Spellbound

Chapter Eight

           

Shouting sounded outside and Eriol peered out the tent. "What's going on?" he wondered.
"Get the children to safety!" someone shouted.
"What is it...?" Sakura asked. She peered outside just as several arrows came whistling through the air. Two landed a few metres from the entrance to the medical tent.
"Sakura, take the child and get to safety." Eriol ordered.
"Where do I go?" Sakura asked, pulling the four-year-old from the bed and wrapping her in the warm blankets.
"Behind the waterfall is a cave-head there."
"What about you?" she asked.
He smiled, "Oh, I'll be fine."

Meiling pulled Sakura behind her and they ran out of the tent. Soldiers fought to protect their people and Sakura tried not to stop as she heard several cries of agony and rage.
She stumbled as she ran but recovered quickly, heading for the waterfall and river.
"No-my son!" a woman up ahead screamed.
Sakura glanced over her shoulder and spotted a screaming three-year-old boy on the ground.
"Meiling, take her," she pressed the little girl into Meiling's arms and span around to retrieve the little boy who cried for his mother.
"Sakura-wait!" Meiling shouted.

Sakura didn't listen. She dodged several soldiers and mothers who were headed for the waterfall and safely made it to the child.
"Come on," she murmured softly, helping the child to his feet.
She spun around as she felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise and met the eyes of a bloodthirsty soldier with his sword raised above his head, ready to kill her and the boy.
Out if pure reflex she held out her hand and when the sword came down, it appeared to hit some kind of force field and shattered. Stunned, he faltered for a moment before removing his secondary weapon to kill her with instead.
The sound of hooves sounded behind her and she closed her eyes tight, shielding the boy from harm with her body. Something warm splattered against her face.

"Hurry and get that child to the waterfall." Syaoran ordered.

She opened her eyes and looked up to see her husband looking out for any more threats.
Sakura pulled the boy into her arms and ran as fast as she could with Syaoran shielding her back on the way.
Several enemy soldiers were chasing after women and children as they scrambled for the cave behind the waterfall. Syaoran hurried forwards to defend the cave, cutting down his enemies swiftly without hesitation.

Sakura passed through the water and into darkness. She could hear murmuring and cries of children.
"My son!"
She looked around, seeing a woman struggling to reach her. She stepped forward and carefully move around huddling children and mothers and injured until she reached the frantic woman. The child reached out to his mother and Sakura handed him over, relieved to see them back together again.
The woman thanked her profusely and Sakura smiled, happy to help.
A hand touched her shoulder and Sakura turned, seeing Meiling holding a damp cloth. The medic reached out and wiped the blood from Sakura's face and then moved to tend to the injured. Feeling wiped out and utterly exhausted from her escape of near death, Sakura collapsed on her knees, held up by the surrounding women.

...

She came to in the familiar surroundings of the tent she shared with Syaoran. She opened her eyes, finding the tent to be dimly lit, and she wondered how late it was. A warm hand brushed her cheek tenderly.
"Good to see you're awake," Syaoran murmured.
"What time is it?" she mumbled.
"It's late evening. You were out for a while." He answered. "I saw you deflect that blade."
She groaned. "I was running on pure instinct."
"For now, I'll accept that as an answer. I doubt your magic only includes healing."

She sat up. She was still wearing her usual clothes, but they were filthy and covered in mud and blood. "I need to ask Tomoyo if she can make me another one of these dresses."
"That one seems to be your favourite out of all of them." Syaoran smiled.
"It's comfortable and I can move around in it easily, so it's good for when I'm working." She explained.
"You might want her to get you some new shoes, too." He added, "Your current ones seem to be wearing out."
"I know." Sakura stood up and removed her apron, folding it up and leaving it on the chair beside her. "How did things go in the city...?"
"Things have been resolved. It was a misunderstanding between two houses." He explained. "Has Eriol given you a medical kit yet?"
"No, he hasn't. He said something about running low on supplies needed." Sakura replied as she undressed herself and then wrapped herself in her pink silk dressing robe.
"I bought you one while I was out." Syaoran said, "I'm familiar with what's needed in them. My mother used to make me pack them for the medical apprentices before she passed away."
She looked at him with surprise. "Thank you..."
He smiled. "Did anything happen while I was away-not counting the attack."
Sakura sighed. "We're not sure yet. We've had several people come through with a strange rash and symptoms of sore joints and feeling ill. We haven't been able to figure out what it is that's causing it or if it's contagious."
"And it would be too costly to heal this strange new illness. You'd be down by a medic or depending on how bad it gets, a few medics." Syaoran murmured. "Strange."
"The only place every one of these patients has in common is being down by the riverside."
"But everyone goes to and from the river to get water." He frowned.
"We know. That's why we can't think of anything right now, and until we know what it is we won't know how to treat it properly. I asked Eriol to let me go down to the river and have a look, but he wouldn't let me." She confessed. "I'm worried about the children who are infected."