Page 19 of The Lost Guard's Healer

It is a long and arduous night of picking up the pieces of the village and helping the many injured. The dark, despondent mood of everyone can be felt in the air. I feel their pain and see it etched on their faces, and it fills me with anger. These are good people. They didn’t deserve to be attacked like that.

What surprises me the most is how much Galene is doing, rushing about and helping everyone she can. I didn’t know she had this caring, determined side about her. She is clearly in distress and looks like the ground has exploded in her face, but she seems to only care about helping others.

I see she has a commanding presence when she gives orders to others to fetch bandages and hot water, or where they can find what they’re looking for. She’s one of the few people who are keeping their composure while others are still in shock.

Galene meets my eyes at one point, and her face hardens. She scowls for a second before looking away and ignoring me. I guess whatever close moment we’d had tonight had been in my mind, or had meant nothing.

Leila is among those helping the injured, but she has to spend time calming her boys, who think the bandits are coming back at any moment.

I do what I can to help clear debris and begin the restoration process, but my legs can only take me so far and I need to rest at times, much to my annoyance.

By the time the sun has risen, I feel like several long days have passed and the weariness and fatigue have seeped into my bones.

Three people died last night. Three lives lost. It affects the village as deeply as if it had been many times more than that. Everyone here knows everyone. They all lost three people. And there are four more people who might not survive the rest of the day. One of the deaths was a young girl. Others spoke of her as a ball of sunshine. Someone who could never harm a hair on anyone’s head. And she is gone. Dead because I couldn’t help these people enough. Guilt settles on my shoulders. I have to be better for them, to repay them.

Despite the aches and stiffness in my legs, I’m determined to be as useful as I can in their time of need.

I see Aldus across the field, speaking with a tall, muscular man who looks vaguely familiar. They seem to be locked in a serious discussion, so I go over to them.

The powerfully built man is wearing a faded, weathered tunic that shows off his muscled arms. His rich skin tone is the closest to bright red that I’ve yet seen in the village. The sides of his head are shaved and a short mohawk runs along the top.

“Tarin, my boy. Good to see you still standing,” Aldus asks when I reach them.

I nod to Aldus’s right arm, which is in a cloth sling.

“Not to worry,” he says. “I pulled my shoulder swinging that damn hammer. I’m not as young as I used to be.” He grimaces before asking, “Have you met Bohan?”

“I have not,” I say. The tall man shakes my extended hand. His grip is unsurprisingly very firm.

“Bohan is our Head Hunter. One of the best I’ve ever seen,” Aldus says. “He is in charge of all our hunters.”

“I remember you from last night,” I say. “You’re very handy with a spear. And an ax.”

“I did what I could, just like we all did,” Bohan says, his voice firm but low. Though he’s trying to come across as humble, I can see he’s posing himself as a heroic figure. Someone who needs no thanks, because they’re so great. He towers over Aldus and is a few inches taller than me, but he carries himself like he’s trying to take up as much space as he can.

“We were just saying,” Aldus begins, “we cannot let these attacks continue to happen.”

“And I was just saying,” Bohan says wearily, “we need to move further north, to the coast.”

“And I was telling you, we cannot simply move our lives a hundred miles away.”

“Are these attacks common?” I ask, not caring about their argument.

Aldus shakes his head. “The last time was over two years ago. And before that, we had almost four years of peace. The bandits are not organized, or following any particular schedule, but they somehow know when to catch us at our most defenseless. They are whirlwinds of death and destruction. Thankfully, they didn’t kidnap anyone this time.”

“Aldus, I can’t believe I’m hearing this,” I say, fighting back the rising rage. “These animals have been attacking you for years and you’ve done nothing about it?”

He frowns at me, looking outraged. “We fight back! What else would you have us do? We do not invite them to slaughter us.”

“I’ve been saying for years we need to strengthen our defenses,” Bohan says.

Aldus wheels on him. “You are the one in charge of our hunters, Bohan. You speak of defenses as though it were someone else’s duty.”

“We are hunters,” Bohan spits back, showing a flash of fiery anger. “We are not soldiers. We do what we can. Our job is to catch food to keep us alive, and that is what we do. Why don’t you organize our defenses?”

Aldus doesn’t back down, despite their height and size difference. “I will take this up with the elders and see that they know how you speak.”

“I’ll tell them myself,” Bohan says.

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