BK1 Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

The snake lunged, and we both screamed.

Teresa leapt left, narrowly avoiding it as it dived straight. The snake's tail coiled to indicate it was about to lunge again. She raised the Jian and fumbled into the first stance of Flowing Water, trying to prepare, but the snake was faster. Its blue scales stood out against the green meadow despite the mud it soared through easily.

It flung towards Teresa, and she shrieked. Dropping her stance, she held the Jian diagonally, bracing for the attack. Instead, the snake's fangs connected with the blade. Teresa struggled but held the snake back, centimetres from her chest. Her arms shook against its strength.

I had to do something but couldn't leave Harold like this. He was defenceless.

Teresa's foot slipped back as the snake pushed, its fangs growing closer to her chest. She couldn't hold the snake back for much longer.

Shit.

What do I do?

The snake's tail suddenly moved differently from what it had been. I saw it stealthily curling towards Teresa's leg. The snake was going to trip her. She wouldn't be able to defend against it then.

Shit.

I scrambled into the mud, grabbed the dagger I borrowed from my boot, and ran toward the fight. Holding the dagger high with both hands for extra grip, I gritted my teeth and jumped onto its back, heaving the blade down with a sickening squelch. It resisted the leathery skin of the snake at first, but the blade didn't have much trouble piercing as it sank into muscle.

The snake hissed in pain, releasing its jaws from Teresa's Jian and turning its attention to me. Its yellow eyes glared as it jolted its body in a fluid motion that threw me off. I tumbled, rolling into the mud, my head clashing with the ground numerous times before finally stopping.

Before I could react, the snake was already slithering toward me. Its fangs bore widely headed from my prone body. I felt an intense pain bloom in my right arm as I held it up to block my face. Tingling shivered all over, mixing with the pain.

But I didn't have time to think about that.

The dagger I had used was still in my right hand. It had been pulled out with me when I had been thrown off. Looking directly into the snake's face as its fangs were plunging into my arm, I grabbed the dagger from it with my left and stabbed at its head. The blade struck into its eye, and it bucked in reaction pulling its head up with my arm still encased in its fangs.

Suddenly it fell left as Teresa rammed its side with the Jian finally releasing my arm as it hissed and wriggled around her blade, holding it into the ground. Not wanting to take chances, I stabbed at its head again repeatedly, and blood splattered us until it stopped moving.

Our chests were pumping as we stared at the dead demonic beast, our bodies shaking from adrenaline. I glanced at my arm. It was leaking blood from the two holes that were there.

"Think" Teresa took a breath. "The others are coming", she finished nodding to the team of summoners running our way, Callan among them.

"Yeah", I mirrored her exhaustion as we spoke, gasping for air. I couldn't feel my arm anymore. "Finally" were my last words before my vision darkened, my body growing numb.

"Lynette! Are you okay?" Teresa's voice was muffled, but I could still hear her. I couldn't feel much of anything anymore, but I was still aware of the sounds around me and the few blurry shapes I could see.

My vision shook, and I was pretty sure it was because Teresa was shaking me, my body limp to her touch. Was this what Harold was experiencing? Complete loss of control of your limbs with the awareness of it happening?

I would have shuddered if I could.

"Lynette!" a panicked cry whispered as brown fluff flopped above my head. It was odd, a little surreal. I'm sure I've seen that face before, those same blurry shapes of Callan looking down at me in my nightmares.

"Get her stabilized, soldier!" another voice called as the sounds of feet scuffled around me.

"Lynette, this will feel strange, bear with it" Callan's hands cupped my cheeks, a spurge of warmth sinking into my skin. It was so startling I flinched. At least, I wanted to. Had I been that cold?

A heavyweight began to settle under my eyelids as they drooped, my mind growing fuzzy this time as sleep forced its way onto me.

***

Everything ached.

"Ow", I wheezed, finding it difficult to sit up. Above me was a bland beige fabric that wobbled in the wind. It looked patchy but also very high. I strained my neck to look around and saw I was lying in a bedroll atop a sturdy rectangular mound of earth, and I wasn't alone. Beside me was a line of bedrolls, each filled with its own occupant as we littered the inside of a tent the length of a small house.

"You're awake" I blinked to my side to see Zachary Weadall dressed in a tidy green cloak. It didn't have a speck of wear despite our journey.

"Somehow", I muttered, "Where am I?"

"Medical tent, we set it up after the attack. Unfortunately, too many were injured to keep going, so the March has been halted for a short time" Zachary reached out to me, and my reaction was to pull back.

"S-sorry", I stuttered. "Instinct" I tried to shrug it off, but Zachary gave me a look that made me redden.

"It's alright. I only want to check your vitals. You took a heavy dose of marsh snake venom" he held out his hand this time, and I meekly nodded, placing my own into his. He tightened his grip on my wrist with both hands, and the same pale green glow emitted from them as he had done at my assessment. Again, a tingling feeling buzzed in my skin as it darted around my body.

"Hmm, good" Zachary removed his hands as the light and tingling stopped. "You are recovering well. A bit of exercise now should eliminate the last of it from your system. Make sure to drink lots of water and eat plenty."

"Thanks," I said, rubbing my wrist. "What happened too…." I felt a lump in my throat. "Harold Eastmond, he was poisoned too."

Zachary smiled. "He's fine, thanks to you" he nodded to the opposite side of the tent, and I saw him fast asleep, his chest moving steadily. "Quick thinking using Yanko pulp, marsh snake venom is deadly, even from a grade one. Luckily its venom is slow enough that you can extract it if you get there in enough time." Zachary grimaced. "Not everyone was so lucky" His eyes flickered to a section of the tent walled off by a sheet of material.

I felt bile rise in my throat.

"How many" I whispered.

"Too many", Zachary pained. "The back team of summoners were ambushed, leaving many foot-guards open" His solemn words were enough for me to understand. The biggest loss had been commoners, people without cores or Aether training to defend themselves against poison. People currently like the trainees.

"I commend what you did, Lady Heversham. But, as dangerous as it was, we may not be here right now without your poison resistance," Zachary said, the air heavy with their weight.

Was it my own tragic irony that had saved me?

I wouldn't have poison resistance if I had not been fed vile concoctions for most of my life.

"Speaking of…" Zachary glanced around us. Most of the medical Summoners wore brown cloaks, Earth summoners, tending to other patients. "You never did get the chance to speak with me" he lowered his voice carefully, sitting on the earth mound that was my bed frame.

"No, sorry about that"

Zachary shook his head. "It couldn't have been helped. I know how Eduard can be."

"Demanding?" I said bitterly.

"Sometimes," Zachary said, a little uncomfortable. Eduard was his friend, after all.

"Why did you want to see me?" I asked, pinching my fingers.

"Let me be frank" Zachary's tone changed as he looked at me seriously, making me uneasy. "I'm worried about you," he said, causing my eyes to widen.

"What?" I stilled.

He sighed, leaning his elbows on his knees. "Lynette", he dropped honorifics. "A girl raised in your environment should not have poison or pain resistance, nor should your body be as malnourished as it is."

"I don't know why-" my words stumbled, my hands shaking.

"When I used my Aether to check your vitals at the assessment, it showed me just how frail you are. It doesn't add up. A Viscount, not a pauper, raised you, and then there's your-" he paused, gauging my paling face "Your scars", he whispered as another summoner walked by.

"How do you know about those" I whispered, clutching my shoulders.

"I'm a medical officer. You were injured. I had to check you weren't hurt anywhere other than your arm," he informed me, so matter of fact.

I felt my skin crawl.

"I've had them since before I could remember" I meekly gave him the same excuse I gave Garret in my last life. This was not the time or place to go talking about how I had died three times. He would mark me as crazy.

He stared at me silently, not buying it.

"You told me you had your reasons for joining the Army, Lynette, I won't pry, but I want you to know, if you need to, you can talk to me" His voice was kind, but I didn't feel comforted.

"It's alright, I'm fine, really, it's nothing to worry about", I forced a smile. "Did you.. did you tell Eduard any of this?"

Zachary sighed. "No, I won't unless I'm asked." That proposition scared me, but I knew Eduard wouldn't. He was too prideful.

***

I remained in the medical tent for a few more hours. Someone had brought me a roasted snake on a stick to eat. It was palatable. One of the first things I did after my conversation with Zachary was to check the choker on my neck. The leather piece was still untouched, so he hadn't seen my neck scar. He likely had seen the scar on my chest from Callan's sword.

It was unnerving knowing he was suspicious of me. Was it even suspicion? He hadn't exactly said anything wrong. It was the opposite, in fact. He had recognized that my skills were unusual for the life I have led so far and broached that. When he saw my skills, Eduard hadn't even mentioned my poison or physical resistance. Did he not think them unusual as well?

I wasn't to leave until the poison had fully dissipated from my body, but my resistance meant I was the only one who had woken up. I could hear the patients' groans beside me as they fought against it. The earth summoners regularly checked them with their Aether giving them liquids ground from plants, medicines for anti-poison.

I watched them work as they used Earth to create the tools they needed and to find the plants required for their medicines. At one point, I even witnessed a man have his torn skin resown, the Earth summoner performing the miracle concentrated as tethers of brown light filtered from his fingers towards the wound. The tether dug into the skin and wove the two pieces seamlessly, leaving no trace of a wound.

Watching them all had me wondering why a Wind Summoner like Zachary was working as a medical officer. Eduard had told me the army's medical staff was mostly Earth Summoners as they healed with their Aether. Could a Wind Summoner do the same?

"How are you feeling?" He asked as I finished my snake skewer.

"Better," I said, feeling full after the chewy meat.

"Good, you should be able to leave soon. I've informed your escort," Zachary half smiled.

"Escort?"

"Someone who wouldn't stop nagging me", he rolled his eyes. "Teresa Garpson is very talkative."

I laughed. "Yes, she often has a lot to say."

"Indeed." He mused. "She seems like a good teammate."

"She is", I smiled. "Do you think Harold will wake up soon?"

"Maybe in a few hours. The Yanko cleared out the majority, but there's still some poison lingering in his system. Rest is what he needs now."

"Let me know when he does. I'm sure he will need an escort, too" I chuckled, and Zachary nodded in mirth.

"Zachary", I sat up, and he looked at me, almost expectantly. "um, this may be a strange question."

"Yes?"

"Why are you a medical officer?"

"Excuse me?" He raised an eyebrow, surprised. Maybe that was not the question he was expecting, or hoping for.

"Sorry! It's just.… you're the only Wind Summoner here, so.." I trailed off as a look of understanding dawned on his face.

"Earth Summoners make excellent medical officers because of the precision of control the element gives them." He moved to sit beside me again, tapping a round silver medallion pinned to the collar of his cloak. "This is our profession badge," he said, and I looked at it more closely this time. An intricate realistic heart was sketched into the metal resting within a pair of hands. "Most summoners you will see with one of these are Earth summoners, but there are those of us who take up the profession as there are things only we can do."

"As an Air Summoner, I can control the flow in your lungs if they collapse. I can lift the injured without jolting them. I can also use air to seal off wounds from infection or extract harmful substances if something is inhaled. All of these things an Earth summoner can not do, but I also can not stitch a wound back together, I can not use my Aether to pinpoint an infection, and I can not create a comfortable location for the sick like an Earth Summoner can."

"So, a profession is not limited to your affinity?"

"No, it is not, but everyone has a preference in how they use their power", he stood as voices I recognized were stopped outside the tent doorway. "quite often, I find, the profession chooses you."

"Thanks," I said in appreciation for him taking the time to answer me, "I wonder what profession will choose me."

"Time will tell," he answered, amused. "However, I think your escort may have arrived."

We both looked to the tent entrance, and sure enough, Teresa was marching towards us. Beside her was an unexpected accomplice as they argued incessantly.

"I said I would get her. I don't know why you have to come too," Teresa pouted.

"I'm her brother. I have more right to escort her than you do," Callan scoffed. He purposely increased his pace, knowing Teresa couldn't keep up.

"No fair!" Teresa moaned, lagging behind him.

"Lynette, how are you?" Callan asked me, rushing to my earth bed.

"We weren't allowed to see you until you recovered", Teresa complained, scowling at Zachary.

"She's fine", Zachary interjected. "As I have told you many times, Miss Garpson."

"Thank you, Lord Weadall. Eduard and I are grateful" Callan closed his fist onto the right of his chest in a bow. He was oddly calm. I was surprised he hadn't found something to be upset about yet.

"Yes, I'm sure" Zachary's tone made Callan raise his eyebrow, and I meekly looked away. I didn't know what Zachary presumed regarding my condition, but I was beginning to think he had come to his own conclusions.

I gave my thanks to the medical team, Zachary included, and left the medical tent with my two escorts on either side.

Many of the people we passed in their beds looked to be recovering, their wounds healed and complexions brightening. The lucky ones.

As we reached the entrance, I saw two foot-guards guarding. Their spears raised, poised for combat, ready to defend the injured should another demonic beast appear. They nodded to us as the sound of chattering and pots cooking surrounded me. The grounds we had stopped upon had become a bustle of soldiers who trained and relaxed in the crisp sun after heavy rains.

Laughter and jostling of young men caught my attention as they trained with their weapons, shared conversations around fires, and patrolled the perimeter. Several tents were the same size as the medical tent we had left raised nearby. A familiar red tassel fluttered in the wind atop one of the smaller ones, General Saika's tent. Several guards stood outside of his tent, and I think I may have glimpsed the sight of a group inside discussing around a table.

No longer were we in uniform lines. Now the hundred or so soldiers had created a small canvas village in the open plain meadows.

I followed Teresa and Callan as they led me through the unfamiliar layout toward a small area where the trainees were. The two groups of twenty hadn't mingled, the nobles not wanting to be near the commoners, but they were side by side. All of them were resting their weary muscles, unused to the physical strains they had been through these past two weeks.

"Lady Heversham, you have recovered", Garret's sickening voice greeted us as he strode forward.

"Pft", Teresa snarled. "No thanks to you, coward."

Garret glared at her. "I did what was best for my safety. You should have too commoner."

"Do you annoy everyone?" Callan said side eyeing Teresa, making her frown.

"Callan?" I broached, sensing maybe something had happened whilst I had been asleep

"Lord Asher is right. You should never have gone running off on your own like that," Callan scowled at me, making me flinch. "Foolish", his hand suddenly lightly smacked on the top of my head, his fingers gripping my hair as he turned my head to look at him directly.

"But Lord Eastmond-" I began.

"Doesn't matter" Callan narrowed his eyes. "If you had died, I would have had to deal with Father, idiot" His face softened ever so slightly. "Don't do that again."

"A-alright", I gulped as he released my head.

"Good. Take care of her" Callan threw something toward Teresa, and she deftly caught it. "My camp is over there. I'll see you for training."

I watched as he left towards his team's camp, a few meters away. The girl in his team, Felicity, spotted me looking and winked causing me to blush and quickly look away embarrassed.

Had Callan just lectured me? He Never did that. Eduard did.

Vishka's Guidance System

Callan Heversham

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