Legends

Prologue: Lyth

War. That was all that surrounded me and it was all I knew. I knew no other life than running and fighting. It was difficult and it always would be, but I wanted more than this, more than fighting, more than losing everyone I care for. I knew I must survive this war. The elders told me that one member of my pack will be my soul mate but they won't tell me which one.

"Lyth! Get the hell over here! What in God's name are you doing?" I heard from across the field from Maddox, my commander. "Sorry, sir. I was just checking our supplies," I lied.

"Well, we need you over here. Aeon's been shot, and he's losing blood fast, and you're the only medic here. Now, hurry the hell up," Maddox commanded.

"Okay, sorry. I'm coming," I replied, sprinting across the field.

I had known Aeon for a while, he was my brother's best friend and I knew I needed to help him as best as I could. "Where was he shot? And with what did they shoot him," I questioned.

"Lower back, poisoned arrow. We think the tip was dipped in mercury," the commander informed me.  I had never dealt with mercury before, but I knew how deadly it was. I spared no time and started to prepare a special soak to try to extract the poison from his body, hoping not too much had entered his bloodstream.

The soak seemed to be working and Aeon was starting to gain consciousness. "What... w-where am I?" he mumbled, barely awake.

"You got shot. Mercury-dipped arrow," I answered. "It's in your lower back."  I continued trying to work the arrow slowly out of his back without damaging too much tissue. I finally just pulled the arrow out. Aeon let out a yelp of pain and I applied pressure to the wound. He seemed to be handling the mercury well, so I concluded most of it was pulled out by the soak and hadn't entered the bloodstream. Working quickly, I added as much gauze as I could and wrapped it tightly with a crudely made bandage that I had fashioned with an old tee shirt. "He seems to be okay. I think you should take him back to camp and just let him rest," I told Maddox.

"Are you sure?" he questioned. "We don't want to lose any more good men to this war."

"I'm sure, he's in a pretty stable condition and I think he just needs a break to heal," I said.

"Alright. Men! Take him to camp! Lay him on a cot or something. Make sure you put food by him for when he wakes."

"Yes, sir," the soldiers answered in sync.

I headed back to my post at the base of the hill. My job was to warn the men if the enemy was getting too close to the base. Just standing there got boring after a while and I usually thought about different things, like what she, my future love, would look like. I hoped she had a beautiful smile, and I would do anything I could to get her to laugh. She deserved everything I had, and I hadn't even met her.