Standing, she told Darrens, “I have all the answers I need.” Not all the ones she wanted, but the ones she truly needed, yes. “If it’s alright, I’ll go back. Conli was overrun with patients back there.”
“Draft help if you need it,” he ordered.
If she could think of someone that wasn’t already doing three things, Siobhan would have done that already. Instead of answering, she gave him a smile and a half-bow of excusal before leaving, Fei trailing in her wake. When they were far enough of earshot, she asked, “Fei? What did you think?”
“I think the situation is not quite what we assumed it to be.” Fei sounded brooding and somewhat bewildered. “Their reactions make me think we’re missing something.”
Yes, she’d felt the same. “But what?”
“Only time will tell.” He splayed his hands in an open shrug. “And I think we have enough problems on our hands that demand our immediate attention.”
True enough.
Wolf had no intentions of asking for help from anyone in the clinic over such a minor scrape, but the burn he had gotten earlier was starting to sting and irritate him. All he wanted was to snitch a bit of salve to make it feel better, was all.
The moment he stepped through the front door of the inn/clinic, he knew that he was making the right call. The place was filled with cots from corner to corner, with walking wounded sitting on the stairs or helping other injured people. There were moans of pain from every direction, voices murmuring in low conversations, and then the louder voices of Conli and his helpers as they called out instructions to each other. Wolf estimated there were a good three hundred people in this main room alone, and he knew that the rooms upstairs had to be chock full of people as well.
Surely not all of them were their own? Had someone made the decision to treat the enemy wounded as well?
Looking about, he saw two tables crammed together along the far wall, filled to nigh overflowing with bandages and some very familiar looking jars. Conli’s work, no doubt. He made a beeline for it, carefully stepping in between the cots so as to not trip over anyone. It would be bad to knock into an injured person, true enough, but Wolf was large enough that just landing on someone could cause serious harm. He’d solved many a fight by sitting on his opponent.
Finally making it, he congratulated himself for keeping his balance. The table was a hot spot for people, and he saw Denney, Sylvie, and Conli rush to it, grab something and dart away again as they went from one patient to another. None of them seemed to notice him, so preoccupied were they in their work. Fine with that, he started picking up bottles at random, reading the labels. Conli was good at labeling his jars. It not only said the name, but what it could treat and how to apply it. (The man operated under the assumption that if he ever fell ill, someone else would have to treat him, so he tried to prepare accordingly.) He saw a lot of jars for cuts, and infections, but nothing for burns.
Conli came to the table, grabbed a bandage, then stopped dead. Head cocked, he turned with a quizzical look on his face. “Wolf. What are you doing over here?”
And here he thought the man too busy to notice him. “Ah, well…” he trailed off, rubbing at his jaw.
The movement drew attention to the burn mark along his temple and Conli’s forehead drew into a frown. “That looks nasty. How did that happen?”
“A bunch of idiots struck on the bright idea of using fire cudgels to fight with. One of them got lucky.”
Conli pointed to a stool at the end of the table. “Sit, let me take a look at it.”
“You’ve got other patients,” Wolf objected, hand held up in protest.
“Nothing serious. We treated the worst cases first. The only ones left are the ones that have injuries about as serious as yours. I have a minute, so sit.”
Conli looked dead on his feet, to the point of swaying where he stood. Wolf realized in that moment that their doctor wouldn’t rest until the patients were seen to. The quickest way to make that happen was to cooperate and not stand there arguing. So he sat where directed and turned his face so that Conli could get a clear look.
With his fingertips on Wolf’s chin, he directed him to tilt the head a little more as he bent and peered at it. “Hmm, yes, I see a few wooden splinters stuck in there.”
Wolf made a sour face. “Do you really?” No wonder the thing hurt so much.
“One or two. Let me get some tweezers, get those out and clean it up properly. You weren’t planning on coming in here and just finding some salve to put on it, were you?”
Wolf wisely decided not to answer that question.
Growling, Conli rolled his eyes. “You really were? Wolf, my own guildsmen always take precedence over the enemy! You know that.”
“I didn’t think it was serious,” Wolf defended himself.
“If that gets infected, it will be very serious and possibly life threatening. As it is, if I don’t treat it right, you’ll get a nasty scar there. And don’t look at me like that, I realize you don’t care about scars, but Siobhan does, and I don’t want to have a dozen conversations with her later about why I didn’t treat you properly from the get-go.”
Alright, well, put it like that and the man made a good point. Siobhan did care about things like that and she was worse than a dog with a bone when she got a mad-on about something.
Even with him being slow and careful, Conli couldn’t really afford to be gentle, and the digging about in charred skin was very painful. Wolf gritted his teeth and bore through the pain.
As he worked, Conli asked, “So is everyone alright? I haven’t seen anyone but you coming in for treatment.”
“We’re all fine,” Wolf assured him. “I took the brunt of it out there because I was the only shield wielder. I was the only one that could take on the fire cudgels.”
“Ah, I see. Well, I’m glad of that. Denney was anxious most of the day, worrying about Rune getting too deep into things.”
Wolf almost shook his head in denial before he remembered that was a bad move at the moment. “No, the boy did fine. The training Hyun Woo gave him worked. I’ve never seen him have such good control.”
“Well, praise mercy for that.” Satisfied he had the splinters out, Conli set the tweezers aside and reached for a bottle and clean cloth. “This will sting.”
“Conli,” Wolf responded patiently and with an edge of sarcasm, “everything you have stings. Or it tastes bad.”
“That’s how you know medicine is effective,” Conli responded smoothly.
“Heh.” Amused in spite of himself, he let the man do his work. “Where’s Siobhan? I thought she was in here as well. Tran said she was.”
“Ah, she was, but Fei came and fetched her earlier. I’m not sure why. I barely noticed her going.”
Considering Wolf, who was only slightly smaller than a mountain, had managed to walk into the place and rooted around the table for several minutes without being spotted, he was amazed that Conli had noticed anything at all.
In spite of the warning, whatever Conli was using did indeed sting, like salt on an open wound. He hissed in a breath between clenched teeth.
“Sorry, sorry,” Conli absently apologized, focused on what he was doing.
“Keep working, man, I know it’s necessary.” To distract himself, he asked, “I don’t recognize anyone in here, hardly. Are these enemy wounded?”
“They are. Our own men are all upstairs in proper beds or in the other clinic.”
“There’s two?”
“One right next door. It’s also filled to the brim.”
Now that was a scary thought. “Also with enemy wounded?”
Conli hesitated strongly before saying simply, “No. Only this clinic treated the enemy.”
That pause said a great deal. In other words, the other physician had refused to treat any of the enemy and left the burden on Conli. No wonder the man was still in here treating people even though it was getting very late.
“There.” Satisfied, Conli reached for
a jar hiding well in the back of the table, hidden completely by other bottles. “I have a burn salve in here somewhere…” muttering to himself, he shifted things from side to side.
While Conli searched, Wolf looked idly about the room. Well, even though the enemy army had marched on them with such ferocious bloodlust, it was all worn out now. They were model patients, all lying quietly on their cots and cooperating nicely with the people trying to help them. It didn’t look like any trouble would…start…what was that? It wasn’t anything overt, not something that a normal man would pay attention to, but after being Hyun Woo’s student for nigh on three weeks now, Wolf had learned to notice those little things. He left the stool, standing to his full height in an effort to see to the far corner of the room.
Three men loitered near the back door, their hands hidden from his view. Their heads were bent so they could talk quietly amongst themselves, almost secretively. Then, as he watched, two others joined the group and one left, going to the opposite corner, near the front door. He’d have thought nothing of it except the way they moved made it clear they were trying to be sneaky.
And they had no reason to be acting sneaky.
“Conli.”
“Yes?”
“Get Denney and Sylvie and go out the side door. Now.”
Alarmed, Conli’s head snapped around. “What?”
“Now, man. Move!”
For years Conli had obeyed Wolf’s orders, acting under his direction as he sought to keep them all safe. From the bewildered expression on his face, Wolf knew that Conli didn’t understand the command at all, but it was sheer force of habit that propelled him into motion. Calling the two girls to him, he made for the side door.
Wolf did not believe for one moment that staying in here was a good option. Even if these men were unarmed, he was severely outnumbered. Instead, he headed straight for the stairs, knowing that he had bare minutes to make a barricade up there to protect his own from being attacked. As he went, he scooped up two other women that had been helping Conli, forcing them up the stairs ahead of him. They were protesting, of course, asking questions, but he ignored that and kept forcing them upwards.
Reaching the top, he grabbed the first piece of furniture he could find—a trunk that had seen better days—grabbed it, and shoved it in front of the stairs.
“What is going on?” one of the women, a ginger redhead, demanded irately. She looked a second away from kicking Wolf back down the stairs.
“Your patients down there are about a minute away from starting a fight and breaking out of here,” Wolf answered, quickly ducking into the next room and stealing another trunk. Something larger would work better, but the only things larger were the beds, and they were all occupied.
“Mercy!” she exclaimed, clutching both hands to her stomach in fear. “Are you sure?”
“Very. Find me something bigger and heavier than this. We have to barricade the stairs.”
Both women moved with alacrity, doing just that.
Wolf’s luck wasn’t strong enough to be able to build the barricade before someone downstairs noticed what he was doing. A shout went out down below and then several men rushed upwards, holding makeshift weapons of iron skillets and butcher knives in their hands. He did not underestimate them because of what they were holding. Those butcher knives could do lethal damage in the right hands and the iron skillets could break bones as easily as a cudgel could.
Two things worked to his advantage: one, the stairs limited their angle of approach severely. They could only come at him two at a time, and he could handle that all day. Two, the barricade was half up at this point, and they couldn’t properly reach him over it unless he met them half way. Which he didn’t intend to do.
Ignoring the enemy and their frustrated challenges, he kept building the barrier until he was satisfied it would hold, at least for several more minutes. Then he went to the nearest window that faced out the front and opened it. Looking out down below, he saw a man he recognized and called, “Taslim!”
Taslim stopped dead in his tracks, fuzzy hair covering one eye, and looked around.
“Up here, man!”
“Up?” Taslim repeated, craning his neck around. He finally spotted Wolf leaning out of the window and waved. “Wolfinsky! Whatcha need?”
“Tran, Rune, or Fei. Now.” Wolf didn’t know if anyone below might be listening, but he didn’t want to give them too much information of what they were planning or spook them into making stupid mistakes. “And keep everyone out of this inn.”
Taslim stared hard at him, catching on to Wolf’s intent even though he hadn’t spelled everything out clearly. Nodding understanding, he spun on his heels and took off in a sprint.
Thanking all mercy the man had realized the importance of the situation, Wolf stayed in place and trusted on his ears to keep track of the situation near the stairs.
The man lying in bed next to him cleared his throat and asked hesitantly, “Something going on?”
Wolf spared him a glance. Broken leg, head wrapped in a bandage, but the man seemed alright other than that. “Enemy patients downstairs figured they’d start round two.”
The man swore aloud and reached for the blanket.
“Stay still, man. You’re not in fighting condition. I sent someone for help.”
“But if they get up here—!” the man protested, still struggling to get out of the bed.
“I barricaded the top of the stairs.”
He stopped struggling. “Oh. Well that will hold them off for a while.” Glancing about, he muttered, “Where’d they put my sword?”
The man might need that weapon if someone didn’t get here soon. Wolf was hearing ominous cracking noises from the top of the stairs. Someone was making headway in getting through his barrier. He might have to go and shore it up soon.
“WOLF!”
He snapped back around, putting one shoulder and head through the window. (That was all he could fit.) Tran was standing below, Fei at his side. Relieved, he called down to them, “I’ve got enemy soldiers in here at the bottom level causing trouble! Some of them are trying to get upstairs.”
“You set?” Fei asked, worried.
“I barricaded the top, but that’s not going to hold much longer.”
Fei and Tran exchanged glances before Tran ordered, “You hold the second story. We’ll handle this.”
Trusting they would do so, he waved them on and retreated out of the room and back to his barricade. He found one of the trunks had been shoved out, and two men were trying to crawl through the narrow opening. He booted them mercilessly in the face, sending them careening back down the stairs. “Quit,” he ordered in exasperation. “You’re not making it up here.”
A faceless voice snarled at him, “You want to bet?”
“You loblolly,” Wolf growled back. “You stand no chance even if you do make it through.”
“Oh is that right?” Something pounded against the barricade, making it jump and vibrate, although it held. “And who are you?”
Wolf let out a menacing laugh. “I’m Erik Wolfinsky, Enforcer of Deepwoods and the commander of the southern wall. I’m the man that kept you out of this city and defeated you.”
An abrupt silence descended on the other side. Wolf couldn’t see them, of course, but that silence told him they were shaken.
Hyun Woo had said from the beginning that fear was the most formidable weapon a man could wield on a field of battle. Wolf had known that himself from prior experience, but in this moment, he learned the lesson all over again. The men that had been so bent on getting through to the upper story were now arguing amongst themselves, not at all sure if they wanted to face the man that had defeated them hours before.
Wolf was just as happy to let them argue. Every minute they wasted up here was time that Tran and Fei could use to come up with a plan and gather enough men together to fight with. It was time they sorely needed.
Stepping back, he retreated a few steps down the hallwa
y and stuck his head into one of the rooms. A brunette woman with a bandage around her ribs and her arm in a sling was sitting next to the window, a long dagger in her uninjured hand. She looked up sharply as he opened the door.
“I’m Erik Wolfinsky of Deepwoods,” he said by way of introduction.
“I heard you earlier,” she returned, voice a smooth contralto. “I’m Karen Highsmith. What are we up against?”
“Not sure,” Wolf admitted. “I can’t get a headcount through the barrier. But two of my guildsmen are outside putting together a force to fight with. Can you keep an eye out for them and let me know their movements?”
“Aye, I can. Do you know what they’ll do?”
“I have a notion.” Really, the only thing that made sense in this situation was to use a bait and trap. Surround three sides of the inn, making lots of noise so that the enemy knew where they were, and leaving one side ‘open’. The enemy would retreat toward open ground as quickly as they could, thinking it was their only option. At that point, the other three sides could close in on them, and a hidden force on the ‘open’ side would close them into the trap. It would mean little loss of life, no sieges against the inn, and it would be over quickly.
At least, that’s what Wolf hoped Fei and Tran would do. Hyun Woo had taught them about this method while they were preparing for Converse’s defense, surely the lesson would be bright in their minds.
Satisfied with the lookout he had on the east side, he went directly across the hallway and introduced himself to the man in there, repeating his request. Of course, everyone was willing to cooperate. In fact, the walls were thin enough that the people in neighboring rooms could hear him, and they opened their doors and called out sightings as they got them.
This worked in their favor, because the enemy still on the staircase could hear them as well. Hearing that fighters were gathering to invade the inn made them nervous. Wolf decided to add fuel to the fire and called out to them, “Two other commanders that were defending this city are organizing troops to come in and deal with you! If you don’t want to be killed where you stand, then go to the front and surrender now!”
Blackstone (Book 2) Page 21