Chapter 21

"I don't think I will need this," Anna said handing the pistol back to Jour. The old woman pushed the handgun into Anna's hands.

"Jacques told me that you knew how to use a gun. Take it with you." When Anna started to protest Jour said, "It will make me feel better about letting you go."

Tucking the gun and some extra bullets into her apron, Anna hugged the old woman and whispered, "Thank you." Jour hugged her back. "Be careful," she said. Anna nodded and turned to Bovier, "Ready?" she asked.

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Jour watched with a heavy heart as two people she loved dearly headed towards the horses. Anna was like a daughter to her. She wanted to stop them, but knew that once Anna put her mind to something there was no stopping her. Behind that sweet face laid a backbone of steel. Jour smiled as she remembered the first time she saw the young, fragile girl with large indigo eyes who called herself Anna. Jour had been shocked when Anna had come home after her first day of working in the hospital covered in blood. Anna had assisted in an amputation, without the use of ether. Jour had expected hysterics, not the calm determination that had shone in the young woman's eyes. It hadn't taken Anna long to earn the respect of everyone she worked with. Even Gertrude, the sour faced head nurse had a soft spot for her. Of course, Gertrude never let Anna know that. Jour found it hard to believe that Anna had been here almost a year and a half already.

Lifting the lid from the pot she had simmering on the stove, Jour stirred the contents and then lifted the ladle to her lips.

"That smells delightful," a musical voice said from behind her. Jour nearly jumped out her shoes. Dropping the ladle, she turned around to find Jarlaxle standing so close to her that they were nearly touching.

"Are you trying to give an old woman a heart attack?" Jour gasped clutching her chest. The elf smiled and tipped his hat, "My apologies for startling you," he said and then pulled one of the chairs away from the table and sat down.

Jour had no desire to entertain one of the Fae. All she wanted was for Jarlaxle to go back to Faery, or where ever he was from and leave them in peace. But from his amused expression she didn't think that was going to happen anytime soon.

"Where is Anna?" Artemis growled as he walked into the kitchen.

"She is not in her room?" Jarlaxle asked twisting around in his chair.

"The horses are gone as well," Artemis snarled stalking over to the old woman, "where did she go?" he demanded, his threatening tone making Jour back up.

Jour backed up until she bumped into the table. This man, Artemis Entreri, terrified her. How could Anna consider these two her friends? Jour swallowed uneasily and glanced at the elf. "She went to look for Jacques," she whispered.

"The boy's father?" Jarlaxle asked.

Jour nodded.

"And you let her go?" Artemis asked in disbelief, resisting the urge to throttle the old woman.

"Have you ever tried stopping her," Jour replied. When she tried to move away, Artemis slammed a hand against the table. The old woman cringed at the murderous glare he was directing at her.

The elf grinned and remarked, "It would appear my healing spell worked better than I expected."

Artemis groaned and buried his face in his hand, muttering to himself. Taking a deep breath, he looked at the old woman and slowly repeated his previous question, "Where exactly did she go?"

"Back to the hospital would be my guess," Jour answered.

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Anna reined in her horse and looked at the boy. "Bovier, yesterday the trench was breached and there are going to be a lot of bodies," she warned.

Bovier shrugged. He wasn't worried. "Nothing I haven't seen before," he scoffed.

Anna seriously doubted that, but let it go. He would see for himself soon enough. She had watched the horrors of war bring the strongest of men to their knees. She could already see the smoke and they were still a good quarter mile from hospital. She hoped things weren't as bad as she thought, but she had seen enough to expect the worst. Bovier for all his bravado was still a boy. She sighed and dug her heals into the horse urging it forward.

Scorched ground surrounded them as they made their way slowly into the war zone. Bodies were everywhere. Anna knew she needed to stay alert. Although the only thing they had seen so far was the dead that didn't mean they weren't in danger. Bovier was unusually quiet. She glanced back. He looked sick. "Don't look," she told him. Bovier nodded and pulled his eyes away from the twisted and torn bodies that littered the ground. The boy remained silent as they made their way towards the hospital. She looked back when she heard him gag. To his right lay the body of a soldier, his lower half completely gone. His intestines lay on the ground, a tangled bloody mass. It was too much for Bovier. Leaning over the side of horse he emptied the contents of his stomach. He avoided her eyes as he wiped his mouth. Anna looked away not wanting to see the horror in his eyes.

"Bovier, I want you stay here," she said. When he started to protest she said, "Don't worry if I need you I will yell." He wasn't happy about it but didn't argue when she dismounted and handed the reins of her horse to him. "I won't be long," she assured him. Just ahead was where she had last seen Jacques. What Bovier had seen so far wouldn't compare to what he would see in the trench. She didn't want him to have the same nightmares that kept her awake at night.

Anna cautiously made her way to the edge of the trench. Lowering herself slowly to the bottom, she glanced around warily. Not seeing any immediate danger she slowly scanned the bodies that lay in piles against the blood soaked earth. She closed her eyes for a minute willing herself to be strong. The smell of death and decay was overwhelming. Once her stomach was back under control she began checking the bodies. There was so many that she had to dig through them to make sure none of them were Jacques. Then she saw him.

"Oh no," she cried crawling over a pile of corpses. Kneeling beside him she pressed her ear to his chest. She sighed in relief. He was still breathing. Looking him over, she assessed the extent of his injuries. He had been hit with shrapnel. Someone had tied a tourniquet around his leg. Anna bit her lip. She knew immediately that if he lived he would lose his leg.

Voices drew her attention. They were speaking German. She frantically looked around for a place to hide. Huddling behind a pile of bodies she held her breath praying they wouldn't see Bovier.

Anna tried to remain completely silent as the voices drew nearer. Her heart pounded as she lay perfectly still barely breathing. She heard a rustling sound and realized that they were robbing the dead. She felt sick. One of the men suddenly yelled. Anna's breath caught in her throat. They had seen Bovier. She had to do something. She heard their voices start to move away.

Turning her back on Jacques she slowly crawled up the pile of dead soldiers. Directly in front her, were three men wearing German uniforms. They weren't more than twenty feet away from her. Anna could see their profiles as they pointed to where Bovier stood with the horses.

The weight of pistol lay heavy in her apron. She closed her fingers around the gun. Her grandfather had made sure she knew how to shoot. She had always had good aim, but this time it wouldn't be a bottle that she was aiming at. She would need to kill these men. If she didn't kill them, they would kill her and Bovier. Could she do it? No, there was no choice here. She had to do it. She pulled the pistol from her apron with shaking hands. She couldn't let them hurt Bovier. Extending her arms so that they rested on one of the bodies, she leveled the pistol at the soldiers. If she missed she wouldn't get another shot. She aimed the gun and fired.

Focused on the enemy soldiers, she was unaware of Jarlaxle and Artemis dropping into the trench behind her. She fired again and then a third time. Shaking violently, Anna slid off the pile of dead soldiers and backed away clenching the pistol tightly. The gunshots might have attracted the attention of other enemy soldiers.

The dark elf and the assassin stopped dead in their tracks and stared as Anna took down all three soldiers with shots to their heads. Jarlaxle was shocked at the deadly ease with which she dispatched the men. He hadn't thought she would be capable of such a thing. She was normally such a gentle soul. The irony of it brought a smile to the drow's lips.

Seeing Anna in her own world had made Jarlaxle change his opinion of her. When he had watched her crawling over the heaps of bloody and dismembered bodies her calmness in face of such horror had surprised him. Though he knew she had seen death before he had not been prepared for the sheer scale of death that she was accustomed to. She was stronger than he had thought.

Jarlaxle realized that she might be in shock. He needed to get the weapon away from her. If she panicked he didn't want that weapon aimed at his head. He exchanged a look with Artemis and then darted forward encircling her from behind with his arms. Anna screamed and jerked around to take aim. Artemis grabbed her wrists, forcing her hands up as the pistol went off barely missing them. Jarlaxle held her arms as Artemis pried her fingers off the pistol.

In her confusion she was vaguely aware of someone yelling at her, but all she could think about was that she had killed.

Artemis watched her for a minute and then slapped her. Anna blinked as if seeing him for the first time.

"Artemis," she whispered her face white as a ghost, "I just killed someone."

"And quite efficiently I might add," Jarlaxle added with a wide smile.

As Bovier jumped into the trench he asked, "Anna, are you alright?"

It was Jarlaxle who answered, "It would appear that your fear for your friend was misplaced," he said waving a hand towards the dead soldiers. Bovier's eyes widened when he saw the bodies. "Anna, you shot them," he said in disbelief.

"She did indeed," the elf said with a wide grin stretching across his dark face. Moving closer to Artemis the dark elf whispered, "Tell me my friend, do you still doubt that you are related?" Artemis and turned and said, "I should have let her shoot you." The drow merely laughed and tucked the slender wand he had been holding back into his cloak.

Anna gingerly took the gun from Artemis, looked at it and carefully put it back in her apron pocket.

Making her way back to where Jacques lay unconscious she knelt beside him. "Bovier," she called, "Get me the medical kit." Pulling out a small knife she had brought with her, Anna began cutting away the blood soaked uniform.

"Is that my dad?" Bovier asked coming to stand beside her. Anna looked up, "Bovier, I need the medical kit," she repeated. The boy's mouth tightened as he looked at the still figure lying beside Anna and then he hurried to get the supplies from the horse.

Jacques' injuries were severe Anna noted grimly. She needed to do something now or he would die. There was a deep wound in his side. She could see bone. Leaning closer she saw there were pieces shrapnel in the wound. When Bovier returned with the supplies she set them beside her, "Don't watch. Okay," she said looking up at the boy. Bovier nodded silently and moved away to lean against the dirt wall. His faced creased with worry.

Anna leaned down and dug her fingers into the wound. Blood splattered across her face as she pulled pieces of shrapnel from Jacques side. Her fingers slick with blood, made gripping the pieces difficult. Wiping her bloody hands on her apron, she tried again. Tightening her fingers on a piece of metal that had hit his rib, Anna tugged. No good. She wiped her hands again and gripped the piece shrapnel that had lodged in his rib. She carefully wiggled the piece metal back and forth trying to loosen it. If she wasn't careful she could break his rib and puncture his lung. Her fingers slipped off the bloody metal. There was so much blood it was difficult to get a good grip. Finally she was able to pull the piece of shrapnel free. Tossing the metal shard aside, Anna knelt over Jacques again and searched the wound for any pieces she may have missed.

Without looking up she said, "There should be some alcohol in the bag, would one of you get it?" Artemis retrieved the bag and handed her the bottle. Anna carefully poured the alcohol over the wound and then handed the bottle back to him. Reaching into the bag she pulled out a needle and thread.

"What are you doing?" Jarlaxle asked. "I need to close the wound," she answered threading the needle. He watched in fascination as she sewed the torn flesh back together.

After she had bandaged the wounds she turned her attention to his leg. Cutting away the remaining cloth she leaned back an expression of dismay on her face. She could tell by the nauseating smell that the wound had putrified. His leg was worse than she had originally thought. Most of the flesh beneath the knee was gone and the bone was splintered. She considered if they could get him back without amputating the leg, but she knew that was wishful thinking. The remaining flesh had blackened and if she didn't act quickly infection would set in. She knew what she had to do. She had to amputate the leg. Uncertainty washed over her. Though she had assisted in amputations she had never performed one herself.

"There's nothing more you can do for him," Artemis said drawing her attention.

"Yes there is, but I have never done this procedure on my own," Anna answered looking him square in the eyes. Interest flickered in his dark eyes, "What can you do?" he asked.

"I need to amputate his leg," she paused, "but it will be tricky. Jacques has lost so much blood he could easily bleed to death before I finish the amputation."

"You plan on removing his leg?" The drow asked. Anna met his eyes steadily, "Yes. He will die if I don't."

"What if your efforts are for not, he may yet die," Jarlaxle reminded her. "And if I do nothing, he will die." Anna said.

Curious to see if she could do it, Jarlaxle offered, "Then we will assist you."

For once Artemis didn't object. He had been taken by surprise at how calm she had remained while tending to the horrific wounds. Especially considering how panicked she had been after shooting the soldiers. He was curious to see if she could actually save the boy's father.

Author's Note: I was so tempted to combine this with the next chapter, but I resisted. I had so much fun writing this chapter and the next one. Hopefully they will be fun to read as well.

Sonra: Yay, another person who has heard of the Fae! I think stories about the Fae are so interesting. I thought it would be fun to tie some actual folklore in with the Forgotten Realms universe. I agree that not many people have heard of the Fae, and the Fae are so much more interesting than traditional fairies. :D

Surreptitious Chi X: I was in quandary trying to figure out how Jarlaxle's magic would work in our world. I considered having his magic not work but I was afraid the poor drow would have a stroke. :P

General zargon: No, thank you for your honesty. I am trying to improve my writing and knowing where I made a mistake is very helpful. I paid too much attention to where the story was going and not enough attention to Jarlaxle's and Artemis' reactions. I tried to stay truer to character in this chapter, hopefully I succeeded. *crosses fingers*