Frozen Summer

Chapter 37

" Oww !! "

" Hold Still "

" I'd like to see you do this "

" Listen boy, I was in the army, I know how to take care of a dislocated shoulder. "

" Just be carefull with it ok ? Ow ! "

" What's with all the whining ? I thought you couldn't feel pain anymore "

" I don't know, it's a reflex ! "

" Ok, just hold still for a second. "

Richard took a deep breath and placed his palm on Konnor's shoulder.

" The joint of the shoulder is one of the most mobile yet unstable of the human body, luckily for you, the head of the bone popped out forward and it's the easiest to put back. We are both gonna count to three, and at three I'm going to push it very hard back into place ok ? "

" Ok ... "

" Let's go, one. "

" One... "

" two. "

" two.. AHH ! "

" There we go, brand new "

" Where was the three ?!?! "

" If I didn't take you by surprise you would have tensed up and it may have made the process harder. Now I'm gonna make you a sling, hold your arm against yourself. "

Konnor took a deep breath and looked up, the sun was starting to set on the forest of Milivel, the two of them tried to keep advancing further into the forest after their encounter with the hunter and the bear mother. This part of the forest was way more lively as they had seen some animals roaming around, it seems the part of the forest they entered was the hunting ground of the giant bears which explained the lack of life. At dusk, smaller animals started wandering around their camp, fireflies were flying through the air, crickets were starting their chant for the night. This part of the forest had a completely different vibe to it. Once the sling was in place, Richard gave some water to his friend before starting a fire.

" So Richard, what happened back there ? Who was that guy? "

" I don't know, he was using poison arrows and they knocked me out, but he wasn't trying to kill us. "

" Yeah, before you found me fighting the giant bear I made a smaller one run away and he was about to help me fight it even though he was the one who threw me down there. "

" He also said something interesting. " I will protect her sanctuary from all of you. " We are going to have to fight him again, he is guarding something but my guts is telling me we should look into it. "

" Yeah whatever you say, honestly I'm beat right now and I just want to sleep. "

" Take a rest, tomorrow we are gonna do some recon of the region, we might be here for longer than expected. "

Richard spent most of the night installing contraptions to keep wildlife away from their camp and managed to close his eyes for a few hours of rest and peace. The next day, they both started to do some recon for their basic needs, a few hours away from their current camp they finally stumbled upon a river. Thanks to the time he spent with Isabella, Richard was aware of the different herbs and plants he needed to help Konnor's wound heal faster. Letting him at the camp to rest he would spend the rest of the day hunting for food and the required plants. When night came they would both share the information they could acquire during the day. A few days went by before they felt rested enough to break camp. Early in the morning once their bags were packed they started heading west back where they first encountered the hunter. His right arm still in a sling, Konnor was observing the forest around him, the air was still fresh from the rain of the previous night, he took a deep breath and filled his nostrils with the scent of wet pine, the ground and leaves were still covered by the morning dew. Squirrels around them were climbing to high trees and jumping from branches to branches. Spring time had arrived in the forest of Milivel, the leaves were turning a bright orange color, the sun was up early in the morning, birds were seen parading in the sky. " This place isn't so bad when you aren't getting chased by bears. "