I must’ve drifted off sometime in the afternoon, I realise now it must be getting late the way most o’ the candles have been extinguished round the room, just a few burning now, most o’ the remaining light coming from the fire burning in the hearth. Reckon I was slow realising just how much time I’d actually gone without more’n a drunken snatch o’ sleep that Krakka then just burned right outta me with his god magic. I mean he sobered me up, gave me an edge again for the fight on the Heath, but … fuck, it was a rough night an’ morning after. And even worse after the warehouse …

Thorin … Hardway was annihilated. Whatever the fuck that rogue wizard set up in there did its job spectacularly. Worse the way they set up all that scrap metal to make the wreckage a whole lot more brutal, I never really heard about anything like that before. Must’ve been something that evil bitch Vandryss dreamed up, seems like just the kinda cruel trick she’d think of.

The chaos afterwards … I’ll admit my sleep’s been less than restful cuz of it. When I’m shaken awake again I come up a good deal rougher than I’d like, genuinely jumping outta my near-prone sprawl on the couch in the Temple lounge with my heart pounding, and I feel how clammy I am under my leather. Sweating up a storm in my sleep … no wonder, given the half-remembered horrors I just escaped. Something loud and angry and very wet, genuinely soaked in blood and terror, I reckon. Whatever it was shook loose by that terrible blast and everything that followed it. Not just what did but what could have.

So I’m sat right up when I open my eyes, wide as they’ll go I reckon, and I’m genuinely a little surprised to see it’s Yeslee who’s drawing back now. I didn’t scare her, I know that much, she don’t look even remotely rattled and I wouldn’t have expected it either, but maybe there’s a touch o’ concern in her look as she examines me. She ain’t straightened back up yet, still leaning over the back of the couch, watchful now.

“Oh … fuck, that was …” I feel the flush of heat rising under my face, and like always I’m glad o’ my fur and the way it can so easily hide it. “Sorry. I’m just …”

I don’t finish as I feel the small, rumpled shape tucked in close beside me stirring now, a somewhat lost, confused mew of half-consciousness escaping her as she starts to shove herself up too. Bloody hell … I can’t believe she actually stayed. When she settled in beside me she told me not to say a word about it, and definitely not to try anything, she just needed to crash, same as me. I fully expected her to be gone long before I woke up again.

Finally Darwyn sits up too, bleary as hell as she blinks away through her dishevelled hair, fighting for focus. “Oh fuck … what is it?”

This just makes Yes frown a little deeper, but she don’t answer. Instead she just straightens up at last, half turning to regard someone else who’s stepping forward now. Normally I can see just fine in the relative gloom we’re surrounded by, but I’m still waking up myself, it takes me a long moment to focus so I have trouble recognising ‘em …

Fuck. My eyes widen again, and I genuinely start to smile, I’m a little overwhelmed to see Shay. “Hey! You’re okay! You are okay, ain’t you?”

Letting out a deep, weary sigh I feel in my bones, the half-orc slumps a little, reaching up with both her hands in order to shove her hair out of her face. She’s stripped off her armour again, down to the well-fitted leather and padded linen under-armour she wears underneath it, which gives her a very svelte, lithe appearance. That being said, the slouch in her posture kinda ruins the effect. She’s tired, same as the rest of us. “It’ll do. Honestly, I think both of you had the smarter idea.”

She looks good, though, all things considering. When we started to regroup after the blast, she was well out, having taken a major hit as Tulen jumped ‘em out, and if it hadn’t been for Hurrig Stormshield’s uncanny enchanted armour reckon she’d have been good and shredded. In truth I’m surprised she actually removed it at all, I don’t think I’d ever take it off again after something like that …

That being said, she didn’t escape entirely unscathed. She’s got a few cuts on her right cheek, one going pretty deep, that the healers have clearly been at, reduced to striking purple silk scars, and she got a little notch taken out of her ear too, I notice. Like Kesla. It don’t do a thing to make her look any less beautiful than she already is, it just makes her look more dangerous with it.

Shifting a little more on the cushions so I can swing my legs over the side and sit up properly, I give my back a little stretch. “I dunno … feels like a bloody mixed blessing to me right now. Can’t tell if I’m just fucked in the head now, or –”

“You’re fine.” Yeslee growls, stood by now with her arms folded tight. She’s as unmarked as the pair of us, of course, but then she had the good sense to start running the second people started shouting about getting the fuck out of that place. “You’ll be fine. You just need time.”

“Yeah, sure …” I drop my head and brace my hands behind it as I double over for a long moment, breathing in and out several times through my nose and mouth. Finally I give my back one last stretch, then look up again. “Oh … okay, I’m all right. What’s up?”

Shay don’t answer right away, instead shooting a cautious look at Yes while she just shrugs, although she looks down as she does it, suddenly unable to make eye contact. Oh … well that can’t be good. And now I start thinking about … oh shit … oh, no … that couldn’t be …

“No … please, she’s okay, ain’t she? Tell me she didn’t –”

“She’s awake.” Shay answers quick, wide-eyed and a little breathless as she catches on that she just shocked the hell outta me. “Kesla’s … well she’s not not great, but she’s awake. She’s pretty angry about her back, but I think that might be more about the tattoo than the actual wounds.”

Oh thank the gods … I breathe out again, my heart starting to slow, and after a second Darwyn surprises me as she gets up on her knees and reaches over, giving my shoulder a good, tight grip with her other hand wanders to the back of my neck and starts kneading with gentle but familiar surety. Wow … ain’t felt that in a long time. It’s almost enough to set me off purring.

“Yeah, sounds about right.” I manage to chuckle now, mirthless and more’n a little bitter, I realise. “Typical Kesla.”

She was definitely the one hit worst out of all of us. Tulen took a nasty shot in the shoulder and very nearly lost hold of the other two, which I suspect might’ve been disastrous for Kesla and Shay when they were porting, I dunno exactly how that works, just how instantaneous the teleportation actually is. When we found her she was screaming bloody murder about it, but I can’t say I was overly surprised – never mind it was a messy wound, a little deeper or just an inch more to the side and it might well have cut her arm clean off, I was quick remembering that it was also her first time ever actually getting hurt in the field. She had no clue what it’d actually be like, so she was entirely unprepared. So when we got back she was sent straight to the healers and I ain’t seen her since.

Kesla though … she definitely got it worse. That flying metal … fuck, that shit must’ve been flying angry hot and scary fast to have torn through the steel of her back-plate like that. Her half-plate got pretty comprehensively ruined by the blast, the shrapnel, I heard that’s what it’s called, hitting her harder’n one o’ Yeslee’s arrows. I suspect if she hadn’t been wearing that plate, she might’ve been killed, and even Janna Merphin’s miraculous jack-of-plates only negated the damage a little more. The worst of it still got through, and when we finally found her she was down, very much out, and bleeding badly. She was priority number one, then – Lady Naru grabbed hold of both her and Shay on the spot and ported ‘em both back to the Temple before coming back to the rest of us.

When we finally got back, she was still in the most extreme back room of the infirmary, the Surgery itself, undergoing some serious, life-or-death treatment with the Temple’s most skilled clerics. Honestly, when I last saw her Kesla looked bad enough I was genuinely expecting her to die, much like Shay damn near did a few days ago too. Indeed I know full well that’s exactly what must’ve been going through her mind once she woke up again, prompting her to do the exact same thing that Gael did for her since it took her so long to resurface. I’m sure she’s thoroughly relieved underneath all her clear exhaustion to see our friend and nominal leader’s gonna be all right after all … indeed, not only that, but it sounds like she’s already pretty much back to being her old self.

Once again, thank you Minerva. You’re an incredible goddess. You keep this up I just might have to start praying to you too. Certainly I can now see what Gael’s always been going on about.

Thinking about our missing wizard puts a dampener on my good mood right away, and I deflate. Shit … and that was our last chance to find ‘em, too. Now we’re back to scrabbling about in the dark, meanwhile they’re …

When I look up again, I can see the clear concern in Shay’s face, knowing she’s read my mind pretty effectively. So I take a deep breath and try to fortify myself again, figuring she would’ve just let us both keep sleeping if it wasn’t really important. “Well yeah, that’s great news … so what is up?”

“Honestly?” Shay’s expression don’t change, except maybe to get a little more haunted, actually. That don’t do my nerves any favours. “We’re not too sure ourselves. Sessa just got back.”

I blink, having to take a beat to get my memories in order as the name throws me a little. Must still have a little waking up to do … “Oh yeah, you mean Gael and Tulen’s friend? The cute one?”

Darwyn hisses, immediately stopping with the massage while giving my shoulder a much rougher pinch before letting go now as she starts to shuffle away from me. No surprise there, she knows me too well, even if I don’t really mean anything by it.

Yeslee, on the other hand, simply rolls her eyes, while Shay chuckles, somewhat ruefully. “Gods Art, you think they’re all cute.”

“Well they are. She certainly is.” I cock a brow with a half-smile, letting her know I ain’t being remotely serious about it all. “Yeah … anyway, that’s good, ain’t it? I thought we were expecting her. If anything she’s late. Almost a whole day, in fact.”

Again, the two women exchange a somewhat worried, furtive glance, Shay’s shaky good humour evaporating instantly. “Um … no, that’s not exactly … she came back alone. And she was hurt. Quite badly.”

I stiffen immediately, while Darwyn slips off the cushion now, dropping to her feet beside us as she reaches over to collect her gear and start pulling it all back on with a rather nervous look now. “Oh, that … yeah, I can see how that sounds … bad. What ‘s happening, then?”

“Well, we’re going back into the infirmary to have a word with her, see if we can find out what’s going on. The last thing we need right now is any more surprises. I figured you’d want to know about it.” She sighs. “I’m sorry, I know you’re pretty focused on getting Gael back right now, and believe me, I sympathise, but –”

“No, you’re right.” I push myself up onto my feet, my legs surprisingly steady and my back not complaining like I might’ve expected – looks like that little bit of rest helped after all, despite the bad dreams. For a moment I consider the rest o’ my gear, but in the end I leave it where it is in the bundle on the floor, instead just stooping for my swordbelt on its own. “This is important, clearly. Let’s get on it. I wanna see how Kesla is, anyway.”

Smiling again, Shay, gives my mane a quick little ruffle, and I don’t shake her off. Honestly, right now I don’t really mind any. I start to strap my belt on while Darwyn cuts round to the chair where Zuldrad’s been camped out since we all settled in, and the way he’s just curled up in it now I reckon he’s succumbed to his own tiredness right now. Even so, when she gives him a poke he sits up quick, blinking wide.

“What? What is it … huh?” He casts about for a moment, still blinking, until he registers the rest of us and starts to relax again. “Oh. Hey … what’s going on?”

“Something … I dunno.” I shrug as I step over, picking up his own bundled tangle of harnesses and weapons and handing ‘em over. “We’re heading over to the infirmary. You good?”

Frowning, he shuffles off the chair and pushes himself upright, accepting my offering now. “I’m … fine, I reckon. After earlier, I … reckon I needed that.” He dips into one of his pockets for a moment, and retrieves his smoked-glass lenses, snapping them open to slip on in preparation for the journey. “Let’s go.”

Giving his shoulder a light slap, I turn to Shay and nod, and she returns it before stepping away, heading for the door now. Yes hangs back for a moment, giving me a complicated look, and I stare back at her for a moment as I cinch the buckle in before letting my sword hang comfortably on my hip. “What?”

She takes a couple beats answering, but I got the feeling she wants to say something all the same. Finally she just shrugs, turning away too with a noncommittal grunt of: “Later. Maybe.”

I hold my tongue, not expecting to get any further now with a protestation than I ever have in the past, and just start after the pair of ‘em, trusting the others to follow. Darwyn’s already caught up with me before we get into the hallway, and she seems to be in a better mood now, all things considered. Certainly she don’t seem to still be irritated with me over that harmless crack, but then she knows me well enough.

In truth she’s been a good deal better all round with me since we got all that shit straightened out early in the morning, before we headed out. She was proper relieved to see me in one piece after the blast, and genuinely nice to me when we got back here. Sure, when we settled down she made it clear me trying anything would not be tolerated, but in truth it didn’t feel all that serious, like she was mostly going through the motions of her frustration now. I reckon, after me meeting Vanna and all that air getting cleared between us, maybe she’s finally come round to me again.

I dunno exactly how I feel about that, now I think about it. I ain’t pissed at her anymore, even after I made it clear she should’ve told me. Maybe we’re on genuinely good terms again, maybe she might even be open to something like what we once had again, or maybe something new … but I dunno if I am anymore. Something’s … I can’t really figure it, but it’s like something’s really changed. It’s strange …

Even so, when I turn to her and give her a commiserating smile, she cocks a brow and at least quirks the corner of her own mouth up a little in return. It’s something I wouldn’t have expected even a day ago …

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

When we make it into the main chapel, Zul now wearing his lenses again in deference to all the candles, we find Driver 8 still hunkered down in front of the altar, while three of the Temple’s resident wizards fuss about him. He’s getting a proper royal treatment, clearly, but then he needs it after what happened to him out there.

The pervading theory, once we’d been able to actually think about what had just happened to us again after the warehouse got turned into so much blackened kindling and ash, was that while that trap was meant for all of us, Tavarrat had one target in particular in mind. Even with an armoured ogre, clearly a leftover from the Northern Campaign back before the Occupation, there was ­no chance Jammund’s people could realistically get rid of our golem, so they had to come up with a workaround. Looks like they picked a doozy.

Looking Big Man over as we approach around the side of the chamber, they came impressively close to pulling it off, too. He’s definitely a mess, at least compared to his usual dusty, blood-splattered self after a normal fight, but then when we first found him he actually seemed genuinely out of it, there were a few minutes there where we thought he might actually have been genuinely destroyed. I mean, granted he was still in one piece when we found him at the edge of the crater blasted into the centre of the wreckage that was once the Hardway warehouse, but he wasn’t moving, not even when Krakka started trying to resuscitate him.

To be honest I don’t think his god magic really did much to help the situation, and there was no lifting him from where he lay, on his side and smoking from where his whole shell looked like it’d been sandblasted and scalded, still glowing hot in a few places. Even the glow in his eyes was out, they were just dull red glass, but at least they were intact, and after a whole lot of praying and urging from our increasingly flustered cleric, the fire finally rekindled itself. Even so, it was several minutes before he even started moving again, and longer before he could gather himself enough to talk. Like he’d genuinely been knocked right out. That scared the hell out of all of us.

We couldn’t risk Lady Naru getting wiped out again trying to port him back and leaving the rest of us stranded, so instead Yeslee elected to camp out on the edge of the wreck and watch for anyone coming to check out what was going on. Meanwhile me and Zul did the best we could to clear a big enough patch of ground of ash and detritus so the sorcerer could draw out a teleportation circle so we could all go at once. She even has the foresight to plan it out so that it would destroy itself once we used it, a trick Darwyn immediately recognised cuz apparently Gael used it after they caught Vik.

Even so, we came damn close to getting caught, by the time the circle was ready to go Yes was creeping back fast through the chaos to warn us that there were townsguard moving in to investigate the damage. They were being pretty cautious given the smoking, hellish mess, but clearly that wouldn’t last, so we needed to move now. So we helped Driver 8 crawl onto the circle the best he could and then Lady Naru activated it and we were back.

He's been here since, with half a dozen Temple staff taking care to fix the damage that’s been done to him the best they can. I’m sure part of it’s just their sense of duty, theirs is a temple dedicated as much to aiding their fellow man as the pursuit and appreciation of knowledge, so to them he’s just another unfortunate in need of healing. But these wizards are also, undoubtedly, pretty enthusiastic about just having the chance to actually get to handle and maybe even mend a real honest to gods golem, which is very much in keeping with the sheer wonder he’s engendered the whole time he’s been here.

Clearly they’ve already done some impressive work fixing him up, I can see whole sections of his previously pitted, gouged and badly scored armour that’s looking pretty pristine again, but there’s still a lot of work to do. As it is a small pile of half-melted pieces of twisted metal shrapnel that’s been pulled free from his shell has grown at the base of the statue of Minerva, like some strange offering, and there’s still plenty more stuck in him now. Whole plates on his right arm and much of his chest are still pretty wrecked, and the three who are still working at it look to be tiring now. The rest are stretched out on the front pews, looking thoroughly exhausted, although they still make an effort to sit up as we arrive.

“Hey, Big Man. Y’all right?”

The golem shifts slightly at that, giving me at least the impression he’s now looking my way, and when he starts speaking he sounds the same as always, albeit more impressive now given the acoustics of the great vaulted room. “I am well enough, Art. The good folk of the Temple have been very kind, helping to bring me back to my optimum operational parameters. I am most grateful to them.”

“It’s our pleasure, sir.” One of the busy wizards pants, lowering her hands from one of his chest plates and giving ‘em a good wring. She looks unsteady on her feet, while her eyes are heavily lidded, and I can see how bad her hands are shaking as she tries to loosen up her stiffening knuckles. The other two don’t look much better off.

“Minerva … have you lot been at it all this time?” I turn to Shay. “What time even is it now?”

Frowning, Shay thinks about it for a moment. “I think it must be close to midnight by now. They were doing this before when we came to find you. As far as I know they’ve been doing this non-stop.”

“They have indeed.” the golem rumbles, matter-of-fact as always.

“For Minerva’s sake, take a break, you lot. Get some sleep or at least rest for a bit.” Shay lets out a heavy sigh, setting her hands on her hips now as she looks down, shaking her head. “I don’t know … what do you think Big Man?”

“I am functional enough for now, Shay. I will keep, as Kesla would say.” I think he must consider for a moment, because he then asks: “Are we needed again?”

That makes her frown. “Oh … I don’t know, Big Man. Can you make it into the Infirmary? I’m not sure the doorways are really built with you in mind.”

“I am sure you can fill me in on anything that I need to know afterwards. For now I am content to wait.”

Turning to regard Yeslee for a moment, Shay sighs again while shuffling her feet. “Okay, I guess you’ve earned the right to rest for a little longer if you feel you need to.” Now she turns and starts eyeing all the other wizards closely, particularly the three who are now making their very weary, slightly unsteady way to join the others on the pews. “As long as the rest of you follow his example, at least until you feel you can help again without burning yourselves out.”

“Yes, Mistress.” that same wizard sighs after planting herself, wiping the back of her sleeve across a very sweaty brow as she blinks her bleary eyes.

“We’ll let you know as soon as we can.” she tells Big Man as she turns back “Hopefully it’s nothing that can’t keep, anyway.”

“Of course, Shay.” He don’t nod, but I suspect he would if he could.

Frowning again, Shay looks around at the rest of us, and I suspect she still don’t actually want to leave him outta this. But then Yeslee just starts walking on her own, and that decides it for her as she scrambles to follow. “Okay, well … just, I don’t know. See you when we’re done.”

I let the others go ahead, instead just looking up at the golem, and I reckon he’s doing the same back now. I’ll admit I’m glad he’s all right, it genuinely surprised me how hard seeing him laid out like that actually hit me. I’d come to think of him as genuinely unstoppable, it was a sobering moment. I realise now it’s a sign of just how fond of this massive metal man I’ve become.

So I offer up a fond, is somewhat tired smile, and he dips his shoulders ever so slightly in a very clear responding nod. That makes me smile a little wider, and I return my own nod before heading off to catch up with the others.

When I reach Darwyn, I find her stood just outside the now open main door to the emergency ward, while the others are nowhere to be seen, but I can hear voices inside the room now, a whole cluttered selection of ‘em in fact. It’s not unlike the last few times we been back here, when there’s been chaos after a fight and everybody’s been rushing round at once. To be honest I’m really starting to dislike this place on principle through its associations.

Then I see Dar ain’t waiting on me after all, she’s looking down at the floor, and the way she’s so stiff and tense immediately puts me on alert. She looks proper shook, I realise, then I realise why – there’s a sizeable splash of blood on the floor at her feet. I realise now that it ain’t the first one I seen, either, it’s just that up until we got into this part o’ the Temple the relatively dark carpet made it hard to spot. And then there’s the attendant I just passed, diligently mopping the floor, and I realise now he was clearly making his way up to this patch. But this is too fresh to miss, even on the dark tiles here, still wet and slick enough to reflect the lamplight.

“What the fuck happened?” I ask her as I step up.

Darwyn don’t respond, and for a moment I think she’s genuinely frozen, just rooted to the spot, but then the finally looks up and points through the door. “In there.”

Oh … yeah, that can’t be good. I look at her for a long beat but she just stares right back, and while she ain’t scared witless like I thought, she’s definitely shook. Not really knowing what to say to perk her up right now, instead I just turn and head through the door after the others, taking great care to skirt the blood while I’m going.

It’s another stark, minimalistic chamber, white walls and lots o’ light with another smooth, dark tiled floor, but a little different from some of the others. There are racks and cupboards lining two of the walls, each shelf arranged with arrays of tools and instruments in gleaming, pristine steel or phials, bottles, flasks and pots of medicines and oils and whatever else they need to treat wounds and whatever. The other walls are lines with beds, almost a dozen of ‘em altogether, although the vast majority are empty right now. After all, the majority of the intensive care from this morning and before should have been taken care of by now.

The clamour’s settled down some, but the room’s still in something like professional chaos all the same. The others are pulling back from one of the beds in the middle of the room, where three of the clerics are currently working away, while I find Krakka’s stood close by, not actually helping right now but still with his head bowed, hands knotted together. Muttering under his breath like always as he offers up prayers to his own goddess.

Tulen’s there, sat on the bed, which surprises me, I thought her own wounds would’ve been healed a while ago. Except it’s not her that the clerics are working on right now, she’s simply there for comfort, her arms wrapped around Sessa as she moans and cries and winces, wide eyes wet with tears as they work on her arm. Oh gods … as I walk in I finally get a look at what’s happened to her, and then I can’t stop moving towards her now, deeply struck by what I’m seeing.

Fuck … it’s been a little while since I saw wounds like that, we ain’t been up against something that mauls folk since back in the Reaches. Her right hand is just … gone, there’s nothing at all below her wrist, and she’s entirely missing her sleeve from close to her shoulder, while much of the flesh of her arm has been badly ripped and stripped, very little skin left untorn. Many of the marks gouge deep into her flesh, some right to the bone, and while the healers are working hard to fix the damage, so far they don’t seem to be having much luck.

That’s not all, either. There’s a big tear in her robes as well, on her right side, where the worst of the attack must’ve been, although from what I can see the flesh seems to be mending there now. Likely the clerics focused on that first, since that definitely would’ve been the most life-threatening wound. Certainly they’ve clearly managed to stop the worst of bleeding from her arm, but they’re still a long way from done with the rest of it.

There are two deep gashes in her cheek too, the higher one barely missing her eye, and these are still bleeding a lot. Gods … what the hell happened to her?

When I finally stop and look round at the others, they’re all as spooked as Darwyn, and I realise just how shook I am too. Even Yeslee’s hanging back, her eyes wider than they usually get, which is always a bad sign, and there’s a slight screwed up creasing to her nose that shows she’s catching a particularly bad smell … gods, that’s it, that’s what’s hitting me so hard. There’s something in the air, something really wrong, that smells like death. It’s coming from Sessa, which don’t make any real sense, she’s still with us, clearly …

No, it’s coming from her clothes, and her wounds. Oh … okay, that can’t be good.

After a moment Tulen kisses her lover on the unwounded cheek and gives her a gentle crush, leaning her forehead against Sessa’s crown, and I can see now that she’s openly weeping too. That ain’t any kinda surprise, it hurts her to see the person who means the most to her torn up like this. I can easily imagine what that must feel like. She’s going through as much hell as Sessa right now, but her scars won’t be visible after.

“All right, all right … I’m done, here it comes.” Lady Naru’s hustling over from the corner of the room now, and she’s holding a jug in one hand and a cup in the other. She looks pretty chill right now, all things considered, but now I’m looking reckon I can see a subtle edge to her all the same, like this is wearing on her too.

Tulen reaches out a hand before she’s even close, and as soon as the cup’s within reach she just snatches it out of the sorcerer’s hand, but I can’t blame her for forgetting her manners right now. She shifts herself a little on the bed now and pulls Sessa a little tighter as she raises the cup. “Here, this’ll help. Drink it.”

Sessa just looks down at the cup, her eyes wide and wild, and the way they’re rolling right now I’m not sure she’s really seeing anything. She just whimpers, her one remaining hand clawing without any real focus, just snatching up a fistful of Tulen’s robes.

“Oh … come on, Sessa. Baby, please … Sessa! Come on! Please, just … please! Just drink it, please!” She holds the cup in front of her face now, bringing it close to her mouth, and Sessa blinks several times, her brow knitting while she clenches her teeth, and after a moment she finally seems to focus enough to see it. Finally she manages to pull her fingers free and raise her hand, reaching for the cup now.

Even so, it’s shaking badly, so when she finally gets hold of it Tulen maintains her own grip on it too, helping her guide it to her lover’s lips, then tipping it to help her gulp it down. For a moment Sessa balks, her eyes screwing up narrow as her face tightens, it’s clearly some bitter tasting shit, but Tulen won’t relent, insisting now as she makes Sessa finish the whole cupful. Only then does she hold it out for Lady Naru to collect again.

For a few moments Sessa gags, looking like she’s fit to vomit, then the urge must pass cuz she just gasps, panting some as she lets her head fall back, whimpering again … then she opens her mouth again and lets one hell of a burp out. Any other time it’d be one hilarious bastard, but right now …

But it seems to work, I realise – her shaking slowly starts to ease off, and she stops flinching, her muscles seeming to relax. Finally she lets a little sigh go and her head lolls a little, turning now so she can rest her face against Tulen’s and she just sits for a long moment, breathing in and out now, slower and deeper than before too. More controlled, and seemingly more comfortable. Looks like the pain’s easing right off, then. I could do with some o’ that shit myself right now, ‘least for my nerves.

The healers renew their efforts with greater focus now as she relaxes, and finally, I reckon, I can actually see the wounds looking … well, they’re still bad, but maybe they’re starting to heal up again. Looks like it’s still slow, nasty work, though.

Finally Shay steps forward again, and the others seem to be relaxing a little too, or at least their tension’s starting to ease a little. I’m feeling a little better myself too, although I’m still a long way from great – she still looks too bad to put me at ease. “Sessa? Hey, Sessa … sweetheart, are you with us now?”

A frown starts to touch her forehead again, but it’s more confusion now than actual discomfort. She blinks a little as she looks up, but it don’t take her so long to focus this time as she looks at Shay. “Oh … oh, Mistress Swift-Kill. I’m … I’m sorry … that was …” Her frown deepens a little more, and she winces again, but it seems more detached this time, nowhere near as focused. So she’s still feeling some pain, then, it’s just fuzzy and indistinct. Guess that stuff just took enough edge off for her to come back to herself.

“Sessa, it’s okay.” Shay drops onto her haunches now as she steps closer, reaching up to take hold of the half-orc’s remaining hand in a gentle grip as she glances up into her big, distressingly red eyes. “You’ve been hurt, very badly. I can understand you’re a little … scattered. But we need to know what happened. Where you’ve been. And where Madame Daste is.”

“Oh, I don’t … I’m …” She licks her lips now, wincing again as she looks down, trying to move now but Tulenj just wraps her arms a little tighter and keeps her in place, gently shushing her. “No … no, I do … oh …” She frowns deeper for a moment when she looks up, casting about now, and I think this might be the first time she even sees the rest of us gathered round her. “Yes, Madame Daste … oh … oh no …”

“What?” Shay straightens up a little, becoming more alert as she takes Sessa’s hand in her other one too. “Please, Sessa, we need to know, what –”

“Dead …” The word comes out in a bare whisper, nothing more than a breath really, and she looks so haunted all of a sudden. “She’s dead … she’s dead. They’re all dead. Madame Daste is dead, Halik is dead, everyone who was with us … oh … there were so many, all dead now. Oh … oh, Minerva … help me …” Her face starts to crease up, and the tears are coming again as she whimpers.

“Shit …” I’m the first to speak after a long, heavy moment where no-one seems to know what to say, and at least half of ‘em jump when it’s out. I reach up now, brushing my paws up and back over my scruffy mane, not sure what to do as I start to turn towards the door again. In time to see Darwyn stood a little way inside now, looking shocked as the rest of us. And she ain’t alone now. Kesla’s behind her, not so much stood in the doorway as leaning against it, like it’s the only thing keeping her upright.

You’d think she’d be as haunted as the rest of us right now, given what we just heard, but she just looks pissed. Angry and not even remotely scared …