Ok so maybe I should call this the "Never Ending Snippet" and once again blame Deana. LOL Here's another installment and I hope you enjoy. Thanks for the reviews and to the reader who wanted to know how to access Land of Dreams, a good friend of mine put the link in her review for the last chapter.
Speaking of her, Ladybug has graciously given me permission to use her warriors in the upcoming chapters of Hero's 4. So how could I not resist in using Kedar Ishaq to ride in and save the day? LOL Usual disclaimers apply and yes, I have a healer named Raphael who has a story of his own waiting to be told. LOL
Onwards to "Warrior Mode Part IV"…
~*~
Raphael stood in the center of the tent and directed the tide of warriors that flowed around him. His mind sorted through the wounded and quickly determined who needed immediate care. As other healers rushed over to aid Jameel as he brought Makin over to a nearby pallet, he astutely observed that despite the grimace of pain on the young warrior's face, his injury was not life threatening.
Satisfied that Makin was being cared for, Raphael turned around just as Ardeth was gently deposited onto another pallet. Although Solman had carried Ardeth with infinite care, the movement nonetheless invoked a moan of pain from Ardeth and he regained consciousness just as Raphael bent down by his side to assess the injuries.
"Sahil, sahil, ya ra'is," Raphael murmured gently to Ardeth. He leaned over the weakly struggling warrior and with a fatherly tenderness, stroked his warm brow. "Save your strength, you will need it for your recovery."
"I cannot…rest until I know…the fate of my men," Ardeth replied, the words mingled with gasps as he fought to remain conscious. Awareness ebbed and flowed, habitual instinct warned him to rise and take command but his trembling body refused to obey. He tried to sit up and rest on his elbows but the pain was too intense. Instead, he fell back, unable to stop the cry of agony that spilled from his throat.
"Rest you must," Raphael gently contradicted and with a slight nod of his head, Solman reappeared by Ardeth's side. Solman placed his large hands on Ardeth's good shoulder, effectively and carefully keeping the warrior from rising again. "I need to tend to your injuries now."
"Do what you must, healer," Dharr said as he and Sharif stood at the foot of the pallet. He tried to maintain his stoic composure but seeing his chief literally shaking from pain made his last comment come out hoarse with grief. "We cannot lose Ardeth."
"I will do what is necessary but I fear the wounds need be to be cauterized with a heated blade," Raphael murmured as he peeled back one section of Ardeth's bloody robe. "Then I will need dressings soaked with camphor, cloves and cinnamon to fight the infection that invariably will set in."
"Where…is Nabil?" Ardeth asked as he struggled not to surrender to the overwhelming desire for sleep. His head swam and he felt his stomach roll with nausea; the pain that burned from his shoulder all but stole his breath away. Coherent thought was rapidly becoming impossible but the need to know the fate of his men, of his warrior brothers pushed Ardeth to test the limits of his physical endurance.
An uncomfortable silence followed the question as Raphael gestured for help in pushing Ardeth to his side so he could examine the other wound. He glanced up at Dharr and Sharif, and then frowned a moment later when he realized the warrior's reluctance to answer meant only one thing – the loss of more brothers.
"Nabil?" Ardeth asked again, unable to hold back the groan that slipped past clenched teeth from Raphael's ministrations.
"He has…not yet returned," Sharif replied, hesitating to tell his chief that one of his most trusted commanders and friend may have not survived the attack.
"We will send out a patrol…" Dharr's suggestion was unexpectedly interrupted by the shout of a sentry announcing the arrival of riders into the encampment. Tentative hope bloomed in Dharr's heart that the missing had returned and he hurried over to the tent flaps, his hand almost touching the canvas to push it aside. Suddenly they were thrown open and he stepped back a few paces as the large form of Berin ducked inside.
Surprised and excited shouts of "il Hamdo lil-lah" filled the air as the warriors crowded around the once believed missing men. Dharr eagerly took the weight of Jericho away from Berin and helped his friend hobble over to the nearest pallet. He gave a silent prayer of thanks to Allah that his sahib only sustained a minor wound on his right leg and shouted for some assistance from a healer.
Sharif went to offer his help to Berin but the warrior refused, his face stoically grim as he stiffly turned away and walked out through the flaps. Sharif tried to follow but stepped backwards when Berin reappeared, this time supporting the weight of Nabil who walked beside him.
"Ana mabsoot, ya ukh," Nabil tried to reason with his sahib but Berin stubbornly refused to listen and the two of them argued until Nabil was finally sitting on a pallet. "I have only a few minor cuts…"
"You are injured," Berin's voice rumbled up deep from within his chest. He had to shout to be heard over the cries of his fellow warriors as the cry of "il Hamdo lil-lah" echoed through the tent's interior. One large hand reached out and grabbed the nearest healer and directed him straight towards Nabil with the growled command of, "You will look after my sahib, hal-waqt ajab."
"Ya ra'is do you see?" Raphael whispered to Ardeth and gently cradled Ardeth's head in his lap. "Nabil has returned along with Berin and Jericho, Allah be praised."
Silence immediately returned to the tent as the warriors waited expectantly for Ardeth to respond. He pushed past the pain that had blanketed his thoughts and weakly raised a hand, gesturing for the men to come closer. "Kif?" he whispered when Berin and Nabil were by his side. "How did…you…?"
"It was by the grace of God, ya ukh," Nabil replied as he knelt down by Ardeth's side. He frowned when he saw the pale complexion of Ardeth's face and the waves of pain that occasionally washed over it. Gently he took Ardeth's hand with his own and believed that by this contact alone, it would lend his wounded friend some much needed strength.
"Reinforcements arrived, led by Honored Second Ishaq from the tribe of the First," Berin replied and leaned over Nabil's shoulder. "The bandits were repelled by the force of Kedar's assault and will never again attack the innocent and unsuspecting."
With a heartfelt sigh of relief, Ardeth could now finally cave into the darkness that had been threatening to consume his consciousness. Most of his men had safely returned and as Raphael prepared the blade to seal the entrance wound on his shoulder, his last coherent thought was of the woman who had seemed to be the catalyst of these recent events.
As his head lolled to one side, Ardeth's last whisper was "Where…is she?"
~*~
Translations:
Sahil – easy
Ya ra'is – my chief
il Hamdo lil-lah – God be praised
Ana mabsoot – I am fine
hal-waqt ajab – now please
Kif – how (Syrian dialect)