Cold.
That was the first thing that returned to my consciousness.
Not pain. Not fear. Just a cold that crept from the damp ground, seeped through my torn clothes, and touched my exposed skin with a cruel, unfeeling touch.
My eyelids felt heavy. Too heavy to open. As if an invisible weight pressed down on them, forcing me to remain in that warm, quiet darkness.
But my body refused that tranquility.
My lungs moved, drawing air with slow, shallow, and ragged movements. Each breath was immediately paid for with a sharp pain in my chest, like a small knife slicing from the inside.
I tried to move. Only my fingers.
But my fingers did not respond.
For a moment, panic began to creep in. A cold and silent panic, different from the panic that made me scream or run. This was a panic that froze, that made my mind ask in a thin whisper:
Am I... still alive?
Then, slowly, sensation began to return.
The cold of the ground pressed against my cheek. The smell of damp earth mixed with a sharp, metallic scent.
Blood.
The taste of metal on my tongue. A taste that was familiar now, yet still made my stomach churn.
And tightness. The space around me was so narrow. This hole... was barely enough for my body.
Then, the pain.
"Ughhh..."
The pain returned slowly, like a rising tide from the depths of the sea. It started from my waist, spread to my shoulder, then throughout my body with an intensity that made my breath hitch.
I... was still alive.
That realization came slowly, like a lifting fog.
I was still here. Still breathing, and still feeling pain.
I tried to open my eyes again. This time, my eyelids responded, slowly, heavily, but they moved.
The first thing I saw was earth.
Dark, damp earth, just a few fingers away from my face. Small stones were scattered across its surface, some stuck to my cheek, wet with blood and sweat. There was no bright light, only a dim, grey shadow, just enough for my dark-vision eyes to catch the rough texture of the earth before me.
I blinked slowly. Once. Twice.
The world before me was unfocused. Just blurred shapes of small stones and uneven mounds of dirt.
My position... I was lying face down. My chest pressed against the cold ground, and my body felt squeezed by the narrow walls of this hole.
I sharpened my hearing, trying to catch anything from outside.
No heavy footsteps. No vibrations in the ground. No coarse breath mixed with a foul stench.
The troll... was gone.
Or at least, it was no longer nearby.
A breath I hadn't realized I was holding slowly escaped my lips. The air came out sounding more like a weak sigh than a sigh of relief.
I was safe. For now.
But my body... my body disagreed with my mind's attempt to stay calm.
The pain in my waist pulsed hard, like a second heart beating with a wrong rhythm. Each throb brought a wave of sharp pain, spreading from that open wound throughout my body.
My left shoulder felt numb, but not a comforting numbness. More like... a wrong tingling, a sensation that something inside was broken, something that shouldn't move but still did.
I tried to move my arm.
My fingers responded this time. Slowly. Trembling. But they moved.
This face-down position was uncomfortable. My chest was compressed, making it hard to breathe properly. I needed to change position, at least onto my back so I could see more clearly and breathe easier.
But in this narrow hole, with a body so badly wounded, I wasn't even sure if I could still move.
I pressed my palm against the ground, trying to push my body up a little, preparing to roll onto my side.
As soon as I pushed—
"Akkh—!"
The sound escaped my lips before I could stop it.
Pain exploded from my waist, sharp and hot, as if someone had stabbed a hot knife directly into my wound. The pressure on my chest as I tried to lift myself pulled at the wound on my shoulder, sending a new wave of agony.
My body fell back to the ground with a dull thud. My cheek hit small stones, and the world spun for a moment, blurry and dark at the edges.
"Hah... hah... hah..."
My breath came out rough, uncontrolled. My chest rose and fell rapidly, and each inhalation triggered new pain radiating from my likely cracked ribs.
I couldn't move easily.
Or rather, I could move, but my body refused to do so without making everything worse.
I lay face down there, my face still turned to the dark earth. My breath raised fine dust from the ground's surface, creating small patterns that vanished instantly.
Calm down. Calm down. You're still alive. That's what matters.
But another part of my mind, a colder, more practical part, whispered back.
Alive for how long? With wounds like these? Without water? Without food? Without any way to tend to yourself?
I closed my eyes, trying to suppress that thought.
But it didn't leave.
Because it was right.
I might be alive now. But if I didn't do something, if I just lay here and waited...
I would die. Slowly. And alone.
No.
The word surfaced in my mind with an unexpected force. Firm. And Hard.
No. I will not die here.
I opened my eyes again. This time with a gaze more focused on the earth before me.
No matter how much my body hurt. No matter how tired I was. I would not give up.
Not after coming this far.
Not after surviving against that troll.
Not after... everything.
I took a slow breath. Endured the pain that came with it. Then exhaled it carefully.
One step at a time.
That's what I had to do.
One small step at a time.
First, I had to change my position. I had to be able to see my wounds clearly. And for that, I had to roll onto my back.
With extreme care, I began to move my right arm, pressing against the ground to give my body a little room to turn.
"Ngghhh..."
I pushed slowly, rolling my body onto my side. My waist screamed in protest, my shoulder throbbed hard, but I kept moving bit by bit.
The narrow space made it even harder. Every movement made some part of my body touch the earthen wall or protruding stones.
Finally, with one last push that made cold sweat drench my face, I managed to roll onto my back.
"Haahh... haahh..."
Gasping breaths escaped my lips. My back now pressed against the damp earth, and for the first time since regaining consciousness, I could look up.
Thick tree roots hung from the ceiling of this hole, forming a dark weave that almost covered the narrow gap, the only entry point for the dim moonlight.
This hole was truly cramped. From this supine position, I could feel both earthen walls on my left and right, just centimeters from my shoulders.
But at least now I could see the condition of my body.
I moved my head slowly, very slowly, tilting it down slightly to look toward my own body.
The faint light in this hole made everything look like shadows, but my dark-adapted eyes could see clearly enough.
My clothes, my already torn uniform, looked worse than before. The front of my uniform was wet. Soaked. And its color was dark, almost black under this dim moonlight.
I swallowed, feeling the metallic taste grow sharper now.
My lower left waist... that was the worst wound. The troll's claw had easily torn through my clothes and my skin, leaving a long, deep gash stretching from my hip bone to almost my lower abdomen.
Blood was still flowing. Not as heavily as before, but still flowing, seeping out slowly but surely, forming a small pool in the earth beneath me.
My left shoulder was also bad. My uniform was torn there, and I could see exposed flesh, dried blood around the edges but still wet inside.
My wounds hadn't closed.
My new body might be stronger than before, but not strong enough to heal wounds this deep quickly. Not like the troll that could close its wounds in seconds.
Well…even though I might not be human anymore, most of my body was still human.
And that meant I could die from blood loss if I didn't do something.
Stop the bleeding. That was first.
But with what?
I looked around this small hole. Earth. Roots. Small stones. Nothing I could use to bandage a wound.
Wait.
My uniform.
It was already torn to shreds. Most of it was useless now. But... there was still fabric I could use.
I slowly raised my right hand. My fingers trembled, but they responded. I grabbed the torn lower part of my uniform, searching for a section that was still intact.
Every movement made my waist throb hard, but I bit my lower lip, holding back the groan that wanted to escape.
I found a piece of fabric at the bottom of my skirt that was still strong enough. With my pale purple, sharp nails, I began to slowly cut the fabric.
The sound of tearing fabric was loud in the silence of this hole. I paused briefly, listening warily.
No sound from outside. No movement.
I continued, tearing the fabric until I had a long enough strip to wrap around my wound.
Now for the hardest part.
I had to lift my body a little to wrap this fabric around my waist. I took a deep breath, bracing myself.
Then, with a slow and careful motion, I began to bend my left arm, trying to press my elbow into the ground to lift my torso.
As soon as I put pressure on my elbow—
"Aakkhhh—!"
Pain exploded from my wounded shoulder, shooting like fire from my shoulder to the tips of my fingers. The pain was so sharp my vision went dark for a moment.
But I didn't stop.
I bit my lower lip as hard as I could, feeling the thin skin there tear and fresh blood flow onto my tongue. The familiar metallic taste filled my mouth, but it was better than screaming and attracting whatever might still be out there.
With my trembling left elbow bearing the weight of my body—every second felt like an endless torture.
"Ngghhh—!"
The pain from the wounded waist also exploded. It felt like something was tearing my wound wider, like flesh being pulled from the bone. Cold sweat immediately drenched my forehead and ran down my temples.
My left arm trembled violently. Every pull of the muscle in my wounded shoulder felt like repeated stabs of hot needles. I could feel the wound there opening a little wider from the pressure I was applying, fresh blood beginning to seep out.
But I had come this far. I wouldn't give up now.
With my also-trembling right hand, I quickly tried to loop the fabric around my waist.
The motion was awkward. Very awkward. My right hand had to move under my lifted body, trying to reach behind my waist to pull the fabric around.
The fabric kept slipping. My fingers trembled too hard to do this properly. And my left elbow—for God's sake, my left elbow couldn't hold on much longer.
"Hold on... hold on..." I mumbled to myself, my voice broken and hoarse.
My left arm began to lose strength. The trembling grew worse. My shoulder felt like it would dislocate.
But finally…finally I managed to grab the end of the fabric and loop it one full turn around my waist, covering the open wound.
With one last desperate move, I fell back to the ground. My elbow couldn't bear it any longer.
"Haahh... haahh... haahh..."
Gasping breaths escaped my lips. My whole body shook, not just from the cold, but from the pain still throbbing in every corner.
My left shoulder... felt worse now. I could feel much more fresh blood flowing from the wider-open wound. My effort to support my weight with my elbow earlier had aggravated the existing injury.
But the fabric was looped around my waist.
Not tied yet. But looped.
I had to tie it now, before the fabric came loose and I had to repeat that torture.
With the last of my remaining strength, I raised my trembling right hand. My fingers felt heavy, as if made of lead.
"Ugghh…"
I pulled one end of the fabric with my teeth, which were also chattering.
My teeth clattered as I held the other end with my right hand, trying to tie a knot strong enough to hold the tension.
The fabric was wet with blood, making the knot slippery and very hard to grip. The end kept slipping from my teeth. My fingers refused to obey my brain's commands.
But I kept trying.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Until finally, after what felt like forever, the knot formed. Not perfect, not neat, but strong enough.
With one final pull that took all my remaining strength—
"Akkhhh—!"
I pulled the knot as tight as I could. The fabric pressed hard against my wound, forcing the edges of the open gash to close.
The pain that exploded this time was different. This wasn't just pain, it was like my whole body was burning from the inside.
I fell back to the ground, breathless. Sweat drenched my entire face, mixing with the dirt and blood caked on my skin. My chest rose and fell rapidly and irregularly.
A strong dizziness assaulted my head, making the whole world spin inside this narrow hole.
But I had done it.
I had bandaged my worst wound.
At a high cost, my left shoulder now felt worse, perhaps even more badly injured than before.
But at least the bleeding at my waist would slow.
At least I still had a chance to survive.
Now for my shoulder.
But even before I could think to try, my body rebelled. My vision darkened again, deeper this time.
No... not yet...
I tried to fight it, tried to stay conscious. But my body was past its limit.
The pain from my worsening shoulder, compounded by blood loss and extreme exhaustion, finally overwhelmed my resolve.
Darkness pulled me back into it, gentle and cruel at the same time.
Then, black