A short time later, Diane burst through the door and ran over to me. She easily dodged one of the healers that tried to intercept her and she stopped at my bedside.

“Oh, David.” Diane said and took my hand, tears in her eyes, and she looked over at my missing foot. “It's true? You were... you were really...”

“It's mouth was almost big enough.” I said.

Diane let out a sob and wiped at her eyes. The healers finished with Donna in the next bed and put her to sleep with a spell. They came over to me and glared at Diane.

“Miss, we need room to work.” One of them said.

“You don't need his hand for that, do you?” Diane asked and squeezed it.

I grunted and she looked at my pained face. “My hands were partially dissolved from acid and they've only received field healing.”

“I'm so sorry!” Diane said and let my hand go. She looked down at her hands and saw some blood. “I didn't mean to...”

“It's all right. Thank you for coming to see me so quickly.” I said.

“Let's start with the hand.” One of the healers said and two of them stepped around Diane and held my hand tenderly as they started casting their combined spell. The other two healers took my other hand, which left no room for Diane beside my bed.

“I... I should go.” Diane said. “You need to heal.”

“There's a tub by the wall for washing.” The healer that tried to stop Diane before commented. “Towels are beside it.”

“Th-thank you.” Diane said and walked over to the small tub and washed my blood off of her hands. She seemed to take a bit longer than normal to wash them off, then she stood to look at me. “I'll be back later to visit. I promise.”

“After you close the shop for the day?” I asked.

Diane took a breath and let it out, nodded slightly, and left.

Half an hour later, my hands felt fine and had even tingled, which meant they had been so damaged that I had lost a lot of feeling in them. That also meant that the same was true of my back. When I rolled over, one of the healers hissed and spoke in a whisper to someone not far away.

“What did you do? This is barely holding together, just like his hand.”

“We healed him just enough to make him mobile and to stop any infections. We couldn't do more than that, not after stabilizing the other injured.” The medic whispered back.

The healer beside me sighed. “You're lucky that he didn't fall on his back or it would have torn open and become a lot worse.” She paused for a moment and her hand caressed my skin, which I could barely feel. “Don't worry, Private. We'll have you completely healed as soon as we can.”

“If I'd known I'd get new skin after wards, I might have rolled around in the acid a bit more.” I said and all of the healers gasped. “What? You've seen my chest. It looks like it's piecemeal.”

“We reacted because you should be dead. Severe blood loss, skin, muscle and even some bone had dissolved from your back, and you want to do even more damage, just to have smooth skin afterwards?” The healer asked. “According to the medics and their descriptions, you shouldn't have been able to move from the excruciating pain.”

“I've felt worse.” I said and they all fell silent.

“We know.” She said and then all four sets of hands touched my back. “Unlike when you received the temporary healing, we don't need you to be awake this time.”

“Wait, I have to ask...” I said and realized that someone had been whispering nearby in that odd language, my head tingled for an instant, then I heard the word 'sleep' and everything went black.

_______________

You have a choice to make and it doesn't affect the story at all. Do you want to play a little game or something to unwind or just skip to the next event in the story?

I answered this before, didn't I? I asked.

That was before you took that little trip down a dragon's gullet. That was scary as hell and awesome, by the way. We're all very surprised that we haven't gotten any mental strain warnings or that physical recovery time is needed. How the hell did you do that?

I chuckled. I told you a long time ago that I had a plan. The more accepting I became with my situation in life, especially the harshness and the brutality, the easier it was to deal with the consequences.

It was a goddamn dragon! There's no way you planned for that!

No, that was a surprise and I thought I was dead. I still didn't panic, though. Next to the Hag, even the smart dragon was no match for her.

Well, okay. That actually makes sense.

It might be crazy to compare her and a dragon, since they are two difference species; but, she's nastier, meaner, not as strong but more powerful when it counts, and just thinking about crossing her can get you killed. I chuckled. It took me a long time to accept it and then... life became so much easier. Everything is just mild in comparison.

We can see that from your numbers. Even after all of that, your stress levels are barely above normal, your body's almost in a completely relaxed state, and your mind is barely at 20% irritation. That's amazing, considering how many breaks you needed before.

Now here we are, wasting time and I still haven't made a choice yet. I sat there for a minute and thought about it. I think I'll skip the down time. I'm sure there's not much more for me to go through before they discharge me from the army.

Ah, yeah. Sure. Okay, skipping now. Good luck!

Hey, wait! That didn't sound like you agreed!

_______________

I woke up and I was still on my belly. I felt a throb from my ankle and groaned a little, then I felt a warm hand touch my back.

“Just lay still.” A woman's voice said and her hand roamed over the bare skin of my back. “The healers just finished healing your calf. It needs to sit for a while before you can apply any pressure on it.”

I had just woken up groggily, which meant that the mind enhancing potion I drank before fighting the dragon had worn off. Since it lasted a day, that meant I had been unconscious for at least that long. I turned my head on the pillow to see Gillis was sitting beside the bed.

“Gillis... what...”

“My cousin Ellen is an idiot.” Gillis said and her hand made slow circles as her fingers explored all of the new smooth skin on my back. “This feels so weird, considering what it looked like before.”

“My chest is still the same.” I said.

Gillis smiled. “I heard the gossip that the healers are spreading around about you wanting to roll around in more acid to have your skin regrown there, too.”

“I didn't say I wanted to, just that if I'd known, I would have rolled around in it at the time.”

Gillis barked a quick laugh and then covered her mouth. “Oops. I'm supposed to be quiet.”

“What time is it?” I asked.

“It's evening the next day.” Gillis said. “You really messed up your ankle by burning it like that and they've been working on it this whole time.”

“It was the only way to stop the bleeding at the time.” I said. “How much did they cut off?”

“It was a lot.” Gillis said. “Dragon stomach acid was not good for burns, wounds, or damage in general.” She said and leaned in close to whisper. “You only have about four inches left below your knee.”

“That's about twelve inches cut off.” I said and thought about it. “I lost my foot and they took another foot from me, so I lost two feet and still have one left. I'm still a foot ahead.”

Gillis looked surprised for a second and then covered her mouth to stifle her laugh. “That's not funny.”

“You laughed.” I said.

“Only because I know you pretty well.” Gillis said. “The army has been more of an influence on you that I thought.” She closed her eyes for a moment and then sighed as she opened her eyes and looked at me with a sad expression. “David, I... I'm sorry.”

“The Colonel is still blaming it all on me, isn't she?”

“Yes, especially now. She's already tried to launch the second part of the mission twice and Mage Henrietta refused to let her mages be put into danger without you there to protect them.”

“No one is trying to override her?” I asked.

“Which one?” Gillis asked back.

“Mage Henrietta. I know no one is even paying attention to the princess.”

Gillis sighed and nodded. “That's exactly the problem. They think Ellen is as stupid and foolish as we do. This plan was insane before we fixed it as much as we could, and that was when we had the extra manpower to achieve it. With half the prepped strike teams dead, they're scrambling to train up others to replace them in time for the actual scheduled launch.”

“Which is tomorrow.” I said and she nodded. “How is she going to do it without me?”

“That's why I said she is an idiot.” Gillis said and the door to the room opened. “My cousin has seen fit to not relieve you of duty, despite being maimed in the service of the crown and should be medically discharged, just as Alex will be.”

“I legally can't discharge him.” The Colonel said and I didn't bother turning my head to try and look at her. “As a conscript, only the king can commute his life long sentence.”

“Don't twist the rules in your favor, Ellen!” Gillis said, angrily. “He doesn't have to stay on active mission duty. As long as he's on the roster and assigned desk work, he's still in the army.”

“Now who's twisting the rules?” The Colonel asked. “I see he's been healed up properly.”

“Ellen! He's missing his leg almost to his knee!” Gillis spat.

“Yes, and that's the perfect height for a standard size peg for walking.”

“NO!” Gillis gasped and stood up. “You can't make him go out into the marsh like this! He's crippled!”

“He's only piloting the boat and making potions. He could do that without any legs.” The Colonel said.

“ELLEN!” Gillis yelled and quite a few injured patients woke up and started groaning in pain.

“That's several times now that you've broken the only rule the healing ward has, Private Gillis.” The Colonel said as several healers went around to cast pain easing spells and then reinforced the sleep spells previously cast. “You are hereby prohibited from staying in this building or returning here for a week.”

Gillis opened her mouth to respond hotly and the Colonel raised a hand to stop her.

“Don't make me say permanently, because then you won't receive healing.” The Colonel said and Gillis snapped her mouth shut. “Dismissed.”

Gillis glared at her angrily for several moments, then she turned to look down at me. “I'll see you when you get back to take the next load of supplies.”

I nodded and lost sight of her as she walked around the bed and left the room. I heard footsteps and the Colonel stepped into view and sat down on the chair that Gillis had been in. I knew it was bad when she kept the hat on, which meant she was hiding from her emotions and she wasn't going to listen to reason.

“If you don't complete the mission on time, I'll prove to Gillis that you can still function without both feet.” The Colonel said. “The only reason I haven't removed one of your hands as punishment is because it would reduce your effectiveness in making potions.”

I laid there and didn't respond.

“Do you understand?” The Colonel asked. “I need an answer, Private.”

I looked over her face and then into her eyes. I had made a mistake in my calculations, because I didn't realize that the princess would make herself look as beautiful as the Hag on purpose and then threaten me in the same manner.

“Yes, sir.” I responded.

“Good.” The Colonel said and stood up. “Chief Warrant Officer Gary Stromboli will be by in the morning to fit your replacement appendage. I expect you to report to the maintenance department immediately after that to get to work.”

“Yes, sir.” I said.

She stood there and stared down at me, as if she was waiting for something, then she frowned and walked away. I wouldn't learn until the morning that she had ordered that Diane wasn't to be admitted to the garrison until the war was over and I wasn't allowed to leave without an escort.