Everything was falling apart.

Crane and Lughes were downstairs, in the basement, talking to Shelldon. I could just barely make out the shouting. Shrieks even.

“Steady,” I told both myself and Amber.

The young girl looked even worse than this morning. Her face was now pale, she was shivering even though we had all fireplaces burning and blankets wrapped around her... and...

I squeezed her bundled up hand and wished I knew what to do.

We had brought the bed that was in the spare room, the one Vim had been using, into the kitchen. Near the fireplace. For her. It didn't seem to be helping at all.

Humans were fragile. Far more than our kind. And the wounds on her were actually severe enough that even members of our race could have suffered. Even I would have been bedridden, maybe for days.

A part of me was screaming to run and find who had done this. Another was telling me to find a doctor. A human one.

Lughes and Crane hadn't allowed it. Yet...

“You need one...” I whispered, and wondered if I should just go get one.

She was a human after all. Had I not just watched Nory suffer so? Had I not watched her deteriorate from disease and age? How many arguments had we had, with me begging her to let me take her to find help...

Another scream echoed up from the floorboards, and I recognized Crane's voice. I couldn't make out the words being said, but they were definitely not happy ones.

Standing away from the bed, I hesitated.

If I went and got one without their permission... I'd most undoubtedly be kicked out.

I'd lose my place. Maybe not just here in the Sleepy Artist, but the Society as a whole.

Which meant Vim would...

A tiny cough came from the girl, and I knew I had no choice.

She was a human. But...

But she was still one of us.

A friend.

Hurrying to my room, I made sure to climb the stairs as quietly as I could. Even though the three other members of the Society were downstairs, screaming at one another, they'd still hear me if I wasn't careful.

The outside world was dark. The sun had just set. And although it wasn't storming, there was a wind. A chill in the air.

Where would a doctor be? Would I even be able to find one alone? In the night? Where should I...

Putting my jacket and hat on, I made sure to hide my tail well. Just in case the wind blew my jacket up and out, I hid it beneath my pants.

Especially since I'd be running... and...

Before leaving the room I hurriedly grabbed all the coins Vim had left me. I didn't know if it'd be enough, but I could always get more. They made oddly loud clinking sounds as I put them into a small pouch.

I flinched as they made noise as I hurried out of my room and downstairs. They could hear such a sound. It was so distinct. So unnatural...

“Renn!”

Hesitating, I paused at the bottom of the stairs. Crane stood down the hall, and was huffing. She had hurried back up.

“She needs help,” I said to her.

“She does. But even a human surgeon won't be able to save her, Renn. It's too late for her,” Crane said harshly.

For once I didn't find her brisk personality appealing.

“We have to try,” I argued.

“If you let a human doctor in, they will know. They serve the nobles first, before us. They'll let the nobles know. Which means all will know. It will mean making an enemy out of the powerful humans, Renn!” Lughes shouted from somewhere behind her. Maybe still in the basement.

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I stepped back a step. Towards the door. Yet I didn't turn around. Not yet.

“Can't you smell it?” I whispered.

Crane flinched, and I tried to hold in my anger.

“Can't you smell her dying?” I asked again. Louder this time.

“Exactly why, Renn. Please. If you... if you go do this, it will risk us all. This home. Please,” Crane said.

“She's one of us,” I said.

“She's a human,” Lughes shouted, stepping past Crane. Pushing past her, to the point she almost fell.

“That's Amber!” I shouted back, and wondered why he was acting like this. Had he himself not panicked and tried to help earlier? Most of the wounds had been cleaned by his own hands!

“We've done what we can! She'll either survive or she won't!” Lughes shouted.

I shook my head and hated what I was hearing. They sounded so...

“We can... we can leave. Go somewhere else. If it gets that dangerous,” I argued.

“Leave!” Crane nearly fainted. She had to put her hand on the wall to keep herself upright.

A weird whine echoed from beneath my feet. It echoed upward, and into the hall.

Shelldon.

“Coward!” I shouted down at him.

“We all are! Renn... if you leave this house, and go to the humans I'll have no choice but to bar the door!” Lughes said loudly.

“Bar...? She needs help! The humans know more about such things than we do!” I said.

Lughes took in a deep breath, as if to yell at me... but stopped himself. For a long moment, the air was heavy. Lughes looked larger than he ever had. Crane looked faint, ready to pass out at any moment... and I could still hear the odd whine coming from Shelldon down below.

To think such a happy, warm, home would degrade so quickly!

“Take her yourself then,” Lughes then said.

I hesitated, as Lughes nodded. “Take her. If you carry her out of here, I'll let you. But I'll not let you bring her back,” Lughes said.

Staring at the man who had always seemed air-brained, but kind all the same... I suddenly felt as if I was in a stranger's home.

“Fine.”

Stepping towards them, I did my best to not hesitate and stumble when Lughes and Crane actually shied back. They flinched as I walked past them. They glanced away, to the floor and ceiling, as if I wasn't something they wanted to confront.

Cowards.

Heading into the kitchen, I wondered if this was the right move. After all I didn't know where a doctor was. Didn't know how long it'd take me to...

“Will you at least tell me where one is? What part of town?” I asked them, loudly, as I approached the bed.

Amber looked broken. Sunken into herself, almost. As if she had suddenly lost a lot of weight. She hadn't had much weight in the first place!

“Head to the church. A large brown building across from the church has doctors,” Lughes said from the hallway. His voice sounded empty. Devoid of life.

He had already cut me from his life.

He spoke to me as if I was someone he never knew.

I knew where the church was. I hadn't been in it, but I had walked past it with Amber a few times. And alone.

With a few quick movements, I did my best to wrap Amber as tightly in the blankets as I could. I made sure to also cover her face. Not so tightly that she'd suffocate, but enough to keep her safe from the chill of the outside and wind.

I'd need to hurry.

It would look strange to others. To the townsfolk. I wasn't big enough, neither tall enough or in size, to carry such a large bundle so easily. Luckily it was late.

Picking Amber up, I hefted her heavy body. I was glad that this time at least, my arms didn't become soaked with warm blood.

She didn't fidget. She didn't move. Amber didn't even realize I was lifting her.

“It'll be okay,” I said to her.

Turning, I carefully carried her out of the kitchen. Into the hallway.

Crane and Lughes hadn't moved from their spots. Yet they went stiff, their backs going straight as I passed them.

“Cowards,” I cursed them as I walked past.

Leaving the hallway, I struggled for a moment to open the door. The bell dinged once as I finally got it open, and I hated the sound of it. Despised that clear ringing.

That stupid bell annoyed me as I stepped away from the Sleepy Artist.

I didn't even try to close the door behind me as I carried Amber out into the street. The snow littered the ground, but wasn't in the air. Only a cold wind.

There wasn't anyone around as I hurried down the road. Heading towards the center, towards the massive dark shadows in the sky. Where the church and castles loomed.

Brown building across from the church.

I'd get her there.

I'd save her.

Since no one else would.

If it cost me that precious home... so be it.

After all, the home I wanted didn't abandon those who lived in it.

Not so easily.

Not so willingly.

After all what was the point of a home then? What was the purpose?

Passing the corner where Amber had fallen this morning, where I had picked her up, I noticed the clumps of snow. The darker stains, where her blood had seeped.

Groaning lightly as I hurriedly carried her, I did my best to only allow tears to stain my eyes. I did my best to not let a cry escape my lips, or my heart to break any more than it already had.

I'd let it happen later.

Running through the town, I barely noticed anyone else I passed.

I ignored everything and everyone.

The only thing that mattered was the girl in my arms.