Post by Gravedust on Feb 11, 2019 13:34:13 GMT -8
"Eylin?" Her brother's voice sounds from across the fire, and she opens her eyes from her light doze. He is sitting up, the tattered sheet she'd scrounged from the remains of their belongings falling to his waist. His eyes are clear, a sign that he is back to himself from the serum's effects.
"I'm here, Mika." She struggles to shove herself to her feet. Though she is careful not to involve her injured arm, the mere motion redoubles it's hot, insistent throb. Though soothed considerably by Lyrical's potion, the pang is still enough to bring water to her eyes. "I need your help with a splint."
"What?" His face fills with alarm as he quickly scoots around to her side of the fire. "What happened?" Though half night-blind from the low fire, he looks around and picks out the clearing's details from the glow. "Where are we?"
"Here," Eylin lays out a length of wood, once part of their wagon, and a long strip of canvas cut from what remained of it's canopy. "You know what to do, right?" She stands and crooks her arm against her belly, wincing again at the pain. Mikal nods wordlessly and begins preparing the splint. A long time ago he'd been an apprentice to the village's Mender.. A long time? No, actually. But it felt like it.
"What happened?" Mikal repeats, "It was me again, wasn't it?" His memory was turned into a sieve by the serum. She used to be frustrated by it, before she realized what a blessing it could be for him.
"It was my fault." She murmurs, "I fell asleep. I should have been watching you. I would have noticed." She sighs remorsefully. "My fault. I'm so sorry."
"No. Not your fault, never." He shakes his head. "Did I do this?" He means her arm. His face is red with shame.
No way around that one. "Yes.. I was blown from the cart. I hit.. A door." She can't help but laugh, at the absurdity of it. In truth she barely knew what was happening. Just suddenly a world of wind and sky and earth tumbling over and over and over and over until suddenly pain, and wood against her face, scrabbling blindly and in terror until her hand miraculously found a handle.
"I don't think anyone else was hurt, though. You held it back... You were strong."
He frowns. Not wholly convinced. He continues wrapping, as gently as he can, the gentlest soul she's ever known, but the pain is still so bad she starts to cry. "I'm sorry Ey." Mikal's voice breaks, as though he feels her pain himself. And in a way she knows he does. "I'm almost done."
She nods, swallowing.
The next question comes hesitantly. "...What happened to all our things? Where's Milly?"
"The wagon is ...gone, Mika... I did find some of our things. Milly.. ah."
Milly was the ancient, patient packhorse they'd coerced to pull the wagon since leaving the village. She'd found the remains of the poor beast thirty feet high in a tree and almost beyond recognition.
"She ran off, Mika... She must have been so scared. ...I suppose it's all for the best, now that there's no wagon to pull."
She keeps talking to distract them both. "Do you remember? Afterwards? We met some people..?"
"I remember.. A bird skull? And a ...Leopard?"
Eylin emits a strangled laugh, in spite of the pain... It had been a day full of improbabilities. "Yes, that was one. There are some strange people here... But most of them are very kind. They gave us food, more serum, I think, and some have agreed to help us on our way."
Mikal beams. "Even after what happened..." He makes the final loop of the long fabric over her shoulder and ties it off. "That's wonderful."
"Yes it is." She tries a smile. "Thank you, Mika. It feels better."
Mikal inspects his work critically and carefully. "It should heal nicely. It looks like it's started already, did someone give you magic for it?"
She nods. "Yes, it keeps the pain down too."
"You'll be good as new in a week, then. I have the toughest little sister in the world."
She flashes him a tired smile. "I've a good reason to be."
He smiles at her adoringly and wraps an arm gently around her shoulders. She lets out a long exhale and lets her forehead rest against his collarbone, for just a moment allowing herself to relax.
"...I'm still so tired, Ey." He says, after a long moment. "I'm sorry. I think I need to lie down."
She nods and steps back, moving to her own place by the fireside as he settles back down. "Rest well, then... Tomorrow we move on."
"When we get to Quieso.. Let's send a message to mother. She'll want to know we made it."
She'd dead, Mikal. My father's dead too. Half the village is dead, and the rest want to see you on a spear. Their homes were smashed and their boats driven under by the wind. You just don't know, Mikal. You don't know how bad it is because I lie, because I don't think your heart can take the truth.
"Yes," she agrees tonelessly, her mind drawn back unwillingly to Hulton, their home, and the ruin Mikal had made of it. She feels suddenly, achingly exhausted. "We'll.. have to hire a special courier. ..To take the message." The words come out bleak as ash, and too late she realizes the lapse in her facade. She looks up to see Mikal's eyes on her, his face an open question.
She struggles to put some brightness back into her voice, and pull her mind back into the present. "Sorry, I'm just so tired... We both need rest. Close your eyes, brother."
With that she rolls her back to him, shuffles her shoulders to find a comfortable position with her arm, and closes her eyelids. The blackness behind them is vast, and within moments she falls into it and sleeps.