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[Shiress]

23rd Day Winter 512 Shiress' eyes slowly open. A dark haze around her gave way to lightwood and brittle leaves. A dimly lit forest canopy, adorned in a thin blanket of fog, began to emerge past the forest floor as Shiress gradually turned her face upward. Her lips, blemished with slits and contusions, parted as she tried to draw in a breath. Searing pain overwhelmed her chest and her breath was cut short. With 3 convulsive, painful attempts, her lungs, at last, felt satisfied She lifted her hand and gently pulled strands of hair from her face. As her arm lowered it stopped short leaving her hand trembling in front of her. It was covered in thick, wet blood. Her blood. Shiress moved her eyes to her feet and ran her gaze up her legs. Her pants shredded with claw like slits. Red, deep slashes visible through torn fabric. As her head furthered up her legs, she felt warm liquid escape from her hairline, down her face and she watched dizzily as it dripped into her lap. She lifted her hand to her forehead, feeling the warm liquid run between her fingers and down her hand. She knew she was hurt badly, but how. She scanned her memory intently trying to bring back her attack. For several seconds nothing surfaced, but just before she gave in to failed memory, visions began flooding her mind one on top the other. A green forest passing by her, a weightless body, a slam to the forest floor were the first to emerge followed by the sound of earth being crushed beneath heavy steps. Shiress beckoned her memory for more and in obedience her memory began to shift into a dark, dense figure, like a living shadow, standing over her. One leg on each side of her hips, glaring down at her. Fear forced her from her visions. Opening her eyes with a gasp, Shiress grabbed for her chest as another episode of searing pain took hold there. Her head swayed, her eyes dimmed and her body slumped forward forcing her to plant herself atop her bloodied legs. Darkness loomed about her. Slightly raising her head, she placed her hand to the ground and forced herself up. She felt sick pain filling her head and her stomach. Her body lurched forcing her forward and she vomited. Still propped on her arm, her mouth slightly agape, her body swayed, but she remained erect. Fear had finally overcome pain at the thought of the...that...thing coming back to finish what it had begun. Her eyes, unfocused and confused, scanned the forest around her. At length, she stretched out her arm and grabbed hold of a branch directly in front of her and slightly above her head. With no other thought, she closed her eyes and pulled herself up. Every pain not felt before had come on with a vengeance as her body forced itself up. Her mouth flung open in a silent scream of pain, but no sound escaped as Shiress steadied herself against a neighboring tree. Without faltering, she slid around the tree, let go and stumbled into a clearing. Every step tortured her body as she passed through the trees. Her clothes, ripped and torn from her left her sparsely clothed and much of her body was exposed to the cold that an early day brings in winter. Even still, she pressed forward, forcing her body into submission with every wobbling step. Loosing her footing, Shiress stumbled to a tree, laying her head against its cold, dark bark. With her eyes closed, she began to have thoughts of submitting herself to the darkness and the painless calm it offered. Leaning against it, she shifted her body around the tree both arms behind her holding hard to the sides steadying herself. Her eyes open in an attempt to take in the beauty of what was around her one last time before submission took her heart. She lifted her head and tearfully began to look about her. Almost in a panic she peered through the trees as darkness began its beckoning. Her eyes darting from one tree to the other in a last attempt to see the world as she knew it. Her gaze stopped short and stiffened as she tried to focus and direct her sight. Off to the side, through a line of trees she saw grey. She stepped forward, falling into another tree staring in disbelief. Stumbling from tree to tree the grey grew taller, longer until it formed a wall. Syliras, she whispered as she slowly moved forward. As Shiress stepped from the treeline, she lumbered forward as she searched her body for strength. With nothing left and with hope in sight, she fell to her knees. Her body mingling with the darkness could no more stand on its own. With tears streaming down her face, her gaze fixated on the glorious wall of Syliras, her torn, nude body fell to the earth...

[Richard Burke]

Richard had been a squire for almost a 6 days. He enjoyed every minute of work it involved, he had been training and preparing his whole life for something like that. And Arkale was a good man, and a good teacher. Richard found that his life hadn't changed that much. He still lived with the other squires, he still trained relentlessly, and he still had time to go for walks in the early morning. For Richard, this was perfect. His life had meaning, and direction. So, as he walked alone, through the thick fog that often blanketed the city, and the surronding lands, Richard wass feeling quite happy.

Earlier in the morning he had visited the Temple of All Gods, a remarkable building. The stonework ofthen awed the young squire, and he thought about the time, and love that the people who built it must have shown to the stone.Richard wasn't the most religious man, but he would often come here to think about the knightly tenants, or to think about his family.

But todays walk was differant, drifting through the wind, Richard heard sobbing. It took a while before Richard even payed attention to it, he was often lost in thought this early in the morning. It took even longer for him to find the source of the crying, and he saw a figure, mostly obscured by the mist fall to the ground. The Knights would have found the person, but it might have been later in the day- too late to save them. Richard walked up to the figure, which began to form into a human, and then a woman.

Richard walked up slowly, not wanting to freighten the woman. He called out "hello" then noticed the wounds. He went to the womans side, trying to find some sign that she was alive, and then said "my name is Richard, I'm going to get you to help" he waited for a response, not wanting to touch her until she responded in some wway.

[Shiress]

Footsteps slightly aroused Shiress. Her body still lying still, listless and limp in the cool morning air. Her eyes open, but no sight was seen through them, only a haze of green and brown, unfocused and blurred. Her attempts to move or even speak, barricaded by the agony her body lay in, gave way to short, breathless sobs. Her fist tightened around the grass it rested on as the footsteps became louder and closer until they stopped abruptly with a pondering silence. "Hello" said a young mans voice in a diffident and concerned tone. The sound of frosted grass beneath heavy boots was heard as he advanced closer. A knee gently lowered along side her head "my name is Richard, I'm going to get you to help" he said, his voice caring and soft. Her hand slid slowly across the cold ground until she felt him. Shiress tightly fastened her hand around his pants leg, leaving red streaks. Please don't, she murmured. Please, don't leave me

[Richard Burke]

Richard almost panicked when the woman reached out, and grabbed his leg. Her wounds were servere, and without help, she would surely die. Riched examined the wounds, he couldn't tell what caused them, he was no surgeon, he didn't even know much first aid. It was a cold morning, and the woman wasn't wearing any clothing, surely that was just to add insult to injury. Richard took off his cloak, it was wool, and warm, so he wrapped the woman in it. He could tell she couldn't walk, so Richard tied the cloak around her, tightly, and then gently lifted her up. She wasn't heavy, but it still took effort on the squires part to carry her, people are awkward things to carry.

Richard reached the gate, the gaurds immediately let him in, knowing him as a squire, one even voluneterred to clear the streets, Richard follwed through the gap that was cleared to the Soothing Waters. Richard didn't go to the bath houses very often, but he knew where they are, like anyone in the city. He almost sprinted through the courtyard, to the double doors, but held back because he didn't want to cause the person he was carrying discomfort. Richard walked to the desk, and was greeted by the unflappable Ivis, who quickly guided them into the back rooms where the doctors would help her.

Richard adjusted his cloak, and put his hand on her shoulder. Trying to keep her calm and warm. He waited by her side, as help came. He was worried for her, he didn't know her name, or where she was from. He vowed to stay until the woman was stable, and safe.

[Orion Michaels]

Orion Another day was passing along, mostly uneventful. Occasional flirting with a patient, helping out with massages, whatever he could to make the day go by a little bit faster. So when word was passed back that a critically injured person had been brought in, Orion was ready to get to work unless a marked healer decided they wanted to take over. He'd still do what he could until then, and at least stabilize them until the magic could finish the job. It wasn't very often that Orion found himself with a seriously wounded patient to care for. Not to this extreme. Most injuries were work related here in Syliras. The Knights would go to the healers. They could do it for them, and better yet at no charge. The citizens would have scrapes, cuts, the occasional break but nothing like this. Nothing quite this traumatic, nor anything quite this difficult. The woman had been mauled by something, but it hadn't finished the job for some reason or another. That much was apparent to the doctor's keen eyes. But what was more apparent was that she was barely clothed, if that. Wrapped in the man's cloak, the visible clothing nearly shred to pieces. Strangely enough, this wasn't the first time a nearly nude woman had required his medical expertise. So he wasn't phased in the slightest, instead he turned his attention to the man who had brought her in. He was armed with a long sword. A merc? A knight? Could none of them have prevented this? If this happened outside the city, well, it seemed their reach only went so far. If it was in the city, though, it was a cause for serious concern. If they couldn’t protect their citizens, why did they even allow them to hold power over them. "Set her on the table," he ordered, almost coldly. For all of his people skills, commanding a room correctly had never quite materialized properly. "And tell me what happened." The woman had lost a lot of blood, and he needed to work quickly for her to even have a chance. The doctor scurried about the room, looking for various containers to set out on a worktable which lay beside the patient's one. Once satisfied with what he had before him, Orion reached under the able and grabbed the bag which held all his surgical equipment. This woman would need everything he knew to have a shot. "Where the petch did this happen at?"

[Richard Burke]

Richard was almost numb, he had never seen anything like this before, and it was starting to set in. He wasn't paying too much attention to the doctor, he was much more worried about the young womans health. The doctor's question didn't sink in right away, Richard was too lost in thought. It was rare for people to be found hurt, so close to the walls, the knights more often then not, killed and destroyed nearby groubs of monsters and animals. Then, Richard's brain processed the question.

"I'm not sure where it happened" he said, slowly regaining his knightly composure, "I found her on my walk- she was a stone's throw from the wall." He paused, looking back at the incident, trying to figure out what may have done this. "I didn't see any signs of a struggle where I found her. She seemed to have wandered towards the wall. Who knows how far."

Her words "don't leave me." Haunted Richard, but they didn't carry a Syliras accent, which means she was not from the city, could be a threat. No, Richard stopped this line of thinking, this woman was gravely injured by some unknow beast in the wooods.

[Min]

Min too had heard the commotion, as an unusual occurrence sent the staff of the spa into action. She had been employed at the Soothing Waters for about three weeks, and this was the first really seriously injured patient to come in, during the hours that she worked. Treating the more mundane illnesses and accidents was far from challenging for the Myrian healer, though she had used the slow pace of her work to devote time to studying what new treatments, techniques and remedies were used here, on the far side of the world from Falyndar. But as word quickly spread amongst the staff about the severe wounds this new patient was sporting, Min was borne to the room where the girl had been taken by both a desire to help and a desire to do something more interesting than giving a new mother tonic for a colicky baby or an old woman salve for the pain in her ancient bones. Quietly, she slipped in through the open door, and stood a few feet behind the doctor who had been summoned to attend the grievously injured young woman. It was Dr. Michaels, a man she had made the acquaintance of under less than desirable circumstances. But the fact that it was Orion who was called to treat the injured girl wasn't enough to keep Min from satisfying her curiosity and her desire to help, if she could. Min made a quick visual assessment and saw multiple lacerations and contusions all over the girl’s body. The clothing was ripped to shreds and it seemed some animal had been at work on her. Moving closer, Min noted the bluish tinge to the lips and the too pale face. “She leaks blood too much,” she said in her less than perfect Common, with a heavy Myrian accent. “Her heart will be weak. Her flesh will be cold. She needs warm – warmth.” Min stepped closer yet. “And feet – up” She indicated with her hands and was already moving to fetch something to slide under the girl’s lower legs. “Otherwise, she dies,” she shrugged, and made to slide a rolled up blanket under the girl’s ankles, while holding another blanket ready to cover her.

[Orion Michaels]

Orion The teen was lost in his own world. Orion snapped his fingers a few times to try and bring him back. "Umm. Hello?" He seemed to rejoin him afterwards and tell him of where he found her, within sight of the Syliran walls. Troubling, that was. Before the doctor could react, there she was. The mocha skinned beauty who he'd attempted to fool with a poorly concocted ruse. He could still feel the burn of her eyes upon him, the venom on her lips, and the sharp pain she'd introduced to his back. It didn't temper his desire, any of their last encounter. But this. This set his rage aflame. Orion was normally a laid back guy. A shameless flirt who loved a tasty glass of wine and a tasty woman. Everything was fun and games. Until he was working. Then he had to be in charge. It was almost obsessive. Bred into him by his father. The Michaels family controlled a medical situation, and they didn't need others butting in. "What the petch do you think you're doing?" He spoke through gritted teeth, quietly as to not alarm the man who'd brought the woman. "I didn't call for an assistant. Get out." He dismissed the dark skinned woman, motioning to the door from which she entered. It was simple enough. As much as the blue eyed man hated to admit it, Min was correct. Elevating any bleeding injury so it was above the heart was a common step in slowing the bleeding. She'd lost so much at this point... Orion moved the cloak away to see what he would be dealing with. The legs were the obvious injury, but he needed to see if there were any other serious wounds that needed treated. A lot of blood from the head...her lips are pretty bad too, but that's probably dehydration..Yeah..the legs first. He turned to look at the legs more closely, but stopped abruptly as unsurprisingly, Min was still there. He bit his lip, annoyed. But then a thought crossed his mind. He could save this woman, and get under the skin of the foreign beauty at the same time. He would simply teach. "Fine. My good assistant. I need you to check her for shock. You do know how, right?" He gave her a wry smirk as he began to do his own work on the severely injured woman. "Let me know about the shock, I'm going to try and get this bleeding under control." The elevation hadn't gotten in done, and it was a miracle she hadn't passed on with how long she must have been dealing with this injury. The doctor's experienced eyes clued onto something that could complicate the work. The tears in her flesh were uneven, almost twisted. A claw wouldn't create this sort of injury alone. The way the muscle was lacerated was expected of a claw attack. But the rips along the edges, almost like it was fraying... "Min. She didn't just wander towards the wall. She walked a long way. Come look at the state of her thigh. It's continued to tear past where the claw struck." Orion took a clean rag and applied direct pressure to the most severe wound. "If this doesn't get the job done, what's our next step?" He quizzed the Myrian, though his eyes never left the patient.

[Shiress]

Shiress felt the sting of the bitter cold leave her skin as Richard draped his cloak about her. He lifted her into his arms and she quickly surrendered to his gentle comfort and willing mercy. Her head rested just beneath his shoulder, her eyes blank and unfocused. Her body, heavy and still, lingered between darkness and utter blackness as Richard hurried her through the city. She felt the warmth of Richards body leave her as he placed her on the hard table. Her head falling slightly to one side. Her life being handed to those around her. She heard a distant voice, but struggled to form the words they spoke. Her eyes opened slightly as she chased the voice, looking for its source. A blurred figure moved toward her, his voice sounding stern, but muffled, was tinged with concern. Another voice answered, this one closer and softer. This voice was familiar, it comforted Shiress to hear it. It had been the first familiarity she had felt in days, but she felt distant and misplaced. Wanting to leave, but couldn't, wanted to speak but couldn't. Even her eye's deceived her by shielding her sight from her. A third voice came about the room. A females voice more muffled, but with a stern tone even more so than the first she had heard. Shiress let out a small gasp as she felt pain from her legs being lifted then lowered again. This caused her mind to awaken, but not fully. Her thoughts were broken and unclear. This pain brought her memory back into The Bronze Woods. That is where she first felt this pain, where it began. Where fear pursued her, captured her and... Her memory broke completely as a pressure on her leg quickly gave way to deep, stabbing pain. Her head shifted violently, her eyes widened, her sight fixated upward. "No" she begged, as she lifted her body to her elbow's. Her broken memory fading out her present and those that surrounded her. "No" again she begged, this time enclosed in a scream. Shiress jerked up right, her hands grabbing and searching toward the pain. She pushed away hand's that touched her or bodies near her. Her legs kicking as if she were attempting to bring her body from beneath an unseen demon that hovered just above her. Her legs twist around her body as she attempted to escape the table... A splintered memory, brought on by her broken body, had just stood her before the evil, vile Zith that had broke her...

[Min]

The Myrian healer paid the pale physician no heed, for the moment, ignoring his hissed imprecation that she should leave. She wasn’t planning on taking over, or getting in the way. If she could help, she would. If not, she would of course take herself away and not be an impediment to this girl’s care. But she knew what she knew and she knew that elevating the legs and feet would ease the burden on an already stressed heart. So she went right ahead with slipping the rolled up blanket under the girl’s ankles. Then she stood, assessing the wounds that Orion was now revealing by the removal of the tattered cloak. Her dark eyes widened – the wounds were very bad indeed. Min thought, if Orion would calm down, she could be of help. But she didn’t say this – having an argument right now would only waste precious moments, which they might very well not have. Perhaps Orion was not as thick headed as he had seemed, for he gave in quickly enough to Min staying, framing it as he would lead and she would follow his lead. Fine – she could live with that because in reality she would continue to do what she could for the girl and if that fell in line with what Orion thought – well and good. If it did not, he could go jump off a cliff – she would put her skills to use as she saw fit. But right out of the gate, there was to be a problem. Her brow puckered at the word he used – shock. What was shock? Min wasn’t familiar with the word in Common, though she had already been addressing the condition when she had intoned that the girl needed to be kept warm and the legs elevated. She hesitated, not because she was embarrassed to admit that she didn’t know what Orion was asking her to do, but because she didn’t want to waste his time as he began to attend to the bleeding wounds. She searched her somewhat limited lexicon, but could come up with nothing to explain what it was Orion was asking her to do. It was beginning to really hit home with her – she needed to know more Common if she was to be of use, here in a city where no-one spoke her language. So, all she could do was to do what she would have done regardless of Orion’s request. Her two fingers reached for the carotid pulse, and she pressed gently, gaging the beat of the pumping blood, feeling how weak and rapid the pulse was. The girl’s skin was clammy and cool, but beads of sweat dotted her brow, and her lips were definitely tinted blue. Already, Orion had moved on, mentally, and his examination of her legs brought more comments and questions. He told Min to look at some odd feature of the tears in the flesh, and she shifted to look, reiterating in a low voice, “Her heart is weak. She is cold. The heart works too hard. Not enough blood. She sweats. Her….” Min realized she didn’t even know the word for pulse in Common. “Her beating…” Min took up one of her own wrists, putting her other fingers to the pulse point there. “Fast, weak.” This inability to speak to Orion in a language they both understood – the language of healing – was frustrating beyond belief. Her eyes took in the jagged and irregular appearance of the lips of the lacerations. Min shook her head. “She walked. She escape. What?” She shrugged because knowing or not knowing what had attacked this girl would do little to help save her life in the next hour or so. To his question, Min said with assurance. “We sew, with thread. That will stop the blood. At that moment, the girl stirred, and suddenly she was struggling, with an amount of strength and energy that was surprising. But it was born of the adrenalin that was still circulating through her abused body. Min went immediately to the girl’s head and gently but firmly she placed her hands on her shoulders. “No, no. You are safe. You are in the city. We are healers. We will help you.” She looked over to the young man and summoned him with a flick of her head. “Help me. She can not bleed more. Help me make her lie still.” If necessary, Min could always run for her pack and get an extract that would send the girl to sleep. But it was tricky to use when the heart was already weakened by blood loss. It could send her to sleep permanently, so could only be viewed as a last resort. It would be best if this boy could soothe the girl and convince her to lie still. It would be best if the girl would just pass out again of her own accord.