Runespeaker

Chapter Eight

Bathed in the dim glow of a sun just about to rise, the wooden walls of Ril were a welcome sight.

Regga tore up the ground as he ran, and the guards at the gate visibly tensed as he approached. What business did anyone have approaching their city with such haste?

"I need a healer!" Elevar shouted as he got closer. "Where's the nearest healer?"

At last, he was at the gate, and the guards were looking at him with shocked expressions.

"Wh-what's with 'im?" asked one of the guards, prodding at Brekulf's motionless body.

"Injured," Elevar said, "badly. Take me to a healer."

The guard who had been prodding at the poor pirate nodded quickly. "Beshin, gate's all yours 'til I'm back."

"Right then," the other guard said. "Get going."

"Follow me." The guard took off into the city, walking briskly but not quite running. The throngs of people in the city's streets parted before them, and those who didn't step out of the way immediately were quickly pushed out of the way at the tip of the guard's spear.

After a few minutes, the guard pushed open the door of a small shack that looked like it was about to collapse in on itself. Elevar climbed off of Regga and tied the horse to the nearest pole. The guard took Brekulf's feet, while the runespeaker lifted him by his shoulders, and the two carried him inside together. They laid him back down on a table that stood in the middle of the dingy room, which stank of rushlights and alchemy.

"Healer!" the guard shouted.

"Coming," said a small voice hidden behind a door at the back of the room. "Coming."

"Thank you, sir," said Elevar.

In response, the guard nodded. "It's what I'm here for."

Finally, the door swung open, and a frail young woman—about Elevar's age, more than twenty but less than thirty—came stumbling out. Her light brown hair hung wherever it wished to hang, and a good bit of it had chosen to hide her face. Nonetheless, a slight frown was visible on her lips, and her eyes darted quickly around the room. "What's it this time?" she asked. "Fainting spell? Weakness? Just don't feel right?"

"Ax to the chest," said Elevar.

"Gods," the guard said.

"Oh," the healer said. "Oh...well, that's not something that comes in here very often. Let me see. Let me see."

The healer hurried to the table, where she quickly looked Brekulf over. "No blood on his shirt," she said.

To respond, Elevar opened up the hole in Brekulf's clothing, revealing the terrible gash and the rune he'd used to close it. She looked up from the wounded man. "You're a healer?"

"Not a healer," Elevar said, "but I know a few healing runes."

He figured she'd appreciate that. Healers were runespeakers too; they were just highly specialized runespeakers who had chosen to focus on healing runes, typically with a bit of medical alchemy on the side. She nodded. "Your services are no longer needed," she said, looking now at the guard. "You can return to your post now. Thank you. Thank you."

Nodding at the healer, the guard turned and left.

"I imagine your healing runes are limited to basic first aid," the healer said to Elevar, as she scurried around the room fetching potions and various other materials (mostly speakingstones and small bits of breathwood, all inscribed with runes). "Am I right?"

"Yes," said Elevar. "I wish I knew more, but..."

The healer cut him off. "You should probably go. This will take me at least a day."

"Al-alright," said Elevar. "I'll get out of your hair."

He stepped outside into the brisk early morning air and sat down against the wall. As the adrenaline finally started to wear off, he found that he was suddenly tired—very tired—and more than a little saddle sore. He almost nodded off before his eyes were torn open by the realization that, in his rush to get Brekulf into the city, he'd left his books lying beside the road. Animated once more, he climbed onto Regga's back and hurried out of the city. He tried to hurry, anyway, but the horse was having none of that. Of course, Elevar couldn't blame the poor animal for being a little slow that morning. He'd gone at a full gallop all night, and that was no small feat. In truth, the runespeaker was lucky his horse was moving at all.

Soon enough, they were out of the city, and, a few minutes later, Elevar gave his horse a rest. He thanked the animal before they started back on their way. The journey to retrieve the books lasted until about noon, as the runespeaker repeated his ritual of stopping for Regga's sake and praising the horse's perseverance once every hour or so, and he refused to ask for even the least bit of speed. He had time to kill anyway.

By the time Elevar returned to Ril, the sun was already setting. He made his way back to the healer's shack, tied Regga to the same post as he'd used before, and knocked on the healer's door. She opened it a moment later.

"How's he doing?" Elevar asked.

"Well enough," said the healer. "He still hasn't woken, but that's to be expected. He's going to need a bit of rest."

Elevar paused awkwardly for a moment. "I don't have any coin to pay you with. I suppose, if you'd take a few books for payment..."

The healer held up her hand, gesturing for him to stop. "It's fine. It's fine. He needed my services quite badly, and he was an interesting case. How did it happen?"

"Highwaymen," Elevar said.

"Ah." The healer studied him for a moment. "What's your name?"

"Elevar. And yours?"

"Tira."

"Well, thank you for healing my friend, Tira."

"I'm a healer. It's my purpose." A moment later, she added, "If you have no coin, I don't suppose you could pay for a room anywhere. I'll get a blanket for you, and you can sleep in the front room with your friend, if you'd like."

Elevar nodded. "That would be nice. Thank you."

Tira smiled faintly and stepped aside to let Elevar in. Brekulf was still lying on the table, his torn shirt now entirely gone. Several speakingstones and bits of breathwood, some glowing faintly in the dim candlelight, lay atop his chest.

"I'll get you a blanket," Tira said, brushing past Elevar. "I suppose you could use some food as well."

He was about to turn down her offer of food when his stomach started grumbling. "If it isn't too much trouble."

"None at all. None at all." She went into the back room and emerged a moment later with a blanket and a chunk of bread, which Elevar ate quickly.

Outside, the sun was gone, and the stars shone brightly.

"I need to rest," Tira said after a long silence. "I'll see you in the morning."

Once more, Tira disappeared into the back room. Although the floor was uncomfortable, Elevar was worn to the bone, and he fell asleep instantly. His dreams that night were troubled by visions of violence, blood, and death.