Toma
The sound of Aida’s panicked voice screaming his name jolted Toma out of his slumber. Considering his half-awake state, he moved with impressive speed as he bolted down the stairs and out the door, following the sound of her voice. Thanks to his much longer stride, he was only a few steps behind her when she arrived at the passage to the waterfall.
“Aida, wait!” he shouted as she began to gather the magic to drop the doll’s ward, “Tell me what’s wrong! It isn’t safe out there!”
Aida whirled on him, terror and determination all over her face. “There are patients out there. Villagers. My friends. Someone hurt them, Toma.”
“Fuck…Magnus?”
Aida nodded, with tears shining in her eyes, threatening to fall. “Probably” she murmured. It was all he could do not to reach out and hug her and reassure her everything would be okay.
“Cover us while I get them inside, okay?” she said as she turned back toward the entrance and dropped the ward.
Toma fell into step behind her, casting an illusion ahead of them that mimicked the quiet serenity of the clearing and the pool exactly. Whoever was standing beside the waterfall would be well within the range of his magic, so Toma included them in the fabric of his spell. They were camouflaged as much as Aida or himself to anyone else observing from further away. To an outside observer, even one as close as 5 feet from the wall, the small clearing would appear as empty and tranquil as ever. Assuming Aida and her patients were able to move quietly. There wasn’t anything he could do about noise, irritatingly enough. He could sometimes muffle it, but that took considerably more concentration and focus than he was capable of at the moment.
Before Aida passed beyond the shelter of the waterfall, Toma grabbed her arm and held one finger up to his lips. “Quietly as possible,” he breathed into her ear before he released her. Silently, she slipped through the entrance.
A few moments later, she was back. She still wore the same determined, fearful look on her face, but now it was also tinged with something very like disgust or nausea.
In her wake were two children. The older looked to be a lad of about 13. He was lean and gangly looking and was covered with mud and blood. In his arms, he carried the younger child: a girl, who was maybe 6 years old, and in even worse shape than the boy. She wore a plain white shift, with a little and a little white bonnet covering her brown hair. Typical village girl, except that there was an arrow protruding from her torso. She appeared to have passed out, which explained why the boy was carrying her. Even Toma could see she was seriously hurt. The poor boy was struggling to navigate the slippery rocks of the passage without dropping her.
Without thinking, Toma scooped her out of the boys arms. The boy gaped up at him, and fury flew across his face.
“We have to hurry” Toma declared quietly before the youth could protest “I can walk faster than you. Let’s go.”
The poor kid’s mouth snapped closed and he rushed to follow Toma and Aida back to the house.
Aida
The smell was overwhelming.
As soon as she passed beyond the waterfall, she had been hit by the unmistakable odor of serious injury. The poor girl was barely hanging on. Thankfully, Aida was well prepared and much better able to do her work than she had been with Toma in that prison cell.
In no time, the whole party burst through the door to the cottage. On her instructions, Toma carefully placed the little girl on the work table in her workshop.
Rolling up her sleeves, Aida got to work.
Briskly, she removed the white shift from the girl’s body in order to examine her wounds more closely. There was a significant amount of trauma, all very recent. Obviously, she had been shot once. The arrow was still imbedded in her shoulder. She could also clearly see evidence of having been struck with what looked like both the blade and hilt of at least one sword.
Bastards, Aida fumed to herself.
While she performed the exam, she barked directions at Toma and the boy, Charlie. In part because she needed about 12 more hands, and in part to keep them both from panicking more than they already were. They rushed about the room bringing her hot water from the big kettle, clean rags, this or that instrument.
After a few minutes of examination and cleaning out the wounds, Aida carefully removed the arrow. Then, holding pressure on the wound, she called for Charlie to go over to the shelves on the far side of the room and find a small bottle with florescent blue liquid in it. After a moment of rummaging, he triumphantly returned with the required bottle.
“Perfect!” Aida said with a reassuring smile “You’d make a great nurse, buddy.” Charlie flushed a little before scurrying away.
When she unscrewed the top, a small hole appeared. The healer tipped the bottle over the worst of the injuries and a slow but steady stream of drops emerged. The area the liquids touched began to glow, first the same bluish tint as the liquid, and then slowly shifted to gold. She continued from wound to wound, until she was satisfied at last. Re-stoppering the bottle, she looked up at Toma and Charlie, who were both wearing anxious and slightly confused expressions.
Responding to their expressions, Aida smiled again. “Just watch” she said softly.
The glow slowly spread from the injury sites, becoming stronger and brighter as it went until the whole child lit the room like a bonfire. She stayed that way for a moment, and then gradually faded out again. As it went, the glow went from gold to green to bluish again before it vanished completely.
The cottage was silent and still for a few beats, until the little girl sat up, rubbing her eyes.
“Charlie?” a small, scared voice said, “Big brother?”
Charlie was there in a second, holding his sister’s hand. “It’s okay, Lu. I’m here. We’re at Miss Aida’s. We’re safe now, like I promised.”
As the siblings hugged each other, Aida narrowed her eyes.
Something was still not quite right.
The smell was still there.
Not as strong as before, of course, but it was there.
Hurt.
Injury.
Pain.
“Charlie…” Aida said, probably sounding a little more menacing than she meant to. “Is there something you haven’t told me, young man?”
Charlie at least had the good grace to look sheepish. “You needed to look after Lu first,” he mumbled, his eyes on the floor. “It isn’t that bad.”
Aida rolled her eyes. Men.
“Lu, off the table” she said sternly, “Charlie, let’s see it.”
Lu, who was still looking a little dazed, did as she was told. Charlie took her place and reluctantly pulled his shirt off over his head. Several angry, deep gashes crisscross his back and shoulders. Lu went white as a sheet and let out an audible gasp. She sank onto the stool her brother had just vacated and put one little hand over her mouth.
“Gods, Charlie!” Aida exclaimed. “How exactly is this ‘not that bad?’” Still tutting at him, she gathered up some fresh supplies and got to work cleaning out his wounds. Charlie winced as she touched him. “Serves you right” she chided him. “Next time, tell me sooner!” She sniffed him a few times, to verify that there was nothing else he wasn’t saying. He had some minor scrapes and bruises, but that was about all.
Toma, who up to this point had been watching quietly without comment, finally spoke up. “Can one of you tell us what in the seven hells happened?”
Charlie was biting his bottom lip to keep from whimpering as Aida worked, so Lu was the one who answered.
“Men from the castle came. They were looking everywhere for Miss Aida. Papa told us to hide while he talked to them. He told them he didn’t know where she was.” At this point, the little girl sniffled a bit before continuing. “They got mad and hit Papa. I…don’t remember much after that. I think Charlie said we should run? Next thing I remember is waking up here with a headache and a sore shoulder.”
Charlie, seeing that she was about to cry, reached out and held his sister’s hand. Aida could see from the look on his face that it was probably a good thing the little girl didn’t remember what else had happened.
Damn that son of a bitch warlord. He’s hurting innocent people now. My friends.
Their father, Jon, was the leader of that village. He and Aida were old friends. Aida had delivered both children, and had been there when their mother passed away following Lu’s birth. He and Charlie were the only people from the village who knew where she lived. Usually, the villagers just come to the clinic she ran in town, but for emergencies she had trusted Jon with her location. She silently thanked whichever gods cared to listen that he had sent Charlie here a few times, and that the boy had had the presence of mind to remember in a crisis. It had saved his sister’s life.
Toma’s face wore that dark, dangerous expression again, like when Aida had explained Magnus’ probable plans for her. If history was any guide, she was pretty sure he was about to try to do something dangerous and stupid.
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