Brightening White Flowers

9. Wellsgrove

Before I can walk farther Togin dismounts and uses his speed to lay a hand on my shoulder before I can reach them, "Wait, Lieutenant Karri. We need to figure out what is going on first."

I raise my eyebrows as I deliberately take a look around the village to linger on the wary and extremely hungry adults and children, the multiple empty houses, and the pit filled with burning bodies we already passed just on the inside of the once whole gate. I find myself tensing with having to hold myself back, "I may not know what exactly is going on, Commander Togin, but I do know that there are many people here who need help. I intend to look for them and heal them."

He sighs and drops his hand from my shoulder, "Very well, but let us wait for a person to lead us." He waves an older child closer to us. The boy he waves over is the only one not looking at us with wary distrust. The look in his pale brown eyes is expectant. As he walks towards us it is obvious to tell that he is more well fed than most of the other villagers around here in the open. Togin continues without pause at the oddities, "What is your name, lad?"

The strange boy smiles and dips a bow with his upper torso, "My name's Themis. You want to see the sick and badly injured first, right?"

Togin raises one eyebrow but nods, "Tallic, come with me. Markus, you will help Karri however she sees fit." Markus quickly dismounts but just as he is about to reach us Togin smiles a little, "I would start by grabbing that smaller plain bag attached to Dancing Shadow's saddle."

Markus sighs a little but goes to grab the bag while giving Dancing a wary look. My black stallion just eyes him but does nothing towards the shadow Keeper. As soon as Markus has my bag in a firm grasp he moves quickly from Dancing and joins us, he can't get away fast enough from my stallion. Togin and I just barely manage to stop ourselves from laughing. As soon as he joins us the boy, Themis, leads us away from where all the warriors have gathered. As he moves us towards a large building just off of the center of the village the people of this village part for us with just one look at Themis. My lips purse as I look at this boy. He can be no more than twelve or thirteen but it appears that he holds tremendous sway towards these people.

I have no more time to think on it though when he opens the doors to the large building. Ice fills my veins as I see the extent of the suffering for my eyes. The smell of tainted blood is more obvious now as sick people cough up blood next to people injured so badly they cannot move. I can feel the boy's eyes on me as I take my initial stock of all the people in need. I force myself to remain calm though. I ignore the smell of the tainted blood as I slowly make way towards an older human woman who is hunched over a patient teetering towards dying.

I tap her shoulders lightly. She whirls around with a scowl on her face but right as she sees me the scowl drops. The next second she looks up and down my person, her eyes landing on the crest sewn onto my clothes. Her eyes shutter to nothingness but as I hear movement behind me her eyes flick there then back to me showing just a hint of curiosity now.

Themis takes position right next me on my left and Togin takes the same position on my right. It is Themis who speaks quietly to her with a smile on his face, "Hello, Miss Hammon, this Light Warrior is here to help heal us." She sighs, the weariness seeming to dig even deeper trenches in her body. "I can observe her while you take the Commander of Kinza to see Headman Colm."

She says not a word as she drops the cloth she was using to wipe down the bandaged man behind her in a basin. Her voice sounds just as weary and worn out as she looks when she looks up to Togin, "Come. Headman Colm is this way, Commander." Togin and Tallic follow her, their footsteps fading farther into the building as I look down at the bandaged man in front of me.