The door Ekari was hiding behind opened just long enough for a set of stained sheets to sail into the alley; it looked like they were all bundled in the bottom sheet, which was tied to make a makeshift bag. Ekari caught the open door and slowly let it almost close; this was lucky, since it meant she didn’t have to deal with any possible “door opening” noise that could give her away.

“Really? And you want me? You know I’m supposed to - you know what? Fine. But I’m blaming you if anyone notices.” The voice came through the door, faint but clear. Ekari couldn’t tell who the woman was talking to; she could faintly hear a second voice but couldn’t make out any words.

Two people in the back wasn’t good news. There was supposed to be only one; when she’d checked earlier that day, there had been only one.

A door slammed somewhere inside the building. Ekari glanced down to check her charm bracelet while she waited for the path to be clear. The most important part was listening; had they both left? She’d only know for certain if she heard someone moving around.

After a couple of minutes of no noise, Ekari dropped her eyes to the charm bracelet. The quartz crystal glowed with a soft green light. Ita thought everything was good from her end; that meant she’d seen someone come out of the back and thought everyone was occupied with Blaze. Ekari frowned; she wished they had better signals set up. As it was, the best she could do was to concentrate on the crystal and think about two yellow lights. Yellow for a question, two for the number.

The charm changed to show two green lights. That was clearly a positive response; Ita thought they’d gotten both people distracted. At least, if she’d understood Ekari’s question; they really needed a better set of signals.

It’d been long enough; if the door slamming was also the room emptying, everything was fine. She hadn’t heard anything and Ita thought the way was clear; this was the best chance she’d have. Ekari concentrated on the color green. That would tell Ita she got the message and was heading in.

Ekari pulled the door open slowly; it didn’t squeak because she’d oiled the hinges repeatedly during the past few months. The interior of the secret infirmary was well-lit, but no one moved. Ekari stepped inside then eased the door nearly closed again. The last thing she wanted was to be heard, and the door might or might not slam if you just let it fall shut.

Ekari looked around carefully; if anyone was there, she didn’t see them. So far so good.

Ekari reached into her pocket and pulled the bracelet Rissa gave her out, then fitted a monster core into the slot before slipping it on. Full translation items like this were rare; Ekari wasn’t sure why, though she’d been told it required someone who really understood languages and had an appropriate Affinity. They weren’t needed on Aeon, since everyone spoke Aeon, Bridge, or the servants’ tongue; Ekari grew up speaking all three. Even on Lyka, Aeon and Bridge were enough almost anywhere.

She wasn’t certain if she needed it here or not; the man was only lucid about half the time. She hoped he would be, this time. It would make things easier if he cooperated.

When Ekari reached the bed the man had been in that morning, he wasn’t there. He was moved to a different bed about once a tenday, but this wasn’t the usual day; on the other hand, if he’d been moved, it did explain the second person and the stained bedding. The stained bedding also meant he’d bled, unfortunately. This wasn’t the first time but it still wasn’t good. She could only hope it was still from injuries instead of anything worse.

At least she was going to take him to Blaze.

Ekari moved quickly; she needed to find the missing man before she had to leave without him. He wasn’t in the next bed, the one after it, or even the one after that. In fact, he didn’t seem to be in the back area near the exit at all. In fact, none of the beds had anyone in them. That wasn’t all that unusual, recently; no one had replaced the people who died.

Ekari suppressed a swear and moved closer to the door that joined the hidden area to the normal infirmary. He was probably in one of the rooms again; she just hoped they’d left the door cracked open like normal.

There was no one in the first room, while the second room held a woman Ekari had never seen before. She wore bloody priest’s robes but seemed to be resting peacefully. Were they so full outside that they’d started moving people into the back?

The next few rooms seemed to confirm that guess. It was strange; most places didn’t keep people who were injured for long after they were healed. The healers must all be exhausted.

The sixth room broke Ekari’s string of luck. When she opened the door, she was greeted by a voice.

“You’re back. Finally. Wait, you aren’t the healer I saw before. Does that mean you’re ready to heal me? I can’t move, why can’t I move?” The man’s voice grew higher in pitch as he spoke and spiked on the last few words.

Ekari stepped into the room. She had a tool for this; she’d planned to use it on the green-blooded man if he were uncooperative, but getting out without being detected was important. If she got out, she could try again later. “I’m sorry, he’s not ready yet. He did send me with something to make you a little more comfortable, though. Please hold still for a moment; this will help you while you wait.”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Ekari pressed the vial against the man’s shoulder, making sure she pressed evenly against his skin, then held it there for several moments. From what Blaze had said, it was a fairly standard healer’s tool, used to dispense potions to those who couldn’t safely swallow them.

It did something and moved the potion into their blood somehow; Ekari didn’t understand the details, but she knew it was slower than swallowing the potion normally and cost a monster core every so many uses as well. What she did know was that Rissa laughed when Blaze explained how it worked; she’d seemed to think that it would be very popular on her homeworld.

It was still a better way to give a potion to someone who wasn’t cooperating than trying to get them to drink it. All it had was a mild sedative; Ekari needed the green-blooded man compliant, not unconscious. She had two of them, but that was it. One would have to do.

Ekari watched the priest for a moment longer. His gaze seemed unfocused and drifting. “The healer will be with you soon.”

Two doors later, Ekari finally got lucky. A man Ekari recognized lay face-up on the bed, tied to the frame. He heard the slight creak of the door and turned his head to look, then frowned. “I recognize you. You’ve been here before. Haven’t you?”

This was about as lucid as Ekari had seen him. She thought he’d been similarly with it at times in the past, but she couldn’t be certain; she hadn’t had a way to understand him then. “Yes, you’ve probably seen me before. I’m here to get you out of here. Please stay quiet.”

Ekari started undoing the bindings. They were made of a cloth-wrapped rope that was probably intended to be less damaging, but it was clear that these had done more than a little damage; the cloth was tacky and green where it ran around the man’s ankle.

“You speak English?” The man yanked on the binding long before Ekari had it free; the metal of the bed frame shifted a bit, making a loud squealing noise. There were already marks where he’d clearly fought it before. Hopefully that meant it wouldn't draw attention.

“Shh! We don’t want them to hear! And stop pulling at it, you’re just making it tighter!” Ekari had wanted to untie the rope, but she was afraid she’d have to cut it if he pulled on it much more. She didn’t want to do that while he was still moving so much. Her words didn’t make much difference, so she tried the phrase Rissa had told her to try if she had trouble while she dug the other sedative vial out of her pocket. “Calm down! I work for Serenity; I’m here to rescue you.”

She didn’t know why that might work, but it was worth a try.

Her hand had just closed around the vial when she glanced at the quartz crystal on Ita’s bracelet. Red. Her time was up; they’d probably heard the noise from the prisoner’s bed.

A hand closed on Ekari’s shoulder before she could hide. “Hey, what are you doing here? No one’s supposed to be in this room.”

Ehaki froze and considered her options. She could go with him peacefully and try to talk her way out of it or she could fight and try to get the prisoner out before anyone else noticed.

She had a sedative vial in her hand and the man with his hand on her shoulder didn’t seem to expect a hostile response.

Ekari threw herself backwards and up, guiding her movement by the feel of the body of the man she couldn’t see. The top of her head knocked into his chin, leaving him slightly dazed as she spun and kicked his knee.

Something crunched. Well, it was a good thing he was in an Infirmary. Good for him, at least.

The vial filled with sedative was already in Ekari’s hand, so she dropped on top of him and pinned him to the floor with her weight, pressing the vial against his neck. He struggled a little, but that seemed to mostly be because of the weight Ekari had on his damaged knee.

He’d be fine as long as they got a decent healer to take care of him. Ekari dropped the used vial back in her pocket.

“You really are here to get me out, aren’t you?” The bound man stared at Ekar, obviously shocked.

Ekari grinned. It was nice to surprise people, sometimes. “Yes. Now stay still so I can get those ropes off you. I don’t want to have to cut the knots.”

This time, Ekari went after the knot holding one of the man’s wrists in place. She was soon swearing at it; why didn’t they have proper restraints? Proper restraints would hold better and be easier to undo than these crappy knots!

After the difficulty of the first knot, Ekari pulled her knife. As long as the ropes weren’t reinforced and the man wasn’t struggling, cutting it would probably be faster.

It was, but it still wasn’t easy, even though the weapon was Tier Three in material and she kept it sharp. Ekari had to essentially saw away at the rope, cutting one strand after another. It was enough to make her wish she had a Skill for it, but she really didn’t. Her spells weren’t precise enough.

Once all six of the bindings were cut, Ekari helped the man to his feet. No one else had come, so they must be undetected. She looked back down at the quartz crystal; it still glowed red. Ekari nodded to herself and concentrated on telling it purple. That was the color they’d settled on for “good result, heading out now”. It would let Ita know that they needed to delay anyone they could for another few minutes.

Ekari took one last glance around the room. She hadn’t paid attention to the wheeled table set against the wall near the entrance on the way in; if she had, she’d have noticed that there was a tied-shut cloth bag sitting on it. She didn’t want to take the time to look into what it was, but she could certainly grab it on the way out.

Ekari glanced at the surprisingly heavy man leaning against her. She was supporting some of his weight, not just helping his balance. “What’s your name?”

“Jeff. Can we get out of here?”