had dark skin with a single braid going down to his back, but his cheeks were pink red. What threw Nazeer off was his eyes because they were the color of light orange and brown mixed together. The man had so many distinct features it was hard for Nazeer to concentrate on him.

"My name is Anda and I'm the leader of the tribe and a healer. Now will you please lay back down before you open your wound." he said worriedly. Nazeer ignored the man and tried to stand up, but he put a firm hand in front of him to prevent him from getting up. "You're wound will open again and you will faint from blood loss. If you want that to happen then go ahead and try getting up again." he said. Nazeer decided to comply and lay back down.

"Where am I? Nazeer asked looking around. "How long was I out?"

"You're in the plains of Amaya with my tribe. We're a nomadic tribe that constantly travels around Amaya. You were lucky we found you when we did otherwise you would've been lion food. As for how long you were out, I would say about an hour only. I don't know why you woke up so quickly when the people who brought you in said they used on of the poultices on you. You were supposed to be out for the rest of the night."

"Guess I got lucky" Nazeer mumbled to himself. The man, Anda, worked on the wound quietly for a few hours without asking Nazeer any questions which he appreciated. Nazeer tried to sleep but he had never been able to sleep for more than a hour at a time ever since his dad died. His constant nightmares always had him wake up because of how bad they were and they kept on getting worse. He would fall asleep, but his nightmares would constantly wake him up in the night. For him, sleeping was worse than staying awake the entire night.

"I'm all done. I did all that I could but you'll have a scar on your chest. Since those idiot hunters don't know how to use my poultices despite me teaching them several times. Here, have this." Anda dug into his pockets and pulled out some jerky. Nazeer's stomach growled at the sight of it and Anda gave a light chuckle before giving it to him. "Get some rest, with the wound you have you'll need as much energy as possible. We'll talk in the morning over some food." Nazeer sighed and closed his eyes, but sleep had a long way of coming for him.