Marcella sat up with Gavril’s assistance, her arms hanging at her side as if all rigidity in them were gone forever. “A chimera bit her shoulder. We stopped the bleeding. But she could not carry anyone with that wound. Especially not with the burn on her hand and arm. She is alright. I would not have left her otherwise.”
He shouldn’t have let her go in in the first place.
This was a mistake.
He had to fix this. He couldn’t?—
Gavril grabbed his shoulder, nails sinking in and then he jerked Nikias back, stopping him from trying to get through thenarrow hole. It was wider now. If Marcella had been able to slip through with a girl on her back, maybe he could?—
“Aimilia is a capable commander.” Gavril shoved himself between Nikias and the hole, using all of his weight to press down on Nikias and keep him in place. “Do not insult her by going in after her. She knows what she can handle.”
Nikias didn’t care if she was insulted. All that mattered was that she was safe.
He shoved at Gavril’s hands. “She is also human with a desperation to prove herself no matter what it costs her. She is injured and alone?—”
Gavril smacked Nikias’ hands away. “And she’s not Faustina.”
Gavril was lucky Nikias didn’t throw him into the hole.
Before Nikias could try, a new voice called out, “Hello?”
And they had another novice to pull up, thankfully confirming that at least Aimilia hadn’t died immediately after Marcella had left her. Once the boy had been pulled up, Marcella had shifted forward, staring at the hole with a hazy exhaustion in her eyes. “I’ll—I’ll go back in?—”
Gavril immediately grabbed her and pulled her back as Nikias shook his head. Gavril said, “No, you will not. You’re in no state to go back down there. We just… have to wait a little longer.”
“How long?” Marcella rasped, reaching up to rub at the dirt staining her cheeks.
“Fifteen minutes,” Nikias said, looking over the forty-five novices. “If she’s not back within fifteen minutes, I’m making this hole bigger and going in after her myself.”
It was the longest fifteen minutes of his life.
But with each novice that arrived, confirming Aimilia’s survival, Nikias managed to stay put. But as the minutesstretched on and on, with only Aimilia and one novice left, he was ready to call it and go in after her when?—
“Nikias?”
“Aimilia?” Nikias scrambled to the edge of the hole, unable to see her at the bottom but he could her hear heavy breathing and the shallow breathing of another person.
“You know, if the two of us had been in the same class, I would have placed first.”
Nikias closed his eyes and bowed his head, letting his hair fall into his face so no one could see the water welling up in his eyes. “You know today is the only day I would ever let you make that statement unchallenged.”
“Then it’s my lucky day. I’ve got a girl here, broken leg. Seems like it’s catching. She’s coming up first.”
Gavril started pulling on his rope as Nikias shifted back, but stayed ready to reach down and help pull her up the rest of the way. Once she was up, Nikias passed her over to the healer waiting.
A small weak tug came on his rope. Aimilia’s voice was faint and weak as she called up, “Alright, that’s all of them.”
Nikias didn’t need to be told twice. He started pulling her up, the ache in his arms long since forgotten at the sound of her voice. Soon enough she was faintly visible in the darkness, the vitae lighting up her face, and then Gavril was at the edge of the hole, arm stretched out. Aimilia reached up, but the second Gavril caught her hand a cry came out.
“Aimilia—”
“I’m fine, just get me out of here!”
Gavril pulled again and Aimilia scrambled out of the hole, hitting the ground on her knees. Gavril knelt beside her, one arm at her back to keep her from falling backwards.
Nikias dropped the rope as he looked her over, assessing the damage.
Her peplos had been shredded to pieces at her knees, a few rips going up higher and the white stained brown and black. The top was no longer clasped at both shoulders but was halfway between a bandage and a covering. The top left where it was wrapped around her shoulder was stained a dark red and was dripping again. Her right side was exposed except for the strophion that covered her chest, and there was a litany of scrapes and bruises across the skin that could be seen beneath the dirt and blood that stained her skin. Her right forearm and half her hand were a vivid red that almost matched her head as it blistered badly, shaking even now. Sweat still gathered and poured down her face as she huffed for each and every breath, chest heaving. Her hair was a mess, half falling out of her ornate updo of braids and sticking to her skin.
