Lady of Nyv

The men searched frantically all about the cave for their missing leader. Dom felt his heart begin to race as time passed, feeling both as though years had passed, but also as if time was frozen. His mind raced with possibilities of her whereabouts. He wondered if she’d somehow been crushed by the massive animal they had slaughtered, or if, mayhaps, she had fallen into a hole or through the cave wall. No one had seen her during the battle; although it was hard for them to have seen much of anything without the light of their torches.

“She has to be here somewhere.” Dom muttered under his breath, feeling anxious.

Dom had only just been reunited with his sister. He had no idea what he would do if he lost her now. He needed her like he needed air. He couldn’t believe he had gone so long without seeing her.

“I found her!”

The scream was loud and full of relief as well as desperation. Dom knew straight away that something was wrong.

“Someone help me carry her! We need to get out of this fucking cave now!”

It took Dom a few moments before he realized that the voice belonged to his sister’s lover, Kol. He swallowed the taste of disgust in his mouth as he approached Kol, barely able to support the weight of his sister’s limp body.

“Ona.” He breathed. “Is she alive?” He barked at Kol.

“I don’t know. We have to go now.” Kol replied, cold as ever.

Dom clenched his teeth at Kol’s tone, but obeyed his orders. He knew that the only way that they could potentially save Ona would be to leave this cave. If she is still able to be saved, he thought.

The men grabbed whatever was nearest to them and began running at full speed down the tunnel. As Dom supported Ona’s head and shoulders, he tried his hardest to ignore Kol’s desperate attempts at ordering the group to be quiet and to watch for monsters and anything else that could hurt them.

No one paid him any mind.

Dom ran backwards, holding his sister’s head and shoulders above the ground and watching the ground pass beneath her body. Part of him was worried he might trip and fall on the uneven ground, but those worries were nothing compared to his worries for his sister.

“Do you see anything yet?” Dom called out to no one in particular.
“I think I see some light in the distance.” A voice called back.

A few men cheered, Dom kept his head down.

“Just a few more minutes. Hold on, Ona. We’re almost there.” He whispered to himself.

The men picked up their pace as soon as the news of potential freedom registered in their minds. Dom spent half of the time thinking about not tripping and the other half of the time worrying about Ona. He didn’t even seem to hear the cheers of the men or register the Sun on his body as they exited the cave.

“Dom. We’re outside now. Let go of Ona.” Kol said gently.

Dom blinked a few times, finally registering that everyone was ok. Well, everyone except Ona. He laid her body gently on the ground and watched as a crowd formed around her. He dropped to the ground by her head and rubbed his fingers against his temples.

It took a few moments for him to realize that someone was speaking to him. It wasn’t until he felt a rough hand on his shoulder that he realized that someone was talking. He looked up. It was Kol.

“Dom. We really need your help right now. I know that you’re worried, but Ona has a higher chance of recovering if you help us.”

“What do you need my help for?” He grunted.

“You were a nomad. You know the plants and how to make splints and what is safe. I don’t. Ona is counting on you.”

Dom sighed. He knew that Kol was right. They did need his help.

“What’s wrong with her?”

“She’s unconscious, but alive. She has a bad bump on her head that is bleeding a little, as well as an arrow stuck in her thigh. We need to remove the arrow and sew up the hole so she doesn’t bleed out.”

Dom nodded. Wordlessly, he began taking inventory. He searched the piles of discarded bags and weapons to find a knife, as well as Ona’s sewing kit. When he finally located Ona’s bag, he dumped everything onto the hillside.

He rifled through her belongings, finally locating string and a small needle, as well as her best dagger – the one he had given her the night they met up for the first time in many years.

Dom grabbed up all of the supplies they would need, as well as a few skins of water, and ran back to the group. Kol had pushed everyone back so that he had room to work. Dom pushed through the crowd and dropped the supplies by Kol’s knee.

Dom took a deep breath and looked at his sister. Her pants had been cut off at the hip on the leg that had been wounded. Her clothes were bloodied and dirty, her hair was a tangled mess, with blood leaking onto her forehead. He stared for a few more seconds. As he watched her chest rise and fall gently, a wave of relief washed over him. She really was alive.

Kol jabbed him in the side, forcing Dom to look at him.

“I need you to help me remove the arrow.”

Dom nodded. Even though he knew Ona was unconscious, he was still worried about hurting her. Kol handed him the dagger, and Dom took it automatically.

He gently pressed the dagger into Ona’s wound. Kol pressed the flesh around the wound in an effort to push the arrow from her flesh. Dom continued to press the dagger into her leg, following the line of the arrow tip. Eventually, he reached the bottom of the arrow and he angled the dagger upward, releasing the arrow tip from her flesh. As he moved the dagger upward, Kol pulled on the shaft and the arrow slid out of her thigh gently.

Kol threw the arrow to the ground and began threading the needle as Dom dropped the dagger and pressed his hands to the open wound on his sister’s thigh. Blood poured through his finger. He gritted his teeth.

“Hurry up!” He screamed at Kol.

Kol threaded the needle and moved toward Ona’s thigh. Dom began pinching the skin together as Kol sewed. Dom watched the needle thread in and out of Ona’s flesh, pushing her skin together and holding it there.

After her thigh had been sewed shut, Dom poured some water onto the wound to wash the blood and dirt off the best he could. They then turned their attention to her head.

Kol decided that the cut on her head would not require stitches, but they would have to watch the swelling.

As the men moved westward to talk about their future plans, Dom stayed with his sister. He gently held Ona’s hand and looked at her closed eyes. She looked so peaceful; like she was sleeping. Dom laughed. Ona hadn’t slept in weeks.

The sun reflected off of the arrow tip laying, bloody, next to Ona. The reflection caught Dom in the eye and he moved closer to better inspect the arrow. He picked it up and noticed that it had Northern markings on it. The arrow tip was carved with an intricate snowflake pattern, paired with swirls. Dom realized that the Northern marks meant that the arrow belonged to one of Ona’s men.

Immediately, Dom stood and began ripping arrows out of each bag that he saw. He would pick one up, compare the tip to the arrow tip that had injured Ona and then toss it to ground when it didn’t match. He thought he had looked at all of the arrows until he spotted one last bag in the pile. He picked up one arrow and compared it to the one he held in his hand already.

He studied them both in the light and realized that they were a perfect match. He raised the clean arrow into the air with one hand, and the bag from which it had come, with the other.

“Who’s bag is this?” He demanded. “Who’s is this?” He screamed.

“It’s mine.” Kol said.