Chapter 6

Altogether, it took the village and Guard nearly four days to construct the hoists and platforms needed to attempt the rescue. Dozens of timbers were cut and trimmed, to be fastened together with clever notches, rope and iron spikes.

At Merell and Anden's request, Kyminn had sent Kel back to the village, this time with a note tied to her leg. It requested chains, ropes, pulleys and tackle, iron and more. The ironsmith came, bringing charcoal to heat fires hot enough to forge the lengths of chain they would require, along with still more willing hands. Teams of villagers and guardsmen dug down into the bank, setting the legs of the hoists deep into the earth. Another team of guardsmen surveyed a road from the ravine back to the main road. Those not digging cut brush and timber to clear the track. Kyminn was adamant that it needed to be at least four horses wide and as smooth as possible. Even youngsters were put to work, trimming away roots from the new road. A new, temporary village sprang up, built for the sole purpose of saving one man and one Companion.

Kyminn spent much of his time in the shelter with Randen or curled up beside Derris. Kyminn had, with input from Randen, the guard's Healer and Derris himself, brewed a pain killing draught that let both Derris and Kyminn rest. Between the draught and Healer Pell being able to help in maintaining and monitoring the healing web around Derris, Kyminn slowly started to regain some of his strength.

For Randen, the waiting was a misery. He swung between worry for Derris and the reality of his own injuries. Randen had been startled into silence when Pell listed them for him: right shoulder shattered along with a break to the upper arm, three ribs on that side cracked, pelvis cracked, right leg gone from above the knee. One kidney was bruised and he had sprains and bruises too numerous to mention. And he'd broken two fingers on his left hand.

"Herald, without Healing, it would be months before you would be able to walk unaided. With bone healing, we can get you on your feet sooner, but learning to walk again is going to take a long time. Normally you would have a crutch to help you move around until you get a replacement leg, but your shoulder won't be strong enough for that for quite some time. Healer Anya and I agree that we are going to wait and set your shoulder after we get you to the village. Doing it right is too delicate a procedure to do here. We'd just have to do it again."

So Randen waited, worry for Derris slowly gnawing away at him. He tried not to, but he found himself constantly asking Kyminn for updates. He could feel Derris in his mind, but the wall of drugs made it impossible to speak to his Companion.

"No change Randen. He's holding his own," Kyminn said patiently. "In fact, he's doing far better than I had any right to expect. His stamina is extraordinary."

A small smile. "The stamina of Companions is legendary. That's why they can travel faster and farther than any other creature. It's part of what makes them Companions."

"And it's keeping him alive." Kyminn gave a gusty sigh. "It's a balance, Randen. He needs strength to stay alive, to deal with the shock and blood loss. Normally, to keep up his energy he'd be eating like…well, like a horse. But eating and drinking takes energy too, energy that's sustaining him. So we feed him as much as we dare, pour energy into the healing web, and pray. A lot."