When Snow Falls: The Stranger. (Rewritten.)
Chapter 36.
The Apprentice's.
"You both look like death," Miz commented as he and Bid took over care for Zero from their injured commander as soon as he'd managed to drag both of them back to the safety of the camp, happy to be rid of the dead weight and relax his body before he slumped over into a tent they'd set up for these exact situations to be checked up on after Zero, they having done so on the off chance one or both of them came back with new injuries. They just couldn't have predicted how severe those might be, to such a degree in both that Miz, one of the only few apprentice's in the fellowship competently trained with medical knowledge, at least in that he could handle lacerations and broken bones and things of that nature to the extent that he could prevent infection and worse injury, couldn't decide which of the two to tend to first, not able to judge which of them was the more injured combatant. Xander seemed to believe it was Zero, has he'd put their brother before himself and his own injured body.
Bid looked at the two of them with an increasingly concerned look, not able to handle it as well as he would have liked. But to his credit, it wasn't an easy scene to look out without feeling sick; Zero was unconscious with cuts and scorch marks spread throughout his body in a much wider range then Xander had, almost like their scout had been caught in a direct explosion, the worst of it at the palms of his hands. If that were the case, his might go even further than they suspected. Possible internal bleeding, fractured and splintered bones, and other grievous and life-threatening injuries that were beyond Miz's skill to handle, that, and even if he did, he certainly didn't have the equipment to attempt such things, nothing on that level of intravenous. They might not be able to save Zero in time. And it wouldn't be in their tiny encampment.
Of course, he could only speculate the level of care Zero would need based on an educated guess, the fact was that without a proper medical facility, he wouldn't be able to accurately judge just what was wrong with him, while Xander's injuries were much easier to assess; more on the surface than their younger brother, seemingly much more severe, but that was the issue with internal injuries, they were much harder to access and could be overlooked.
Zero was possibly injured to a greater degree than Xander was, but the burns covering both his arms worried him immensely. And he couldn't very well make his decision based on possibility. Even so, if Zero was in more danger, it was those greater wounds that really prevented him from giving proper medical attention. He could help Xander, but Zero needed a real doctor, not a glorified field medic. They needed to get Zero back to Winter-Moor, or someplace that could provide the help he needed.
It was a hard decision having to choose between his siblings, and part of him felt guilty for giving help to him first over Zero because of the fact that the two actually shared blood, but there was more he could do for Xander at the moment then what he could for Zero, even if he was the one that needed the most attention, motioning for someone else to take his place. Nina from Gamma responded to his command at once, and he let his brother slip into her arms. "Get him packaged and ready for transport. Do whatever it takes to stabilize him, I need to get started on Xander." She nodded quickly and helped Bid move him to another area away from the workspace he needed, having been quick enough that she hadn't needed to ask him any questions, which he was glad for, he hadn't had the time to explain himself to her, they didn't have much to spare if they were going to save the two. He thankfully wasn't followed by the rest of his siblings, hounding around him with worried questions and wanting desperate answers, not even from Zag, who would have been the most concerned over Xander had she seen him, and whose relationship with Zero wasn't as strained as it would become, so she would be with their brother to check up on him and help in whatever way she could. He wasn't surprised by this, as none of the others hadn't gotten the chance to really see how bad a shape their leader was in, while they had most certainly seen the state Zero was, so their worry was with him. That worked for Miz, as it wasn't something he needed, and it would be only time wasted to shoo them off.
He let himself through the flaps of the tent where Xander had gone to, finding his brother had collapsed onto the ground with laboured breathing; the burns on his arms already oozing liquid from a few blisters that had burst from his fall, his skin was practically melting off his bones, burned beyond. Whatever had happened was still affecting him. He looked so much worse than what a first look had told him.
Miz managed to keep his composure with the gruesome sight, more used to seeing those he loved in this kind of state often enough that he'd become numb enough to it to act, something he found entirely troubling, carefully turning Xander onto his back and pressing his ear against the boy's chest to listen to his breathing. It was weak and he was wheezing. It sounded obstructed, but he couldn't tell why Xander wasn't breathing properly.
Xander groaned some in pain after he'd moved his head away, only just hanging onto a very short and thin thread of consciousness, enough to start talking to his eldest brother when his vision became more clear. "Why aren't you taking care of Zero?" He said before taking a hard breath in, trying to push him off to get him working on Zero. Before he made it an order, Miz pushed his arms aside after the gesture, focused on his work. He just needed to be quick and get to the painful part of the operation, just so Xander couldn't give that order. "Shut up and let me do my job." He told Xander before having to remove his shirt, seeing that the burns hadn't just covered his arm, but had touched his chest as well, and even worse so. He wasn't sure any longer if this was something he could treat.
He gritted his teeth after seeing the condition he was really in, quickly grabbing for a doctors bag and looking through the containers of various herbs and roots and powders, trying to find one specifically that he needed. "What happened to you?" He questioned the young team leader as he went over the small collection, not knowing what could have caused such a thing in Snowfall of all places. Such burns were a rare sight indeed. He did have a few theories building themselves in his head though.
Xander shifted around in discomfort, not just from the building pain, but in some form of embarrassment to have to tell the story, seeing as how it would help Miz treat him. He didn't have much of a choice if he wanted to survive this. "My...fire magick." He said with an averted gaze, to which Miz let out a heavy sigh at his brother's apparent stupidity. At least he knew why the burns seemed to be worsening. "I don't even want to know. You'll be lucky if you even walk away from this without some kind of nerve damage." Miz wasn't an expert in the forms or applications of magick, or even able to draw it out himself, but when one of your most ambitious and bloodthirsty siblings tells you he wants to learn how to essentially play with fire as a form of combat, and they're both young, stupid, and somewhat reckless, you damn well learn the dangers of it and how to treat and handle situations when they turned ugly. "What? You don't find it complimentary that I had that much faith in your skill?" He said with a half-cocked smile, earning a hard whack to his forehead from Miz, scolding and warning him. "This is serious you fucking idiot. What happened out there?" He said with an infuriated tone, getting out the supplies he needed to treat Xander at the same time he scolded him. He could certainly do both at the same time.
If Xander's magick had backfired in any way, specifically, if it had turned on him, there would be lingering after-effects that would need to be dealt with fast. Especially with as potent as his brother's magick was. Fire magick, in particular, was prone to these types of mishaps, especially if forced into forms the user wasn't accustomed too or if it became taxing. Residual energies would still be trapped in his body, and until it was taken care nothing he could do would help him, he might just worsen it.
Xander couldn't rub where Miz had struck him, feeling it start to throb as he looked away in some kind of shame, believing that he hadn't done well enough to protect Zero, harshly blaming himself. "We were attacked on the mountain. We almost didn't make it out." Miz only let out a hard sigh as he rubbed his temples, getting out a small bowl and the crusher he needed. "I can tell. Look, we'll talk about it later. I need to get you stable first." Miz said as he grabbed a handful of Valerian powder out of a jar and threw it into a small cup, pouring some spring water into it along with a few leaves of White Willow and petals of Golden Arbour for good measure, mixing it together well enough that it scarcely resembled its components before getting it onto a hot plate, striking a match and throwing it into a small tray that would heat it up. Extracting the traces of magical energy leftover in Xander would be an increasingly painful process, so he needed his brother to not be conscious.
He wished he had something stronger than Valerian powder, but it would be enough to lure him into slumber, that, combined with the White Willow would dull the pain he'd feel, while the Golden Arbor petals would start to dampen his magickal connection.
While the foul concoction heated, already stinging his eyes from how strong each scent was, and it wasn't at all pleasant. He took to packing snow around Xander's arms to help halt the spreading of the fire energies, but it wouldn't hold it back long, noticing that it was already starting to melt the surrounding ice it was so hot, making Xander grimace from having something touch his arms and chest. "Can you save my arms?" He asked as he looked towards Miz, not able to hide how scared he actually was, and it, in turn, made Miz afraid for his brother. "I'll do what I can," He promised nothing more before he grabbed the cup off the table, not having heated enough to cause him much more than a small amount of discomfort, lowering the cup down to his lips and helping Xander sit up some to drink from it, making his face twist in disgust after he took one whiff of it. Miz took the opportunity to grab his nose and pull it up, pouring the potion down his throat before he could protest.
He coughed hard after he'd downed it all, feeling it burn his throat some on the way down. "Asshole!" He yelled and motioned to continue doing so before his body relaxed to the point he could barely move on any given command, falling back with a pleased look as the pain started to leave him. "...That...Is the good shit...Fucking kale, you bush league superfood," His reaction brought a smile to Miz's face. Any kind herb that slowed or syphoned a mages energies had the same effect as inhaling some kind of psychoactive drug. It made it a most effective tool when taking down magick users, though he did know of a few, personally, that took it recreationally, not that he condoned or advised its usage. Anything that nulled one's energy in such a way would only damage it further with repeated use, as a larger amount was always required when the body started to become adjusted.
It didn't take long before Xander was out, able to peacefully sleep through what Miz was going to have to do as he unrolled a pack of medical tools on the table nearby, letting him deepen his sleep before starting the operation, getting out the rarest ingredient he needed from a small leather bag. Inside was a glowing white plant with shining silver leaves, radiating with a strange power Miz did not truly understand. This powerful ingredient was known as Nimaru grain; Its namesake coming from the God Nimaru, hunter of Mages, Witches, Warlocks, and generally anything that could draw out magick.
It almost seemed dangerous to be using a magick killer to save his brother, but he could fashion something that would not outright destroy what it came into contact with. Mixed right, it could be made into a kind of poultice that could absorb massive amounts of magickal energy before it dried up. He wouldn't be able to sling around any spells for a time, maybe a month or so, but it would save his life. The only problem was he'd never actually attempted to concoct the mage hunting mixture, and he wasn't entirely confident in his ability to do so as it required experience and knowledge that he just didn't have, and there wasn't nearly enough time to acquire either. Xander would be a dead a thousand times over by the time he did. And even if it didn't kill him, he could seriously damage that which allowed his brother to use magick, and that was a very important part of Xander's life that he'd take away if he wasn't careful.
If he didn't die, to lose such a thing might be just the same. Miz understood what it was to him, and if Xander was awake he might just protest against it, it would be like losing one of his senses. And that was exactly why Miz needed him to sleep. If it were up to Xander, he'd try and stave it off from just his will, and Miz wasn't willing to risk it. Xander would just have to forgive him for what would go wrong.
With a burdened sigh, the elder Stoneharbor child slipped on a pair of gloves made to absorb whatever ingredient he needed, so long as it was mixed in with liquid, crushing up the Nimaru grain in his hands to get the water trapped in it out, pouring a good amount from the jug in the tent into his mixing bowl before he soaked his hands in it for a few minutes.
He felt how hard this was hitting his nerves, unable to calm himself the longer he waited for it to take, feeling it drag himself down before grabbing for another few gold petals, crushing them in his hands as he stirred it, the strangely sweet smelling potion turning silver and yellow. So far he hadn't managed to fuck up, but he was still far from done. Putting his hands to work calmed him, and he was sure as hell tempted to pop a few potent herbs from his own supply to ease the tension, but he needed all his wits for his work. That, and never get high off your own supply. That was rule number one.
He slipped the gloves off to let them soak as he gathered the rest of what he needed, grabbing a handful of fresh snow from the pile he'd moved onto Xander before uttering a few words in the common tongue spoken in for magick to work, letting it melt off his hands into the pot. With the raw magick leaking out from Xander, even one that possessed no connection or talent of their own could harness it if it was strong enough. And there was no lack of power in his brother. The infused snow would serve as the core to activate the properties he needed to start the absorption, the Nimaru root needed to feast on magickal energy in order to wet its appetite for it, to make it thirst for it.
While Miz may have had neither a connection, talent, or power, he did not lack the knowledge necessary to make use of it when it was available to him, having put in enough to know the incantations for a few spells on his memory alone, one of them relating to the potion he was brewing. He threw in another three ingredients into the pot, carefully measuring them as much as he could to the letter before he left it up to the gods to decide if he'd gotten the recipe right, slumping down beside Xander as he let it stew, trying to calm himself, looking down at the sleeping form of his brother. He'd never been jealous over his brother's speciality, or resentful of it, as great as it was, and as often as he seemed to abuse it. Miz had his own talents he was proud of, ones that Xander didn't. But in the back of his mind, he knew that if he had even a small fraction of the power Xander did, he'd be just as great of a Sorcerer as he was because of his intelligence alone.
He started to relax some as he placed a comforting hand on his brother's shoulder and rubbed it, only able to wait until the life-saving drink was ready, hoping Xander was sleeping well enough despite all that had happened, and that he'd continue to slumber through what came next. It wouldn't be fun for either of them.