The dark of night has finally settled in. Before making our way to the campsite, we stopped at the horses. Erik was there watching over them. Six horses in total, all of them bred to be better than any average horse. They were bred for strength and endurance, the best of the best. They all were dressed in light armor, not meant for war, but suitable enough for a fight if needed. This was a patrol after all, it wasn't often they saw any action. Most of their time was filled with long rides along the main paths. The armor didn't need to be much at all. Demmin's horse was the only one whose armor differed in any way. Variation in color was what set his horse apart from the others. Bright blue and a touch of silver painted the edges of the metal. The same color of Demmin's cape.

We spent a couple minutes searching the horses for any valuables. Two of them carried large packs filled with supplies. Things like small cooking pots, fire steels, a utility knife, rope and a little bread for starters. I continued to dig through the packs and found not much other than a few blankets. It's not much, but at least the essential survival tools are taken care of. While I searched through the bags, Thane found the gold that Demmin offered us. His horse had its own satchel with a little pouch of gold coins inside. What he found was a good amount, enough to accommodate us all at an inn for nearly a month. At least something good came from Demmin.

After searching through the horses we lead them to the camp, along with the woman. We gathered the scattered firewood from earlier and began a well needed rest.

Thane takes some kindling and starts a fire for us. It couldn't of come any sooner, the night brought along a cold and bitter bite that sinks deep into the skin. It only took a few strikes from the fire steel to get it going. Much more effective than rubbing two sticks together for near an eternity. Once the kindling burns hot, Thane throws some bigger pieces on the fire to get it going. The flame starts small but soon begins to roar and radiate a dome of heat around us. Thane rubs his hands together and sticks his palms out by red dancing flame. He takes a deep breath and sits down up against a tree. Erik sits against his own tree just off to the side of Thane. I sit across from them, up against a log that's nested firmly in the ground. A thick layer of moss covers the backside entirely while the other side is dusted in a light layer of dirt. Small hollowed out nests show that little critters called this place home at one point. That time has passed though, this tree fell some time ago and has long passed it's potential to reach the sky.

I stroke the lightly dampened moss and let it slide between my fingers as my heart beat finally calms from the previous battle. It's not normal for it to take me this long to get over the high that fighting gives birth to. Normally within moments of the fight being over I am able to move on calmly from the scene. I feel a little different this time around and I can't quite figure out why. Anger still thickens my blood as it courses through my veins slowly. I am not sure why these feelings linger, but I try to let go of them and think of something different.

I look over to the right of me and see the woman sit down and cross her legs keeping a little distance between the three of us. I know she's grateful for us having saving her but it feels a little like she still isn't quite comfortable of us yet. Not that I entirely blame her, the world right now is not exactly full of men you can trust. Smart of her to keep a watchful eye on the three of us. She takes off her bow quiver from her back and puts them off to the side of her, but not to far from being able to reach them if needed. As she settles in a bit more she takes a firm hold of her bag and pulls it in close to her chest, almost cradling it like an infant. Whatever is in there she cherishes deeply, it seems more important to her than her own weapon. Curiosity peaks my interest, I wonder what she has in there. I certainly do want to know, but perhaps it's none of my business.

I scoot over a little bringing myself closer to her. Not too close as to seem awkward but enough to reach out my hand to her. As it hangs in the air opened wide I say to her "I just realized I haven't officially introduced myself yet, the name's Aero."

Her bright eyes almost glow from the light of the fire as she turns and looks at me, then down to my hand hanging in the air. She doesn't reach for it, instead she just sort of stares at it with a little bit of confusion in her eyes.

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"What's the matter, haven't you seen a handshake before?" I say to her jokingly.

"Oh, right of course, you can call me Galeana." she replies to me as she reaches out and grabs the tips of my finger and gives them a single up and down.

"Alright then..." I point over to Thane and Erik sitting across the fire and tell her both of their names. She gets up and goes over to them repeating the same handshake she gave to me. After each handshake she gives her name to them as if they didn't hear it the first time. Erik looks to me and then over to Thane confused as to why she is behaving so strangely. Thane doesn't pay any attention to him but instead just watches her as she walks back to the spot she was sitting before. The look in his eye shows he has a good idea who she is.

As she leans forward getting ready to turn around and sit down she suddenly stops and looks at me. Her dark hair falls forward and covers part of her face. She pulls it back and tucks it behind her ear as she says to me "You're bleeding."

I look down and immediately see a red spot forming on the outside of my shirt. It's my shoulder, the wound must of reopened. I slide my shirt down enough to reveal the wound, and sure enough the stitches have torn open and the hole in my chest is showing the bright red muscle beneath the surface. "Great, how did that happen?" I say allowed as I rub my fingers over the surface of the wound covering the tips of my fingers in fresh blood.

"It likely happened when you tore through Demmin's metal chest piece. The amount of force needed for something like that must've expanded your shoulder muscles immensely." says Thane from across the fire. "I think I saw a small sewing kit in the supplies we took from the patrol. It should be enough to hold until we get to town."

Galeana sits down and looks at her bag as Thane gets up to grab the kit. Once he finds it from the satchel of supplies he brings it over and kneels down in front of me. He quickly threads the needle as I clean around the wound. Just as he reaches over about to puncture the skin Galeana calls out "Wait".

Thane stops within an inch of the skin and we both look over at her. "The wound needs to be closed so it can start healing." I say in response to her.

"Yes, I know, I can do better." she says as she opens her bag and rummages through it's contents. As everything rolls around inside a constant clanking sound of glass bottles can be heard coming out.

I let her search around inside the bag a bit before asking "How exactly do you plan to help? This will only take a minute, we don't really need an extra hand."

She pulls out a spherical glass bottle holding some sort light green liquid. "Here it is, this will help." she says in her accent.

Thane takes one look at it and nods his head at her. He then puts the needle and thread away and steps back giving her room. I watch him for a second and then look at Galeana with the question "How is that supposed to help me?"

"Just watch" says Thane in a low tone.

Galeana puts her bag down and slides over in front of me only inches away. She lifts the bottle of green liquid up to the light of the fire and looks into it. Being able to look at it more closely now I see there are small slivers of what looks like torn up leaves. As the light pierces into the bottle the leaves begin to glow and shed a subtle green hue. She spins the bottle around and creates a small whirlpool inside. As the leaves begin to spin around they glow brighter and brighter until they glow so much the entire bottle is engulfed in a bright green aura. She takes the cork out from the mouth of the bottle and pours out a splash onto her fingers. The liquid continues to glow as it rolls over her fingers and drips to the ground below. Within seconds of it hitting the dirt tiny blades of grass begin to sprout upwards. They don't reach very high but are still plainly visible.

She slowly reaches over to the wound and brushes the liquid over it's surface. Immediately the skin around the area begins to feel warm. Underneath the surface it feels as though the blood is beginning to rush intensely towards the affected area. The skin grows warmer and warmer but it's not uncomfortable, in fact it's quite soothing. I look down at the wound and to my amazement it's beginning to heal. The bleeding has stopped and what is more magnificent is the muscle fibers underneath the outer skin tissue have begun to weave themselves back together like a carefully woven blanket. One by one they locked themselves into each other until finally they reach the surface of the skin and the wound is completely healed over. There's no scar, or any indication that the skin was ever damaged to begin with.

I've never seen anything like this, I've only heard or read about it. Herbal healing is something we have lost touch with ever since Lunis gained control of the continent all those years ago. So if this woman is practiced in herbal medicine, then that must mean.

"So, you are a Montisian after all." Thane says, completing my thought process.

Is it really so? A Montisian, this far south? After what I just saw, it would have to be.

"Yes, I'm afraid it's true." Galeana says in a soft voice as she puts the medicine away, looking almost ashamed of what she did.

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with us." Thane assures her.