Torin

The street was covered in debris, here and there I could see places where small trees were uprooted and sent flying into walls or houses. Some houses had lost their roofs or even completely collapsed. As I stood in stunned silence people were beginning to leave their homes to survey the damage, or wander around in confusion. Before I could even think of how I might help, Delia took control of the situation.

"I want teams of 4, focus on collapsed buildings there may be people trapped in the wreckage spread the word, we need all the help we can get." She turned to me "Torin I need your help, I lost control in my haste to stop the storm, and I don't think my left leg can support me."

Happy to given something to do, I moved to support her left side.

"We need to get to the lower quarter, those buildings won't have fared as well." she winced as we hobbled along.

Nodding grimly as we moved down the street I noticed four people trying in vain to lift a large beam off of a young man as he wheezed weakly. I had an idea, Ozias did not talk to me normally, he sort of thought about what he wanted to say and I could hear him, could it go both ways? "Ozias we need your help" I called out in my mind as I helped Delia to sit near a broken wall.

Running back towards the team of four, I braced myself against the bottom of the beam putting my full strength into giving the man even just a little more room to breathe. "Ozias Please!" I called again

Struggling under the weight of the beam, I closed my eyes and focused on everything that I knew about the dragon, his brash confidence, the simple feeling of pleasure he got from asking endless annoying questions, even the feeling of panic he felt when we first entered the city, I sent all of that and more as I called out desperately "Ozias please help us!"

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I stumbled as the beam suddenly began to lift, and I turned to see Ozias with his teeth locked on the beam near where I was gripping.

"Heard you first time" he said as he pulled the beam a little higher.

"It would have been nice if you responded" I called out loud as I ran around him to pull the man out.

"Was not here yet" he replied

"That is not the point" I said as I shifted the man out from under the beam. Sighing in relief as the man began to breathe more deeply. I turned to Ozias as he lowered the beam "Thank you" I said tiredly smiling at him.

"Can't let squishy break with such small stick." he taunted with amusement

"Oh, I will show you squishy" I said before wrapping my arms around his head to try and grapple him. Ozias just lifted his head and soon I was left dangling several feet in the air.

"Lighter than stick" he said smugly.

Struggling to her feet with the help of the wall, Delia called out "Best admit defeat Torin, I think he's got you, and we still have a lot of work to do."

"I'll get you next time" I smirked as I let go and dropped to the ground. I moved back to supporting Delia as we continued down the street Ozias following along behind us. The rest of the day seemed to pass in a blur as Delia gave instructions while me and Ozias helped where we could and the rest of the city reorganized itself. Despite my best efforts and hopes, we found more dead than living in the collapsed buildings.

Eventually the pace of work slowed down and the other workers practically forced us to head to where injuries were being treated. I let a pair of workers take Delia as I was dragged off by a third. After a short walk he had me sit in a chair near a bucket of water and a piece of cloth, telling me to scrub at any cuts. I got to work, hoping the pain would let me escape the feeling of failure; I felt whenever I pulled another body from the wreckage.

The man watched for a moment before saying "Thank you for saving my brother, he has bruised ribs but he will heal, and I know that look, you should think of those who you did save." he turned and was about to leave the room before he looked over his shoulder and said "When you did your best and it was not enough, all you can do is learn." He laughed sadly "My mentor always said that after losing a patient."