Erika came to lying metaphorically in the ruins of her ambitions, and literally in the ruins of Elkhorn. Even lying down on a damp fur coat Erika could see the city had gotten annihilated, obliterated, glassed in the face passing an open alley and had its pockets gone through for spare change. Every building she could see out of the corners of her eyes was either on fire, smoulder, collapsed or all three. Luckily the gods had sent rain or the whole city might have burned down… the pitter patter of the droplets contrasted with the hissing as they doused the distant flames and left the air smelling of rain, ash and blood…. Although that might have been Erika.

Nobody seemed to notice her getting up, which was surprising considering how much pain she was in, she gasped, gagged and grumbled as she hauled herself upright using the wall as a support. Her shoulder and her leg were both in… well agony was the only word, apparently the painkillers Ammeris gave her had worn off and each motion sent waves of exquisite agony coursing through her body, like lightning through a storm.

Erika turned inwards, her consciousness running from the pain and… yes her well had stabilised again, the bursting fullness and sucking emptiness had both passed and it was once again placid and powerful, perfect!

Gently tapping her fingers to her sucking shoulder wound Erika cast [Regrowth and Resurgence] then repeated the casting on her leg, the invisible thing had taken her knee out… what would cripple anyone from another realm was child’s play for a life-smith to cure. [Smith Flesh] sealed up her wounds and the regrowth was steadily healing them inside, one last casting of Restorative Draft and even her energy was back.

Gingerly Erika put weight on her bad leg, then she smiled and leant over on it, after a moment she winced and took most of the weight back.

Nearly good she thought with a disappointed frown thinking about her leg, about the invisible thing, made her remember something important… something she needed to do… KARA! Cursing aloud she looked at the row of wounded that she had been part of, her fur mat was a bit better than that given to the other delvers and she’d been afforded a privacy screen but she was still in the same long low hall, maybe an inn? That the expedition appeared to have seized as a medical tent. The groaning, bubbling or occasionally terrifyingly silent delvers lay in rows of nine stretching away across the floor.

Erika would fix as many as she could, but first her saviour.

As she wandered the rows she saw, through the ruined wall she saw the other delvers moving with quiet purpose. Sigurn was stood there, her hair white with the lingering fallout of using a 7th step divine art, she seemed sad. As Erika watched she gently lifted one of the Bairn from the ground and, whispering to it, placed its corpse onto the pyre and staring into the flames.

Erika left her to it, instead she staggered along the lines, past piles of blood-stained bandages and empty alchemical bottles until… there!

Legs giving way Erika slumped down next to Kara, her eyes were closed but she was breathing rhythmically, probably sleeping… Erika gently reached out and lifted up the blanket laid across her, peering at the wounds. She sucked her teeth and tried not to swear, the invisible thing had been sadistic with its placement, the cuts were shallow but every single one was placed on a mobile piece of Karas body making the wounds a dozen times more painful and slower to heal too.

Luckily that didn’t really stop a vitki.

Erika tapped Kara on the arm and channelled Odium from her well, shaping it into the story construct in her mind, letting the thoughts and pictures and ideas flow and imbuing them with the concept of healing.

[Regrowth and Resurgence] flowed along her flesh, the shallow sadistic wounds healed over faster and more completely than Erika’s, partly from their comparative lightness but also probably because Kara had a stronger Hamr, the shape/life force of the soul. Most warriors did apparently, it sort of naturally exercised as their bodies broke and healed again and again in both training and warfare. Erika stopped to consider that apparently the soul was a muscle for a moment before she was dragged out of her strange musings by Kara coughing. The magick running through her could heal wounds but not fatigue or thirst but Erika did know a spell that did, casting [Restorative Draft] Erika watched as Karas cheeks filled out, her cracked lips smoothed over, her dull skin flushed with life.

Kara opened her eyes and looked around, a moment later she noticed Erika and smiled.

“Ah lady Erika…. Good to see you… did we win?”

Erika sniffled and nodded. “I did say just to call me Erika, right?”

Kara laughed. “Of course, of course, etiquette is an instinct by now… I feel great… I assume I have you to thank?”

Erika laughed and wiped a damp eye. “Yeah, just like I have you to thank for carrying me on your back half way through a city whilst under constant attack.”

Kara laughed and sat upright shuffling the blankets to drape over her in a sort of tent. “You’d have been fine without me I'm sure i…

“No,” Erika said simply cutting Kara off. “I don’t have a warrior’s body, I'm not even that cunning, today was sheer luck more than anything… thank you… without you I’d be dead.”

Kara stared at Erika for a moment as the vitki poured her heart out, Erika for her part nearly recoiled, she didn’t like opening up this much… maybe it was too much… maybe she…

Kara took her hand and stared into her eyes, a strange tension in her form as she seemed to notice their surroundings for the first time. “I need to help out here… but after this… how about you and I have a… private talk… just the two of us? I’ve got some good mead put by and…”

Erika realised Kara was blushing, she’d never seen Kara blush before.

“…Are you planning on courting me?” Erika asked in utter disbelief, sure she was cute but Kara could do better, right?

“I am.”

Erika forced herself not to look away but instead to keep eye contact and nod like a proper respectable woman. “I’d like that.” She said, her voice barely cracking.