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“Techno, take Tommy and get out of here!”
Techno scooped Tommy up. Watched as Phil grabbed Wilbur and took off, arms around the young man’s unconscious form. Throwing Tommy onto the horse, Techno kicked the animal in the ribs. Spurred it into a gallop.
Behind them, arrows shot by. Techno ducked. “Tommy, stay close to my back and hold onto my waist.” He ordered. Nodding, Tommy clung onto him. His grip tightened for a second. There was a sharp whimper.
There was a burst of pain as an arrow cut through Techno’s ear. Shit. Spurring the horse on faster, he held his breath. Come on. We can make it. We can get out of here. He turned the reins to the side. Then, they were bolting down the side of the canyon. Kicking the horse again, he sped up. Hooves clattered on the stone.
All of a sudden, Tommy jerked against his back. He glanced back. “I’m fine. I’m fine.” Tommy whispered. There was a strain to his voice that meant he was not in fact fine. “Just keep galloping, please.”
“Alright. Just hold on.” Techno whispered. Just to their left, they had a massive canyon wall beside them. To their right was a steep drop. At the bottom of it, there was a tiny little river with trees beside it that were already small-looking. But they were big trees, Techno knew that. If they fell…well, it wouldn’t be good. They would be lucky if they survived.
More arrows shot by them. Pebbles scattered down the slope. Swallowing, Techno leaned closer to the horse’s neck. A thick white mane brushed against his nose. Still, he didn’t care. Instead, he spurred the horse faster. If Tommy was injured, then they needed to go quicker. They needed to gallop faster. Come on. Please. One of Tommy’s hands disappeared from his waist. Fingers brushed his other shoulder.
Which meant that there was probably an arrow in Tommy’s left shoulder.
Not good. Absolutely not good. As the horse galloped on, Techno prayed to a God he didn’t believe in that they would stop being pursued soon. That their attackers would lose their trail, or maybe just lose interest.
He knew that something was happening when he heard his horse snort. Then, pebbles scattered to the side. The horse’s legs dropped out from underneath it. Then, Tommy and Techno were launched forwards. Pale brown dirt rushed up to his face, and Techno instinctively went limp. He rolled. Heard the horse and Tommy shrieking. There was a series of heavy slams and he immediately knew that the horse had fallen down the cliff. From the noise of it, though, the poor thing was already dead. At least it wasn’t suffering.
Pushing himself up, Techno looked over. Tommy was lying on the dirt, curled around himself. Sure enough, there was an arrow sticking out of the back of his left shoulder. “Tommy.” He whispered. Making his way over, Techno touched Tommy’s shoulder. Jerking, Tommy whimpered. Looked back. “Hey, Toms. It’s okay. You’re going to be alright.” He raised his head. There was a cave not too far away. “Hey, Toms. We’re going to get to that cave, okay? Just to get some cover?”
There was a slight nod. Carefully, Techno lifted Tommy into his arms. Then, he pushed himself up. Made his way over to the cave with Tommy in his arms.
Shadows settled over their backs and then Techno gently set him down. Lying on his side, Tommy let out a soft breath and gasped a few times. Techno quickly blocked up the entrance and then dropped a couple lanterns down to light the place. Gently, he touched Tommy’s shoulder again. “Okay, Tommy. I’m going to have to pull this out alright? It’s going to hurt, though.” He felt around for the exit wound. There was one, right at the start. Not going to remove it. That won’t do anything. Quickly, Techno checked his inventory. No potions. Nothing that would really help. Until he spotted the familiar shine of a golden apple. Quickly, he pulled it out and then slashed a couple slices off. “Okay. Tommy, this is a golden apple. I want you to bite down on it and eat. It’ll help, okay?” Tommy nodded, face scrunched up in pain. One of his hands reached up for Techno’s.
“Just a couple moments? Please?” He whispered. Blue eyes met Techno’s own dark ones. Nodding, Techno gripped his hand. Kissed the back of his knuckles.
“You’re going to be alright.” Settling the apple in his lap, Techno tore off his sleeve and cape and quickly made a couple bandages. “I promise. Okay?” Tommy swallowed and nodded again. “Okay. I’m going to pull it out, okay?” Tommy nodded. Taking a breath, Techno started explaining. “First step is that I’m going to need to shove it a bit of the way out. This arrowhead is barbed, and then I’m going to cut the head off and it’s going to be a little bit easier coming back out, okay?” Tommy nodded. “Do you have anything that I can give you for you to hold so you don’t hurt yourself?”
“Shroud.” Tommy whispered. Turning, Techno checked through his bag. Pulled out the little stuffed raccoon. Handing it over, he tucked it to Tommy’s stomach where the blood hadn’t reached. Tommy held it closer, Techno slipped the apple slice into his mouth. Weakly, Tommy gave him a thumbs up and a smile, eyes welled up with tears.
Carefully, Techno took a breath, wrapped a hand around the shaft of the arrow. Normally, he would never have taken it out. It was obvious why. The arrow shaft was keeping most of the blood in Tommy. On the other hand, the golden apple was going to heal the injuries almost immediately and would leave him exhausted. The arrow would keep causing pain if it was left there. So, for the time being, with what they had there, Techno knew the best choice was pulling the arrow out and feeding Tommy the golden apple. He would be fine.
“Okay, Tommy. On three.” Tommy took a shaky breath, forced himself to relax. His right hand tightened around Shroud as tightly as possible. His other arm went loose, though. At least, as loose and limp as possible. “One, two,” he took a breath, then tightened his grip on the arrow shaft. Tommy closed his eyes. “Three.”
He shoved the arrow about an inch deeper. Tommy flinched as the arrowhead pierced through his skin. There was a sharp whimper from him. Otherwise, though, he didn’t make any sound.
Quickly, Techno stroked his hair back. Internally, he was freaking out. He just had to shove an arrow through his little brother’s shoulder. Of course he was going to panic. As for the outside, though, he kept his expression flat. He had to for Tommy’s sake. “You did great, Tommy. Okay, I’m just going to cut the arrowhead off, can you eat that apple for me?” Tommy nodded, started eating the apple. Pulling out a dagger, Techno carefully sawed through the arrow shaft. The arrowhead dropped onto the cave floor. Then, Techno spoke softly, “And now it’s time to pull the rest of it out. Just keep eating, stay lying down.” Tommy hummed. Carefully, Techno pulled the arrow out, one hand on Tommy’s shoulder to hold him steady.
Once the arrow was out, Tommy winced and sucked in a breath. Techno quickly wrapped up his little brother’s shoulder with strips of his sleeve. Then, he covered it with the cape pieces. Sighing, he sat back. Tommy kept eating the apple.
Tipping his head back, Techno closed his eyes.