With blood still leaking through his fingers clutching to his chest, the Swallow burning down his throat coagulating the blood only to have it crack as he breathes, the tears flowing from his cheeks as the pure panic and adrenaline are the only things keeping him standing, Reinmar's gaze lifts from the bloodied stones on the floor to vaguely recognizing Bastian who he seems to lean over, the Phoenix apprentice clenching his face, blood dripping from his chin.
Near them, Gedymin lay pinned under Frederick, his Nightsaber friend trying to subdue their crazed tutor. Cecilia on the ground, she who warned them all while none of them listened, blood dripping from her throat, clenched by another adept he could not see.
And then the world spun... It all went dark. An impact coursed through his body as he hit the floor, his body giving in from the injuries. "I can't die now... Not like this."
"Those able to walk, bring the injured inside!" the newly appointed Grand Master's voice boomed across the courtyard, causing several heads to turn. Only a few responded to the command, many standing baffled, some masters still shaken from recovering their control, eyeing the carnage around them. "EVERYONE!" the bellow came, Grand Master Bastian stepping forward, a hand on his shoulder, covering a minor cut, a wrap already tightened around his leg. "Every second will cost another life! Any hand who choses to chase after vengeance might as well strike the killing blow to your nearest brother or sister! This is not the time for hesitation!"
A brief moment of silence followed, only for adepts to move forward. A few managed to organize though the synergy of groups had all but vanished. Confronted with the need to work with adepts they have never even spoken to. "You three!" another voice speaks up, the clear voice of Master Lennard, "Take servants with you to the great hall and clear tables. Get fresh cloth and boiled water. Go!"
And just like that, movement once more erupted on the larger adepts moving to pick up those too wounded to move and those who have lost consciousness. Reinmar being one of them, remembering only the big strong arms picking him up, through hazed eyes recognizing the man, his lips moving to form the word "Jaeger.." before his vision went black, his hearing waning and arms dropping by his sides.
"IGNI!" the telltale shout came with a surge of agony coursing through Reinmar's body, his eyes flashing open to see Master Jodok over him, his white fur caked in blood, some of his own, most of it not, his yellow eyes glaring down at the adept, his hand upon the injured adept chest, searing shut one of the bleeding wounds. "Wrong time to wake up, adept!" the master shouted down.
They were inside. The great hall was turned into a medical ward. Adepts groaning upon the tables, tended to by masters and adepts alike, pressing upon wounds to stop the bleeding until one of the masters could tend to them.
Right next to Reinmar were the Brigden twins. Fennet was awake, hunched over his sister Seanna, his hands pressing upon a wound upon her stomach, her eyes shut and head hanging against his shoulder. He could see him shouting but could not hear the words as his consciousness was slipping again, seeing only Master Vester administering a potion to the girl, his hand covering her mouth to ensure she had to swallow before everything went black again.
"Jaeger! You cannot go after Gildart, think! You'll rush at him like lumbering oaf and that will be the end of you!" the distant sounding voice woke up the adept, renewing the agony spreading through his body. Too weak to move, he saw Master Elinor shove her finger into the Bear of Undvik's chest, his face a twisted glare of rage, eyes wide and bloodshot.
"You want to help? Finish getting the remaining adepts off the courtyard." she finished, a frown on her face as her gaze drops to her blade now colored red.
Even now he could tell they shared the rage, but hers was contained, to be used as a precise tool at the right moment while his was an endless outburst of anger, promising a world of hurt to those who drove him to fury. Both equally terrifying, both equally dangerous.
"Reinmar, my brother..." a soft voice called his attention from the scene. Taking what seemed like minutes to turn his head to see Frederick by his bedside. His brow pulled together in a worried frown. "You should not move. Master Jodok has stitched your wounds and Master Vester has given you potions to the limit of your toxicity. How do you feel?"
His lips cracking and tongue dry, he opens his mouth to whisper and yet all he manages is a whimper from the sharp surges of pain in his chest, feeling torn open by only trying to breathe in enough air to make sounds. "It's alright..." the young Nightsaber hushed, placing a hand upon Reinmars forehead. "You shouldn't be awake anyway... I'll check up on you when you've rested..."
A large man leaned in, peering at Frederick who only nodded, uttering a single word: "Fever..."
"Him too? Go ahead." the large man's voice replied, referring to a previous arrangement.
Two fingers moved to Reinmar's temple when Frederick effortlessly called upon his arcane affinity, uttering the word "Somne..." and it all went dark once more.
The coming moments were too fleeting for him to remember, slipping in and out of consciousness as his wounds were being tended to.
Nightmares plagued him as his body was fighting both infection and the toxic nature of the potions he had imbibed. Reliving the Night of the Prophecy time and time again, facing a giant viper, coiled around him, sinking it's fangs into his chest and pulsing him with venom... Seeing a she-bear rampage through adepts without abandon. Seeing his fellow Phoenixes fall one by one, feeling their pain and agony as his own before the entire scene began once more.
Unaware of how many days had passed, his eyes opened slowly, groaning, he could hear the familiar voice of one of his friends, Bodil. "You're awake." she utters in the faintest of whispers.
"How... long..?" Reinmar's voice huffed, his throat barely able to make noise. A moistened cloth already dabbing at his lips by Bodil's caring hand. Greedily sucking at the droplets to get some of the liquid down his parched throat, his gaze remained on her for an answer. "Two days..." she replied, pulling the cloth away from Reinmar's lips who eagerly smacks for more, pushed back down by a firm hand. "Stay down... Masters say you're not allowed to move." Bodil instructed him, pulling her hand away from the bandages stained in red from the blood still seeping through the fresh stitches.
Too weak to protest, he merely nods once, leaning back into the pillow only to then realize he's been moved to a bed in the great hall. His eyes now scanning the darkness, recognizing it is night.
He saw Baldwin, his golden badge upon his arm sitting by the bedside of Master Ruta who was badly injured during the battle, her apprentice keeping tireless vigil, his eyes trailing around, showing sincere exhaustion yet nothing gave any indication he would move away.
Further down the hall, Master Jodok sat on a chair being tended to by Master Algir stitching a gash in his back. Jodok's eyes being on Anselm, the young Frostwolf apprentice who was wrapped in bandages made out of curtains. They were talking too quietly for any words to be heard.
Fennet and Seanna, still next to him, were both sleeping. Fennet's head upon the side of the bed as he sat on his knees on the floor, Seanna was deep in slumber but their hands joined so firmly one would think them inseparable even when unconscious.
He recognized Captain Mia in a far corner tending to one of the injured stripes, overhearing talk of their travel for the next mission with the other Temerians.
Near the flicker of a torch he saw the twin blades of Svar hunching over Martin, his apprentice and Reinmar's friend. They were locked in a deep discussion before he briefly saw Martin look back to observe the bloodied hall only to stalk out of the hall, the door creaking shut behind them.
"I'm glad you're alive..." Bodils voice broke the silence, a hushed whisper as to not disturb those sleeping. Reinmar's gaze once more shifted over to her, only capable of offering a smile, his lips cracking once more, though the smile didn't reach his eyes. The physical pain no worse than the emotional damage that occurred. The realization that they all stood alone at times most necessary. A witchers worst enemy being himself... The monster he risks to become.
"Smile for me?" Bodil's voice once more utters, almost pleading. But no response came this time. Her heart as heavy as his with Jana's departure without any notice. He knew she would go look for her. What would be his next path? He wondered, recalling talking to Ruta and Jaeger. A groan escaped his lips as he shifted once more, causing Bodil to once more push him down. "Don't go anywhere now, Reinmar... I still need to thank you for helping me get Master Bastian elected."
Again, no response came. Though not even a glance, Reinmar's gaze stark and staring in front of him. "Reinmar?..." Bodil's voice came out again before her eyes widened in terror as the first tremor coursed through his body, ripping several stritches as his body contracted for the next shock. "I need a master!" came Bodil's shout, turning some heads and waking Tammas who looked up, his cold eyes turning to see most of the masters and caretakers still asleep, he stood up to tilt Reinmar's head back, the white foam forming in his mouth seeping out. Tammas' hands working quickly to grab a thin wooden log and shove it between Reinmar's teeth which quickly began to clatter on the wood, saving him from biting his own tongue.
A fur-covered figure appeared quickly, swooping through the injured gracefully, uninjured. A white lock covering the side of her face and a pari of analyzing eyes dropping on the situation. "He's having a seizure." she finally diagnosed.
Amanda Drachens of Oxenfurt was one of the most talented apprentices with an especially keen eye for alchemy and mutagens. "Too many potions. His body can't handle it." she continued, reaching into her pouch out of which she procured a vial with a clear white liquid. "White Honey?" Tammas inquired. With a single nod from Amanda, she poured the liquid down the open mouth the moment Tammas removed the baton, pushing the tongue down with his fingers instead in order to force the mouth open. Bodil was leaning in in order to keep him still. "He's the fifth tonight. I'll tell Vester he can't have any more Swallow. Get Frederick, Master Jodok needs sleep. Only normal medicine can help him now." Amanda instructed, stepping out as she once more stored her vial. "I need to make more in case others decide to be unable to hold their potions."
Bodil and Tammas could only nod and Amanda was gone again, her cape flowing behind her, striding with the same confidence a master would and surely as it came, the tremors subsided.
"I'll take care of him... You guys get some sleep."
The voice startled both Bodil and Fennet, only to see the Temerian captain standing by the bed. Her hands on her hips and shoulders squared in a posture that would offer no compromise. "I know field medicine and you're both exhausted." She added before any protest could be offered by Bodil. Fennet, who woke up to see it all happen, had not left Seanna's side, pulled the blanket back over his sister, glad to not have been forced to assist and leave her side.
Bodil finally nodded, having to admit she had exhausted everything, still recovering from her own wound, she slipped away, gingerly looking over the hall of injured before going out of the hall to her own bed.
"Liar." came a voice behind the captain, Frederick emerging from the shade he was waiting under. "True... But I knew you were here." Mia admitted flashing a brief nod before holding out the bandage kit to Frederick with a question as clear as an instruction would be; "How can I help?".
The two worked for the better part of an hour to redo the stitches that broke along with refreshing the bandages and wiping away the pus. Frederick using what he learned and his books whilst giving the captain instructions, working in unison for the sake of their friends life.
"Just conventional medicine for you hrm? You're a difficult man, Reinmar." Mia sighed once their work was done, wiping blood off her hands onto a cloth previously used to clean wounds. "Tell me about it..." Frederick agreed before turning to the next patient. "You're alright to stay with him?"
Mia's response came in the form of a nod.
That same night, his eyes opened once more, blinking away the haze, his body limp and weak, his hand resting in that of Mia who remained by his side for the better part of the night.
"Ah. Didn't think you'd wake up in time." she grinned, tilting her head to the groggy young adept desperately trying to get his bearings. "We're leaving at sunrise. We got another assignment."
Her voice stern and professional, her message like an announcement to one of her troops. It took Reinmar a moment to wet his lips before he could speak up, a faintest hint of a smile on his gaunt and pale face. "...So...formal." he utters, barely a whisper.
This caught the captain by surprise. Her face contorting in a smile before biting her lower lip, her eyes gleaming a bit brighter, reflecting the dancing flame of the candle before she cleared her throat, her voice as solid as she can muster. "Don't you die, Reinmar von Sulz." came the order, her posture straight and shoulders squared, though the smile breaking through as she leaned in, pressing a tender kiss on Reinmar's forehead, a feeling of a stray tear upon his skin. "I still have a lot to tell you... So find me."
Those were the last words Captain Mia of Temeria said to her friend before rising, a hand flashing over her face before she resumed her professional posture, stepping over to the other Stripes, finishing their packs for the road.
The next time Reinmar woke up, she was no longer in the great hall, nor was there any signs of the Blue Stripes. They had left at daybreak leaving him to wonder when he'll see his friend again.
The next couple of days progressed slowly and uneventfully. Unable to move as of yet and sleeping for several days at a time, his bandages were refreshed with those the castle staff managed to clean well enough, Reinmar fought off several fevers and managed to dodge the dangers of festering wounds thanks to the care of Frederick and master Jodok. During the moments he was awake, he got visit from Olena, Gedymin, Jaeger and others. Some brief, some lasting an afternoon. And yet despite the visits and conversations, Reinmar felt a void within him, one that grew before the Night of the Prophecy and only festered as the chaos and destruction happened. His mind often wandered to what would be next for him. Would he go to Kaer Tiele? Stay here at Kaer Marter? Perhaps the Path and try his own luck. He didn't know and the drumming pain in his head did not favor thinking.