Page 99 of Of Scale and Blood

“Commander Vaya has ordered me to escort you to Scout Gordan’s bunkhouse.”

Meaning my father had ordered it and Vaya had passed it on. There was no other way Vaya could have known I was coming down here.

“Thank you, soldier.”

He saluted again, spun round, and marched off at a good clip. We hurried after him. The military section was basic in layout—four squarish quarters around a central rectangular core. The latter contained the mess, hospital, administration, and the commanders’ and captains’ accommodation. The closest two quarters contained the barracks for the regular soldiers, and the far one, those for scouts. The coursers were stabled behind them. I knew where Kele was quartered but had no idea where Hannity was, so it was lucky I didn’t have to waste more time checking with admin.

We followed the wide path straight through to the core, then around to the left of the main admin building, and all around me, the preparations for attack were ongoing. The barracks, like everything else in Esan, were made of black stone, but many of their exteriors had been painted with various images and symbols representing the various squads housed within them. My squad—housed to the right—bore depictions of a gray hawk with flame coming from its claws. Kele’s squad—housed in the section behind my squad’s—were represented by a fiery courser. Hannity’s group was in the rear left section, and the barracks’ front wall bore a fiery fist.

There were several soldiers lounging out the front when we turned the corner, but they were all kitted up ready for action. They all snapped to attention as we approached.

“At ease,” I said. “Is Hannity Gordan inside?”

“Aye, Captain,” a lean man with a heavy red plait said. “We had the medics out to her early this morning, but I don’t think she’s any better.”

“Do you know what they gave her, if anything?” Riki asked.

“Some sort of tea to bring her temperature down?—”

“Meaning she was lucid at that point in time?” Riki cut in.

The lean man nodded. “She was also given a painkiller to take at four-hourly intervals. They said it was likely hectic fever, as it’s going round, and she was soaked when she came.”

“A natural assumption under normal conditions,” Riki said. Her comment was aimed my way, even if she didn’t look at me. “May we go inside?”

“Yes, ma’am.” He opened the door, then stepped aside so we could enter.

I thanked and dismissed our guide, then followed Riki in. Like most of the barracks, this one held six beds, and five were empty. The sixth had privacy curtains drawn around, and even from here I could hear the restless stirring and occasional soft moan.

Hannity really wasn’t in a good state.

Riki tsked and hurried over, sweeping aside the curtain, then knelt beside the bed and touched her fingers either side of Hannity’s forehead. She didn’t say anything, but energy flickered from her to Hannity via her touch, meaning she was one of our mind healers.

After a few moments, she sat back on her heels and looked at me, her expression alarmed. “What on earth happened to her? Her biometry is all over the place, and partially filled with an essence not her own.”

“The three of us underwent a spell to share our strega fires with the drakkons.”

“With the—” She stopped and shook her head. “Why on earth would anyone in their right mind want to do that?”

“Because it might be the only way to defeat what comes.”

She snorted. “We’ve been defeating the Mareritt?—”

“I’m not talking about the Mareritt, but rather the gilded riders.”

“Those people on metal birds? There’s not enough of them to be a threat to us, surely?”

“On that, you would be wrong.” I waved a hand toward Hannity. “Can you help her?”

Her gaze returned to the younger woman, and she wrinkled her nose. “Her body fights what has been done to it, so I can’t give any guarantees. But if I can force her into a coma and get her core temperature down, it should help her body’s natural healing ability.”

An ability that had, hopefully, been enhanced with Rua’s innate fast healing. “Do that then, please, and if you could stay here and keep an eye on her?—”

“Indeed, because the next couple of hours will tell the tale of survival or not. But I’d be checking on the third member of this group if I were you.”

“I’m about to, but thank you.”

She nodded and swung her kit from her back. I hung a climbing harness on the nearby clothes hook, then left Riki to it, providing a quick update to Hannity’s bunkmates before hurrying over to the next quadrant and Kele’s quarters. There was no one sitting outside and little noise coming from within.

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