**so when "bar" is used, it is basically a health bar, like explained in the intro of the book. (Visible only to Malentals when they want it, is something like a light bar/meter near each person. That tells their tiredness.) It's kinda like the health bar in a video game.**
Eloyse didn't make as good of progress as she would have wished. It caused extreme pain to trot, so she kept Damian down to a brisk walk. After she left the Avengers, she gravitated toward where she felt the battlefield was. She hadn't had another vision, but she remembered the one she'd had vividly. Damian was impatient, tugging at the bit, and his rider felt the same.
"Blasted ribs!" she grumbled, then couldn't resist smiling when she realized a blast was what had caused her injuries. She tapped her saddle idly, staring at her bow and arrows. Without thinking, she reached down and unlatched her bow from its place on the saddle. She pulled an arrow from the quiver, and notched it. There was no purpose, she was just bored. Damian, reins loose in his neck, continued his steady walk.
Eloyse relaxed completely, bow down by her leg. She took a deep breath, then raised the bow and shot in one quick, fluid motion. She hit her target dead center, and smiled. Damian wasn't phased, having practice with the maneuver at home. Eloyse guided him to the tree she'd struck, and tugged her arrow out. She hadn't shot it hard because she wanted to reuse it. A glimpse of color caught her eye, and she turned.
The wind shifted, and Damian jerked to attention, suddenly trembling. Eloyse nudged him forward, and he went reluctantly. Not even Eloyse was ready for the terrible destruction that met her eyes when they stepped out of the trees. Damian was frightened and uneasy with the smell of blood and death.
They'd found the battlefield.
Eloyse blinked back tears, realizing the battle was not recent. She slowly walked Damian through the bodies toward where she'd visioned Shyden. If her brother was dead, she was waging a one-person war against all of Alkotratz. Damian was nervous and edgy. It took all of Eloyse's horsemanship skills to keep him lined out straight for where she wanted to go without him turning tail and running. It was completely against his instincts, and he walked like the ground was on fire, barely setting down each foot before picking it back up.
**the battlefield before the battle**
The place smelled of death, and everywhere Eloyse looked were people, blood, violence. Eloyse shuddered, wanting to close her eyes against the nightmare. She had never even imagined a battle would be like this. She was approaching where she'd seen Shyden, and she hardly dared look. When she finally did, she got the shock of her life.
He wasn't there.
The girl and man who had been laying near were there, still and dead. But Shyden was nowhere to be found. Eloyse began looking around a little more carefully, seeing little things she'd missed before. Like that bloodstain on the ground, with nobody over it. She urged Damian over there, studying the ground. Somebody had come, and taken that person away. She returned to the other spot, thinking. That probably meant somebody had taken Shyden too.
Eloyse grimly turned Damian toward the edge of the clearing. She would circle, and see if she could pick up a trail. Unless the takers were of Shayvor, the likelihood of a clear trail was high. Hopains native of Shayvor were trained in stealth and covering their trail. Her suspicions were confirmed when she spied the tracks, fresher than the others, leading away from the battlefield heavier than they'd come. It helped that there was blood droplets, too.
She set Damian on the tracks, determined. She'd find whoever had taken her brother! She hadn't come this far to turn around and give up!
********************************
"Man, when it gets dark around here, it is dark!" Clint observed.
"Yea. Even from the air I can't see a single light." Tony agreed. The team was grouped around their fire. Tony had just come back from a short scouting mission, and had confirmed everything on Eloyse's map appeared correct. The darkness pressed in on all sides, like a living, breathing thing. It united the team like there was a battle, causing them to draw together tightly around their small fire. Yet for the most part, everyone was quiet. It wasn't that they were tired, they were just each busy with their own thoughts.
Natasha was planning how they would take the next HYDRA base. Legs crossed as he carved an arrow from wood, Clint was worrying where he would get more arrows if he ran out; he hadn't seen a store selling them, and there didn't seem to be internet to order stuff online. Bruce was trying to figure out how to trace the Tanzanite-Taafite, essential for HYDRA's weapon they were building. Pietro, laying on his stomach staring at the fire, was dwelling on the feel of Eloyse in his arms, and wondering how on earth she thought she could rescue her brother by herself. His sister's thoughts were also on Eloyse, but she was marvelling over the surprised wonder she'd seen in the younger girl when she'd used telekinesis to lift Damian from the wrecked plane. Thor's mind was back in Asgard as he blankly gazed at Natasha. Bucky was fretting that HYDRA would capture and use these gentle Hopian people for experiments. Drawn back from the group was Steve, berating himself for getting his team into this mess.
Tony alone was undisturbed. He'd taken a little flight, and was now dozing with his feet up on Natasha's legs. Bucky was leaning on the redhead, also. Pietro was sprawled near her, laying half-against her. Clint glanced up, tossing Nat a wooden arrow he'd carved for her to look over. Steve was sadly looking over each Avenger by turn, and when his gaze rested on Natasha, it was too much.
"Thor, stop staring at me!" She snapped. She gave Tony's feet a shove, pushed Bucky over, jabbed Pietro in the ribs with the wooden arrow, glared at Steve, and then forcefully threw the arrow back at Clint. He ducked, losing all his skill, and tumbling over backwards. Natasha glowered around the circle of surprised Avengers. She deliberately settled back in where she'd been sitting, slapping Tony's feet that were too close.
"Ow, hey!" Tony drew back, taking off his sunglasses to look at her. "What was that for?"
"It was for you." Natasha gave him a look that caused the millionaire to hastily decide his feet would be just as fine on the ground.
********************************
Eloyse drew rein, standing in her stirrups to see better. Damian had alerted her to a person ahead of them a few minutes ago, and now she had come upon them. They were lying still on the edge of the path. She cautiously approached and slid off Damian. He ground-tied solidly, waiting for her return. Moving carefully, Eloyse reached the person's side and rolled them over. It was a girl, scarcely older than Eloyse herself. She was a pale one, white hair, which meant her eyes would be light colored too.
Eloyse dropped to her knees, raising a bar to check the girl's vitals. It was low, the girl scarcely alive. Eloyse hesitated, weighing healing her against going after Shyden. Finally deciding she couldn't leave her like that, and plus, the girl might be able to tell her something about Shyden, she began a rough assessment of her condition. Eloyse still wasn't fully recovered from the blast that broke her ribs, the nasty girl and her quarterstaff that re-broke them when they'd been nearly healed, healing Tony, and then practically dying from being poisoned, but she would try to fix this girl. She left the bar up when she began.
The girl's main injury seemed to be the gaping hole in her side, caused by who-knew-what. Something bad. Dried blood was crusted on the edges, but blood still leaked out. Eloyse gathered herself, letting the blue glow gather on her palms before she turned them on the girl. Slowly, the wound began closing up, skin appearing where there hadn't been any before. The blood vanished, dissolving. Eloyse loved this part of the job, when the radical change came about. She shifted her focus to cover the area around the wound too.
A few minutes later, she sat back on her heels, tired, but very happy. She had never done something that big before, she realized with a thrill of delight. She glanced at the girl's bar, seeing it had gone up to three-quarters full. She still had some scratches and cuts, but Eloyse decided to leave those in favor of saving her own energy. All the life threatening things but one was fixed. The girl was dangerously low on blood, still. Sure, her body would make more, but that would take time, time that she didn't have.
Eloyse put her hands flat on the girl's chest, beside her collarbone. She could feel the steady beating of the heart through the thin uniform. She took a deep breath. She'd never done a blood change before, but she instinctively knew how. One of the Malental's drawbacks was they couldn't create blood like they could skin, but they could give some of their own. Eloyse closed her eyes, then opened them again. She would do this. Enough to set up the girl for a good recovery, but no so much as to do harm to Eloyse. She used her powers to draw blood into her hands, and let it seep through the girl's skin. Almost instantly there was a change. The deathly blue of her lips began fading, the paleness of her already pale skin vanishing.
And her eyes opened.
Eloyse was so startled she jumped backwards, completely losing her focus. She stared in panicked shock at the girl, who stared back with the same expression.
"Who are you?" they gasped in unison. Eloyse allowed a little smile. She probably didn't need anymore blood.
"I'm Eloyse." She ventured. "From Shayvor." she could tell by the girl's uniform that she too was from Shayvor, and she didn't mind being with somebody on the same side. "How do you feel?"
"Whole lot better than I felt before." the girl gingerly sat up. "I'm Kanzia." She tugged down her uniform a little bit, revealing two glowing blue handprints by her collarbone. Eloyse's eyes widened.
"That's never happened before." she mumbled.
Kanzia looked up quickly. "You're a Malental?" It was more of a statement than question.
There was no use denying it. Eloyse confirmed it with a small nod. Kanzia smiled, her first genuine smile. "I have an older brother who's a Malental. He leaves marks when he's using the raw power. You must have been going all-out. Don't worry, they'll fade. It just leaves a warm spot and the color shaped like a how you were transferring the power. It's temporary."
Eloyse timidly agreed. She had healed this girl, but now she wasn't sure what to do with her. "I'm looking for my brother, Shyden. Have you seen him?"
Kanzia turned thoughtful. "Golden hair, blue eyes? Talkative, and a bit annoying?" Eloyse eagerly nodded. "Yea, he was alive last I saw. He was in my training group. You got any food? I'm starving!"
Eloyse smiled, feeling more comfortable with her new friend. She went to where she'd left Damian and began unsaddling. It would be dark soon anyway, and she wouldn't be able to follow the trail. Here was a good place as any to spend the night and let Kanzia tell her story.
**top picture is of Kanzia**