Tingling prickles in my left hand woke me up.

I started a groan, but the pain it sent in my chest silenced me before it could leave my parched throat. The air was heavy with the smell of herbal poultices, alcohol, and blood and made me want to cough, but I knew the pain would be worse. At least pain meant I'm not dead. This isn't the void, there are feelings here, including pain.

I could hear distorted sounds of movements by my side and then someone speaking, "Well, hello there." I think I recognised doctor Nune's voice, "How do you feel, boy? You got us all scared for real," he confessed with an uncomfortable laugh. "You were one tough patient to monitor, not being able to read your Chi was really stressful. I couldn't tell if you were doing well or not," he explained with annoyance.

The sound was strangely dulled on my left side, just like when you get out of the bath or pool and water still clogged one of your ears.

The tingling pain in both of my hands prompted me to make some damage assessment. The pain I got just from trying to get up was enough to pin me back on the bed. At least the mattress was fluffy. I just had the time to see that they wrapped my limbs in bandages like a mummy.

They were hiding my mangled hands from my sight.

The tingling must be the phantom pain of lost limbs. I sigh at my loss and this sends another wave of pain in my chest; I refrained from another cough in fear of more backlash.

"Here, drink this," ordered the doctor while helping me lift my head to reach for a straw. I greedily took a gulp to quench my dried throat. The sour liquid made me frown a bit before I could recognise the coffee-like taste of kawa. Shit, I'm going back to sleep...

* * * *

Next time I emerged from my slumber, I can feel a soft touch on my cheek. I opened my eyes to meet with Melodi's cat's eyes.

"Hey, you third-beller. Slept well?" she asked with a relieved smile. "You got us worried. Weaklings shouldn't play the heroes on the frontline." The words clearly aren't hers, from her tone and slow pace when repeating them I'd guess they stem from Peterell. Melodi would definitively run to the frontline and I understand why her father would teach her otherwise.

"Is Gel safe?" I managed to utter in a coarse voice. The earring distortion made my voice sound alien to me. Last thing I knew, Gelcaria was about to bleed herself to death by removing the blade that was piercing her arm.

Melodi smiled happily and nodded. "Yes, she is in the room next door. She was an actual warrior there. I wish I could have shown off too. She'll have a bad-ass scar to flaunt later." She looked annoyed and pouted, "I want to have cool scars too." Don't make such cursed wish, girl; the gods might listen.

This time I knew better and didn't try to rise in my bed. Instead, I tried moving my arms to have a look at the bandages, but the slightest movement turned the tingling into a fierce burn.

"Take it slow," warned me post-haste the catgirl, "the doctor said you'll have to stay bedridden for a few days."

I looked around for a window to figure out the time, but I could just tell it was daytime. "How long have I been out?"She laughed as if I've said something funny. "Just for three days. Enough time for the mages and priests to take care of you. They all said you were a pain in the arse." She giggled. I've always been kind of a model kid, calm and obedient, to hear bad comments about me seemed to elate her.

I wanted to brush away a strand of hair falling on my forehead, but the pain in my hands reminded me that I shouldn't move. This is annoying. As if not having Chi wasn't enough of a crippling, I now had to lose a hand, maybe both... Catching my intention, Melodi's furry paw helped me to move aside the strand of hair.

"What about the princess? Is she safe? She looked unconscious." I remembered she was inert when carried by the kidnappers.

Melodi's whiskers shivered with excitation. "Yes, the both of you were heroes. She was poisoned and paralysed. Were you not there, she would have been taken away, said the lord." A sad frown came upon her face, "But they killed Hamy. The cowards jumped on her by surprise and poisoned her. There is no way such weak fighters would win otherwise." She was waving a furious paw in front of her, cursing at an invisible foe.

They weren't weak in my opinion. They both could move fast, thanks to Chi, were well-trained and equipped. We were just lucky my weapons surprised them. It was dumb to jump in. As much as I care about the princess, risking both of our lives against stronger foes was rash and brazen. Fortan was with us this time but only the fools will rely on him more than once.

And now they were dead. This time, I was a killer for sure. I felt no remorse, though. What could I have done differently? Running for help would have let them absconded with the princess and I was in no position to spare them. They were going to kill us. The gods must've agreed with me because I could still feel the blessing around my right eye. If I was guilty of needless murder the gods were supposed to punish me.

Lost in my thoughts, I didn't see Melodi leave but she came back with Gelcaria in tow. I blame the narcotics they gave me for my lack of attention. Or maybe did I get some brain concussion damage too?

Her amethysts light up when they meet my eyes and she rushes to the bedside. She couldn't give me a proper hug and I must thank the slung strapping her right arm for sparing me the pain. She could just pat my head in consolation as my sister would.

I find the will to ask, "Is your arm ok?" I feel guilty for letting her run towards the danger. I should have stopped her. We were far above our heads and could have easily got ourselves killed there were it not for the surprise element.

She gave me a nod and an apologetic smile. "It barely hurts any longer. The palace healers are incredible." This was not a good thing. If she got too complacent and started thinking that the healers can do anything, she will only get even bolder.

I tried to drift to more practical matters. "What about my family? Did someone warn them?" I query with the two girls. I imagine that the palace was under lockdown after the attack but my parents should have been informed that I got crippled. Once more, I must be a source of worries and anguish for them.

Both girls shared an uneasy look at each other. Knowing that something was brewing, I pressured Melodi since she was the more likely to tell the truth, "Melodi, did you tell my family what happened to me?"

She blushed cutely and started to fiddle with her paws out of embarrassment. "Hum, yes," she hesitantly started, "but maybe I shouldn't have." She looked at Gel with hesitation, like she was asking for permission to talk.

Gel sighed. If her arm wasn't in a slinger, she would have facepalmed. After a last look at Melodi she took it on her to clarify the situation, "She did tell your family yesterday and your mother didn't take it well." She hesitated for a second before explaining further, "She tried to storm in the palace and ended up arguing with the old man." She started to imitate my mother's voice and attitude "how could you let a child fight? Aren't you supposed to be the Shield and yet you mean to tell me heretics wounded my child? Where is he? What happened to him?" I praised my mother's gall here. Going against the old lord couldn't have been easy for her, just the pressure from his presence alone was something hard to face.

"And?" I ask warily. I hoped they didn't punish her or that her rightful anger didn't put her into trouble.

Gel relieved my worries. "Lord Iroto was quite comprehensive. She was authorized to see you while the healers were taking care of you. This was enough to calm her down. I know little more, just that she was escorted back home without trouble. You're lucky to have a concerned mother," she added with a hint of jealousy.

I didn't know if Gel parents even came here to check on her. Often, it was looking like they had already given up on her. She was doing fine at the palace. Her life was on good tracks, but the lack of interest from her mother always baffled me.

Right at that moment doctor Nune came in, followed by lord Iroto. Doctor Nune looked disapprovingly at my friends. "I thought we said that he needed rest and was not to be disturbed. Come on girls, out you go," he ordered firmly but with little hostility.

My friends waved at me and left without trying to protest, they understood the doctor's orders.

The old lord's verdant eyes smiled at me. "Glad to see you awake. The doctor here had quite the hard time with you and so did the palace's healers." I could see the physician wanted to voice his opinion but refrained from doing so at the last moment.

The old man went on, "It was worth the effort, though. I wouldn't pardon myself if the rescuers of my granddaughter died on my watch. Your mother wouldn't spare me either," he added in a light tone.

"Please don't blame her for her attitude, she was just worried," I hastily apologized in her stead. Going against the Shield was a dangerous endeavour.

"Ha, ha. No mother should apologize for worrying about their child. I should be the one making amends," he acknowledged with a laughter, "She is right. I failed you and you got hurt protecting us. I'm the one who has to thank you and apologize to her. I won't forget what happened." he ensured me.

While the old lord was talking, the doctor was slowly unwrapping my bandages, "Time to see how well you are recovering," explained the old lord.

Once unwrapped I was surprised to see that I still ha a left hand and even more, a hand with its fingers. Sure, they looked gruesome. They had a rosy fleshy colour and were oozing plasma. It looked like severely burned to the second degree; but they existed. My right hand looked perfectly fine, there was just a fine scar in the middle of it, where the blade pierced through it.

Just the breeze of the air around my bare fingers was enough to make me wince in pain, the fresh air felt like a burn on the slimy raw flesh. Doctor Nune nodded with satisfaction, his smile looked genuine to me. I had seen enough lying doctors to know what their fake smiles looked like. "Best to cover them again. There are still some treatments to do but things took a better turn than I feared. Were it not for his strange condition it would already be over but I'll need a bit more time," he explained to the lord.

This unsettled me, "What condition? Wasn't my hand destroyed?" I enquired.

The old man confirmed my fears, "Yes, your hand was badly mangled. Was it your gunpowder thing? It proved effective in neutralising the assassins," he commended. "Of course, I've tasked our best healers to make sure your hand would recover. The thing is that your strange Chi was quite the headache for them," he was awkwardly explaining, unsure about how to describe the problem.

"They all complained about how hard it was to heal your wounds and how it required way more Chi than usual. Neither them, nor the doctor could feel your Chi, which was making things even more troublesome to monitor your condition." The physician by his side was vigorously nodding his head, almost losing his strange hat in the motion. "It was unexpected but we couldn't let your wounds go untended, a lot of our best healers took turns to make sure your hand was restored before your aura adapted." I was a bit at a loss, aura was a new notion, same was limb regrowth. Were this world's healers this powerful?

The doctor interrupted, "Yet the process is far from completion, this wound still needs time and care. Please, I have to ask you to leave him to rest, there will be time for more discussions later but right now my patient is in pain and needs rest."

The lord was annoyed but shrugged in the end, "Doctor's orders. Fine, I'll come back when I can. There is more we need to discuss. Again, thank you. Were you and Gelcaria not there, I might have lost Moatimu. I won't forget that." He already said it but I would always welcome appreciation.

The doctor made me drink more kawa to send me back to sleep, before wrapping back my limbs in bandages and applying some balm on it while the narcotic took effect.