Vale

Chapter 30

"Be safe," Lourdes nods.

"And you're just letting her," I say, for once genuinely pissed at Lourdes. I thought we agreed we're stopping Morlene from doing dangerous things alone. "Angel could go with-"

"A magic user has to stay around," Morlene states. "Lourdes is in charge while I'm away, you follow her word like it was mine, get it?"

She flips her hair as she turns around to leave but stops before we could even react to the last thing she said.

"You guys are okay, though?" she asks. "Today's been a lot. If you need some time out..."

"We're awesome," Cephas says, and I see his hand appear in my peripheral vision so I high-five him out of reflex. I'm not going to lie, he feels weak as shit. "But do come back to check in on us soon."

"Will do," Morlene nods and disappears where the dark tunnel curves to the left after a single torch on the wall.

"You," Lourdes points at Cephas. "Sit down and rest. Leo, get him some water, you need to grow your blood back. Vale, you're with me."

"But how are we gonna tell Morlene?"

As I'm literally being dragged away by my ear, I have to admit I don't mind being apart from Cephas for a bit. It's not that I feel awkward around him, it's just that I need to deal with my own thoughts and if he's around looking like a puppy that's been left out in the rain I can't do it. With Lourdes bossing me around, making me hold needles, soaking up blood, applying pressure on wounds, and having me tell people "everything's going to be okay", and other similarly impossible tasks there's just enough brain space left on time out in my head to digest what happened.

Five thousand people was definitely an understatement. This cave is big but when the last troop comes back with the last batch of survivors (for now) the place is starting to fill up to an uncomfortable extent. It'd be fine for a crowd of people standing but there are way too many people who need way too much space for lying down, breathing properly, and for the equipment and people needed to treat them. Lourdes tells me of some tunnels across from the entrance where families and more severe cases can be moved in but first we have to stabilise everyone.

Six or seven hours pass before most people around are doing okay – except for the ones that lost limbs and such – which is when I see Angel and someone in a royal guard's uniform walk to the entrance tunnel. Some rumbling goes down and the earth around us shakes, then the guard and Angel return, and latter comes up to me.

"Been some time, Bloodslinger."

"Yeah, I fancy you. I mean! Fancy meeting you here! Sorry, long day."

Angel doesn't smile but gives me a smirk that is somehow not degrading.

"Tell you what, Bloodslinger."

I don't even want to correct them.

"You and I? We're good."

Yeah, we are.

"See you around."

I watch them go around the place and help the most severe cases go to sleep – temporarily – so they can have some rest from the pain. A heavy silence falls on the cave many refugees – having completely missed the point of atriums – nicknamed the Atrium.

The only sound around is the breathing, slow and fast alike, of thousands of people around us. It's hot and uncomfortable, smells like blood and sweat. As long as there's no blight in the air I don't think anyone minds.