Scientific Sorcery

Part 40

Meri had lost sight of Ramla minutes ago. She hoped she wasn't too late. Hathor and Theoris were pushing hard into the battle, grunting with the effort of shoving their leather shields forward. Theoris seemed giddy as she stunned men with her shield and piked them to bring them down. She giggled as she stepped them into the dirt on her way to the next target. Hathor's face was a grim contrast. She didn't enjoy this in quite the same way. She had the look of a woman doing her duty. There was also a trembling worry in her eyes. Meri guessed that the worry was also for Ramla.

Holes appeared in a leather shield, and Hathor grunted as bullets struck her in the chest. Meri reached out with her mind. Punctured lung. Bullet lodged in breast muscle. Clean wound. No organs touched.

Meri cursed. There was damage to one of the arteries feeding Hathor's heart. She went to psychic work, growing a net around the artery to stop blood loss, and then shaping it to allow blood to continue to the heart. She shuffled that energy to the back of her mind to hold it, turning her attention next to the punctured lung.

She was amazed once again at how none of the wounds seemed to affect the fighting ability of the woman. She went on as if nothing had happened. If it weren't for her healing powers, Hathor would be on the ground in moments. Her heart would be going into arrest and she would have a lung full of blood. She was so confident in Meri's healing ability. She knew that Meri would be there to pick up the slack, that all she had to do was endure the pain until it was healed and keep going. What would they do without a battle priestess? Indeed, what would the city do without them? Every priestess was worth five warriors, for that is how many she could keep alive in a battle. Every priestess in the city multiplied the force of the battle. Every priestess should be saved. Even the bad ones.

Meri screeched in pain as she was stabbed in her side. The man had run at her, deciding to attack the woman in white instead of the two warriors. She knew it would just be a matter of time. She had the presence of mind to secure her healing nets before turning to him. Furious, she leveled a slap across his face with all her might. The surprised man stepped back, holding a hand to his stinging cheek before smiling and charging forward again. Meri took advantage of the moment to pull the blade from her side. It was a long dagger. She raised it with a bloody hand.

Kit's furious voice screamed in her head, "Don't you dare, priestess! I've got him. Keep running!"

True to her words, the man's eyes rolled back in his head and he fell to the ground—dead asleep. Meri thought about dropping the knife, but instead tucked it into her belt again. Soon she would be out of Kit's view. She might need to protect herself. A priestess wasn't allowed to wield a weapon, but she was doing a lot of things a priestess wasn't allowed to do.

She could already feel the wound in her side stitching itself together. Kit was fast. Very fast.

Meri jogged ahead and put a hand on Hathor's shoulder. Hathor inclined her head to acknowledge her without turning her gaze back.

"Faster. Ramla has been out of sight too long."

Hathor pounded her shield into the fray. "I see her."

Meri looked between the moving shields and into the crowd. There, just before the entrance to the city, Ramla laid in a pool of blood in the dirt. She was still moving, and the men around her were still moving on her. Meri couldn't get a firm look, but they were getting close.

Kit's voice sounded in her mind again, "May Attena protect you. I can no longer see you. Bring Ramla back. She's a good woman."

Meri didn't answer. Her fingers touched the hilt of the dagger in her belt.

Ramla was screaming. Meri could hear it in her head now. She wasn't sure if it was in pain or anger. It was hard to separate the emotions. Her audible scream, however, was filled with rage. Psychic scalpels shot out from her at random, slicing at her attackers. Many were unfazed and pressed forward, knowing she was almost dead. Hathor and Theoris pushed again and the crowd in front of them split.