It took Darin longer than she planned to get back to the inn. Her shoulder was starting to hurt. She had injuries before, and she had the scars to prove it. She had to teach herself how to run a farm. Blood was a common sight to the young girl. That didn’t change the fact that she hated pain more than she hated anything. She had learned to keep silent and work despite the pain, but mentally she was screaming in agony. It didn’t help that it was still bleeding. Even through the arrow had just grazed her it had cut deep. Darin had a hand pressed as tight as she could against the injury to try and get it to clot. It wasn’t working. The alcohol earlier wasn’t helping either. The human could already feel the changes to her mental state.

She staggered into the inn and looked around. It looked like she was too late to help clean up. That was probably a good thing. She was starting to feel her vision get fuzzy. She needed to get her shoulder looked out before the blood loss became greater than her body could take. For a brief moment the girl wished for her mother. Whenever Darin injured herself in the past her Mama would be there to patch her up and hover until Darin found her presence vexing. She did her best to never say that out loud though. The human had to cut off a sob as the wave of homesickness overcame her.

Darin spotted Ridahne and stumbled over to the Elf. As she fell into the seat she managed to get out, “I need someone to fix my shoulder please.”

Her grip was incredibly slippery. It wouldn’t be long before she wouldn’t be able to put the necessary pressure on the wound. Darin let out a shuddering breathe as she blinked to clear the spots that had entered her vision. It was worse than she thought. She really did miss home. If she was back home at this time of night Darin would just becoming in from her final round. There would be a cup of cool water and a pot of stew waiting for her. Her Mama would fuss over her and cluck at her pants and short hair. Then, after eating, her mother would insist on looking her over completely just in case Darin had missed an injury.

She spoke again, “Ridahne, I need to keep my clothes on.”

If the Elf or a villager tried to take off her clothes not only would they discover that she had lied about her gender, but they would find the band that hid The Seed. Neither one of those things could be allowed. Hopefully Ridahne would get that. Darin wasn’t sure. Her shirt might need to come off to see the injury. It was a shame. This was one of two shirts that the human had with her. She would have to clean it and patch it up. She may not be able to use a knife, but her sewing was passable. Actually, her sewing kit had been on the pack mule. So, that was a bust. Besides Darin wasn’t sure if she could get the blood out of this shirt.

A thud filled her hearing. It took a minute for Darin to realize that the sound was her head hitting the table. She let out a muttered ow when she finally felt the pain. This was bad. She was getting ready to pass out. She wasn’t even sure her hand was still applying pressure. She let out another breath. She just wanted her Mama.