Kanta48 Thanks. Sorry about Duncan. Just for you uploaded after two days. Judy- you are so awesome and faithful. Beth- Glad you caught up. Sorry about Duncan. Flashbacks are how you see the blight and how they became what they are.
We only lost three soldiers on our way to the gated entrance to the wilds. My eyes burned with unshed tears. As each protector fell, I said a word or two biding them save travels to the Makers side. The only thing I could do for them was to light a fire so they wouldn't become food.
The young ones I had sent in search of canine reinforcements caught up with us about an hour into the wilds. They were able to save two mabari and the left the gate open for one who was still too sick to run.
I briefly wondered about the hound I got the flower for. He wasn't one of the two that joined us. I hoped either his death was clean, or he survived and found his way off the battlefield before the attack.
The surrounding forest was completely dark making our travel more perils. We couldn't light a torch, as that would give our position away to the bands of Darkspwan still in the wilds. My wisp gave us some light but caused shadows startling all of us at least once.
Our hounds were a Maker's blessing as their noses and eyesight in the dark kept from falling to the more dangerous parts of the wilds.
I found a hollow space in a copse of trees and signaled for us to stop. We hadn't been attacked by darkspawn for the last hour and I didn't sense any nearby. I led the team away from roving bands of darkspawn. Most of the time it worked. In six hours, we only lost four more people.
The five of us trudged into the clearing and collapsed. We had been fighting, running or walking solidly for the past nine hours.
"Rest while you can. The Mabari on will be on watch. I am going to gather herbs. I have enough concentrator agent to make a few more health poultices. I know it's dark and cold but don't light the fire. We need rest not another battle."
I wanted desperately to rest also but two of the deaths could've been prevented if I had a potion to give them after the fight. But I could do nothing for the cracked skull and one minute she was walking with help and the next moment she collapsed and stopped breathing.
Our last bowman had a cut to the underneath of his arm. We were unable to stop the bleeding. His death was the most madding to me, as he had no other wounds. One small cut to the artery and he is dead. I should have done more.
I picked as much foxfite and Heatherum as I can find. I don't have the equipment to distil it here, but all potions need concentrator agent as a base. I gather the herbs for later use. For now, I would have to purchase the injury kits.
I should have known so much before I left the tower. I couldn't help but think that had I been a better student I could have saved more. Realizing I was spending more time assigning blame and not enough to creating the potions I pushed the guilt aside to deal with later.
I had been gone for an hour. Everything at camp was calm. I was beginning to count my blessings.
The fawn colored Mabari greeted me with a wagging tail as I entered camp. And it was a good thing the hounds were on duty as all my companions were asleep. Some sitting up leaning against each other and others were leaning against a tree. I didn't begrudge them the rest. They had fought harder than a legion of soldiers.
I walked over to the king and touched his forehead. He wasn't overly heated which mean he wasn't battling an infection. But that was as much as I knew about healing.
I could only hope that the damage was so great that his body was just taking this long to heal. I unplugged one of my recently made vials of healing balms and poured the pink liquid in his mouth.
I was rewarded with a cough and a sputtering as the king began choking on the liquid being poured down his throat.
With heavily hooded eyes that looked like he had to pry open, he tried to focus on me.
"Welcome back, your Majesty. I was beginning to think I would never see those golden eyes again."
"Where…"
Already kneeling I pulled the stopper out of the animal skin we kept water in and poured a little in the king's mouth. "Were safe for the moment. You're healing from the Ogre attack. Go back to sleep and let the potions work."
He nodded his agreement and closed his eyes. I'm not sure how much of a choice our monarch had in the arrangement as his body was in charge right now.
I was cold and I probably shouldn't be sleeping but I was dead tired. And I was no use if I was completely depleted of energy. I found a tree and settled against it. Smiling at something going right for the first time since my joining.
Several hours later, I woke. I didn't really know how long we had slept but the sun was fully risen in the sky. Next to me was the faun Mabari. From her throat came a steady low growl. On the other side of the camp next to the king, the brindled hound echoed the low warning.
I could feel the taint in my blood beginning throb. When we were in the middle of the battle, it was like standing next to a waterfall. As we got farther away from the fighting, it toned down to a fountain. When there was none in the vicinity, it was like a bubbling brook.
For my body to feel like this there had to be a band of at least ten or elven. And they had to be relatively close. I pat the head of the hound and whispered, "I know they're here. Let's get the others up. Maybe we can sneak around them."
As quietly as I could I began to move around camp shaking my companions and placing a finger over their lips to stress quietness. One by one, they shook the weariness away and prepared for another day of battle. I left his majesty to last. He would still need to be protected and maybe even supported but not carried. That would be the end of our blessings.
