– Aeryn –

The warm sun beat down on my neck for the umpteenth time as my arms resumed an unfamiliar hacking motion. I breathed in and lined up the axe’s sharpened head to the grain of the log.

Thwack.

Sharp splinters flew in all directions as my axe bounced off the edge of the log and sunk itself into the chopping block below.

“AAAAAAAAGH.”

I quelled my internal rage and pried the axe out of the log.

‘Again.’ I repeated to myself.

‘Breathe in.’

I raised my arms.

‘Breathe out.’

Thwack!

The axe slid through the log, cleaving a quarter cleanly off.

God, it was weird using this clunky tool. My mind wandered towards the Irden knives and other light tools I used during my golden days.

Golden days?

I wasn’t getting worse back then… was I?

I wasn’t old either…

Ah, that’s it.

Was I blaming myself for being killed?

Was I subconsciously putting pressure on myself?

A sigh escaped my lips, followed by a small chuckle. My death changed a few of my bad habits as it forced me to see life through a different… lens? Or something. Yet I seemed to still have my inferiority complex…

“Hey Em! I’m finished!” I yell, beaming over the pile of hazardously cut, misshapen chunks of wood.

--~~~~--

The clinking of the three-pronged prisms echoed from within my open hand, their shine reflecting off the water that filled the tub. Money!

I pulled myself out of the tub and released the value to release the water. It was a crude structure, but from the way my muscles sang a song of relaxation, I knew that it had done its job.

“Hey Aerynnnn! When’re you coming outttt??” Lily chimed at the locked door.

“I only just got out!” I yelled back.

“Well it’s getting lateeee, you’re missing time on your nightly hunts you know!”

“I’ll be out in a bit, be patient child.” I tease.

“I’m only a few freaking months younger, idiot.”

‘Nightly hunts… huh…’ The excuse Lewis and I had come up with to explain my absence during the night. It had been working… at least for now.

I slid on the final sock and stepped out of the shower room.

“Ian, is the pay due tonight or tomorrow?” I asked as I strode into the main room.

The burly innkeeper was at his usual spot behind the counter, preparing dishes for whomever might’ve wandered in for a meal.

“T’night, ‘hough if ye don’ ‘ave the pay, ye can pay la’er”, Ian replied.

My heart warmed at his words, there were only few things more heartwarming than earning the trust of someone you only met a week or so ago.

Especially in a country at war.

“I got a little extra today so I can cough up the money now. Apparently Lewis helped Millen with the cows, but he ran off before Millen could pay him.” I doubt Lewis would’ve turned down the payment.. but best to be sure.

War…

Walking back to the Inn yesterday, I saw Lily running towards the front gate. I started to call out to her, but the dark expression across her face silenced me. Instinctively I climbed to the nearest roof and followed her, keeping my distance.

A shrill scream broke free from the gate’s direction and then the wind carried weaker cries of pain towards me.

The front gate appeared in view; multiple guards were there, surrounding something. Lily immediately began yelling orders – was it just her promotion that changed her demeanor when on duty, or was it the situation?

The guards followed the orders almost without hesitation, some grabbing water, others grabbing cloth.

One of the guards then quickly pulled back their arm, clutching something.

Another scream quickly pierced my ears.

I stepped off the roof and quietly landed with a grace only attainable from years of practice.

Blood was seeping out of the circle of guards and began soaking through the gravel path.

Another arm pulled back, another snap, another scream.

I prowled closer, not wanting to interfere, but curiosity had always been a weakness of mine.

I drew closer.

A porcupine of a man’s back lay within the circle of guards, arrows were the spikes.

Burns covered his left arm and spread over parts of his shoulder.

“Hey, don’t fall asleep – someone splash him with some cold water!” A nearby guard yelled.

“Focus on the arrowheads! For the shallow ones in the torso, Snap the shafts and have someone hold open the wound, then twist the head out! For the arrows in the shoulders and sides, have Emur check them, if they aren’t by a vital spot, snap the shaft and push the remaining arrow all the way through! SOMEBODY GET STRING AND SOW UP THE WOUNDS NOW!” Lily yelled, asserting her authority to control the situation.

I stole some string from a stall and took out the needle I kept within the hem of my shirt and rushed into the evermoving crowd, then immediately began to sow the open wounds left by the arrows. My hands moved with the precision of a surgeon in training – not professional enough to do an amazing job, but I did them at an acceptable level.

“DO WE HAVE ANY PEOPLE WITH AFFINITIES IN OUNN-UU YAERRUE-UU OR TAEAA-AERUE?”

‘Minor Health and… Body manipulation..? Interesting… can the health arts heal the wounds?’

A guard dropped his bucket and ran to Lily.

“STOP HIS NERVOUS SYSTEM FROM PAIN TWITCHING!” She yelled at the guard.

The guard placed his hands upon the fallen one’s head and his hands to his chest began to emit a faint dark green light.

Almost immediately the twitching slowed, almost to a stop.

I continued my stitching – the lowered spasms of pain allowed my fingers to work with much higher efficiency.

‘Reminds me of all the times I was sowing myself up’ I thought with a chuckle.

Snap, Squelch, Scream. That cycle of noise continued and continued. My fingers began to numb and my string was running out. I glanced over to the final few wounds that decorated his shoulder like a sea-snake’s strips.

“They…” a faint groan emerged from the wound… it was amazing he could still speak after all that.

“Who? What happened?” Lily asked, no longer yelling.

“Dinevar has reached… the south end… of the… forest.” He spluttered.

Lily frantically looked towards the horizon, scanning for signs of attackers, then sighed as there weren’t signs of any.

A force tightened around my leg and I glanced down to see the wounded’s hand clutched around my leg.

“don’t.. let me die…” He managed to say, falling into an unconscious slumber.