After writing my last entry into the journal yesterday I noticed the sound of flowing water far off in the distance through the tunnels. My supply of honeywater was getting so low that I had considered making my way back to the village before it ran out but with the possibility of being able to fill up my skin from a stream, not to mention the means to clean my wound in flowing water, I made my way toward the noise.
On the way I came to a bridge over a chasm. The bridge, like everything else the Dwarves built, was part of the mountain. It looked sturdy enough. I limped onto the bridge warily. It was fine. I limped further across. Still fine. More confident now I continued to walk across when 'crack'. I was within a single leap from the other side of the chasm when the bridge crumbled. If I had not been injured I could have jumped to safety but with my damaged leg I could only fall into the chasm with the stones that were once, long ago, a safe path across.
The fall was much further than I had hoped for and I landed on my back with a bang that echoed all the way to the city and back. Fortunately the net and what was left of the food in my bag (which I was wearing across my shoulder) cushioned my landing. Less fortunate was where the red glowing stone I had been carrying in my bag ended up. I had fallen onto my bag with such force that the stone turned almost into dust and a sliver of the vein splintered off and lodged itself in my right upper arm. They say that Roo hinders mortals in dire need and my curses were dedicated to him as I tried and failed to extract the sliver of rock and later as I chewed yet more Purge Nettles to heal the cut with the sliver still firmly embedded in my flesh.
To clarify my situation at this point, my leg was badly injured - not bleeding now and on the mend, but still agonisingly painful to put much weight on when walking and very difficult to move. My arm now had a piece of rock stuck in it - although it was only slightly sore and it was nothing compared to my leg. My mouth was numb from chewing Purge Nettles twice in as many days. My back was bruised from the fall but my Hazelignum armour had not been damaged (amazingly strong wood, Hazelignum) so I could still carry my bag on my back. Not that there was much in my bag at this point - all the food I had left was ruined when I landed on it. I was able to rescue a few crumbs but now I have run out. To make matters worse, I was at the bottom of a drop with no way to get back up to the path back to the entrance into the mountain and back to the village or N'Ras' inn. Nor was I able to carry on the other way toward the sound of flowing water where I could clean my wounds and refill my skin.
From an optimistic point of view I still had all of my equipment and none of it had been damaged. Roo had had his fun for the day. I walked for an hour in the only direction I could before settling down to rest. I was too depressed and angry with my misfortune to find a high ledge again so I slept in the middle of a tunnel on the sheet that I had discovered was much less comfortable than I had given it credit for.
Today has been an exciting day. About four hours after I had my breakfast of nothing but inedible Fraechyn leaves I was greeted by three cave-fercacs. These were much more bulky than the one I fought a few days ago. I did not think I was going to survive the encounter. Of course I did survive (how else would I be writing this? It is the curse of a writer when writing about oneself that it is obvious that everything turned out fine in the end) and the battle was particularly dull when compared to the one previously. I withdrew my Shard-Blade the moment I saw the cave-fercacs. They came toward me ready for a fight. I limped toward them ready to die trying to defeat an enemy I was not in a suitable condition to engage.
The first cave-fercac pounced at me. I slashed with the Shard-Blade horizontally right to left. The beasts skull was sliced in two. The second and third cave-fercacs pounced. I stepped to the left and thrust the blade forward into the second cave-fercac's neck just as the third had left the ground. Unable to change its course in mid air it could not dodge the vertical slash down that cut it in half. Against all odds I was victorious. I don't understand how my sword struck them so hard. I don't need to understand.
A cave fercac.
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