Carefully, I touched the tip of my kindjal to the end of my leather belt and slowly pressed down using my own stomach like a cutting board. The blade indented the black leather and broke through the shiny surface. I quickly thrust my wrist down and the blade cut right through the belt. The kindjal tip struck my leather chest plate and instantly stopped, leaving a small strip of leather that was two inches long and a half an inch wide. I knew that my kindjal couldn’t cut my armor or my body, but it was still a little unnerving to purposefully stab at myself.

The kindjal disappeared from my hand and I grabbed the piece of leather. It looked just big enough to cover the gut hook. I gripped the handle of the hooked dagger embedded in my arm and shifted it until I wedged the wicked looking tip against a ridge of the two crystals behind me. I paused as another shot of pain jarred my whole body and I shuddered. A bead of sweat rolled down my nose as I took a couple breaths to steady myself. I twisted to my side as much as I could and wedged the leather piece over the gut hook on the back of the dagger, making an impromptu sheath for that little part.

If it didn’t have the gut hook I could just pull the dagger out, while ignoring every First Aid rule in the process. That wicked little hook is what created more problems. If it were just pulled back out the hook would rip my arm in half. I had Limited Regen, but I wasn’t ready to test its limits just yet.

But, god, it hurt so bad working that little piece of leather over the tip of the hook. Each time I moved another jolt of mind-numbing pain shot from my arm through my whole body. Tears pricked my eyes and I furiously blinked them away. Not what I needed right now.

Finally the leather bit was on enough that I was semi-confident it wouldn’t come off as I pulled the dagger out. I eased the tip of the dagger off of the red-smeared crystal ridge and slumped back, breathing hard. Blood loss and over-exertion chipped away at my mental clarity. A slight gray hue ringed the rim of my vision. My body sagged, too heavy.

I closed my eyes. “Come on, Jyn,” I whispered, my voice dry and cracked. You can do this. I forced my thoughts to focus and opened my eyes.

I used my hand and mouth to tie the ruined shirt as a tourniquet around my arm above the dagger. While I waited for the blood flow to slow, I loosely wrapped my spare pair of pants around my arm just below where the dagger was. As soon as I was set, I gripped the handle of the dagger. Blood squished between my fingers and trailed down my hand. After all the thrashing and movement that I’d been through since this thing got stuck in my arm, the cut was a lot wider than the blade. Hopeful the hole in my arm was big enough.

I took a deep breath and started to work the dagger out. My hand was coated in red, my arm saturated with sticky red, all I could see was red. I clenched my jaw against the gut wrenching, nauseating pain. The blade inched out.

The leather piece that capped the gut hook hit the back of my arm where the exit wound was. I hissed out a breath to keep from screaming. Tears streamed down my cheeks, but I leaned forward and bit the handle to keep it in place. I reached around and started to work the leather inside the cut to help push it through. I moaned and shuddered, but was able to get it in.

From there, I grabbed the handle and began pulling the dagger painfully, slowly out. Every second took an eternity, until finally, the bloodied cap of the leather piece showed through the entrance wound. The rest of it slid out with a sickening pop. Trace’s hooked dagger slipped from my fingers and dropped to the jungle floor below.

As fast as I could, I stuffed some of my pants in my mouth and gripped the other side then pulled the pants as tight as I could over the gaping hole in my arm. I spit out the material then jerked at the tourniquet and loosened the ruined shirt. Once that was done, I gripped the pants over my limp arm and leaned back on my bloody crystal backrest.

Five minutes, I thought. If I didn’t die from blood loss in the next five minutes, I’d be fine. At least, that’s what I told myself. Limply, I tilted my head back and watched as the gray ring around my vision thickened and distorted my view of the shimmering silvery-green leaves overhead.

****

Something rustled in the bushes below.

My eyes snapped open. Oh god, did I pass out? Ah, wait, I’m awake. I’m not dead. But I didn’t have time to celebrate, because I felt the presence of a monster below me. Careful not to make any noise, I leaned to the side enough that I could see a fat, lumpy brown monster pawing at the ground. Honestly, it looked like a wad of mud on stubby legs with a smushed rectangle head. The System labeled is a level 45 Mudhog. It didn’t look dangerous, really. But that didn’t change that fact that it was twice my level.

It stumbled around the ground, sniffing loudly at the bloody dagger I’d dropped. Then it shifted around and followed the trail of my blood across the soil to the base of the tree.

I froze. Did it know how to climb? I didn’t know anything about that monster and since it was on scene, I didn’t have time to look it up.

The Mudhog paused and sniffed the Serpent’s black blood that was splashed across the bark with my own browning blood. The monster stiffened then snorted. A huge gush of liquid mud erupted out of its nose and splattered the tree. As soon as the mud hit, it bubbled and smoked. What I thought was mud began to corrode bark and leaves. The monster gave a snorty-squeal and turned around. It ambled away on its short legs, waddling and dripping sizzling mud with every step it took.

I released a silent sigh and looked at my left arm. I wiggled my fingers and twisted my hand, lifting it up to chest height. It still hurt, but the pain had lessened to a strong ache, instead of mind-numbing agony. More importantly, I could actually move it and nothing felt wrong anymore.

I opened my main menu. How long was I out? Long enough for my HP to increase to seventy percent. I even recovered some MP, which was good. Nodding slowly to myself, I tugged at the blood-soaked pants around my arm until it fell off.

Tenderly, I touched at the stiff material until I opened it enough to see my skin underneath. The gaping hole was gone, in its place was a week-old looking wound. The skin was red and rough, but solid. I couldn’t resist poking at it and sighed at the slight sting. Good. I’ll take it. This was a million times better than losing my arm entirely.

Now it was time to get out of here. Who knew what other monsters would be drawn to the scent of my blood? And I couldn’t trust the Serpent’s blood to scare them away like with the Mudhog.

I unbuckled my belt and secured it around my waist. Luckily, it wasn’t too affected by the half inch I cut off. Honestly, I could barely tell and I knew what it looked like before. I took out two water bottles. I drank the first one, downing the whole thing in two big breaths. The other I poured on my clothes and watched the reddened liquid cascade to the ground. The water didn’t wash all the blood out, but it did help with the stiffness of my clothes and hopefully it lessened the bloody smell. Once that was done, I took out a protein bar and ate the wooden, fake-chocolate chunk as quickly as I could.

Well, that was good as it got for me right now. I surveyed the tree ling, the ground cover, and listened intently for the sound of monsters. I couldn’t fight off anything high-leveled monsters, but I had to follow that trail of blood the Serpent left to find my way back to where I was separated from Emma. I didn’t expect to find her there, but it was at least a starting point to get the hell out of here.

After another check, I jumped out of the tree. I landed next to the dagger and couldn’t help scowling at the offending chunk of metal. With a sneer, I dug the tip of my boot under the blade and flicked it against the tree. It hit the mud left by the monster and dropped to the ground, some of the mud clinging to it. Smoke drifted up from the pattern-weld blade as the sizzling snot eroded holes through the metal. With great satisfaction, I watched as the gut hook melted right off.

It was obviously an expensive weapon, but Trace was going to just have to get a new dagger. Sorry, not sorry.

With one last glare, I started trekking through the jungle, following the bloody trail the Serpent left. I’d barely walked for five minutes when I felt something approaching me. Quickly I scrambled up the closest tree and pulled out my kindjal, ready to activate Stealth and Mist if needed. A moment later, a human figure ran towards me.

I frowned and slowly stood up, recognizing the person.

Trace glanced up and paused when he caught sight of me, his eyes wide. He stopped not far from me. “You’re not dead.” There wasn’t an ounce of relief in his voice.

Ah, well that answered a lot of questions. “Nope. I’m not.” I glared down at him. “You were the only survivor from your last team. Do you have a habit of killing off your teammates? Or am I just the lucky one?”

He actually laughed like I’d made a joke. “No, I don’t. I honestly don’t know how my team died yesterday. Me and my buddy got separated from them, looking for you. The rest went MIA and my buddy died while we were trying to get back to the transportation circle.” He smiled like it wasn’t a big deal. “But you, yeah, you’re the lucky one.”

My eyes narrowed. “Why me? What did I ever do to you? I didn’t even know you yesterday. And I barely even know you now.”

His head tipped to the side, a pleasant smile on his face. It was so unlike the quiet man that I’d spent the whole morning with that it freaked me out. Oh, and the way his eyes were dissecting me didn’t help either. “You don’t have to know me, and I don’t have to know you. All I need to know is that you upset Miss Bethany because you won’t stay away from her man. That’s all that matters.”

I gaped at him. Are you kidding? That was why he was trying to kill me? I talked to a guy, and his girlfriend sent a hitman after me? Man, I would have never guessed she was crazy just by looking at her. Then again, Trace seemed like a normal guy this morning too. Then again, I was paying so much attention to Billy and Emma, that I barely even looked at the guy. I wanted to bury my head in my hands and scream in frustration, but I didn’t dare take my eyes off Trace. He already stuck me with one dagger and put me through a world of hurt. Who knew what he’d do if I looked away again?

“So, how about you just tell her that we talked and I will never go near her man again? And we call it good?” I waved a hand, trying to act confident as I negotiated. Seriously, though, Kesstel was on my no-way-in-hell list. As if he wasn't on my black list before then.

Trace snorted. “Ah, no. It’s taken so much work to kill you, I really need to see you dead now. Since Little Emma cares so much about you, I couldn’t openly, accidentally kill you. I still have to hold my spot in the Guild, mind you. And that Serpent should have finished you off.” He glanced at my arm as if confused that it was whole. “Where’s my dagger? I do want it back.”

I sneered. “Last I saw, it was dissolving into a puddle.”

He scowled and tsked. Then his emotions turned on a dime and he smiled like a saint. “Oh well. It was a pleasant chat, but I’m going to kill you now.” Another dagger appeared in his hand and he threw it at me in a blur of speed.

No way in hell! I raised my kindjal and deflected the dagger. I had just got one of these things out, I was not getting another one stuck in me again! The guard of the dagger hit my kindjal and it spun off to the side, falling somewhere below. I countered with a throw of my own.

He jerked to the side and the kindjal barely missed him. He snorted. “That’s a sword, not a dagger. What are you throwing it for?”

To distract you, idiot! Before he was done talking, I had already activated Feather Step and leaped to the next tree. My kindjal appeared back in my hand as I sped from branch to branch, following the Serpent’s trail of blood from above.

Trace kept right on my heels below. He laughed, oddly delighted. “Do you really think that a little E can outrun a C?”

For now, I had confidence that I could keep ahead. At least until my MP ran out. Hopefully I’d find Emma by then.

*****