| Kelnai glided in, her arms filled with cloths to soak up blood. She had heard urgency in Jenya's voice that said clothes would wait, for whatever the reason. She noted Sha'en's presence, and the glazed look in her eyes - possible shock, but it looked more like fear and fatigue. Sha'en's eyes would have to wait as well; the scent of blood was thick in the air and drew Kelnai's focus to the bleeding woman lying on her couch. Her eyes slid to Jenya, leaning over the woman's bare back. She pushed him gently out of her way, barely repressing a horrified gasp at the rips in the flesh before her. Kelnai recognized Lalreth's long hair - she was really the only other person who could have accompanied Sha'en, the two were like sisters - but her skin was sallow, not the healthy olive Kelnai remembered. Between Lalreth's shoulder blades four gashes had rent the flesh from the nape of her neck to just above her waist. Beneath the mangled flesh and torn muscles, tiny bits of white were visible, running in a broken vertical line along the center of her back. Jenya noticed the bone as well. "You've seen worse." He didn't sound very certain, but Kelnai nodded. Both left the rest unsaid: And worse is yet to come, the motto of the Houses, now the Taer'shal. Their ideology taught that yesterday was terrible, tomorrow will be worse, today is all one can really be sure of. Yet for all the certainty of worse days to come, the Children were all hopeful enough that something could change. Sometimes Kelnai felt they were fools for hoping, but their hope had kept them safe for over a millennium thus far. The ruby-haired woman knelt before Lalreth, telling Jenya to lift her slightly so that towels could be placed beneath her to catch some of the blood. The white cloths quickly turned bright red and with Lalreth's weight on top of them her blood was only pressed into the fabric that covered the furniture. "I can mend the skin and muscle," Kelnai spoke softly, without any hesitation in her voice. "But it may not be enough." Soft, short and matter-of-fact. Kelnai placed a palm on Lalreth's neck, wincing. "Her skin is turning cold. I don't know exactly how much she has bled, and I don't have the means to replace what she has lost." She had found books on "medicine" from the Old World that mentioned blood transference, but Kelnai was only a former Mage, not a healer. "Do something," Sha'en moaned softly, her voice plaintive and weak. "Anything." She stood wringing her hands, her shoulders slumped. Her short, disheveled hair fell into her face. Her posture screamed she was defeated, her eyes held on to hope and promised an explanation. "Jenya," Kelnai half closed her eyes, trying just for now to forget the hurt in her voice. Sha'en and Lalreth had always behaved as sisters - still did, from the look of things - and Kelnai could only try to imagine the agony of trying to face losing someone so close to her heart. The hurt would have to wait. "Show Sha'en where she can bathe, give her some of mine or Saerifahl's clothing, get some food in her stomach. I will do what I can." Jenya nodded and took Sha'en by the hand. She tried to pull away, but not much strength was left in her and Jenya knew Sha'en really would not want to see or hear the mending process. Those hazel eyes went dull, focusing on the floor as Jenya led them away. "Make sure Saerifahl keeps Shorin entertained," Kelnai called just before Sha'en and Jenya were out of the room. She placed a hand over the weeping wounds, began whispering to the raw energies that condensed to compose flesh, ordering them to mend. There was a series of nauseating crackling and squelching sounds as the skin pulled together, as the damage to the muscles was slowly undone. More blood seeped from the wounds before they could close completely, and Kelnai was becoming doubtful that she would see Lalreth's pretty green eyes looking at her ever again. Kelnai let the whispers stop once the scars appeared. She could keep urging the bits of skin to heal over completely, and make the scars go away but there was a chance that it could push Lalreth's system too far. The woman's skin was turning colder beneath Kelnai's hand. "Try..." A sweet echo resounded, amber light fell across Lalreth's back. Kelnai did not turn her head to look for the source of the light, on past occasions when she'd tried the light always seemed to originate just from the corner of her eye. She'd heard these echoes, seen this light sporadically for the past four years. Kelnai bowed her head forward slightly. "It could kill her, and she's already dying." Mellifluous echoes swelled in Kelnai's mind, tinged with urgency and impatience. "Then there is nothing for her to lose, no reason for you to feel as if you have failed. This being knows something you will need. Try." A soft glow enveloped Lalreth completely, lifted her gently into the air. Slowly the woman turned before the warm luminary shell set her on her back. Lalreth's eyes were open now, looking into space and seeing only emptiness. The light and the echoes faded, leaving Kelnai alone with a dying, half-naked woman. "Heavens help me," Kelnai whispered, and began to sing. "Please tell me you can bathe yourself," Jenya blushed a little, relieved when Sha'en nodded. "Shout if you need anything." He twisted a spigot, turning the flow of warmed water off. One thing that had survived the collapse of the Old World, running water, improved life drastically. "I'll send Saerifahl in, just in case." He turned his back as his old friend began stripping off the tatters that had been dirt-molded to her skin. Double wooden doors separated the steam filled bathing chamber from his and Kelnai's bedroom. Jenya padded across the floor, moving towards his son's room. He could smell blood even in the hallway. Rapping his knuckles against the thick wooden portal, he called out. "Saerifahl?" Jenya heard a high giggle from the other side of the door. "I need you to go help Sha'en." A heavy sigh, a few clattering sounds, and the door opened as Saerifahl bounded out. "Will do! Where is she?" For some reason, a reason which Jenya did not think he wanted to know, she began looking quizically at the ceiling. "Bathing, she'll need clothes when she's done, and food." Jenya pointed in the direction of his room so Saerifahl would know which bathing chamber he meant. The short woman almost skipped as she walked away, humming softly a tune that Jenya had never heard. Maybe she was so happy because she was completely insane. Maybe that was the only way one could be completely happy in this world. Jenya shrugged, letting the thought go as he stepped into his son's room. "Who are they?" Shorin didn't look at his father, concentrating on painting some carvings Kelnai had given him two years ago, as a birthday present. In this world, surviving another year was always something to celebrate. "Two women I used to... work with." Jenya took a seat in the cushioned chair before Shorin's desk. He had slept all day, dreaming pleasantly, but he was tired again already. "Killers, like you?" At least the boy was honest. "Trackers, yes. At least, they were. When Kelnai left with you, they disappeared. I'd thought they were dead for a long time, until Kelnai told me last year that she had told them to run." Jenya shrugged, watching his son paint. "Why are they here? Why come to you?" Shorin held his brush in midstroke, closing his eyes as the voices of dead Magi swelled in his head. "Because they think I can help them. Sha'en told me once that I would change this world, that I was one of only a few things she could place her faith in." "They believe in you?" Shorin looked at his father sideways, grinning once Jenya nodded. "Why?" "All right, I know you hate me. I'm sorry. I know you don't believe I can do any good in this world, and I know you would call the powers that be fools for whatever plans they have for me. You don't believe in me, that's fine." Jenya sighed. That look in Shorin's eyes told him to get to the point. "Sometimes I doubt myself, but it seems it is in my stars to do something truly good for this world." "I thought Acharya killed those stars." The boy went back to painting. The figure he brushed the pigment onto was a soldier, bearing the marks of the Dead Houses, clothed in black with hair of gold. "He's been trying to kill you too, hasn't he?" Shorin saw Jenya nod out of the corner of his eye. "Are you that hard to kill?" Shorin fought back a grin as Jenya shifted uncomfortably. It took Jenya a moment to decide how to respond. "I have reasons not to die. Don't get any ideas." Jenya simply stood and decided he'd had enough deep conversations for this day. Lalreth's slender fingers twitched. Enveloped by blankets of warm red energy, the injured woman had been able to close her eyes. Kelnai still knelt before Lalreth, singing softly, her concentration unbroken by Jenya's presence. Tiny rivulets of electric blue energy raced through the ruby coloured air just above Lalreth's heart, shocking the tired cardiac muscles into continuing to pulsate. Kelnai fell silent. "I didn't know you could do that," Jenya put a hand on his wife's shoulder. Kelnai looked as tired as he felt. "Neither did I," Kelnai admitted, rocking back onto her feet before standing. "This war is beginning to scare me." She put an arm around Jenya, looking for some sort of comfort. "And it hadn't before? What about it scares you now?" Jenya couldn't help but watch Lalreth twitch as he held Kelnai. "You'll have to trust me. If I tell you, you may decide not to fight anymore, and too much in this world is depending on you, and your son." She stepped away from Jenya, moving to run a hand through Lalreth's hair. "I have done what I can for her. Her heart has stopped a couple of times, so I have to keep it beating." Kelnai gestured to the ruby shell. "In a few hours, I'll have to come back and do this again. Until her body can keep itself warm enough and her body produces more blood, her heart will beat only because I've told it to." Kelnai sighed heavily, making it clear that it was a responsibility she did not want. "Uh, right." These past four years had made Jenya grow up, some, but he still got the urge to change the subject when conversation got too heavy. "Saerifahl is letting Sha'en take her bed tonight, for now they're eating and chatting. Until you come back, you probably need sleep, right?" He took Kelnai's hand and began leading her to their bedroom. "Probably. How were your dreams?" Their bare feet made padding sounds as they passed through the hallway. "Splendid. I dreamt about the day we were married, it doesn't seem like it was three years ago. Good dreams, especially about the night after the ceremony." Jenya grinned as Kelnai missed a step. "Nevermind sleep," Kelnai laughed. |