When Yavi finished, she took out a big glob of salve from the jar and slathered it over his wounds. After the initial pain, it cooled against his pulsing skin, easing some discomfort. “Dalton, lift him if you please.”
The young mage cast his Essence over Von. The orange hue surrounded his body with a warm electrifying power that raised him a few feet off the cot. Yavi washed his upper body, arms, and neck. Then, she took the roll of dressings and carefully wrapped them over his back and around his torso.
“What happened?” Yavi asked the men as she worked, and they all burst out in an illegible muddle. “Captain Elon?”
“The Guardians of the Maiden defeated them,” he reported. He was not one to mince words.
“Commander Von was unconscious when we found him,” Olssen’s deep tenor filled the tent. “We couldn’t wake him.”
“No, you would not have been able to do so,” Dalton retorted. “He was under a comatose spell. Father had to remove it first.”
“He was under a spell? I wasn’t aware the current Guardians could use magic.”
When the sorceress had touched Von’s forehead, she tossed him into a black void. It was like falling into an endless sleep with no dreams. Next thing he knew he was looking up at his master’s cold eyes.
“Then we found the bodies,” Gord said faintly, his eyes wide and haunted. “Some had been reduced to ash, and others were mauled to death. They tore out Lieutenant Abenon’s throat.”
Yavi covered her mouth.
The Raider beside Gord shuddered. “The Guardians are ruthless. The elf took out Len with a shot from three hundred yards away.”
Yavi gasped, and Von jolted in alarm. Len was killed? How? When? He realized she had not been among the witnesses. Neither had Novo.
“Captain?” he croaked, but it was more of an indiscernible gurgle.
“We met them at the Kazer Bluffs,” Elon said. “Rawn Norrlen has joined their company. His skill with a bow is unparalleled.”
“Len is dead?” Yavi asked shakily, her eyes glistening with tears.
“No. She wore armor.”
“Oh!” Yavi slumped, a hand flying to her heart. She glared at the expressionless elf and the laughing men. “I don’t find that the least amusing. You’re terrible, the lot of you.”
Von descended back into the cloud of rum as their voices filtered around him, wondering if Tarn would have cared if Len had died.
Yavi finished wrapping his dressings. She fastened them in place with a pin then Dalton lowered Von back onto the cot. She gave him a sad smile before she moved on to tend Geon. The lad didn’t wake when she poured the rum over his wounds. Elon left the tent as she cleaned him. The rest of the Raiders followed one by one. Dalton lifted his friend for her to wrap the dressings around his thin torso then departed once she finished.
“Your mending skills have improved,” Von said in a whispered rasp.
“Yes, Master. I have had much practice as of late,” Yavi replied formally. She peeked outside of the tent before she tied the flaps closed and hurried to Von’s side. Tears glistened on her lashes in the candlelight. “I feared you dead when you didn’t return. You barely escaped with your life, and that monster punished you for it!”
Her hands fluttered around him, not knowing where to touch. She settled with cupping his cheek. It was a blessing to see her again. He had expected to die. If not by the sorceress then by his master.
He had failed his task. Tarn killed for less.
“I earned it.”
Yavi shook her head. “But how did you fall under a spell?”
“By chance, I found the Luna Medallion in Corron. It belonged to a sorceress.”
Yavi inhaled a soft breath. “The one from the foretelling?”
“Possibly.” The woman not only came back for her medallion, but she demanded he also free Dyna. A bystander would not have cared. “If she is, it hinders Tarn’s advantage. For all my skills, I could not stand against her power. If not for her, I would have succeeded.”
Yavi sighed and cleaned the sweat from his face. “Am I awful for feeling relieved that she escaped?”
“No.” Von had to admit he felt the same. Tarn would not get what he wanted yet, and that left the world a little safer. For now. He turned his arm over to show Yavi the bite mark on his hand. “Dyna gave me some trouble of her own.”
