Niall handed his weapons and shield to Huff to carry back and, wearily, started to head in the direction the Captain had indicated. He started to cycle his Spirit around as he did so. He felt as if his reserves of Spirit were at good levels, but if he was going to be Healing again then he needed to be ready.

Infirmary 2 turned out to be a large temporary wooded building. Even before Niall entered, he could see why he had been sent over. The Infirmary was overflowing with the wounded with woman and men lying on stretchers outside waiting to be seen. By definition, these were all those with the worst injuries, with those who had less severe injuries having been healed on the battlefield. There were a couple of Acolyte Healers working their way through the injured triaging as best they could as they went.

Niall headed inside to be faced with a scene of blood-stained chaos. A Healer looked up from where he was weaving, a Healing Cradle around a halfling whose arm was shattered. “Serious injuries only. Don’t come in until you’ve been ordered to.”

“I’m a Healer,” Niall said. “I’ve just come back to camp and I was sent directly here.”

“Oh, thank goodness.” The Healer looked at Niall. “Have you ever done a Healing Cradle or reconstructed a shattered limb before? I can’t keep doing these by myself for long.”

“I’ve made a Healing Cradle,” Niall said. “But not for a shattered limb.”

“Don’t worry, just follow me. You’ll soon get the hang of it. Just start by drawing a Cradle around this poor chap’s arm.”

From then, Niall did not have time to think. The Healer, who he found out was called Falen, took him from patient to patient with almost no breaks. As soon as one wounded soldier had been Healed, they were carried away by stretcher bearers with their place taken by another patient in moments. Somehow, despite the extraordinary levels of injuries and anguish that surrounded them, Falen managed to stay efficient and positive. He also liked talking and would carry out a continuous ongoing commentary as he worked.

At first Niall just did exactly what Falen told him to. However, he quickly realised the he could do more. As he drew his Healing Cradle and listened to Falen’s explanations, he started to see a patterns in Falen’s techniques through his Spirit.

After the first dozen patients he realised Falen would always push a final flush of Spirit through a patient to get rid of any infections that may have taken hold. With the next patient he held up a hand to stop Falen before pushing cleansing Spirit through himself and earned an approving nod from Falen.

After another hour he realised Falen had a specific order of actions he would take to stabilise a patient before he started to heal the specific injury. Before they started on the next patient, he stopped Falen. “Save your Spirit, I think I can stabilise this one before you start.”

“Are you sure? Cleansing Burst is one thing but this isn’t the sort of thing newer Healers normally attempt so quickly.”

“Niall knows Pobble cannot help with this does he not?” Niall gave Pobble a mental nod then dismissed him.

Niall gave Falen a physical nod. “Keep an eye on me but I think I can do this.”

Falen gave a tired smile. “I can do that. If you start doing the stabilisation and the cleansing, we’re going to be able to save a lot more people.”

Niall concentrated and started to weave his Cradle and push his Spirit into the cavalryman who lay in front of them with what appeared to be a broken back. He quickly dealt with the internal bleeding and soft tissue injuries as well as the minor breaks. Within a couple of minutes, the only injury that remained was the broken back itself.

Falen spoke even as Niall felt his more powerful Spirit join his as part of the Healing Cradle. “That was very well done, there are a few things I’ll talk you through that will make it more efficient, but that was as good a first attempt as I have seen.”

In their new partnership the hours passed as Falen and Niall continued to Heal person after person. Niall entirely lost himself in the Healing Flow and while his weariness did not disappear it was as if it was being experienced by someone else. He felt he was learning a lot by simply observing Falen at work, even though the things the more experienced Healer was doing was well beyond him. However, he could see how, if he dedicated the time to it, he could start to do similar things. At the very least, he realised that if he had to lead the creation of a Healing Cradle himself, he could do so with confidence.

Eventually Falen stood up after finishing with their latest patient and stretched his back. He looked over to Niall.

“OK. You’re done.”

Niall gestured about him. “But what about all the others?”

“The full time Healers can deal with this now. The worst injured have already been healed.”

Niall looked around, he realised the flow of the injured had slowed and the frantic chaos he had first experienced had gone. Instead, Healers were now calmly moving from one patient to the next.

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Falen came round and rested his hand on Niall’s shoulder. “You did good work tonight, there are tens of people who are alive because of you. You’ve got a real talent for this, if you ever want to become a Healer you would be an excellent one.”

“You’re not the first person to say that.”

“I’m not surprised. Think about it. If you ever change your mind then come to the Military Hospital at Camp Sedrun and ask for Master Healer Falon. I’ll make sure you get trained properly.”

“You’re a Master Healer.”

Falen gave him a small smile. “How do you think I was using Healing Cradles by myself when you arrived. There aren’t many on my team who could keep up with me for as long as you did. We could use someone like you. Now get cleaned up and get some rest, the sun’s rising. I’m tired and I’ve not been fighting all day.”

Niall looked out of the open flap of the tent. The grey light of dawn was starting to illuminate the camp. The strains of the day hit him and he suddenly felt incredibly weary. He gave Falen a nod even as the Master Healer moved onto the next patient.

There was an odd feeling to the camp as he slowly walked through it. Despite the hour there were still many people clustered around fires in the centre of their campsites. From a few Niall could hear the sound of drunken singing, but for the most part people were quiet, yet reluctant to abandon each other. Around many of the fires people were sleeping outside in warm summer night air.

As Niall came to the 3rd Militia Regiment’s campsite most of the militia were asleep. Huff, Penton, and Shannon were dozing around one of the fires so he headed towards it. Without saying a word, he took off his blood-stained armour and lay down in the dirt next to the fire and within moments he was asleep.

***

When he opened his eyes again the sun was high in the sky. While he was asleep someone had thrown a blanket over him.

Niall shut his eyes again. Now he was no longer forced to action, memories from the previous day forced themselves up him. Chief amongst those was Trintor yelling that he had seen a breach in the lines and abandoning his shield and spear for his preferred paired short swords. He had leapt into the gap and managed to hold back the Bulvine long enough for the hole to be closed. His action had saved dozens but at the cost of his life. He fell with five Bulvine corpses around him. There were too many memories of deaths that were similar to that. Some died heroically, some died stupidly but all were dead nonetheless. So many of the men and women he had trained with were gone.

He shook away the memories, there were more pressing matters to address. With his eyes shut he spoke to Pobble. “Tell me about Leon.”

“Niall did really well. Both in the battle, then dealing with Stefan and the Bloodaxe, then with all of that Healing.”

“Honestly Pobble, I’m not in the mood for your games. Just explain why you were so insistent that I not agree to what Leon asked for. Who is he?”

“Pobble cannot say.”

“Of course you can’t. You never can. Well then what use are you? I could have saved Vimoni, Trintor, all of the others. Instead, I listened to you.”

“That is not...”

“Shut up, Pobble. Just shut up.”

There was a moment of silence then Pobble spoke again. “No. Niall has to own his own decisions. You could have done whatever you liked. After all of the progress Niall has made, Pobble will not allow him to regress into behaving like a child. He saw the consequences of what happened as a result of the few interventions Pobble has made so far. The more often Pobble helps Niall by breaking the rules, the bigger the backlash. Next time Niall may not be able to deal with what comes his way.”

“I almost died.”

“So what? There is a very good chance Niall will almost die again. If he is to save his family then he will face risks. But Pobble is doing everything possible can within the rules to help. Niall does not have to like Pobble, but there is no alternative to working together.”

With that, Niall felt Pobble retreat until he was just a whisper in the back of Niall’s mind.

***

The battle over and the Bulvine 3rd Army routed, the mission objective was complete. Nonetheless, Niall was surprised at how quickly the army camp emptied. A few divisions were to remain in the camp and to build a fort to hold Deerhead Pass itself but the rest, including the militia, had a couple of days to rest, and pack before they returned.

On the morning of the third day Niall stood on the militia company campsite. His patrol’s tent had been struck and packed away. Around him the only signs that the Company had been there at all were the patches of pale grass where the tents had been. His pack was ready and waiting outside and he had an hour free. With a quick word to Huff to tell him where he was going, he walked over to the campsite where the Elite Light Infantry were based.

Argon was sat outside his own tent a mug of ale in his hand.

Niall raised an eyebrow. “A bit early for that isn’t it?”

Argon shrugged. “I’m off duty which means it’s never too early. You’re off?”

Niall nodded. “Two more weeks back in Camp Sedrun and then back home.”

“You did well. All of your crew did. War is no place for a civilian.”

“All thanks to you.”

Argon waved the compliment away, beer sloshing onto the dirt as he did so. “You can train all you like but until you see a man or a woman in battle you don’t know if they have what it takes. I saw you there. You have it. If you ever want to stop messing around with forges and get a real job you would have a place in the army.”

Niall shook his head and looked down at his distorted reflection in his boots. “Death, killing, it’s not for me. All I wanted to do was keep my friends alive, I couldn’t even do that.”

“And that’s why you should sign up. But, I’m not going to press you.” Argon stood up and clasped Niall’s arm. “Whatever you do Patrol Leader, I wish you luck.”

“Good luck to you too Squad Leader.”

Niall gave Argon a last nod and headed back.

The journey back to Camp Sedrun showed Niall how far they had all come in the past months. Lieutenant Bligh had to remain at the front for another week, her role as acting Captain requiring her to co-ordinate the return of the remaining troops. Nonetheless, even with just Corporal Tate as the only professional soldier, the return journey was smoother than before.

All of the survivors had seen significant increases in their Levels and their Abilities. At the same time, the remaining members of the regiment were quick and efficient at setting up camp, after many weeks of repetition the skills now second nature. The two things combined to make the trip back pass quickly

Once back in the main army camp the remaining few days were trivial when compared to what had gone before. While the Militia were required to continue with their weapons training their only other duties were to take their turn with the other troops in the regular patrols of the camp and the surrounding areas. After all they had been through this was like a holiday.

And then it was time to head home.