LOCATION: THE CRUCIBLE, 50TH FLOOR
PLANET: LAPIS DIVINUS, ORION LUMINARY INSTITUTE
YEAR: 1 | DAY: ?? | TIME: ??
Kaela stepped into the circle of light cast by the torches.
“Raise your hands! Why are you unarmed?” the man’s voice yelled out.
Kaela laughed.
“I am never unarmed,” she whispered.
But she didn’t think the joke would land, so instead of that, she said: “To show you I am not a threat. Now, are you going to put down your weapons so I can help you tend to your wounded, or are we going to continue this standoff?”
One of the warriors was on the ground, teetering on unconsciousness. He was bleeding profusely from a deep gouge across his chest and another wound on his leg.
The wolf had leapt at him, knocking him over. It raked at his chest with its claws and took a chunk of meat from his thigh before his colleague had finished the beast off.
“Come on, then,” one of the men shouted. “But we’ll be watching you.”
Kaela simply nodded, then jogged forward, kneeling beside the man.
“Do you have any strips of cloth? We need to staunch the bleeding.”
Some of the other villagers had begun coming out of their houses, and one of the women brought a large sheet out.
Kaela watched as one of the men used a dagger to cut and tear long strips. He handed the first to Kaela.
She accepted it and tied it tightly around the wounded man’s leg just under his groin.
He winced at the pain when she pulled it tight.
“I told you we’re watching,” the other man said. “If you hurt him—”
“You have to tie it tight to reduce the blood flow to the open wound. Do you know nothing about medicine?” she asked.
They handed her another long strip, and she lifted the wounded man gently, pulling the cloth around his torso. She wrapped it around him twice, and then began working on a knot directly on top of the wide gash.
He passed out from the pain, but Kaela knew it was a mercy.
“You killed him!” one of the men said, drawing his sword.
Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
“He’s still breathing, you fool! Sheathe your blade.”
That man spoke with clear authority.
“Yes, Mayor.”
The other did as he was told, his shoulders slumping at the public rebuke.
“There,” Kaela said. “That’s all we can do for him now. When he wakes, you need to clean the wounds with fresh water and redress them. If you need my help, I am glad to provide it.”
The man they called Mayor stepped forward.
“Thank you for your quick assistance. I am Marris Halford, the mayor of this small village, Greyhaven.”
“I am Kaela Sirova,” she said simply, knowing more questions would follow.
A man stepped up behind the mayor.
“Care to tell us how you managed to just show up behind the wolves in the forest, and why you waited until the fight was over to render any help?”
Mayor Halford turned toward the man, looking like he was ready to scold him, but Kaela held up her hands.
“It’s a fair question,” she said. “I was traveling through the forest, seeking the nearest village, when I saw the wolf pack. I would have rushed to help, but there were twelve more hiding in cover of the woods.”
“What?” the other man asked. “You expect us to believe—”
Kaela snapped.
“Believe it or don’t. I care not. The fact is, I would have had to fight twelve of them on my own if I wanted to help you, and I didn’t like those odds.”
She looked at the wounded man. Two others were just picking him up to carry him into the nearest hut to rest.
“Anyway, aside from him, it appears you avoided any serious casualties. You held your own. As long as you keep his wounds clean, I believe he’ll make a full recovery, although it will take time…”
Most of the others standing around followed Kaela’s gaze, watching the man being carried away. But the mayor was distracted by something she said.
He reached his hand forward.
“Did you say there were twelve more hiding in the woods?”
Kaela nodded.
“They were just there? Waiting and not attacking?” Mayor Halford asked.
“Yeah,” Kaela said. “I found it strange, too. After you defeated the ones that attacked you, the Alpha growled and they all followed him as they turned back to the east and left.”
Kaela shook her head, still puzzled by the odd behavior. Then she looked up at the man who had been accusing her.
“And before you ask, no. I didn’t follow twelve wolves deeper into the forest. I don’t have a death wish.”
A notion she found humorous, given the daze in which she had spent the past however-many-weeks, covered in blood and gore and operating on instinct alone as she slaughtered creature after creature.
She pushed the thought to the back of her mind, happy for the human interaction again after the long isolation.
Even if it was accusatory and contemptuous.
Better than the endless fucking silence…
“But I have a question,” she asked. “The way you formed up makes me think this isn’t the first time they have attacked. Is that true?”
Mayor Halford nodded.
“Why don’t we head to the tavern and talk about it over some food and ale?”
Kaela laughed. She had been sustaining herself on the nearly tasteless, simple rations provided in the safe rooms for 49 floors.
“Mister Mayor,” she said, “that sounds like the best idea I’ve heard in a long time.”
He directed several others to replace the wooden barricades at the village entrance, and to clean up around the area.
The rangers ran to the clearing to pick up what arrows they could recover, and the mayor led Kaela to the tavern in the small town.
For the first time in months of mindless “kill this many beasts” quests, she was looking forward to something.
“Maybe I’m not done with The Crucible yet after all,” she thought, a smile inching its way onto her face.