I clutched my staff tightly in my hands, leaning on it slightly since the phantom pain was still present in my leg. It seemed that my nerves couldn’t quite cope with the sudden disappearance of my injury.

I looked around, searching for my comrades and it didn’t take long before I managed to find a familiar face, or more like he managed to find me, thanks to my once again flickering staff showing them my location.

I released a sigh in my relief as I recognized the familiar dwarf limping towards me with a lit torch. It was Emrum.

“Selora!” — Before I could say anything else, I was embraced in a bear-like hug, squeezing me tightly. — “Thank the paragons you are alright… We heard your screams, but couldn’t find you in the chaos as your staff’s light went out… Are you hurt?”

I was surprised hearing the genuine worry in his tone, while he himself was clearly far from being unscathed. Still, I patted his shoulder awkwardly, signaling that I was mostly alright.

He stepped away somewhat reluctantly and took a long look at me from head to toe, searching for injuries. His gaze stopped on my torn and bloodstained pants. Luckily the material was black, therefore the blood wasn’t easily perceived.

Still, it didn’t deceive the dwarf. He saw my reluctance to put my weight on said leg and quickly realized that something was wrong.

“You’re injured. What happened? Speak!” — He demanded, there was no more leeway to wiggle out of this for me.

In the end, I stated with reluctance.

“Fine… I, I got hit by an arrow… but it’s fine now… I healed the injury. The only reason I don’t stand on it is the lingering numbness. What about you? You seem to be limping as well.” — He stared at me, listening to my words carefully. Eventually he nodded, accepting my answer and getting over it surprisingly quickly. Even as I expected some sort of lecture to be more aware of my surroundings… or some more fuss. Still, I guess it was only natural. In this world, being shot by an arrow isn’t that unusual.

Now that he was sure that I wouldn’t keel over any minute, he visibly composed himself.

“It’s nothing serious. That damnable abomination shoved me out of the way as it crashed into our line. Anyway, you did great, girl. Killing an Arachne knight’s steed is nothing short of incredible. I am proud of you! All of us are! It would have taken a lot of casualties to take it down by regular means.” — He told me that while pulling me behind the nearby cover of a rock-formation where others had already waited for the skirmish to end.

As the others saw me, I received appreciative nods and glances while I was practically forced to sit down by Emrum. — “You stay there, and don’t take a step out of this cover. There are still a bunch of archers roaming around.”

I blinked, surprised by his statement, and decided to question it. — “Shouldn’t I use my light spell to help the others?” — It was one of my main priorities previously. I didn’t know what to think about dropping it so suddenly.

Emrum bit the edge of his lips in frustration as he stated. — “No… you did more than enough already, the rest they could handle. It’s too risky to give away your position once again. Not with those bastards lurking around.” — He sighed, placing his callused hand on my shoulder sympathetically. — “Rest.” — He added in a solemn tone.

I looked at the four or five dwarfs leaning against the outcropping rock surface. Among them, I recognized precious few faces. I realized that all of them were injured in one way or another.

Aside from Emrum, the only familiar face belonged to Skod. Who was sitting right next to me, clutching his left shoulder with his right hand. Pushing down on the fresh wound with a recently ripped off rag already drenched in red blood.

I turned towards him, pulling my legs under me and settling in a kneeling posture, looking at his bleeding shoulder at the dim light of my staff.

The man was clearly wired, an understandable reaction seeing how the bleeding didn’t seem to slow down no matter his efforts.

I looked into his dark brown eyes that resembled little black orbs in the darkness of the cave. He stared at me, his features strung with a terror slithering in the depths of those eyes.

My gaze softened at the sight. I recognized a dying man when I saw one. Back in the hospital, death was a daily occurrence. Patients were brought in and they rarely left, at least on their two feet.

Judgment, death, fate… call it whatever you like, it makes little difference. It was always hovering just above our heads. Every hour, every minute of our fickle life could be the last, and we wouldn’t know it, not until the moment it happened. A blessing and a curse at the same time.

Like criminals waiting for their verdicts, such are our lives. A verdict that could only be postponed. And postpone we do, as much as we can, yet nobody managed to run away from it forever. That didn’t change in this new world, either. I might be immune to death by old age, but there are so many other ways to die. At least now I know that there is something else beyond the limits of human understanding. A small island of peace. That was all I ever needed.

Maybe… maybe that was all the difference between me and most of this realm. I already knew of what they only hoped for, or suspected.

I looked at Skod once again, realizing that he also knew how dire his situation was. I could see it in his eyes. And yet still he forced a brave front on himself. — “That bastard elf got me good, eh? But I showed him in the end…”

He was losing too much blood. The cut must have reached an artery. He needed an immediate operation, which was impossible in the current circumstances. Well, at least that would be the case back on Earth. Here, on the other hand, there were other ways to create minor miracles. Magic to name one of them.

I grabbed his hand, helping him to push down on the wound.

These dwarves were a rough bunch with harsh, stony personalities. Still, they were the ones who first accepted me here. I don’t intend to give them a cold shoulder either.

“Skod.” — I called out to him, grabbing his hazy attention right away. — “I will chant a spell now. A healing spell. When I finish the incantation, you will have to raise the cloth from the wound, so I can heal it properly. Do you understand?” — I asked seriously.

He glanced at me, uncertainty lingering in his eyes for a few seconds, then he nodded.

“Good, now get ready.” — I said that, and started the incantation right away. — “By the power of light, entrusted upon me through my holy patron. I Selora command thy wound, heal!” — I felt a sense of peace settle in my breast as the spell came to existence. Skod, as previously agreed upon, raised the cloth from the deep cut and I gently placed my palm over it.

The man hissed in surprise, eyes widening, seeing as his flesh seemed to knit itself together under the influence of magic.

It only took about twenty seconds, and the damage was repaired. The once life-threatening injury was now nothing more than a thick scar.

And so, the verdict was postponed successfully.

I let the spell disperse in the air, starting to feel the drain on my magic. It seems that I have used up at least half of my power. I will have to spare as much as possible. There is no doubt there will be other life-threatening injuries. With that thought in mind, I finally realized something.

My eyes widened slightly as I looked at Emrum, who was watching silently while standing guard.

He nodded to me, then turned away, glaring at the darkness of the cave like an unmoving statue.

I see… So that’s why he brought me here. He wants me to spare my mana to use healing magic on the seriously injured. He could have told me so…

I never wanted to become a medic, a doctor, or anything of that sort. Yet, it seems, fate put me in such a situation that I am now some sort of healer. It feels… strangely undeserved. I didn’t really earn these powers for myself. They were given to me by Lord Axis. Still… I shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. I will use them to the best of my ability, for the good of these people.

~oOo~

The sounds of the skirmishes quieted down even more from that point onwards. Our little group of injured didn’t get involved in any of those fights, thankfully. However, there were new injured brought or led to us, over time.

The measly group that consisted of four to five people now has grown to fifteen members. All of which were mildly injured, I took a look at each of them and told them to rest if their injuries weren’t life threatening.

I had to heal two of them, though. One of them was slashed at the throat, narrowly escaping a certain death by leaning back from a strike. He was bleeding out much like Skod was and was brought here by his comrades.

I healed the man without hesitation and now he was sleeping by the wall, covered in a bloody blanket.

The other person I managed to save was with a similar injury which I received, only he was shot in the stomach with one of those ominous black arrows.

It was a painful process to take out the arrow, and thanks to my recent trauma with a similar injury, I kept tensing up, arms shaking lightly from even thinking about the pain he was going through.

In the end, I had to ask his comrades to push him down while one of them pulled out the arrow in my place. Then we had to remove the front plate of his armor and only then could I start the healing process.

The screams were quite terrible, just like the bleeding. The injury would no doubt prove deadly without this miraculous healing magic. And even with that, I was getting woozy from the sight alone.

True, spending so much time in the hospital in the twilight of my years taught me to handle the sight of blood quite well. Still, dealing with three life-threatening injuries in half an hour was clearly more than enough to get me paler than a freshly whitewashed wall.

After healing the second dwarf, I decided to get out of sight, sitting at the edge of our impromptu cover, attempting to calm my shaking hands with little success.

The now drying red blood on my palms wasn’t helping in that attempt, for sure. Still, I couldn’t quite wash it in these circumstances, could I? I had absolutely no idea where my stuff was, and taking a walk to search for it was out of the question.

I heard steps behind me, my ears twitching slightly. I turned around halfway, noticing the familiar silhouette of Emrum and Skod walking over in my direction.

Emrum the worrywart gave me tentative glances, noticing the slight trembling in my arms.

“You alright Lora?” — He asked, after reaching my side, a question which had been clearly on the tip of his tongue for a while now.

I wanted to say yes, but stopped since I actually wasn’t sure if I was alright. It could be the side effects of the adrenalin rush I recently experienced, but now that those hormones were mostly gone from my bloodstream, I was getting a sense of deep tiredness.

I blinked heavily, as it took an unexpected effort to open my eyes after closing them. Why did I even bother opening them, by the way? I was tired, so I should sleep. Wasn’t that logical? It definitely seemed logical to me.

I mustered a tremendous amount of energy and said it in a sleepy voice. — “No… I will sleep now… don’t bother me…” — With that said, I leaned against the wall and began to nod off almost immediately.

I could somewhat recall a good natured snort and a snide comment about whether she was alright or something along the line, but it wasn’t clear who said it.

In the end, the accumulated tiredness and the excitement seemed to overwhelm me, and I fell into a dreamless sleep.