“Bring her in here,” he said, opening the flap of the nearest tent.
I stepped inside to find a dark space lit with candles that smelled of herbs, rugs littering the ground below, covering upthe sand as best as they could. Though there was never any way to be completely rid of the unruly grains.
“What happened?” someone spoke, stepping through the curtain of a portioned off section of the tent. He was tall and thin with golden skin and golden hair and his face was set in an expression of someone who seemed to always be thinking.
“She did it,”Gryfonsaid, sweeping everything off of a table, clearing a space so I could put Adrian down. I did so as carefully as I could and stepped back to find the men regarding each other, something like surprise on each of their faces. “She brought down the wards.”
The other man blinked at the general before turning his awed expression to Adrian where she lay unconscious on his table.
“Incredible,” he whispered, amazed.
“Is she going to be okay?”Gryfonasked quickly and I thought there might be more than simple concern in his voice.
I narrowed my gaze, watching him as he took a step closer to her before peering up at his companion.
The other man approached Adrian cautiously, bending to examine her more closely without touching her. He circled her slowly, nodding every now and then.
“She’ll be alright,” he announced finally and I saw the tension inthe general’s shoulders visibly ease. “I highly doubt she's ever used the corruption at that capacity before. She'll be utterly drained. Physically, mentally, perhaps emotionally as well. The darkness seems to be inexplicably tied to emotion. All she needs is to rest and recover.”
“We have to be moving the moment the citizens are liberated,” the general reminded his friend.
The other man turned back to Adrian, considering.
“She can ride in my wagon with my things,” he said decisively. “I’ll clear some out so she has the space. It won’t be a smooth ride but at least she can remain asleep.”
The generalopened his mouth to respond but I cut him off before he could.
“I’ll ride with her,” I volunteered.
The generalwatched me with suspicion but I only glared back at him, jaw clenched. I wasn’t sure where I stood with Adrian anymore but there was no way I was letting her out of my sight around the general. Not after I’d seen him fight.
“Alright then,” the other man said, clapping his hands together and stepping away as though oblivious to the silent war waging between the general and I. Obviously,hedidn’t want me alone with Adrian. I had tried to kill her once, after all. Perhaps he was thinking I would try to again. "For now, leave me. I'll need to ensure her exhaustion is the only injury she suffered on the battlefield."
The general nodded once before striding to the tent flaps. He held one open and glanced back at me, brow raised in expectation. Refraining from rolling my eyes, I followed him out of the strange man's tent, leaving Adrian in his care.
The camp beyond was in chaos. The injured and dying were being dragged back on cots previously only used for sleeping. Healers were running between them, bending in the dust and doing the best they could. I glanced down at my hands. I could do even better.
Looking up, I found the general watching me with a sneer. He knew what I was capable of, what I could do. He was probably disgusted by the fact that I'd only just now considered healing these people. So I stormed away from him and fell to my knees by the first cot I came upon.
Pressing my palms flat upon the rapidly rising stomach of a man who'd lost a leg and a lot of blood, I focused on the power surging through my veins and ignored the general glaring at me from a few feet away until he stomped off and began barking orders somewhere else in the encampment.
For hours, I went from cot to cot, healing the wounded as best as I could, only pausing when the other healers, recognizing my magic for what it was, brought me water or a damp towel to cool myself and rest a bit. The injuries became a blur, the faces of the soldiers all blending together, until there was nothing but the healing power snaking through my veins, knitting bone and tendon together again. I was sweating, breathing heavily, and tiring significantly, when I noticed the first body that didn't belong.
I blinked down at the ornate sky blue vest over an even lighter buttoned shirt, staring at the little silver pin on the left shoulder of a bird in flight. This wasn't armor or any clothing which came from the people of the desert. This man was from Sanctuary, House Avus in particular, and his throat was slashed from ear to ear.
"Please listen to me! You don't understand!" someone was screaming.
I looked up, blinking in the hot afternoon sun, to see a line of refugees streaming into the camp. They were from Sanctuary. I could tell even without seeing anyone I recognized. The way they walked in the sand, legs wobbling and eyes wide, showed they didn't belong here. As did the way they dressed in casual jeans and frayed, faded tee shirts. It was all so familiar and yet so distant, like a part of a past I could barely remember anymore. But none of them were screaming.
My eyes swept over the roving band of refugees and saw nothing but wonder and fear in their eyes. No one spoke, no one uttered a word. They simply filed forward in a single line, led on by Gryfon's many warriors, eyes sliding back and forth through the camp in awe. They seemed gaunt, haggard, lifeless, and stunned. Something was wrong. They hadn't been that way before. Had they?
"I just need to talk to who's in charge!" the scream sounded again and my gaze whipped in it's direction to find a man with unruly brown curls and bright blue clothes straining against the arms of two brawny warriors who held him in place. "Please, you don't understand. It's urgent. It's—"
"Milo?" I asked, striding forward.
The heir to House Avus had drawn more attention than mine and I wasn't the only one approaching him now. I saw Gryfon storming forward out of the corner of my eye.
"Apologies, general," one of the warriors holding him back said. "This one's a bit overexcited. I'll have him sent to Esher. Maybe she can calm him down."
