Chapter 17
Before long Tal and Milla had reached the entrance to the ruin ship. After consulting with the shield maidens on guard, Milla was led inside while Tal waited patiently outside in the care of the shield maidens.
"Can't expect them to accept me with open arms even though I am emperor." thought Tal as he paced to keep warm.
Tal became bored of waiting and decided to pass the time with some conversation. He smiled warmly at the nearest shield maiden and introduced himself.
"Hello I'm Tal," he said cheerfully.
The shield maiden nodded in reply and resumed her icy cold stare into nothingness. Tal expected as much so he wasn't offended so he continued with the soul purpose of trying to get the guard to talk.
"So."Tal drawled trying to think of something to talk about that would appeal to the Icecarls "Have you been on guard duty long?" Tal asked stupidly.
The Icecarl merely grunted in reply and Tal gave up hope on trying to get the women to talk. Then he heard something, it was a rare sound to be heard on the ice. It was giggling. Tal looked around for the source and found that the other shield maiden on duty was trying hard not to laugh. Tal saw this and walked over to the girl and found as new target. A she approached the girl stopped giggling and stood stock still.
"I couldn't help but notice that giggling, care to share?" Tal asked in a friendly manner.
"I wasn't laughing," the girl said quickly.
"It is a rare sound to be heard on the ice," Tal pressed.
"Yes it is and Breg would do better than to lose composure during her duty," the other guard said silencing the girl before she could say another word.
Breg was silent again and pouted a little before snapping back to composure when Tal looked at her.
Tal shrugged and stopped his little activity knowing that he wouldn't get any further. He started to pace again and was starting to wonder where Milla had gone when a girl came out from behind the curtain made of hide. The girl whispered something in the stern guard's ear and popped back inside.
"Come with me," she said and moved to put a blind fold over Tal.
"Here we go again," Tal muttered as the shield maiden lead him through the curtain.
Tal was lead down steps that Tal remembered from his last visit to the Ruin Ship. Then he was spun around until he was dizzy. Tal lost all sense of direction then and gave trying to locate where he was. Tal knew he was safe here and that was all that mattered. After a few minutes of turning corners Tal was finally put onto a bench and had his blind fold removed. When it was removed his eyes immediately fluttered as they adjusted to the light. When he finally stopped seeing stars his attention fell to the people in front of him. They lying in stretchers and seemed to be resting. As Tal looked closer he noticed that they had bandages and were wearing bloodied furs. Tal looked around the place instinctively looking an exit but all he saw were the bodies on the stretchers. Tal then thought wondering why he was lead to this place. The Icecarls always acted with purpose so he would have been put here for a reason. Tal looked around once again and thought hard but he couldn't see the reason for why he was here. Tal started to pace again and waited for someone to fetch him. When no one came he moved to the curtain to leave but as he tried to find an opening he was pushed back roughly. Then as Tal steadied himself he saw two Icecarls rush through the curtain with a wounded person on a stretcher. The two runners placed the stretcher on the ground next to the others who were resting and ran back out after clapping their knuckles at Tal. Tal tilted his head to the side as he tried to wrap his brain around what had just happened when he heard a groan from the newcomer. Instinctively Tal moved towards the person and got down on one knee to look at the wounded warrior.
"Please help me." said the warrior weakly and fainted.
Tal took action immediately and removed the furs the Icearl was wearing to get a better view on what the problem was. As he removed the Icecarls' jacket he saw a nasty gash across his chest. Tal looked at the gash blankly for a second and wondered what he was doing when he heard feet pattering on the floor. Tal turned to see another stretcher placed down next to him with a groaning shield maiden who was trying to remove a bone knife from her shoulder. The two runners who had placed her there rushed off and were out of sight in a matter of seconds. Tal looked at the woman who was still trying to get the knife out of her shoulder vainly. Tal shook his head as if to clear it and immediately started to help no longer concerned why he was in the room. He quickly summoned the blue light of soothing and casted it over the two bodies. As the ray hit them they stopped their groaning and stilled. Tal then moved to heal the first man's wound with a yellow ray of re-growth and quickly moved to the second arrival. The shield maiden was conscious but stopped all attempts to remove the knife knowing she was doing more damage to herself.
"Hold still and I'll get it out," Tal said holding the woman's body upright.
"On three," Tal said "One.Two.Three!"
On three Tal yanked the knife out and heard a cry of pain from the Icecarl. Tal immediately casted a ray of blue soothing and a yellow ray of re-growth in quick succession. Then he laid the woman down gently.
"Do you have anymore wounds that need to be treated?" Tal asked.
"No," the woman said weakly and started to breathe a Rovkir pattern of calm.
Tal nodded and moved away from her to let her rest. As he wiped his brow the runners came back in with another stretcher followed by a Crone.
"Set her over there," the Crone ordered taking out equipment from pouch that she carried.
The runners replied quickly and left just as fast. Tal moved over to the Crone and was about to ask the Crone if she needed any help when the runners came back with yet another wounded. They set the body down next to the woman Tal had just healed and moved off again. The Crone spun to look at the new arrival and was surprised to see Tal standing there.
"What are you doing here?" the Crone asked moving towards the new patient.
"I was going to ask you that but then decided to ask questions later, do you need any help with these patients?" Tal asked calmly.
"You look like a Chosen so you must know healing light magic, do you know how to staunch wounds?" the Crone asked removing a jar of ointment from her pouch.
"Yes I do," Tal said quickly looking over to the Crone's first patient.
"Good staunch the wounds of that girl over there and I'll try my best to fill you in on the situation," the Crone said applying bandages to the man in front of her.
Tal nodded and observed the girl on the stretcher. She was cut in various places and breathed labored breathes. She was conscious so Tal asked her where she felt the most pain.
"My right leg," she replied through gritted teeth.
Tal looked at the leg and saw bone; he hoped it was a weapon of some sort that was sticking out and not the girl's bone. Tal tore the leggings apart and sighed as he saw that the bone was indeed the girl's. Tal breathed deeply and applied a blue ray of soothing and hoped that it was strong enough to act as an anesthetic. Tal saw clearly that the bone was broken and thanked the light that it was a clean break. All he had to do was connect the two bones back together and apply a yellow ray of re-growth then seal up the wounds with more yellow rays and blue rays. Tal breathed deep and after counting to three silently he took hold of the protruding bone and the girl's leg. He then yanked them apart for a second and put them together. Tal quickly fused the bone together with a yellow ray and sealed all the severed nerves and veins with more yellow rays and finally applied more blue rays to stop any pain. After he was done he wiped his brow and stepped back to heal her other cuts on her body. Cut healing was easy enough for Tal. All he had to do was run yellow lines over the cuts and they would seal themselves in a few hours or so.
When Tal was done he noticed that the Crone had been talking all the time he was healing.
".So we are here until we have healed the survivors. According to the runners we have twenty warriors left outside awaiting treatment,"
That was all Tal heard but he got the gist, he was here until everything was settled. It all seemed obvious to Tal now. Milla must have put him here to make him seem useful enough to stay.
"Being emperor means nothing on the ice," Tal thought and shrugged.
The Crone, after bandaging the patient she was treating, walked over to Tal's patient expecting to heal her but when she saw Tal's handiwork she shrugged and moved off to find another patient. Tal smiled and felt good to be back on the ice. He felt somewhat superior here than in the castle. His state of euphoria was short lived as the runners came in with another patient.
"Milla I hope I see you again," Tal thought as he moved off to help the Crone.
Before long Tal and Milla had reached the entrance to the ruin ship. After consulting with the shield maidens on guard, Milla was led inside while Tal waited patiently outside in the care of the shield maidens.
"Can't expect them to accept me with open arms even though I am emperor." thought Tal as he paced to keep warm.
Tal became bored of waiting and decided to pass the time with some conversation. He smiled warmly at the nearest shield maiden and introduced himself.
"Hello I'm Tal," he said cheerfully.
The shield maiden nodded in reply and resumed her icy cold stare into nothingness. Tal expected as much so he wasn't offended so he continued with the soul purpose of trying to get the guard to talk.
"So."Tal drawled trying to think of something to talk about that would appeal to the Icecarls "Have you been on guard duty long?" Tal asked stupidly.
The Icecarl merely grunted in reply and Tal gave up hope on trying to get the women to talk. Then he heard something, it was a rare sound to be heard on the ice. It was giggling. Tal looked around for the source and found that the other shield maiden on duty was trying hard not to laugh. Tal saw this and walked over to the girl and found as new target. A she approached the girl stopped giggling and stood stock still.
"I couldn't help but notice that giggling, care to share?" Tal asked in a friendly manner.
"I wasn't laughing," the girl said quickly.
"It is a rare sound to be heard on the ice," Tal pressed.
"Yes it is and Breg would do better than to lose composure during her duty," the other guard said silencing the girl before she could say another word.
Breg was silent again and pouted a little before snapping back to composure when Tal looked at her.
Tal shrugged and stopped his little activity knowing that he wouldn't get any further. He started to pace again and was starting to wonder where Milla had gone when a girl came out from behind the curtain made of hide. The girl whispered something in the stern guard's ear and popped back inside.
"Come with me," she said and moved to put a blind fold over Tal.
"Here we go again," Tal muttered as the shield maiden lead him through the curtain.
Tal was lead down steps that Tal remembered from his last visit to the Ruin Ship. Then he was spun around until he was dizzy. Tal lost all sense of direction then and gave trying to locate where he was. Tal knew he was safe here and that was all that mattered. After a few minutes of turning corners Tal was finally put onto a bench and had his blind fold removed. When it was removed his eyes immediately fluttered as they adjusted to the light. When he finally stopped seeing stars his attention fell to the people in front of him. They lying in stretchers and seemed to be resting. As Tal looked closer he noticed that they had bandages and were wearing bloodied furs. Tal looked around the place instinctively looking an exit but all he saw were the bodies on the stretchers. Tal then thought wondering why he was lead to this place. The Icecarls always acted with purpose so he would have been put here for a reason. Tal looked around once again and thought hard but he couldn't see the reason for why he was here. Tal started to pace again and waited for someone to fetch him. When no one came he moved to the curtain to leave but as he tried to find an opening he was pushed back roughly. Then as Tal steadied himself he saw two Icecarls rush through the curtain with a wounded person on a stretcher. The two runners placed the stretcher on the ground next to the others who were resting and ran back out after clapping their knuckles at Tal. Tal tilted his head to the side as he tried to wrap his brain around what had just happened when he heard a groan from the newcomer. Instinctively Tal moved towards the person and got down on one knee to look at the wounded warrior.
"Please help me." said the warrior weakly and fainted.
Tal took action immediately and removed the furs the Icearl was wearing to get a better view on what the problem was. As he removed the Icecarls' jacket he saw a nasty gash across his chest. Tal looked at the gash blankly for a second and wondered what he was doing when he heard feet pattering on the floor. Tal turned to see another stretcher placed down next to him with a groaning shield maiden who was trying to remove a bone knife from her shoulder. The two runners who had placed her there rushed off and were out of sight in a matter of seconds. Tal looked at the woman who was still trying to get the knife out of her shoulder vainly. Tal shook his head as if to clear it and immediately started to help no longer concerned why he was in the room. He quickly summoned the blue light of soothing and casted it over the two bodies. As the ray hit them they stopped their groaning and stilled. Tal then moved to heal the first man's wound with a yellow ray of re-growth and quickly moved to the second arrival. The shield maiden was conscious but stopped all attempts to remove the knife knowing she was doing more damage to herself.
"Hold still and I'll get it out," Tal said holding the woman's body upright.
"On three," Tal said "One.Two.Three!"
On three Tal yanked the knife out and heard a cry of pain from the Icecarl. Tal immediately casted a ray of blue soothing and a yellow ray of re-growth in quick succession. Then he laid the woman down gently.
"Do you have anymore wounds that need to be treated?" Tal asked.
"No," the woman said weakly and started to breathe a Rovkir pattern of calm.
Tal nodded and moved away from her to let her rest. As he wiped his brow the runners came back in with another stretcher followed by a Crone.
"Set her over there," the Crone ordered taking out equipment from pouch that she carried.
The runners replied quickly and left just as fast. Tal moved over to the Crone and was about to ask the Crone if she needed any help when the runners came back with yet another wounded. They set the body down next to the woman Tal had just healed and moved off again. The Crone spun to look at the new arrival and was surprised to see Tal standing there.
"What are you doing here?" the Crone asked moving towards the new patient.
"I was going to ask you that but then decided to ask questions later, do you need any help with these patients?" Tal asked calmly.
"You look like a Chosen so you must know healing light magic, do you know how to staunch wounds?" the Crone asked removing a jar of ointment from her pouch.
"Yes I do," Tal said quickly looking over to the Crone's first patient.
"Good staunch the wounds of that girl over there and I'll try my best to fill you in on the situation," the Crone said applying bandages to the man in front of her.
Tal nodded and observed the girl on the stretcher. She was cut in various places and breathed labored breathes. She was conscious so Tal asked her where she felt the most pain.
"My right leg," she replied through gritted teeth.
Tal looked at the leg and saw bone; he hoped it was a weapon of some sort that was sticking out and not the girl's bone. Tal tore the leggings apart and sighed as he saw that the bone was indeed the girl's. Tal breathed deeply and applied a blue ray of soothing and hoped that it was strong enough to act as an anesthetic. Tal saw clearly that the bone was broken and thanked the light that it was a clean break. All he had to do was connect the two bones back together and apply a yellow ray of re-growth then seal up the wounds with more yellow rays and blue rays. Tal breathed deep and after counting to three silently he took hold of the protruding bone and the girl's leg. He then yanked them apart for a second and put them together. Tal quickly fused the bone together with a yellow ray and sealed all the severed nerves and veins with more yellow rays and finally applied more blue rays to stop any pain. After he was done he wiped his brow and stepped back to heal her other cuts on her body. Cut healing was easy enough for Tal. All he had to do was run yellow lines over the cuts and they would seal themselves in a few hours or so.
When Tal was done he noticed that the Crone had been talking all the time he was healing.
".So we are here until we have healed the survivors. According to the runners we have twenty warriors left outside awaiting treatment,"
That was all Tal heard but he got the gist, he was here until everything was settled. It all seemed obvious to Tal now. Milla must have put him here to make him seem useful enough to stay.
"Being emperor means nothing on the ice," Tal thought and shrugged.
The Crone, after bandaging the patient she was treating, walked over to Tal's patient expecting to heal her but when she saw Tal's handiwork she shrugged and moved off to find another patient. Tal smiled and felt good to be back on the ice. He felt somewhat superior here than in the castle. His state of euphoria was short lived as the runners came in with another patient.
"Milla I hope I see you again," Tal thought as he moved off to help the Crone.