"Just… just wait a few minutes, Yugi…" Dark Magician Girl whispered. "Then you'll see why we aren't happy to fight…"
Another light appeared, and soon, a monster reappeared outside the wooden gates.
A knight, clad in deep blue armor, limped weakly away from the open doorway. His armor was rusted at the edges. His face was scratched and burned, as if scorched by dragon's fire.
"That's Gaia, the fierce knight…" Yugi gasped.
Dark Magician Girl only nodded, as Feral Imp flew to his side, to catch the injured warrior before he fell. Berfomet grunted, coming to his side as well. The knight, exhausted from the battle, leaned on the great beast's hairy arm. He coughed, a puff of smoke rising from his tattered lungs. Perhaps the metaphor of dragon's fire wasn't so far off the mark.
"He's… he's hurt…" Yugi stuttered again, watching as the beast helped the warrior through the crowd of monsters. Most of the others didn't even react, as though it were completely ordinary.
"He's not the only one…" Dark Magician Girl whispered, her eyes at the floor.
"You mean… there's more?" Yugi gasped, watching the monster limp weakly by. "Where is he going?"
"To the Graveyard."
Yugi wasn't sure he wanted to know exactly what the spellcaster meant by that. But he decided to ask anyway.
"That's where the Obnoxious Celtic Guardian just came from…" he pointed in that direction.
"The graveyard…" Dark Magician Girl began, "is where most of the spellcasters with healing magic work… Mystic Elf set it up when the duels started getting more frequent. There wasn't enough room in the infirmary, and there wasn't enough time to get them there either…"
The sorrow in Dark Magician Girl's voice was palpable.
"Where is this… graveyard?" Yugi asked meekly.
"Come on, I'll take you there…" she whispered, taking his hand. Together, they followed Berfomet and Gaia.
A large makeshift tent hung in the farthest crevice in the foyer. The scent of blood lingered in the air, as did the anguished groans of many wounded monsters.
"Is this…" Yugi gasped.
"This is the Graveyard." Dark Magician Girl answered. Mystic Elf stood at the doorway, taking Gaia into her open arms.
"What's she doing?" Yugi asked.
"She's the best healer we have." The spellcaster sighed. "She'll heal him. Or… or at least, she'll try her best."
Yugi didn't have a very close view, but, from a distance, the burns on the knight's face looked extremely painful.
"Here… you should see it all for yourself." Dark Magician Girl continued weakly, walking towards the tent. Yugi reluctantly followed. The sight was one that would accost his eyes for years to come.
The weak shelter housed at least two dozen cots, most of which were filled with monsters in various stages of recovery.
A few, the lucky ones as it seemed, were merely being treated for flesh wounds. The sword of tenacity or the axe of despair had the power to create massive lacerations, severing skin and muscle, and sometimes even breaking bones.
Others seemed in far worse condition. Summoned Skull's left horn hung from the side of his face, almost completely severed. The usually fearsome fiend wailed in pain. Black Luster Soldier, stripped of all his armor, was resting uncomfortably on a cot as well. His knee was bandaged, and Mystic Elf had propped the leg up to relieve the strain.
He glanced over at Gaia, the fierce knight. Mystic Elf cleaned the burned skin from his cheeks before checking on his arm. It was not long before Yugi realized she must have been looking at a prior injury, something that the warrior may very well have aggravated during the duel.
"This… this is terrible…" Yugi whispered finally finding his voice. "They're… they're all hurt!"
"We… get used to it… I guess." Dark Magician Girl sighed. "I… I wish it didn't have to be this way… But as the duels get more frequent, and the opposing monsters grow even stronger… some of the more powerful monsters in the Deck can barely escape the duel without injury…"
"But… Mystic Elf heals them, right?" Yugi asked, still shaking from the spectacle that surrounded him.
"She… does her best…" the spellcaster trembled, her voice betraying that she was almost on the verge of tears. "Yugi… I want you to see someone else before you leave… okay?"
The boy nodded weakly, and Dark Magician Girl led him to a secluded part of the tent, set apart by another curtain. Drawing a deep breath, she pulled back the curtain, revealing the greatest casualty of them all – her master, Dark Magician, and Yugi's most coveted monster…