Page 5 of The Lost Guard's Healer

As he makes his way to the exit, I ask, “Can you tell me where I am?”

He stops and gives me a sideways look. “I will show you. Allow me a moment.”

I drop my head back and let out a weary sigh after he leaves. When I test my legs, I see they have a little more life in them. I can just about wiggle my toes and, with some effort, can slightly bend my knees. But the actions require a lot of effort and concentration.

The minty scent of the tea does smell good. No, don’t drink it, I tell myself. Not until you know more about your situation. If these Wildmen truly want to kill me and devour my body, I will not make it easy for them.

I sit up with some effort. At least the throbbing in my head is gone.

Aldus soon returns, and he is carrying two long sticks. A handle lashed with twine to both sticks tells me they are crutches. The bearded man has a gentle touch to him as he helps me up and hands me the crutches to support my weight. On my feet, the sticks take almost my entire weight. Thankfully, the tops of the sticks are padded with cloth tied with string, so they don’t dig into my armpits. That gesture alone is almost enough to have me relaxing, nevermind the fact that he gave me makeshift crutches at all. But I wonder if it’s meant to ease me, to allay my suspicions.

I don’t let myself fall for any of their tricks.

“How are they?” Aldus asks.

I take a tentative step forward. The right stick gets caught in a crack in the earth and throws me off balance. Aldus catches me before I fall.

“Easy. Easy,” he says. “Take your time. Go slow. Here. Come on.”

He stays close as he encourages me to take a few more steps. I manage to shift forward without falling, but I hate how weak my arms are. My whole body feels soft and frail. And I have to ignore the pain flaring in my left shoulder. I wonder if I've broken a collarbone or something in my shoulder. There are old scrapes on my arms, but no major signs of damage. I wonder how broken I was when they found me on the riverside.

Aldus has his arms out as though he’s ready to catch me at any moment as he slowly backs out of the hut. I get the sense that he’s a good man with a good heart, but I remind myself not to trust anyone.

I blink against the harsh daylight as I finally step out of the hut, the flaps falling away over my shoulders. It takes a moment for my eyes to adjust.

It’s late morning or early afternoon. The sun is somewhere behind the clouds, mottling the blue sky. A vast field is before me, and many people are roaming about. Several smaller and larger huts are among enormous tent structures, rising over the huts like rooftops.

Everyone I see is in weathered clothing. Loose cardigans, baggy sweaters, open vests, flowing dresses. They seem to like browns, creams, and grays, as most are dressed in those colors. Some people gather by a circle of logs with a fire in the center. A stick frame suspends an enormous cauldron over the fire.

Children’s laughter cuts through the air. There’s a group of them playing by a muddy pond across the way. I look upon elderly women, young boys, and some women with babes in their arms. They are simply going about their lives. There are even clothes hanging on a line, billowing lazily in the warm breeze. Farther across the field, beyond a collection of trees, I see what looks like a river bank.

This is a town. A town of Wildmen. But not a town of feral savages. I never thought they’d be so organized. And so calm. I hadn’t been expecting this at all.

I turn to Aldus, who has been watching me closely. “I may have gotten the Wildmen wrong,” I admit. “I didn’t know you lived this… harmoniously.”

Aldus’s grin shifts his beard. “We are not Wildmen.”

I raise my eyebrows with surprise, and he seems to enjoy my confused look.

Then something crosses the sky and catches my eye. I straighten at the sight of a figure cutting through the air in the distance. It’s a person, and they are… flying in the air. A trail of golden dust-like light disperses in their wake. It takes me several seconds to understand I really am seeing someone flying.

I feel my mouth hanging open when someone sitting by the cauldron reaches out, and a spark flies from their fingertip. The spark hits the fire and strengthens it in a rush of hot air. Before I can recover from this, a small dog runs by me, yapping near my legs. But it isn’t a dog. It’s a fox-like animal with auburn fur. Three fluffy tails are wagging happily from its rear as it circles my feet. As it darts away, I’m even more stunned to notice its paws are not directly striking the ground. It’s effortlessly gliding through the air, a few inches from the ground.

Aldus is chuckling at my slack-jawed, wide-eyed expression.

“Come,” he says. “Allow me to show you around. We have a lot to explain.”

Chapter three

Rourk

Imanage to move around the village with the crutches, though my steps are infuriatingly slow. I’m not used to feeling so helpless, but for now, I take each moment as it comes. I’m still getting used to my surroundings and I have a lot of questions about what I’ve seen.

The people around me have wide faces with flawless, smooth skin. Some have large foreheads or heavy brows, while others have powerful jawlines. Very few of the men have facial hair. They are mostly dressed in furs and woven clothing, looking very rugged and rural. A life spent in rough surroundings with meager possessions. What catches my attention is the vibrancy of their eyes, which are mostly vivid blue or emerald. Only a few have dark eyes, but even those have glints of bright color when they catch the light.

“And so, once the Fae Queen reconnected with her magic, she opened the rest of the world to the magic that was locked for so long,” Aldus tells me. He has a similar heavy tone and clipped way of speaking to the woman who had made the tea for me. It’s a slow, deliberate way of talking. While he speaks the Standard Tongue well, it’s clear he has picked up his own inflections and way of saying certain words.

“I don’t quite understand,” I say, hobbling beside him as we walk around. “How does a long-lost Fae bring magic to the entire world?”

---