Soldiers of Avarice by Stephen L. Nowland

Author:Stephen L. Nowland [Nowland, Stephen L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Fantasy
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

It was almost completely dark when Aiden finally came to, a headache pounding behind his eyes, and sharp pains stabbing the rest of his body. The nearby torch was burning low, its flickering flame no larger than that of a candle. A strong smell was in the air, a kind of damp, musty odor that reminded Aiden of rotting vegetables.

His leg still ached, and it appeared to have been splinted with the handle of an axe, then wrapped with a combination of torn clothing and bandages. Turning his head slightly, he could see that much of the rock around him had been removed, and in its place was Nellise’s prone form.

“Took an hour to dig them out,” Pacian said in a hoarse voice to Aiden, sitting beside her. His old friend looked unusually sombre, and didn’t take his eyes from her when he spoke. “Nel took a blow to the head from a bloody big rock. She’s lucky to be alive at all, although there’s no telling how long she’ll be out. After all that effort to armor herself up, she couldn’t have bought a helmet too?”

Aiden slowly raised himself up to rest on his elbows, wincing at the various pains shooting throughout his body at the slight movement. Nellise’s breathing was shallow, and the parts of her body that weren’t covered by armor were torn and cut or wrapped in bloodied bandages. Clavis, sitting at the base of the stairs, noticed Aiden’s movement and crawled closer to investigate.

“Ah, good to see yer awake,” he said, checking out the splint on the young man’s right leg. “Ordinarily, I’d say ye’d have to wear this thing for six weeks before ya could walk unaided again, but if — when Nel wakes up, she should hopefully be able to get ya back on yer feet in a few hours.” He produced a small vial, most likely taken from Nellise’s pack, and handed it to Aiden.

“These little vials are potent healing draughts, so give it a swig,” Clavis advised. Aiden leaned to one side and used a free arm to take the offered medicine, which he drank down in one gulp. It was foul-tasting stuff, but almost immediately he began to feel a tingling throughout his body, particularly the wounded parts.

“Potent little mixture, innit? That’ll help ya out some, but it’s not nearly enough to fix yer leg. We used most of them to help out Sayana, and we’ve only got one left for when Nel wakes up.”

Aiden heard a catch in his voice, and with cold realization dawning, began to pay closer attention to their surroundings. The sounds of rapid, shallow breathing could be heard from nearby. Fearing the worst, Aiden carefully dragged himself up the stairs towards the noise, until he could see Colt sitting beside the wild girl, who lay in amongst the rubble.

The ranger held a torch in one hand, and Sayana’s right hand with the other. Sweat beaded on her brow and her eyes were wide open, but she stared straight up at the stone ceiling and barely noticed Aiden’s approach at all.

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