Page 57 of Skalterra By Nightmare
“Use your cloak to hide his injuries.” I focused on the muscles in my arms, willing strength into my Nightmare form, and I managed to get the Grimguard half-way upright. Orla slipped her cloak over his head and adjusted its folds so that they hung over his festering burns.
“Great.” She grunted as she slipped under his other arm to help carry him. “Now what?”
“We go to your room.” I adjusted my grip on my side of the Grimguard. His dark-haired head lolled between us, and I wrinkled my nose. He smelled like dirt and sweat.
“Excuse you?” Orla leaned forward to glare at me around the Grimguard’s chest. “My room?”
“We’ll hide him there and treat his injuries as best we can.”
“And if he follows us after we leave Vanderfall?”
“I think you might be overestimating our First Aid abilities. He’s not following anyone anytime soon.”
The streets had thinned out with the late hour, though we still received plenty of side-eyes as we dragged the Grimguard between us.
“Too much to drink.” I smiled apologetically at an older man in a duster like Galahad’s. He grunted and returned to his own drink at the street-side bar where he sat.
The Grimguard’s feet dragged behind us as we walked, the toes of his leather boots bumping over cobblestones. I wasn’t sure he would last long enough to make it to Orla’s room, but by the time we pulled him into the lobby of the inn, ragged breaths were still forcing their way up from the back of his throat.
I nodded for Orla to lead the way up the stairwell, and again focused on strengthening my muscles under my imitation Von Leer hoodie. I took the bulk of the Grimguard’s weight and hoisted him over my shoulder.
“I’ve got him,” I grunted, and followed Orla up the stairs. Each step was a different height than the last, and I staggered up the stairwell with the Grimguard’s head pressed against mine. We were almost to our floor when Orla doubled back into the stairwell, nearly knocking both me and Grimguard back down the steps.
“Tiernan,” she hissed. “He’s still outside of Fana’s door!”
“So do something!” I whispered back.
She bit her lip, then nodded.
“Alright, but be quick. I don’t know how long I can keep him distracted.” Orla whisked back into the corridor and sprinted into the hall. “Tiernan, the Grimguard! He’s climbing through Fana’s window!”
I waited for the sound of Fana’s door banging open before darting into the hall with the Grimguard. Tiernan’s shouts mingled with Orla’s frazzled warnings and Fana’s shrieks of surprise. The Grimguard’s boots had just passed the threshold of Orla’s door when Fana’s door slammed down the corridor.
“Are you trying to wake up the entire inn?” Tiernan’s voice growled. “No one was out there!”
“Before he left for the Baron’s mansion, Ferrin told me to test you.” Orla injected her tone with a fake apology. “Don’t worry. I’ll tell him you did great. If therehadbeen a Grimguard outside Fana’s window, he wouldn’t have stood a chance against that broom you threw.”
I dropped the Grimguard onto Orla’s bed, and it depressed under his weight.
“Is he dead yet?” Orla shut the door behind her as she came in.
“It’s hard to tell in the dark.” I stepped aside so as much light from the window would pour across the Grimguard’s chest. “I think he bled on your cloak. I’m sorry.”
“It was already dirty.” She sipped from one of her glowing Skal bottles before handing it off to me. With a snap of her fingers, the wick of the bedside candle flashed green and then settled into a gentle orange flame.
Meanwhile, I extricated the Grimguard from Orla’s cloak and held the bottle of Skal aloft so I could work by the light of its glow. My stomach turned at the sight of the oozing burns.
“How much medicine do you know?” Orla asked in a low tone.
“Not enough.” I went to work unbuckling what was left of the Grimguard’s armor. It resisted my pull, glued to his body by dried sweat and blood. I exhaled heavily to cover the sound of raw flesh unsticking from leather. “I did Sports Med in high school, but mostly we just shoved tampons up bloody noses.”
“Right.” Orla nodded importantly. “Then we find a tampon. What is that?”
“It doesn’t matter. I don’t think they’ll help much here. I need fresh water, a towel, bandages, and the strongest alcohol you can find.”
“I can get you water and alcohol, but my cloak will have to do for a towel and bandages. I’ll be right back.” She whisked out of the room, leaving me to extricate strips of the Grimguard’s tunic from his wounds. With the leather and cloth pulled away, I could better see the festering wound that splashed across the Grimguard’s torso. The gentle rise and fall of his chest made me wince. Even the tiniest movement looked painful.
The tendrils of burns reached towards his neck, and I leaned in closer to try to see where the injury stopped along the line of his collar bone.
