Zarath gritted his teeth at the realization that he was the cause of her injuries but knew it could possibly have been worse if he hadn't protected her from the impact of hitting the water.
Now seeing her face up close and illuminated by the far he also noticed that the golden body paint she wore was also smudged and running down her, not saying anything to make the already awkward moment worse, the both sat in silence Sha'lara rewrapping a damp cloth around Zarath's stomach to cover the wound on his side.
"We should eat something and try to get a little rest while our fur and clothes dry out." Zarath stated already exhausted from just the little movement while injured.
Sha'lara didn't answer him but grabbed some of the dried meat that they had fished out of the river, it was cold and wet just like them, but they had little choice luckily since it was already dried, they didn't have to cook it and could just eat. It became apparent that Sha'lara was having difficulty eating because of the pain and bruises, after a few bites she seemed to lose interest in trying to eat anything.
"You need to eat Sha'lara." Zarath said as he tried to take a bite having difficulty tearing the meat himself even with his fangs.
"I'm not hungry." Her voice was low and weak like she was ready to give up. She slumped down staring at the fire as she held the piece of meat in her hands.
"Sha'lara I will force feed you if you don't eat willing, we can't afford to be picky right now." Zarath's head jerked back as he tore another bite of his chunk looking at his feline companion, he knew being hard wasn't the right call, but he had little choice she had to eat even if it meant forcing the meat down her throat.
"Just leave me alone and eat your piece." Sha'lara turned her back to him, still shivering slightly, her fur wasn't as wet as before but she was still very damp and feeling the effects of her injuries didn't help. She pulled her knees to her chest and curled her tail around herself.
Zarath pushed himself closer, wincing as his broken leg dragged across the rocky ground, he gently but firmly grabbed Sha'lara by the shoulder shaking her slight as he tired to turn her to face him.
"Sha'lara come on you need to eat." He tried to make her turn only adding to his own exhaustion as it turned into a wrestling match.
"I said to leave me alone you stupid mutt." Sha'lara jerked back, forcing Zarath to land on his chest hard, he rolled over onto his back in a bit of pain, coughing slightly.
"Zarath!" Sha'lara turned to check on him, not meaning to hurt him more than he already was. "I am hey dammit cut it out." despite his pain Zarath reached up trying to force a piece of the dried meat into her mouth returning to the wrestling match. "I said to stop." Just as the last word left her mouth Sha'lara lost her balance and landed on top of Zarath both of them freezing in place as her lips pressed against his.
Sha'lara, despite her pain, quickly shot up wincing slightly and grabbing her sides again the fur along her body standing on end now as she sat there wide eyed. Not sure what just happened, Zarath lay there on the ground staring up into the dark void above them.
"Y... You should um try and eat a little more." Zarath's voice was unsure, almost like he didn't know how to speak and definitely didn't know what to say.
"F… Fine." Sha'lara took the piece of meat from his hands and started to eat again. Zarath slowly sat up still looking dumbfounded at the event that had just happened. The two of them sat there eating quietly now, neither one of them sure what to say or do at this point except to let the fire dry them and their clothes off. The tension between them hung thick in the cold dark air, the crackling fire the only sound to interrupt the silence. Zarath's mind swirled with questions, none daring enough to reach his lips. Sha'lara, meanwhile, chewed slowly, her ears flicking back and forth as if to ward off her own thoughts.
"I didn't mean to—" Sha'lara began, her voice barely above a whisper, but Zarath cut her off with a dismissive wave of his hand.
"Don't. Let's just… forget it for now," he muttered, his focus fixed stubbornly on the flames. Restless and uneasy. Sha'lara hesitated, then shifted closer to the fire, seeking its warmth. The damp chill still clung to her, and every movement sent a fresh ache through her battered body.
Zarath noticed but said nothing, his thoughts too tangled to form words. He busied himself with adjusting the logs, poking at the embers as though the task demanded his full attention.
Finally, Sha'lara broke the silence, her tone softer. "You shouldn't strain yourself like that, moving around with your leg like that. It won't heal."
Zarath snorted, a half-hearted attempt at humor. "Says the one who refuses to eat unless tackled." He glanced at her, a faint smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.
A reluctant smile played on Sha'lara's lips, though it faded quickly. "Zarath… I'm sorry. For earlier. I didn't mean to make things worse for you."
He sighed, leaning back against a jagged rock that served as a makeshift rest. "It's fine, Sha'lara. We're both just tired and neither of us is exactly in top shape right now."
Another pause. This one felt less heavy, more like a truce. Sha'lara wrapped her arms around herself, her tail curling close for comfort. "We should get a little sleep and then try to find a way out of here."
The fire crackled as they settled back into an uneasy quiet. Sha'lara looked at Zarath who shifted slightly unable to get comfortable against the rock he was leaning against, she moved over to him and sat down next to him.
"Do you think the others made it out of that cavern and back to the surface." She asked looking up into the dark void above them the fire, their only light source.
"I know they made it across the bridge, but I honestly don't know how long we were falling or how long we've been down here but I'm sure that the others made it back to the surface." Zarath shifted again reaching down to adjust the makeshift splint on his leg again.
"Any idea if maybe they are waiting for us." Sha'lara asked already knowing the answer to that question.
"I honestly doubt that we survived the fall let alone will make it back if this place is crawling with blighted." Zarath let out a yawn as he finally started to drift off.
"Let go of me dammit." Tharon shouted as other wardens pulled and held down the much larger wolfkin as he tried to fight them off and get back to get back to the entrance to the cavern entrance of Grûmthol, Dagan sat in one of the two remaining wagons with the young dwarf girl they had rescued, Lyra rode on Hura's back her face sunken as the thought of this defeat still filled her head, Alaric walked with Stormwing walking beside him. Finally, someone smacked Tharon in the back of the head.
"Enough Tharon, your friends need you we can not worry about the dead, now I am sorry you lost your friends, but I have lost far more friends over the decades I have lived than you, the best you can do is moron them and move on." Emrick shouted his normal laid-back demeanor gone as he brought his recruit back into line. "Go check on the others and then get ready to move out we have to reach the surface and head back to Frontier."
The wardens that had made it out before the earthquake had caused the bridge to collapse were moving at a turtle's paces back towards the surface, they never thought they would run into a hoard let alone one that would wipe out an entire dwarven town. Commander Winterborne's thoughts raced she would have to send world to the capital of Thrumdar and notify the remaining members of clan Dûrhand about the massacre as well as send word to Ironhold and request more troops from Warden High Command maybe sending word to the kingdom of Eldoria since the town of Frontier belonged to them maybe the king would send more troops to help push back the blighted. All she knew was that she had just lost a few dozen veterans and recruits as well as a large number of supplies.
Back in the abyss that Zarath and Sha'lara found themselves in Zarath's dreams where interrupted yet again as he found himself waking in the strange room, he had made the faceless being before that claimed to be the creature of the blight, the former shadowy monster that once tried to consume him.
"You appear to be drawn to my creation or it to you a curious design though I suppose it may be because you are akin to a demi-god in such is your relationship with that pesky mutt that did nothing while I was imprisoned so long ago." The shadow figure once again had grown more solid in its form, from its feet to its knees, an iridescent white and purple skin had seemed to form with constellation like patterns, as its hands fingers a burning white, and forearms the same purple iridescent color with starlike designs. His ears had grown to a point and its face was more defined though it still remined featureless.
"Each time I appear here you seem to grow more solid, and speak more fluidly, and you say your creation I already knew you created the blight." Zarath remained calm, he had learned that this shadow had no intention of hurting him, he had no idea why this being was drawn to him or how he held such power over the world of dreams that belonged to his goddess. "I would not have thought you an elf."
"Is that what I am, to be honest my kind existed long before the elves you know today every walked upon the soil of the great forest. No, my kind are closer to the gods made flesh, the first living beings of the world." The being floated over to a nearby bookshelf grabbing a tome off the top shelf. Once again, the being seemed more interested in its work than it did the living person speaking with it.
"You're a star touched aren't you then?" Zarath slowly approached to see if he could at least get a glimpse of the words in the tome unlike his broken body in the living world in the dream realm he had a little more control given the amount of time he spent here.
"It would appear that you are more educated than I thought, I am surprised any one from your time knows that beings like me ever walked the world." The being turned a few pages in the ancient tome.
"The Star Touched elves still exist the live in the floating islands beyond the great forest." Zarath raised his brow did this being think his people were dead, what happened that this person was imprisoned for so long if he assumed the star touched elves were extinct.
The being slammed closed the tome and the whole room that made of this dream space shook violently as if trying to break apart but couldn't, who ever built this prison inside the world of dreams knew what they were doing meaning it had to be a god or other star touched elves.
"So, the ones responsible for her death still dare to draw breath after all I did to get my revenge on them, it would seem that my work in the living world truly is not done yet." The being's voice seemed to lose its once gently and deep tone being replaced by the shadow form that once tormented Zarath in his dreams. Slowly returning to the more elvish form.
"Apologize I allowed emotion to control me for a moment, but as for the problem at hand, it would appear that you will need help, your body is broken and unfortunately your goddess can not help you here in this place." The being's voice took on a sinister tone as he outstretched his hand.
"What are you saying?" Zarath's fur stood on end as he looked at the beings outstretched hand wary of the possible deal that this strange being who has tormented him and now offers help so readily.
"My creation was never meant to kill or corrupt like you and other mortals think, my Blight as you call it was the solution to weakness, you have already felt its influence the rush you feel when you hunt the increase in your speed, but you have yet to release its true potential." The being floated closer.
"All you need to do is allow my creation to do what it was always meant to do." The being's voice seemed laced with honey and poison at the same time.
Zarath awoke with a jolt groaning as the pain flooded his body, his leg burning and throbbing in the makeshift splint that Sha'lara made for him, he gritted his teeth as he slowly sat up at some point while they were sleeping. Sha'lara shifted from sitting next to him to being draped over him.
"Sha'lara hey wake up." Zarath shook her slightly as he tried to get her weight off him. He was still weak after the fall and couldn't do much about it.
"Sha'lara wake up." Zarath gave her a gently push, making her roll off him slightly which got her up. She grabbed her sides which still hurt.
"Ok, ok I'm up, just stop pushing everything hurts right now." Sha'lara looked even more tired than she did before their rest, it was possible she might have an internal injury that neither her nor Zarath could do anything about.
Slowly the two of them got up and made a quick and minuscule breakfast of some of the supplies they found, Sha'lara helping Zarath up and supporting his weight so he didn't need to put pressure on his injured leg she winced at first only confirming Zarath's suspicion that she was more injured than she looked but at this point there was little they could do since she was the only one that could really move around. The had managed to find a small path that lead upwards away from the blackness of the rocky shore in the abyss luckily since they were both beast folk they could see in the dark better than humans, elves and dwarfs the hardest part was trying to no slip on the wet slopped rocks that made up the path.
"About how far do you think we fell, or any clue as to how we are going to get back to the main tunnel once we get up there." Sha'lara asked between labored breaths as she tried to climb up one particularly slick rock Zarath pushing her up from below as she pulled herself up onto it.
"Honestly I have no idea Sha'lara, maybe once we get closer, we can pick up a scent or find a map, lets just hope to what ever gods are watching that we don't run into any more blighted." Zarath winced as Sha'lara pulled him up onto the rock by his arms, his side burning with each stretch of his muscles, the wound in his side most likely infected.
"For a rash… what ever you call it you're not a very devout paladin of your god or goddess, Zarath." Sha'lara fell back onto her rear when she finial managed to get Zarath onto the rock next to her.
"Let's just say as someone who has spoken to literally gods, my relationship with them is not on the best of terms." Zarath panted as he tried to catch his breath of step every climb was exhausting for the both of them.
"You make it sound like you've actual been in the realm of the gods but only magic users can cross over the veil and into the world of dreams as the humans call it." Sha'lara leaned back as she caught her breath and slowly stood up, she waited for Zarath to respond but no answer ever came.
"Wait have you seriously been to the realm of the gods?" Sha'lara asked a bit surprised she knew Zarath had taken an oath of a paladin but usual only high religious figures or high ranking paladins have every spoken to actual gods and even then those few who did where considered hero's and the last known person to do it was a human priest who died during the last blight.
"Lets just focus on getting out of this ravine first and I might tell you more about it later." Zarath used the rock to help him get up looking at Sha'lara the Felinar princess was for the first time speechless and didn't have a witty remark to make, but then again given the situation they were both in right now not even Zarath was in the mood for their usual back and forth.
As the two of them began to work up the slipper rocks again they had made decent progress at least a third of the way up or maybe half it was hard to know or tell when they had no idea how far they had fallen to begin with. All they could do was hope that they would reach the top and find a path back to the surface world or near another dwarven settlement or even better a dwarven outpost with soldiers that could help them fight, if need be, against the blighted or any other creatures that would happily make a snack out of two wounded teenage beast folks.
After about another hour or so of climbing the two had managed to make it a decent sized ledge, Sha'lara helped Zarath prop up against the rock wall away from the edge and started to make a small fire with some of the scrap wood that she salvaged from the broken wagon, a once wet canvas fabric still slightly torn was used as a makeshift blanket for the two of them to share, while Zarath took some of the dried meat and tore it in half, they had limited supplies and had to make what they had last until they could find more or get help.
"Here this should at least be enough to keep the hunger at bay for a little while." Zarath handed Sha'lara the larger of the two halves already putting the smaller piece in his mouth.
"You should have the larger piec.." Zarath shoved the larger half into Sha'lara's mouth before she could finish her sentence.
"Look right now you are in better shape than I am, if we get attacked, I really can't do anything with this hole in my side and a broken leg, so you need to eat more I will be fine with the smaller pieces for now ok." Zarath showed no sign of giving in on this subject as he started to chew the piece in his mouth, but he was right the only one that could fight right now was Sha'lara and she knew it as well as he did that he wouldn't be doing much of anything unless they could get some healing magic or potions.
"Alright fine but the next time we stop you get the bigger half ok I don't want to drag your corpse out of her." Sha'lara tried to bite back but there was no real venom in that remark as she pulled her knees up to her chest and began to eat her piece of meat.
Eventually the two of them curled up under neath the makeshift canvas blanket, despite the fact that it was probably midmorning or midday it was hard to tell in the dark of the ravine or underground anyway, the two of them knew that this was going to be a marathon not a sprint and that they would need all the energy and resolve the could muster so stopping regular to take naps or eat would be what would make or break them in this journey out of hell.
Sha'lara easily dozed off as she had to do a lot more of the heavy lifting right now to pull and help Zarath climb up the slipper rocks, Zarath on the other hand was having trouble trying to keep himself from nodding off as he didn't want to enter the realm of dreams again where that strange being that clams to be the one that created the blight or his adoptive goddess mother who only tells him half the truth majority of the time, despite his best efforts to stay awake having Sha'lara right next to him made it impossible to stay awake, maybe it was the warmth of her body or just the fact he wasn't alone in this place but for some reason he felt he could let his guard down around her even if she was a prissy Felinar princess.
After a few hours of sleep the two began to climb again, after a few more hours of climbing they finally began to see light above them moving closer to the edge.
"Almost there Zarath come on we just have a few more meters to go." Sha'lara said between ragged breaths as she pulled Zarath up from below her onto the next rock.
"Yeah, I can see that." As the words left Zarath's mouth the fur on both him and Sha'lara stood on end the rotten scent of the blighted filled their noses, quickly Sha'lara pulled Zarath up the rest of the way both of them pressing their backs to the cliff wall as heavy footsteps clearly made by metal boots grew closer to the ledge above them.
The blighted knight stood above them peering down into the darkness, its heavy breathing almost like a subtle growl rather than breathing, as its rusted metal boots stepped closer to the edge some small pebbles kicked down and clattered on the ledge below where Zarath and Sha'lara were hiding. Sha'lara clutched the hilt of her one good golden curved blade ready to strike if needed, Zarath put his hand over hers as if to tell her to wait. She was about to protest until she saw the look on his face, determined not, afraid almost as if he knew the blighted being would not find them. Unlike her his fur was not standing on end any more and his usual calm face had returned to him.
After a few tense moments of silence, the creature let out a harsh snort and walked away, possibly joining a larger group of the blighted beasts somewhere along the path above them. Sha'lara and Zarath both finally stopped holding their breaths and waited a few more minutes before beginning the climb up the finial ledge, now in the underground proper, where it was clear that dwarven craftsmen and engineers had worked at some point or another. As they looked around, they did not recognize any of the area they were not in the dwarven settlement of Grûmthol nor in a section of the underground highway. Zarath pointed out an old dwarven mine cart and tracks.
"Looks like we might be in an abandoned section of tunnels that the dwarves left behind a while ago." He stated while Sha'lara checked the bandage around his stomach and the splint on his leg.
"So basically, we have no idea where we are or how to get back to the surface at all." Sha'lara tightened on of the ropes holding Zarath's splint together."
"Yeah, but if we follow the tracks back towards the entrance of this tunnel, we might be able to find the main highway or maybe another dwarven settlement." Zarath winced slightly as Sha'lara adjusted the splint.
"And there is no telling how long that will take, or how many blighted are in these tunnels let alone any other thing that might be lurking down here ready to eat us." Sha'lara stood wincing slightly and rubbing her sides, Zarath knew for a fact now she had an internal injury that she wasn't telling him about.
"To be honest, I'm sure nothing down here wants to eat a spoiled cat not enough meat any way." Zarath gave her a playful smile, he knew he had to distract her before her thoughts started to make her worry again.
"Like anything down here would want to eat a stupid grassland mutt, your meat is probably so tough that what ever it is would choke on you and die along with you." Sha'lara's face twisted into an angry pout, her tail flicking quickly side to side behind her as she stared daggers at Zarath.
"Alright, alright your probably right neither of us are very appetizing especially with all these broken bones right now." Zarath slowly stood up not putting any weight on his broken leg as Sha'lara lopped his arm over her shoulder.
"I don't find any of this to be funny." She still pouted as she spoke.
"Neither do I but someone has to stay positive right now, we will be ok I promise we will get back to the surface and the others and then you can be as spoiled and annoying as you want." Zarath winced with each step they took if they did not get proper treatment and fast, they might not make it out of these tunnels let alone back to the surface.
"Shut up you're the annoying one you and that large friend of yours, honestly we didn't have nearly as much trouble before you two mutts showed up." Sha'lara bit back but was still thankful for the distraction she honestly wasn't sure she would have made it this far without someone with her.
"Two mutts what about Lyra?" Zarath asked since he and Tharon arrived with their half wolkkin half fennec companion.
"Her I actual like so you and Tharon are still mutts." Sha'lara said with a stern pout and head whip to the side.
Back on the surface Commander Winterborne and the remaining wardens had reached the dwarven outpost where she informed the commander of the gate guards about what happened down in the underground.
"I'm sorry for your losses the wardens have always been good friends with us dwarven folk, and tis a shame to hear about Grûmthol and those Dûrhand folk, some of the lads here were kin to them, we will have to send an extermination battalion down there to clean up the blighted." A large, rounded dwarf who stood about a head taller than the average dwarf, wearing heavy plate mail crafted from what looked like actual granite but was clearly metal, he had long bright red hair and beard that was weaved in three separated braids, he poured a dark brown liquid into a cup and handed to Commander Winterborne.
"Thank you, Commander Thargrin, we will be heading back to the city of Frontier once the wounded are tended to, as for the young girl we found in the town." Thalia lifted the cup to her lips; it had been some time since she drank dwarven brandy the smell was as strong as a dwarven miner who just finished a twelve-hour shift, but no one brewed better brandy than the dwarves.
"Take her with you if would, we don't have any families around the gate that could take here in, even more so if she is from the Dûrhand clan she probably has no training outside of smithing simple things like bowls and plates, plus it would be best if she was with another member of her clan and if I remember your quartermaster is a former Dûrhand forge master." Thargrin stroked his bread as he spoke, downing his entire glass of dwarven brandy in one gulp.