BK1 Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Five

The sky had darkened considerably while I was in Azriel Elkart's tent. Leaving the stuffy enclosed space was refreshing as the cold evening air tickled my skin. Nathaniel guided me through the blanket of soldiers gathering in their tents. The pain in my shoulder had begun to numb. My nerves had worsened, or I was just growing more accustomed to it.

"Just what happened? I thought you were dead," Nate asked me, his voice lowered as we weaved through a set of fires.

"Not quite", I sighed. "We fell into a cavern."

"A cavern? Ouch, that must have been a shock."

"Not as much as the Agiluf", I muttered, carefully avoiding a group of grey-cloaked soldiers as they drank something that did not smell like water. They stumbled a little, and their faces were red. Were they drinking alcohol? I wrinkled my nose; they must feel competent to be willing to get drunk out here in the highlands.

"An Agiluf? Did you survive one of those at your level? Colour me impressed, Lady Heversham" Nate gently tugged me to the left, and we walked away from the centre of the crowded tents.

"It was pure luck; I'm fairly sure we would have died without the angel shrooms we found."

"Angel shrooms?"

"They paralyse anything they touch for hours" I smiled, and Nate raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe I should get some of those"

"I'd be happy to give you one", I laughed, but the action sent a jolt of pain through my body. I guess I wasn't as numb to it as I had thought.

"Easy, we're not far from a medic" Nate frowned as he patted my back comfortingly.

"I hope so", I sighed. "I don't know how much longer I can stay awake", I said, feeling the exhaustion of the past few days. It felt like I hadn't slept well in months, not a few days.

"I'll get you there, don't worry" Nate adjusted my backpack. He had taken it from me when we left Azriel's tent. "I'm sorry about Azriel; he should have known better than to keep you in this state."

"Don't be, he was just checking Rian and I were genuine", I tried to be optimistic. But, honestly, I did feel he was unreasonable. I had no idea what made him so angry with me.

"Don't pander to him, Lynette. He doesn't deserve it" Nate shook his head at me. "He shouldn't have treated you that way."

"Are you… are you close?" I asked, my curiosity burning. Nate had spoken to Azriel so openly; he had even addressed him by his first name.

"We grew up together" Nate looked away and sighed. "He can be a little protective of me due to some things that happened in the capital" he half smiled, and I got the sense there was more to this than he was saying.

"You don't need to tell me; I understand" I smiled and squeezed his hand wrapped around my waist. Nate shot me a grin I was growing more familiar with; it was always charming. I considered him my friend, but in reality, I barely knew Nate. There was much about him I had no right to inquire.

"You don't", Nate shook his head, "but thank you for the sentiment." I could see his eyes darken as he checked my steps on the uneven ground. Something was on his mind.

"I didn't think you would be coming to the capital when I agreed to your scandal" he sighed and looked at me with a bit of sadness. "There are probably some things I will have to tell you now that you are. However, that can wait. First, we need to get you healed."

Nate took me up to a group of four personal tents. I was surprised to see Nate had brought me to a team's camp, not the medical tent I had woken up in before. Maybe it hadn't been set up? These tents were arranged neatly in a circle, and a glowing fire lit the darkness. Its shadows flickered on the canvas material and the faces of two summoners. They both paused what they were doing at our approach, and I widened my eyes as I recognised one of them.

Zachary Weadall paled when he saw me leaning in Nate's embrace. He dropped his metal plate and fumbled to stand ungracefully from the earth seat he had been using.

"Lynette! Is that you?" Zachary rushed over to us, and his hand instantly began to glow the green I had seen him use before. He took my hand, and I felt the tingling of his Aether as it seeped through my system, inspecting my health.

"How are you alive" he scrunched his eyes in concentration, gripping my hand tighter.

"She fell into a cavern with Lady Thornfax" Nate took us to the earth chair Zachary had jumped from. Zachary followed along, never releasing my hand as I gratefully accepted the offer to sit.

"How bad is it?" A man I did not know bent over me. His brown hair slicked back smoothly, showing off his rather large forehead. He wore the black armour of the army over a dirtied brown shirt and simple brown trousers. His belt had rolls of bandages attached and bottles tied with string.

"Her clavicle and humerus bones are fractured, the muscles have been shredded, and the ligaments need mending." Zachary released my hand and then placed it against my forehead. I tried to move back at his closeness; I could feel his breath on my chin and see the flecks of darker blue in his iris.

"She has a fever and likely has an infection on top of that. She is also severely dehydrated."

"Right, I'll start with her bones," the man replied, pulling off my sling. When he reached for my cloak clasp, I instinctively grabbed it to prevent him.

"Lynette", Zachary gently spoke, his eyes creasing in worry. "We need to see your injury; we can't heal you with your gear on."

"I-um b-but", I stammered, gripping my clasp tighter. Did Zachary seriously want me to undress in front of these people? Out in the open like this? I know Zachary had seen me, he said so himself, but at least I was unconscious for that. To do so knowingly in front of three others... Nate was here! I didn't want anyone else to see my scars. I couldn't; it was too embarrassing.

"It's alright; we only need to see your shoulder", Zachary calmly smiled, cupping my hand and grasping my clasp. "It's alright, I promise," he soothed again with a voice that hinted he often had to calm people down like this.

"A-alright", I gulped. They shouldn't see my chest scar if it was only my shoulder. Right?

Zachary slowly pried my hand away from my clasp and undid it himself. My tattered cloak fell down my back in a crumple. He then unfastened the shoulder straps of my short cuirass and helped me pull it off. That action was inscrutably painful as my arm did not want to lift how we needed it to. Left in only my ripped sleeveless blue shirt, I felt my cheeks heat. The material on my chest was thankfully still intact, thanks to my cuirass, but my stomach was littered with holes from the craven bat's bites.

"I just need to pull this down. Is that okay?" Zachary was being cautious with me as he hovered his hands over the scrap of material, now acting as a strap on my shoulder. I eventually nodded, my feet fidgeting as he softly pulled the strap down to reveal my exposed collarbone.

The gentleman I did not know quickly pressed his hands against my skin; I yelped as the pain from his heavy-handed touch sent a shock wave through my arm.

"Sorry, I know it hurts, but this shouldn't take too long" The man furrowed his eyebrows as brown Aether strings zipped from his fingers. My skin tightened as the Aether pierced it, and I could feel it wriggling through my muscles like a worm. I didn't want to look; I knew my bone was exposed, and my muscle was torn and flapped from the Agiluf's teeth. Seeing it again would make me sick.

I heard a crunch and shut my eyes, biting my lip, but I couldn't stop my scream. Pain flooded me. My bones were being dragged back into place inch by inch, and every tiny movement was intolerable.

Zachary cupped my face as I began to sweat and shake, forcing me to look at him.

"Bite this" he shoved his hand into my mouth the moment I took a breath. I tried to push him away, but he stubbornly grabbed my hand and held it out. I couldn't take it; the pain was too much. My mouth clamped, biting into Zachary's hand, I expected my teeth to squelch into his flesh, but instead, it felt like I was biting a soft branch. My eyes watered, but Zachary didn't express anything, only concern as he watched the earth summoner work. Was he so strong that my teeth couldn't even make him bleed? No wonder he used his hand instead of an actual branch.

I struggled this way as the earth summoner knitted my bones back into place. He then shifted his focus to my muscles; I felt a tugging sensation crawl into my skin as they were sewn with his Aether.

Thankfully, fixing my muscles was faster than it took him to fix my bones. Finally, his Aether withdrew, leaving my shoulder swollen and red. Zachary removed his hand from my mouth, and I took a deep breath as the pain subsided into tenderness.

"That's all I can manage" The earth summoner collapsed to the ground, his breathing ragged. He wiped his brow from sweat, and I saw his hands shake.

"Thank you" I bowed my head to him. "Thank you for healing me."

"No problem, it's what we do", the man smiled up at me, taking a swig of water from his water skin. "Can't believe that used up my Aether storage; you had so many fractured bones."

"How do you feel?" Nate asked as I pulled my strap back up onto my shoulder. He had been watching from a few steps away. I had noticed him hovering closer every time I screamed.

"Better" I stretched my right arm and moved it in a circle. "It's still tender, but I can move it again."

"Sorry, we don't have any herbs left to reduce swelling" Zachary frowned as he picked up my cuirass.

"That's okay; I have some. I will brew a tea with it later" I smiled, and Zachary looked at me with a smirk.

"Of course you do; I don't know why I didn't think you would"

"Comfrey is always useful", I blushed, taking my cuirass back from him.

"Indeed", Zachary smiled as he poured water into his metal cup. "Here, drink this, you need to get rehydrated, and we need to monitor your fever."

"You said she had an infection?" Nate sat on an earth chair beside me, glancing at me with a look I could only describe as apprehension.

"It's likely she does, but I can't pinpoint one if there is. Unfortunately, we can't heal infections with Aether. So she will need to be watched in case her temperature spikes" Zachary pulled the earth summoner up from the floor.

"Just how did you get so injured?" The earth summoner asked, and Zachary looked at me just as curious.

"An Agiluf", I sighed, sipping on my water. The flames of the fire were beginning to warm me against the night's chilled air.

"Blimey, it must have tried to tear your arm off" The man raised his hand, and brown Aether flickered; he frowned and more forcefully flexed his fingers. Aether streamed this time into the ground, and earth rose on command. It spilt out like a mole was digging, and then the soil bundled together and moulded into a chair. The man slumped into it with a sigh. "Just need to recuperate, then I can make you one, Zachary."

"I'm fine, Brendan" Zachary chose to stand near me. "Don't wear yourself out and just gather what you need."

"Rightio", Brendan saluted playfully. He then sat forward in his chair and closed his eyes. Then, leaning his elbows on his knees, he formed a circle in each of his hands, bringing them to his chest. His body grew very still, and I watched, waiting for something to happen, but nothing did. He remained motionless in that position.

"You won't be able to sense the Aether he's gathering until you grow" Nate leaned his head on his hand, amused by my confusion.

"You can sense Aether, then?"

"It is a part of the world. Eventually, you will be able to feel it" Nate smiled. "You will learn once we reach the Capital. Lieutenant Cragborn will tell you all about it."

"That cranky man? He's teaching the Aether course again," Zachary raised an eyebrow.

"He's very good at it", Nate shrugged. "He prefers teaching to excursions."

"That's because he can spend time with his books", Zachary sighed. "Good luck with that one, Lynette."

"I'm starting to think I should be worried" I set my empty cup down and raised my hands towards the fire. Nate and Zachary laughed at my face as they shared a look that only made me more nervous.

How cranky could Lieutenant Cragborn get?

"Lynette", a voice whispered with emotion making me freeze.

A figure stood on the other side of the fire; his dark brown hair faded into the night, but the flames revealed his steel-grey eyes as they stared at me.

"E-Eduard", I squeaked.