The Rising Pheonix

Chapter 11

Emily POV

Colbolt had taken us a little bit away from the fighting. My wound was throbbing and bleeding profusely. Elnora was crying, and I was extremely dizzy.

"Well, I'd say this is a great way to end the night," I say to myself with a little chuckle.

I pull on the reigns to make Colbolt stop completely and turn to watch Jacobe fight. However, before I can put all my attention on them, I need to bandage my arm and calm Elnora.

Looking down at her, I see her face flushed from crying so much. I really want to soothe her, but I don't want to get my blood on her. "Just one moment, sweet girl, and I will make you feel better," I cooed to her.

I gently lean forward and lift the flap on Colbolts left side. I move slowly because I do not want to crush Elnora, and because I am dizzy and do not want to fall off the horse. To protect Elnora the best I can, I hold her closer to my chest with my right arm. Even though my right arm is injured, I make sure to grip her tight.

Digging through the pouch I feel a folded-up cloth. I pull it out to look at it. After I unfold it I find that it is almost like a table cloth. "Perfect, if I can find a knife I can cut part of it off and use it as a bandage," I think aloud.

I lay the cloth across Colbolt's neck and begin to dig through the pouch. Not feeling anything useful I sit up straight and take a few deep breaths. While I'm taking a moment to rest I chance a look at Jacobe.

That's when I see that, while he is ducking an attack from the front, another is coming from the back. Before I can shout a warning, Jacobe swiftly lifts his Sword, effectively blocking what could have been a fatal blow.

I heave a heavy sigh of relief and decide to continue bandaging myself up. Now, this next part might be more difficult since I have to use my injured arm. However, I must do what I can to survive this night!

I hold Elnora with my left arm and lean forward to dig through the pouch on Colbolts right side. On this side, I feel the food, so I hope there is a cheese knife in here. Digging around carefully, I feel for a knife and squeal triumphantly when I feel the hilt. I grab it and carefully pull it out of the pouch to take a look.

Once I confirmed it was a knife, I put it in my mouth and bit it. "Now all I need is some water," I think while digging back in the pouch. Since I know the water pouch is there, I locate it easily.

I sit up straight once more and look over a Jacobe. Jacobe is talking to one knight and the other is no where to be seen. I begin to get worried, thinking they are sneaking up on me so I frantically look for them. That's when I notice it. An unnatural structure made of earth that wasn't there before.

"Could they be there?" I wonder. I look around some more, and when I cannot find the other knight I feel secure enough to finish what I was doing. I hold up the cloth and fully hold it to its full length. I measured the amount of cloth I needed and doubled it. To mark the amount she needs, I folded the cloth. While the cloth was folded I grabbed the knife from my mouth and cut it.

It was difficult at first but I folded the blade into the cloth and pulled it upwards and backward to cut it. I repeated this process 3 more times until I had 2 separate pieces. I laid the larger half on Colbolts neck and proceeded to cut the smaller half in half.

After it was cut, I put the knife back in the pouch and laid her strips across my lap. I then picked up the larger cloth and folded it back up and put it back.

Once I had more room to work around, I held my right arm in front of me to look at it. My sleeve was drenched in blood, and I knew that if I cannot bind it I will pass out from blood loss.

I was shot right in the middle of my arm and it was starting to go numb. Moving quickly, I brought both arms in front of me bent at the elbow. I located the hole from the arrow and using my left hand, pulled at the hole making it bigger for me to see the whole wound.

Looking closely I could see that my skin was shredded. Most likely the arrow had serrated edges, causing it the shred when I yanked it from my arm. Not wanting to dwell on my foolishness, I uncorked the water pouch and poured half of it on my arm. Washing away most of the blood. However, some of the blood had started to dry and that stayed.

I began to bleed again as I wrapped the first strip around my arm tightly. Tying it proved to be a challenge since I only had one hand, but I was able to do it. After the first strip was tied, I tied the second on top of it. I finished just in time because I almost lost my balance and fell off Colbolt.

Colbolt could sense his master was unwell, so he walked over to a big boulder, and lowered himself gently. I patted his neck fondly and said, "What a good boy you are."

I was grateful Colbolt helped me get down safely, however, he moved us closer to the fighting. That's how I saw a knight's corpse on the ground, the other knight armed and Jacobe facing the rising sun. I was now close enough to hear them talk.

What I heard sent chills down my spine. Jacobe looked at the knight and said, "Excellent, now we shall see who will be the last one standing, Scott," before he ran towards the knight.