Rush threw a worried look up at Bull. He was still too pale, and growing paler by the minute. The fact that she was able to recognize him being pale despite his grey skin said a lot. Even more worrying was the growing weakness of the arm she supported and his sluggish pace.
But at least his wound stopped bleeding.
They passed the gates of Redcliffe, Krem leading them while Stitches and Helisma followed quietly behind. Rush watched as Krem asked the closest bystander where to find the healer. They garnered some attention, but it seemed it was more because of Helisma in her mage robes than Bull, despite his race and injury. It almost seemed as if Bull being injured put people more at ease, as if they expected to see Qunari hurt more than to be happy and safe.
"…just up that path, thought I don't know how much help she'll be." The villager said, throwing curious looks in Bull and Helisma's direction, "She deals with sicknesses and the like. I doubt the knife-ear knows much of poisons. Be a bit scary if she did."
She scowled at the insult, but kept her opinions to herself. Living as long as she did at the Circle, where Templars thought that a mage was a mage, no matter what race they were, it always shocked her a bit to hear the old insult against elves. If mages quarreled, it was because of their politics and difference in opinion rather than race. Aside from a couple privileged children of nobles, mages considered themselves equal. Equal in misery, at least.
Krem ended the discussion quickly after that, obviously not pleased to hear the insult either. Their eyes met and Rush gently steered Bull towards the path up the hill. Good thing she was a knight-enchanter, or they might not have managed to haul Bull up so fast. Or even get him to Redcliffe.
He didn't seem to be entirely there anymore, and Rush now had to carry most of his weight.
"Don't forget to ask her to lower the prices!" The 'Idiot', as Rush named him in her mind, shouted after them, "The rabbit always overcharges everything!"
Rush scowled harder, but didn't turn. Her blood was boiling, though. 'One more insult, and someone will pay,' she promised herself.
The healer's house was nothing more than a wooden shack, compared to all the other sturdier looking houses in the vicinity. It was also inconveniently placed almost at the outskirts of Redcliffe, but not immediately accessible from the road. Being prejudiced was one thing, Rush thought, but this was taking it to the extreme - what if there was an emergency and the patient couldn't be moved? But then, they'd probably ask the healer to come to them, not the other way around, and probably blame her for the deaths too, if she arrived too late. No common sense in these people at all.
"You can't ask eight sovereigns for a simple tonic! That's absurd!" The man inside sneered and turned his nose up at the slim elven woman. Both checked Rush and her party over once she stepped, but then turned to continue with their discussion.
Rush gritted her teeth and dragged the half-unconscious Bull to the closest chair. Krem and the rest of their party decided not to come inside and simply hovered by the door. The hut was full enough as it was.
"May I remind you that the standard price at the merchant is twelve gold per tonic?" The small woman drew herself up, but it didn't help her much. She was still a good head smaller than her customer.
"Maybe it is for you, but us decent folk deserve better prices than that!" He continued in a condescending tone.
Rush glared, and went to stand right next to them. This idiocy was taking way too long. If Bull suffered further because some idiot wanted to be cheap about his own medicine…
"Well, then, the decent folk can get their tonic at the merchant's for decent prices and don't need to bother me," the healer refused to budge.
"Listen here, knife-ear…" Idiot no.2 began menacingly and took a step towards the elf.
Rush growled. "Enough!" She grabbed the man by his collar and dragged him to the door. Krem and the rest of them wisely stepped aside. "Come back when you're ready to pay for what you ordered. Until then, stop wasting my time!" With that, she pushed a bit more power into her arm, back and hips and literally threw him out. The Idiot flew a couple feet, and landed on his ass. Hard.
Bull chuckled weakly from his chair.
Rush nodded to Stitches who stepped over the sprawled villager to join her, then she turned back towards the healer, "Check our Chief, please. He's been poisoned."
At her words, Stitches pulled out the little flask of poison he took from the dead stalker.
The moment the healer saw the flask, she gasped and her hand flew to her mouth. She stared at it, then at Bull and back at the flask, as if she couldn't believe her eyes.
"What is it? What's wrong?" Rush asked intently, now even more worried than before.
"I… That poison is called Quiet Death. One of the most toxic and deadly poisons there are. I… haven't seen it used in years." Her wide eyes stared at Bull as if she couldn't believe he was still alive.
Stitches asked before she could, "We gave him a healing potion. Will that help?"
The elf only shook her head. "No. It might buy him some time, but it won't stop the effects."
Rush swallowed. "Can you make the antidote?" 'Maker, please, let her say…'
"I'm sorry, but I can't," the healer replied with a sad shake of her head. Rush felt the floor fall from under her. The room spun. She took a shuddering breath and concentrated with great effort when she heard the woman continue, "It would require several rare plants, which I don't have at the moment. I miss at least two Crystal Graces and Royal Elfroot to be able to brew it and…"
Rush's eyes sharpened and she interrupted, "But you can brew it?" At the healer's nod, she took off her satchel and gently laid the precious supplies down at the table. "Take whatever you need."
The healer's eyebrows climbed up, but she walked over to the table to check her supplies. She looked inside the satchel and smiled. "Yes. I can work with this. I will prepare the antidote."
Rush closed her eyes and sighed with relief.
The healer took one small vial off the wall and handed it to her, "Give this to your friend. It will slow down the poison's effects even more and give me time to prepare the correct treatment." She smiled. "On the house, if I can buy some of these herbs from you."
"Buy? Just keep them. So long as you help Bull, I don't care about the herbs." Rush said as she carefully took the small vial from her hands.
"Thank you, darling. Now go help your friend and let me work." The healer concentrated on the herbs she gently pulled from the satchel and Stitches stepped closer, no doubt to watch and learn how to prepare the antidote himself.
Rush nodded and went back to Bull. His tired eye opened and met her worried ones. She uncorked the vial and brought it to his lips. Bull smiled at her and drank when she poured it into his mouth.
A moment later, he took a deep breath and his eye went a little more focused. "Hey, Kadan?" he rasped.
Her eyes widened. Did he just call her…? Dear Maker. "Yes, Bull?" She asked in a whisper. Her voice trembled.
He grinned, "The way you threw that guy… That was hot."
That startled a laugh out of her. "Only you, Bull," she chuckled, leaned down and gently rested her forehead against his.
Her eyes closed. She concentrated on the way Bull breathed, in and out, deeply, and the clinking noise of the healer preparing the proper cure.
Everything will be alright. It must.
-rushing-ahead-rushing-ahead-rushing-ahead-
It was an accident that she discovered the book among the healer's things.
She simply couldn't sit down and started to look around and search for something, anything interesting to prevent herself from pacing. And so as the healer brewed, quietly explaining to Stitches the proper preparing method, Rush checked her walls and tables.
The book seemed innocent enough at first. Just another herbarium among so many others. Yet when she opened it, she discovered a well-written tome describing a spell.
She looked up with shock to stare at the slim elf's back, but it seemed the healer didn't see her, concentrated as she was on brewing the antidote. For a few seconds, she watched her work, before she decided against calling attention to herself. Instead, she exchanged a look with Bull as she silently showed him what she found, then sat down and started to read.
When she realized it was a description of a healing spell, Rush almost snorted. She did plan to buy one and learn to heal so she could help Bull. And now was the perfect time to start, too. With a smirk, she sat down on the ground next to Bull and started to read.
She lost herself in the familiar theories and instructions. This… wasn't so different from the things she had to learn as a knight-enchanter. It was still body-manipulation, but slightly different. Something she was not used to. Luckily, since it was so similar to her own style, it would not be so hard to learn as trying to learn a completely different style would be. It would simply require a bit more focus. She read through the book, determined to remember as much as she could.
An hour or so later, her focus was disturbed by a loud gasp. Rush looked up to see the elf watch her read. The elf held a single vial of a softly glowing liquid.
Rush closed the book and stood up. "The cure is ready, then?"
The healer only nodded.
"Great, let's give it to Bull, then." Rush took a step closer, but paused when she saw the elf tense up as if she wanted to back away. The precious vial in her hands trembled. She forcefully released the tension from her shoulders. Best not to spook her now. She said as soothingly as she could, "There's no need to worry. I simply wished to read the book."
The healer didn't seem comforted in the slightest. "And what will happen once you leave here? Who will you tell?"
Rush paused, uncertain. Bull will probably want to report this to the Ben-Hassrath. She might not agree with that, as the healer seemed like a good person who didn't deserve to be taken advantage of, but if he asked her… She looked at him. This was something he should handle as their Chief. The decision was his.
He raised his tired face to watch her, then he smiled at the healer. "So. There's a lot of not-mages around here."
That… wasn't really an answer. But Rush knew now how he wanted this to play out.
"I'm not a mage." The healer was quick to deny.
"Neither am I," Rush commented dryly and held up a hand. A hand that held a tiny blue flame flickering through her fingers and casting small shadows on the hut's walls.
The elf stared at it for a moment, then relaxed.
Crisis averted.
She stepped up to Bull and held the vial containing the cure to his lips. He drank it down obediently and shuddered. Color slowly returned to his face.
Rush held the book out to the healer, when she suddenly got an idea. "Actually, I'd like to buy it from you." She did plan to buy a Tome of Healing at the market, after all. She simply didn't have the time to do so yet. Who better to buy a healing tome from than a healer? One who knew about her powers already. It might actually be safer for her in the long run, to buy the book here rather than from an unknown merchant.
They exchanged a look with the healer, then the elf smiled, "Certainly. Not like I could cast the spells inside."
Rush played along, "Yes, well, neither can I. Our only hope is that one day, we will meet a mage who will be able to cast them." A coin bag quietly exchanged hands, as did the ownership of the completely useless book. Because… it's not like they could use it, right?
The healer chuckled. "Maybe one day. Now," she clasped her hands together, "I've done all I can here. Take your friend somewhere safe and make sure he rests for at least one day."
Rush nodded at the obvious dismissal and went to help Bull stand up. He looked half-asleep already.
She found the rest of their team waiting patiently outside. Krem looked them both over, then went to grab Bull's other arm. It was not really necessary, as Rush could carry him herself, but she supposed Krem needed the reassurance as well. More than her, probably, since he knew Bull a lot longer.
Also, better not to throw her 'unnatural strength' in the faces of these people. Someone might actually figure out her secrets.
Stitches quietly followed her out of the hut, took Helisma by the hand, then turned around and led the party down from the healer's hut.
Time to finally get some rest.
-rushing-ahead-rushing-ahead-rushing-ahead-
A/N: I know I promised to raise the rating, but when I actually had the chapter before me, I realized that adding the sex scene would make it too long. So, enjoy … this. Next chapter will definitely raise rating, though (if you know what I mean *wink* ).
Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I know, the mages only really settled in Redcliffe after the Conclave exploded. So there wouldn't be many at the village yet… and no way for Rush to solve anything. Dealing with that will have to wait for the Inquisition… Or not. We shall see.