As the night went on, the only thing keeping me awake was tending to the fire. The warmth that the fire provided was good for the front, but my back was freezing, especially with the snow around me.
The girl … no, Tanya seemed comfortable wrapped up in my blanket. She would occasionally mumble something in what appeared to be anger and other times in happiness.
Sometimes she seemed distressed, but she calmed after saying what sounded like a spell. I was glad I removed her computation devices because not only did it make vitals and other things more manageable, but mages had difficulty casting without it.
Without the devices, having them also kept me safe. Though I may not be around mages often, it doesn't mean I can't see what they can do. I have tended to many wounds caused by mages from both sides.
The burns from it are horrifying. It's not like that of a normal one. Even a light second-degree burn will have blisters form in an attempt to keep it under control.
While blisters are nasty and can make some situations worse hence why they occasionally need to be popped, second-degree magic burns just keep spreading, feeling like the first time the injury happened.
Without the blisters, the body cannot naturally heal itself, meaning the person stays in continuing pain as it spreads. Luckily magic wounds have a weakness activated carbon.
Though it is mainly used as a filtration system, it seems to purify the effects of magic burns. I'm not quite sure how since I'm only a Medic and, as such, I just need to know the effects and when to use it, but it has helped with cases of magical burn.
Night and day for those with third-degree magic burns are similar to regular third-degree burns, but like second, it spreads.
The person can still feel it, but once activated carbon is applied for thirty to seventy-five minutes, it goes to a typical third-degree burn, which is good since it will calm the patient too, and that's the extent of what it does. It negates the magic effects of the wound, leaving just the injury.
Luckily Tanya, still asleep, was only shot with piercing shots meant to go through her barrier. Another type may have killed her long before she crashed.
While on the subject of magic, I, like many friends and family, hoped and prayed to be told that they had an affinity for magic. I had no such luck as my brother did.
Since I had access to it, I decided to take a gander at the two computation devices I had near me. The rectangular seemed like many I had seen on other imperial mages, but this one seemed bigger, not by much but a noticeable difference.
How they got all the mechanisms were impressive, and there was no better example than the Commonwealth. The ones I'd seen on some of the mages were small, but I guess it was a trade-off for being unable to do as much as the Imperials.
The other device was circular, that of an orb. It was surprisingly clean, not even a scratch. Even after lifting my finger from the metal, there was no evidence that I had touched it.
If it were not for having just placed my finger upon it, I wouldn't believe I had. Then, I thought that even if I didn't have the heart to make her my prisoner, there was no way I could let her keep either of these.
Computation devices, especially imperial making, were hard to get since they required you to get close and personal with a mage which was never good.
The other methods were killing one and looting it off the corpse, but that was also difficult to do since mages tended not to leave a lot behind from either the fall or exploding themselves from either a suicide way not to be captured or as a way to take as many as they could with them.
Even if a mage is caught, they tend to explode their devices, not to let them fall into enemies' hands. Even killing and looting were challenging to find anything on their person.
It wasn't like a plane where you could just find the aircraft. These mages were at the core of their being, were humans more likely to be gone with only bits and pieces left, and any equipment exploded when broken.
Not to say it never happened, but it was rare since it counted on too many factors for it to happen.
Finding not only a mage alive but with two computation devices intact that seems to be either prototypes or new and having it be a high-ranking officer means I hit the Jackpot of prisoners, which should make the decision easier.
As straightforward as it seemed, there was one last issue. She was a child and a girl at that, too, one injured and needing vital medical attention.
I had enough supplies for tomorrow, but I needed either to resupply or to get creative. I could make a few makeshift bandages using extra cloth from parts of my gear and uniform.
But the longer we are out here, the more dangerous it becomes for both of us. I swore an oath to delay death for anyone, but where do I go from here?
How much Am I willing to delay death? Do I sacrifice myself if it means saving another, or should I stop in situations where my life is in danger?
That raises whose life is more critical, mine where I can save more, or do I save the other who could be the one to end the war or give intel that could save thousands compared to the tens to hundreds I could save? How much should I try to ensure this girl is safe?
Despite being young, I am not old either, only 20 myself. What about family and friends? How do I justify leaving her if my survival depended just so my friends and family would not grieve?
Who knows what else she does, and what have I done more in my extra possible ten years of life that she couldn't? Even though she is younger than me, she is a higher rank than I could achieve in the next 20-30 years.
Still, why is she here? A girl her age shouldn't be on the front lines, even if she is a mage. She shouldn't have begun training until she was around the other female mages in the international unit ages.
The wind's chill brings me back to what is happening around me. The fire is starting to die. I stand up, pocket the computation devices, and sling my rifle over my shoulder as I head to gather more wood.
The battle yesterday, along with the crashed mage near the fire, left plenty of sticks and pieces of wood not far from the camp, making the process easy but nonetheless tedious to do.
Upon return with more wood to burn, I place some into the fire and poke it with a stick to make sure the fire grows more robust. Though the fire does warm me, the breeze is still there, causing a shiver to go up my spine.
I debate whether to have another rum ration, but I shouldn't since it only gives the illusion of warmth. Staring at the sleeping girl reminds me of home but not much.
Home has lost its meaning recently. Sleeping in on purpose seems foreign to me now, along with my mother's face.
Father wasn't particularly happy when I signed on the news of being a medic only slightly calmed him. Never did I see him prouder when I finished basic training, though.
Wonder if it was because he never got to or that I reminded him of my brother when he first joined. I'd never know. He probably still hasn't told my mother he loves her, and they've been married for who knows how long.
Now that I think about it, what's next after the war? Maybe I'll stay here. Perhaps I'll live in whatever remains of the empire. Best not to think about it better to focus one day at a time. Maybe I should figure out breakfast.
Think I got some canned ham on me, but I left the extra at the base since I got it with a few mates, and the last thing we wanted was to have the bloke with the stuff to make rations tolerable not to come back.
Damn, the bastards will raid my stuff either today or tomorrow. Can of meat barely feed me, let alone a mage. She may be younger, but she needs it even more than I do.
Doesn't help that she's injured, so she needs it now three times as much as I do. I guess I could not eat for a day or two, just drink water. Good thing it's winter, so water will be available.
As much as I don't like it, I think we'll stay here for now and see if she has improved. I think I'll also improve her splint so that she can walk. It won't be fun, and it will be uncomfortable, but it is better that she can for the inevitable trek we will need to do.
Now that the stars were out, I could see the north star, so I had a relative idea of where we were but, more importantly, where north was and which way to head back to my side.
As time passes, the decision on what I should do with the girl is getting closer and closer. I didn't like my options, but the best way was to take her prisoner and send her back to the Commonwealth. The commonwealth was in no way perfect.
As a citizen, I realize that, but it had the least issues with the Empire since we were only in this war since we were trying to keep the balance of power in check. The Francois really didn't like the Empire since they occupied their homeland.
I don't think they could keep prisoners since they technically didn't exist, to my understanding. The Entente Alliance and Dacia were in a similar situation, so they couldn't be trusted with such a high-profile prisoner that left the Russy federation, which no one trusted.
They had a habit of treating their own citizens horribly, so trusting them with Tanya was a horrible decision. So out of all the countries to take prisoners, the commonwealth was the best. This wasn't the first patient I had made into a prisoner.
These things happen, but why was I debating what to do with her?
Well, the most obvious was her age and gender. Women had no place on the front lines. Even mages were a stretch.
Nurses were good since they would keep them off the lines, kept them from being shot at, and comforted soldiers, but the front should stay men. Female mages should only be transport nurses.
I understand that mages were rare and everyone that could; should be used at war but using them as soldiers were too far. Luckily, the commonwealth didn't use female mages, but the Unified and the Russy federation did, so I've had to deal with some. Lieutenant Sioux irritates the most, especially Lieutenant Colonel Drake. His face always drops whenever she comes around.
I remember one time, after the prisoner issue with the partisans, Colonel Drake asked me if there was some way I could get Lieutenant Sioux discharged due to incompetence or something of the sort.
When I told him I couldn't currently, he asked for something to help with the hypertension he got whenever she came around. I suggested maybe cutting back on drinking, but he said no.
Overall, I didn't interact much with the female mages since they were mainly higher ranking than I. Like most mages, they didn't need that much medical attention. I did have quite a few interactions with Lieutenant Sioux and her friend, First Lieutenant Political Officer Tanechka.
Though I did find them both cute, they had a habit of not understanding basic biology. They kept asking questions on proper ways to fix someone up, which was nice to see them try to help their fellow soldiers. The issue is that Sioux couldn't help anyone to save her life, which would more than likely be the case.
The few times I had to help patch her up, I was surprised that she was even alive. She had been stabbed in the back, and the knife got stuck in her ribs. It could have punctured her lung if it had been just a few millimeters. She was also shot in the center of the sternum. With the computation jewel that slowed, it was lodged in there but left her organs perfectly fine.
She was then shot five additional times, each shot getting stuck in a bone or being reduced because of some gear she had. She had so many bruises burn marks, and other injuries that joking, I asked if a building had fallen on her. It turns out it wasn't a joke.
She would try to learn how to patch and end up doing it so tight it would cut circulation, or she would do a practice IV and hit everything but the vein. Even when she did, she used the wrong-sized catheter that even if she could find the vein.
Tanechka was brilliant with the catheter like she knew her way around a blade and human anatomy to the point that it scared me. Still, she was horrible at calming those injured, always trying to convince them that their death would be for a great cause.
This wouldn't be too bad if she didn't do this for every patient, including those who had scratches or broken bones, causing them to panic about their condition. The runs I had them do at the medical tents. She would start a speech about how they must stand against the Empire in the amputee section.
On the other hand, Mary was a natural at calming and comforting to the point that if I can, after battles, I tell her to help me comfort those who can't be treated yet. Colonel Drake has even told her to help me after battles, though if it's so, she doesn't bother him, or he can see how well she does, I'll never know.
This all is good if the soldiers they are treating and comforting are allied soldiers. If they are from the Empire, it gets tenser. Sioux will start berating them about how terrible they are, and Tanechka will get them to the Gulags. While we have not been told to get as many to surrender to the Commonwealth, most try to get them to surrender to us rather than the Russiani.
A shiver reminds me of where I'm at. I throw a few more sticks into the fire. The cracks of the fire are nice to hear. I look back at Tanya. I look down at my legs. Do I need to be here?
I doubt the militaries of either the Commonwealth or the Federation will bother looking for me. I look back at Tanya, asleep. The empire will probably send as much as they can to find her. Even if she is a Lieutenant Colonel, I think that's the equivalent.
Her importance is more pressing than just a simple medic. If I returned her to the Empire, they might be grateful. Though I would be a prisoner, then It would be better than other soldiers since armies can always use medics.
I could ask to join the empire. No, what am I thinking? I'm a Commonwealth soldier willing to die for my home. Same as others including. Besides, if I do so, it's not like the empire would trust me.
I was willing to change sides once no reason why I wouldn't do it again. There's also no guarantee that the empire would win, then where would I be a known traitor? There's no good reason to betray all I hold dear for the possibility of being seen as untrustworthy on a war's losing side.
Even if I didn't try to betray all I hold dear and still returned her to the empire and became a prisoner of war, what would happen then? Do I just stay in a camp until the end or until I'm exchanged? If ever to, then what do I go back to fighting? Could I even claim that I did the right thing?
I look at the snow, and using my bayonet, I draw a line in the snow. Unlike the simplicity of drawing this line, the line I attempt to draw keeps getting complicated. Fulfilling all my duties is a nigh impossible task.
If I handed her to the empire, I would be failing in my duty as a soldier but handing her to the commonwealth would be dooming her to being a prisoner herself and thus betray human decency of not sending a little girl to prison and abandoning her would betray human decency a soldiers duty and my oath as a combat medic.
There's also the lack of knowledge I have of her. All I know is she is a high-ranking imperial with magical capabilities and is both ways too young to be here and well-established to be a woman on the front lines, which is something I disagree with.
For all I know, she is a war criminal, so sending her to the commonwealth would more than put her on trial and execute her, but I hope that is not the case since that would change my views on everything. How could what appeared to be a sweet innocent girl do anything that would warrant an execution.
I'm getting ahead of myself. I have a little time to think about what to do, and I shouldn't be thinking worse case scenarios. I get back up and check on the girl. I think she might be running a fever.
Not surprised it's normal for something like this to occur, especially having to sleep outside. I have to sleep sometimes. Not only am I getting tired, but there is much to do in the coming days.
I only wish I could set a proper place to sleep, but since this is Russy in winter, the best thing was to sleep in the same structure with Tanya, which led to a problem. I had the guns and the magic devices.
If she could wake up before I did, she could get to the weapons and devices and have the upper hand. While I like to think she wouldn't, I couldn't be sure, so I climbed a nearby tree and placed it in a bag near the top but resting on the branch and not hanging.
Since I was not sure how good of a climber she was even with her injuries it wasn't certain if someone was certain then it doesn't matter the injury. I've seen too many amazing stubbornnesses become problems. I then climbed back down with anything that I thought wouldn't be an issue.
I then grabbed the extra Blanket I got as a Medic, climbed into the structure I made for Tanya, lay next to her, and covered myself with the blanket. Just like the other one, it was small, but it did all it needed to with keeping my core warm.
Though it would be odd, I cuddled up to Tanya for warmth. It wasn't the worse. She was small and wrapped up. It was adorable. It also wasn't the worse time I had to cuddle with someone, and at least this time, it wasn't a guy on a cold Russy night.
After getting comfortable, I began drifting to sleep. I hope tomorrow will allow for things to be clear. Maybe a goodnights sleep will allow me to decide on what to do.