“And wh-where is Ruth?”
“He is in Cabro Valley, aiding the lord. A horde of wyvern apparently migrated there during the winter. The other mages left to join the raid after scouts spotted at least twenty in the area.”
“T-Twenty?”
Riftan is battling twenty of these colossal monsters.
Maxi felt her heart drop. Stomach-churning anxiety settled in her chest, urging her to rush to Riftan, but it soon became anxiety about her current situation. Maxi scanned the surroundings, noting the men sprawled on dirty sheets on the ground.
“Does that mean…there is no one else here…capable of healing magic?”
“We called in an herbalist, but there are simply too many patients for her to treat alone.” The sentry pointed to an old woman tending to the wounded in a corner of the camp.
“I-I understand. I-I’d like to see…the patient in most need of treatment.”
The sentry pointed to one wounded man. “He was the sentry on guard. The wyvern hurled a rock at his head and knocked him unconscious. He’s still breathing…but his body has been growing cold. Please, see to him first, my lady.”
Maxi knelt beside the guard and inspected his wounds. A gash ran from his temple to the back of his head behind his ear, and his shoulder was heavily bruised. With careful movements, Maxi made sure no bones were broken before placing her hand over the wound and dispersing her mana. Sweat beaded on her forehead as heat streamed out from her palm. Sensing that she would not have enough mana to tend to the others if she fully healed him, she stopped the spell midway.
“I-I’ve done what I can for him, for now…. Please clean his wound and give him w-water when he wakes up. The sentries should bring you boiled herb water soon.”
“Yes, my lady.”
“I-It would be…impossible for me to h-heal everyone. Is there…anyone else in d-dire need of treatment?”
“Two more are unconscious….”
Maxi suppressed a sigh and steeled herself. “L-Lead me to them.”
—
Maxi was spent afterhealing the two unconscious men. Was it normal to be this exhausted after using magic?Having never felt this lightheaded before, she began to worry she had made a mistake in pushing herself so hard.
“My lady…are you all right?”
“Y-Yes. I am merely tired from using so much mana…. I-I will be well enough soon. P-Please, do not worry.”
Maxi leaned against a tree and took a moment to gather her breath, praying that her words had been the truth. While she had been treating the two men, the sentries had unloaded the rest of the supplies from the wagons, raised a tent among the trees, and were now transporting patients on makeshift bedrolls. On the other side of the camp, other soldiers were boiling water over a campfire, and those well enough to walk stood guard around the perimeter.
Maxi watched them moving methodically around the camp as she waited for the dizziness to subside, staggering to her feet once her vision cleared. She could not stay idle, not when she was the one who had insisted on coming. After moistening her parched lips with lukewarm water from a pot, she moved on to the next patient.
Fortunately, it seemed like her practice had paid off, and she was able to treat the patients more efficiently than she thought. Small wounds required thorough cleaning, application of powder coagulants, and a tight dressing, exactly as Ruth had taught her. For broken bones, she realigned them with the help of other soldiers and bound them with splints. She also made sure all the injured were given water infused with herbs to alleviate fever and clear their blood of any toxins. They were still at risk of developing hyperthermia, even if they currently were not feverish.
“He is the last one, my lady, but his wound is rathersevere. Will you be all right?” A middle-aged soldier with a bushy beard had led her to an injured man at the edge of the camp.
Maxi was alarmed when she saw the long gash on the soldier’s shoulder. With just a glance, it was obvious that applying ointment alone would not be enough to treat the wound. She would have to stitch it up with a needle and thread like Ruth had shown her, something she was not sure she was capable of.
“Is…Is this man the last…of the wounded?”
“Yes, my lady. Everyone else has been tended to. We intend to send those who can walk back to Anatol as soon as the scouts return to camp.”
Maxi looked around her. Sentries and workers covered in white bandages sat together on one side, eating watery herbal soup. She did not think any of them would lapse back to an unstable condition. After a final moment of weighing her options, Maxi summoned the last of her mana to heal the man’s shoulder wound.
Her vision went white as the last bit of mana drained from her body, but then, surprisingly, she felt almost normal. With a sigh of relief, Maxi rose unsteadily to her feet, wondering if she was getting used to magic after all.
Ulyseon had been pacing around her, and he quickly approached. “My lady, this place will be much more dangerous once the sun sets. You must return to the castle now.”
“I-Is there…still no news from the Remdragon Knights?”
