Enfri beat her fists against the interdiction. It was as solid as the thickest marble, but invisible as air. Nothing she could do could make the slightest change in the barrier. There was no way through, and there weren't any other exits from the wellspring cave.
She turned and pressed her back against the barrier. Jin hadn't moved since she cast the spell. She lay at the back of the cave, watching Enfri with a wild intensity. The pressure of her apotheosis continued to sing in the back of Enfri's mind.
Deebee was breathing out dragon fire. Maya and Dashar were regrouping to attack her again, and it was everything Deebee could do to keep them at bay for another few moments.
"Enfri, this is your chance," Deebee said.
"I'm trapped," Enfri said hoarsely. "I'm trapped in here with her!"
Deebee was shouting. "No. She's blundered, girl. Her first, and you can save yourself. Look at her. She's ethershocked and wounded. Jin's helpless. You're not trapped in there with her. She's at your mercy!"
Enfri sank to the ground and clutched her knees. She was paralyzed with fear.
"Her magic ends with her death," Deebee roared. "You're stronger than you know. You can win. Fight, girl!"
Enfri held her breath. She looked to the side and saw the stone she had thrown at Jin a moment before. Frantically, she grabbed for it. Her body had grown tense and clumsy. Enfri fumbled to her feet and took a hesitant step towards Jin.
"You must do it quickly," Deebee warned. "I can't hold them back much longer."
Jin had her sword in hand. She held its point towards Enfri to fend her off, but the blade wavered. She didn't have the strength remaining to defend herself. The sword slipped from her fingers and clattered to the ground.
Enfri kicked the sword away. She stood over Jin, the stone raised above her head in both hands.
Jin's teeth were clenched in defiance. She watched Enfri's every move but made no attempt to escape or evade. Broken and defeated at Enfri's feet, Jin wilted. It was as if she accepted what would come next.
"I can't," Enfri whispered. Her legs were trembling, and she could hardly stand anymore.
Deebee spun towards the cave and smashed her claw against the rock wall. "You can! There's no other way, Enfri. The interdiction won't fall until one of you is dead. Kill her!"
Enfri screamed as she brought the rock down as hard as she could. It struck the stone floor and shattered.
"I won't!"
Deebee stared into the cave in stunned amazement. "Enfri, you must."
"A sky woman must never harm a living thing," she quoted. Enfri covered her mouth with her hands as she fell to her backside.
What have I done? she thought in horror. I'm too weak, and now I'm going to die for it.
She didn't take her eyes off of Jin. She expected to see the assassin looking back with a gloating expression, but Jin was just as surprised as Deebee. She was frozen in slack-jawed astonishment.
Enfri's voice was strangled. "I won't do it, Deebee. It's wrong. Everything Grandmother taught me..." She shook her head. "I won't do it. I'll never be what they think I am."
She was terrified. Every instinct she had cried out for her to flee, to survive. She wanted to live, but that couldn't erase the life she had chosen. Before anything else, Enfri was a sky woman.
Enfri got back to her knees and crawled towards the girl that wanted to kill her.
"You're hurt," she said, her voice quaking. "Please, let me help you."
It was difficult to tell which was the more dumbfounded, Jin or Deebee.
Deebee pressed her clawed hand against the barrier. "Enfri..."
"You have to go, Deebee," Enfri said. "Fly away. I don't want you to die here, too."
Enfri lifted Jin's shoulders from the stone and got her turned onto her back. The assassin didn't try to fight her off, but she was in no condition to give more than a token resistance anyway.
There was blood all over the ground. The first task Enfri faced would be to close the wounds before Jin bled out.
"I won't leave you," Deebee said breathlessly. "I can't go through that again. Enfri, please."
Enfri did her best not to cry as she looked towards her guardian. "Fly, Deebee. I'm a sky woman. Let me do this."
With a mournful roar, Deebee tore herself from from the cave entrance and leapt away. The sound of her wings beating began to fade into the distance, and Deebee's bitter howls were left hanging in the air.
"I'm sorry, love," Enfri said after her. "Forgive me."
She knelt next to Jin awkwardly. The burn on her calf was throbbing in protest, and her spine was having none of it. Enfri let out a long exhale. The only thing left undecided was if it would be Jin who finished the job, or one of the others.
"Why?" Jin asked. Her voice was tight with pain. "Your dragon was right. You could have..."
Enfri shook her head. "You shouldn't have to ask why. You said yourself that I would do this."
Jin furrowed her brow in confusion.
"When you were joking around the campfire, Tarlus wondered if I would treat his eye. Even then, you said that I would."
"You..." Jin leaned her head back on the stone and closed her eyes. "Winds take me. You are a fool."
Enfri frowned. The nerve of some people. "You're saying you don't want my help?"
"Not that," Jin said in something just short of a groan. "Being close enough to listen. What were you thinking?"
Jin and Deebee had more in common than they thought. They were both incurable worrywarts.
Enfri only had a few bandages stashed in her dress pockets. She doubted they would be enough to stop the bleeding of that stomach wound. Enfri worked to undo the buckles of Jin's armor.
"Wait," Jin said, her voice fading. "There's a vial in my belt pouch. It'll help."
Enfri searched for what she spoke of. She pulled open a hardened leather pouch tied to Jin's belt and found several empty glass vials. One still had a viscous, blue liquid inside it.
"What's this?" Enfri asked as she turned it over in her fingers.
Jin reached for the vial and took it from her. Her hands shook as she uncorked it and drank the contents. Once most of it was gone, she sighed and let her hand fall. The vial rolled from her fingers and clattered across the stones.
"Jin," Maya's voice shouted. She and Dashar were running up to the cave entrance. Their bodies had reverted back to normal from the osteomancy. Maya collided with the interdiction and stumbled back. Her eyes traced along the edges of the entrance before settling on where Enfri knelt over Jin.
"Get away from her," she commanded. "Aleesh filth, I'll tear you apart!"
Dashar lightly placed a hand on Maya's shoulder to restrain her. Maya rounded on him, but he gave her a slight shake of his head then nodded towards Enfri.
"What is this?" Maya demanded. "Jin?"
Jin grunted as she lifted herself up to lean on an elbow. She was grimacing from the effort. "I'm still alive, Sister," she panted.
Maya tapped the tip of her sword against the barrier. "Your doing? No matter. Drop the spell so we can finish this. The dragon retreated, but it'll come back."
Enfri clenched her fists to stop them from shaking. She looked at Jin and found the assassin staring back at her with an inscrutable look.
"Not yet," Jin said after a long moment.
"Why not?" Maya demanded. "Have you lost your mind?"
Again, Dashar held her back. He stepped between Maya and the barrier to give her a pointed stare.
Maya threw her hands in the air and began pacing. "One of you, please tell me what I'm missing."
"The scale lion wounded me," Jin explained. "It's mortal."
Maya froze in mid-step. She rushed to the barrier and pressed against it. "What are you saying? You're..."
"The sky woman is treating me," Jin said. Her voice had recovered a measure of strength.
Maya glared at Enfri. "The sky woman? You have lost your mind. Jin, she'll kill you the first chance she gets."
"I most certainly will not," Enfri said, indignant. In the same moment, Jin said, "If she was going to, she would have already."
Enfri noted the way Dashar peered at her from behind his cowl. It was unsettling. His stare left her feeling naked and exposed.
Jin shifted and took a sharp intake of breath. "I took the oren, but I need her if I'm to survive."
Enfri blinked in confusion. She looked at the wound on Jin's stomach and was shocked to see that the flow of blood had reduced to a small trickle. Enfri glanced at the empty vial on the ground.
"That was your last," Maya said quietly. "How long can you..."
"Long enough. The interdiction will stay up. We can't give her any more chances to escape." Jin looked at Enfri. Her eyes took on that calculating quality once more. "And, there's more I would have her tell me."
Dashar nodded. He reached into a pouch on his belt just like the one Jin had. His hand came out with two vials of the blue liquid, and he set them down at the edge of the barrier.
"Cousin?" Maya asked. "You had that much left?"
Dashar didn't respond, but Enfri could have sworn she read a wink behind that cowl.
Jin chuckled. "Always another surprise with you. Gain, Tarlus, and Josy should be on their way here. Go meet them. Between the five of you, there should be enough oren to leave the desert."
"What about you?" Maya asked. Her worry was palpable.
Jin gestured vaguely towards the vials of oren Dashar had set down. "More than enough."
Dashar shook his head.
"He's right, Jin. We're not going to just abandon you. The dragon won't let you leave the desert alive after you kill its Aleesh, and you're not in any state to fight it."
Jin grimaced. "I gave an order, Maya."
"A foolish one. We'll meet with Gain, but then we'll return for you." Maya pulled her hair back and secured it with a tie. "Just... stay alive until then."
"Maya..."
"Listen to your older sister, twerp," Maya scolded. "Father gave you the contract, but I'm still responsible for you. Watch them, Cousin. I'll ready the horses."
She sprinted away from the cave. Dashar watched her go then looked to Jin.
"I can't convince you to obey?" she asked him.
Dashar kept silent.
"I'll have no choice but to report it to Gain."
He shrugged.
"What's your opinion, then? You think I've lost my mind as well?"
He stood completely motionless.
Jin lay back down. "That's fair."
Enfri pursed her lips. "I'm sorry, but is he saying something and I just can't hear it?"
"You get used to him," Jin muttered.
Dashar smirked.
The buckles of Jin's armor were slick with blood, and unfastening them was difficult. Enfri got a fingernail beneath the leather straps and got one free. As she worked, she addressed Dashar.
"You knew she was going to order you away."
Dashar cocked his head to the side.
"Why else would you set those vials down? They're for her to have once she's out of the barrier."
He nodded.
"Can it save her?"
He shook his head, but Jin answered the question. "Oren does many things, Sky Woman, but healing isn't one of them."
Enfri pulled another strap free. "But you've stopped bleeding."
Dashar turned his back on the cave while Enfri removed Jin's armor. Underneath, she was bare but for a white silk wrap around her chest. Her stomach was hard with developed muscles, though the deep gashes from Pusher's claws left her flesh ragged. Enfri swallowed to keep herself from getting sick.
Jin was ripped open. Blood wasn't pumping from the wound, so Enfri had a clear view of the layers of exposed tissue. Most of the cuts were superficial— her armor had protected her somewhat— but there were six long tears that penetrated through armor, flesh, and muscle. Enfri was amazed that Jin had survived this long while bearing such injuries.
"How?" Enfri asked. "You're not bleeding."
"Oren is alchemical," Jin explained. "It contains a spell that fortifies our ether. Since ether is carried in the blood, it can no longer leave our bodies."
Enfri lay out her meager supplies on the ground. She poured antiseptic onto a bandage and used it to disinfect Jin's wounds. "That's... amazing. And weird. Mixing magic and medicine is outside of my experience."
"It won't last," Jin said. "The oren will be effective for another hour. You must close the wound before that happens or..."
"You'll bleed out," Enfri finished. "I understand. I'll be fast." She let out a long exhale. "Wish there was some bourbon. My hands are shaking."
Jin raised an eyebrow.
"A sip," Enfri explained a bit defensively. "Calms the nerves."
"I wouldn't have taken you for a drinker."
"I'm not. And you? A stash of whisky or spirit I can use?"
"Boot flask," Jin admitted.
Enfri found it easily enough. It was one of the metal ones with a curve that were coming into fashion. She unscrewed the cap and took a small pull, then nearly spewed it back out. "Winds, what is that?"
"Altieri vodka."
Enfri made a disgusted face and returned the flask to Jin's boot. "Well, it did the thing. Let's start."
Of the six gashes, two were relatively clean. It was like she had been sliced by a razor. Enfri sutured those first, mindful that she had little time before the oren's effects wore off.
She did her best to shut out all distractions. Dashar was distressingly hard to ignore. Someone that silent and still shouldn't have so much presence. It was harder to not be distracted by Jin. Her pain was getting worse, and Enfri's repeated attempts to get her to accept the essenroot and nightshade painkiller were being rebuffed.
It came time to begin cutting. Using one of Jin's knives, Enfri deftly sliced away torn flesh. Through the ordeal, Jin clamped her eyes shut and bit her lip. Enfri grew concerned and stuck a wad of bandage into Jin's mouth for her to bite down on.
As she worked, Enfri was able to get a close look at the internal damage she was dealing with. Jin was fortunate that her injuries weren't worse than they were. The claws hadn't gone deep enough to injure her liver or intestines. As horrific as the injuries appeared, they were actually little more than flesh wounds. Blood loss was the real danger, but there remained a chance of Jin getting infected. Enfri would need to use every drop of the antiseptic to prevent that from happening.
Jin flinched with each cut of the knife. Her pained moans were muffled by the bandage, but they were growing more intense as the procedure continued.
This wasn't much different from when Enfri treated Gain years earlier, only more extensive. The older assassin had been able to withstand the pain, but he hadn't been under the knife for nearly as long as Jin. This must have been torturous for her. Even so, she was able to keep herself from thrashing. In her place, Enfri doubted she could be half as resilient.
"Dashar," Enfri called, "the light's fading. Can you do something about that?"
The cave was lit up with a soft, white light. Enfri spared Dashar a glance and saw that he held one of those firefly lights in his palm. She nodded her thanks before returning to her work.
She was halfway through cutting dead flesh from the final claw wound when the oren wore off. Blood began to seep into the tear at an alarming rate. The oren must have stopped the blood from coagulating. Jin bled as if the wound were fresh. She couldn't handle losing much more blood.
Enfri pressed her fingers to Jin's throat to check her pulse. It was dangerously slow, and her moans were weak. She was slipping away.
Maya chose that moment to return. She took in the scene within the cave at a glance and drew her sword.
Wonderful, Enfri thought. If Jin dies, the interdiction will fall, and I'll be dead in the next breath. If I needed motivation, that would do it.
Enfri set the knife aside and picked up her bone needle. She took extra care with her stitches now that the blood was making it difficult to see. At least Dashar's light was helping.
The final stitch slid into place, and Enfri pulled the wound shut. She cut the thread, then removed the bandage from Jin's mouth. "Can you sit? I need to bandage you."
There was no response. Jin was senseless from the blood loss and Enfri's administrations.
"Winds and storms," Enfri muttered. She slid to get behind Jin's head and tried to prop her up. It was a struggle; Jin was heavier than she looked.
It was nearing nightfall outside the cave. Dashar's firefly light was the only thing Enfri had to see by.
"What's going on?" Maya demanded. "So help me, Aleesh, I will bring this spire down on your head."
Enfri shot her a glare while she wrapped a bandage around Jin's abdomen. Dashar just sighed. Assassin or not, Enfri thought he had the patience of a saint.
"Well? Will she live?"
"That remains to be seen," Enfri replied. "She's lost enough blood to be dangerous, and this isn't the cleanest spot to perform surgery. There's a high risk of infection. I've seen that you lot are more durable than most humans. Does that extend to recuperating?"
Maya seemed reluctant to answer. Dashar gestured for her to speak.
"If she can recover her ether, then yes," Maya said.
"If only I had some vex sprouts," Enfri murmured. She secured the bandage and gently lay Jin down. Her knees creaked as she got to her feet and limped to the mouth of the cave. "What of you two? I can't treat you, but I can tell you what to do."
Maya recoiled from the barrier as if Enfri had transformed into a dragon. "Spare me," she snapped before turning her back in contempt.
Dashar frowned as he watched his cousin and shook his head as if he were disappointed in her. He then held up his left arm for inspection. It bore a number of shallow cuts.
Enfri leaned as close as the barrier would allow. "Nothing serious, I think. Wash them in the spring, then grind up wild marigold petals and some grass for a poultice."
Dashar bobbed his cowled head in acknowledgement. He then locked the firefly light spell and pointed towards the eastern horizon.
"The light will last until sunrise?"
He nodded.
Winds, did I really just understand him? Bizarre.
"You're helping her?" Maya spat. "Dashar, she's the target."
Enfri had had about enough of the girl's venom. "And if something happens? If treating your sister in a blustering cave wasn't trial enough, shall I do so while blind?"
"Mind your tongue, peasant, or I'll see it torn out of your skull."
Enfri scoffed. "Doubtful. One way or another, this is likely the last we'll ever cross paths. Winds grant small favors."
The soft cracking of Maya's knuckles as she clenched her fists was much more satisfying than it should have been. Then again, Enfri felt that she knew the source of Maya's agitation.
"I'll do all I can for her," Enfri said. "You have my word."
Enfri could see the sharp retort forming on Maya's lips, but she held it back. Maya came up to the barrier and spoke in a low voice. "She's my sister, Sky Woman. Any harm done to her will be visited back a thousand fold. My sister."
Empty threats came and went, but Enfri knew the genuine article when she heard it. Maya would slay gods for Jin's sake. "I understand," Enfri replied.
Maya turned away and stomped down the embankment of rocks towards the base of the spire. As she went, she mumbled something inaudible before mounting her horse.
Dashar remained a moment. He looked towards Jin who was yet to come to her senses, then up towards the sky. He took a deep breath before following Maya. As he left, he looked sidelong at Enfri.
"She said 'thank you'."
Enfri was startled at the sound of Dashar's voice. Winds, but she thought him to be a mute. It wasn't until the two of them disappeared into the night that Enfri realized what he had said. Rather, what Maya said.
Bizarre, indeed.
Turning back into the cave, Enfri let out a long sigh. She was tired, but her day wasn't yet over.
"Now," she said to no one in particular, "let's see to that hamstring."