by Chanda Hahn
Yelping, the dog backed off and pawed his nose before turning on me again, an angry red gleam in its eye. The other dogs began to try and climb the crates after Avina and Jury.
One lunged forward and latched onto my leg and I could feel teeth tear through muscle and heard a sickening crunch. Screaming, I tried to kick the dog in the face with my other leg.
Pim raced to my rescue with a large stick and swung it madly at the dog’s face. The dog didn’t release until Pim used the end to gouge the dog’s eye, and it spurted blood. Scrambling up from the ground and leaning most of my weight on my good leg, I tried to block the other dogs from approaching the crates.
Pim was distracted as a larger dog pounced on him from behind, knocking him to the ground. Screaming at the dog, I swung my stick wildly in an arc forcing him to back away from the boy and trying to widen the space. “Get up there!” I ordered.
Pim scampered up the crates as Avina leaned out of the attic, her arms reaching out to grab him. One of the pack dogs, alerted by the movement of fleeing prey, lunged after Pim snapping and snarling. The dog scrambled up the first crate and then the second as he tried to reach the top and Pim.
“JUMP NOW!” I warned as I knocked the crates down onto the dogs. Yelping in pain they scrambled out of the mess of crates, making it impossible for them to get the children.
Glancing up I saw that Pim had jumped and Avina had caught his arm. She was even now with Jury’s help pulling him into the safety of the attic. I had succeeded at knocking the crates down and saving the kids, but I had inadvertently blocked my only chance for escape. Now between me and the exit were the pile of crates and a pack of dogs that were now mad with blood lust.
Snarling, with drool dripping from their canines, they circled me. I realized too late that I only faced four dogs instead of five. I heard Avina scream my name when a huge weight jumped onto my back knocking me to the ground. My head smacked into the street hard enough so that I saw stars. Instinctively I curled into a fetal position to try and protect the exposed nape of my neck as I waited for the sting of five pairs of raging teeth on my flesh.
Hearing the snarling, I thought this was the end except that nothing touched me. A hurt yelp reached my ears and I opened my eyes to a knife inches away from my face dripping with blood. I gasped, but then realized it wasn’t coming closer. The knife was held by a black dressed man who was hunched down in a fighting stance protecting me from the pack of dogs. Two feet away a dog lay prone, blood pooling around him, eyes glazing over in death. Another dog charged leaping in the air aiming for the man’s throat. The man brought his arm down, knocking the dog to the ground while at the same time bringing his knife down into the back of the neck.
Pulling the blade out of the dog the man spared me a look and I exhaled as I recognized the intense blue eyes of Kael. My heart sung in joy that he was alive, and sorrow as the remaining three dogs leaped as one unit toward him. With a flick of his wrist Kael flung a throwing knife from his arm sheath. The brown haired dog stopped midair and fell to the ground, the handle protruding from its chest.
The other two dogs landed on Kael, pulling him to the ground. Using the knife in his left hand, he slashed the smaller dog in the face while the bloodied-eyed leader locked his jaws around his right arm, shaking his head back and forth.
Kael grunted in pain, keeping the leader at bay with his arm and away from his throat, devoting his attention to the smaller dog that was making quick dashes for his jugular. Kael wasn’t giving in and slashed at both dogs until the smaller one having personally felt the sting of the blade one too many times finally backed away, running tailed tucked between his legs down the alley.
With only one opponent left and his arm being jerked and his torso shredded by the enraged dog’s paws, I cried out Kael's name in worry. In one fluid motion Kael flipped the handle of the knife changing his grip and blade direction downward and stabbed the dog in his already gouged and bloody eye, forcing the tip into his brain. The dog twitched once, twice and then quit moving all together.
Feeling the blood rush back into my body, I breathed a sigh of relief and watched Kael sit up and push the dog’s lifeless corpse off of his body.
Kael had put on muscle in the last month and even covered in blood still looked handsome; not to mention dangerous. The difference this time was that Kael was armed to the teeth with knives, blades and arm sheaths. I wondered briefly where he had gotten them because they looked like they belonged on him. His black vest survived the but the dogs shredded the under shirt and from the amount of blood coming from that area no doubt that his torso was equally shredded.
Kael came over, kneeled by me inspecting the damage to my leg without touching me. My leg was a bloody mess but I knew that I would survive. I was more concerned with the blood I saw oozing out of his stomach to disappear into the dark black folds of his pants. The blackness of his clothes disguised the blood and the rest of his injuries I knew he must be hiding. I reached for his stomach and opened my mouth to ask about his own injuries when he flinched from my touch and interrupted me.
“So, you’re still getting into dangerous situations that you can’t get yourself out of.” He looked frustrated with his brows furrowed and he wouldn’t look me in the eye. My arm dropped limply to my side.
“What?” I was dumbfounded. It was the absolute last thing I expected to hear. This was all wrong; this is not how I pictured a reunion with Kael to be. If I pictured a reunion at all, considering I didn’t even know if he was alive or not. I looked at his face closer and noticed he had a cut along his cheek. His square jaw had drops of blood on it, but obviously no damage to his head to blame the sudden moodiness on.
“Here, put this salve on the bites.It will keep it from getting infected until you get back to the Citadel.” He handed me a small leather pouch, which I unfolded to find a salve that smelled like cat urine. The smell distracted me from even asking how he knew where I was staying.
“Ugh, no thank you. I would rather wait until I can see a healer,” I pushed the pouch back at him.
He grabbed the pouch and ordered, “You will put this on. I won’t argue with you.” He flung it at me instead of handing it to me, which only made me grit my teeth in stubborn refusal. My head started to pound and I started to feel a throbbing ache in my leg.
“I will not! Even if it smelled of roses I wouldn’t put it on because of how callous you are being toward me.” I gritted my teeth and spat out, “What have I done to you?” I tried to stand and collapsed, crying out in pain, realizing that my leg was hurt worse than I thought.
Once again he reached out as if to help me but stopped before he made contact with my skin, his blue eyes changing from anger, to worry and then back to stubbornness. “You need to learn to be more careful. I won’t always be here to watch out for you when you decide to get cozy with the next pack of dogs you run into.” Before I could even think up a mean retort, Kael held out his hand to silence me.
Curiously I watched as he cocked his head as if he were listening to something in the distance. Sprinting into action he ran, pulled his knives out of the dead dogs, jumped onto two of the crates and leapt onto the roof of a building, and was gone.
“THALIA! Are you okay?” I looked away from where Kael had disappeared over the roof and saw that Avina, Pim and Jury were running down the alley with who I assumed were the city guards dressed in their dark uniforms riding closely on the children’s heels. Dismounting at the entrance to the alley, they started on foot toward us.
“I’ll live,” I smiled sheepishly at her. “How did you guys get down from the attic?”
“We crawled out through another door in the attic that let us drop down onto a roof on the next building over, but we had to hurry across a couple of rooftops until we could find another way down. We were running for help and we ran into the Commander.”
I looked at the Commander with his bald head and grey beard, who took charge instantly, giving orders to some of his men to remove and burn the dead dog�
�s carcasses. His eyes were quick and calculating, his face and hands showed faded scars of previous battles and his towering frame left little doubt as to who was in charge.
Commander Meryl leaned down and looked at my leg. “Are you all right?”
I nodded, still confused over what had happened and the reason why Kael disappeared. Rising, he called over another of his men and gave orders for a splint. Picking up the leather pouch that Kael had thrown to the ground by my feet he opened it giving it a quick sniff before declaring it as an ointment.
“It’s a good thing that you had this on you. Those dogs may have had rabies, and this will kill any foreign bacteria.” He immediately started to apply the salve to my leg and all I could do was mentally grumble and complain that even though he wasn’t here, Kael had won this round.
“It’s called Hartswood, and it’s great for horses and cattle when they get any serious cuts or scrapes.”
“I’m not cattle!” I interjected.
The Commander threw his head back and laughed. His deep laugh was reassuring even if it was at my expense. “Relax, it’s also good for human wounds; it keeps away infection.” He looked at me, his face going serious and still. “I’m not sure why those dogs attacked you. But my guess is that they were sick or diseased. In any case, this attack was highly unusual. But how did you kill them?”
A soldier with red blonde hair brought over strips of bandages and large pieces of the splintered crate. Expertly he started to wrap my leg to keep it still.
“I didn’t,” I said through clenched teeth, trying not to cry out from the pain. My tears betrayed me as they leaked unwillingly out the side of my eyes. Seeing my discomfort the Commander let the question drop and opted to get me home.
“Let’s load up!” the Commander yelled now that they were done.
I looked around to see that Pim and Jury had made themselves scarce and Avina was fluttering around trying to help an attractive young soldier, bringing him wood and tinder. The alley was lit up with a bonfire made from the broken crates and the burning canines. The smell of the burning flesh and hair made me sick to my stomach. A few soldiers stayed behind to control the fire as the rest made ready for departure.
When we were ready to leave, the Commander handed me up into the arms of a mounted soldier. I noticed immediately that it was the one with the reddish blonde hair who bandaged my leg. He carefully adjusted me so I sat sidesaddle and didn’t put any weight on my injured leg; grabbing the reins he followed the Commander out of the alley.
Avina, I noticed, sat in front of the same soldier she was fawning over earlier. She caught my eye and gave me a huge smirk. Looking back at the soldier who was seamlessly maneuvering the horse through the maze of people, I noticed he had a slight scar on his chin. The soldier spoke first.
“So what did you do to attract the attention of a pack of dogs?” His comment was asked sincerely and without accusation, but it brought to mind a different conversation altogether.
“I’m a rat, and that’s what rats do, attract the attention of dogs.” I spoke without thinking, letting Syrani’s earlier comment rankle. Partially because of the pain, partially because I was now somber and morose from Kael’s unbidden cruelness.
He chuckled. “Well then, that must make you the prettiest, not to mention the luckiest, rat I’ve ever seen. Though I would have to say, not the best smelling considering you smell like cat urine. No wonder you attracted the dogs.”
“That is because of the smelly salve Commander Meryl applied,” I said defensively. “Not because of my lack of hygiene!”
“Don’t worry, I won’t tell,” he snickered good-naturedly. Then when he regained his composure he introduced himself. “I’m Garit… or Garit the Great would suffice as well, considering I’m the best to have around in case of major injury and a healer isn’t near,” he boasted. “And who do I have the privilege of escorting to the healing ward?”
I told him my name and what happened in the alley but left out Kael’s name. I’m not sure why I was protecting moody Kael, but I figured if he didn’t want to stay around and meet the soldiers he must have a good reason. It was the least I could do by keeping his name to myself, considering he saved my life now, twice.
Garit chatted amicably the whole way back, making comments about Avina and her very evident crush on the young guard Niklas. The shock of the whole attack wore off and I began to feel the pain in my broken leg and torn muscles, and the headache persisted the whole way back to the keep until it stopped when I fell asleep against Garit’s chest to the motion of the horse’s gait and sound of his lighthearted voice.
Chapter 8
Voices arguing, while trying to maintain a whisper, woke me from a deep sleep and I could see it was Healer Prentiss from the night before, wearing her white smock over her simple pale skirt and top. She was the shortest woman I had ever met, with kind hazel features and chestnut hair pulled into a twist at the nape of her neck. Laugh wrinkles around her eyes and mouth betrayed her age as being older than you would first think. I barely remembered the actual trip to the healing wing because I was so tired from exhaustion and weary from all of the excitement.
But I remember seeing Healer Prentiss in all her healer’s glory the night before, as she directed my arrival to a small bed and gathered the students that were on duty in the healing wing. Even though I was a servant, I learned the schedule and workings of the training grounds and council rooms. The best way to learn about healing was for the students to practice it as much as they could and so they were put on an on-call rotation to work in the healing wing. So whenever a non-emergency occurred, the students were notified and present to help heal and learn. I guess a broken leg constituted a non-emergency.
Ever the efficient teacher, Healer Prentiss explained to the students as she drew energy and touched my leg around gash marks. “First you must use your gift to look for infection and foreign objects and pull those from the wound. And now if you look closely, you could see the patient’s body already trying to heal itself.”
I quickly learned that once I was in the healing ward, I no longer was Thalia but a nameless patient. It was easier for the students to concentrate and learn if they weren’t distracted by the emotional stories and names tied to the subject they are healing.
“So, by directing power into her body we then encourage the muscles to re-knit and speed along the healing process. But before we do that we have to set the bone, which is always a painful process.” Healer Prentiss spoke in a matter of fact tone of voice. “All right, we have enough student healers here that we can conserve energy and split some of you into siphoning off her pain while others work on the healing process.”
A nervous first year student spoke up, “But Healer Prentiss, wouldn’t we normally be able to do this by ourselves? I mean what if someone was hurt and there wasn’t anyone else to rely on?”
Healer Prentiss looked displeased and harried by the question. Obviously she wanted to hurry and start the healing process, her healing instincts making her short tempered with the interruptions. “If the injury wasn’t really bad one person can do it, but healing is really hard work and takes more energy than anything else. A Master Adept would have no problem healing numerous people but not a student. The pain could be too much to bear for one student alone; by spreading it out, it lessens it. Also, more healers working together can prevent a Denai from burning out.” Her pointed glare at the nervous girl made her step back behind the other students. “Now if there are no more interruptions, we will begin.” No one spoke or even breathed.
Prentiss put a long cylinder of cork in my mouth between my teeth, and I stared at the wooden ceiling of the room as two grim-faced students went to each side of me and grasped my hands. I could see them mentally preparing themselves to siphon the pain from me and into them. Knowing that this was going to be a painful process no matter how much power they used, I felt sick to my stomach.
I spit out the cork shook my head and yelled “NO! Back a
way. I don’t want you to go through this, I can take the pain.” I closed my eyes to stop the tears pressing out of my eyes. “Prentiss, please don’t make them. They shouldn’t have to go through this.” I was overreacting; I knew that if both students pulled the pain away it wouldn’t be as bad split between the two. But after being the recipient of numerous tortures all against my will, I didn’t ever want to inflict pain on anyone again. Not if I had a choice.
Healer Prentiss gave me a long, calculating look as if she was trying to read my thoughts. She must have understood my desire, because she signaled to the students, and both of my hands were dropped onto the bed. I laid back down and stared again at the wooden ceiling. Taking a deep breath and closing my eyes, I mentally prepared myself for what was coming. Again I felt someone pick up my hand, and even though I tried to pull it away they wouldn’t release it.
“Please, let go!” I pleaded. Wearily I turned my head toward the student and opened my eyes and met the determined gaze of Joss.
“Hey, little fish,” he said. “You may not want me to take the pain away and I’m not sure why, but I can guess.” He leaned forward and whispered, “But there’s no way in Heaven I’m letting go of you. So don’t even ask.” He brought up his other hand and enclosed my cold shaking hand between his large warm ones. How did I miss his handsome face from among the students? I must be in more pain than I originally thought. Of course, Joss didn’t really need these classes, I was first hand testament to how strong of a healer he already was, but rules were rules.
“We’re ready, Healer Prentiss,” he nodded to Prentiss, who aligned herself by my leg. I stared up at the now familiar ceiling and almost fainted from the first initial pain of the bone being set.
Crying out in fright, I immediately went into shock which sent my mind right back into the memories of the torture chamber. I began to relive all of it while I was wide awake and the pain wouldn’t stop. All of the students gathered around me, their healing robes blurring to take on the form of the Septori.